Although some of the best builds inElden Ringrevolve around two-handed weapons, dual-wielding or magic, the classic sword and board approach is a viable strategy as well. Pairing a shield with a one-handed weapon provides both offensive and defensive options while occasionally also granting you access to interesting skills and passive abilities.
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Whether you’re looking for a small and nimble shield or a massive Greatshield, you’re always guaranteed to find the perfect shield for your build somewhere in The Lands Between. Provided you know where to look, of course. To save you a bit of time, we put together a handy list of the best shields in Elden Ring along with their locations. Check it out down below.
10Shield of Night
Batman Would Love This Thing
TheShield of Nightis a Small Shield added in theShadow of the Erdtree DLCand is unique in that it was designed to counteract ranged attacks rather than melee ones. The shield weighs next to nothing and comes with a special ability called Revenge of the Night that lets players block incoming ranged attacks and counterattack with a strong magic projectile. This ability works remarkably well against casters and archers in particular. In a pinch, the Shield of Night can also be used as an improvised weapon since it inflicts moderate amounts of both Physical and Magic damage.
The Shield of Night is meant to be used alongside theNight Set, both of which can be found on the top level of the Bonny Gaol in southern Scadu Altus. This is a light armor set that offers little damage negation but makes up for it by providing high status resistance. The shield itself, on the other hand, does offer good protection for its size. The Physical damage negation is somewhat underwhelming, although you do get a lot of elemental damage negation, especially against Magic damage.
9Coil Shield
This Small Shield Packs a Big Punch
TheCoil Shieldis one of the strangest Small Shields in Elden Ring and we mean that in the best way possible. Less of an actual shield and more of a weapon, the Coil Shield’sViper Bite Skillis a handy special ability that inflicts a moderate amount of damage and triggers Poison buildup. At the same time, the shield makes the user considerably more resistant to Poison and Scarlet Rot by increasing their Immunity stat.
The Coil Shield can be found in Volcano Cave, a stone’s throw away from the Ninth Mt. Gelmir Campsite Site of Grace in Mt. Gelmir. This shield pairs well with theSerpentbone Bladekatana or other similar weapons capable of inflicting Poison buildup themselves. But even without an accompanying weapon, this is still a valuable shield to have at your side as you only need to hit most enemies a couple of times to trigger full Poison buildup. This even includes some bosses. The downside is that Viper Bite is a short-range ability, meaning you’ll need to be close to your opponent to make full use of it.
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8Eclipse Crest Greatshield
The Crest on This Shield is a Dark Souls Reference
Despite sitting fairly low on our list, theEclipse Crest Greatshieldis a good shield that provides several useful passive effects. Namely, a flat 50-point bonus to your Immunity, Robustness and Focus stats. These resistances will make you less susceptible to a variety of nasty status effects like Scarlet Rot, Frostbite, Sleep, Madness and more. The bonuses only apply for as long as you have the shield equipped, so sadly you won’t be able to use the Eclipse Great Shield to quickly buff yourself and then swap it out for a different shield.
The Eclipse Crest Greatshield has a chance of dropping from Mausoleum Knights and pairs well with theMausoleum Knight Setset dropped by the same enemies. The shield isn’t terribly heavy compared to many of its counterparts and offers some of the highest Magic damage resistance in the game. The rest of its stats are decent but nothing to write about and there’s no special ability to look forward to. In most scenarios, you’ll primarily want to use the Eclipse Crest Greatshield for its passive buffs rather than its defensive capabilities.
If you’re looking for a lightweight shield that provides the same passive bonuses, you’ll want to check out theSpiralhorn Shield.
7Verdigris Greatshield
The Ultimate Tanking Shield
TheVerdigris Greatshieldis a behemoth that offers the highest Guard Boost stat in the game when fully upgraded. A high Guard Boost stat reduces the amount of Stamina needed to block incoming attacks. The Verdigris Greatshield provides a whopping Guard Boost of 90 (out of 100), meaning you can pretty much endlessly block attacks without having to worry about Stamina. Since this is a Greatshield, you won’t take any Physical damage while blocking and a good chunk of incoming elemental damage will be negated as well.
The Verdigris Greatshield can only be acquired in the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC. Unfortunately, you’ll need to killMooreto get your hands on it, which is a bummer. Moore is a good guy and a likable NPC, but you have to do what you have to if you want one of the best shields in Elden Ring. Just keep in mind that this shield weighs a ton and requires an absurd amount of Strength to wield. Its special skill, Moore’s Charge, isn’t particularly amazing either. Still a good shield overall, but it does come with a bunch of drawbacks.
6Brass Shield
Crazy Good Considering How Easily You Can Get It
TheBrass Shieldcontinues to be the best Medium Shield in Elden Ring even after years of updates and the launch of Shadow of the Erdtree. At first glance, this is a shiny but otherwise unassuming shield with no special skills or passive effects. Once you compare it with other Medium Shields, however, you’ll quickly notice that it’s the most well-rounded of them all in terms of defensive capabilities. There are some Medium Shields that surpass it in one area or another, but none of them are as good as the Brass Shield at protecting you against everything.
