2-Handing Weap or use a shield?

I'm playing a PC with that will likely have enough AB and AC to be satisfactory in most Aenea conditions. However, I'm wondering whether doing more damage or having a higher AC is going to be the most useful.

Str: 42 (before buffs and gear).
AC: 68 (with gear, no buffs, shield, or Imp. Exp).

I like the idea of being able to punch through Damage Resistance using a 2-Handed Weapon.
Or should I use a shield, for that extra +6 protection (might be useful in the Arena, but not my ultimate concern).

Note: Currently using the Impaler, and taking a shield will lower my AB by 5 (using a +5 Weapon).

What do you think?

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Also, I have the opportunity to take another Bard Song (already have Extra Song, Quacking Chorus). Is there another highly recommended Bard song out there? Maybe Extend Song? Any thoughts?

Thanks, any suggestions would be appreciated.

To avoid Dev Crit being a huge concern, I would aim at an AC of 80+.

However, there is no reason I can think of now why you cannot have both. Train and choose feats with the two-handed weapon of choice as a focus, and have a shield and secondary weapons as backups for the odd encounter.

Svair wrote:Note: Currently using the Impaler, and taking a shield will lower my AB by 5 (using a +5 Weapon).

You can use the Impaler with a shield now (as long as you're medium-sized), if you wanted to go that route

My advice:

If you want to punch through DR, dont rely on physical damage. Do an end-around on DR. Log enough hours to get your custom vouchers and get yourself a pair of weapons with good damage types like magical, positive, or divine on them (or any combination of those).

Dual wield those buggers and go to town. Get high dex, and weapon finesse... get post-epic levels in a class with tumble and max it out... you will have nasty AC, and very good AB to go with it, and damage output wont be a problem. Even enhancement bonus wont be a huge deal... you may lose a little bit of AB from not having +10 enhancement, but you will still be able to hit just about everything reliably, and you will have 6 or 7 attacks per round.

If STR is your focus, then I advocate taking a tower shield (like the Fortress), and getting it enhanced to +5.
You lose some attacks per round, but your AC will be higher (even when flat-footed), and you still want to get a custom weapon with alternate damage types.... the enemies that have really good DR or physical damage immunities wont be seriously affected by your physical dmg output, no matter what your str or enchancement is...

All good advice, thanks!