I have known about the existence of the /shield ability since..... well my early days of playing EQ. However, I have only rarely used it and frankly I don't really know how to optimize its usage or understand the mechanics in general. How long does it last? Does Phalanx still cause it to drop or fail? I recall thinking the damage was like 50% of the hit to the original target, and 75% of the value of the hit to the shielding player? Is there value in /shield on another raid tank, especially for hard hitting mobs? If I were DA and /shield on another player, would I still take damage?
I want to say that it lasts for about 1:20 - 1:30 with all the AAs for it. and a refresh around 3min It is fixed with the changes to Phanlax AA. The damage taken is based on the person you are shielding's mitigation and not yours (shielding casters could be bad) Quickly testing it by dueling a toon and then shielding the same toon i was able to see for instance a Crit for 4k. The shielded took a hit of 1900, I took a hit of 2k4. Total damage between the two toons exceeds the hit given but also seems like about a 50% reduction to the shielded person. This is a very quick comparison though so take with a grain of salt. If shielding while DA you do not take damage and will reduce the sheildee's hits taken. The DA thing is looked at from both sides of the fence. You are cheating and circumventing game mechanics, and you are using abilities available to you to defeat an encounter. I believe the wide majority of EQ players consider it cheating, I am not sure on which side of the fence the GMs fall on this one.
If /shield + DA is cheating, then http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?item=12657 is cheating for ramp tanking, been done for years, so I don't think you will get in any trouble for it. the other point is you have to have a team set up to do this, so its not something the war can do all by himself, unless he farms a bunch of DA clickies.
Totem of the Wurines Feral Guardian Channeler Cursed Rage Channeler Protection of the Dain Doesn't quite cover the entire minute and a half of time spent /shielding, and 3 of those items have an 8 hour cooldown so you won't be doing that trick twice on the same raid night. I suppose you could ask the clerics to Bestow DA on you, but they're probably keeping it on Firiona Vie because she keeps trying to commit suicide in the latest raids.
