Shields in Dark Souls 3 are an integral part of your survival as you learn the game, since even a single blow past your guard can lead to your untimely demise. More than just a wall between you and the enemy, the player is presented with a wide variety of shield styles to choose from, allowing them the freedom to integrate their shield into their own personal playstyle. With offensive applications in addition to the obvious defensive applications, shield strategy can easily become far deeper than simply blocking damage. If you'd like to see comparisons of the different shield types, please click the the link above each list.
For the shields in the DLC, see the Ashes of Ariandel Shields and The Ringed City Shields.
Small Shields
Small Shields in Dark Souls 3 are a type of Shield that usually weigh very little and have the least form of protection from attacks. They are often used by players who prefer Parrying rather than Blocking. Players cannot use their Weapon's Skill without first putting a Small Shield away or without two-handing their Weapon
Standard Shields
These types of Shields usually weigh very little and offer a mediocre amount of protection. They are often employed by players who need a shield, but don't have a lot of points into the Strength stat.
Greatshields
These types of Shields usually weigh a decent amount and provide the best protection in the game. They are often used by players who have high Strength, as they require a good amount to use.
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Imma correct myself, why make seperate pages for the dlc shields??? individually for each dlc???
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Did you know shield attacks can be parried? The firelink swordmaster just taught me that while doing a shield-only attempt.
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IMO we should have had a shield similar to the bonewheel shield / bonewheels in general on ER. missing those wheeled bones already <[T]\
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Not really mentioned here but even if you don’t meet the stat requirements for a shield you can still use it, it will drain more stamina blocking is all. Useful if you’re a non strength build and want a 100% physical shield situationally.
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Do all the small shields grant ease in parrying(do all small shields have same parry frames) or is it only specific ones like the buckler?
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bro you use shield? CASUL ALERT! if you dont equip a second PKCS in your shield hand, you arent playing the game right
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You do not get the pleasure of calling yourself a pure strength user with a shield, unless you are using it as your only weapon
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OK I know I must be pretty dense but what do the large and small round shield icons that appear in the corners of some of the shield graphics mean? I'm assuming they mean something to do with parrying shields but why the two different sized icons and on opposite bottom corners? I've looked all over the wiki and I can't find a legend or other explanation. I know the straight sword icon means that it allows you to use your main hand weapon art without 2 handing.
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Pyromancer bane is fire infused black iron great shield +10. I did this and never again had trouble with midir fire or pyromancer pvp cheeses. I totally recommend it :)
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The Bonewheel Shield is hella awesome but I see nobody rocking it, which kinda sucks
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Time to do a shield only run because i hate myself
Tips appreciated
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my friendship with shields ended in ds1
in ds3, the roll is my best friend
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Blocking with shields allows you to protect yourself without being forced to reposition via a roll. Beyond that? I dunno how useful these are
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Damn, so many shields, yet I don't use any of them. Praise the Roll!
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**** the meta I'm going to go crack some ribcages with the dragonslayer greatshield WA
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Imagine using shields in a game thats combat is exactly like bloodborne
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Best aspect of shields is the ability to shield poke with spears and thrusting swords imo. Gives them a whole new dimension, not to mention the fact that shield bash is not a bad move for things like a committed Gael or Splitleaf WA punish. The biggest weakness is the stat requirement and weight of greatshields
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These don't get much use apart from oceiros's bullsht charge attack.
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63 shields in the entire game and you only see 5-8 of them regularly, 12 at best if you count some great shields. Dodging is so optimized, and it's easy to get solid defense with heavy armor while keeping below 70% weight, so medium rolls are still great even though you don't go as far. The point is to reposition, and since each roll cost less stamina than blocking weapons even as light as SS attacks, it's better to roll away. It doesn't help that most shields don't block 100% physical. Arguably that's for variety and/or flavor, nothing wrong with that. But in a game where bosses kill you in 2-3 hits, anything less than 100% block is trash. This mentality also made it into the end game meta. Because everyone is dealing so much damage to each other, people would rather kill & get killed in 3-4 hits than go on the defensive, which the main game has taught us is not strategically encouraged because big attacks break shield guard in 1-2 hits. In PVP, there are also the knight slayer ring, heavy weapons that break guard easy, WAs that break guard or bypass shields, or just kiting into backstab. They are still good in general, but in their effort to nerf turtles, Fromsoft really gave shields the short end of the stick.
