Best Elden Ring Shields [Top 21]

Elden Ring has a wide variety of arsenal ranging from some of the best weapons, spells, incantations to small, medium, and large-sized shields that lowly tarnished can equip. Even if you’re wearing a low resistance armor set, a shield will pretty much do the trick to save up your breath, all the while shielding yourself from incoming attacks. With that said, today, we present to you the best shields in Elden Ring. We’ll also provide you with locations of the various shields and their stats, so stay tuned! While you’re at it, also read our Elden Ring best builds.

Iron Shield

Like the other shields on the list, the Iron Shield primarily scales with the Strength stat. The small shield doesn’t weigh all that much and won’t be slowing you down any time soon. You can make the most of your fights with enemies moving around effortlessly, while the shield provides you an ample amount of protection from incoming enemy fire or attacks. The shield is pretty much an ordinary metal shield, heavier than a wooden one. In contrast to the wooden shield, it boasts a greater amount of damage negation. It’s a properly balanced shield and should be used by newbies and veterans alike. Make the best of both worlds.

Beware, though, as it still requires you to have a strength of 8 to make use of the shield in the first place. Otherwise, it’s dead weight. It won’t slow you down all that much so that you can engage in agile combat. The shield sadly comes with no skills, but on the plus side, it can be buffed with the Ashes of War. If you feel it isn’t good enough, then you can buff it with some magic and consumables to make the most of the experience.

The Iron Roundshield is pretty easy to acquire. You can start off with it if you pick the Bloody Wolf Class. If not, then you can head on over to the Nomadic Merchant and pick it up for a measly 900 Runes. If you’re wondering where he is, you should find him over at the southeast side of the Coastal Cave.

Rift Shield

The Rift Shield is a pretty small shield compared to the other shields on today’s list, but that’s why it’s so great! The Shield also scales with the strength stat, which means that you need to have some muscle on to carry this shield. The shield normally doesn’t weigh all that much and offers the least amount of protection to attacks. But that’s not where this shield shines as it’s specially designed to perform times parries carefully.

The shield is mostly used by players who prefer parrying enemies to counter them timely than to block and wait for an opening. A rift shield is an excellent option for players who want to win fights in style. The shield also makes traversal easier and goes well with fast and agile characters, which is why it’s one of the best Elden Ring shields for agile builds.

The shield is so designed as to portray a sinister rift. The shield is also great for boosting focus and is said to glare back at your enemies to instill fear into their hearts. The shield possesses the parry skill and can be infused with magic, Ashes of War, or magic to give you an edge in battle.

If you don’t know where to get the shield, then we can help you out here. The shield is equipped as soon as you choose the prisoner class, or if you opted to go for another starting class, then you can still find the shield from the Nomadic Merchant for a measly 1800 Runes. Clueless about the location of the Nomadic Merchant? Head over to the Liurnia of the Lakes, and you’ll come across him.

Man Serpent Shield

The Man Serpent Shield is another easily portable shield on today’s list. The shield scales with the strength stat require you to have a strength of around 8 to make good use of it. It’s another shield that’s great for players wanting to have a quick and agile playstyle and want to get around faster without taking in too much damage. The shield is a copper dome-shaped round shield that has been said to be carried by the man-serpents of Mount Gelmir. It’s been tempered in Lava and can, therefore, tank up lots of resistance to fire, making it one of the best fire-resistant shields in Elden Ring.

Sadly, this shield doesn’t possess any skills and is mainly used by players wanting a faster playstyle. The shield can be beefed up with the Ashes of War and enhanced with magic and consumable if players find it not that suitable for themselves.

This shield is pretty much rarely going to drop, so you’ll have to teleport back and forth behind the starting point of Volcano Manor. You’ll have to farm loads of Man-Serpents who wield shields before you can become the rightful owner of your very own Man-Serpent Shield.

Blue-White Wooden Shield

The Blue-White Wooden Shield has a royal look to it, with shades of blue adorned across it. Again, this is a small shield that needs a decent amount of strength to make use of. These small shields don’t weigh all that much and won’t slow you down in combat, and don’t take up a lot of space. This is pretty essential if you’re using agile classes that have low loot slots. The shield is wooden and has been reinforced with metallic bits all across it.

