shield inscription.

how comes luck of the draw -5/20% is the most expensive shield inscription when the other ones for example +10 al vs fire or even 20% less blindness duration seem to be MUCH better?

1. -5 happens only 20% of the time whilst those 2 inscp happen ALL the time.

2. even if -5 happened 100% of the time itd still suck in comparison to the other insc.

confusing.

Same reason 15^50 is most common.

Overall it has the most generic uses.

+10ar VS Fire is AWSOME in some places

-5/20% is OK in all places

+15% Dmg While in a Stance is AWSOME in some builds

15^50 is OK in all builds

Because a very large percentage of the player base is not smart enough to realize that

15^50% is good cause is something that u want to happen - if your team doing good you should be over 50% health.

But if you use stances or are in places where theres no enchantment removal you can go with those.

The best option is to have loads - but they will cost and consume space.

-5 physical/20% is a waste of space.

Because people are stupid. This is the same reason so many people think 20/20 sundering is good. Many people think big numbers just mean better.

Those other inscriptions only happen if you are being attacked by the appropriate damage type (or are in a stance, or enchanted, w/e). For example Armor +10 vs fire is only good if you are being hit with fire damage, otherwise it does nothing. Dmg -2 while in a stance is only good if you are using a stance - which may not be a part of your build.

That would depend upon a number of factors. For example, a+10 vs fire - the amount of damage reduction would depend upon your total armor and the strength of the fire attack. A +10 armor bonus may or may not reduce damage by -2 (as opposed to, say, -2 while in a stance)

At any rate, it does depend somewhat upon whether you are doing PvP or PvE and whether or not you want to switch weapons constantly.
For PvP you are going to want a selection of shields with various mods to switch to depending upon the situation.
For PvE the -5/20% (and 15^50) inscriptions are a simpler all-round choice since mobs may consist of various enemies using various damage types. Not to mention that many people who say they are not good don't fully understand the damage calculation.

But, in the long run it just comes down to plain old supply and demand. And, really, if you think the other inscriptions are better, your better off because they are cheaper.

Depends on class , for a W obviously -2/stance is far better than -5/20% , then +10 AL vs X . Paragons cant do that so they stick to -5/20 and +10 AL vs X .

-5/20% is bad, and people are stupid/have too much cash to waste.

For PvE, -2/stance is alright if you're a good little warrior and use [[flail]/[[drunken master], but I'd likely take +10 vs Fire/Cold if I only had one shield - chances are, the stuff that's most likely to kill me is those big mean ele bosses.

That's all it is.

Same answer to most questions like this, people are dumb.

QFT. I always try to convince people that sundering on daggers/bows whatever and -5/20 is awful, but its so hard to get people to listen.

For a single all-purpose shield, I'd use it only if -2 stance and -2 enchant aren't viable for my build.

For a situation where I'm swapping shields, I'd never use it at all.

Maybe it's you that's not listening.

I prefer the +AL mod myself. Since a lot of the time you know what sort of damage you're going to be facing, you can take a shield mod to protect you against that. +10 AL might not sound like much, but it means you take 1/8 less damage from that particular source. If you take +10 vs fire and get hit with an 80 damage fireball, you'll only take 70 damage. It's somewhat more conditional than -2/stance, but you can change shields when you know you're going to face a different damage type.

-5/20 has gotten the reputation as being a decent all-around shield mod, and it's really not the worst mod you can have but I don't like depending on luck to reduce damage.

http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Damage_calculation

Note that the damage reduction from armor is not a simple linear function.

All mods depend on "luck" in the sense that the mod will only help for a fraction of the time you're in battle. They're all conditional, and the conditions are not met anywhere near 100% of the time in PvE. Some of them are not even met the 20% of the time that "luck" gives you with -5/20.

Take an AL +10/Fire into PvE. How many times do you face fire damage? Far less than 20% of the time, except in special cases such as Hell's Precipice. In other places, such as the S. Shivers, you will almost never find a foe dealing fire damage. Only a small percentage of mobs in most areas of any campaign can do fire damage, so you only benefit from that mod a fraction of the time.

Take a -2/Stanced shield into PvE. How much time do you actually spend stanced during a battle? Most stances last only a fraction of their recharge time -- maybe 33% or less -- with a few exceptions. So, you only benefit from that mod a fraction of the time with most builds. If you can only have one shield, then using this mod restricts your ability to experiment with builds that aren't strong on stances.

The -5/20 mod gives the same fractional chance of taking effect all the time, under all circumstances. Can anyone name another mod that is useful a larger percentage of the time in any and all PvE areas, and can't be stripped or derailed by any skill of the enemy? If not, then it certainly seems to deserve a reputation as an all-around shield mod.

Since most people in PvE are only going to give their warrior heroes one shield, then it seems pretty obvious that they need all-around mods for those shields. Lower-level melee players also are served better by all-around mods, since they're still acquiring skills and learning how to make builds. More people need an all-purpose mod than need any particular mod useful only for particular builds and/or areas. Demand is higher, so the price goes up. Simple economics.

for warriors you should almost always use a -2 in stance because most IAS are stances, if your going for say an ele caster shield your better off with -2 while enchanted because you should be at least under an attunement, the +10 vs... are good only in small situations. the -5/20 is the average all around one but also used as many players thus it is also the most expensive, you'd be lucky to find one under 8k

wrong. 10al shields work out better than -x for various reasons. The most porminent being -x only rediced physical damage whereas +10al reduces your choice.

i see people saying +10al's are not as effective because foes in shiverpeaks dont use fire etc. Well the point of these shields is to have one of each and plan ahead to carry one that matches the damage you will be taking.

This can also be taken a step furthar pve wise by using a shiled with 10al vs monster type in areas such as DoA (even the doa green shields have 10al vs demon mods on them).

Because people naturally think that probability will favor them even when it is statistically against them (ex. lotteries).

http://guildwars.wikia.com/wiki/Afflicted_Elementalist
http://guildwars.wikia.com/wiki/Spark_of_the_Titans
http://guildwars.wikia.com/wiki/Pain_Titan
http://guildwars.wikia.com/wiki/Charr_Flameshielder
http://guildwars.wikia.com/wiki/Destroyer_of_Lives
http://guildwars.wikia.com/wiki/Terrorweb_Dryder
http://guildwars.wikia.com/wiki/Shiro'ken_Elementalist
http://guildwars.wikia.com/wiki/Shadow_Elemental
http://guildwars.wikia.com/wiki/Jade_Brotherhood_Mage
etc.

And since we're talking PvE, you know what damage types you'll be facing before you fight.

http://guildwars.wikia.com/wiki/Flail

Lol, very good wtfpwn post there Savio.

Oh, and if having to maintain an adrenial skill like flail is just too much effort, since we are talking PvE, just use
http://guildwars.wikia.com/wiki/Drunken_Master
For a fire and forget perminant stance.