I’ve TRIED to use it for what it’s for but with how this game plays out, planting your shield down and unable to move with no extra cover gained serves no damn purpose, maybe if our block radius increased to the same range as Bulwarks I could see a use for it but it just stands against everything this game throws at you.
I do tend to just use the block rather than the special planting, but I do find it useful in some edge situations where I need to block a door for an extended period while my team’s toughness recharges.
That being said, even without the special the shield is pretty nice. Excellent stagger (a heavy attack can even stagger an attacking rager), decent cleave, and a block that can protect against ranged attacks.
Just for the shield in general: it’s not effective crowd control (spamming push leaks trash), it’s not killing the enemy, and it’s not practical to use to walk slowly towards shooters in most cases. Except on a pre-made teams with voice comms, it doesn’t seem useful for providing cover for your teammates (and even then, half the specials take you down).
Slab shield seems very situational, and a worse choice most of the time.
Slab shield with gun would be a different story, but perhaps OP.
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