just watch vids, i just copied how they fight and it worked lmfao
sounds like anti-shield propaganda. talk to me when you can damage past my Ravenna Warshield and 10% Blocking Affinity with boxing, taking 0 damage on parry, before i zoom at you from the other side of the arena with my insane Attack Speed with a rush.
Parry this you filthy casual.
but in all seriousness, i think shields should be used if you have lower health and are good at parrying, or if you have too many options as is. keep in mind that, although they’re not great, Shields do have moves. Shield Throw on a wooden shield carried me against Argos my very first playthrough.
Fire Thermo, but Thermo is trash i heard right now so probably not (I HEARD, don’t quote me on that)
the great thing is, though, because of the massive variety in builds and whatnot, there are workarounds, and the combat is mostly skill-based. some armors will always obviously be better than others (Cernyx vs Sunken Warrior, for instance), but skill matters more in my opinion (Skilled Cernyx user vs Weaker Sunken Warrior player, who’ll win.)
BUILDS ARE A MERE SUGGESTION! Go into battle with NOTHING ON AND WIN YOUR WARS!
yeah, the PvE content is funner in my opinion, even if it ends up getting bland when you do it too much. exploring the Dark Sea or Fishing or hunting for Sealed Chests once in a while is always fun though.
thing is, this game sort of reminds me of Minecraft in the sense that, by yourself, it can get kind of bland real quickly, but with friends it’s always a fun experience.
PvP is blander though, because it’s always meta-chasing know-it-alls who think they’re so skilled at the game because they’ve been grinding for the best gears and have this amazingggg trade value and whatnot, get all cocky or whatever.
if you don’t wanna pvp, nobody’s forcing you. just do what i do and have a max agility build on while exploring and FLEE at the sight of someone.
Sailor Fist Warlord, wearing the full Sailor Fist Strength Set for max Attack Size and Power, spamming Dense Argos’ Halberd. 
truly the dream of Arcane Odyssey PvP.
I’ve used both, but I personally opt for fire thermo, as its dps can get insanely high due to its double dot, speed, and synergies. Fire-sailors can nearly match up to that damage, though, and is much bigger. Choose thermo for PvP, and choose sailors for PvE.
I see thanks ;))