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[tonnot98]

Is it worth it to put the points that I normally put into shield-user into armor, dodge, and weapons? I ask this because I heard that if you don't meet the strength requirements to hold a pike/greataxe/greatsword in one hand, you lose a lot of accuracy, and thus far, that rumor has held true for me. Is it worth it to not put points into shield so I can instead bat the arrows out of the sky? (Btw, how much of a weaponskill do I need to bat arrows out of the sky and parry attacks? It's never seemed to happen for me before.)

[Magistrum]

On expert you already start to see them frequently (assuming you aren't using a shield).
I say that it isn't worth it since there are attacks you can't parry(like wrestling attacks and fire breath) but you might hold your own against human opponents without shields just fine.

[Deus Asmoth]

You should at least keep a shield in your backpack in case of dragon attack, but if you're good enough with your weapon that should block most mundane attacks.

[Dampe]

NO.
ABSOLUTELY NOT.
Keep the shield.

[FallenAngel]

Shields are crucial.
Always have at least one.
Maybe not in your hands, but in your backpack.
You can spare to drop 1 point from Proficient if need be, though. Possibly two, depending on where it goes.

[Dampe]

I usually put most of my points into my weapon skill, as well as swimmer, reader, and observer skills, and then evenly balance what's life between shield user, armor user, and dodger, since all three are crucial in different situations.

[a smiling bearded cretin]

For me proficient shield and dodge, skilled armor, with observer at talented (the info isn't essential, but it's helpful, lets you be fairly varied). I think it's difficult to talk about them by themselves sort of in line with what Dampe has said. My weapon skill and fighter skill start at novice though. I rely more on dodging, and then with shield as fall back. That's of course just how I like to set up to be able to do anything.

A slight mod to tonnot98's question re:arrows would be: has anyone fought a hydra without a shield and at how low of a weapon skill level to parry?

[Bloax]

I've basically broken the game.

And no, it's not worth not having a shield - because every hit you receive can (and if you're playing vanilla, likely will) be your last.
"Fighter" increases accuracy as we all know, and getting your fighter skill up to ludicrous levels is extremely easy.

[Max™]

Yeah, for a change I decided to play around with a goblin dual wielding the best daggers I could find in the fortress I started in.

If I am able to sneak up behind something I can actually get a head removed pretty consistently, and even took out a dragon like that as the first big kill she got... then I check the next lair to the east... empty.

Look a bit further east outside of it and what do I find?

Zombie.Goddamn.Hydra.

I picked and poked and dodged and slashed and threw coins and knives and even my bow when I ran out of arrows, I got almost all of it yellow or red before I had to run and heal since it gashed my arm up, plucked out my upper front teeth, and mangled my eye, despite full iron armor, the lack of a shield really makes getting close dangerous as hell, and there is no way to go about approaching something that breathes fire without melting unless you can sneak up on it.

[Findulidas]

You can also block arrows and bolts. Its not unheard of to die to a random bolt even as a legendary in all skills.

Also Ive heard that the accuracy drop is only severe at the start, when you got high skills its very small. Certainly feels that way when I played.

[TheFlame52]

I usually spend the beginning of the game with a shield + long sword, but in the end game, I usually switch to mace + short sword. The best defense is an offense so good you can't be touched!

[vjmdhzgr]

I usually spend the beginning of the game with a shield + long sword, but in the end game, I usually switch to mace + short sword. The best defense is an offense so good you can't be touched!

What's the point of switching to a short sword? It's not like maces weigh such a large amount more than shields you need a weight decrease, and long swords are better than short swords.

[TheFlame52]

Short swords can be steel.

[FallenAngel]

The exact opposite of not having a shield, having all the shields, is an invincible strategy.
All hail shieldballs.

[Bloax]

Having a shield raises your chances of survival by an order of magnitude.
Having multiple shields (because adventure mode is buggy as fuck) increases it even further.

Ergo it is worthwhile to have a shield.

But of course, if you're not a filthy munchkin like me - be free to ignore the statistical disadvantages while RPing, at least then you'll have something that I don't have. (which is fun ;-;)