A couple of questions about shields

I was wondering if oldschool shields with both -2enchant and -2stance mods drop anymore or if they have been removed from the game?

My other question(slightly off topic) in your opinion would a shield with -2-2 stats be a better shield for a runner to use over one that has -2 +45 stats?

thank you for your time and input

They probably still drop, and they're still going to be as, if not more, rare.

It seems to me that the -2 -2 shield would be the better option, but it's not like going -2 +45 is going to be that much worse.

Dual dmg reductions shields Do not drop anymore..

I prefer personally 45/-2st cus well i dont use any enchants while running.

Ofc -2/-3 would be nice is some situations tho

QFT

the above posts preety much got it all covered.

As to the OP, -2/-2 shields that already existed haven't been removed, but I can't speak to if they still drop.

I would think the ideal stats on a runner's gear would vary depending on the specific build you're using to run a specific area. The -2 mods affect only physical damage, so it's almost a waste if you're trying to run through a place where few, if any, martial foes can hit you.

I'm not disagreeing with Pleikki, but I'm curious where this came from. I thought inherent shields and offhands could still drop with "dual inscriptions" (as in, it's still possible for the game to spawn new inherent drops with dual mods which are both available as inscriptions in NF and onward.) Did they specifically remove just certain combinations from the drop table (like, if -2wE then the second mod cannot be -2stance or -3wH,) or does the game generate all new inherent items with only dual mod stats that could be recreated with inscriptions (not counting the 10vCritter armor mods, of course.) Anyone know?

I'm inclined to agree with this. Afaik, the only droppable mod combination/stat they removed was +15% damage/unconditional. Things that don't come in inscriptions like +XX% damage/-1 health (or energy) regen still drop. I don't see why -2/-2 shields shouldn't.

Pleikki is right: -2/-2 and -2/-3 does not drop anymore.
Other non-inscribable shields with 2 "inscriptions" are still possible, like -2^ench +10 Armor vs. XYZ.

on topic: Pretty much depends on your running build and the area you are running.
So it might be best to have a few different shields available

Dual reduction shields (-2 in stance and another -dmg mod) stopped dropping shortly before or at the moment of Factions release. Since then inherent shields can drop with any 2 mods that come from different mod groups. There are 5 mod groups for shields:
+Health mods,
+Armor mods,
-Dmg reduction mods,
-Condition reduction mods,
+1 Attribute mods.

Before that update, the -2 (while in stance) mod was treated as a separate 6th mod group so it could appear together with any mod from any group including the other reduction mods.

^^^ I love this guy

He is correctamundo