Shields

People like Zoecherry got to obscene levels on 1x and before shield ma att, (and helm int and a lot of other things) came out. The luxury of training at Newts and Skels, and 4th job for that matter, is only a year old. The idea that you "have to" have something like a 7/14 shield is an illusion created by Nexon to milk you for money. I 2hkoed Newts, took off my equips and put on my 3 below average clean black umbrella and I STILL 2hkoed Newts with all my gear off. You need 2hko newts a lot more than you need the shield or overall or whatever. Lukless mages are a good way to go in my opinion. You are more dependent on lvl than gear, and your MP will be very good too.