Shields | Elden Ring Wiki

Shields in Elden Ring are pieces of protective equipment which provide defense against the world's Enemies and Bosses. Typically wielded in the off-hand, Shields are capable of guarding, parrying, bashing, or even something unique with their respective Ashes of War. They can be two-handed for increased stability against incoming attacks. Most Builds can benefit from having a Shield equipped, even with infrequent use, so long as the stat requirements of the shield are met.

When selecting a Shield players need to factor in many things including Requirements, Weight, Guard Boost, and the Damage Reductions of the Shield.

Requirements: What stats are needed to use the shield effectively.
Weight: How much the shield weighs, which affects your Equip Load.
Guard Boost: The higher the Guard Boost, the less Stamina that's consumed for each attack you block. Upgrading shields increases their Guard Boost every other level (+3, +5, and so on). Guard boost reduces stamina cost from blocking: if an attack would deal 100 stamina damage, 30 guard block reduces it by 30% to 70 stamina.
Type: While a shield's Guard Boost determines how much stamina is consumed when you block, the shield's Type (small, medium, or great) determines which attacks will bounce off of it, briefly stunning the attacker in a recoil animation (a perfect opportunity for a guard counter). Greatshields will bounce the most attacks, while small shields will only bounce very light attacks. For example, Brass Shield has a higher guard boost than Wooden Greatshield but will not bounce any attacks from a Banished Knight, while the Wooden Greatshield will bounce most normal attacks from the same enemy.

Damage Reduction: How much of each damage type will be prevented when you block an attack with the shield. Physical damage reduction applies to Standard, Strike, Slash, and Pierce damage. For example, if a shield with 50% Fire Damage reduction blocks an attack that would normally deal 100 Fire Damage, you'll only take 50 damage.
Damage: To attack with a shield, two-hand it or equip it to your right hand. A shield's damage is also relevant when using the ashes of war Shield Bash or Shield Crash.
Special Skill: Infusing Ash of War: No Skill onto your shield lets you continue to use the shield to block attacks without losing access to your main weapon's skill.

Please visit Shields Comparison Table for a minimalistic view with Max Upgrade stats.

Guarding (also referred to as "Blocking") is a Combat mechanic in Elden Ring. It allows you to block some or all damage from incoming attacks and return powerful counterattacks.

Guarding (Blocking) in Elden Ring

How to Guard (Block)

In order to guard, you must either have a Shield equipped in your left hand or you must be two-handing a weapon.


Guard	Hold L1	Hold LB	Hold Right Click

While you're guarding, all incoming damage is reduced according to your shield's Guarded Damage Negation stats. Each shield has a separate Guarded Damage Negation stat for each Damage Type (although Physical damage reduction applies to Standard, Strike, Slash, and Pierce damage). For example, if a shield with 50% Fire Damage reduction blocks an attack that would normally deal 100 Fire Damage, you'll only take 50 damage.

Every attack you block while guarding costs you some Stamina. How much depends on both how strong the attack is and on your shield's Guard Boost stat: the higher the Guard Boost, the less stamina you lose. If you block an attack that depletes all your stamina while guarding, you will not take increased damage from that attack, but you'll be briefly stunned and vulnerable to a critical hit.

Certain weapon types can even attack your enemies while you're simultaneously guarding with your shield, allowing you to remain safe while dishing out damage. All Thrusting Swords, Heavy Thrusting Swords, Spears, and Great Spears can do this.

Staggering Enemies

When an enemy hits your shield while you're guarding, they may stagger backwards briefly. This is a great time to counterattack or guard counter.

Whether an enemy staggers depends on how heavy their attack is and how hard your shield is. Small Shields are the least likely to cause attackers to stagger, Greatshields are the most likely, and Medium Shields are in between. You can also use Dragonbolt Blessing to make your skin as hard as a Greatshield for 70 seconds, or Barricade Shield to make any shield even harder than a Greatshield for 5 seconds.

Guard Counters

Immediately after blocking an incoming attack, press Heavy Attack to do a special counterattack. See Guard Counters for more information.


Guard Counter	Guard → Heavy Attack

Other Notes about Shields

All shields have a Hardness value while blocking. If that value is higher than the incoming attack, then the enemy will be deflected. When this happens, the attacker goes into a recovery animation, and is briefly unable to continue attacking. This can create an opening for a counterattack by the shield user. Higher hardness values can be found on Greatshields (in particular the Ant's Skull Plate), and shields buffed by the Barricade Shield skill.

Parrying with a shield can only be done using small or medium shields. Greatshields and thrusting shields cannot parry or be infused with an Ash of War that enables parrying.

Shields can be enchanted and buffed, but typical weapon enchantments and buffs such as Scholar's Armament or Fire Grease will not work on shields. Only a few buffs can be placed on shields:

Immutable Shield, an incantation that increases damage negation for non-physical damage types.
Scholar's Shield, a sorcery enchantment which reduces damage taken and stamina cost of blocking.
Shield Grease, a consumable which does the same to a lesser degree, but without need for casting.
Barricade Shield, a skill that temporarily halves stamina cost and boosts hardness to level 4.

These limitations do not apply to Thrusting Shields, which can be buffed as normal weapons. They also have access to a greater variety of Ashes of War.

All Shields Small Shields Medium Shields Greatshields Thrusting Shields