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How exactly do you use this Talent?

Spend a Free Action to make an attack with your Shield (rolling Melee Weapons?)

Can you still use your Standard Action to attack with your weapon? (This would seem to balance fairly well with Second Weapon) Or are you spending a Free Action and 1 Strain to modify your Standard Melee Weapons?

Can you Attack to Knockdown with Shield Charge? It would seem a natural choice.

Thanks Arma.

So, like Down Strike or Surprise Strike, it changes your damage when triggered by the situation.

Unlike those Talents, Shield Charge causes the situation to occur where you get to use it. Hence the confusion.

It's too bad you don't add something from the Shield being used to the damage. Allowing for Forged or Thread Shields to Charge better in some fashion. Also, it's a little silly that a Buckler would do the same damage as a Body Shield, IMO.

The lightning shield spell and the Sky Raider warden talent produce electricly charged shields that do some bonus damage.

True... but not my point.

Those would also empower a Buckler the same as a Body shield (Actually, Storm Shield also creates the shield out of the air).

I'm weighing the benefits between a Shield Warrior and a 2 Weapon Warrior. Shield Charge and Second Weapon being the obvious key Talents in question.

Second Weapon gets obvious benefits from using a Thread/Improved Weapon.
Shield Charge does not (other than having more armor... which you sacrifice against all other opponents when using Shield Charge).

well, if you are going for damage then second weapon as in a real weapon is clearly the choice.
Simply because you could have anotehr Thread weapon.

f you want to have a threaded shield, which has scaling dmg with Thread Rank, you could design your own Thread item.

An easy example could be a Shield made from the wood of a tree that originates from the Blood Wood. Having extra thorns on it, the damage with shield charge is increased. Or simply desiging a metal shield with spikes.

However note, that a shield should not be more powerful, in terms of damage, than a decently sized weapon, especially a threaded one. So if you are going for dmg just go with a second melee weapon.

I am currently playing an Obsidiman Paragon of Jaspree (check the Earthdawn Compendium) and have had the same thought as you did ^^
I'm not going to get a special shield anytime soon however the option is always there. And If you have a Weaponsmith or Elementalist in your group, you could even make the design and enchantment of the sield a nice ingame quest.

All good ideas, especially adding Ranks to the Talent counting twice.

In the end, as one might expect, 2 Weapons is going to do more damage. The extra attack alone puts them ahead, before the weapon stats are brought to bear.

However, the Shield Charge eventually does hefty damage (how many non-Thread weapons get up to 15+Str damage?) and the Knockdown makes all your subsequent attacks (and your allies) easier and more deadly. In the right situation, awesome.

That's what I get for being so literal. Forgetting that the Shield effectively becomes a weapon with Shield Charge, thus Second Weapon could be used in conjunction. That leads to some awesome flexibility! Thanks!!!

Of course damage is important, this is more of a eternal mental exercise. My current PC Obsidiman Weaponsmith (eventually Warrior as well) is going to build a Size 7 Troll Pole Axe Heartblade. Once it's fully Forged it should be doing Step 16. Then we start weaving Threads...

Option 2 certainly sounds like the win. Especially with other Warrior Talents in the mix. In this example, would that mean that your Second Attack would have to be a Shield Charge as well?

Do you have to do Second Weapon after your primary Melee Weapons attack? Could there in fact be:
4) Second Weapon Shield Charge, Melee Weapons Broadsword