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Now I am willing to accede that a Duel Wielding Falcata fighter will probably out DPR a Sword and Board player but what about all the other styles out there like Main Gauche or Axe and Spear or Sword and Hammer etc. I am still stuck on the idea that the feat Improved Shield Bash has a distinct advantage in that you can basically take a defensive item and make a rather effective weapon out of it without any deleterious affects. I have never had a player in any group I have played in go this route (Sword and Board) it seems most players want to be Drizzt, but this route seem very effective almost too effective...
I am thinking of using a parry mechanic a'la Kevin Siembieda's Palladium System and doing away with Shield bonus to AC all together. Does anyone have a link or know of one that is already in use (house rule)?
IMHO, Falcata is a broken weapon. A martial weapon with a critical on 20 (x4), (essentially just get the freaking pickaxe for stats) would be a better design. Or keep it a exotic weapon with +2 to sunder attempts and 1d8 20x3, 19-20x3 only when sundering, for example.
But on the subject : think about the Parry class competence from the Duelist.At 2nd level, a duelist learns to parry the attacks of other creatures, causing them to miss. Whenever the duelist takes a full attack action with a light or one-handed piercing weapon, she can elect not to take one of her attacks. At any time before her next turn, she can attempt to parry an attack against her or an adjacent ally as an immediate action. To parry the attack, the duelist makes an attack roll, using the same bonuses as the attack she chose to forego during her previous action. If her attack roll is greater than the roll of the attacking creature, the attack automatically misses. For each size category that the attacking creature is larger than the duelist, the duelist takes a –4 penalty on her attack roll. The duelist also takes a –4 penalty when attempting to parry an attack made against an adjacent ally. The duelist must declare the use of this ability after the attack is announced, but before the roll is made.
I do not have any houserule for this just now, but seeing what you want, it really was perfectly fitting with Parry. I guess it shouldn't be hard to get as a prerequisite something like "Fighter level 6, Two-weapon fighting, Shield focus, Improved Shield Bash", and make the "Parry" from the Duelist PrC a feat that lets you lose your shield bonus to AC during a full-round attack. During this time, you spend one or more attacks with your shield and use these before the next turn to parry strikes by using the same bonuses than the attacks you chose to lose and counter the enemy, without forgetting the -2 or -4 you would have had because of Two-weapon fighting. This allows for a more mobile shield build and trades the bigger shields AC for a trickier but potentially more effective parade. Essentially, it works as Parry, with the following differences :
- you lose your shield AC bonus from the moment you start your attacks to the beginning of your next turn,- you have to use use shield attacks to parry.
And if when playing you see it's pretty really much more cons than pros, you can think about adding your Shield Focus bonus (and later your Greater Shield Focus) as a bonus to attacks made only when your shield tries to parry. So with Greater Shield focus it's always +2 CA, or always +2 to your opposite parrying attack rolls, effectively nullifying a -2 from Two-weapon fighting with a light shield.
Just my 0,02. :)
Edit : edits made, check again the message if necessary. :)
I did a post on AC, inspired by this thread.
a +5 Defender bonus to AC is 72000 gp for what you put it on. Yes, it can get you to a walk-around 49 AC or so. Yes, that's a LOT of money.
AC matters at all levels, you just have to pay attention to it.
There is no mixed-weapon TWF combat style in the game that is effective. Shield is the MOST effective of these. But the feat cost is too high, and an extra 5 pts dmg for using a heavy shield over a dagger doesn't really make the style that great.
Yes, you can wield a shield in your main hand and a weapon in your off hand. Example...disarm your weapon. Suddenly, the only weapon you are holding is your shield. You bash with it. It's your only weapon, is it still off hand? Of course not. Actually, you can grab it with both hands and use TWH dmg on it if you like. see Captain AMerica for variations on the theme. If you are using a shield and you bash with it, and don't attack with the weapon in your other hand, by the rules its in your primary hand and you don't take a penalty. Extending that, if you focus your main attack as your shield and take potshots with your short sword when time permits, your shield is primary and your sword is secondary.
By your example, if the shield was the only thing I was holding, I couldn't bash with it. Makes no sense.
The Uber SHield is the goal of the Shield Fighter. This is a +5 Bashing Shield, +5 Defender, either Spiked or Razored (if you use splat). Because a shield is 'wielded' just hanging there, you can devote all the Defender bonus to AC all the time. If a Heavy Shield with Shield Spec, that's a +13 bonus to AC, for a tidy 98,000 gp...just a tad less then a +5 shield.
