Current issues: The shield mechanics don't put any weight on the fact that you have a shield equipped. Only when you use it, you get a speed malus. This imposes/simulates a defensive combat style where you are more careful when using a shield. Blocks also are quite strong and you can hold the shield up forever. This also slightly removes player skill from the equation. The imposed slowdown may make players feel like the controls are sluggish. Proposed changes: Make shield always have a small speed malus when equipped Instead of slowing you down when you hold the shield up, a block that happens while you're running should be less effective than one that happens when you're standing still. The idea here is to encourage skilled blocking instead of charging at the enemy with a shield. Also the shield shouldn't add additional slowdown when holding it up anymore. This change will let people choose what approach to take with a shield rather than forcing the player to take a defensive approach (which is currently simulated/imposed by walking slower with shield up) Holding the shield up should slowly drain energy - this simulates the additional tiring of having to hold the shield up in front of you A successful block should require energy and drain an amount of energy, this further simulates that it is more tiring to block hits than to just hold the shield. Maybe the amount of energy drained relates to how hard of a hit it is Points 3/4. May be critically seen and not suggested as a perfect solution, as weapon attacks don't drain energy either. This impact point 4 more though, as weapon attacks can just be spammed Reference where i got the ideas from: http://community.playstarbound.com/...se-imaginary-combat-limitations-please.52444/
Holding up the shield already prevents energy from regenerating, and slows you while you're holding it up. 1. Silly considering the fast pace of the game and how favored mobility is. 2. One of the base reasons for using a shield is to allow melee users to approach ranged enemies without being slaughtered.. If you're still taking noticeably large amounts of damage while moving, you'd essentially just stop using it altogether. 3 & 4. No.