It’s pretty light and easy to handle for novice players and beginners. But the downside of the shield is that it can’t really offer the damage negation of a real metal shield. The symbols are said to represent the stars of the night sky that symbolize portending fate.

This shield is primarily focused on fast and agile classes and, therefore, doesn’t provide all that much protection. It doesn’t have any special skills with it either. Although, players can still equip the Ashes of War or buff the shield with magic and consumables.

The shield is pretty easy to find and can be found laying around whenever you roam around the outskirts of buildings on your way to Raya Lucaria Academy.

Perfumers Shield

If we’re being totally honest, the Perfumers shield is one of the best-looking Shields in the game with its golden shimmer and its royal engravings all across the shield. Now, you can roam the Elden Ring World in style. The Perfumer Shield also needs you to have a bit of strength to carry it around. It is said to have been used by perfumers of Leyndell during their time of military service.

The Shield has been made of thin and lightweight materials so that people lacking strength can also make use of this immunity-boosting shield to their hearts’ content.

The Shield is mainly used by players who want to parry attacks instead of blocking them and wasting precious amounts of time. The lighter weight of the shield makes it pretty useful for fast traversal and movement-based classes of the game.

Great Turtle Shell

The Great Turtle Shell looks like something ripped off of a turtle’s back, and you need a lot of strength to carry this shield piece; for the stats, it offers a great weight to protection ratio. The shield provides a good balance between defense and weight which is ideal against fast foes that tend to deal a lot of damage as well.

The downside of the shield is that it’s not as light as a normal small shield which is ideal for situations where you need to parry. The Great Turtle Shell is, therefore, the best when it comes to reducing damage and blocking incoming attacks from foes.

It’s stated that the great turtle shell’s natural curve helps to defend against incoming attacks from foes. The shield symbolizes the resilience of the turtle. It offers a big boost in stamina and recovery speed. But beware, the shield weighs a hefty 5.5 units which are more than the average shield. The Shield offers the Barricade Shield skill, which enables your to harness your energy and focus it into the shield.

It hardens the shield and offers better deflecting incoming blows. The shield can also be enhanced with the ashes of war, magic, and other consumables. With these combinations, you can make one of the best Elden Ring Shields.

You have to look for the Great Turtle Shell as it can’t be found off of any enemies. Make your way through the Weeping Peninsula. Proceed from the Castle Morne Rampart Site of Grace and face east to come across a Spirit spring. Use the Torrent Horse to make your way to a roof of the tower section of the ramparts. There, you’ll find the shield on a corpse at the top of the tower.

Scorpion Kite Shield

The Scorpion Kite Shield features the symbol of a golden Scorpion on its front, which is enough to intimidate enemies. It’s larger than your average small shield, and therefore, you need some extra strength points to make use of this shield. The shield features a decent balance between weight and defense, which is more than enough for many combat situations in the world of Elden Ring. It reduces mobility, so that’s something to take into consideration. It works best to reduce damage and block any incoming attacks.

This shield is well known for its level of solid construction and ruggedness. The metal shield has a yellow scorpion ingrained on its front, which strikes fear and surprise into the hearts of your enemies. The shield features the parry skill, which enables you to deflect the enemy’s attack and stagger them for a split second. The shield can also be buffed up with the Ashes of War or with magic and consumables.

If you’re eagerly looking for the Scorpion Kite Shield, then head over to the Nomadic Merchant, who sells it for 2000 runes. The Merchant is mostly spotted near the ruins of the Forest-Spanning Greatbridge. Make good use of your Runes and add some well-needed protection to your Elden Ring Build. And just like that, you have one of the best Elden Ring Shields at your disposal.

Carian Knight Shield

The Carian Knight Shield is a beautiful work of craftsmanship with a teardrop shape and engravings extending towards the center. It’s been artistically adorned with blue glintstones. The Shield is carried by knights who serve the Royal Carian Family.

Now, this shield picks up the ante as it needs not only strength but requires you to have a decent amount of Intelligence and Dexterity under your belt as well. It offers great protection despite its weight and makes tanking up damage a breeze. On the subject of Int/Dex, read our Elden Ring Dex Build.

