Shields are extremely useful when it comes to protecting you from harm. You can wield various shields to either block or parry incoming attacks to give yourself an opening and defeat the enemy. Since the game has tons of options to choose from, we have listed down the 15 best shields in Elden Ring so that you can find the ideal one.
There are different categories of shields (small shields, great shields, and medium shields). This list contains all types of shields, and each was ranked after testing it out extensively. With that said, let’s dive right in and get started.
Great Turtle Shield
This Shield defends against Physical and Magical damage. While the magic damage reduction isn’t the best, it still is helpful, especially in the early game. Its ability – Barricade Shield – increases the shield’s guard boost stat by 40% (1.4x) while it is active.
To get it, you must go to Castle Morne. From the Castle Morne Rampart Site of Grace, look towards the east to find a Spiritspring and use your horse to jump from it towards the roof of a tower section of the ramparts. The shield can be found on a corpse atop this tower.
Beast Crest Heater Shield
The Beast Crest Heater Shield can be found near the Deathtouched Catacombs – which is an early game location. This means that you can get your hands on this weapon extremely early in the game. You can find it inside a chest guarded by small enemies and a Beast Crest Heater Knight.
The good news is that it has decent stats and can be a viable pick for the majority of the early game. Once you progress through the game a bit, you will have to change it but during the earlier stages, it will help you out immensely.
Since you can get it without any issues and can apply any Ashes of War on it, this shield is one of the best in Elden Ring.
Erdtree Greatshield
This is one of the strongest shields in Elden Ring. Apart from the amazing stats, it also has a useful active that allows you to dispel all spells and incantations. This can be a nightmare for mages if you are going against them in PvP.
Many players have also found a way to exploit Golden Retaliation and cause the entire area to be set on fire thanks to incantations like Fire’s Deadly Sin. However, the reason why it’s not higher on the list is that obtaining this shield is a hassle.
You need to defeat the two Tree Sentinels patrolling outside the Royal Capital. Since you have to fight these bosses simultaneously, it is an extremely difficult task. While you can cheese them a bit, you will have to fight both Sentinals at once.
Brass Shield
When it comes to Medium Shields, the Brass Shield is superb. Plus, if you are looking for a good weapon in the early-mid game, the Brass Shield will carry you to victory. The only issue is that its drop rate is extremely low and will take you a lot of tries to get it.
If you want to farm it, make sure that you kill tons of Godrick Soldiers or the soldiers found outside of the Raya Lucaria Academy. Again, the drop rate is quite low but the chances of getting it from here are high since you can kill multiple soldiers in quick succession.
Inverted Hawk-Heater Shield
While I don’t like the design of this shield, I cannot deny how effective it is when it comes to blocking or parrying. You can easily parry attacks thanks to the lenient parry timing. Plus, blocking attacks is also useful since you won’t take a lot of damage.
The best part is that you do not require high stats to wield it. However, the only issue is that there are better options than this shield in the game. Otherwise, if you want to use it during the early-mid game, this shield will come in handy.
Golden Beast Crest Shield
The Golden Beast Crest Shield is a Shield that scales primarily with Strength. Great shields weigh a decent amount and provide the best protection in the game.
They provide a greater value of blocking and protecting one’s self from enemy and boss attacks, but greatly increase the weight and reduce the player’s mobility. This type of shield works best at reducing damage or guarding instead of parrying.
You can get this by killing the Grafted Scion in the Chapel of Anticipation.
Jellyfish Shield
Moving on to the Jellyfish Shield, it is unique in terms of stats and design. Its skill – Contagious Fury – allows you to raise your attack for a brief period. This allows you to deal tons of additional damage while the enemy isn’t expecting it.
Keep in mind that this buff only applies to single-handed weapons. So, don’t switch to a two-handed weapon after using its skill or it will expire. Also, the appearance of this shield is quite unique and looks like a jellyfish which is a welcomed addition.
