What shield to use?

Hopefully this is my last start over. This time, I hope I'll be so happy
with my charater that I'll keep playing him right through most of the game.

But I have a problem.

I've always made and played sword-mages, that is characters with Long
Blade and Light Armour, plus a bunch of magic skills, but this time I've
made a character who forgoes Enchant skill and takes the Block skill
instead.

My problem is, I have no idea what shield to use. I've bought a bunch of
shields i Balmora, and stashed them all in the emptied shack in Seyda Neen.

But what makes for a good shield? Some shields are classified as light,
others as heavy, others again as medium. Does that actually have any
effect? In combination with my character having a fair Light Armour
skill, and minimal skill at Heavy Armour and Medium Aremour (and
Unarmoured)?

Most shields seem to have the same armour value, 2, except irons shields
which have 1. Some shields claim to have a very high armour value, of 16
or 18, but when I equip them my armour rating doesn't change, even
though my Block skill is 40+.

Obviously I want a shield that weighs as little as possible, so that I
can carry more loot. Everything else being equal, I should go for the
lightest possible shield.

Equally obviuosly, I want a shield that is as durable as possible.
Everything else being equal, I should go for highest durability.

But beyond that, I'm *utterly* confused. I find myself in need of
information. The game seems not to tell me what it ought to tell me.

(If it's of any importance, I have the printed manual for the original
game. I don't believe I've ever read a manual for either of the
expansions, although they may be on the CD-ROMs.)

--
Peter Knutsen
sagatafl.org

On Fri, 30 Nov 2007 23:54:08 +0100, Peter Knutsen
<peter.RemoveThis@sagatafl.invalid> wrote:

>But what makes for a good shield? Some shields are classified as light,
>others as heavy, others again as medium. Does that actually have any
>effect?

Your Armour skills will determine how much armour value you get from a
shield, while your Block skill determines how likely it is that you
deflect an attack with it. The weight class on shields determines
which armour skill is relevant here, and does not affect the Block
skill at all.

> In combination with my character having a fair Light Armour
>skill, and minimal skill at Heavy Armour and Medium Aremour (and
>Unarmoured)?

You should use a shield of the same weight type as your best armour
skill to get the best defence. You've specialised in Light armour,
meaning that Glass Tower shields will be the best you can use.

The light shield types, in order of defence and enchantment
Netch Leather 5, 150
Nordic Leather 5, 150
Netch Leather Tower 5, 225
Chitin 10, 250
Riekling Shield 12, 80 (Bloodmoon only)
Chitin Tower 12, 375
Wolf Shield 15, 50 (Bloodmoon only)
Goblin Buckler 20, 100 (Tribunal only)
Glass 50, 300
Glass Tower 55, 450