when i stumble across an archer in rvr or bg's i have this reaction everytime i find one. as a thane first thing i do is /face the archer and hit my range insta dd. then i engage the archer. but here is my problem. it seems when i engage i block next to zero of the arrows. is this normal game mechanics at play because i'm not sure what i maybe doing wrong. right now my shield is at 42+6 and i'm level 49.

thanks for any reply

from what i recall with engage you block aslong as you have end, or try to block, hmm, something like that anyway =P

block is still buggy, isnt it? With my Hero i block nearly zero...

I don't play shield tanks, but i heard you may have to press engage twice after selecting your target.
Maybe try that and read the messages you get.

when a tank is engaging my shots from Ranger i switch to rapid fire, then i am faster then he can block, so i can still kite and shoot him down, with normal shots engage nearly blocks every shot (my experience)

@Askirion that also depends on amount of shots vs shield size and ~swing timer afaik (large shield 3blocks / swing, medium 2blocks / swing, small 1block /swing afaik)

engage versus a char that got damaged doesnt work for 1O sec (?)

try without your insta dd ^^

Shields VS archers


shield defence gets a 25%+ chance when blocking vs arrows

then if you engage it jumps your block rate.


with 42+6 VS archers and using engage... he should beable to block at least 6-7/10 arrows

with 50+15 MoB3 and that combo above you should beable to block 8-9/10 arrows.

in live
I've nearlly never been shot with a arrow on my shield hero, when /facing my target. and i never needed to bother with engage to do so.
only once have i been shot and that was VS 7 scouts. only one hit me during the 5 mins of /guarding a light eldy while he got in range to kill each of them.

well engage has worked nicely when i have used it, only problem that i have noticed is following.

1. press engage -> press disengage ->works fine
2. u try engage again and engage icon comes 2x so u have to press 2x engage to disengage

Dont know if this is right but atleast it works

thanks all for the reply's

now i got new things to try out to see if it works better than my current method.

panachier wrote:engage versus a char that got damaged doesnt work for 1O sec (?)

try without your insta dd ^^

Can't engage a target that's under an attack timer.

I have a thane too and engage surely work great

Like other people said, engage works only if the target has not been damaged recently (around 10 seconds). Also if another one attack the engaged enemy, you will not be able to raise your blockchance.

Now i when i am hit i imediatly hit /face and engage. it's been working great till ione time i hit /face and engage and sprinted tward my target i soon realized i was using my two hander instead of my shield and hammer .

the lessons learned the hard way heh.