Even though there have been a few posts over the years about this particular build, it seems that Roland’s Set Shield Bash has never really gotten any kind of damage boost. It’s been the bottom tier since Season 11 when I first started actually playing seasons.
I loved the way it worked, but it’s just such under-powered build compared to say Sweep Attack.
Just one or two minor adjustments one some existing junk Legendaries and this could be one hell of a fun build for at least High-Tier progression
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That sucks. I was about to try out this set with Shield Bash because I’m not a fan of Sweep Attack. I hope I’ll at least be able to clear T16 which is my goal for any build (RIP seeker of light due to being squishy af)
You should be able to destroy T16 with Shield Bash, build it with Norvald’s.
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Never going to happen now. The game is dead. No more updates. RIP
I know this is old but I may have found something about this build and have a theory of why they have not buffed it. Since here is very slow, this thread was near the top anyway.
I have wasted about months to figure a proper build for this spec of Roland’s and I have found out that the optimization of the build is very unconventional, and not for first time players of the Set. As far as I can tell, Shield Bash heavily relies on Area Damage and uses it like another damage multiplier to amplify its impact.
I’ll keep it brief, you need to use Broken Promises ring when you decide to use this build, because you need to stack AD% at every possible equipment piece. This is important so you can ignore and remove ChC% rolls.
You need to pick Shield Glare- Emblazoned Shield skill rune to proc off AD% on weakened targets with Flail of Ascended in Cube. For the main attack, pick Shield Bash- Pound but ignore any and all extra block rating on equipment to stack CdR% or AD%. You need to support the Roland with Crimson’s, Endless Walk and Norvald’s then definitely include Steed- Spiked Barding to keep BP buff. You need to collide with a monster while you have activated Steed to reliably push BP.
It’ll be complete when you also get Provoke- Charged Up for your Wrath issues and keep the feedback of Stone Gauntlet. Empowering your attacks with sliver amount of proc coefficient to implode AD% from cone of Shield Glare is the whole gimmick of this spec; the inclusion of Provoke here ensures that you have proc coeff to trigger AD%.
After you ensure you have collided enough tick damage to keep critical hits of BP buff, you have to smash a few SB- Pound then activate Provoke and unleash the Shield Glare.
You might run into plenty of survival issues and when that’s the case consider Wrathful or Holy Cause passives and picking Invigorating Gemstone as your third gem instead of Gogok.
If you can not have a comfortable game play, either you are lacking cooldown for keeping up Provoke and Steed- Spiked buff from Norvald, or lack Area Damage at every possible equipment; else, you chose to ignore my word and didn’t get Broken Promises to stack AD%.
In that case, pick Crumble instead of Pound, as it can handle having a conventional (pun intended) build better but you will lose some burst damage opportunities from Drakon’s bracers. You will need more RcR% such as Piro Marella and Cindercoat to sustain yourself and may end up removing FoA from the Cube. As a result, Shield Glare could become irrelevant, so it’s your choice to replace it with Phalanx-Shield Bearers to box the targets or pick Punish- Celerity for block chance. Unlike Pound skill rune, Crumble is more forgiving on getting extra block rating on your shields too. You can replace BP with CoE and switch to Hit Me skill rune of Provoke still get the ball rolling.
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Idk why you keep talking about using bad builds with broken promises ring, it’s like a thing you seem to really like. Idk anyone but you that advocates using that ring.
Anyway, Shield Bash sucks yeah. Pound or Crumble used to be used, I remember Crumble in the early seasons was awesome.
But I think we can all agree the best and coolest rune for it is Shield Cross. They need to buff specifically Shield Cross rune the same way they specifically buffed Zombie Charger Zombie Bears rune.