This second part is basically for anything else that comes to mind, whether from me or from comments. What I have here at the beginning is the continuation of my "Shield Hero can't Attack" series from before. After it is some helpful advice on aspects of Shield Hero. Let's get started.
Alright, none of the previous ideas with shields worked. So how about instead we use GAUNTLETS! Naofumi's shield can actually copy those, so what'd happen if he used Gauntlets to attack instead!
"HA, BET YOU IDIOTS DIDN'T SEE THIS COMING!"
The Shield Hero, who notably had only one Gauntlet equipped, but one which had spikes on the knuckles, proceeded to punch a knight in the face.
CLANG!
And yet, because the Legendary Shield still had the weapon restriction of beyond low attack power, the Gauntlet, being a weapon form of the Shield, still had the same amount of attack power as any of his weapon forms. Even though it was CLEARLY designed for attack.
Because designing it for attack DID NOT make the Shield give it any attack power. It is its damn weapon restriction.
He also only got one gauntlet, because he only wields one shield. If you want two gauntlets, you gotta have the Vassal Gauntlets weapon for that.
"REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-"
And thus, the readers feasted on Shield Hero shish kebab once again.
But wait, Naofumi gets Shields later on that allows him to damage other enemies without the Cursed Series! You even say so on your profile yourself! Let's pull them out here!
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Naofumi was holding the Soul Eater Shield in his hands, much to the surprise of everyone there as there was no possible way he should have it unlocked by this point, much less, equipped.
"I KNOW HOW THIS HURTS GLASS LATER ON! IT'LL DEFINITELY HURT YOU IDIOTS! NOW FALL BEFORE MY MIGHT-"
CLANG!
No. It hurts Glass because she's a spirit person. The Shield's counter attack "Soul Eat" normally only drains SP or MP from its target. Because those things make up "energy" for Glass due to her different race, the counter attack sucks this "energy" from her, thus hurting her.
In short, this shield only hurts members of her race. It hurts NO ONE else.
Including the very pissed off knights in front of the Shield Hero right now.
"... um, heheh-"
Naofumi was skewered once again for being stupid.
ALRIGHT, WHAT ABOUT THE FREAKING SPIRIT TORTOISE HEART SHIELD THEN YOU IDIOT AUTHOR-
Again, Naofumi changed to a weapon form he DEFINITELY should not have equipped, as it not only required being at least Level 70, but it also came from one of the most powerful beings in the entire world, one he shouldn't be facing for at least SEVERAL months.
Yet, for the purposes of this demonstration, the author allowed Naofumi to equip it so he could use its Energy Blast option to annihalate everyone post haste for the sake of edge. *sighs tiredly*
"SHUT IT ALLEN! THIS TIME, I'M MAKING IT COUNT!" Naofumi yelled at the ceiling.
Why do I do this to myself?
"Now, heathens and idiots, prepare for the coming of your salvation in the form of... of..."
Naofumi slowly blinked.
The Energy Blast option on the shield wasn't even there!
"You want to know why it isn't there?!" Allen appeared poking a finger into Naofumi's chest. The author must have had a high level as it sent Naofumi tumbling down to the ground. "It's because OST isn't here to make your shield give permission to use that attack! She was only able to do that because as the Spirit Tortoise, a Guardian Beast that specializes in defense, SHE HAS A FREAKING CONNECTION WITH YOUR SHIELD!
"Also, she's not here to supply the soul power needed to use it either! It's completely worthless for attack outside of that arc you dingus!" The author roared down at the stunned Shield Hero before disappearing in a pillar of light.
...
Fine. We'll stop using Shields or Gauntlets or weapon forms or whatever.
But how about we have Naofumi use Bombs! Those are consumables, and gunpowder exists in the world, so surely that'd work!
"REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
Naofumi let out his classic scream as he threw a grenade at the center of the knights.
The armored men reeled back in terror, and Aultcray himself stood in case this was something that'd actually work and-
Poof!
The grenade let out a small smoke cloud. Nothing more. Nothing less.
It wouldn't have hurt a fly even if it tried.
Naofumi stared in dumbfounded disbelief.
Allen stared down in disappointment.
