Could this ever be a possibility? With characters like Shield wielding Clerics and the Shield Hero from the anime of the same name, I think shields would be awesome for characters with long range powers. I know the whole power type would have to be re-worked so blasters could not exploit defense and resistance, but do you think it would be possible to proliferate Shields to blasters as an Epic power pool.
At 35 you can take the Shield Defense epic power pool with maybe Battle Agility, Against All Odds, Grant Cover, Shield Charge, and the 5th would be hard to say because I know you would not want to give too much defense or resistance but may deflect/active defense/true grit (maybe make it only apply the resistance and no extra HP, or vice versa). Do you think something like that could work and be possible for the Blaster?
Also, do you think switching the shield arm or even dual shielding would be possible? (Avengers: Infinity War showed that dual shield could work and be cool! (dream of mine for a hero lol))