The Shield doesn’t have any special skills, but it makes up for it with its great stats and protection against incoming damage. The Shield can be infused with the Ashes of war or buffed with magic and consumables.

If you want to acquire this beautiful piece of craftsmanship that offers great protection, then you can loot it from the Carian Knight, Moongrum over at Raya Lucaria Academy. But, you have to be prepared in advance to defeat him.

Shield of the Guilty

Now, this shield is pretty interesting with its thorned design featuring a veiled maiden on the front. The shield was so made to portray a maiden whose eyes were blinded by the Briars of Sin before she was reborn in the lands of Elden Ring. The shield venerates the repose of the soul and greatly boosts focus, and the briars can also be used to inflict substantial amounts of damage to foes. This shield needs you to stack up on your strength points, and considering it’s a small shield, it mainly focuses on parrying and moving around and evading enemy damage as much as possible.

The shield is also pretty light weighing, but it has a passive effect of blood loss buildup of 50. Its signature skill is the shield bash. The character prepares themselves before the shield and ram into foes while maintaining a guarding stance. It can even shove weaker enemies backward or even stagger them. The shield can be buffed with the Ashes of war, magic, or other types of consumables.

If you’re looking forward to picking up this work of art, head over to the cellar area located in the Demi-Human forest ruins on the Weeping Peninsula. It’s located right before the main building where the Demi-Human Queen mini-boss is located. To get to the cellar, you’ll need to climb up a wall and gain access to the stairs. On subject of bosses, why not read our Elden Ring Bosses tier list.

Black Leather Shield

If you have a thing for leather goods and want to be prepared to protect yourself from some heavy damage, then you can pick up the Black Leather Shield. It’s a roundshield that’s wrapped in black leather and is kind of on the larger side despite being a medium-sized shield. The shield depicts the pole star in the center made from gold rivets.

The inside is lined with fur to offer protection from the cold. The Shield is excellent to switch from blocking to parrying and is ideal for any beginner or veteran user. Beware, it still needs a strength of 10 to use. The shield also offers great protection from fire, damage, light, and holy attacks.

Although this shield has no particular skills, it can make use of skills of any other armaments equipped on your build, so that is indeed a benefit. The shield can also be infused with the Ashes of war if you want to make it a regular go-to item for protection. While mentioning items, read our Elden Ring items tier list and find the most and least useful items in the game.

If you want to acquire the Black Leather Shield, head on over to the Caria Manor. You have to find a balcony which is located above the Manor Lower Level Bonfire. The balcony is only accessible if you drop down the cliffs on the southwestern side located at the Three Sisters sub-area. There, you’ll be greeted by Pidia, who is a Carian Servant at the Caria Manor.

Silver Mirror Shield

The Silver Mirror Shield is jaw-droppingly gorgeous. It’s supposed to portray a sacred drop of dew. The shield draws inspiration from the absurd rumor that Loretta herself was an Albinauric. The shield is made of silver that shows great radiance and is festooned by an amber candle carried by Loretta herself.

It’s a medium-sized shield that offers great protection and can also deal physical and magic damage. It’s not as light as a small shield, but paired with the decent stats and the protection it offers, we couldn’t help but list it in today’s guide.

Beware that it requires you to be an experienced Elden Ring player as it requires you to stack up on your Strength, Dexterity, and Intelligence points. It weighs a decent 3.5 units and doesn’t affect maneuverability all that much. It’s a well-balanced shield that will aid you on your journey into the Elden Ring World. Make the most of it. The Shield doesn’t offer any special skills but makes do with it, as it serves well in battle. One thing to be noted is that it cannot be infused with the Ashes of War so keep that in mind.

You can’t farm it or loot it off of a corpse. You can’t purchase it either as it needs to be found as a treasure. Make your way to the northern area of Consecrated Grounds and go ahead into the Apostate Derelict destroyed the church, and there, you’ll spot the treasure containing the gorgeous Silver Mirror Shield.

Inverted Hawk Heater Shield

The inverted hawk heater shield features a standard, medium-sized shield that offers great protection to weight ratio and doesn’t affect your movement all that much. It’s great to face off against enemies of any size, whether they be bosses or mini-bosses. The inverted hawk portrays the emblem of the company of slaves who were ordered to patrol the Eternal City. The shield is easier to handle as compared to a Kite Shield.

