Here.... let me explain.
Lets pretend you get hit for 10k damage.
let's just assume that you have a 25 percent block chance and your shield will absorb 2500 damage.
So you get hit for 7500 damage if you block and 10k if you don't...

Dual wielding with the passive that gives you 15 percent dodge.. same scenario.
You get hit for 10k again.
If you dodge you take 0 damage
If you get hit you take 10k.

Do the math on 100 attacks.

Also... 15 percent ias from dual wielding helps you hit harder and heal faster with life on hit.

Shields are able to give you up to 10percent critical chance where a weapon cannot. However this one drawback is more than overcome by a
max crit damage weapon with a socket.

Put this one to bed guys. Shields are garbage. Dual wield or your doing it wrong.

Feel free to comment or link this thread into the repetative posts asking this question.

like what you said but no crit chance= no crit dmg

Shields are not totally out. You forget the fact that for builds that do use shield. the incoming damage would be more like. ~5k on a decent tank barb for example. blocking that2.5-4k dmg can be alot. not too sure on molten etc effects. those small constant damages if included makes shields really good. I don't have the math but just personal experience on tank barb, then dual wield ww barb. there comes a point probably in the 200-400mil gear range where shields become obsolete due to you being over geared in defensive stats already and want more dps. but for poorer people shields are still pretty good to survive and mf till you can afford top gear.

just look at when people first started clearing inferno, shields were a must.

Things to consider though is that you can achieve 38-50% block (I had up to 45% myself) and a sacred shield absorbs 3700-4200 per attack

In an effective HP calculator block % consistently was the highest way to increase EHP

Now with that said, on Monks maybe it is wrong. Cause if u shield you can't use GPath which is a free 15% dodge (and the shield alternative is weak)

So not disagreeing, but if someone using a shield is only getting 25% block they arent really utilizing the full shield capacity

DW FTW.

I have 34 percent crit chance dual wielding. And I know you can push 50 percent without a shield.
the KEY to a monk is SPEEEEED!!!!!!

you can use a shield to clear the game,however.... it will cost you a lot more gold because your weapon ammy and rings have to be that much better.

Also.... with 2500 lph and 2.25 aps... if you have 40k life you can start putting on mf gear and lowering resists,

Barba I know nothing about but I will post my monk guide from lvl 60 to a3 farming tonight or tomorrow.

This post was edited by Cide_PR on Jul 11 2012 02:22pm

Dual Wield can be good.

Shield can be good.

Don't call one garbage just cause you prefer the other.

The BLOCK on a shield is NOT its predominant bonus... the armor. Pure mitigation that ALWAYS is taken into account. anywhere from 1k - 1.5k is HUGE.
Pure mitigation on top of the typical block chance + the dmg absorb per block. the icing is the stats that can come on shield, not the main focus. Often cheaper approach than dual wield.

Dual Wield, gives you attack speed boost and passive dodge boost. Both are amazing when coupled with crit chance/dmg and Life on Hit (or even Life Leech is your dps is high enough).
Additionally, Dual Wield can give you 2x as much LoH or Leech. Helps make up for the loss of mitigation that pure armor can give on shields. Often pretty expensive approach.

TL; DR? For Inferno, if you are poor stick to shield. If you are well off and have plenty of cash go dual wield (two similarly dps/APS weapons). That said, 90% of average gamers are NOT super rich. No need to bash on shield or dual wield users alike...

Im not bashing anyone.
For 1m you can get low 700dps 1.4 speed weapons with 350 plus loh each.
Shields as a stepping stone are a complete waste of money.
Dw and farm a1 then go a3 as you upgrade.
With 2 700 or more daggers you can hit 18k dps pretty easy if you know what to stack first.
That makes most elites in a1 die in 3-5 seconds if your specs right and use abilities correctly.

Shields slow you down. Shields keep your lph down.
Killing slower means more poison pools.. more arcane orbs... more desecrator... you get the drift.
Best way to mitigate damage is to kill the thing damaging you.

You do not have to be rich to farm a1 with a monk... and farm it with ease.
You do need to be smart and well informed to do it though.

I am not belittleing anyone I am just showing basically why shields are a sack or ass compared to dual wielding.

Reread your post. You have valid points too.

I just don't believe it is smart to ever keep your enemies alive and rely on long term mitigation over killing them fast and having total mitigation.

Yah. You kind of are. Declaring shields garbarge, waste of money, or sack/ass compared to DW...
I pointed out the reasons why people choose either or. With very credible reasons.

my point remains, you say 1mill PER weapon. You think every fresh 60 monk can pop out 2mill for weapons, not counting the gear ... enough of which you NEED armor wise/stats/resists wise.
Sure, if i was to make my 2nd, 3rd, 4th character as a monk after having farmed geared and sold AH items for a while, id have 2mil+. You are probably someone who has had good money for a long time, i struggled to get 2 mil for a full month, and when i finally got a lucky drop i was able to get several million and only then could i afford to do dual wield PLUS enough of the supporting gear to still survive with the increased DPS. you are discounting the gear one must afford to survive has to be good enough to make up for 1000+ armor, extra crit chance, block/dmg absorb etc.

But frankly my point 100% stands, MOST average gamers cannot afford dual wield. A shield simply offers a very cheap alternative for survival when other gear or 2nd weapon is not in the budget.
Shields are a bit slower, killing things does decrease the chances of taking dmg or death... but it is also 2mill++ more than an average shield approach.

Please, get over yourself. Your way isn't the biblical truth. People play as they want, and some play as their budget/time allows. If they cannot afford 2mill dw weapons, they can afford a 1mil + shield combo perhaps?
It is about resources, what a person has access to and what their personal play style is. I personal love dual wield, but i STILL switch to shield every so often in certain fights because the mitigation from a shield is night and day noticeable when i need it.