One mistake in Minecraft's combat that is seen throughout its versions and still in the current experimental snapshot is Minecraft's lack of different valid combat strategies/playstyles. Examples:
- Pre-1.9: Besides bow usage, all strategies used involved hitting one button or another very very quickly. PVE was miserably monotonous.
- 1.10+: PVE is much better, except shields make it easy. Early-game PVP is frustrating and not enjoyable with shields, either trading hits or pulling out axes and fighting like pre-1.9. With better gear shields are unused and players simply wield totems and slap each other.
- Currently: Players either attempt to time their hits for extra reach or spam with swords. Shields are not enough of a benefit, as swords damage through them and axes disable them.
My point is simple, there needs to be no best way to fight. Shields are the easiest way to improve this without major changes to the system. Shields need to be highly useful to players, but not a necessity. A player with a shield needs to be able to use it well to their advantage, but a player without a shield needs to be able to do just as well.
Therefore, shields need to be reliable in how they block damage (either a percentage or all, not the current inconsistent behavior). However, a player using a shield cannot be allowed to hold out indefinitely, so when hit shields need to either be shortly disabled or block a lower percentage of damage for a short period of time (say 0.5 seconds).
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