No other class, except for assassin, is forced to go without a shield to utilize some of their skills (Frenzy, Double Throw, Double Swing), yet Barbarians, the weapons masters, are unable to block attacks with their weapons. Assasins have weapon block, why not barbarians?
Battle Orders and shout do not make up for the inability to block with dual wield or two-handers, particularly in PVP. And with that said, all other classes have their comparative buff skills as well, combined with huge damage: Weapon block / fade, energy shield, oak sage, holy shield / auras, dodges…
Give Barbarians weapon block skill, for any wielding without shield ( dual, and 2-hand wielding )
The Combat Masteries tree tab has plenty of open space for its addition.
I think changing Increased Stamina to Increased Resilience and adding +2% Faster Hit Recovery per a level to it would go a long way to helping dual wielding barbs handle not having a shield.
In fencing, swordfighting, when fighting with one or two weapons, you try to block with a weapon, obviously.
The very idea that weapons aren’t used for blocking is absolutely insane.
Shields are far more effective, sure, but blocking with a weapon, one-handed or two-handed, should be the same as with a shield, just soft-capped at 50% instead of 75%.
Dexterity should also give far more defense per point to make it even half-viable versus health.
The last thing a duel wielding or 2 hander barb needs is the attack disruption of block. Imagine a PvM WW or Frenzy barb blocking hits. It would destroy the character. If you want to block in PvP, use a shield.
In my thread on suggested changes to Base Weapons I suggest the implementation of a “Parry” effect, that is more like the Dodge effect than the Block effect. Since parrying with a weapon is decidedly inferior to blocking with a shield from a defensive perspective (though better in not interrupting your attack).
I think that would be a better way of approaching this issue than giving Frenzy Barbs Weapon Block on top of everything else they have going for them.
Because that’s stupid. Very stupid. Barbarian’s usually have at least a level 30 battle orders as well as the highest vitality scaling. Your HP gets so high that only damage from decked out players will put you into hit recovery. Get some life steal or something. Turn run off if you’re getting hit nonstop. Even without a shield you can get over 10K defense 5K hp 10K whirlwind.
Why not just make it so your block rate applies to all attacks including spells, like the assassin’s claw block? Why not create a shield for any class that gives holy shield charges- we could all use a 2 frame block @ 150 dex using a spirit monarch.
Honestly, it’s probably just an accident by Blizzard. If the community pushed for a new 0skill item it very well could be Holy Shield, Weapon Block, or one of the dodge skills.
Maybe my barb sucks, maybe your barb sucks too, but nothing scales harder with the top end gear than a barb.
Honestly, they need to not reduce armor to 0 when running. Walking around, was when the devs still thought this was Diablo 1, and people were going to do that.