Dragonclaw Shield
Speaking of unique designs, the Dragonclaw Shield has one of my favorite designs in the game. The best part about it is that you can use it to block incoming damage without any worries. Thanks to its high stats, you won’t feel a thing coming your way.
However, obtaining it can be quite a hassle since you have to kill the Draconic Tree Sentinel. Once you get it, you can use its skill – Shield Bash – to give yourself some room if enemies get too close for comfort.
Carian Knight’s Shield
Coming in 9th in our list of the best shields in Elden Ring is the Carian Knight’s Shield. This shield can be obtained relatively early in the game and it only requires 10 STR and 10 DEX to equip. This is ideal for magic users since you can easily wield this shield without having to worry about stats. Once you upgrade this weapon, it is one of the best shields in Elden Ring.
To get this, you need to defeat the Moongrum Carian Knight located in the Raya Lucaria Academy. While this fight can be a bit tough for newer players, you can easily defeat this foe once you recognize his attack patterns.
Blue-Gold Kite Shield
Before we talk about this shield, I would like to say that its design is absolutely horrible. However, when it comes to stats and obtainability, the Blue-Gold Kite Shield is a solid choice. You can purchase it from a merchant located south of the Minor Erdtree in East Limgrave. Make sure that you have 1000 spare Runes on you.
You can use this weapon to easily parry attacks during the early game. As you progress, you’ll notice that it doesn’t block nearly enough damage as you’d like. So, make sure that you switch to something better after progressing through the game instead of upgrading this shield to the maximum.
Coil Shield
The Coil Shield is ideal for users that want fast-paced gameplay with tons of rolling. Thanks to its lightweight, you can dodge without having to worry about being overweight. If you are confident in your ability to roll rather than block or parry, this shield will help you out a lot.
However, its skill – Viper Bite – allows you to apply poison to the enemy hit by it. This slowly reduces their HP over time which forces them to make hasty decisions without much thought.
Visage Shield
If you are someone that likes to go on the offensive, this shield is right up your alley. As you can see from its outlook, the Visage Shield allows you to spray fire from its front. This forces the enemy to retreat if they do not want to be damaged by the fire.
Plus, you can even buff this damage with various items and magic – making it even stronger. However, doing so consumes FP which can be used for other – more useful – things like sorceries or incantations. If you really want to use this weapon, you can consume the Cerulean Hidden Tear and gain infinite FP for a brief period as well.
Other than that, the stats are decent but there are many better weapons available in the game at this stage.
Spiralhorn Shield
In terms of design, the Spiralhorn Shield looks intimidating and cool. However, when it comes to base stats and abilities, it falls a bit short compared to the other shields on this list. If you are going for an STR and DEX hybrid build, you can use this shield since it offers decent stats.
The best part about this is that you can use it as a weapon as well. If you hit your enemy with it, they will get the bleed debuff. While it isn’t nearly as impressive as other bleed weapons, it is still good that you can use it in various ways.
Shield Of The Guilty
Thanks to being light in weight, players can carry this shield around without any issues. Plus, you can easily use it to dodge without spending a lot of stamina as well. The best part is that it has good stats to protect you from incoming damage.
You can also use Shield Bash to knock enemies away if they get too close to you. This will give you more room to move around and force the enemy you watch out for your shield attacks as well as sword attacks as well.
Riveted Wooden Shield
Finally, the Riveted Wooden Shield is a Shield that scales primarily with Strength. If you want to get it, it is a starting equipment piece for the Warrior Class but it can be bought from the Nomadic Merchant in East Limgrave for 600 Runes.
This Shield comes with the Parry Ashes of War so it makes it easier for you to deal with certain types of enemies.
Conclusion
And there you have it; those are the 15 best shields in Elden Ring. If you are planning to use shields in your next playthrough, make sure that you pick up one of the weapons mentioned on this list and try them out. All of them are excellent choices, but some are clearly better than others.
Which shield do you like most in Elden Ring? Do you prefer being more aggressive and only using armaments instead? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
