Great Magic Shield is a Sorcery in Dark Souls 3. To cast a Sorcery you must use a Staff or Special Weapons that can cast Sorceries.

Great Magic Shield

Spell Type

Sorcery

Focus ConsumptionFocus Cost 60
Attunement SlotsSlots Used 1
Requirements 18 Intelligence
Duration 30 seconds
Type Buff

 

 

Sorcery which improves upon Magic Shield. Greatly reinforces left shield with magic. 

Only sorcerer-swordsmen with special duties are permitted the use of this spell, which temporarily grants even the smallest of shields fortitude more akin to that of a greatshield. 

 

Acquired From

  • Dropped from the Corpse-grub in its cell inside Irithyll Dungeon near the first bonfire. To get there, head straight out from the first bonfire and drop down to the lower level. The cell containing the grub will be to your left, as well as one of the jailers (video location).

 

 

Notes

  • Adds 35 Stability and enough Absorption that any shield in the game can block 100% of all damage (e.g. Buckler will block all Lightning damage even with base Lightning absorption of 11%, which is the lowest of any absorption value on any shield). Shields with at least 65 Stability will reach 100 Stability, resulting in blocking depleting no stamina, including from kicks.
  • Can't be used with a catalyst in the left hand to buff a shield equipped in the right hand.
  • Simple & Blessed infused Shields CAN be buffed with this and the regular Magic Shield sorcery
  • Lasts 39 seconds with the  Lingering Dragoncrest Ring equipped, up to 42 seconds with the Lingering Dragoncrest Ring +2.
    • The buff lasts about half as long as Magic Shield, holding it back from being a true upgrade.
  • The effect will dissipate if you two-hand your right weapon or switch the shield out. You can still buff your right-hand weapon with the use of resins.
Sorceries
Affinity  ♦  Aural Decoy  ♦  Cast Light  ♦  Chameleon  ♦  Crystal Magic Weapon  ♦  Crystal Soul Spear  ♦  Dark Edge  ♦  Dark Orb  ♦  Deep Soul  ♦  Farron Dart  ♦  Farron Flashsword  ♦  Farron Hail  ♦  Frozen Weapon  ♦  Great Deep Soul  ♦  Great Farron Dart  ♦  Great Heavy Soul Arrow  ♦  Great Magic Weapon  ♦  Great Soul Arrow  ♦  Great Soul Dregs  ♦  Heavy Soul Arrow  ♦  Hidden Body  ♦  Hidden Weapon  ♦  Homing Crystal Soulmass  ♦  Homing Soulmass  ♦  Magic Shield  ♦  Magic Weapon  ♦  Old Moonlight  ♦  Pestilent Mist  ♦  Repair  ♦  Snap Freeze  ♦  Soul Arrow  ♦  Soul Dart  ♦  Soul Greatsword  ♦  Soul Spear  ♦  Soul Stream  ♦  Spook  ♦  Twisted Wall of Light  ♦  White Dragon Breath



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    • Anonymous

      I defeated sis friede on my 1st try ever(haven't seen any of her attack, only heard she is very hard from friends) with black knight shield, black knight sword and this spell XD this and magic shield are most OP spells of the game, you just press block and become a god.

      • Anonymous

        I defeated sis friede on my 1st try ever(haven't seen any of her attack, only heard she is very hard from friends) with black knight shield, black knight sword and this spell XD this and magic shield are most OP spells of the game, you just press block and become a god.

        • Anonymous

          unfortunately for this spell, if you are playing sorcerer you probably wanna have either Scholar's Candlestick or Morion Blade in your offhand if you are going for optimal damage, so this isnt really an option, even if it was good. in ds1 its completely different tho, there great magic shield is completely OP for sorcerers.

          • Anonymous

            Greater magic shield seems like a good choice for a burst attack or assassin playstyle. Other than that, you're better off with the regular magic shield buff.

            • Anonymous

              Reviewing the Standard shields, the ones that hit the 100 stability mark with this is the Black knight shield at +3, the spider shield at +7, the followers shield at +8, the Lothric Knight shield at +9, and the pierce shield at +10. There are some inconsistencies with the wiki for the wargod wooden shield so it may achieve it around +8-9 or not at all. Some shields may reach the threshold after being infused, but depending on the infusion they might not be buffable.

