So to preface this, I know this *doesn't* work and there was a Sage Advice shutting it down, but my question is more *why* wouldn't carrying 2 shields work? I had an idea for a redemption paladin with 2 shields and no weapons and it felt intriguing enough, but was disappointed when I looked it up.
My best guess is that balance-wise it would be too overpowered to have a character with +4 AC, especially at early levels. But do you think it would be offset by the lack of damage dealing?
Aside from ghee fact that it doesn't work because they said it doesn't work, really why *wouldn't* it work? If you can weild a shield in one arm, why not two? I don't think the weight would necessarily be an issue since you've got a weapon in the other hand swinging around (so even if the shield weighs more than the weapon, the weapon arm is at least doing the same amount of work), so why do you think you couldn't carry a second sheild and be twice as protected?
Another interesting caveat to this question: neither RAW or Sage Advice (to my knowledge) say you can't weild two shields, they just say that you don't get the AC bonus from more than one shield. Can anyone think of any loopholes or instances where it might still be worthwhile to carry two shields even without the extra armor?
I've quite a lot of experience of fighting with weapon & shield combination, with re-enactment and LARP and have seen people try this for laughs - I've even tried to make it work myself just to see.
This is my experience, based upon the styles of combat I have learned.
The biggest problem is that you no longer have any threat. In a confrontation, the thing that stops your opponent from just raining blows down upon you continually is the threat that you will strike and wound them. Without that threat present, they can abandon any sort of thought about defence and just go all-out attack.
Let's say in D&D terms, maybe you do have slightly better AC, but you're probably giving your opponent advantage on their attacks against you, unless they're also being attacked by someone else.
Then you have actually defending as an issue - typically with a sword and shield combination, you use the shield to block/deflect blows that are heading for your body. One of the biggest mistakes that newer combatants make is that they use their shield to block overhead blows that are aimed towards their own head. This completely removes their own ability to see their opponent, leaving them very open to the next attack. Typically the defence against head blows is a combination of parrying/deflecting with the mainhand weapon (attacking the incoming weapon) and moving your head.
A lot of the nuance of combat is about looking for openings in your opponents guard and exploiting them, whilst defending yourself.
I hope that helps imagine how fighting with two shields might (or might not) work.
If you had a DM that was open to the idea, look to the Fire Giant Dreadnought for inspiration. Doesn't directly translate to a PC, and probably only really works for giants, but I'd be open to homebrewing something since there is a bit of precedence in 5e. Even give it a backstory about how you saw one of them fight and have tried to emulate it.
It would possibly depend on the design of shield. If you think of something like the orc shield in Lord of the Rings with the two large spikes on the bottom that runs up the arm, it is almost a fist weapon with a large shell up the arm. Another version of this if you look at the shields given to Captain America in Infinity War, you may have a template. If your DM is fine with it, it doesn’t matter what a Sage Advice would say. Also it may end up being a flavor thing and you only get the AC from one of the shields.
I have a guide for Shield Fighting on the Fighter forum, but you could easily do it with any other class.
Treat one of the shields as an improvised weapon, and the other as a shield. Take the Dueling style for +2 with your shield. Take Tavern Brawler for proficiency in improvised weapons. Take Shield Master because Duel Shielding. This weapon (your shield) is better than, say, a quarterstaff.
So to preface this, I know this *doesn't* work and there was a Sage Advice shutting it down, but my question is more *why* wouldn't carrying 2 shields work? I had an idea for a redemption paladin with 2 shields and no weapons and it felt intriguing enough, but was disappointed when I looked it up.
My best guess is that balance-wise it would be too overpowered to have a character with +4 AC, especially at early levels. But do you think it would be offset by the lack of damage dealing?
Aside from ghee fact that it doesn't work because they said it doesn't work, really why *wouldn't* it work? If you can weild a shield in one arm, why not two? I don't think the weight would necessarily be an issue since you've got a weapon in the other hand swinging around (so even if the shield weighs more than the weapon, the weapon arm is at least doing the same amount of work), so why do you think you couldn't carry a second sheild and be twice as protected?
Another interesting caveat to this question: neither RAW or Sage Advice (to my knowledge) say you can't weild two shields, they just say that you don't get the AC bonus from more than one shield. Can anyone think of any loopholes or instances where it might still be worthwhile to carry two shields even without the extra armor?
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D&D Beyond FoundersI've quite a lot of experience of fighting with weapon & shield combination, with re-enactment and LARP and have seen people try this for laughs - I've even tried to make it work myself just to see.
This is my experience, based upon the styles of combat I have learned.
The biggest problem is that you no longer have any threat. In a confrontation, the thing that stops your opponent from just raining blows down upon you continually is the threat that you will strike and wound them. Without that threat present, they can abandon any sort of thought about defence and just go all-out attack.
Let's say in D&D terms, maybe you do have slightly better AC, but you're probably giving your opponent advantage on their attacks against you, unless they're also being attacked by someone else.
Then you have actually defending as an issue - typically with a sword and shield combination, you use the shield to block/deflect blows that are heading for your body. One of the biggest mistakes that newer combatants make is that they use their shield to block overhead blows that are aimed towards their own head. This completely removes their own ability to see their opponent, leaving them very open to the next attack. Typically the defence against head blows is a combination of parrying/deflecting with the mainhand weapon (attacking the incoming weapon) and moving your head.
A lot of the nuance of combat is about looking for openings in your opponents guard and exploiting them, whilst defending yourself.
I hope that helps imagine how fighting with two shields might (or might not) work.
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Interesting. Yeah I was more interested in what a reasonable rationale for that might be so that would definitely do it.
I'd still be interested if anyone would know of *any* RAW benefits you might get from this, though I suspect the answer is also no.
nope whatever you do with dual shield a sword and board does it better.
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Figured.
Too bad, it'd be a nice flavor for redemption paladins since they get penalized for fighting basically
If you had a DM that was open to the idea, look to the Fire Giant Dreadnought for inspiration. Doesn't directly translate to a PC, and probably only really works for giants, but I'd be open to homebrewing something since there is a bit of precedence in 5e. Even give it a backstory about how you saw one of them fight and have tried to emulate it.
It would possibly depend on the design of shield. If you think of something like the orc shield in Lord of the Rings with the two large spikes on the bottom that runs up the arm, it is almost a fist weapon with a large shell up the arm. Another version of this if you look at the shields given to Captain America in Infinity War, you may have a template. If your DM is fine with it, it doesn’t matter what a Sage Advice would say. Also it may end up being a flavor thing and you only get the AC from one of the shields.
I have a guide for Shield Fighting on the Fighter forum, but you could easily do it with any other class.
Treat one of the shields as an improvised weapon, and the other as a shield. Take the Dueling style for +2 with your shield. Take Tavern Brawler for proficiency in improvised weapons. Take Shield Master because Duel Shielding. This weapon (your shield) is better than, say, a quarterstaff.
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You need the second shield in case the first gets eaten by a rust monster ;)
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