Again, Naofumi has VERY LOW ATTACK POWER, and that applies to ANY FORM OF ATTACK he tries to unleash. I don't care what is supposed to happen in the real world. This is not the real world. This is a fantasy world, and it operates by different rules. You are not getting around that no matter WHAT you try.
Physics? No. Sharp edge? No. Explosives from the Shield Hero? NO NO NO NO NO!
Because Allen was sick of this OOC Naofumi and the lack of understanding of what it means to have stats by this point, he zapped the fake Shield Hero with Lightning and did the Knight's and the King's job for them.
There, now cooked shish kebab for everyone!
Alright, WHAT ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT?!
In the throne room?
YES, IN THE DAMN THRONE ROOM!
What is he going to do there?
I DON'T KNOW, SET A FIRE OR SOMETHING!?
On the stone floor. Without any fuel.
YES, HE'LL DO SO WITH MAGIC!
He doesn't have fire magic.
HE DOES NOW!
"Liberation Fireball Deus ex Machina!" The OOC Naofumi screamed.
Nothing happened.
"WHY WON'T THIS WORK!?" Naofumi screamed again.
Besides you not even having the capability of using a spell above even the first tier, much less using a spell at the first tier, you're not allowed to use offensive spells thanks to me, IDIOT.
Text from the Shield appeared on his HUD.
Yes, this is a thing. Naofumi's affinities are normally Healing and Support. But there is a branch of Healing magic called Decay Magic.
Naofumi learns it later on, but isn't allowed to use it thanks to the Shield. It's only when the Shield is stolen from him by an antagonist, getting rid of his title as the Shield Hero, that Naofumi can finally use those offensive Decay spells.
But once he had the Shield back, he couldn't use them. Period. This extends to any branch of magic out there. Unless the spell is support based or healing based, Naofumi CAN'T USE IT.
That knowledge sank in as Naofumi was turned to shish kebab once again by the knight's pikes.
FINE, I'LL JUST SET THIS FIRE MYSELF!
Fire appeared in the room, because somehow, Naofumi managed to make a fire by throwing wood all over the room by ejecting it from his shield's inventory, and lit it all aflame.
The knights screamed as they burned, as did the Heroes.
"YES, ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE DOES WORK! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Naofumi screamed in triumph.
Yes, it's not the Shield Hero hurting them. It's the fire. It's much like how if you threw someone several thousand feet in the air and they died on impact.
It wasn't you doing the killing. It was the fall to the ground. The throw didn't kill them. The subsequent fall did.
"FINALLY, I SHALL GROW IN LEVELS!" Naofumi screamed as the Heroes behind him died. "I SHALL BE UNSTOPPABLE! I SHALL BE-"
The fire dissipated from around Aultcray. He was completely unharmed from the flames.
"... huh?" Naofumi tilted his head.
The Staff King, for he now had his Vassal Staff in hand, looked around at all the destruction caused by environmental damage. The Heroes, his own daughter, and the lower leveled knights had perished. Those knights higher in levels, wearing armor enchanted with FIRE RESISTANCE, or those with natural resistances to fire damage thanks to the class-up job class they'd taken were relatively unscathed.
"How are you not dead?!" Naofumi screamed in frustration.
"Environmental damage doesn't work on everyone, you stupid, edgy excuse for a human being." Aultcray said, his voice trembling with anger. "Also, check your level again."
Naofumi did so.
He paled as he saw he was still LEVEL ONE.
BUT HOW?! THE HEROES WERE DEAD! AND YOU NEEDED THREE VASSALS IN AN AREA TO CANCEL OUT EXPERIENCE GAINS! AND KILLING PEOPLE DEFINITELY EARNED EXPERIENCE!? SO WHY WAS HE STILL LEVEL ONE!?
Because in the end, even though he'd started the fire, it was the fire that killed enemies. Not Naofumi. Just like when you blast someone off a cliff in Skyrim. You get no credit when they die to fall damage.
Naofumi was the murderer. But the fire got credit for the kills. So Naofumi receives no experience from environmental damage whatsoever.
On the bright side, he'd finally been shown a way where he could kill SOME enemies.
On the downside, it was meaningless when he received no benefit whatsoever.
As for why the Staff King now had his Staff in hand. It should have been obvious.
"Your Shield has labeled you a threat to our world. I shall annihalate you once and for all!"
"REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-"
Naofumi went down screaming as the Staff Hero with all his powers absolutely obliterated Naofumi's essence from existence.
