As a seasoned Dark Souls 3 player with over 300 hours invested across multiple playthroughs, I‘ve come to master one of the most crucial combat arts within the game – parrying.
Parrying Mechanics – Risk vs. Reward
For those unfamiliar with parrying, allow me to first explain how this high risk, high reward technique functions in Dark Souls 3:
The basic premise involves deflecting an incoming enemy attack during a specific animation window, throwing the attacker off balance and leaving them stunned temporarily. This creates an opportunity to counter-attack with a devastating riposte, delivering massive critical damage.
However, mistiming a parry attempt leaves you greatly vulnerable, as you‘ll still endure the brunt of the enemy‘s strike while also potentially losing stability and becoming staggered yourself. Plus, whiffing drains precious stamina required to block any follow-up blows.
As such, parrying necessitates great discipline – baiting enemy swings at the right moments, while also fully committing at precisely the correct timing to land the deflection. When mastered though, entire foes can be felled rapidly through a series of chained parries and ripostes before they ever touch you.
The Parry Pantheon – What Makes the Best Parrying Shield
While parrying can be done with select weapons and bare fists, the easiest tools to perform deflections are specialized parrying shields. But what exactly makes one stand out above another? Below I define the most critical metrics:
Parry Frames
The number of animation frames during which an incoming attack can be successfully parried. More frames provide a larger timing window of opportunity to execute the deflection.
Stability
Determines how much stamina is expended when blocking attacks. Higher stability prevents guard breaks which leave you stunned and vulnerable.
Recovery Time
A brief period after parrying where you‘re immobilized before being able to riposte. Shorter recovery enables quicker counter-attacks.
Weight
Lighter shields boast faster swing and miss recovery speeds. This reduces downtime, lets you rectify timing quicker, and costs less stamina on whiffed parries.
Defensive Stats
Damage absorption levels across various types, in case an enemy does break through and hit your shield. No protection renders you helpless if parries fail.
Availability
Certain shields possess more obscure loot locations or vendor requirements. Easier acquisition means integrating parries sooner.
Now let‘s analyze the cream of the crop candidates for best parrying shield in Dark Souls 3.
The Parry Pantheon – Contenders Analyzed
Small Leather Shield – Jack of All Trades
Where to Find: Located on a corpse in the Undead Settlement near the Dilapidated Bridge bonfire.
Overview
- 12 Parry Frames
- 35 Stability
- 2.0 Weight
- Balanced Elemental Defenses
- Decent Recovery Time
The Verdict:
Of all the parrying shields available, the Small Leather Shield provides the most well-rounded mix of ideal parry capabilities and forgiving backup stats. Its generous 12 frame animation window gives you great leeway to react to swings, while maintaining medium defenses across all types if you miss the timing.
Weighing in at a modest 2.0, it won‘t fatigue or penalize you too badly for whiffing either. Having snagged this early entering the Undead Settlement, it carried me successfully through the entirety of Dark Souls 3‘s brutal end game. It can withstand blows from even imposing bosses and bait them into ripostable chains.
For any newcomer looking to learn parry fundamentals without being too glass cannon, while still retaining impressive reaction windows, the Small Leather Shield is an easy first choice.
Target Shield – Balanced Perfection
Where to Find: Sold by Greirat for 2,500 souls after sending him to pillage Undead Settlement.
Overview:
- 12 Parry Frames
- 36 Stability
- 2.0 Weight
- Improved Physical Defense
- Susceptible To Lightning/Dark Damage
The Verdict:
If my Small Leather Shield somehow shattered mid-combat, the Target Shield would be my immediate replacement of choice. With identical parry frames and an added boost to stability and physical protection, it enhances your resilience ever so slightly.
Trading some deficiencies in lightning and dark damage absorption for better footing against physical blows is a worthwhile bargain. While my trusty Small Leather got me started parrying, I relied on the Target Shield extensively against enemies like Cathedral Knights and their mighty greatsword stomps mid-combo. It can truly withstand a pounding.
Buckler Shield – Specialist‘s Choice
Where to Find: Sold by Greirat for 2,000 souls after freeing him in the Undead Settlement.
Overview:
- 12 Parry Frames
- 33 Stability
- 1.5 Weight
- High Critical Damage
- Low Defensive Stats
The Verdict:
Weighing in at a mere 1.5 units, the Buckler Shield truly caters to parry aficionados who have mastered the technique. Whiffing a deflect costs little fatigue or downtime thanks to its featherlike quickness. It also enhances riposte and backstab damage considerably more than other shields.
In the hands of a seasoned veteran who rarely misses timing due to countless hours of practice, the Buckler Shield is unmatched. But for all its parry prowess, its paper thin defenses make mistakes very costly. Getting caught off guard by a heavy smash could mean imminent death without any elemental or physical damage absorption to save you.
I keep the trusty Buckler as my last resort when facing swift, predictable foes like sword-wielding Hollows that I can reliably anticipate. But against more varied movesets with charge attacks, delayed strikes, or long combos, I prefer shields with slightly more insurance.
Still, for parry purists fascinated solely with executing the perfect deflect then ruthlessly countering, this specialist shield is unrivaled…albeit high risk.
