Enchanter Shield or Stein

[pzak640]

Hello,
I'll be making a new chanter soon but I cant decide if its worth it to use a shield or a crude stein in off hand. Low hp and no healing can be a recipe for death. I'm thinking a shield at least for the first 20 levels or so may greatly cut down on number of deaths. Do lots of enchanters use a shield end game? Does it make a big difference? Ive got about 5k to put towards this character so I should be able to get good CHA still. Thanks for any suggestions.