Bellator Arcana: The Eldritch Knight's guide

[Lord Vukodlak]

A question for math-oriented people: if I don't take the War Caster feat, is it better to use my shield +1, or to have a free hand and cast the shield spell? Is there someplace I can go to learn how to calculate those statistics?

Remember with weapon bond you can summon your weapon to your hand as "bonus action" So you could take your turn then drop your weapon. Then at the start of your text turn summon the weapon to your hand as a bonus action.
You won't be able to take attacks of opportunity but you could benefit from the shield equipment and the shield spell.