Darn, no shish kebab.
If Naofumi set traps!
Again, in the throne room?
WE DON'T DO LOGIC HERE! WE EXPLORE UNTIL THERE'S NOTHING LEFT TO EXPLORE!
If traps were considered by the weapons...
Zap!
The bear trap went flying out of Naofumi's hands.
"Reeeeeeeeee-"
He was cut down by pikes.
That's not fair! Traps are also considered an environmental hazard!
True, but that basically means that if Naofumi could set them without his stats impacting them...
"Aieeeeee!" The very dumb knight screamed as he fell into a pitfall trap Naofumi had somehow dug in the throne room without anyone noticing. The impact against the ground far below killed him.
"Ha! Suck it!" Naofumi flipped the bird down below.
However, not noting the three cardinals still alive behind him, Naofumi would still get no exp as it was environmental factors that killed the knight, and not his bare hands.
"You know what Allen, &%$# you-"
The Author struck the Shield Hero with lightning again.
Well then let's just use traps that have been set for thousands of years and-
Why? What good would that do? Seriously, WHAT FREAKING GOOD WOULD THAT DO WHEN IT'S NOT FROM NAOFUMI!?
...
Yeah, that's what I thought.
Fine, screw the setting, let's make Naofumi level 100 at the start!
Didn't you read my previous section-?
SCREW GODWORLD! GIVE NAOFUMI HIS LEVELS!
Fine, whatever.
"Ahahahaha, with all this power, I'll finally be able to-" Naofumi screamed gleefully.
Clang!
...
Naofumi looked down at his level 100 fist.
Yes, even though he was level 100, his attack stat hadn't gone up. Because the Shield Hero's attack doesn't go up when he levels up. He only acquires increases from his attack stat from unlocking the equip bonuses of rare weapon forms that have an increase in the attack stat listed.
Which, out of two worlds worth of shields thus far, you could count the number that had an equip bonus that raised Naofumi's attack stat by +1 or +2 on two hands.
On the bright side, his defense stat was high enough that when the knights attempted to skewer him with their pikes, they bounced off with a resounding Clang!
It didn't protect him though when the antagonists crushed the world like a Happy Meal though.
LET'S MAKE HIM LEVEL 1000 THEN!
Alright, whatever.
Clang!
Once again, Naofumi's fists did nothing to the knights. Even though he was so far beyond them in levels that he was a literal walking mountain.
It is still the same as before. Naofumi's attack stat doesn't change with levels. It doesn't change with the strengthening methods, any of them. It only changes by finding weapon forms with an equip bonus that increases his attack stat. Of which, there are less than a dozen in all of existence.
And that is because his damn weapon restriction keeps his attack stat lower than a baby's. NOTHING he does will change that except the Cursed Series.
And while everyone there looked on the Shield Hero with pity as even they felt sorry for Naofumi and every other Hero like him that suffered from this particular weapon restriction in its various forms, the gods of Godworld once again snapped the world like a Happy Meal, ending all life with no more effort than a flick of a finger.
...
... if somebody trips onto a sword he's holding?
...
"Do I really have to show why that just sounds so stupid?" The Author asked in a deadpan.
...
"Huff. Fine..."
Naofumi held a sword, with no intention to attack. Somehow, even though his current edgy persona wanted to attack everyone there.
And as a knight holding a pike ran to skewer him despite being unprovoked, he tripped and began to fall towards Naofumi's blade.
Zap!
The weapon zapped itself out of Naofumi's hands, and the knight didn't get hurt as he fell into Naofumi.
Because yes, even if you have no intention to attack but hold your blade in a way that somebody 'conveniently' tripping would make them fall and impale themselves onto your sword, the Cardinal Weapon is smart enough to not let that pass.
But if it was the Sword Shield from before-
Do you remember my thing about sharp edges and attack stats? Have you not been paying A SINGLE OUNCE OF ATTENTION TO THE OTHER SCENARIOS?!
But... it's not an attack.
Naofumi had the Sword Shield out instead, and the same knight from before tripped and fell onto one of its blades.
CLANG!
Because the weapon form had nothing to offer in terms of an attack stat thanks to the Legendary Shield, everyone there got to witness as the knight tripped into a sharp object and was left without even a scratch on his armor.
