The Complete Guide to Unique Shields in Diablo 2 Resurrected

[@dgunn4408]

Just because I love the little references Blizzard threw into their games back in the day: Tiamat (as in: Tiamat's Rebuke) was an ancient dragon in babylonian mythology *however* it was also the largest, most powerful Zerg Brood responsible for protection of the Overmind itself in the original StarCraft, led by the cerebrate Daggoth.

[@pyric]

One of the biggest problem with lots of the unique shields is simply requiring a TON of strength. Headhunters vs JMOD tho is a tough one basically you give up 1 socket for a lot more defensive stats and a lower strength req. Headhunters def wins for style points though.

[@gloweye]

Mosers with double Um rune is a very _nice_ shield.

[@Alzorath]

I see what you did there lol

[@jericelumbaring590]

I loved this series

[@Adam-zb5kk]

I like your videos a lot. A suggestion that would be a lot of fun: if you would be nice to hear you hit on some of the "very specific use-cases." You said this about at least 5 of the shields and I think it's a great opportunity to set your content apart from other channels.

[@Alzorath]

I try to include them as separate build videos as time allows - though I am rewriting a few of them that have been set to unlisted since I wasn't terribly happy with them (usually "specific use-cases" = C/D tier builds, or theme builds - so I have to spread them out to keep the channel from tanking as well)

[@Adam-zb5kk]

@@Alzorath that is fair. ill keep an eye out for the meme builds. i love that stuff

[@MapHKid]

Placing shields on the right hand, why must you torture me so?! :D

[@EL1991_]

I really want them to make changes to a bunch of uniques to mix it up for ladder season 2.

[@Alzorath]

I wouldn't mind that, or even just new uniques since there's still a number of open slots as well (especially on class specific items)

[@phucnguyen0110]

Wall of the Eyeless is super good if you can find it early actually!

[@Alzorath]

it definitely is (though it is a big "if" lol) - I just have a lot of nostalgia for it, so will even use it when it's not necessarily the best ;)

[@phucnguyen0110]

@@Alzorath yes it's a big if lol I find it to be pretty good for a Lightning Javazon early on with the + Mana for each kill.

[@belazarius727]

Lidless wall

[@Alzorath]

Honestly, the name usually leaves me wondering... what a lidded wall is...

[@belazarius727]

@@Alzorath that is way beyond my english comprehension (no clue what the word means...no not wall :p)

[@Alzorath]

@@belazarius727 basically, I've never seen a wall with a lid, much less a lidless wall :) (wall without lid) I've only ever put lids on jars or bottles.

[@adub303]

@@Alzorath @Belazarius lol I think it's referring to the skulls not having eyes and therefore no eye lids. But now I'm picturing a wall of open mayonnaise jars 🤣

[@cafelatte1124]

It should honestly be better than Spirit with +2 skills and all res or at least comparable option with higher FCR or something imo.

[@ironreed2654]

Fine content, would like some Hardcore Specific stuff; gotta climb that ladder!

[@dakotahsteier5481]

tiamats rebuke was killer for my kicksin solo self found.

[@Alzorath]

yup, that's one of the more common use cases for it :) - and the procs can be fun too

[@alphapolimeris]

I feel shields suffer the most from runewords existing.

[@Alzorath]

They are definitely impacted... though for me it still feels like runewords were the last nail in the coffin of spears for a long time (after the Barb WW change started it down that path)

[@alphapolimeris]

@@Alzorath oh. Yes. Spears. Didn't thought of that. :)

[@JB-qq1xz]

@@Alzorath yes! I’ve been saying this since the start of d2r, lol pole arms have so many rune words… ww baba nerfed since expansion… Polearms used to be less common than spears before these changes. Still keeping my 400%+Ed 40%ias self repair (sadly non eth) with some AR Hyperion spear, socketed with amn

[@tns6862]

Heeeeey just in time haha

[@zaidalielarabeloco4070]

0:44 in wich patch of diablo 2 the elite version of the buckler it's called "heater"?? Or am i dreaming?? i think im not

[@fayedd2r998]

Did you do a video on Unique Body Armors? Or did I miss it?

[@Alzorath]

could have sworn I did it, but I'm not finding it either... I still have the notes for it though, so I guess remake time :)

[@bend-k7695]

Why doesn't the ward get more love? Up to 50 all res at the end of normal is amazing and can take you through most of NM esp on casters. I wish the devs would tweak some of these items because many of them are useless

[@darushkii]

Yeahhhh I wish shield uniques were better.... There are 3, maybe 4 on here that I would ever really use, even for leveling. Sad

[@kristopherleslie8343]

Better at what point in game

[@darushkii]

@@kristopherleslie8343 honestly at all points in the game... Most of these normal shields are surpassed even by rare options or even socketed shields with random gems or runes. And then by the time you can make ancients pledge, nothing else can really stand up to it for general use

[@kristopherleslie8343]

@@darushkii i kinda disagree but I do agree some changes should be made: but I also realized people learned to play with little to nothing also 🤷🏽‍♂️ Some shields are good at what they do

[@kristopherleslie8343]

@@darushkii - per testing and even more so from pros and streamers, in the beginning/early phase of the game, shields aren't a necessity. I would consider early being between 1-3 acts. From a frames point of view, it can kill you or at least stun lock you from movement which is usually why it's not truly needed early on. I would say it's more important for your movement to be a priority. But for the mid to late game of Normal to nightmare well, most characters just need resistance since the meta is for more cast based game play. But for the fewer builds that are melee first, I could probably say your right but I think more people are worried about the weapon in general. I''ve beaten the game completely solo self found and didn't even need to farm much past normal. I kept most of my starting gear. Shield automatically was spirit for me so I had to wait for Hell to get it. In between that time it wouldn't have made much difference if I had a comparable one because the build I used mainly was an Assassin and casting traps. Most of which I was dual claw except for the big bosses I needed a shield for the extra resistances. I might change my original stance but I would say mid game it's probably ok to consider making some changes since we know the devs made horrible changes globally to weapons/gear and never came back to fix/update them. That's why I often say if we've learned to deal with that and use worse equipment than we should have lol then it kinda may not matter much. But honestly I'll side with you and agree.