Shield/Force ring

[Angelalex242]

Does anyone have the game mechanics on what exactly these do? It's hard to judge their usefulness in comparison to, say, the barrier ring.

[JonOU812]

The Shield Ring decreases physical damage while the Force Ring decreases magic damage. By how much I have no idea.

[Angelalex242]

That's the rub. I have no way of judging their usefulness vs. other defense improving items.

[WhiteKnightLeo]

Take the ring to a nearby area with enemies that will deal you damage. Equip each ring and see what the damage comparison is between the two preferably with enemies that do both magic and physical damage so you don't have to run around finding the different enemies. Since the game doesn't exactly tell you it might be a thing where you have to take data on it. I used to have to do that a lot with MMO's. Trial by fire kind of stuff. -WKL-

[Alunissage]

I'll look it up when I get home. Not clear on whether you have the WD guide, Angelalex, but if the info you want isn't in that, it might be in one or more of the Japanese guides I have. I take it there's no obvious stat change?

[Grefyrvos]

The WD guide doesn't give specific values for the damage reduction, unfortunately. (It's funny - there's some info in the item tables that I literally just discovered (50% steal with Thieves' Staff when Lemina has the Goddess Crest equipped, but 30% without it), but there's other info that I know from experience (Fierce Fist effect) that isn't technically documented (it only says 'fueled by rage' which doesn't really convey the effect)...)

Since neither ring gives actual stats, I assume that they work just like the Wind Ring, Spirit Talisman, etc. It's just a matter of determining what percentage of reduction they all provide.

[Angelalex242]

I can tell you they don't. Unlike the hero's talisman, which makes all physical damage yellow, the Shield Ring and Force Ring do not yellow any damage.

Also, I don't have the guides bought, so I can't just look it up.

[Alunissage]

OK, I just didn't want to insult your intelligence by posting information you already had. I haven't had time to look at this yet but will try to tonight or tomorrow. We may well have to determine it empirically. I'm glad you asked; I like figuring this sort of thing out.

For future use, would you like me to send photos of the guide's tables (weapons, armor, items) to you? I can also send you my spreadsheet, which has most of the same info. Would be happy to collaborate with you on more complete game info.

[Angelalex242]

By all means send it to me. It sounds like it's a rare guide for a rarer game.

[Alunissage]

OK, I'll take some pics soon. PM me your email address and I'll send you stuff.

So, all the WD guide says is that the Force Ring "decreases damage from all types of magical attack" and the Shield Ring "decreases damage caused by physical (non-magical) attacks."

Aha. The Dragon Magazine (PS) guide says damage is reduced 25% for both rings. Not going to bother to verify the magical vs physical attack part. The other Japanese guide I checked does not have a percentage. So, if you want to do some empirical testing, there's what to look for.