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
Red and White Shield
Target Shield
Warrior's Round Shield
Hawkwood's Shield
Caduceus Round Shield
Crimson Parma
Leather Shield
Sacred Bloom Shield
Small Leather Shield
Golden Falcon Shield
Eastern Iron Shield
Plank Shield
Ghru Rotshield
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.
Spider Shield
Sunset Shield
Shield of Want
Stone Parma
Spiked Shield
Crest Shield
Grass Crest Shield
Dragon Crest Shield
East-West Shield
Blue Wooden Shield
Knight Shield
Pontiff Knight Shield
Silver Knight Shield
Porcine Shield
Spirit Tree Crest Shield
Black Knight Shield
Golden Wing Crest Shield
Large Leather Shield
Wooden Shield
Lothric Knight Shield
Sunlight Shield
Carthus Shield
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.
Black Iron Greatshield
Bonewheel Shield
Moaning Shield
Twin Dragon Greatshield
Stone Greatshield
Lothric Knight Greatshield
Curse Ward Greatshield
Yhorm's Greatshield
Greatshield of Glory
Dragonslayer Greatshield
Havel's Greatshield
Ancient Dragon Greatshield
Wolf Knight's Greatshield
Cathedral Knight Greatshield
Anonymous28 Sep 2021 00:54
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.
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
01 Sep 2021 00:01
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.
- Anonymous
16 Aug 2021 01:03
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.
- Anonymous
10 Aug 2021 12:38
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.
- Anonymous
04 Aug 2021 22:05
I just use the dark hands shield it feels like I'm using a energy shield from halo
- Anonymous
22 Jul 2021 09:34
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.
- Anonymous
02 Jul 2021 19:03
You are only permitted to use shields if you exclusivly use the Broken Straight Sword.
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
26 Apr 2021 11:28
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 ?
- Anonymous
13 Apr 2021 23:25
Wait, you can use pkcs to block so why bother using a shield? Aha! no one thought about this yet. Damn I'm smart.
- Anonymous
13 Apr 2021 22:29
Wait, you can use pkcs to block so why bother using a shield? Aha! no one thought about this yet. Damn I'm smart.
- Anonymous
05 Apr 2021 00:12
i love hosts that hide behind regular or even small shields thinking its a greatshield. a few r1s and i get a free riposte!
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
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- Anonymous
01 Nov 2020 12:25
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
28 Sep 2021 00:56
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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