SHIELDS: +always/-in stance or +always/-encahnted?

I was just wondering which is more sought after/better: a shield with +health always and -dmg while in stance or a shield with +health always and - dmg while enchanted?

A shield with health always and -dmg while in a stance. More commonplace for a warrior to be in a stance then in an enchantment.

Health always and double adr on hit.
But I have seen and deserately want this shield

eternal
req 9 str
-2 hex -2 ench
+30 HP always

I know it has 3 mods and maybe I was dreaming. But others claim to have seen shields with 3 mods.

I've never seen or even heard of a shield having three mods, I don't believe that's possible.

Depends on how you are going to use it. As a stance warrior (stance) or solo farming/running (enchant)

My Dream shield is a:

Gothic Defender
16 AL (7 Tactics Req.)
+30 health
-2 Damage (in Stance)
-5 Damage (20%)

Most people want a shield with + health always and a damage reduction mod that triggers frequently (like a stance or enchantment).

best thing is to have a shield for every occasion

+30hp
-2 (stance)

+30hp
-2 (enchanted)

they cover farming/missions ect

-2 (enchanted)
-3 (hexed)

running shield

+60 (hexed)
-3 (hexed)

useful but not needed

well, the reason i ask if bcs i just found a req 11 eternal shield with +health always and -2dmg while enchanted

I was wondering if i should sell and buy a +always and -in stance or just keep.

Im pure pve btw, help guildies with missions/quests---no solo farming

Get two shields.
First one should be either Narmal/Stance/Enchanted
Second should be Hexed

Depending on the amount added by the +health always (i.e. not a +10 hp always) it probably doesn't matter whether you go for the -damage in stance, since PvE wise enchantments are more common.

I never saw -damage in stance terribly important because if you are using a defensive stance chances are you aren't getting hit anyways, and if your're using something like Frenzy, or Tigers Fury where you take double damage or can't use your non-attack skills the -2 damage won't be the deciding factor inw ehther you live or die.

Big fan of -5 damage (% chance), and Armor against (damage type) myself.

+30HP always is realy nice, simply cause dips in health due to loss of a stance or enchantment can be quite devestating sometimes, so a stable HP is the best.

i still prefer -2 while stance over -5 (20%), simply cause -2 while stance is controlable (just activate a stance if you're target, and no, not frenzy :P ) while -5 is purely based on luck

pvpwise you never control enchants yourself, therefor, as a warrior, i never use it :P

Either the constant health bonus, or, if you planning on pvping, the +60 health when hexed shield. Works wonder imo, and hexes are the things a warrior needs that extra health for. Trouble with things relying on stances/enchantments is if they get lost or ripped, u suddenly find urself dear of 45 health, Yes, technically this is true of hexes, but against hees it gives u health when they are attacking, so ur guarenteed the boodt when u need it, rather than stances and enchantments.

I'm basically just using this for sf/fow/uw runs where we have a bonder, along with missions where I got illusion of weakness on me(good never ending ench that has benefits and doesnt have energy degen like mending etc). So, I think -dmg ench will work fine. By the way, thanks for all the help guys!

EDITED: Nevermind, I just tested this and the conditional hp bonuses from hex/enchanted/stance are applied to the -_- bottom of your health pool. So they're only worth jack when you're near death, because any life lost while you have their bonus will also be lost when you lose their bonus.

Don't stop yet! This is a perfect thread for something i've wanted answered.

When comparing +health always verses +health while enchanted/stance/hexed, in the back of my mind I've wondered if the conditional health has more potential benefits.

This might be completly wrong, but consider a situation where you can used either a +30 hp always shield or a +30 hp while enchanted one. Say you have the always one and take 30 damage. Sure you can heal or be healed for this as it's just an extention of your max health. Now consider the 30 enchant shield under a condition where the enchant runs out and can be renewed easily. Here's my big issue! If using an enchant gives 30 life from the shield bonus and then you take this 30 damage and your enchant wears off, when you then cast another enchant would this be like a +30 heal (meaning that the conditional +30 hp triggers again and gives another 30 health for the duration of that enchant)?

Fight

-2 (stance)
-3 (hexed)
or
-2 (stance)
-2 (encht)

retreat

+60 (hexed)
-3 (hexed)

No, because when the enchant wears off your health will go down by 30, whether you've taken damage or not. For example, let's say you have 400 health and you activate the shield to get 430. You then take -30 damage putting you back to 400. When the enchant wears off your health will go down by 30 to 370. Re-doing the enchant will put you back to 400, not 430.

On the subject of shields, I'm a great fan of the Crimson Carapace Shield from the collector (Bleached Shells) in the desert. It has armor 16, health +45 (in a stance), rec'd dmg -2 (in a stance). If you are using stances, this is better than +30 always - but it's good to have both.

Im using hp hexed, -2 dmg hexed while im running my wammo and hp while ench / -2 dmg while stanced when im farming/etc.