noobie needs advice

Precira

Hi, im a returning player who wants to create a new character. Was hoping some kind ppl could give me some advice and answers.  
I am pretty much set on creating a Cyrenian al though Hashan is next down the line. I am tossing up between a runewarden and bard.

My biggest interest is going for a Cyrenian runie in the shield house... but im just concerned that I will hit a wall with the requirements and end up a nobody because if I am honest with myself I have zero talent for coding. When I was in achaea previously I tried combat but my improvements were only minimal compared to my efforts... that said, I am very much interested in knight rp, with the whole honour element. Basically my question is, is it feasible to play a knight who may be shitty at combat but in the house for the rp?? I have no idea if the shield house even has a lot of rp going on.... Should also add I dont plan on spending real dollars on credits because of financial situation.

With the knight changes I am interested in two handed, dual cut or snb. What are your recommendations, if I am interested in hunting, and looking for something that is easier to manage combat wise? 

With bard, I am interested in the clss because of the huge rp potential. Still I cant help but ponder how good their hunting is after the changes.  Also I have heard their combat is exceptionally difficult... is it really that terrible for a noob to pick up on? 

Thanks for answers and opinions in advance

Kandra

There are no nobodies in the shield, at least as far as the house is concerned. However, if someone were to actively avoid city defence, they'd likely wish they were. You wouldn't need a lot of coding experience in order to do that, but you'd need to participate in house activities (group and solo training) in order to advance at all (beyond HR2), so that's something you will want to consider.

Tharvis

if you're going for a knight with hunting, SnB is currently far at the top of the four specialisations for hunting (this might be fixed in time to bring them more in line with the rest)

Note that you don't actually have to spend anything to be beneficial in group combat such as arena games or city defense. Sure, it'll help, but a good portion of the time a well-timed battlecry, some situational venom awareness (which I'm sure the house will help you with when it comes to coding/figuring out setups)
Hell, if the enemy doesn't have a buckawn's you can be his biggest nightmare in group combat by simply having a web tattoo!

Katzchen

The Knights (of Thurisaz) in Cyrene and the Shield are two totally different orgs. You could join the Knights of Thurisaz and one of the less combat focussed houses if you were interested in Knighthood for the RP. You'd still have to learn to fight a little for knighthood eventually, but you wouldn't be stuck hr3 until then.

Precira

Thank you for the replies.

Kandra said:

There are no nobodies in the shield, at least as far as the house is concerned. However, if someone were to actively avoid city defence, they'd likely wish they were. You wouldn't need a lot of coding experience in order to do that, but you'd need to participate in house activities (group and solo training) in order to advance at all (beyond HR2), so that's something you will want to consider.

Oh, it's not that I would avoid city defence, I'd gladly jump right in. It's just the matter of how -functional- I'd be, or if I'm just in the way... When you say "participate in house activities" what sorts of things are you referring to?

Tharvis
Okay thank you. Your words gave me hope that maybe I can pull this off after all!

Katzchen
Never heard of Knights of Thuriaz... Is that like a clan?

Kandra

I honestly believe that you can do it if you want to. You don't need to put a whole system together, and the house would provide all training that you needed in order to advance. Hell, we put the entire aspirant exam in a hhelp that you can read, and it says the answers are over here. If you'd enjoy participating in house things, you'd fit in fine without being able to go toe-to-toe with Matsuhama himself. The main point is learning to defend the city and doing so.

As was mentioned, knighthood is not done through the shield, but a city clan. If that's all you're looking for from the house, you wouldn't find it there.

To answer the question: House activities include spars, party spars, koths... to get to HR5 there's a duel (you don't have to win) with a ritual/ceremony.

Tahquil

Curse the Shield and their willingness to take hours and hours and hours out of their time to help their trainees.

Curse their rather clever way of training tactics.

Curse all their strong sense of family and death before dishonour attitudes.

-glare-

Aerek

The Shield's program is designed to take new players that have never played this game before and introduce them, piece by piece, to all of the mechanics and tools they need to become at least minimally effective in city defense. It can be a challenging program to some, but we know that everyone learns differently and at a different pace, so as long as you're willing to listen and willing to try, you shouldn't end up stuck in the Shield.

Two-hander is probably the easiest Knight to play with minimal scripting ability. It still needs a limbcounter to function well, but of all the Knights, can get by without one the best. Bard is honestly kinda hard to manage without some know-how in my opinion, unless there are some easy tricks I'm over looking, so I'm not sure I'd recommend that unless you were ready to spend some time figuring out how to put it all together.

The Order of Thurisaz is indeed a city clan open to all the Houses, but you will be expected to reach a certain level of proficiency in that program. It's hard to credibly roleplay the Knightly stereotype if you don't know which end to hold.

Don't be afraid to try.

Stuneree

So in a nutshell, or a summary of the recent answers: No, you don't need to be good at combat to be accepted. RP is more valuable anyway.
Also, you'd be surprised how many people here actually enjoy helping people code.
Welcome back

Aziik

 The Shield overall is a house of players that are rather understanding and patient. I've had a few people teach me how to code and it made my life rather easy. The community fostered in the house is very encouraging of questions..in fact we'd rather have you ask questions multiple times than to not ask at all!

Sword and Shield is pretty spectacular at hunting and the combat isn't all that difficult to learn. If I'm awake I am willing to answer questions you have as I'm sure the rest of the house is as well.

As for the roleplay going on in the Shield House, it's there and present. If you ever want some interaction and roleplay to get your feet wet or dive in fully just say hello to Aziik and I'll gladly oblige.

By the way this is all coming from someone who not even six months ago was a new player who wanted to be a Runewarden in The Shield.