Also found it wierd why a shield wont work againt magic.. When you think about it a shield and armor is basicaly the same thing, only difference is how they are applied. So if armor reduce dmg, so should a shield.. That being said magic is something entirely different then physical attacks therefor i think they should feel different.

Maybe dmg'ing both stamina and healt due to heat/frost/lightning. Where as normal attacks should only drain stamina until drained. This effect should be attainable against magic also, but only through perks and/or enchants.

Legitimately, shields should only protect, and only marginally, against specific types of magic damage. For instance - yes, I can see a shield providing some minimal protection against directional fire, but that ONLY if the fire is traveling in a small enough projectile that it can be blocked. A shield shouldn't do anything against an exploding fireball. The same would hold true of frost, though if anything, it should be even harder to block, since it's more akin to a cloud than a beam or ball. If there's something like an ice beam in Skyrim, then I could see a shield providing some minimal protection, but that's about it. And it's notable that in both cases, any conducting metal should transmit the effect anyway - frozen armor should cause cold damage just as the spell itself would, just as red hot armor should cause heat damage, just as the spell itself would. And against shock? If anything, holding an iron shield up to try to block a shock attack should cause increased damage. And against non-damaging magics - command, calm, frenzy, etc., a shield should make absolutely no difference at all.

So yes - I can see some minimal protection against fire specifically and maybe against frost, IF the attacks are of a form that might legitimately be blocked. Maybe some minimal protection against shock if the shield is non-conducting. And that's about the extent of it.

As i see it.. If a spell is solid as a projectile/beam/"cloud" you should be able to put your shield between you and the effect of that spell. The direct effect would then be lowerd(not saying how much or anything). Elemental effects would be so cool but i doubt they will be in.

Anyway. No matter the spell. Another layer between you and the spell should lower the effect of said spell.... any mind attacking spell shouldnt be affected by any armor at all... Excep maybe enchanted helmets or something.

Love this topic. If magic could be blocked by timely raising your shield/casting a spell was my question in the fan interview.

In my opinion, mundane shields sould only offer a marginal protection against magic as gpstr was pointing out. Enchanted shields are another story, and if elemental shields are in/can be crafted, they should offer a large/complete protection against their element (even perhaps by absorving the incoming spell).

A completely different issue is if mages should be able to block incoming spells. Of course not by the means of a physical shield, but through a magical barrier of sorts. It could be one spell (meaning that you should equip in one hand) and, then, if casted at the right moment and provided your magic skills were high enough, you should be able to block/absorb/deflect enemy spells. (See Duke Patrick's combat magic for an implementation of this idea in Oblivion)

I hope Bethesda does something like this. The only clue so far is a sentence from one of the first articles stating that a spell that appeared in Daggerfall and that was called ·"spell shield" (or something like that) would return.

http://www.gameinformer.com/games/the_elder_scrolls_v_skyrim/b/xbox360/archive/2011/01/24/skyrim-building-better-combat.aspx


When he says "them" does he mean warriors or shields? I'd certainly prefer being able to get perks that allow shields to block magic over getting a plus to resistance when I'm using a shield. How would that even make sense?
They're trying to move into a less spreadsheet-style gameplay, so I can't imagine they would really use a system as pen-and-paper as having a shield just raise your resistance...
But I'll be happy either way.

Most likely the extra magic resist is ONLY around when you perform a correctly timed block... So be sure your fast as lightning;/

I can position myself where an object blocks something presumebly. Like behind a tree.

A ball of frost is physical and therefore hits the tree and stops. Why would is not be stopped by a shield? Made exactly of the same stuff.


I think perhaps some magic shouldn't be blocked. But some magic should definitely be blockable.

what if you were wearing rubber gloves?

I would imagine it would depend upon the quality or durability of your shield, daedric obviously being better at reflecting/deflecting destruction spells, although it would be awesome if you or an npc used a flame spell on a lower level shield (iron, steel) and the shield got to hot for them and they had to throw it down! and a specialist mirror shield being able to defect even say, a paralysis spell would be awesome too.

