Dual Wield vs Shield

[Yar]

Is there any realistic reason to equip a shield instead of a second weapon?

I'm not sure about the NES version, but in the DS version, it appears there is no evade stat... Why the hell did they do this?

[Wolf Kanno]

Not sure about the Evde thing, though its probably because the game lifted a lot of its mechanics from FFI, but shields are useful for survivability mainly. In the DS version they are mainly useful if you are using Vikings, dealing with CoD without the Ninja/Sage/FEOK combo cause lord knows her attacks will devastate a Dark Knight, Dragoon, or Knight with no shield equipped. The shield is more useful in the NES version cause the classes are a bit more balanced and regular enemies hit so hard sometimes that you seriously need the extra defense.

Red Mages in the NES version for instance don't get a better offensive weapon after the Tyring Blade so equipping them a shield is vital for their survival if you plan on using them by the end parts of the Floating Continent. Knights and Warriors also take ridiculous amounts of magic damage without a shield equipped so its useful there as well. Dual Wield is kind of a gamble in the NES version, though one that pays off. Though I would also point out that the DS version changed the damage algorithms so your characters hit ridiculously hard in the DS version making Dual Wield insanely better. In the NES playthrough, I just finally say a character do over 1k of damage and it was a Dual Wielding Dragoon who landed a critical hit and exploited enemy weakness of Garuda. Other than that, my average damage in the game is about 300-500 points on average with my Dual Wielding Knight using the two best swords I have at the time. In the DS remake I should be pulling 2k damage easily by this point with a Red Mage, Knights should be better. Likewise a Knight could survive being hit with a -aga level spell without a Shield in the DS version by the time you reach Saronia, but in the NES version, a -ara spell is more than enough to cripple a knight without a shield and a -aga spell would outright kill him.

[Gamblet]

Dual wield with Blood Spear as one of the weapons to Lancer for sure, no need for shield when he is in air most of the time and you can even beat CoD in the NES version with that deadly combo, just need a bit luck.
For other classes choose what fits you better, I went with dual wielding myself. I did not need a shield because monsters did not do that much damage to me and I had a White Wizard backing me up.

Above was for the NES version, never played the DS.



Oh yeah... Sage/Ninja is for pussies!