Shield Block Freeze,

[SwordAzon]

My Tankazon is using a tower shield that has a 75% chance of blocking.
That, topped with 7 points invested in the 'Dodge' skill, makes her nearly impossible to hit in melee combat. (I killed Izual, and I swear to God almighty he hit me only 3 times. I didn't even have to drink a potion)
The problem - and I don't know if this is a bug that was fixed in later versions or not- is that the excessive blocking causes her to 'freeze'. It's as if blocking blows with your shield requires time to recover (like when you're actually hit). She wears chain gloves of fastest hir recovery, but even those aren't helping much. It's a pain in the ass, actually, this freeze, so much so that I sometimes consider dropping my tower shield and using a buckler with 25% block instead...

Is this a bug or what????

[Tal]

What is your weapon? Amazons don't go into block-lock as easily and recover faster when they use javellin class weapons.

[adeyke]

http://www.hut.fi/~tgustafs/hitrecovery.html

Amazons using a thrusting weapon (like a javelin) have a 5 frame base block. However, amazons with a slashing weapon (like a sword) have a 17 frame base block. This is slower than any other class. Some FBR helps but it won't ever be enough to let you block fast.

[SwordAzon]

I'm using combination Long Sword + Tower Shield.

[SwordAzon]

Thanx for the help, anyway.

[Raziel]

That URL lists clubs, sceptres and maces.. but not flails? Do flails fall under maces? Could a tankazon wield a Scourge with un-penalized block rate?

Or is she stuck with two-handers, daggers and javelins?

[adeyke]

Flails belong in the mace item type.

For purposes of the slow block rate, I think the only thing that matters is the attack animation. AFAIK, for one-handed weapons allowed on an amazon, this is either 1-hand thrust (daggers, javelins) or 1-hand slash (everything else).