              • Anonymous

                This spell sucks because the duration is so pitifully short, even for double the FP cost of Magic Shield. You probably waste 2 seconds in the backswing animation after casting the spell, so the duration is only 28 seconds. Better this spell get nerfed, but bring the cost and duration up to the same numbers as magic shield.

                • Anonymous

                  It's basically DS2's strong magic shield which is self was pretty damn good pve and pvp wise. Well in pvp when the enemy player didn't slap your shield and completely open you up for a ripost cause SOULS LOGIC........

                  • Anonymous

                    use this spell with a good shield and face tank midir like he is nothing, don't need estus when you cannot be damaged

                    • Anonymous

                      Good for PVE and cooperation. Please do not bring this into the arena though. It’s boring to wait for it to go away. No fun.

                      • Anonymous

                        If you ignore the piss poor duration and the high cost to cast this buff, it's pretty overkill. It turns every shield into a great shield. Even +10 small shields with crappy stability can go toe-to-toe with +2 to +4 great shields.

                        • Anonymous

                          IDK about anyone else, but I feel 30s is too short. With that high FP cost, I'd rather have it give a little less block and stamina, and bump the duration up to 50--even 45s in exchange.

                          • Anonymous

                            pretty sure followers torch can still eat through this with a horsehoof ring considering its stamina damage is well over a thousand at that point

                            • Anonymous

                              This spell on the black knight shield +3 has the cheapest possible buy-in for literally unbreakable defenses. Midir's schoopdawoop laser, blackflame friede's combos of death, slave knight gael, anything that hits that shield will have 0 bleedthrough damage and 0 stamina cost for 40 seconds. 60 fp sounds like a lot for the spell, but you can just disregard stamina and pour all those points in to attunement to cast it more times. The only thing that can threaten you with this is a grab attack, or a player that knows what they're doing and can play the long game. This spell is the ultimate companion for jolly cooperation cheese.

                              • Anonymous

                                For parrying purposes, this is insane when paired with, surprisingly enough, the iron round shield. Highest stability small shield that can parry, 62 stability at lv10 so this spell gives it a whopping 97 stability. Turtle with the shield and this spell for a few hits until you get their attack rhythm right, then fish for an easy parry, all without losing almost any stamina no matter the weapon. Just make sure to use the lingering +2 to give you 45 seconds instead of 30. Bonus salty points for using the untrue dark ring which hides the visual effects of this spell. They won't have any *****ing idea why they can't break your guard. Hilarious.

                                • Anonymous

                                  If you use the pierce shield (has 65 stability on +10) with this you have a small shield that seriously can block a insanely have hit from yorm. Logics.

                                  • Anonymous

                                    Just a thought, do weapons with shield priercing (reapers, murky hand scythe, Shotel, shield splitter, etc.) Counter this spell? Surely GMS doesn't negate shield piercing... right?

                                    • Anonymous

                                      Imagine if you could put this on the fume ultra greatsword (the non-shield weapon with the highest defense)

                                      • Anonymous

                                        could be rather useful for fighting bosses in co-op. You can cast this and just stand there and tank the boss for 40 seconds, only having to dodge maybe 1 specific attack (grabs), while others DPS it down.

                                        • Anonymous

                                          When used with most Greatshields, this will make you have 100 stability (and you will not lose any health or stamina), very useful if you like tanking Ringed City archers (for some reason).

                                          • Anonymous

                                            I feel its lesser counterpart is superior if used with tower shields. The stability and absorption is smaller true but tower shields already have enough stability as is, plus the normal magic shield last twice as long.

                                            • Anonymous

                                              Possible glitch?

                                              When I use the sorcery the actual effect doesn't appear on my shield but it is still active

                                              • Anonymous

                                                This Needs an update.

                                                The spell Can buff all Simple and blessed shields too.

                                                Does not prevent status buildup. Aka bleed, poison, toxic, frostbite

                                                • There's a mistake in notes (atm):

                                                  Shields with any non-physical infusion (such as Simple) can't be buffed with this spell.