Rare Finds – Obscure Acquisitions Worth Hunting
Beyond the staple parrying shields available mostly through vendor Greirat, there exist some lesser known variants with unique properties attained only from specific quest lines, secret stashes, or unlikely foes.
Golden Falcon Shield
Where to Find: Another shield sold by Greirat for 5,000 souls after advancing his quest line.
Overview:
- 10 Parry Frames
- 32 Stability
- Unique Parry Animation
The Verdict:
At first glance the Golden Falcon Shield seems a lackluster parrying option, with its mediocre stability and shortest frame window of the bunch. However, what makes it stand out is its completely unique parry animation – a forward thrust rather than sideways swing.
This subtle distinction throws many invaders off in PvP, causing them to mistime their strikes and fall victim to unexpected deflect counters. On numerous occasions I‘ve landed parries solely thanks to my deceiving falcon shield baiting overly aggressive foes thinking I‘d whiffed the timing.
For that psychological edge against human combatants, the rare Falcon Shield presents some tricky potential. Against PvE foes though with their consistent timing, standard shields with longer parry frames tend to be superior.
Llewellyn Shield
Where to Find: Obtained by killing an NPC named Llewellyn located in Irithyll of the Boreal Valley.
Overview:
- 47 Stability
- Improved Defenses
- 10 Parry Frames
- Raised Spell Parry
The Verdict:
Boasting the highest stability outside of greatshields alongside increased magic resistance and physical block, the Llewellyn Shield caters towards a more cautious approach – maintaining your guard while baiting swings to parry.
What inspired me to seek out this elusive shield was nearly having my head lobbed off by a deadly quick Outrider Knight whose impaling charge couldn‘t be parried consistently. Turtling behind my raised Llewellyn which negated large chunks of his damage bought me time to study his chains to find an opening, before perfectly deflecting at last.
It requires more patience, but the Llewellyn allows you to directly tank hits from heavier foes while awaiting your lower 10 frame parry opportunity. A more passive, strategic style perhaps less satisfying to hyper aggressive riposters – but vital in certain matchups against devastating multi-hit combos or deceptive telegraphs.
Plus, I‘ll never forget the surge of adrenaline upon finally defeating the rogueish Llewellyn character in combat and prying his signature shield from his cold dead hands…sweet victory.
Optimal Parry Scenarios – When to Deflect
While parrying fundamentals stay mostly consistent across foes, some enemy archetypes provide more ripe scenarios to leverage the technique. When mastering parry skills, prioritize these opponents:
Thrusting Swords & Rapiers – Almost all thrust attacks contain generous telegraphs which let you identify the imminent strike. Reactively intercept as the blade reaches furthest extent to land the deflect.
Curved Swords – Many relentless combinations end on broader horizontal slash animations, enabling you to anticipate the arc timing and orientation to parry.
Spears & Polearms – Lengthy windups when stabbing provide clear visual queues to deflect at the weapon‘s peak distance right before impact.
Rushing Leaping Attacks – Whether a pouncing Ghru or airborne sword slash, mid-jump attacks often lock enemies into prolonged vulnerable animations, prime for parrying upon the very start of their descent.
Chaining Parries – Capitalizing on Whiffs
A key skill to hone is chaining multiple parry attempts together if the first misses or is intentionally baiting. Certain enemy movesets with extended recovery provide ample opportunity to quickly rectify failed timing on earlier swings, then connect the follow-up.
Recognizing these multi-hit chains and knowing to queue subsequent deflect tries rather than dodging away takes practice. But it opens the door to demolishing tough foes by resilience through failed first parries, yet still perfectly landing the next to riposte. This lends far more leniency to tackling complex rapid movesets compared to relying on just flawlessly timed lone attempts.
The Lothric Knights peppered across the grand castle ramparts early game taught me this vital lesson. While struggling at first against their wide slashing greatswords, I noticed even my early whiffed parries didn‘t bounce me too far away while leaving them still mid-animation.
Quickly raising my shield for another attempt often caught their second swing, enabling me to then retaliate with a crushing riposte. Once this chaining methodology clicked, I tore through the formerly daunting knights with ease via chained parrying.
Advanced Chaining – Alternating Parries
Taking another step further, alternating between two different parry tools greatly expands your chaining potential thanks to differing parry animations and timings.
If I front-load an encounter with my Buckler Shield for instance baiting initial attacks, my slower recovery frames leave me prone compared to my quicker Target Shield follow-up. By swapping to my secondary parry tool with shorter animation lock post-deflect, I can swiftly link together more chained parries without being as vulnerable in between.
This expert cadence of alternating shields opened the door to tackling Sulyvahn‘s Beasts and their incredibly delayed overhead smashes. My Buckler might fail to connect the lengthy early dodge, but transitioning to an immediate Target reprisal let me consistently nail the second attack, capitalizing on my varying sets of parry frames between shields.
In Closing – Prepare to Parry
And with that, you now have all the wisdom I can bestow regarding parry shields and mastering the pivotal skill that is deflecting in Dark Souls 3. Commit the best tools and scenarios detailed here to memory, and you too will be dismantling formidable foes via relentless riposting in no time.
I hope this guide illuminates the path to truly maximizing this high risk, high reward combat technique that I adore as both a fanatical gamer and critic. Let me know in the comments below what shield became your parrying implement of choice!