The Shield Hero screamed.
The knights skewered him on his pikes.
Everyone can go home happy, having gotten the chance to feast on some good shield hero shish kebab.
I'm done with this. There better not be any more dumb ideas to have Naofumi do damage or so help me god I will unlock the Curse of Wrath myself.
I was not kidding when I said that in 22 Light Novels, Naofumi has found no way to attack and kill by himself outside of the Cursed Series. It is a struggle even the Armor Hero and the Hunting Tools Hero and possibly other Heroes out there that Aneko hasn't revealed yet have suffered from. At least this OOC EDGY knock-off can take solace in the fact that he isn't alone in this regard.
What are the traits the weapons look for?
Ok, this is a good question brought up by nobody90. I said in the main guide that weapons summon based on Hero Traits and not proficiency in a weapon. So...
Before that, I want to make something clear: The weapons don't summon those who are already heroes in their worlds. For example, if Izuku was summoned, it'd be before he inherited One For All from Allmight. In fact, he'd be summoned before he ever saved Bakugo from that slime monster. Same with Asta being summoned before saving Yuno from the Chain mage in Black Clover. Same with Shirou being summoned BEFORE the start of the Holy Grail War and all that mess. Weapons won't summon individuals that are already heroes. They will only summon said inviduals BEFORE their heroic journey ever starts, NOT AFTER.
If you want to know why: It's because the weapons have to mess with the reality of those worlds in order to summon their picks. And besides their own world where they hold absolute sway, their ability to mess with reality in other worlds is VERY limited. That's why their picks are people who aren't well known in their world, who are normally on the fringes of society (think about why all the summoned Heroes thus far have been otakus and you'll realize why now) but who have the potential to become Heroes.
Keep in mind that key word, POTENTIAL. They can either live up to their potential as Naofumi and later on; Ren, Itsuki, and Motoyasu, or they can fizzle out and die like the Jewel, Ofuda, and Blunt Instruments Heroes of Glass's world. Because of who they pick, reality isn't altered in those worlds that much, if at all in some cases (cue Itsuki getting hit by Truck-Kun). Once they start on the journey of fulfilling their heroic potential in that world though, they can't be summoned, period. If they want to be summoned, it has to be before they ever start on their journeys (so yes, that means if Asta was summoned, he wouldn't have his anti-magic swords his Devil form or even his grimoire. He'd be the same dude from Episode One that everyone was laughing at in the Tower, just like the other heroes that get summoned).
Now, let's start on the Heroic traits, shall we?
The Shield: Someone that protects, and inspires others to protect.
They are a person that will put themselves in front of danger again and again to protect those they care for. And in turn will inspire others to protect others. They are whatever you'd picture to be somebody that can lead others for the good of everyone. Even if they don't mean to at times. Say what you want about Naofumi. He encapsulates this perfectly. He has his flaws and his jadeness from Bitch's betrayal and his bad treatment at the start of the story, but he'll still protect random strangers because nothing pisses him off more than doing watching innocent people die.
Next, the Spear: Loyalty.
Ironically, Naofumi also fits this, as he's shown to be loyal to those who hold his trust. But Motoyasu takes it a step further by being absolutely loyal to those around him to the extreme. Fun fact, had Bitch not manipulated him, he would have been nicer to Naofumi and would have taken the prime role of protagonist in the story as a classic isekai protagonist. Still, there is no doubt that he's loyal to those that are his friends. Befriend him and you'll find out just how great he is. As long as you get in his good graces before Bitch, of course.
Following Spear, the Sword: Hard-Earned Strength.
This is a trait that's actually easy to define. The Sword looks for those who become strong for the sake of being strong. There is no motivating factor behind it. No sense of justice guiding it or love for something or anything. They are naturally hard working people who grind far more and far harder to achieve what they want without cheating. They are the sweatlords of online games and the worker that puts in 80+ hour weeks not for money but because they enjoy the WORK. It is is why Shirou and most other characters with swords wouldn't get the Sword. If you want an example for someone that'd get it, look no further than Asta from Black Clover. You see how crazy that dude is about training even before his promise to Yuno to become the Wizard King? He'd no doubt be the Sword's first pick if he was available for summon. If you want a funnier but still an excellent example, look at Inosuke from Demon Slayer. Trust me, nothing would be funnier than seeing him be the Sword Hero in this world.
