I don’t understand why there is no dps spec with 1 handed weapon + shield. If Ele/Resto Shaman and Holy Paladin can play a non tank shield spec i don’t see a reason why we don’t see a melee dps with a shield?
You can simply redesign one of existing specs, such as Fury Warrior (2 x 2 handed weapons really makes no sense), Enhancement Shaman (i prefer this one) or maybe Ret paladin or simply add a third DH spec with 1 handed weapon + shield.
I would make both Shaman and Paladin (or at least one of them) a full shield class.
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Was one in early wod, called gladiator stance, but fury and arms were better dps, and they didnt waste time to balance 3 dps option + 1 tank spec on warrior
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I remember. I levelled a Warrior specifically to try out Gladiator Stance. I do love the idea of the sword-n’-board chaos machine.
They couldn’t really make it work within the confines of another spec though. It really needed its own Warrior spec. Pity.
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The playerbase didn’t quite understand the spec either. My friend was frequently removed from dungeons for 'being in tank spec as a dps.
I want a dps spec like that too tbh, something with a passive to convert block rating into strength to make up for the lower dps numbers a single 1h will bring.
Also let Vengeance Demon Hunters dual wield shields plox.
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I’m ngl I would like to see one.
I think paladin would be a very viable option for it realistically.
But. I doubt they would do it in all honesty sword and board defintly has a fan base among the dps players.
But in all honesty prolly a major reason why, is because that aesthetic desire prolly drives some players to becoming a tank.
Allowing dps to fill that aesthetic would likely reduce the quantity of tanks which are minimal already.
Just make dps shields. Which don’t have block rate on em. So dps aren’t competing for tank gear 
just call em something other then a shield and they can fit as a new weapon type.
Just call it buckler. And let us transmog shields over it
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Bring back the alpha bucklers!
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Seems like a balance nightmare.
You’re an hybrid between tank and dps, which should mean sub par dps. As raids don’t really focus on how tanky you are but rather how well you execute the strat, don’t think a secondary tank is required. So removed from raids i guess ? Some specs are already considered “dead” for being 10~15% behind the FOTM specs, can’t see why it would be different here.
Unless they get a viable dps but how tanky are they supposed to be with their shield ? Prot warriors already have a great dps for tanks, what would be given in return for granting them even more dps ? There has to be a middle ground and just giving arms dps to a prot warrior won’t work.
I don’t quite see the point in M+ either unless you just replace the tank by this shield dps (but then again, weren’t prot war the gods of m+ for a while because of their crazy dps ?).
So beside solo content this gameplay is pretty much dead on arrival in PVE.
This leaves PVP, where it would actually be pretty good. But a whole new spec/class/gameplay for PVP only ? Absolutely not worth the time wasted on designing it imo.
They tried Gladiator, I believe in WoD?
It didn’t really work out that great.
Personally I wouldn’t really want to see a offensive shield spec.
Well, why Elemental Shaman is more than wanted in raids/mythic +? The only (ranged) dps spec with a shield. And it’s far away from being a hybrid between dps and tank. So i don’t see a problem here. If ranged dps can equip a shield without breaking the game … There are dps classes/specs with way better survivability then Elemental Shaman. Shield doesn’t automatically puts you in a superior survivability and low dps state.
Blizzard could just add a shield to Enhancement Shaman for example and buff autoatack dmg by X%, add some more magical dmg and let the Shaman hit with a shield as well and we are almost there:)
One already exists: Elemental Shaman. 
As i said before, if ranged dps can equip a shield, why melee dps can’t?
They are basically stat boards, using them for melee DPS isn’t what they were made for. As for Elemental shamans shields are just there for the stats.
Like others have said blizzard tried that in wod with warriors having a spell called gladiator stance. At start of wod during the first month of Highmaul it was the strongest single target dps spec and that caused a major uproar from players that played other war specs and players that would get pissed off at warriors for signing in as a dps role with a tank spec thinking they’re trolls. After 1 month of highmaul release blizzard decided to nerf it into irrelevence.
I have to tank in defensive stance as arms war at alliance side while leveling, cause well alliance tanks are so important they don’t even join the dungeon or come with white armor
So I have the experience of 1h plus Shield
Well for their cleave dps iirc but didn’t pay too much attention to their performances. They didn’t do that well either over the course of BFA but that’s not because of their ability to equip shields.
But case on point as the ele shaman ability to shield has absolutely 0 impact on their gameplay and can easily be replaced by a 2h int weapon. So this is barely more than a tmog option, which shouldn’t be the point of this post right ?
Unless all you want is to tmog a shield and mace and call it a day but why asking for a new spec then ?
My understanding of this post was “Add a melee dps spec with a shield” ie have a meaningful option which offers a different gameplay around the shield & 1h. But there’s seemingly no need beside pvp for an hybrid tank dps in the current game.
Enh maelstrom (no longer a ressource, just a buff) proc with melee attacks and using a shield is a direct nerf to their ability to use spells and heals, so there’s more at work than “increase melee attack dmg by X % and call it a day”.
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