I was debating finally dropping the shield on my tank (especially my paladin).  I struggled with this in POE 1 but because Outworn Buckler was so beneficial to the party I never dropped it.  I have not finished the game yet but I do not see a shield that good that benefits the party yet! (no spoilers)!.  So shields have the affect of giving my Crusader too much defense and whoever is not engaged (ranged bad guys) will not target him for obvious reasons....I was thinking just giving him a 2hander or duel wielding will make ranged target him more....obviously he'd be a bit more squishy but Eder does just fine as a duelwielder with constant recovery...What do you guys think?  I have NOT completed the game so I am thinking maybe Dragon types a shield user might be needed...

 

There are some good party-support shields (one medium, one large) -- that emanate useful auras.

 

I'm not sure why they aren't targeting your guy. My herald (paladin/chanter) got targeted by ranged all the time, to the point that the large shield modal (that reduced ranged damage 50%) was really useful to me. I don't know how the AI makes its decisions. My guy was front and center in the formation and had high might/high healing, so maybe that?

If they aren't targeting you, finding ways to increase your engagement (forcing them to fight you or take damage) seems to be what you need.

If they aren't targeting you, finding ways to increase your engagement (forcing them to fight you or take damage) seems to be what you need.

maybe im getting lazy on my micro.  Melee guys do attack the tank when engaged.  More so as an Unbroken Crusader.  Its ranged enemies switching.  In POE 1 I would pop the tank out first he took a lot of heat while everyone buffed.

 

If they aren't targeting you, finding ways to increase your engagement (forcing them to fight you or take damage) seems to be what you need.

maybe im getting lazy on my micro. Melee guys do attack the tank when engaged. More so as an Unbroken Crusader. Its ranged enemies switching. In POE 1 I would pop the tank out first he took a lot of heat while everyone buffed.

What I usually do is send my melee dps at the backline wizards/archers first (with a little help from my ranged characters) and then wrap around to flank melee enemies. If that’s not possible with your lineup then idk how to help ya.

There were some really nice shilelds that offered a nice support to the party, but they were nerfed into uselessness in the patch 1.1. 

Edited July 24, 20187 yr by Ekera

When in doubt, always keep the entire party way back and engage only with tank. Then use the rest to pick them one by one. 

 

I don't have any dragon tips as I let all of them go. 

Edited July 24, 20187 yr by Hulk'O'Saurus