Note also, if you have the Uber Shield and Shield Mastery, you gain the +7 enhancement bonus even if you devote the +5 Defender to AC (one works off Shield AC, the other off Weapon Enhancement). Defender and Shield Mastery go very well together.
That being said, TWF with a shield is much too feat intensive because of the feats involved. At most you'll want TWF, Double Slice/TWo Weapon Rend, and maybe Shield Rush.
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Kindly note that historically, TWF also sucked. It only prospered in later Renaissance times when everyone was carrying pistols and armor became useless. When it's easy to hit someone and carve them up because they are wearing silks and satins, TWF shines. But a rapier and stiletto against a brute in full plate with a shield, your best option is to run away. He's going to slam you around, your rapier isn't going to get through his armor, and if he hits you, you're going down. There's a reason you don't see movies with knights in armor and shield facing down swashbucklers. The swashbucklers would get mangled straight up, and would have to run away. Full armor is a very, very scary thing to try to get through with hand-held weapons.
==Aelryinth
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Any other build is a gimp of your character.Lol. No.
Aarrrrrrrrr! this be the case! yarr! LOL! methinks this DM is a bit green around the ears: past level 11 or 12 a fighter is useless in most campaigns in comparison to a paladin. I once played such a Shield Master fighter and he paled in comparison with a paladin of equal level. So much that when he died for the third time (Will save of +4 at level 12 will do that to you... OFTEN) I told the party cleric: "you better do some divination spells before the next time you cast resurrection on that sucker" The player got the message... :P Next game I brought an elven curve blade elf paladin with weapon finesse and improved vital strike build... did about 130 damage per round on average... about 200 per round vs evil outsiders, undead or dragons... SMITE IS KING. NOTHING GETS CLOSE TO A SMITING PALLY AT LEVEL 15+ (what other feat or ability gives you +15 to damage per hit????? multipliable on crits!!! thank you! NONE!)
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If I remember correctly, James Jacob said that Shield spikes and the Shield Bashing magical ability were never meant to stack. You attack with the spikes (piercing damage) OR the magical shield (bludgeoning damage), but the spikes can't benefit from the Shield Bashing magical ability.
Sure they can. By RAW they can. And like a poster above says: over 3 freakin levels my 11 through 13 level fighter used this g&~*$%m off-hand shield a huge amount of ONE TIME. WASTE OF FEATS. COOL CONCEPT, but take the APG ranger sword and shield build and get SHIELD MASTER FOR FREE AT 6TH LEVEL. Then come back to us and tell us if it's broken for a freakin 11th level fighter. Unbelievable...
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Well, seeing how a two-handed bashing-shield fighter on lvl.15 can potentially do 6 attacks against any enemy good or baddie with something like +30/+25/+20/+32/+27/+22 (without haste effect), and 1d8+20 damage for each shot if you focused on AC more than pure earth-shattering strikes (42 AC), don't laugh !), it's still something not TOO bad.
I said don't laugh. But whatever, I love my fighter even if he died. A lot.
P.S : No shield bash with primary hand, only on off-hand, says the raw. But we houseruled so that you can Shield Bash primary hand when you got the Bashing (And not "Attack", sorry for the typo) magical enhancement on your shield.
I'm sorry but doing 2D6 with your Off hand whilst still retaining shield bonus seems untterly broken and I told him he could'nt do it, even thou now I see it is a legal build.
How is he getting 2d6? A large shield is 1d4. Large shield and spike is 1d6. Even assuming that bashing stacks on that (which is in contention) the next size increase put it to 1d8.
Where is this 2d6 coming from?
I know it wasn't the point of this thread, though the question regarding the legality of wielding a shield mainhand was interesting.
The Shielded Fighter archetype allows for this, I think via this ability:
Shield Fighter (Ex)
At 5th level, a shielded fighter gains a +1 bonus on attack and damage rolls when making a shield bash. These bonuses increase by +1 every four levels beyond 5th. With a full-attack action, a shielded fighter may alternate between using his weapon or his shield for each attack. This action does not grant additional attacks or incur penalties as two-weapon fighting does.
This ability replaces Weapon Training 1.