TLDR, apart from buffing with MS/GMS which is kinda niche, shields become dead weight in a game where default rolling is so good, guard breaks are frequent, and there are plenty of strategies to negate shields. If ever Fromsoft hope to make shields fairly viable again, they could learn from Sekiro, and make a system, where if you time a block, you take less stamina damage, and if in PVP, the attacker uses more stamina per swing.
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63 shields in the entire game and you only see 5-8 of them regularly, 12 at best if you count some great shields. Dodging is so optimized, and it's easy to get solid defense with heavy armor while keeping below 70% weight, so medium rolls are still great even though you don't go as far. The point is to reposition, and since each roll cost less stamina than blocking weapons even as light as SS attacks, it's better to roll away. It doesn't help that most shields don't block 100% physical. Arguably that's for variety and/or flavor, nothing wrong with that. But in a game where bosses kill you in 2-3 hits, anything less than 100% block is trash. This mentality also made it into the end game meta. Because everyone is dealing so much damage to each other, people would rather kill & get killed in 3-4 hits than go on the defensive, which the main game has taught us is not strategically encouraged because big attacks break shield guard in 1-2 hits. In PVP, there are also the knight slayer ring, heavy weapons that break guard easy, WAs that break guard or bypass shields, or just kiting into backstab. They are still good in general, but in their effort to nerf turtles, Fromsoft really gave shields the short end of the stick.
TLDR, apart from buffing with MS/GMS which is kinda niche, shields become dead weight in a game where default rolling is so good, guard breaks are frequent, and there are plenty of strategies to negate shields. If ever Fromsoft hope to make shields fairly viable again, they could learn from Sekiro, and make a system, where if you time a block, you take less stamina damage, and if in PVP, the attacker uses more stamina per swing.
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If they have altra great swords then why arn't there any altra great shilds.
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Because of how Bloodbournized DS3 has become, the overwhelming vibe I get is "Just dodge it, idiot. What are you doing, blocking that?"
Blocking and rolling both use stamina, and since stability in DS3 is shite (except for greatshields), might as well roll and do a roll-attack. Also enemies get way less staggered when hitting shields compared to DS1 and 2, and some of the more beast-like enemies will just burn through your stamina if you hold up your shield and wait for an opening.
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Anyone else find it stupid that stability is completely decided by the shield and not partially tied to a stat like STR or something? I guess it's for balance, but it's hilarious how you can go full Dusty Dodongo and hit like a train with a UGS, yet the moment you hold up a shield against the SS stance guard break, all that STR amounts to **** all.
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So the DLC shields have their own page, but the Sunlight Shield is here? You can only get that by giving Pickle-Pee a Mendicants Staff, which is from Archdragon Peak, a DLC.
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I just use the dark hands shield it feels like I'm using a energy shield from halo
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It's amazing how a tiny ring does more to protect us from backstabs than actual inch-thick slabs of wood/metal worn on the back.
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You are only permitted to use shields if you exclusivly use the Broken Straight Sword.
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Okay so which shield(s) deflect? Or is that mechanic even in this game?
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Hey so, if you two hand your weapon the character puts the shield on his back. Does that give damage resistance to attacks from the back, or is it purely decorative ?
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Wait, you can use pkcs to block so why bother using a shield? Aha! no one thought about this yet. Damn I'm smart.
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Wait, you can use pkcs to block so why bother using a shield? Aha! no one thought about this yet. Damn I'm smart.
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i love hosts that hide behind regular or even small shields thinking its a greatshield. a few r1s and i get a free riposte!
