During my recent attempts to min/max my original character (Forge Guard), my eyes were opened to an issue involving one of the Forge Guard’s top tier talents; Shield Creator (Ring of Shields has a chance of proccing on hit). In the past, you could benefit from Shield Creator without having Ring of Shields on your active skill bar, but that was not an interaction the devs apparently wanted taking hold, so now RoS has to be an active skill.
In furtherance of surviving empowered Monoliths, I tested Juggernaut Stance in place of Ring of Shields. I was shocked at how many attacks Ring of Shields blocked because now my Stalwart counter (3% armor for each hit taken in the last 10s) was reaching 100-300 with minimal risk to my health. Similarly, my Avatar of War buff (1% damage for each hit taken in the last 10s) climbed significantly.
It seems really counterintuitive to me that a top tier talent in the Forge Guard tree fights against FG’s inherent ability (Stalwart) and another top tier talent (Avatar of War). A simple change unique to Forge Guards could be to allow Shield Creator to also enable hits absorbed by Ring of Shields to cause Stalwart and Avatar of War to trigger (Note: This change should apply whether RoS is cast or procced). This would allow Forge Guards to make a choice between using RoS as an active skill or not without being penalized as to Stalwart/Avatar of War. It already costs a minimum of 5 passive points to max Shield Creator, so this small change feels fair for the investment given it is also a top tier FG talent.