If this interpretation of the ability is correct, then I think it is possible to effectively wield a shield in the mainhand, but only if you are a Shielded Fighter. This is of course only during a full-attack. If you were attacking as part of a standard action or as part of an AoP, you could attack with your shield without the Two-Weapon Fighting penalty (at full BAB) regardless of your class/archetype, right?
As our fledgling group delves deeper into the PF game my players have started to find the "best" paths or min/max paths for their respective characters. I have a fighter in my group atm that it creating a TWF Shield bash build. As I am an old DnDer I take alot of preconceptions from 3.5 and unconsciously apply them to my PF game.
When my player showed me Improved Shield Bash I thought it was a typo. Improved Shield Bash is far better than Improved Two Weapon Defense, so much so its seems PF wants to push fighters into Sword and Board build exclusively. But what my player showed me next just blew me away. Shield spikes coupled with Shield Bashing magical ability. At only a +1 cost to his shield he can now triple die bump his shield damage!
I'm sorry but doing 2D6 with your Off hand whilst still retaining shield bonus seems untterly broken and I told him he could'nt do it, even thou now I see it is a legal build. IMO this has effectively eliminated TWF as a viable min/max and has relegated it to a colour build. I would hazard to say that Sword and Board far out weighs Two Handed fighting as a min/max build for ANY fighter.
Am I reading this right? Alot of the archived threads I've read seem to back this up, but there also seems to be alot of gripping over Improved Shield bash and Shield Mastery. But the Shield spike + Shield Bashing ability stack just puts it over the edge for me. I have always told my players that they cannot "bump" their weapon damage dice more than once. The only exception being Large build, permanent Enlarge person etc. This player at level 7 has an insane AC 26 ish and can deal full attack damage in the 40-60 damage range, currently because he hasn't taken power attack but his potential to do damage is unprecedented and easily game breaking.
An AC of 20+ character level is standard for the front line guy, and 40-60 points of damage is impressive for a level 7 character, but since I don't know what magic items he has or his point buy it may be legal.
Shield Fighter (Ex)
At 5th level, a shielded fighter gains a +1 bonus on attack and damage rolls when making a shield bash. These bonuses increase by +1 every four levels beyond 5th. With a full-attack action, a shielded fighter may alternate between using his weapon or his shield for each attack. This action does not grant additional attacks or incur penalties as two-weapon fighting does.
Looking at this gem, I beleive it implies that, like a monk, such a fighter can use the same hand/weapon for all his TWF/ITWF/GTWF attacks? Without the TWF penalties?
If optimized for shield-bashing, such a fighter would probably use only his shield to attack.He would either hold nothing in his other hand (some class abilities offer bonuses if you do) or a one-handed reach weapon, if such a weapon exists - I've looked, but the Whip doesn't threaten... does the Scorpion Whip?
As for dual-wielding shields, my thoughts are: may be historically irrelevant but we aren't reenacting history here; may be unwieldly but so is attacking with both a two-handed weapon and armor spikes (try it... just try); may not use both shields' AC but you can stack special abilities nonetheless; may be overpowered because some feats (Shield Master *) were thought with a single-shield fighter in mind, but you can nerf these by saying that it applies only to one shield.
(*) SHIELD MASTER: You do not suffer any penalties on attack rolls made with a shield while you are wielding another weapon. Add your shield's enhancement bonus to attacks and damage rolls made with the shield as if it was a weapon enhancement bonus.
My interpretation:
- "wielding another weapon" means that you have to have both your hands full, but it's not necessarily another weapon type so you can wield two different shields (shields are listed under "weapons" so they can be used -and enchanted- as such).
- "you do not suffer any penalties" means no penalty at all. No penalty from TWF but also no penalty from being prone, dazed, because of concealment, etc. Strange, that.
- no penalty means that, using TWF with two heavy shields, this feat removes the -4 penalty from TWF, which is a bit much for one feat.
- a +5 shield is a shield with a +5 enhancement bonus. As written, this feat gives +5 to attack and damage from the shield. Remember that shield bonuses cost half weapon bonuses.
I would rewrite the feat to say "While using TWF with a shield, your TWF penalties are reduced by 2 **. Add your shield's unmodified shield bonus *** to attack and damage rolls made with the shield as if it was a weapon enhancement bonus."
(**) your game, your rules. You might choose "reduced by 2", or "reduced by 1", or "halved" instead.
