The shield costs 1 set and a half of iron armor, for blocking most damage if you block none if you don't block,unlike armor. The shield has pretty bad durability considering its cost. The shield is not ussually bought until late game for these reasons. I suggest
Buffing the durability: Increase the durability of the shield to 350-450 to make the 30 diamonds more worth it.
Or
Adding armor to the shield: Additional half a bar(or full bar) of armor when the shield is in the offhand.
Or
Making the shield cheaper:5-20 diamonds since the shield right now costs way to much for the possibilty to block most of the damage, or if you don't block in time you take full damage.(and lose any combat momentum you had)
Or
Now this last one is a bit contraversial:
Add enough knockback resistance to the shield to make it so you take 1/4 less( or 1/2 less)knockback withouth needing to block. Lets say a hit was supposed to deal 2 blocks of knockback, with the shield it would be 1.5 blocks(or 1 block instead). A way to see if someone is hacking is if the person takes 0 knockback, or they don't have a shield and take no knocback/reduced knockback. The shield needs to be in the offhand. If too op reduce the shields hp a little bit.
Buffing the durability: Increase the durability of the shield to 350-450 to make the 30 diamonds more worth it.
Or
Adding armor to the shield: Additional half a bar(or full bar) of armor when the shield is in the offhand.
Or
Making the shield cheaper:5-20 diamonds since the shield right now costs way to much for the possibilty to block most of the damage, or if you don't block in time you take full damage.(and lose any combat momentum you had)
Or
Now this last one is a bit contraversial:
Add enough knockback resistance to the shield to make it so you take 1/4 less( or 1/2 less)knockback withouth needing to block. Lets say a hit was supposed to deal 2 blocks of knockback, with the shield it would be 1.5 blocks(or 1 block instead). A way to see if someone is hacking is if the person takes 0 knockback, or they don't have a shield and take no knocback/reduced knockback. The shield needs to be in the offhand. If too op reduce the shields hp a little bit.