The signature ability of the Shield is parrying. Timed parries will allow you to counter and deflect an enemy’s incoming attack, giving you an advantage on the battlefield. It’s great for those looking to perfect their parrying skills and to stagger bosses and tough enemies. The shield can also be infused with the Ashes of War, in case you were wondering.

To find the Inverted Hawk Eater shield, make your way to the Siofra River. When you get there, head up southwest of the Siofra River Bank site and climb up a hill. You’ll be greeted by three enemies. Fight them or sneak past them; it’s your choice. After that, you’ll come across a corpse. Loot it to acquire the Inverted Hawk Eater Shield.

Brass Shield

The Brass Shield features a polished royal finish with engravings of what appears to be a peacock on the front. It’s a bit on the larger size for a medium shield, and the face of the shield is entirely covered in brass. It requires you to have a strength of 16 to make the most of it from the get-go, so make sure to stack up on your Strength points before acquiring this piece of craftsmanship.

It also weighs on the heavier side, so movement and agility will be limited, but it ensures a boost guard of 56, which is a big plus side to the shield.

The shield features no notable skills. It will be frowned upon by agility-focused players but is a key component in the builds of many tank-focused Elden Ring warriors. The Shield can be boosted with the Ashes of War or buffed with magic and consumables.

The Shield is said to be dropped by Godrick, the Grafted’s soldiers who are seen to carry it, but the drop rate is incredibly low at 0.8%. That means in 231 kills, only two may drop the shield, so this will require a lot of grinding. It can also be dropped by Raya Lucaria Soldiers who are seen carrying it.

If you want to plan rune farming, then a pretty easy location is at the Gate front site of Grace in the west of main Limgrave. Just make sure it’s in the north of the first and just before you reach Stormgate. As you spawn into the location, make your way to the southeast, and you’ll be faced with four brass shields carrying Godrick Soldiers within the Gate front Ruins. It should be easy to start farming there. Two enemies carrying the shield can be located at a small fenced area beside the road, and one is on the road with a horn in hand. The last one can be spotted sitting near a campfire.

You can also start farming near the Raya Lucaria Academy, where you can spot Raya Lucaria soldiers with the brass shield.

Erdtree Great Shield

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The Erdtree Great Shield features an exquisite design. It’s been forged in gold by order of Tree Sentinels. It has both defensive and offensive capabilities. Make sure you’re prepared because this shield scales with both strength and faith. Greatshields tend to offer one of the best protections in the game against bosses and tough enemies. One thing to be noted is that the Erdtree greatly reduces mobility and thus makes traversing and evading enemy attacks quite cumbersome.

The shield features a special skill, Golden Retaliation. It prepares the character to charge a protective incantation that enables you to dispel sorceries and incantations. It basically retaliates with its golden power. The shield can also be infused with the Ashes of war, if you were wondering.

You have to traverse the Elden Ring World and make your way to the Phantom Tree Grace. Towards the Outer Wall, within Altus Plateau, you’ll come across the Tree Sentinel Duo. Be prepared for a tough fight and give it your best. After defeating them, you’ll be rewarded with the Erdtree Greatshield.

Dragon Claw Shield

The Dragon Claw Shield basically resembles a Dragon Claw reinforced with collagenous branches. This Great Shield has been said to be whittled from the claws of a once-great ancient dragon. It is wielded by the Tree Sentinels, who continue to serve the ErdTree.

The Dragon Claw is special as it’s imbued with lightning. It’s a pretty heavy shield weighing in at 13.5 units. It outputs massive damage of 118, which is a lot for any of the shields mentioned so far in this guide. Though, one thing to be concerned about is the loss of movement and maneuverability. Other than that, we all agree that its one of the best Elden Ring shields.

The Dragon Claw features a shield bash which you can charge up to ram foes. This may either shove them back or even stagger them. Take advantage of the opening and hack your enemies down. The shield can also be imbued with the Ashes of War or even buffed with Magic and consumables.