My instinct would be to say: 'No, a warrior should be at a disadvantage against a mage until he closes the distance, and besides, metal conducts.'

But then I thought: What about leather, glass or wooden shields or Spellbreaker?

So I would say no, unless its a special aspect of a material or an artifact/ unique item.

Depends on the spells... If say, its a fire spell or an ice projectile, we're talking about throwing deflectable physical matter and defendable energy (fire). If it's a spell that freezes, then depends on the magnitude of the spell, as it could simply freeze the shield, but no effect on the user, or freeze the whole user including the shield. Eletrical spells or curses should not be defendable, as they can bypass the shield altogether... It's kind of thinking how magic manifests and choosing an appropriate reaction with the shield...

I believe in an interview with todd he compared blocking attacks with shields to mages dueling, talking about how their defense would be an absorb "elementX" if you see the enemy mage is casting that "elementX" on you.

Dragons don't have breath weapons, they use dragon magic.

Todd said so.

That was my beef with enchanted shields in Oblivion as they jsut gave you a constant effect resist or reflect or whatever.
What i'd like is that for regular shields to be able to block magic when you held down the block button, this at least lends a bit of interaction and immersion in the whole process. . Obviously the amount blocked depends on the shield and the magic.

eg a wooden shield will reduce the effect of a fireball, even a strong one though it might get destroyed in the process. This represents the shield absorbing the impact at a cost to itself rather than the wielder getting the full force. = Afterall in real life a shield is more like ablative armour, some thing to take a big hit and be discarded as necessary

as for area of effect spells. i think this is a case for tower shields that you can hide behind almost entirely. obviously something like a buckler would give almost 0 protection against AoE effects like dragon fire.

eg, in the game play video where we see the Dovakhiin stand up after the dragon fire attack (just before he unleashes the dragon shout) it looks like he should have emerged from behind a large shield but in the video he has none so it just looked like he was fire resistant which i thought a bit odd. Anyway, a large shield, even a wooden one would've protected him well enough from that sort of attack. (a plank of wood in real life doesn't actually catch fire that easily more so if its treated properly. Only if its exposed for a long time to an open flame, thats why its very hard to start a camp fire without tinder. So a large hefty wooden shield should be useful protection even tho it might get singed)

metal shields will obvously afford more protection.

elemental effects like electricity and heat melting the shield would be cool, but not something i think they would implement.

You should add the ability to vote for the commonly occurring trend that is leading to a consensus, that it should be dependent on the material of the shield (and indeed armor) and nature of the spell. Glass can take a lot of heat, but wood cannot. A shard of ice would shatter on a metal shield but a cloud of coldness would chill the metal. Electricity would be amplified by metal but reduced by things non-conductive.

If material/spell relationship was an option then I would vote.

I like the idea of it being material dependent. If a projectile is thrown at you, and the shield is of a resistant material, then you would reduce the damage dealt. Magical shields would of course do cool things like reflect the spell or offer near perfect protection.

I can imagine, but doubt, area spells being affected as well. If a fireball explodes to your right, and you managed to turn your shield to it's radial burst, then you should take reduced damage as well. However, I think that kind of system would be too hard to implement.

well, dragon fire is created from speaking certain words in their language, same as slowing time, creating ice, or whatever else they can do... im sure its SOME kind of magic, because... well, what the hell else do you think is causing it... a dwemer mechanism made purely from science deep inside their stomachs that activates with certain passwords people are confusing for dragon language?

Yes I would like it to block SOME magic. For example, How do you block a shock spell with a steel shield?? But blocking fire with a steel shield, yes.

No, it's magic. Despite whatever you think would happen to a guy with a shield blocking a flamethrower, the same would not be true for a magical fireball. Common sense, (and I use this word loosely because I believe flamethrower beats shield) simply does not apply to magic, and if it did then the entire principal behind it would simply be degraded.