Hello.
I wanted to return to the topic of Shield Warrior Priest and melee shield healers after the healer patch, but this time using killboard data instead of only personal impressions.
The conclusion is not that nobody uses a shield. That would be false.
The conclusion is more specific: Shield WP still appears in the data, but it is practically dead as a main build.
And this matters because Shield WP was not simply “a healer with a shield”. It was a melee healer. Its identity was accepting more risk — playing close, depending on having a target, suffering kiting, punts, CC, direct pressure and heal debuffs — in exchange for being able to heal meaningfully when it managed to stay in melee.
That was the trade-off.
Now it seems the risk is still there, but the reward no longer compensates.
And we cannot forget that the server has a serious healer shortage overall, and that this makes the game more boring for everyone. Making shield healers playable again is therefore important for everyone.
How the data was calculated
The killboard does not directly say what weapon or equipment each character is using. That is why this analysis does not try to read equipment, but instead detects build signals from the damage breakdown by ability.
For WP, signals such as these were used:
- Sigmar’s Will as a safe shield signal.
- Sigmar’s Radiance as a historical shield signal before the patch.
- Hammer of Sigmar, Bludgeon and Divine Impact as 2H signals.
- Khaine’s Encouragement as a safe shield signal.
- Transfer Essence as a historical shield signal before the patch.
- Drowning in Blood, Feel Sacrifice and Wracking Agony as dual-wield signals.
This makes the post-patch method conservative. It is not artificially inflating the number of shield characters.
It is also important to understand the difference between “used shield” and “dominant shield”.
A single shield signal does not make a character a dominant Shield WP or Shield DoK. To be a dominant build, shield has to be the main pattern of that character’s visible offensive participations. If the character has signals split between shield, probable shield and 2H/dual, it can be classified as mixed. If the signal is too small, it remains a punctual signal.
So the important number is not “used shield at some point”.
The important number is “dominant shield”.
Main data
In the pre-patch block, from 01/03/2025 to 19/03/2025, 804,850 kills were analysed, with 99.96% damage coverage.
Combined, WP + DoK had:
- 2,644 detected characters.
- 214 characters with a safe shield signal.
- 172 characters with dominant shield.
- 6.51% dominant shield.
- 12.02% safe offensive shield usage.
Combined, WP + DoK now have:
- 1,678 detected characters.
- 191 characters with a safe shield signal.
- 52 characters with dominant shield.
- 3.1% dominant shield.
- 7.85% safe offensive shield usage.
- Dominant shield drops from 6.51% to 3.1%.
- That is a relative drop of approximately 52.4%.
- Safe offensive shield usage drops from 12.02% to 7.85%.
- That is a relative drop of approximately 34.7%.
- Pre-patch: 72 out of 1,504 WPs were dominant shield, or 4.79%.
- Post-patch: 30 out of 953 WPs are dominant shield, or 3.15%.
- Pre-patch: 100 out of 1,140 DoKs were dominant shield, or 8.77%.
- Post-patch: 22 out of 725 DoKs are dominant shield, or 3.03%.
SC and RvR
There is also a change in where shield usage appears.
Pre-patch, WP + DoK characters with safe shield were distributed like this:
- SC only: 12.15%.
- RvR only: 22.90%.
- SC + RvR: 64.95%.
- SC only: 4.19%.
- RvR only: 34.55%.
- SC + RvR: 61.26%.
It does not mean shield only exists in RvR. But it does seem clear that it has lost a lot of weight as an SC-only option.
Why I think this is a problem
Shield WP still has the problems of a melee healer:
- It needs to be close.
- It needs to have a target.
- It suffers from kiting.
- It suffers from punts.
- It suffers from CC.
- It suffers from heal debuffs.
- It suffers more pressure from playing close to the frontline.
The problem is that, when it manages to overcome those counters and stay in melee, the reward no longer seems sufficient.
If you build defensively, you survive a bit better, but you do not heal enough to justify the slot.
If you build offensively, the lifetaps improve, but you are too fragile to stay in melee consistently.
If you build something in between, you are neither durable enough nor useful enough as a healer.
The practical result is that many players simply stop using it as a main build.
I am not asking for it to heal more than a backline healer without conditions.
I am not asking to remove its counters.
What I am saying is that, if Shield WP has all the risks of a melee healer, then it needs a real reward when it manages to play as a melee healer.
Right now, the data suggests that this reward either does not exist or does not compensate enough.
What could be reviewed
- Reduce the RF cost of Sigmar’s Will so the gameplay loop becomes more sustainable: 50RF
- Review the real value of lifetaps when the WP manages to stay in melee.
- Review whether heal debuffs punish too heavily a build that already has to expose itself much more than a backline healer.
- Remove the Healing hand heal increase by Strenght. We are not casters
- Keep clear counters such as kiting, punts, CC, lack of targets and coordinated pressure.
- Avoid turning it into an immortal build, but make the risk worth taking again.
The killboard cannot prove absolute causality. It cannot directly read the exact equipment of each character, nor isolate every external factor.
But it can detect strong usage signals.
And when punctual signals are separated from dominant build, the result is clear:
- Shield WP still exists.
- Shield DoK still exists.
- But as main builds, they are at a very low point.
- Only 52 out of 1,678 WP + DoK appear as dominant shield post-patch.
- That is only 3.1%.
It describes a build that is practically dead as a main option.
It does need to have a real function again. If the design intends it to be a melee healer, then it must be able to heal meaningfully when it manages to play as a melee healer.
Right now, the data suggests that this is not happening.