(***) +1 for a light shield, +2 for a heavy shield - this is actual RAI as said by J&J somewhere. Note: as a enhancement bonus, this doesn't stack with actual weapon enhancement bonuses the shield might have. Remember that shields can hold enhancement bonuses to both AC and attack/damage (especially if they are spiked/sharpened or otherwise designed to attack).
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At any rate, you are complaining about an extra d6 of damage which I'm still not convinced he should even be getting, but a d6? really? If you think a d6 is going to break the game then I'd say just keep playing, with more perspective you'll see that it's nothing.
Well, what I see is that +1d6 is also something you can add to any weapon for a minimum of 6000gp. Having to pay minimum 3000gp to essentially wield a bastard sword that gives AC bonus on off-hand when using a spiked bashing heavy shield, or a longsword as my fighter does when using a spiked bashing light shield off-hand, is good enough in itself, even if 1d6 means less the higher your level becomes.
Looking at this gem, I beleive it implies that, like a monk, such a fighter can use the same hand/weapon for all his TWF/ITWF/GTWF attacks? Without the TWF penalties?
I don't really read it the same way. Seeing how it implies that "This action does not grant additional attacks or incur penalties as two-weapon fighting does.", it seems this is what they want to say :
- A Shield Fighter gain +1 to attack and damage on all it's attacks if he shield bashes at least once in the round.- I'll quote an answer I found on the messageboards :
What is being changed by this ability is the ability to interchange attacks between different weapons. A NORMAL fighter with +11/+6/+1 full attack (no 2WF) could make all those attacks with their Shield Bash OR all with their longsword, but not both. 2WF is just a parallel attack sequence which normally can`t be interchanged either. Basically, you must normally make all your `primary` attacks with the same weapon, and if using 2WF, all your `off hand` attacks with the same weapon.
That is what this ability is changing.
-> So, Shield Fighter allows you to attack in your sequence either with your primary hand or your off-hand, if one of these weapons is a shield. It's not TWF, so no malus or more attacks, but if you decide to use TWF with your shield, you'll still have the -2 or -4 malus to attacks.
*) SHIELD MASTER: You do not suffer any penalties on attack rolls made with a shield while you are wielding another weapon. Add your shield's enhancement bonus to attacks and damage rolls made with the shield as if it was a weapon enhancement bonus.
My interpretation:
- "wielding another weapon" means that you have to have both your hands full, but it's not necessarily another weapon type so you can wield two different shields (shields are listed under "weapons" so they can be used -and enchanted- as such).
- "you do not suffer any penalties" means no penalty at all. No penalty from TWF but also no penalty from being prone, dazed, because of concealment, etc. Strange, that.
- no penalty means that, using TWF with two heavy shields, this feat removes the -4 penalty from TWF, which is a bit much for one feat.
- a +5 shield is a shield with a +5 enhancement bonus. As written, this feat gives +5 to attack and damage from the shield. Remember that shield bonuses cost half weapon bonuses.
I would rewrite the feat to say "While using TWF with a shield, your TWF penalties are reduced by 2 **. Add your shield's unmodified shield bonus *** to attack and damage rolls made with the shield as if it was a weapon enhancement bonus."
Actually, it was officially clarified that the feat worked like this :
- When TWF, your shield doesn't suffer any malus to attack. Your other weapon still gets the -2 or -4 to attack.- Your shield is considered as a magic weapon with an enhancement bonus equal to your shield BASE bonus. So, +1 for light shield and +2 for heavy.
- Basically, a fighter who would fight with something like +15/+10/+5/+15/+10 using a standard Heavy shield BEFORE getting this feat, would fight with +15/+10/+5/+21/+16 AFTER gaining it, which is awesome enough in itself. Just remember than even if he got a "+5 Bashing Heavy shield, +2 Spiked", it's still a +2 weapon. Spikes enhancement doesn't stack, they only overcome the shield if their enhancement becomes greater or if it's another enhancement, like +1 Keen Spiked. So, the "+5 Heavy Bashing shield, +1 Keen spiked" with the feat would be considered +2 keen.
This player at level 7 has an insane AC 26 ish and can deal full attack damage in the 40-60 damage range, currently because he hasn't taken power attack but his potential to do damage is unprecedented and easily game breaking.
The following stats come from my memory, I have my lvl.8 character under the eyes but can't remember well what it was like on lvl.7, which was months ago.