As for Shirou, he lands directly under the Bow: Justice (spoken in Batman's deep brooding voice)
Basically, you have a strong sense for right and wrong. This is the weapon I actually fall under the most out of the four. These are the Robin Hoodesque figures, or those who'll stand up for the weak and help the needy. And someone who'll, no matter the odds, have strong belief in their own values. If that isn't Shirou, I don't know what the hell I was watching on Crunchyroll.
Believe it or not, Itsuki was this in the beginning. Ever wonder what drove him to stand up for Naofumi at the duel? This is why. If you're wondering how he got so screwed up later on though, that would be because of his pride complex, and because of his party members, who were Church plants btw, fueling that pride complex until his sense of justice was warped. After having the pride literally beaten out of him by Rishia though, he mellows out and actually becomes a better Bow Hero with his original sense of justice.
Can you use power-up methods from more than one world if you have weapons from both worlds?
This was a question asked by a Guest in Diligence. The short answer is no. The long answer is still no, but with explanation.
First off, it's impossible to have another weapon if you're already a Hero, unless you're a reincarnator. They are antagonists with the ability to steal weapons from Heroes. And they can steal multiple weapons. However, if they acquire the weapon via stealing, they are unable to draw out their full power as well as the power of the power-up methods. And if they steal weapons from multiple worlds, they run into the same problem that I'll explain down below.
Now those who read the light novels will ask: Didn't Naofumi and Itsuki get chosen as the Mirror Hero and Musical Instruments Hero (Yes, that exists) in Glass's world while they were the Shield Hero and Bow hero? No, they did not. When he was chosen by the Mirror, Naofumi wasn't the Shield Hero, and Itsuki wasn't the Bow Hero when he was chosen by the Musical Instruments.
You see, Naofumi and Itsuki's Hero statuses had been stripped, making them non-Heroes, which is why Naofumi got the Mirror and Itsuki got the Musical Instruments. If not for their Hero statuses being removed, they never would have been chosen by those two Vassal Weapons from Glass's world. If you're curious how it happened, it turns out that if a majority of a world's cardinal weapons agree, they can SEAL Cardinal Weapons invading from another world away. Meaning Naofumi and Itsuki had their weapons and Hero statuses sealed away thanks to the antagonists having control of three of the four Cardinal Weapons of Glass's world.
Now, this comes to the question. Because Naofumi and Itsuki are considered Heroes on both worlds after regaining their original weapons following the events of this arc. Can they use the methods of both worlds?
No. They cannot. At least, they can't use the other world's methods on the Shield and Bow.
To explain, even though they're Heroes of both worlds, they can only have one weapon equipped at a time. This is the same limitation reincarnators deal with after stealing multiple weapons. Either they're the Shield Hero, or the Mirror Hero, or the Whip Hero, or some other Hero. It's like changing your job class, you're either one or the other, never both or more. To add to that, they can only use the methods of that world ON THAT WORLD'S WEAPON. So Naofumi's power-up methods for the Shield can't be used on the Mirror, and vice versa. And because only one weapon and that weapon's benefits can be equipped at a time, any progress Naofumi makes powering up the Shield does not affect his stat build when he equips the Mirror weapon and vice versa.
So no, even having weapons from multiple worlds, you STILL CANNOT USE METHODS ON THE WEAPON THAT AREN'T FROM ITS WORLD. PERIOD.
Why can't I summon Shirou Wank as the Sword Hero?! This sucks!
The reason is plain and simple. Shirou's hard work and effort is because of him striving for his ideal of justice. Had this ideal not existed for him and nothing else motivated him to go through what he went through to try and learn magecraft, the Sword would have had him as a pick, possibly near the top of its list alongside other great yet flawed candidates. But because of his justice ideal and how all consuming it is in his life, the Sword would never consider Shirou as a worthy candidate to wield it.
In fact, Shirou doesn't just fall under Bow. His sense of loyalty to his friends and his ideal would land him high on the Spear's list too. And because of his willingness to protect even strangers and inspire people like Rin and Saber to protect others, he would fall under the Shield as well.
