Shields.... -5/20 > All.

Chicks dig +10 vs slashing/piercing/blunt mods.

On the rare chance that I'm playing warrior in PvE, I use -2 stance or -20% blind. Warriors should always be in a stance, and blind is not your friend.

I didn't say sunder was better, just that its what the general population thinks is better becaues it has bigger numbers. I'd take a vamp/zealous/elemental over sunder any day.

And as others have already pointed out, there isn't a +10vs all physical damage inscription for shields.

so u guys carry about 7 different +10 armor shields rdy for just the moment you get hit with the specific type of dmg? ;3

Well, in PVE you already know what kind of damage you're going to face beforehand anyway (nothing changes in PVE...), so just bring what you need for the task ahead. For example, if I'm soloing Plains of Jarin, I take a +10 vs lightning, and a -2 stance or enchanted. The mesmers do chaos damage, so I can't negate that anyway. The majority of damage I'll take in that zone is either physical or lightning.

I use only 1 shield hehe... But I don't PvP with my warrior ^^

No Flaming.

Moment before you aggro a big mob with a ton of damage geared towards one type of damage and I'm scared I might die then I may switch my shield. Otherwise I just put on shield I think looks the coolest. So really in pve the +10 shields are just if you want to get hardcore about everything you realistically can go through pve with any type of a shield mod as it's not a big deal.

Ya that's the point. Its much cheaper to buy 1 shield with a mod than 7 different ones, even if the +10 armor is better. Last time I checked, not many people want to buy 7 tormented shields. This belongs in the suggestion forum but anet needs an easier way to swap mods in and out of an item without the use of a perfect salvage kit.

It basically comes down to having the best for any situation vs having inventory/storage space. Not much of issue at all for PvP, but a major one in PvE. A shield vs each element + each type of physical, + a full set of vamp/sunder/furious/zealous/x elemental weapons is quite a bit of storage space. Double the shield collection if you also happen to play a paragon. Then you still have the 8 other professions to deal with.

Having the best for every situation isn't practical for a lot of people. Some compromises have to be made. For me, the obvious first one would be ditching vs slashing/piercing/blunt in favor of -2 stanced/enchanted.

Even if you're too lazy and stupid to switch shields, you're better off with a +10 vs Slashing, because almost everything deals slashing :/

People think that the 20% happens alot. When really in the long run it sucks. The +10 shields are always better. to me -5 20% isn't perfect. And 5 damage reduction isn't that much. Your better off with the +10 shield.

In pve it really doesnt matter because mobs dont spike at the same time or are organized so your healer can usually heal thru any damage they dish out.

People see -5 damage and automatically think it's great. The problem is that it's roughly equivalent to -1 100%, which is uberbad when compared to, say, +10 vs. Fire.

You're not going to hear me complain about it being overused though, because nothing makes me happier than selling a Luck of the Draw inscription for 10k+

To Phoenix below: general PvE mod is +10 vs. Fire. There's uses for all of them, such as Cold in EotN, Slashing/Piercing/Blunt if it's melee heavy, but Fire is the main one.

Just a quick question:

When you guys get +10 vs X shields for your PvE Casters, what attribute req do you guys get? Or does it not really matter?

Doesn't matter. You get 8 base AR, then the +10 vs X and +30 or whatever. I only run a caster shield in very specific circumstances myself (farming etc mainly)

I meant PvE casters that are used in PvP.

Also, Strength shields instead of Tactics for Warriors, correct?

Skin matters most.

no mods are perfect.

Tactics, usually. Paragon shields are ugly, and there's a small chance I could spec tactics for balanced stance or somesuch.

You can comfortably obtain several +30hp shields with empty inscription slot from EOTN collectors (probably best thing about that expansion).

You can always swap to your favourite skin for screenies or "ctrl+click" showing off.

In related news, +7 al vs elemental / physical and +5 al vs everything would go long way into making -5/20% less attactive for lazy people (or heroes)

i dunno why ppl prefer it
yea k sometimes i got a green shield with that mod but i still have a set of +10 against*insert damage type here*