As a rule, on a pre-expansion Shadow Knight I suggest using the best weapon available. Even in optimal circumstances the benefit gained by having a 15 AC shield is not going to be large. In a situation like you find yourself where a 1H happens to be the best you have, use it till you find something appreciably better. The shield simply means if your 1H and 2H are of similar quality then the 1H wins.
The shield will proportionally be of the most benefit right now while you're at low level. Enjoy it for now, upgrade the pair later on.
If you want to carry a shield around specifically for using it when acting as a group tank you can do so but I've never felt like it was necessary. If you really want to min-max your durability, pair it with a slow 1H like the crystalline blade so as to limit the number of ripostes you take once you're higher level and that becomes an issue.
Danth
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