EE shield maker or blacksmith

[Lorduberspazz]

In ee I have to chose between a blacksmith and a shield maker : anyone know which is more effective for rome- better weapons/melee damage or better armor and Shields?

[=ANTiKES=]

i asked about the same awhile ago,

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...maker-Villages

Bascially, either wait 5 turns to raze and rebuild for both makers or find iron villages next to each other (see posts in link 4 locations). To answer your question, according to my thread some ppl believe that the effort isnt even necessary !

[ikyu828]

if you can only get one then shield maker, imo
since it can be useful for range unit
but as rome u should be able to get 2 iron resource easily, there is 1 in panonia n raeita et noricum

[Lorduberspazz]

i asked about the same awhile ago,

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...maker-Villages

Bascially, either wait 5 turns to raze and rebuild for both makers or find iron villages next to each other (see posts in link 4 locations). To answer your question, according to my thread some ppl believe that the effort isnt even necessary !

Thanks, Sounds like a good solution to get both...
The unanswered question is which is more effective in combat. The argument that armor helps all troops seems convincing.

I suppose the theorycrafters who would go and test this to destruction gave upon rome 2 a long while ago. Perhaps they may come back now ee makes the game mostly fun...

[Slaists]

In terms of efficiency, I find the shield-maker a better choice, giving % bonus to armor and shield defense. Romans tend to have pretty high starting armor and big shields. That % gain is meaningful for them.

[Lorduberspazz]

That sounds good...
Armor/sShields apply to many troops and staying alive is more important.
No one actually kills rather than routs enemies right?...

[SPARTAN VI]

Ditto for prioritizing armor/shields. Improving a unit's survivability increases the likelihood that they'll hold the line, which buys me time to maneuver flankers (e.g. hammer and anvil).