PC What are your opinions on the Shield of Cthulhu?

[FishronningTime]

What do you guys think about the Shield of Cthulhu? in my opinion, the Shield of Cthulhu is only helpful for explorations and dodging boss projectiles. Like the Shield helped me so much while fighting
skeletron Prime and the brain, skeletron and queen bee. But for bosses like the twins or the destroyer? Garbage. You already know why i hate the shield for the twins and the destroyer. Accidentally dashing into a probe or retinazer or spazmatism really hurts especially on master mode. i rather use mount, wings, balloon accessory or the rod of discord in some cases. So what's my opinion? It is good for bosses that doesn't spam projectiles and it is garbage for bosses like twins.

 

[Esther]

I think it's mostly good for mobility, but in the no weapons run I'm doing with some friends it'll soon become our main "weapon" together with slimy saddle, so my opinion may change later.

 

[Shyguymask]

It's great. Most of the time.

 

[Nekohime]

it worthless i dont need no dash.

 

[The Rope God🌳]

It's alright I guess.

 

[Mille Marteaux]

the item is neat but it has had some definite ripple effects on player mentality ever since its introduction

you ask one player and it adds another 2 gold to the eye's treasure bag, you ask another player and its essential

 

[Salty_]

The most annoying convenience accessory.

 

[FishronningTime]

The most annoying convenience accessory.

The dash helps me so much tho but for bossfights its unreliable because of the knockback after you dash. For explorations its meh but for bossfights its garbage

 

[Fido Dido]

I like it. I love it. I need it. It’s so engrained into my muscle memory that I can’t stand to not have a dodge. It’s ability to deal damage is really useful too.

 

[Coleyohley]

I hate this item, not because it's bad or anything, but because of the damage it has done to the game's design. The player's horizontal acceleration is terrible, and using a dash to solve this problem makes playing the game feel like I'm playing a pinball machine, where I have almost no control of my character's horizontal movement when my dash is on cooldown, and when I finally get my dash back I can only really catapult myself away again; fine movement is nearly impossible, which makes navigating through tight caves or moving around my base very frustrating. For bossfights it's okay, since those don't tend to require precise positioning or ask you to turn around very often, but for everything else it feels terrible.

However, in order to keep the Shield of Cthulhu from becoming useless, any later attempts by Re-Logic to make the movement more responsive and less clunky had to come at a cost: Shadow Armour requires you to wear the full set to get its acceleration, you don't get to fly with wings or use a grappling hook while riding on a mount, and Magiluminescence only works on the ground. If I want to have good acceleration (which I find more or less mandatory to enjoy the game), I need to make sacrifices in other areas.

I really only play the game nowadays with a mod that doubles horizontal player acceleration, and I cannot find the words to explain just how much more fun the game is to play when I have constant, responsive control over my character. Whenever I play with other people who don't use mods, controlling my character is a clunky mess until we either defeat Eater of Worlds or I AFK overnight at an Eater Statue for Shadow Armour, after which point I don't get to use any other cool armours like Forbidden or Spectre unless I want to ride a mount that makes me unable to pass through doors. When I play with the mod, though, I have so many more fun and interesting options. I will admit, when I'm playing the mod I do find dashes to be nearly useless, but that balance issue is completely overshadowed by how much more enjoyable everything else is.

I hate the Shield of Cthulhu, not because it's bad, but because it's made the rest of the game feel so much worse.

 

[Dapling]

It's alright. Pretty strong item but not an instant pick for every build. Good but not great.

the rest of my opinions on it are pretty much the same as Coley's

 

[FishronningTime]

I hate this item, not because it's bad or anything, but because of the damage it has done to the game's design. The player's horizontal acceleration is terrible, and using a dash to solve this problem makes playing the game feel like I'm playing a pinball machine, where I have almost no control of my character's horizontal movement when my dash is on cooldown, and when I finally get my dash back I am catapulted away again; fine movement is nearly impossible, which makes navigating through tight caves or moving around my base very frustrating. For bossfights it's okay, since those don't tend to require precise positioning or ask you to turn around very often, but for everything else it feels terrible.

However, in order to keep the Shield of Cthulhu from becoming useless, any later attempts by Re-Logic to make the movement more responsive and less clunky had to come at a cost: Shadow Armour requires you to wear the full set to get its acceleration, you don't get to fly with wings or use a grappling hook while riding on a mount, and Magiluminescence only works on the ground. If I want to have good acceleration (which I find more or less mandatory to enjoy the game), I need to make sacrifices in other areas.

I really only play the game nowadays with a mod that doubles horizontal player acceleration, and I cannot find the words to explain just how much more fun the game is to play when I have constant, responsive control over my character. Whenever I play with other people who don't use mods, controlling my character is a clunky mess until we either defeat Eater of Worlds or I AFK overnight at an Eater Statue for Shadow Armour, after which point I don't get to use any other cool armours like Forbidden or Spectre unless I want to ride a mount that makes me unable to pass through doors. When I play with the mod, though, I have so many more fun and interesting options. I will admit, I rarely ever find myself needing to use any kind of dash, but that balance issue is completely overshadowed by how much more enjoyable everything else is.

I hate the Shield of Cthulhu, not because it's bad, but because it's made the rest of the game feel so much worse.