You can only get the Dragon Claw Shield towards the Capital Outskirts. There, you’ll be met with the Draconic Tree Sentinel. Fight him to the death, and eventually, you’ll be rewarded with the exquisite DragonClaw Shield.

Visage Shield

Yeah, the visage shield is pretty grotesque and gross, but it packs a punch despite being a protective shield. The shield is made with bronze and depicts the face of a fire giant. Several tongues are spewing out of its mouth. The shield has an instructional function and reminds enemies of the horrors of facing against a fire giant.

It weighs an incredible 24 units which is the highest on this guide. But it can also output an attack of 186. It drastically limits mobility, but it also offers great protection and damage. It’s the best of both worlds for your heavy Elden Ring Build. It’s pretty ugly, but it’s one of the best Elden Ring Shields.

The Visage shield presents users with a special skill called Tongues of Wire. Prepare the shield to spray jets of fire from the tongues protruding out of its mouth. You can continue to spread fire and what’s best is that this ability can be used while walking around. The Shield can be beefed up further using the Ashes of War, with magic and consumables.

So far, the visage shield can only be accessed in an underground area located east of the Caelem Ruins. It’s not easy to get it as it’s located in a chest and heavily guarded by a Duo of Mad Pumpkin Heads which guard the treasure room. Be prepared for a tough boss battle and reap your rewards of victory with the Visage Shield!

One-Eyed Shield

The One-Eyed Shield is your average great shield, with some interesting visuals adorning the forefront of the shield. Similar to all other great shields, the one-eyed shield requires you to have an ample number of points in your strength skill tree.

You need to make sure that your strength is up to par with the weight needs of the shield, which alone weighs 20 units. Considering the hefty weight, it considerably slows you down, making it more difficult to traverse. But its robustness and protection make it excellent for users who want to go with a heavy build.

The shield features a stone build with the carvings of a cyclops god from whose mouth peaks out a firearm. A bit of a backstory on this cyclops god is that he was once worshipped by giants before he met his demise at the hands of Queen Marika. The shield has a unique skill of its own by the name of flame spit which launches a ball of fire from the mouth of the Cyclops god.

This provides both a defensive and offensive edge to the shield, making it useful when it comes down to engaging in battle, offering protection while also dealing some damage. The shield can further be reinforced with the Ashes of war. The one-eyed shield also needs to be reinforced with the sombering stones. The shield can also be further enhanced by magic or consumables. Both offensive and defensive attacks make sure that it’s one of the best and most versatile Elden Ring Shields.To get your very own one-eyed shield, you have to make your way to the mountaintop of giants. There, you have to face the Chief Guardian, Arghanthy. In the event that you finally defeat the guardian, the one-eyed shield drops, allowing you to wield its full power! Now make the most of the shield.

JellyFish Shield

The JellyFish shield, to us, seems to be one of the best Elden Ring Shields on the list, not only offering damage negation to holy, light, magic, and fire attacks but also offering resistance to any boost attacks as well.To be worthy of wielding the JellyFish shield requires you to stack up on strength as well as dexterity points. Only then can the players make the most of the protection effects offered by this interesting Great shield. The lore states that the jellyfish shield shouldn’t offer protection to piercing attacks, but being a shield that offers 100 percent physical protection, it seems to offer protection to piercing attacks as well.

It’s stated that the head of the spirit Jellyfish is commonly found floating above the sacred grounds found in the Lands Between. The supple translucent flesh states that it doesn’t offer protection to piercing attacks, but the shield contradicts this statement in practical use. The jellyfish shield bears the Contagious Fury skill that provides a damage buff of 20 percent that lasts around 30 seconds. If you’re used to a two-handed weapon, then the buff is removed by default which is something you have to give up.If you want to find the Jellyfish shield, then you got to traverse the Lands Between to find it off of a dead body. Head on over to the foot of the four belfries of the site of grace, and there you’ll find a dead body being guarded by four jellyfish. Defeat them to acquire the Jellyfish shield from the dead body, and that’s pretty much it.

Dragon Tower shield

It’s stated in the lore that the ancient dragons protected their lord in the prehistoric era long before the period of the Erdtree. The Dragons would use this shield for immense damage negation. The shield is one of the heavier among the shields we’ve found Elden ring, weighing in at about 17.5 units.