In addition to being extremely solid, the Brass Shield is also incredibly easy to get. The shield has a chance of dropping from any Soldier archetype enemy in the game. This includes Godrick Soldiers, who can be found everywhere aroundLimgrave. The Brass Shield is heavier than a lot of other Medium Shields, but it’s still worth using even early on in the game when your stats are low. You’ll probably want to switch to a Greatshield later on if you’re going for aStrength build, but until then you may definitely rely on the humble Brass Shield to get the job done.
5Black Steel Greatshield
Hold the Door!
Switching back to the big boys, next up we have theBlack Steel Greatshield, another addition from Shadow of the Erdtree. This is essentially just a massive steel door cosplaying as a shield, but that hardly seems out of place in a game that’s chock-full ofweird weaponsand armor. This shield doesn’t have the best overall defensive stats, especially considering its size and weight. The Black Steel Greatshield is noteworthy, however, for being the only shield in the game that can provide 100% Holy damage negation.
The Black Steel Greatshield is a guaranteed drop fromBlack Knight Garrewin Fog Rift Fort and you’ll want to get your hands on it as soon as possible because it trivializes certain boss encounters. Many endgame bosses in Elden Ring rely on Holy damage and guess who’s going to perform the best against them? That’s right, players wielding a shield that completely shrugs off Holy damage. Outside those specific boss encounters, the Black Steel Greatshield isn’t nearly as good as some of our other picks, which is why this fancy-looking door only sits at #5 on our list.
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4Haligtree Crest Greatshield
Fashion Ring at Its Best
TheHaligtree Crest Greatshieldis similar to the Black Steel Greatshield to the point where you won’t feel like you’re missing out on much by picking one over the other. The Black Steel Greatshield is better at negating Holy damage and has a slightly higher Guard Boost, but the Haligtree Crest Shield can handle Magic and Fire attacks more easily and is lighter. We’re giving the Haligtree Crest Shield the edge because good Magic and Fire negation is harder to come by, but it’s mostly a matter of preference at the end of the day.
The Haligtree Crest Greatshield is arguably one of the best-looking Greatshields in Elden Ring, but it’s also one of the most difficult shields to farm. The Greatshield only drops from a specific Haligtree Knight found in Elphael, Brace of the Haligtree, and can literally take hours to farm. If you’re a practical person who doesn’t care much about esthetics, it’s probably a good idea to just use a different shield rather than waste hours trying to farm this one. But for someone who wants to look like a badass while exploring The Lands Between, the Haligtree Crest Shield is a must-have.
3Carian Thrusting Shield
Why Simply Block With Your Shield When You Can Punch With It?
TheCarian Thrusting Shieldis one of only two Thrusting Shields available. These types of shields were designed to double as weapons, and in some ways, are better when used offensively rather than defensively. The Carian Thrusting Shields hits harder than an average one-handed weapon while being able to negate damage about as good as a Medium Shield. It’s a few units heavier than a Medium Shield, but compensates for that by having a higher Guard Boost.
The Carian Thrusting Shield can be found in Shadow Keep, which is where you’re able to also get your hands on its sibling, theDueling Shield. The only time when you’ll want to pick the Dueling Shield over the Carian Thrusting Shield is when you’re going for a build that completely ignores INT. To get the most out of the Carian Thrusting Shield you’ll need to invest some points into Intelligence, but in return, you get one of the most powerful and versatile shields in the game.
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2Erdtree Greatshield
Indispensible For Any STR/FTH Build
TheErdtree Greatshieldis an attractive option for players who want a Greatshield that offers solid protection but doesn’t weigh a ton. This shield is particularly adept at negating Magic and Holy damage while doing a reasonably good job of protecting you against everything else. But the thing that pushes it near the top of the list is theGolden Retaliation Skill, a unique ability that works similar to Revenge of the Night but is significantly more powerful.
The Erdtree Greatshield can be acquired by killing theTree Sentinels (Duo)boss inAltus Plateau. Once you have the shield, you may want to consider investing some points into Faith if you haven’t already in order to get the most out of it. This is the only Faith-scaling Greatshield in the game and while the Ash of War scales primarily with upgrade level, you can get a little more damage out of Golden Retaliation by using aFaith build.
1Fingerprint Stone Shield
It Doesn’t Get Any Better Than This
TheFingerprint Stone Shieldis easily one of the most iconic shields in Elden Ring and is a valuable asset to any player strong enough to wield it. The shield has ridiculously high stats that significantly negate all forms of damage while also having a remarkably high Guard Boost. It’s not as high as that of the Verdigris Greatshield, but it’s close. The real kicker here, however, is the unique passive effect that inflicts Madness buildup, an ability you won’t find on any other shield in the game.
The Fingerprint Stone Shield is a pain to acquire. The item can be looted from a corpse found in the platforming section between theSubterranean Shunning-Groundsand theCathedral of the Forsaken. This section is notoriously infuriating and has caused more than a few players to throw their controllers against the wall and ragequit the game. But the hassle of getting the Fingerprint Stone Shield is well worth it. Just remember that you’ll need to investheavilyinto Strength to use this thing efficiently.
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