Dark Souls is a game that is considered to be very challenging by many gamers. The reason for that is the game’s lack of spoon-fed hints and clues as well as traps and hardcore enemies. What makes it even more challenging is the combat system, which forces players to upgrade their weapons, shields, and armor continually. This is why starting with great defense is essential, because not everything that is in the game works in favor of the player.
There are plenty of good-looking shields in the game that are completely obsolete in their usefulness. But some great ones are genuinely helpful. Let’s take a look at the best and worst of shields.
Updated on December 28, 2020, by Reyadh Rahaman: How much of a blessing or burden a shield can be is a result of its damage reduction, stability, weight, as well as its aesthetics. There is a wide variety of defensive armaments the player can choose to guard them against the attacks of vicious foes. One should always choose their gear depending on the areas, enemies, and bosses that they are about to encounter.
However, not all shields are usable. Some are simply meant to convey lore or show the kinds of craftsmanship capable of the various smiths of Lordran. Or the lack thereof. These duds can sometimes be a bit tricky to tell apart from the better shields, so the Chosen Undead should be sure to scrutinize each one.
14 Red & White Round Shield (Worst)
The description of this shield states that it has an impressive red and white design, however, this shield dropped by skeletons is anything but awe-inspiring. Despite its decent magic damage reduction of 65 and low weight of only 1, this shield’s potential to be useful is severely lacking due to the low physical damage reductions of 85.
A rating of anything under 90 to impede the most common damage type in the game will cause a lot of hit points to escape from the wielder in close combat. Therefore, this small shield should be avoided.
13 Greatshield Of Artorias (Best)
This shield is one that takes quite a lot of time and resources to acquire, though it is worth it. To obtain this greatshield, a player needs to gather the Soul of Sif, a +10 shield, and 5000 souls before speaking with the master blacksmith Andre of Astora. Once the Greatshield of Artorias is in the player’s hands, there is no longer any need to fear status effects, for this divine armament grants the player 100% build-up reduction from bleed, poison, toxic, and even cursing.
On top of this, the Greatshield of Artorias has total damage reduction against physical attacks and greatly defends from fiery varieties at 80% blockage. Combined with its massive stability of 88, the material manifestation of Sif’s spirit can protect someone better than the loyal wolf ever guarded Knight Artorias.
12 Warrior’s Round Shield (Worst)
Much like the Red & White Round Shield, this bland implement can be found from the remains of slain skeletons. The Warrior’s Round Shield also has very similar stats all around to its more colorful counterpart; meaning that it suffers from all the same faults.
The very low stability makes the Warrior’s Round Shield awful in any situation where someone needs to defend against heavier attacks. The alternative avoidance measure of rolling out of the way is much simpler and will likely use less stamina as well. To add insult to injury, this shield isn’t even good for fashion as it is as dull and generic as a round shield could possibly be.
11 Black Iron Greatshield (Best)
This immensely heavy slab of iron weighs in at 16 units, making it a hefty defensive armament to use. However, for dragon and demon-slaying, there is nothing better. With the best fire damage reduction of almost any shield in the game, this wall of dark metal prevents 90% of incoming flames in addition to completely protecting its user from physical damage.
The Black Iron Greatshield also has great status build-up reductions for everything except curses, along with a stability of 71. The shield bash also hurts foes more than some might expect and can provide a bit of breathing room if too many enemies are crowding the player.
10 Cracked Round Shield (Worst)
Being honest, the cracked round shield doesn’t look that bad. But in the world of Dark Souls, it seems hard to matter. This is one of the most terrible shields in the game. The thing is small, made of light wood, and its name directly has the word “cracked” in it. So this means, it is basically a small round shield that is practically damaged. This is the original equipment for the pyromancer. It is one of the shields that is dropped by many hollow warriors with shields. An intact round shield would always be better than this.
9 Silver Knight Shield (Best)
Now, this is an example of a good shield that looks good and works even better. Holding this piece of beauty looks like holding a world championship title in hand and feels like that as well. The shield is impressive from the overall stats to the size ratio. Every block will feel like a perfect execution. Players will get this shield as a rare drop from silver knights in Anor Londo. This shield has the highest stability of all medium shields once it is fully upgraded.
8 East-West Shield (Worst)
Why do people use an axe to cut down trees? The reason is pretty simple. An axe is made from sharp metal, and wood is comparatively soft. This is why wood is probably not the best material to deflect a metal weapon. The East-West Shield is made of just that. It’s a wooden shield that will definitely provide some defense but not nearly close to a good shield. This one can be improved and reinforced with titanite, but that would be a pure waste too, as even after the upgrades, it is pretty bad during combat.
7 Black Knight Shield (Best)
If the silver knight shield looks like the world championship title, this one looks like a heavyweight title. Anyone will feel like a champ using the black knight shield in Dark Souls. This is a medium-large sized shield, that will deflect almost every attack with utmost precision.
The handling and stability in this one are pretty good as well. The most significant benefit of this shield is that it has the highest fire resistance in Dark Souls. But it is a little rare, as it only has only a 5% chance of dropping from a black knight.
6 Plank Shield (Worst)
We’ve established that wood is in no way an excellent material to deflect metal-based weapons. Yet again, there is another wooden shield. This time it is a plank of wood. On the plus side, this shield has its own story, that someone has crafted it from a broken piece of plank just to survive in the harsh world of Dark Souls. But on a usability scale, this shield is pure garbage. This is one of the original items for the deprived class, which says a lot about why anyone shouldn’t use this.
5 Spider Shield (Best)
The visual on this shield looks like something Miles Morales would wear on his Spider-Man costume. It’s red-black, and quite frankly pretty slick looking. But it doesn’t just look cool. It is genuinely one of the best shields in Dark Souls. Especially for areas like Blighttown, where poison resistance is a must. This has impressive handling; it is not too large and works for almost every enemy in the game. The upgrades for this shield are pretty widespread as well. The most significant thing is that it comes as a starting item for the Bandit class.
4 Small Leather Shield (Worst)
To anyone who understands wood isn’t the best thing to parry metal. How does a small shield made of leather react in the same situation? The answer is pretty apparent. It will be much worse than a wooden shield. This little nugget can be purchased for only 600 souls from the undead merchant.
But it is better to avoid it entirely if possible. This thing is small and has a faster parry. None of this will help in the long run, as it isn’t that special.
3 Crest Shield (Best)
Here’s a medium-sized shield that is as good as a large-sized one in size and works as smooth as a small-sized one. Crest shield is brilliant in almost every way, and probably the most useful shield in the game. This is the shield of Oscar, Knight of Astora. The best part of this shield is its magic reduction, which goes up to 80%—making the players almost bulletproof against magic. The upgrades of this shield make it stand apart, and are totally worth it.
2 Dark Hand (Worst)
Now the Dark Hand isn’t a visual shield, but it can be used as one. It is a rare item that is dropped by Darkwraiths. But as cool as it might seem in hands, it is the reverse in its functionality. The Dark Hand, when equipped in the right hand, can be used as a weapon, but in the left hand, it is a shield and a very poor one at that. The worst part is the stability of the shield produced by the dark hand. What’s even worse is that Frampt gives one soul in return for this, which shows its actual value.
1 Havel’s Greatshield (Best)
This is the granddaddy of all the shields. Havel’s Greatshield is a legendary shield owned by Havel. This is one of the most prominent shields in the game and can practically defend against the most massive attacks in the game. Functionality apart, this shield looks very cool. It is a slab of thick stone chained up and incredibly bulky. The only downside to this shield is that it is a bit heavy. But if one can handle that, this is probably the most overpowered shield in the game.
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