Man reading this makes me a pathetic guy for using it up till post mech bruu I should just switch it to something else

 

[Orchamut]

Personally I don't really like using the dash for bossfights since it doesn't go very far considering how difficult it is for me to double-tap, and there are enough other ways of getting acceleration that it's not really mandatory, it's not like pre-hardmode bosses always need you to be able to turn horizontally on a dime or anything (earth shattering opinion I know). Did I mention I genuinely cannot get used to the double-tap no matter how long I've been using these items

That said I do find it pretty helpful for just getting around places, the instant acceleration is nice to have for both hermes boots and mounts with slow startup. The enemy bounce thing kinda feels like a negligible gimmick from my experience but I err on the side of enjoying it. Tabi is still far, far better in my opinion though (and rightly so since it's like way further in progression).

My favorite part is the 2 extra defense (it stacks with warding!!!)

 

[Dapling]

Personally I don't really like using the dash for bossfights since it doesn't go very far considering how difficult it is for me to double-tap, and there are enough other ways of getting acceleration that it's not really mandatory, it's not like pre-hardmode bosses always need you to be able to turn horizontally on a dime or anything (earth shattering opinion I know). Did I mention I genuinely cannot get used to the double-tap no matter how long I've been using these items

That said I do find it pretty helpful for just getting around places, the instant acceleration is nice to have for both hermes boots and mounts with slow startup. The enemy bounce thing kinda feels like a negligible gimmick from my experience but I err on the side of enjoying it. Tabi is still far, far better in my opinion though (and rightly so since it's like way further in progression).

My favorite part is the 2 extra defense (it stacks with warding!!!)

Getting around out of combat is usually where I like it least, interestingly enough. Being forced to lurch forward several blocks is aggravating when in a house or cave.

 

[Orchamut]

Getting around out of combat is usually where I like it least, interestingly enough. Being forced to lurch forward several blocks is aggravating when in a house or cave.

I have this problem a lot with the Tabi/Crystal Assassin/Solar Flare dash, the long distance is really useful for a lot of situations but extremely awkward to get through small areas with.
The SoC dash distance is manageable enough for me to work with, but I will generally take Magiluminescence over it and/or Shadow armor if I'm not playing summoner.

 

[MoultonLava]

It is good in some situations, great in some others, and trash in a few situations (Like Duke phase 3, it is inconsistent as there)

 

[Meowlegend]

I used to equip it religiously, one playthrough i decided to not use it and realized that I never actually need it at all.


After you know better movement options, Shield of Cthulhu is has no use at all. Magi, some mounts, Bundle of Horseshoe Balloons... All of these are better movement than Shield of Cthulhu, and also have more uses.


Overall, I don't like it, I don't use it, in fact I actually despise it. One of the most overrated items in the game for sure. And additionally, what @Coleyohley said in his post is something I completely agree with: Shield of Cthulhu has damaged this game's design, to the point of making later stages of the game also feel much worse.

 

[Reinbew]

I love it, but it can suck for building

 

[Live 225 Damage]

I can see some use with Queen Bee if timed right, but for other bosses like Skeletron Prime...that's more likely to be a death sentence from what I've experienced. Hell, that brought me my first death on Expert mode towards Skeletron Prime.

 

[Reinbew]

I hate this item, not because it's bad or anything, but because of the damage it has done to the game's design. The player's horizontal acceleration is terrible, and using a dash to solve this problem makes playing the game feel like I'm playing a pinball machine, where I have almost no control of my character's horizontal movement when my dash is on cooldown, and when I finally get my dash back I can only really catapult myself away again; fine movement is nearly impossible, which makes navigating through tight caves or moving around my base very frustrating. For bossfights it's okay, since those don't tend to require precise positioning or ask you to turn around very often, but for everything else it feels terrible.

However, in order to keep the Shield of Cthulhu from becoming useless, any later attempts by Re-Logic to make the movement more responsive and less clunky had to come at a cost: Shadow Armour requires you to wear the full set to get its acceleration, you don't get to fly with wings or use a grappling hook while riding on a mount, and Magiluminescence only works on the ground. If I want to have good acceleration (which I find more or less mandatory to enjoy the game), I need to make sacrifices in other areas.

I really only play the game nowadays with a mod that doubles horizontal player acceleration, and I cannot find the words to explain just how much more fun the game is to play when I have constant, responsive control over my character. Whenever I play with other people who don't use mods, controlling my character is a clunky mess until we either defeat Eater of Worlds or I AFK overnight at an Eater Statue for Shadow Armour, after which point I don't get to use any other cool armours like Forbidden or Spectre unless I want to ride a mount that makes me unable to pass through doors. When I play with the mod, though, I have so many more fun and interesting options. I will admit, when I'm playing the mod I do find dashes to be nearly useless, but that balance issue is completely overshadowed by how much more enjoyable everything else is.

I hate the Shield of Cthulhu, not because it's bad, but because it's made the rest of the game feel so much worse.

Magiluminescence only works on the ground? Never noticed lol

anyway, the dash cooldown isn't that bad in my opinion. You can also just get quick modifiers on some of your accessories or use wings with good horizontal speed. Jump to gain speed then run as much as you'd like, that's what I did when I dropped magiluminescence in calamity. Though I do think SoC is less of a dash and more of a way to quickly gain speed. It would be nice if Re-Logic buffed the dash distance a little bit