                                                  i can cast it on a Simple Twin Dragon Greatshield +6

                                                  • Anonymous

                                                    Something I noticed when using this is that partial parries resulted in my taking 0% physical damage. I tested this with a non-reinforced grass crest shield while fighting Champion Gundyr. If I messed up the parry timing and got a partial parry, I'd still lose all the stamina I normally would, but I wouldn't take the partial damage. As such, it was less risky going for parries because I wouldn't get hurt from a partial parry.I haven't tested this very extensively though, so it could depend on the particular shield, damage types, or enemy strength. I'm also if this effect of damage blocking on partial parries is intentional or not. I also didn't test this with the regular version of the spell to see if that one had some kind of similar effect.

                                                    • Anonymous

                                                      Last time I played the game the buff didn't apply on the Black Knight Shield (I have all the requirements to cast the spell, wield the staff and the shield); maybe a new bug after the patch?

                                                      • Anonymous

                                                        Scrub in PvP:Step 1: Use Black Knight Shield (Or echantable greatshield)Step 2: Cast this OP Great Magic Shield on your shieldStep 3: Tank their attacks with your shield and magic (doesn't stop bleeding and poison)Step 4: Ran out of buff? Recast it!Scrub in PvE:Step 1-3: See aboveStep 4: Disrespect the bosses and enemies in Lothric and rekt themStep 5: Get your RAGE out for the "Nameless King Meme Lord" And then kil him and his dragonNot enough fun? Up your vitality equip Havel's Set, cast Great Magic Shield, and then cast your Iron Flesh or "Swaglord Skin" there.....You're now the profesional Dark Souls 3 Meme Lord Montage Creator Player!

                                                        • Anonymous

                                                          As noted previously, this spell only grants 35 stability, not 45. This spell, when using a twin dragon great shield +10(uninfused = 70 stability), will allow you to tank an inane number of bosses insanely easily(0 stam damage, through full face-wrecking combos like soul of cinder's 5-hit). In fact, the only bosses said combo does not utterly trivialize are the Crystal Sage, High King Wolnir, and Curse-Rotted Greatwood. Everything else you can tank every single hit and combo they can dish out.

                                                          • Anonymous

                                                            please do your math right it adds 45 stability, shield with 55 stability will reach 100 not 65.... this is world changer

                                                            • It says it dissipates when you two hand your weapon, does this include using a weapon skill with something like stone parma that automatically two hands it just for the duration of the weapon skill?

                                                              • Anonymous

                                                                It seems to add 35 stability, up to 100% stamina absorption. I tested it on a lotric Knight sheild +10, I wasn't taking any stamina damage from any attack, it has 66 base stability. I then tested it on a pierce sheild +9 with 64 stability, and when buffed I was taking minimal stamina damage (not enough for the yellow bar to show up)

                                                                • Anonymous

                                                                  Seems to boost all shield resistances to 100%, blocked physical, lightning, magic, and fire with a buffed grass crest shield without damage.

                                                                  • Anonymous

                                                                    Whilst many of the offensive spells in this game really do bring a sense of underwhelming returns, this one, this little gadget and so many self-buffing spells have really really powerful uses in this game, and I'd be willing to say this one's one of the best of the lot.With a buckler, a BUCKLER, I blocked entire chain combo's from phase two of the Nameless King, no damage to self, barely any stamina drained. It really does turn any shield into a mighty, impenitrable wall for 30 seconds (40 in my case, with the Lingering Dragon Ring).The only real downside I can sense in it is that it's a little short lasting, but let's face it, most boss fights in Dark Souls only last a few minutes at most.

                                                                    • Anonymous

                                                                      It's very near the Irithyll Dungeon bonfire. On the lower level, inside a closed cell, there's a worm-mass enemy (don't know it's exact name). You get the spell after killing it.

                                                                      • Anonymous

                                                                        Whoever wrote this could have at least linked the Darksouls 2 page or copied the description.Pathetic. And no I wont make it either.But buffing is kinda annoying anyway, Fromsoft was it really too much to put a Timer somewhere that shows how long Buffs last?I am surrounded by lazy pissers.

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