As a suggestion for the upcoming beta to any devs who read this stuff, try experimenting with using parry as a means of blocking Ungor archers’ projectiles. I think this could work because
It would give new utility to one of the existing traits
It would provide another reason to use something other than the swift slaying meta
It would make me feel like Geralt of Rivia, smacking arrows out of the air
Well, not really - remember, that as a shield user, you would still be able to take swift slaying, while parry users would be stuck without the single most useful trait in game.
I think shields could make a comeback if the archers’ attacks did a LOT of damage. Shields would have to protect your allies too though, none of that overhead phasing through you into the guy behind you BS. If having a shield up in the correct angle blocked 100% of the arrows, that would still make it better than parry which only has a brief window of blocking them, still requiring you to dodge. I don’t think I’ll use shield weapons no matter what they do, but that’s a personal preference.