New Item Suggestion - Battle Standards

Battle Standards have been used in military actions for centuries, providing troops with a rally point, as well as a morale boost.

Think of this as a two-handed "off-hand" item. It isn't a weapon, so it couldn't be used to attack. However, to compensate for not providing a direct-damage ability, it would impart a group-wide bonus. The item would provide the holder with some of the standard plusses, (i.e., +energy, +armor, etc.), as well as providing similar things to the party (i.e., +energy regen, +health regen, +morale, spell or spirit effects, etc.).

Some of these suggestions might be unbalancing, but I present them here to open thought on the possibilities that this could provide. I think that with due care as to what options are available as group-wide bonuses; this could be introduced without tipping the game balance. I welcome your thoughts.

its a nice idea but it oculd be exploited in many ways, kinda like how the armor was exploited, and they fixed it so u couldnt have 2 different armor things to switch around in mid battle

They already have flags that give you Morale, what else does a battle standard do?

Yeah the flags in the HoH are awesome.
I wish all maps had a flag for each team that you could just pick up and run around and look cool with. As I usually play the leader of the team I like taking the flag and leading everyone into battle with it and holding on to it for as long as I can!

/agree...*inquiring face*

I've never played in the HoH, i didn't know they had flags currently. That sounds like what I'm thinking of, but as a wielded item, not a dropable. I'm also not sure I follow the point about it seeming exploitable, explain the comparison with the armor, please. As an off-hand item, if you swapped to a different weapon set, you'd lose the effects of the banner, so I'm not sure how you would exploit the item.

Have 7 people in one party hold standards and your last player wont die.