Difference between revisions of "Tower shield of Ignorance"

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{{flavour|A shield unearthed from the remains of a ruined city. It bears an inscription written in an ancient language. Scholars and wise men laboured for countless hours to decipher it, and in time, a translation was finally settled on:
 
{{flavour|A shield unearthed from the remains of a ruined city. It bears an inscription written in an ancient language. Scholars and wise men laboured for countless hours to decipher it, and in time, a translation was finally settled on:
  
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+10 [[tower shield]]
 
+10 [[tower shield]]
  
-4 [[INT]]<br>
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-4 [[Intelligence]]<br>
 
rN+
 
rN+
  
 
==Desirability==
 
==Desirability==
For most characters, the '''tower shield of Ignorance'''<ref>{{source ref|0.27.0|art-data.txt|776}}</ref> is ruled out simply by virtue of it being a [[tower shield]]; [[size|small]] or smaller characters can't wield it, and medium-sized characters need to invest a tremendous amount of [[experience]] into their [[Shields skill]] to mitigate a tower shield's severe penalties. Large, hybrid, and [[formicid]] characters have a significantly easier time of it, but the arguments against the shield continue: -4 [[intelligence]] is a huge penalty for any spellcaster, and since any non-[[Trog]] character can benefit from learning at least a little magic, this is relevant in almost all cases. Finally, while the shield of Ignorance offers an impressive amount of [[sh]]ielding plus a rank of occasionally-helpful [[negative energy]] resistance, it's often more tempting to take advantage of the [[fire]], [[cold]], or [[poison]] resistances you can find on non-artefact [[buckler]]s and [[kite shield]]s.
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For many characters, the '''tower shield of Ignorance'''<ref>{{source ref|0.28.0|art-data.txt|775}}</ref> is ruled out simply by virtue of it being a [[tower shield]]; [[size|small]] or smaller characters can't wield it, and medium-sized characters need to invest a tremendous amount of [[experience]] into their [[Shields skill]] to mitigate a tower shield's severe penalties. Large, hybrid, and [[formicid]] characters have a significantly easier time of it, though a large shield penalty along with a -4 Int malus will render spells extremely difficult. Finally, while the shield of Ignorance offers an impressive amount of [[sh]]ielding plus a rank of occasionally-helpful [[negative energy]] resistance, more helpful resistances can occasionally be found on more mundane shields.
  
However, for heavily armoured fighters that don't particularly care about spellcasting, this shield offers a tremendous boost to survivability, and a tower shield's penalties to physical combat are manageable even with a relatively moderate investment of 15 Shields. Also, the shield's high enchantment allows wearers to invest the [[scrolls of enchant armour]] they would have used on a more mundane shield into the rest of their equipment. Just be wary of sources of intelligence damage -- characters who would choose to make use of a tower shield are unlikely to prioritize intelligence, and some wearers might find the shield leaving them dangerously close to [[stat zero]].
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However, for heavily armoured fighters that don't particularly care about spellcasting, this shield offers a tremendous boost to survivability, and a tower shield's penalties to physical combat are often manageable. Also, the shield's high enchantment allows wearers to invest the [[scrolls of enchant armour]] they would have used on a more mundane shield into the rest of their equipment. Just be wary of sources of intelligence damage -- characters who would choose to make use of a tower shield are unlikely to prioritize intelligence, and some wearers might find the shield leaving them dangerously close to [[stat zero]].  
  
 
In short, not a great find for a mage or a gnoll, but definitely worth considering for any bruiser.
 
In short, not a great find for a mage or a gnoll, but definitely worth considering for any bruiser.

Revision as of 08:46, 26 February 2022

Version 0.28: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.
A shield unearthed from the remains of a ruined city. It bears an inscription written in an ancient language. Scholars and wise men laboured for countless hours to decipher it, and in time, a translation was finally settled on:

"With a shield like this, who needs to think?"

Shield of ignorance.png the +10 tower shield of Ignorance

+10 tower shield

-4 Intelligence
rN+

Desirability

For many characters, the tower shield of Ignorance[1] is ruled out simply by virtue of it being a tower shield; small or smaller characters can't wield it, and medium-sized characters need to invest a tremendous amount of experience into their Shields skill to mitigate a tower shield's severe penalties. Large, hybrid, and formicid characters have a significantly easier time of it, though a large shield penalty along with a -4 Int malus will render spells extremely difficult. Finally, while the shield of Ignorance offers an impressive amount of shielding plus a rank of occasionally-helpful negative energy resistance, more helpful resistances can occasionally be found on more mundane shields.

However, for heavily armoured fighters that don't particularly care about spellcasting, this shield offers a tremendous boost to survivability, and a tower shield's penalties to physical combat are often manageable. Also, the shield's high enchantment allows wearers to invest the scrolls of enchant armour they would have used on a more mundane shield into the rest of their equipment. Just be wary of sources of intelligence damage -- characters who would choose to make use of a tower shield are unlikely to prioritize intelligence, and some wearers might find the shield leaving them dangerously close to stat zero.

In short, not a great find for a mage or a gnoll, but definitely worth considering for any bruiser.

The tower shield of Ignorance combos particularly well with an amulet of reflection; reflect all the projectiles you'll be blocking back at your attackers!

History

  • Prior to 0.25, this was known as the large shield of Ignorance.
  • Prior to 0.20, this shield gave +4 AC, reduced intelligence by 6, and only had a +6 enchantment. Also, it had *Curse property (33% chance to recurse itself on equip).
  • Prior to 0.19, this shield had +2 EV and only a +2 AC bonus.
  • Prior to 0.15, this shield had a +8 enchantment level.

References