So after being away for several years I have been back and playing my sorcerer again for a few weeks but after reading about various changes the nagging itch to break out the warrior again just keeps getting stronger. Thankfully I had the foresight to fixskills away all his skills before I stopped playing so I have a blank slate + a fix skills in hand if I hate it.

So I have a lvl 30 giant warrior, I always used to play with various large weapons (two handed/lance), while fun with berserk and a fill wizard spell up his low agi/dex does not really make it practical. So now I want to give a shield a try, I am gathering killing will be slower (hopefully not too much) but I assume my safety will go up. This is what I am planning with notes on my thoughts where possible. I am also pretty set on a tower shield (unless something very persuasive comes up otherwise).

2 x Edged or blunt - I only want to pick one but being mostly a caster I have no idea on the pros/cons of either, I own neither so I will be picking up a plain 4x of what ever style I train in.

2x (ish) armour - Currently at 80 ranks for MBP, I might be able to squeeze in 3x up to Full plate, is this the usual recommended plan? or is 2x (ish, with the ish being any extra points going here) till full plate enough? As for spending the points it sounds armour support is the most popular? I was debating the one to prevent stacking wounds but that is more left over from my two handed days where I was constantly getting nicked.

3x Shield - To steal a term from some other games I want to become a "tank", apart from the defence access it gives me more points for all these exciting shield skills which are all new to me, and a good part why I want to give it a go.

2x Cman - AS + manoeuvres, I think this is pretty standard?

1 x MOC - Currently puts me at the first focused mstrike, is this worth keeping at 1x? was debating leaving at 30 for a while as I believe low agi/dex leads to some long RT

1x Ambush - I hear aiming is a good way to go, I don't know how much I need to aim well so I guess I will 1x till I feel I hit enough

2 x PF - Standard really, I am a GoS member so would more help much?

1x Dodge - It seemed fairly cheap so could fit this with out much effort but is this needed at all with a tower shield focused build? I seem to remember armour and big shields both go against dodging.

harness power - being GoS I know I want some, just not sure how much. I have 0 base mana from stats. I would like to keep up the 2 basic 5 min AS/DS buffs at minimum, but a few more would be nice such as focus, mending (health regen from being nicked and for quick herbs between fights) and then likely the damage padding.

Misc - some climbing and swimming as required as well as hoping to fit in 1x perception for all the various things that helps with as well as down the lines some AS/MIU for spell burst.

For spending of cman points I figure block mastery is about a no brainier, bonding to the weapon also seems a good second. Are there any others that would stand out for a shield user(that I can't get from the SHIELD ranks? Some of these marital poses look interesting(they are still brand new to me).

The spending of SHIELD points I am almost at a loss, so many good(or at least fun looking) options. So tower focus rank 3 would be the main starting point, with the plan to go towards trample (and eventually trample mastery). This would likely be my main CC ability, it is obviously an expensive skill with al the pre requirements so I was wondering how the pre reqs fit in with the end skill. If I go for trample rank 5 with the minimum of 2 ranks shield charge and bash will the negatively effect my ability to trample? or do I need to be aiming more for the 4/5 ranks of each? I only plan to activate trample, just not sure if they play into the success rate.

For defensive shield skills prop looks like a strong choice, I see Bulwark follows on from this but I do not fully understand it, what exactly does reducing RT from physical attacks mean? these the standard creature manoeuvres? cmans? Deflection training is another high on the list. Are there any better defensive options I missed? I know there are some strong group moves which I would likely pick up later, but mostly focusing ones on for solo hunting now.

My guild training is pretty much max berserk, with a smattering of ranks among the other skills (don't think more than 10 in any). Not sure where to go next between disarm/feint/war cries but any would be slow going as new the guild cap for my level.

I appreciate any insight you can offer, first time I have made one of these for any class(and I have tried them all). Just so many different ways to go about it (which I love).

edged/blunt is mainly about style. Look for whichever weapon out of those in both categories you like the thought of swinging and go with that one.

Full plate can wait, I was in MBP (with various accessories added along the way) till the 70s and only 2x shield and without all the extra shield goodies.

stacking wounds shouldn't be an issue if you are regular with your herbs after each fight

If you want those shield actions and you want them NOW, 3x it is.

>1 x MOC - Currently puts me at the first focused mstrike, is this worth keeping at 1x? was debating leaving at 30 for a while as I believe low agi/dex leads to some long RT

RT caps at not that many swings and berserk is done mstriking at normal (berserk) swing speed. With 2s worth of AGI/DEX and a 5s weapon 10s is as high as I get. Definitely go to 35 for the extra open swing.

>1x Ambush - I hear aiming is a good way to go, I don't know how much I need to aim well so I guess I will 1x till I feel I hit enough

30 ranks will be plenty against normal sized critters. Small ones (that used to be too small to even aim at) require a whole lot more and depending on the locations you want to hit, you may still want more. I'd also consider edging it downwards as you train if you think you have enough and want a few more points.

With a one hander, you want to make it count when you hit, and that means hitting the right spot. You also want to do it in the minimum extra time, and that means having 2s worth of AGIDEX (23). Its not critical to have that at level 30 but unless it gets there reasonably soon you will start to suffer for it.

With 3x shield, 1x dodge shouldn't be necessary but it will save you some scratches now and again.

You won't have much if anything else that you can get at the moment after bond (and the required wspec) plus block mastery. There are martial stances in the shield list that you might look at. I use griffin rather than those but you'd likely want rather more levels before that was an option for you. You should have feint, preferably from the guild, but you should have it.

You don't need full trample in my experience. I'd get 3 ranks and see if that worked for you before getting more. You probably do want full bash or charge at some point, a single critter goes down a lot harder than when merely trampled (and a lot harder than when bashed prior to the shield upgrades)

>Not sure where to go next between disarm/feint/war cries but any would be slow going as new the guild cap for my level.

Don't add to tackle or batter at all any time soon. I found disarm was usable at low ranks, so I'd also leave that for now. Feint I consider absolutely critical but warcries really need to be mastered to be of good effect. I'd say first get enough tricks to use feint and keep adding tricks if you think your feint isn't good enough yet. Then if you like the idea of warcries, get to mastery in them, then disarm. I get quite a lot out of cries now (and use griffin as my martial stance), but it took the last upgrade in them to make them effective enough and you can certainly manage without them quite well to much higher level.

Appreciate the responses, I have locked in with blunts and got a very brief bit of play time in but then GS was lagging to hell so figured it was not the best time to try to learn the style and set new key binds. Those shield points sure do get spent quick though. Spent nearly 60 on mostly selfish skills for me, trying to hold off on the others till I get back into things a bit more, hopefully finding a partner when I do to cement the guard mastery as my next choice.