Board Thread:Oblivion/@comment-24353761-20160130044454

So here's something which I've wondered about for a while. You have the Shield spell/magic effect, and you have the Fire/Frost/Shock Shield spells/magic effects. All of them add to your Armor rating; if you equip a helmet which bestows Shield (18 pts), you get 18 points added to your Armor (plus the Armor rating of the helmet itself). And if you equip a helmet which bestows Fire Shield (18 pts), then the same thing happens: You get 18 bonus points to your Armor.

From what I understand, the Elemental Shields also improve or stack with your Resistance to that element. So if you play a Dark Elf (innate 75% Fire Resistance) and equip him with items which grant 10% Fire Resistance and Fire Shield 10, then your Dark Elf has an effective Fire Resistance of 95%. Am I on the level so far?

So an Elemental Shield is more desirable than a Shield of equal Armor rating, simply by tacking on a Resistance with no drawbacks. So I have to wonder what Bethesda's programmers were thinking when they created the Sigil Stones. As an example, a Subjacent Sigil Stone can grant Shield 10 to a wearable item, or it can grant Fire/Frost/Shock Shield 18.

Why would anyone in his or her right mind pick the regular Shield spell? They're going to keep Quickloading and grabbing the Sigil Stone until they get an Elemental Resistance (or at least something besides the regular Shield).

So: Does the regular Shield spell have some sort of advantage over the Elemental Shield spells, something that I don't yet know about? Or was Bethesda just being goofy here?  