Still, it makes up for the weight with damage negation to light and even boosts attacks. The shield is ideal for heavy builds focused on guarding and attacking with precise timing and is one of the best heavy protection shields in Elden Ring.The shield features the exceptional Shield bash skill that offers immense damage to any foes before you. You charge the attack and brace yourself as you charge towards your enemies. It manages to stagger larger enemies while weaker enemies are easily blown away. To make the most of this shield, make sure to enhance it with the Ashes of War. You can also make it all the more overpowered by using magic and consumables.So you’ve taken an interest in the Dragon Tower Shield and want to locate it. Well, it’s pretty simple. Head on over to the crumbling ruins of Farum Azula. From there, you’ll find some stationary dragons. Move to the right, and you’ll find a ledge.

You can drop it down. Next to a pillar, you’ll come across a series of ledges that you need to drop down to reach a lower building. The shield is found in a chest, which you can access as you climb up the ladder. Brace yourself as a knight jumps down. Defeat or evade him, your choice. It’s pretty easy to acquire the shield, but you need to make sure your stats are up to the mark to wield it.

Golden Great Shield

The Golden great shield is, well, as the name states it, a great shield. It’s much more focused on offering damage protection in contrast to parrying attacks, so keep that in mind. The Golden Great Shield offers lots of protection, but this shield needs lots of strength to wield. You need a good strength of about 34 points to make the most of it.

The oval shield is entirely made of gold, and it’s mostly carried by knights that protect the Royal Capital of Leyndell, who are quite reputed for their vigor and sturdiness, which is reflected by the shield and its exceptional guarding capabilities. It is, without a doubt, one of the nicest and best Elden Ring shields on this list.

The shield itself does not have any skills, but it can exchange the skills of the armament wielded on the other hand. Mobility is considerably reduced using this shield. The shield can be infused with the Ashes of War to enhance your experience greatly. In addition, you can also buff it by using magic and consumables as well. Overall, the shield is pretty useful for its protective capabilities.

If you’re in town looking for a golden great shield, then you should hunt down the dragon cult knights who are humanoid enemies. They’re mostly found loitering around the Lirunia of The Lakes, which is located south of the Artist’s shack. They can also be found if you are to traverse the Wyndham Catacombs.

Redmane Greatshield

The Redmane great shield, like many others, scales mainly with your strength stats, so you need to make sure to rack up on some strength points. It is one of the best shields on the list that provide the greatest protection to the user from incoming enemy attacks. Bosses are no exception, as this shield can pretty much soak up tons of damage like a sponge.

The downside is that with weight comes reduced movement speed and maneuverability. It weighs around 14 units which is pretty normal for a great shield. It’s a guarding-focused shield that offers less of the parrying benefits of smaller lightweight shields.

The shield resembles a fang with the crest of the red-maned lion embossed on it. You can see it being wielded by many Redmane knights who fight alongside the great Radahn. The shield focuses on offering the best protection and skimps out on any skills.

However, in the event that you possess an armament, you can use the skills of the armament in conjunction with the shield. To make the most of your experience, infuse the shield with the Ashes of War and buff it with magic and consumables.

If you want to acquire this shield, head over to the lands of Caelid, where you’ll come across the Redmane Knights carrying the shield. Fight them to the death, and in the event of a victory, you’ll be rewarded with the Redmane shield that you can collect from the corpse of your slain enemies. And like that, you’re the proud owner of one of the best Elden Ring Shields.

That is pretty much it for the best shields in Elden Ring ranging from small, easy maneuver shields with parrying capabilities to great shields that soak up enemy damage. We hope you enjoyed the guide and make the most of your journey with the shields you find along the way. If you’re looking for some keepsakes to enhance your experience, we’ve got you covered.

There are also tons of armors you can come across in the Lands Between. We’ve got you covered with the best Elden Ring Armors that will boost your stats to a whole other level. If you want to mix things up a bit more, check out our guide on Incantations vs sorceries to find out which spells suit you best. That’s all that we had for our guide, and we hope you enjoyed it. Check out Exputer for many more interesting guides, and with that said, see you next time!