When my fighter was level 7, I got 27 AC, 76 HP and 4 attacks +13/+8/+14/+9, dealing 1d8+8 19-20x2 with my longsword and 1d8+10 20x2 for the last ones with my shield. It's potentially 4d8+38 + free shield bash with +9 to hit, but it happened so few because of high AC monsters or an horrible luck with dices, that my damages were just high enough to piss monsters off and make them focus on me, so just the job I was on the field for. The barbarian next to me was something like 24 AC, 92 HP (+7 temporary for rage) and power-attacking with like +16/+11(Greataxe)/+11(bite) when raging and dealing like 1d12+19 19-20x3(Greataxe)/1d6+6 20x2 (bite) per attack. Useless to say that HE is the one who still shines on the battlefield today.The best counters against this build are an enemy with DR, any magic that reduces your number of attacks, your movement or your attack base already reduced by TWF, touch attacks, Will saves, combat manoeuvers...
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Here is a start to my own Parry house rule, lemme know what you think. I know this adds another roll to the game and may bog down combat and may eventually lead to its doom but I am going to twist my players arms into at least trying it for a bit. I think it balances out Improved Shield Bash feat, relegating the shield to more of a weapon which happens to be a good piece of equipment for turning attacks aside.
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Parry:
Any creature may parry one melee attack per round as an Immediate action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity. In order to parry a creature must not be flat-footed and must have a readied weapon or shield that they are proficient with. After a creature is successfully hit but before damage dice are rolled the defending player may declare a parry, with the DC equal to the total to hit roll that hit. Calculating your parry bonus is basically the same as calculating C.M.B., that is Base to hit plus strength modifier plus size modifier. Also shield bonuses to AC no longer apply to AC they now apply thier perspective bonus to the parry roll. Thus a large steel shield would add +2 to the parry roll or a tower shield +4. Any other bonuses that add or modify a defending creatures CMB modify this roll, so feats such as Defensive combat training will add a bonus equal to the full HD of the defender to the parry roll. A successful parry negates the hit (as a miss).
Rule of 1's:
Or course since this roll involves some danger the rule of a natural "1" is an auto failure to the parry regardless of bonuses. As well an attack roll of natural "20" can only be parried by a parry roll of natural "20". This is the only case where a nat "20" does not hit.
Feats:
Improved Parry:
Pre-requisites: Combat Expertise
You are more adept at parrying. You can choose to take a -1 penelty to attack rolls and combat maneuver checks to gain a +2 Parry bonus to parry rolls . When your base attack bonus reaches +4 and every +4 thereafter, the penelty increases by -1 and the parry bonus increases by +2. You can only choose to use this feat when you declare that are making an attack or full attack action with a melee weapon or shield equipped. The effect of this feat last until your next turn.
Defensive Reflexes:
You may make a number of additional parrys per round equal to your dexterity bonus. This feat also qualifies for any other feat or Prestige class that requires Combat Reflexes as a pre-requisite.
Or course any feat or ability that adds a shield bonus, such as Two-Weapon Defense or Shield focus adds to your parry roll.
Unarmed attacks and Parry:
Creatures that use natural attacks or slam attacks can still parry but must have a natural armour class bonus of at least +5. This represents size, toughness, horns, or natural armour plating that can be used to parry incoming attacks. Players with Improved unarmed attack feat or using spiked gauntlets, cestii etc. although you are unarmed attacks are lethal and you are considered armed you cannot parry effectively without injury. Only when a Monk reaches level 4 and gains his ki pool can he parry attacks with his bare hands (or any other class that gains a ki pool or similar mechanic).
Shield Spells:
Mages can effectively parry with a Shield spell as if they are proficient and gain the effective shield bonus (+4) to parry rolls.
Total Defense:
In addition to the bonuses granted by Total Defense action you can make one parry attempt against all successful incoming attacks for the round. Parrying still takes up your immediate action.
Parry while grappled:
While 2 opponents are grappled they may make parry attempts agaisnt each other with only light weapons, or bucklers and light shields. Grapplers may also parry with bare hands, the exception to the rule above as this represents the close quarters fighting that allows defenders to grab wrists, or deflect arms as opposed to parrying the actual weapon.
Magic Items:
Weapon Defending property, adds the transferred portion to AC to parry attempts as well.
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Missile attacks and Parrying:
Only creatures with a Shield (Large, Small or Tower) may parry missile attacks but not ranged touch attacks. Large rocks or device propelled missiles of course cannot be parried. A Shield spell or Ring of Force shield counts as a shield for parrying missile attacks.
