Shields don't noticeably improve your damage mitigation in EverQuest. Only use a shield when you aren't planning on meleeing mobs down and you have an item to place in that slot that increases your mana pool.
You can melee stuff down into your 30s, but your play style is going to change once you get your pet. It might even change before that, depending on the level of gear you've attained. You'll eventually be forced to root rot and let your pet finish off the mobs. At that point, even standing up long enough to keep your melee stats current will cause you to level noticeably slower because you'll be missing precious med/heal ticks. Your melee stats are eventually going to fall behind by necessity.
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