How do you shield bash?

I saw there is the feat "improved shield bash", but i did not see the simple shield bash feat.

Is it always possible to shield bash if you are holding a shield? i did not see it in the radial menu.

Maybe i am just dumb

 

If you're holding a shield capable of bashing (not a buckler, not a tower shield), then you should be able to either

1. Turn on two-weapon fighting to use both your normal weapon and shield bash (the bash is your 'off hand weapon')
2. Designate your left hand as the primary hand, which will just shield bash instead of using your normal weapon
3. Do both at the same time, which will mean your normal weapon is the off hand weapon

These toggles are in the 'Tactics' menu, I think.

 

too bad you can equip 2 shields, get spiked shields to enchant, or even use double tower shields to bash apart your foes.

 

I think you could interpret the rules as allowing you to wield two shields if you want. I'm not too motivated to implement that, though, since I expect it wouldn't actually be very popular. They're pretty bad as weapons. Also I'm not sure the game actually has a right handed shield attack animation.

Edit: seems like it's just the punching animation. Might look all right with a shield equipped, though. I think the left handed shield bash animation is sometimes just the punch animation.

Also, I was mistaken earlier. The toggles are in the 'Options' subsection of the combat menu.

 

Thanks for the explanation. I feel less dumb. As i thought there was a "shield bash" option.
Anyway not sure what it does and if it is worth to use it. Usually in RPGs it causes stun, not sure here how it works, what's the effect

 

It's just a substandard weapon. 1d3 for light shields and 1d4 for heavy shields, and they require martial weapon proficiency. And you forfeit the shield's AC bonus for the round (without the feat).

But, if you're fighting a skeleton with a short sword, you'll be doing 1d6-5 which averages 1/6 damage per hit. A shield bash does full damage because it's bludgeoning.

 

I think I'm right in saying that Shield Bash is just an action that anyone with a shield can perform, and Improved Shield Bash is a feat that makes it less of a bad option (analogous to unarmed strikes and the Improved feat for that). I think the idea at the start of 3rd Ed D&D was to have a load of different combat options and styles, but they made some of them so good or bad that people all chose the one option (and unlike spell selection for casters, feat choices get inked in rather than changed each time you rest). In real life, sword and shield is a good option because it makes it easier to avoid taking damage (and you really want to avoid taking damage, because however much experience you have, a thrust from a spear or even a dagger could be deadly, whereas in D&D above a certain level even a critical hit from a battleaxe isn't going to do you permanent harm, and you are closer to being able to apply healing magic if you go all-out with two-handed fighting and increasing the benefits of your strength bonus, rather than trying to defend with a shield.

 

Basically useless for me then. Fo rthe blunt weapons i always keep with the melee a light mace, just in case of skeletons and similar.
If there was a stun effect maybe, but in this case, i will not use it of course.