Incorporeal attacks:
Incorporeal attacks cannot be parried unless with a force effect such as Shield Spell or Ring of Force Shield or simular effect.
Deflecting: 3 times per day this shield may deflect any ray attack with a successful parry. Ray attacks are deflected harmlessly away on any successful parry but on a natural "20" for parry the Ray is reflected back on the caster!
Moderate Abjuration: CL 8th; Craft Magical Arms and Armour, Protection from Arrows; Price +1 Bonus
I think you'll need to revisit the shield spell -- what you have currently simply isn't worth using for most spell casters.
I would suggest that the spell use caster level as CMB with Int mod to modify it with a +4 bonus for the 'shield' at the end. That's the most common method for spells that have CMB effects to work.
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Well, it's pretty complicated, I don't know if so much houserule at once is better than simply copy the duelist's Parry competence that's already simple and useful enough to apply as a feat with some prerequisites, like Two-Weapon defense, Weapon Focus or Shield focus.
If you feel that your way is the best to do it, you should try it IG to see how it works. I don't think mages should be allowed a parry so easily though. When duelist's Parry trades attacks for parades with the same bonus, at level 11 it's a +11/+6/+1 base to parry for a fighter, and only a +5 for a wizard, considering that the mage would also have to take weapon-related feats to do so. The fighter obviously wouldn't care about this prerequisite, when with your system the mage can simply cast Shield to avoid the inconvenience, and it's basically 1 parry for each class, more if you take the Defensive Reflexes feat. Wizards are good enough in themselves to not allow them furthermore to avoid attacks almost like a fighter could do it with a shield.
For missile attacks and parrying, there are already feats in the APG for it : Missile Shield and Ray Shield. But I concur to say that whatever the case, parrying should work only against ghosts with a magical weapon for 50% damage reduction, or an ethereal/Ring of Force Shield for 100%.
Don't forget that mages can also counterspell. They already have a way to "parry" another spell when combat classes can't, and it costs them an action to do it, pretty much like duelist's Parry works. They don't get it for free each round. :)
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I think you'll need to revisit the shield spell -- what you have currently simply isn't worth using for most spell casters.
I would suggest that the spell use caster level as CMB with Int mod to modify it with a +4 bonus for the 'shield' at the end. That's the most common method for spells that have CMB effects to work.
Yup sounds fair, although my philosophy on casters is they shouldn't be worrying about AC as they shouldn't be getting into dangerous situations like melee. The parry for a full class wizard is more like a hail Mary parry with a staff kinda thing, they shouldn't be good at parrying.
I guess the point I am trying to make with this house rule is I want shields not to be some spot to dump AC into. One hand can account for up to +9(+11 with Tower shield) to AC for a fighter. I know AC doesn't really scale well at higher levels, but atm I am finding the Improved Shield Bash feat a little broken in my game. Adding this new element to the game takes AC from the SB player but gives back to everyone and IMO smooths out some of the power curve.
I would suggest that the limited time on the spell already means it's an unlikely candidate for casting: Having the bonus be so low that the caster feels like he can't succeed on it just seals the deal as a non-user to me.
Each spell has to be worth casting otherwise it might as well not exist. The limited number of times a spell caster can cast a spell per day means it must be worth using a spell over (or compared to another spell) -- with your adjustments the shield spell isn't worth it.
Also even with caster level +casting stat for the bonus (even with the +4 for the shield) a spell caster is unlikely to succeed:
The attack will almost undoubtedly have a much higher bonus: Full BAB + strength that is just as high as the casting stat + feats (weapon focus) + class abilies (rage) + magical weaponry can easily put the DC out of range of anything but an "holy moly I can't believe the spell blocked it".
Consider a 9th level wizard with my adjustments compared to a fifth level fighter's attack:
Caster level 9 + 7 Int Mod (Int of 20 to start and a headband +2 +2 level adjustment) = +16 + 4 for shield spell = +20
Fighter:
BAB 9 + 7 Str Mod (20 str +2 belt +2 level adjustment) + 2(greater weapon focus) +2(weapon training) + 2(magical weapon) = +22
Now that's before the fighter has a single buff (such as bless, or a bard singing) and is just a simple fighter -- monsters typically have better attacks and more at higher bonuses.
As such it's a matter of simply letting the spell have a chance to function as opposed as to the spell being "too good".