Originally posted by Jitatha:

You can kill deathsquitos, naked and foodless with a shield and sword. Hold shield up, absorb the hit, counterstike. Done.

...yeah, go try that with a wooden shield right now and tell me how it works out for you. Even with a lvl 3 bronze buckler you still have to parry or the attack will bleed through and stagger you, preventing a counter-attack.