Shield MODs

Why is it that shields cannot be salvaged and modded in prophecies and factions, but can be in nf.

This is completely retarded and confusing. I just wasted money buying a +30 health shield mod and didnt know I couldnt use it on this zodiac shield I just bought. So theres 50k I just wasted.

ANET I have been playing for almost a year and I feel like NOOB that got scammed.
Now I have a zodiac shield with no mods that is completely fricking worthless unless I try to scam someone else who doesnt know about not being able to mod it.

And I also have a +30 health mod that is completely worthless unless I try to scam someone else who thinks they can use it on their shield.

What really pisses me off, is I even checked WIKI looking at what kind of mods are available for shields before I decided on buying the +30 health. And there is NOTHING ON THERE ABOUT not being able to mod shields from prophecies and factions.

I dont know if has ever been brought up before but if anet doesnt want to fix it then at least put a warning about it on wiki.

Rewrite, since I didn't read clearly:

The system is a bit confusing. Basically:

http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Inscription (everything)
http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Weapon_upgrade (limited to: wand wrappings, focus cores, shield handles)

These mods are not salvagable from Factions or Prophecies items, nor can they be applied to a Factions or Prophecies item; for these campaigns, are inherent to a Factions or Prophecies item.
Or in other words: these mods are salvagable from Nightfall items, and can only be applied to Nightfall items; they are distinct from a Nightfall item.

Inscriptions are always clearly labeled as whether or not they are present, and a weapon can take them. I don't believe that sort of indication applies for those three weapon / armor upgrades, including the fortitude mod found on shield handles. It can be a problem, I bet, since I'm pretty sure shield handles are labeled on items, and not every item from Nightfall drops with an inscription slot. On the other hand, if you just wanted the handle, you could have asked the guy to salvage it.

Guildwiki (as well as the new, official wiki) is a user-built database. That means, you will only find such information there, that other players put there. If you find information to be missing, you're welcome to add it.

Articles on the wiki "grow", as content is added to the game. The whole "weapon upgrade" article stems from a time when there were no upgrades for shields, focus items and wands at all. With Nightfall, a list of those upgrades was added, but it obviously was forgotten to note that those are for Nightfall-items only. Either way, I see your pain and will add a corresponding note to the article.

TO: Sun fried Blank
Ok what you wrote is way more confusing then what I wrote.

And BTW, those websites you linked to dont say anything about not being able to upgrade your shield. The first one talks about inscriptions, (I.E. +dmg, energy, armor) nothing about the the ACTUAL MOD like +30 health.

The second one you linked to proves my point again perfect. No where does it say that only certain armor/weapons from certain campaigns can have this mod salvaged and replace, and this other one, from this other campaign not salvaged or replaced.

This is fricking retarded like I said and too damn confusing

Try typing shield into wiki and please put a BIG WARNING saying only NF shields can be modded.

(EDIT)
TO: 84, thx I just saw what you posted

The second one does mention shields in section 5.1.

But yeah, a warning when you mouse over or something would help newer players. Not that we can do anything about it here..

Did you even read the article??

wow thx for proving my point again.

yes it does mention shields in 5.1 and it gives u what a shield handle mod does. Exactly what I checked before buying the mod. It also says nothing about the shield handle mod can only be used on nf shields.

You could have asked in local, or just done a little pattern recognition. Can't use inscriptions on prophs weapons. Can't use insignias on prophs armors. Why would shields be magically different? The only one who scammed you is yourself.

Because a shield handle isn't an inscription?

you actually completely undermined your own argument there, cause shields infact ARE magically different, but in the other way :

swords for all 3 campaigns can get a sword pommel upgrade
axes from all 3 campaigns can get an axe grip upgrade
hammers from all 3 campaigns can get a hammer grip upgrade

however, shields from factions and prophecies cannot get a shield handle upgrade

this is because swords, axes and hammers could be modded with such upgrades before NF came out, while shields could not. So yes, shields are different, and it should be mentioned somewhere in the ingame description aswell, cause indeed, now that i think of it, it's quite confusing for newer players

It says it on the Weapon Upgrades page just underneath the first Table
Whether that was here when you read it or was added after is unkown to me but it is in there now

and as for Inscriptions, the notes under Acquisition and Usage clearly state the exclusivity of them. I, myself, put these notes here back in December, I think.

**Edit**
I took the initiative and put a BOLD line at the very top of bothe the Inscription and Weapon MOD page stating the exclusivity of them. Let me know if that is adequate for your noobness!! j/k

[edited for typos]

RotteN, I don't think that is relevant because I was speaking solely of NF mods. Thus my mentioning "inscriptions" and "insignias" and not "pommel", "axe grip" or "hammer grip".

Allow me to explain more clearly:

Inscriptions are an NF addition.
Insignias are an NF addition.
Shield Handles are an NF addition.

One cannot apply NF additions to pre NF items. This is clear because:

You cannot apply inscriptions to weapons that existed before NF.
You cannot apply insignias to armors that existed before NF.

Therefore it would be a logical supposition that you cannot apply shield upgrades to shields that existed before NF because shield upgrades did not exist until after NF just like insignia's and inscriptions.

It's basic pattern recognition, the pattern being that you cannot apply NF mods to pre NF items.

Do you understand?

i wass wondering the same thing when i had a -5/20 shield, the "shield handle" artical explained all...