The best Elden Ring shields you should equip right away

While using a good shield isn’t necessary to succeed in Elden Ring, having one on hand can help make some of the toughest enemies and bosses in Elden Ring easier to take down. Not only do shields allow you to block incoming attacks that you would take damage from otherwise, but many of them also come with the ability to parry enemies and leave them open for a critical hit. Some larger shields come with shield-bashing capabilities, and there are also special shields in Elden Ring that have unique and powerful weapon arts.

In this guide, we’ll go over all of the best shields available in Elden Ring, including what makes each of them valuable, the stats you’ll need to use them, and where you can obtain them in the Lands Between. Whether you’re looking for a powerful parrying shield, a shield that can block tons of damage, or something well rounded and balanced, there’s a shield in Elden Ring that will suit your needs.

Stat requirements: STR 8, DEX 13

The best shield for parrying in Elden Ring is the Buckler, which is a very light small shield that doesn’t offer much protection, but has the largest parry window of any shield in the game. This makes it more forgiving than other shields that can be used for parrying, which makes it your best option for consistently pulling off the maneuver.

To obtain the Buckler, you’ll have to purchase it for 1,500 runes from Gatekeeper Gostoc near the main gate of Stormveil Castle. Note that he’ll only sell it to you after you have him open the castle’s gate.

Elden Ring best early game shield: Inverted Hawk Heater Shield

Stat requirements: STR 10

The best shield available in Elden Ring’s early game is the Inverted Hawk Heater Shield. Not only does this shield provide full protection against physical damage unlike most other early game shields, but it’s also very light with a weight value of just 3.5. It also has an incredibly low Strength requirement of 10, making it a shield that every class in the game can either use immediately or use after just one or two levels are put into Strength.

Getting your hands on the shield can be done very quickly after starting a new game, as all you need to do is use the Siofra River Well elevator in eastern Limgrave, reach the Siofra River Bank Site of Grace, and then run east up the nearby hill until you find the body with the shield on it.

Elden Ring best medium shield: Brass Shield

Stat requirements: STR 16

There are several excellent medium shields in Elden Ring, but the best one overall is the Brass Shield. It’s on the heavy side with its weight of 7.0, but it also provides a fantastic guard boost rating of 69 when upgraded (nice). This significantly reduces the amount of stamina that’s used up when you block attacks, allowing you to block for longer periods of time in combat or successfully block attacks that would break your guard if you were using a less stable shield.

Another reason the Brass Shield is so great is that it’s incredibly easy to get. All you have to do is farm the generic soldier enemies that use it in each of Elden Ring’s main regions until one of them drops it.

Elden Ring best greatshield: Golden Greatshield

Stat requirements: STR 34

Greatshields are heavy and require a lot of Endurance to use, but also have very high guard boost values and provide some of the best protection available in the game. The best greatshield in Elden Ring is the Golden Greatshield, which offers an excellent balance of weight and stability. The shield is heavy with its weight value of 17.0, but this is actually on the light side compared to other greatshields. Meanwhile, the Golden Greatshield has a guard boost value of 78 when upgraded, making it an extremely effective option for blocking tons of attacks before your stamina gets depleted.

The Golden Greatshield can be obtained by farming the Leyndell Knight enemies found in the Altus Plateau and Leyndell, Royal Capital until it drops from one of them.

Elden Ring best guard boost shield: Fingerprint Stone Shield

Stat requirements: STR 48

If you want the absolute best guard boost available in Elden Ring, there’s no better shield than the Fingerprint Stone Shield greatshield. It’s absurdly heavy at 29 weight and requires a whopping 48 points in Strength to use it, but it also has an absolutely ridiculous guard boost value of 90 when upgraded. This makes this shield capable of enduring dozens of attacks with ease, including attacks from bosses. You can make this shield even more effective by buffing it with the Barricade Ash of War or the Scholar’s Shield sorcery. These enhancements allow the shield to absorb hits without causing you to lose any stamina, which is insane.

To find the Fingerprint Stone Shield, you’ll need to progress through the Subterranean Shunning-Grounds found in Leyndell, Royal Capital and complete the platforming puzzle found in the secret area behind the arena where you fight Mohg, the Omen. Note that you won’t be able to access the hidden area if you haven’t defeated Morgott, the Omen King yet. The Subterranean Shunning-Grounds can be reached by going down a well that’s found in northern Leyndell.

Elden Ring best shield for mages: Carian Knight’s Shield

Stat requirements: STR 10, DEX 10, INT 15

Players with sorcery mage characters will love the Carian Knight’s Shield. This medium shield boasts a strong guard boost value of 60 when upgraded, and its low Strength and Dexterity requirements make it ideal for sorcerers who want to upgrade from the Inverted Hawk Heater Shield but don’t want to invest any more levels into these melee-focused stats. Its 4.5 weight is also fairly light compared to something like the Brass Shield, making it easy to use for mage builds that naturally have lower Endurance. It also has a fairly high resistance to both magic and holy damage, making it useful when fighting other mages or incantation users.

You can get the Carian Knight’s Shield by killing Moongrum, the Carian Knight in the northeastern portion of the Raya Lucaria Academy, just before the elevator that takes you to fight Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon.

Elden Ring best Faith shield: Erdtree Greatshield

Stat requirements: STR 30, FAI 12

If you’re using a Faith or Strength/Faith build and want a strong greatshield, the Erdtree Greatshield will be perfect for you. Its 13.5 weight is light as far as greatshields go, while its 66 guard boost value when upgraded and its relatively high resistance to both sorceries and holy damage make it very well rounded. On top of that, the shield also comes with a special weapon art called Golden Retaliation that allows you to deflect incoming sorceries or incantations and then convert them into a magic projectile that shoots back at your attackers, dealing huge damage (especially if you upgrade the shield and have a lot of Faith).

To get the Erdtree Greatshield, you’ll need to defeat the pair of Tree Sentinels located at the top of the large staircase in southern Altus Plateau.

Elden Ring best shield against magic: Silver Mirrorshield

Stat requirements: STR 12, DEX 10, INT 10

Sorcery is incredibly powerful in Elden Ring, to the point where you could argue the best Elden Ring builds are Intelligence ones. However, one effective way to deal with sorcerers in PvP is to equip the Silver Mirrorshield, which boasts an incredibly high magic resistance of 89 while still offering a full 100 resistance to physical attacks. It also only has a weight of 3.5, although its maximum guard boost of 49 is low compared to something like the Brass Shield. Still, if you need an effective way to minimize damage taken from sorceries, the Silver Mirrorshield is extremely useful.

You can get the Silver Mirrorshield in the destroyed Apostate Derelict church, which is located at the northernmost point of the Consecrated Snowfield region.

Elden Ring best utility shield: Jellyfish Shield

Stat requirements: STR 20, DEX 14

The Jellyfish Shield is a unique shield that buffs your equipped weapon by 20% for 30 seconds whenever you use its Contagious Fury weapon art, which gives it unique and valuable utility compared to other shields. It also fully blocks physical attacks and has a decent guard boost value of 57 when fully upgraded, which isn’t terrible considering it’s a greatshield with a very low weight of 8.0.

You can find the Jellyfish Shield just west of The Four Belfries area in western Liurnia of the Lakes, on a body surrounded by four jellyfish enemies.

Elden Ring is finally here, and it’s available for $60 on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, and PC. It’s one of the best Xbox games you can play right now if you’re a fan of challenging RPGs, and we strongly recommend it.