This is a niiiiiiiice piece to have - my enchanter bought it in the Bazaar yesterday for 1.5k (as opposed to what it usually goes for - 10k). As anyone who's played an enchanter knows, AC and HP >>>> all. The +6 int (and it does have 6 int) is just a bonus.
And IMO, this thing >>> Ornate Rune Shield. It has 25 HP, and that is enough for me.
I got this tonight in UP and it has 6 int as well. As for whether it's good enough for lvl 50 + ? heck yeah. If i can have INT, HP's, Mana, and a good across the board resists in my "OFFHAND" than i'm very happy. Add in the 17 AC and you have a nice peice here. At lvl 50+ i really don't worry bout the int as much as the mana/resists/hp's anyway, so this is perfect for my Necro.
Not saying this is meant for a bard just saying that a bard has a use for a shield evern after they get duel wield. Someday when I get epic I'm going to get the 10 to all resists shield for when I fight AE mobs.
Yoy guys say that by lvl 50 you should have better than this? In case u didn't notice this shield is actualy almost the same or even a bit better than the Ornate rune shield (ac15 int8 mana10 5to all resists). Most casters 50+ have one of those and use them all the time. The fact that this is Bard useble does NOT mean that it is a bard shield. Anyway, i bought mine for 600pp in nfp and i think that was a bargain since the Ornate Rune shiled goes for 6 to 8k on Saryrn. So it is an awsome caster item!
A Bard on a Raid who has epic is more interested in liveing through the AE's from mobs than about damage output. So if it there are resists on a shield a Bard can use he or She, if equipted with epic, might want it so we live through the nasty spells some monsters cast.
Tegerien Soulsinger "I don't have to out run (place dragon name here). I just have to out run YOU. 55th Bard of Cazic-Thule
I'm so sick of hearing..."By lvl 50 you should have...." In actuality, by Lvl 50 you should have a few things better than your ordinary everyday drop but you still would be looking for those other uber items to wear. So by lvl 50 you may have a better belt than average and better boots than average but maybe you don't have the better breastplate yet, so then you take the common one that is better than the one that you're wearing.
I suppose this intended as save/raid gear, but at lvl 50 you can fill the slot with better than this...ever get the feeling that VI is really out of touch with the very game they run?
They pretty much point out this is for twinking for a Bard. I mean really, at the lvl you get this Bards have long ago tossed away Shields. Really wierd...
It's a nice touch actually. There are lots of old-world items that are bard & caster only (orb of tishan for example). I doubt i would ever use this w/ my bard but i appreciate verant's attempt to be congruous w/ their classing of items.
it means that if you're not 50+, you won't be able to equip it...the same way with the club of the ice ocean off of lodizal. so you can't twink with this, or anything i've seen drop from umbral.
This is not true on EVERYTHING. For instance, I looted a robe that was Recomended level of 40 and had AC10. I put this on my 20 monk to see the graphic and it reduced the AC to 6. I then put it on my level 9 Necro Mule and the AC was reduced to 2. So it had a Negative 2 AC per 10 levels below 40.
Recommended level means you don't get all the benifits til that level. Required Means the level you have to be to even put it on. Most items before PoP don't have a Required level....but a few PoP items have it.