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Damn, I remember when this things were useful in the original, good times
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Valorheart should be in both the weapons and shields section
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These really fell off once they made rolling cost less stamina than blocking all but the weakest possible attacks that you can just tank through. Was never a fan of shields and always two hand/ powerstance but making them almost completely obsolete wasn't necessary
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So basically, upgrading a shield only improves the stability. If you infuse, not only does the shield's stability get reset to base value (less for some infusions), but it makes every other absorption aside from infusion element worse, making the upgrades worthless... Damn, DS3 hates shields so much, they only made the most obvious upgrade path the only one viable.
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Just wondering, aside from fashion and weight, what do you guys prefer in a shield; absorption or stability?
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Isn't there any info about the deflection values of each shield? I know some shields can deflect light weapons, but it seems there's no info about wich ones does it (or it's too well hidden).
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I will always hate the fact that the shield from Smoldering Ghrus is unobtainable
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If you pair a weapon skill shield with another weapon skill shield it does shield bash for some reason.
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The game puts the torch in the shields section, all Iʻm gonna say.
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glad to know putting every vanilla and dlc shields in the same page is hard to do
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Guys, learn to look around the page and read before saying the shields aren't listed. DLC shields are right at the top, they just don't have them on the main page. This is likely intentional. If anything that should narrow your search on this big list of shields! "For the shields in the DLC, see the Ashes of Ariandel Shields and The Ringed City Shields." Literally after first paragraph!
- Anonymous
Wierdly enough, out of all these shields only 15 are new to the dark souls series in the base game, not including dlc. Only 4 new standard shields, 6 new greatshields, 5 new small shields added. I counted the sunset shield as the mirrah shield, as they look too much alike, same with the kite shield (drangleic shield)
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Of course one can always use a 100% block shield, but S H I E L D S A R E 4 S C R U B S
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does anyone know about a round shield that covers your entire body
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does anyone know about a gigantic shield that is round and covers your entire body
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I'd kill whoever modelled the shields, I go more hollow every time I see someone holding their shield with just a hand.
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Can someone explain weapon bouncing? As in, which weapons bounce off which types of shields?
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Do you know if holding a shield with both hands reduces stamina spent while blocking? It seems logical for me. Also, it reduces strenght needed to use the shield, am I right?
- Anonymous
Blocking in ds3 is terrible so just wear a buff shield on your back. Additionally, all the tryhards will call you a scrub if you so much as touch a greatshield
- Anonymous
I'm glad that I got to see all this information. I've been able to know what items to save up for, and what stats I'll need for which item I'll want to equip. Thanks Wiki!
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Hey, trying to find a good shield to go with the black hand outfit, any suggestions??
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Is there a page with all shields that boost something If holded? I'm making a shield only playthrough and i hate the astatic look of the Weed-shield
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the fact that the giant door shield doesnt show up on first glance kinda ruined the whole co-op for me and my brother. we were under the impression there wasnt any Orma and Reeve's Greatshields like shields.
thanks wiki. gdg
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Ok, If your looking for the door great shields, the follower shield, or any other shield in the 2 "DLCs" click the highlighted DLC at the top of the page, where it tells you how to get to the DLC shields.
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wouldn't have hurt to implement a greatshield that isn't str based.
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I really miss the catalysts shields not anyone of then in specific just to have one would be nice like a the sanctum shield I wish there was just one for each class doesn't even have to be great just usable
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Not sure where i would put this, but unlike the weapons where you only need half of the strength stat to use it while 2 handing it seems to go off of Dark souls logic where when 2 handing you act as if you have 50% more strength. Meaning you actually only need 39 strength to use moaning shield and so on and so forth.
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"offer a mediocre amount of protection"
u sure about that bud?
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What is the downside to using a shield you don't have the stats for?
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" Players cannot use their Weapon's Skill without first putting a Small Shield away or without two-handing their Weapon"
You should prolly fix that, as Warrior's Round Shield and Eastern Iron Shield both have Weapon Art instead of Parry.
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Hol' up, in the beginning of the game, some of the hollows with hoods have pikes, and what seems to be a round shield. Except, the shield is a bit broken and ragged. Is it a NPC-only item or is it obtainable?
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why do i take damage with a 100% physical shield even when i put it up when i block a pure physical attack???
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this page was never updated for the dlc shields, how does that even happen
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