I understand the text says,
Nierite wrote:
Armour Proficiency, Shield: Manica (ta) specifically for the
Manica in order to use it unless you are a Former Gladiator
(Ba). You cannot gain proficiency with the Manica simply
by gaining the normal Armour Proficiency, Shield talent.
I understand the bolded portion, but it neglects, as does the following underlined sentence it appears to assume is the baseline means of getting shield proficiency.
The errata specifically says,
Quote:
Archetypes
Question: Is the Martial Archetype the only Archetype
that doesn’t need to spend a Talent to learn to use any shield?
Answer: No, Martial Archetype characters learn all
of their nation’s shields during character creation. Expert
Archetype may also learn to use shields from their "any one
other weapon of choice" selection
and
Quote:
And as for your second question, Shields
are listed in the weapons table, thus they are
fair game.
So I often see getting shield proficiency through a weapon proficiency talent rather than an armor talent, which is what the underlined portion of text seems to assume is the case. I assume that the bolded portion simply means you have to take armor proficiency shield: manica, or weapon proficiency manica. Both are equally specific and unique, and indicate someone specifically taking that item as a specialization. IS this really wrong? Is the one shield item that is specifically described as being both a weapon and a shield the only shield that isn't allowed to be taken as a weapon proficiency?
Also, what is it's damage and speed? It's worn, so it's unarmed combat, so at least what skill it uses is already defined.