If you want Shirou summoned by a damn sword weapon, don't look at the Holy Sword itself and instead look at the Vassal Katana of Glass's world. As far as we can tell, one of the things it looks for is loyalty. Whether its loyalty like a samurai to his/her lord, or loyalty in an ideal or a person or something is unknown, but you could reasonably argue that Shirou could be chosen by that weapon due to his loyalty.
I say this here again at the end of this section: Shirou would not be chosen by the Sword because everything he does is to strive towards his Ideal of Justice. Archer, or future Shirou in whatever summon he takes, is proof of that. Arguing against this is arguing against the core of Shirou's character. He will do whatever it takes to strive towards his ideal. The Cardinal Sword does not want this. It wants someone who'll work hard, only because they want to, not because they have to in order to achieve something.
If you want to get pissy about that, know that of the four summoned heroes, three of them had no training in their weapons beforehand whatsoever. And the fourth one, Itsuki, only had training because he had a weak aim correction esper ability that he worked extensively to train in his world to try and escape being bullied by his classmates. He was like Shirou in that regard in what he had to go through to try and make his ability useful compared to the others who were much stronger than him, and like Shirou, it was his motivation for why he put in all that hard work that kept the Sword from considering him as a candidate.
That is Heroic traits for you. They are far more important to the weapon than proficiency ever will. If you want to be respectful towards the weapons in summoning a different wielder, actually study the heroic traits and not the abilities of the individual you want to summon to see if they would be a candidate of the weapon or not. Just know if you do it, the replaced hero will very likely be summoned on a different world. So far, we have confirmation that Naofumi and Itsuki would be the Mirror Hero and Musical Instruments Heroes of Glass's worlds if they weren't summoned as the Shield and Bow Heroes, and that Motoyasu also falls under the Shield and was likely its second pick. These are definites. If you want to eliminate Itsuki and Naofumi from canon entirely, you better have a damn good excuse for whoever was summoned in their place as those Heroes in Glass's world. And do know, if they are summoned to a different world, you can bet your butt that things won't be the same for it, especially in Itsuki's case, as he'll actually know he's not in his favorite game since Glass's world is nothing like Dimension Wave.
What are the Waves?
Depending on when you ask this question, you can get a different answer. I'll explain it as simply as I can.
The Waves are a naturally occurring phenomenon that happens when two worlds collide. The Waves tear at the realities of these worlds, and the longer they're open, the more catastrophic the damage is to both worlds.
Waves can end in either two ways. With the Death of the Wave Boss, which ends the wave immediately if heroes from other worlds aren't on the other's world, in which case the wave ends ten minutes after the Wave Boss's defeat. Or, the Wave ends naturally after about a few hours to a day.
What? Did you really think the Wave just goes on indefinitely and that you'd be able to farm it if you didn't kill the Wave Boss? In fact, doing this would be BEYOND TERRIBLE for several reasons.
One, the Waves bring disasters upon the world. Famine. Floods. Earthquakes. You name it. The longer the Waves are left open, the more severe the effects are on the land. And the worse off everyone will be from it. The more Waves you allow to do this, the worse off the ENTIRE world becomes.
Two, the Waves don't just physically affect the world. They tear at the world's reality, the very thing the Cardinal Weapons are meant to protect. There's a reason why all those disasters occur from a Wave. The longer a Wave is open, the more damaged the world becomes. And the longer it'll take for calamities like famines and stuff to stop when the Waves are finally over.
Third and not least, in line with the above, if you reached a certain point and the Heroes all died, the world would instantly go kaput within the span of a few seconds due to the amount of damage the reality of the world has suffered. As it was described in LN 19, the color would drain out from everything. And nobody would feel it as reality around them suddenly ceased to exist. They'd all die, and the universe they were in would cease to be within the span of a few seconds.
In short, deal with the Waves as quickly as possible. Otherwise, the people you're meant to protect will suffer far more.
The other detail you should be aware of in connection with the waves naturally closing. This is the natural part of the Waves. In the past before Godworld meddled with other worlds, Waves would occur, but rarely. And while the worlds were connected, no large surplus of monsters would go through to the otherworld.
Then, when Godworld interfered by making the Waves occur more often, they did it as a sort of gameshow of sorts. Monster fights. Duels between heroes. Etc. All for their world's entertainment. They did it within the boundaries of the system and abused the hell out of it.
