What do people mean by this?

I was browsing several of the class forums and they keep saying:

Have a defensive Spear and Shield set.

What exact stats are they talking about for these items.

most of the time its a spear of enchanting, +5 energy.
and a shield with luck of the draw insc and +30 health

terrible and absolutely wrong.

+5 energy +30hp spear

+30hp +10vs. all armor types shield set

I'm assuming Furious and Strength as well?

Although that would be alot of shields, if you include +10vs. Elemental types as well.

I was asking this for PvE, but I figured this is the better place to get an actual answer.

luck of the draw is /never/ used in PvP the +10 vs X are the Standard right now

all ways take +30 on both weapon and Shield (some state that a +60 while hexed handle on your +10 vs cold mod sheild is a good idea because most cold damage is from hexes)

+5 armor on weapons is usually better, bring a +30 health weapon too though.

Also strength shields (both PvE and PvP) provide 9 armor unspecced (don't ask me why) whereas other shields provide 8.

And I use luck of the draw on my account with only proph and nf!

I agree with using a +30 hp spear grip and a +5 energy inscription. But what would you use for the spear head upgrade - for a caster, for instance for a monk? I don't see a lot of 'fun' options here.

If you would use a crippling spearhead, would it cause crippling? From the description, I think it would only lenghten crippling. Would it lengthen crippling if a foe is already crippled or do you need to apply crippling and then it would be for a longer period? If that's the case, all these spear head upgrades are pretty useless for casters.

crippling spearhead for monk, since you'll likely run return on your monk in some cases, and that mod DOES lengthen the duration of the crippling effect.

i primarily use a +5 armor 10% hct/hsr onhand weapon and swap to the +30 only after getting dp and/or when there is a huge abundance of armor ignoring damage. as for the shield, +30s and +10 vs xxxxx, one of each physical and element type. the +60 while hexed fell out of favor a bit after kappa spike went away because in that build you could guarantee the damage youd receive would be in the form of a hex, which isnt so much the case anymore. as for the prefix mod on your weapon, crippling if you use return, furious if you use adrenal stances(or are a warrior), barbed if you have rip enchant, heavy if you run enfeeble, and physical of any type if your team has barbs. for the shield, use an attributed shield that you can req if at all possible, otherwise pvp strength shields have 9 armor unspecced(as apposed to the 1/2 of max(16), or 8 like usual), so they are a good default. (ive heard that pve str shields also have 9 unspecced, but i cant verify this)

as for the +5 armor over the +30hp, the more you get hit, the more the armor helps you. keep in mind your defensive set is for damage mitigation and armor does this better than hp. have both though in cases of degen while not being hit, many times ive saved a death by swapping to a +30 onhand and lived by only a couple hps.

edit: bleh, i typed too much and mitch beat me to the punch on the str shields.

I like the Return - Crippling spearhead idea. However, I am using a q7 tactics shield with 15 AR, so I'd like to keep my secondary as warrior.

Maybe take a furious spearhead and equip 'Watch Yourself'?

What he said.
or
+5 armor
also +7 elemental dmg or +7 physical dmg

The upgrades you mention (+5 armor etc) are spear grips. If you use one of them you have to drop the +30 hp spear grip...

That why Mitch said to -also- bring a +30HP weapon. It's just that +5AL is more useful when your life total isn't threateningly low.

if you are cash strapped and/or not feeling up to the task of switching on the fly, get the +30 set first. it's generally good in all situations.

While shield sets really are necessary in PvP, you just don't need them in PvE. You don't even need runes or insignias in PvE.

But while unnecessary proper use of a shield set in PvE will help mitigate more damage, its just not going to be the difference between death or not in the PvE game.

QFT, I also like to bring +7vs Ele and +7vs Phys to swap to.
20% Enchanting is also handy if you can't be bothered to switch to your prot staff, or you can't switch quickly and need a fast prot. You will need to switch when you cast patient, as that gets lengthened aswell. You also don't HCT/HSR.

PVE strength shields only give 8. This can quickly be verified on the Isle of the Nameless by eating lightning orbs with over 80 armor.

Even in PvE using a defensive set matters, I may be a bit obsessive with it but I can clearly see the difference. Don't fail and do your monks a favor by having that +30spear/sword/axe and +30shield with +10vs something popular and click that 1 swap button when taking heavy beats.
Swapping really saves lives (in PuGs and some extreme situations).

Well I wouldn't say it matters but it is definitely effective and should be a habit.
After all learning it in pve means that when you go pvp it becomes a second nature.

But yes anything you can do to make the monk save a few energy is apreciated.

this only really matters in hardmode and even then with discordway its not that big of a deal

While you don't NEED to weapon swap in PvE, it certainly does help you get used to it. You get to the point where you know how to get the most of each spell you cast, based on which weapon set you've got equipped. It's one less thing to learn if you ever plan to move to PvP.