Then, things happened, and a few of them died to Heroes. So now in the present, Godworld fears the power these worlds could grow into, and has the Waves occur amongst other things in an attempt to subjugate them, or destroy them. But they can only do as much as the system allows them to do. Because even they are still subject to the rules of Status Magic.
And that is a lot of spoilers for this section, but at least you understand better what the Waves are now.
The Economy of Shield Hero
Ugh, just know I'm adding this because I'm a business student. And I'm tired of the aneurysms I've gotten from horrible business and economic practices I've found in fanfics.
To start, there are two essentials in business that Shield Hero follows. Demand, and Supply. When demand goes up, prices go up. When Supply goes up, prices go down. When demand goes up and prices go up, the demand curve shifts to the right and prices remain the same.
With me so far? Good. Now, the economies of the world itself is fairly interesting. To simplify, it is a near modern/barter/haggle type system. The main currency is coins made of gold, silver, and copper. You might think it'd be the gold standard because of that. It's actually not. It is like cash in that it's authencity as a currency is backed by the countries of the world.
Unlike our world with its many currencies, Raphtalia, and notably Glass's world, both use one currency. Meaning there is no floating exchange rates or anything to worry about. It is an economist's wet dream in that it gets rid of a major complex factor and makes supply and demand more important in determining prices in various countries. This also means, unless gold, silver, or copper enter the money supply, they are actually worth FAR less in their base forms than when they're turned into currency. It is how Naofumi can make a gold bracelet with an emerald on it and only sell it for half a gold coin in a place abundant with accessories and two gold coins or more in a place where accessories are in short supply.
That leads to the last factor, haggling/bartering. While many places in our world (besides vendors in the streets of tourist destinations like Israel and Egypt and Italy) have set prices, you don't see that much here. You get a set price at times, but you can haggle prices either higher (as a seller) or lower (as a buyer) and find a value both of you agree with. Or, you can trade a good/service you have for a good/service that person has.
Oh yeah, one last thing. Platinum Coins don't exist. In Raphtalia's world, it is 100 copper for a silver coin, and 100 silvers for a gold coin. In Glass's world, it is 100 Doumon that makes a tamagin, and 100 tamagin that makes a kinhan. You will hardly find stuff except high end gear that's worth more than 10 gold coins or ten kinhan max. If an inn in the city costs 30 copper while an inn in the country costs a silver, than you should not expect for things to be worth in the triple digits of gold coins. If you introduce Platinum coins or its equivalent in Glass's world to explain the cost for something like a level 40 blade, I will REEEEEEEE like a Karen as will every other business student who understands the pain people here have caused me.
What is more important, Stats, or characters?
This might come as a shock after everything I've said thus far. Stats aren't important to the overall narrative.
But Allen, what about your list of all the ways Naofumi can't do damage?!
Yes, that is important. But it's not the most important thing in Shield Hero.
Yes, physics gets taken out back and shot in this universe. But honestly, a good story will never be interesting if it's just centered around the worldbuild. What makes a story interesting is the characters living and breathing in it.
Look at Erased as one example. It's hella interesting that the MC has the ability to see a bit into the future to stop something bad from happening from someone else. But, quite honestly, the thing that carries the show isn't the MC's ability. It's his interactions with his young classmates when he's sent back in time to save those killed by a serial killer when he was a child. The characters MADE that show good.
If you want a bad example, look at that cell phone anime I forget its name. The worldbuild was interesting. But the characters were trash. The MC was so trash that I didn't even remember his name or the name of his anime. I've basically listed it as another trash harem anime in my mind and moved on to greener pastures.
Hence, if you want any solid advice from me on writing a good Shield Hero story: respect the setting, and FOCUS on characterization. Shield Hero has plenty in terms of characters and routes of character development for them. It's why the story is classified to be CHARACTER DRIVEN. If you look at Reprise, it's not just that Motoyasu is overpowered. The way character's develop differently based on how things happen CHANGE the story beyond what Motoyasu does. That is what makes Shield Hero unique.
There are plenty of animes and isekais out there with stats and heroes and the like. But you'll hardly find one whose story and plot can change based on the actions of characters like it does in Shield Hero.
If there proves to be anything else people want me to add, I shall do so here. These were additions I made because of what I have on my Profile and because of further insights I got from rereading the Light Novels.
Till Next Time
Allen