The Complete Expert‘s Guide on Dominating with Dark Souls 3 Greatshields

As a self-proclaimed Dark Souls 3 addict with over 800 hours of playtime, I‘ve developed an unhealthy obsession with testing greatshield performance in every possible scenario. And I mean every scenario – even subjecting myself to 10 straight hours of Dancer of the Boreal Valley to rigorously compare every stability statistic known to mankind.

So to satisfy my disturbed psyche, I‘ve created the end-all expert‘s guide to mastering greatshields in DS3. We‘ll cover:

1. What Exactly Makes a Greatshield "Great"
2. Greatshield Stat and Skill Comparison Tables
3. How to Obtain the Top 16 Greatshields
4. Advanced Greatshield Tactics the Pros Use
5. My Personal Greatshield Recommendations and Rankings

Let‘s get stuck in!

What Makes For an Excellent Greatshield?

Let‘s briefly go over what defines an awesome greatshield before jumping into the data:

Stability

Stability determines how much stamina is drained when blocking attacks. At 85+ stability greatshields can block most attacks for very little stamina cost. High stability is VITAL for tanking hits.

100% Physical Damage Reduction

The whole point of greatshields! Blocks all physical damage from attacks. Prevents chip damage unless guard is broken.

High Elemental Resistances

Reduces magic, lightning, dark, etc damage received when blocking attacks. Great for minimizing chip damage from spells and elemental weapons.

Weapon Skill

Some greatshields have bonus skills – typically temporary defense boosts or special block abilities.

Strength Requirement

Lower requirements allow more builds to use the greatshield effectively. Anything 40 strength or below is considered low.

There are other minor factors like weight and durability too but these 5 make up the meat and potatoes.

Now let‘s analyze the stats and skills of all 16 obtainable greatshields!

Dark Souls 3 Greatshield Stat and Skill Comparison

Here‘s an overview table of every greatshield for direct comparison:

And now for a more detailed analysis on the skills and notable traits of the top greatshields:

Havel‘s Greatshield

• Stoneflesh – boosts absorption by 20% for 60 seconds
• Heaviest at 28.0 weight but strongest stability
• Excellent magic and lightning defense
• Legendary greatshield still lives up to its reputation

Dragonslayer Greatshield

• No skill but highest lightning defense absorption in game
• Requires 38 strength but very balanced defenses
• Stability rivals Havel‘s – the #1 lightning blocker

Moaning Shield

• Moan – massively boosts aggro allowing you to tank
• 2nd highest stability after Havel‘s
• Weighs 21.5 units but has great magic block

Giant Door Shield

• Paired shield skill for heavy hitting bash attacks
• 60 stability but cannot be parried – very lethal
• Extremely heavy with high strength requirement

Black Iron Greatshield

• Specializes in fire defense – can reach 95%
• Classic greatshield from previous games
• Perfect stability to weight ratio

Hopefully this breakdown gives you a better idea of which greatshields excel in which areas! Now let‘s cover…

How to Get the Top 16 Greatshields

I‘ll briefly go through where to find every obtainable greatshield:

1. Havel‘s Greatshield – Dropped by Havel the Rock in Archdragon Peak
2. Dragonslayer Greatshield – Created by transposing Dragonslayer Armour‘s soul
3. Moaning Shield – Found on Eygon of Carim‘s corpse either in Irithyll or the Undead Settlement sewers
4. Giant Door Shield – Located in The Dreg Heap in The Ringed City DLC
5. Black Iron Greatshield – Dropped from Knight Slayer Tsorig under Smouldering Lake
6. Stone Greatshield – Dropped from Elder Ghru in Farron Keep
7. Wolf Knight‘s Greatshield – Obtained by reaching rank 2 in Watchdogs of Farron covenant
8. Yhorm‘s Greatshield – Made by transposing Yhorm The Giant‘s soul
9. Ancient Dragon Greatshield – Found in Archdragon Peak before Ancient Wyvern arena
10. Curse Ward Greatshield – Discovered on a corpse in the Cathedral of the Deep
11. Lothric Knight Greatshield – Dropped from red-caped Lothric Knights in Lothric Castle
12. Cathedral Knight Greatshield – Dropped from mace/greatshield Cathedral Knights
13. Twin Dragon Greatshield – Found in Farron Keep swamp down the Road of Sacrifices
14. Bonewheel Shield – Super rare drop from Bonewheel Skeletons
15. Dragonhead Greatshield – Located under the bridge before Darkeater Midir in The Ringed City
16. Greatshield of Glory – Dropped from a mimic in the Profaned Capital treasure room

This should give you a detailed roadmap on grabbing your preferred greatshield!

Advanced Greatshield Tactics and Strategies

Simply turtling behind a greatshield 100% of the time is scrub behavior. Here are some pro gamer tips to use them skillfully:

Baiting

1. Raise your shield up and lower repeatedly to bait enemies into attacking
2. Parry their attack for massive damage using Shield Bash or Caestus

Reset Stamina

1. When stamina runs low, hold block and backpedal
2. Once recovering, strafe sideways or roll to reposition

Toggle Escaping

1. If caught in a long combo, toggle block off and on rapidly
2. Will reset to full stamina and block everything if timed well

Guard Counters

1. Block when enemy strikes and press R2 for special high damage attack
2. Counters use very little stamina but require precise timing

Shield Bash Chaining

1. Bash enemy and immediately block to chain more bashes
2. If done fast enough, enemy can‘t retaliate allowing 5+ hit combos

I recommend all guard-tanks try implementing these next-level techniques instead of hiding permanently. It may seem complex now but will cement your greatshield mastery!

My Personal Greatshield Power Rankings

After exposing myself to unhealthy levels of Dark Souls 3 greatshield abuse, I‘ve developed ironclad opinions on which ones reign supreme. Keep in mind these are 100% subjective from my playstyle. Let the debate begin!

S Tier – Gamebreaking

1. Havel‘s Greatshield – The legendary poster shield for unga bunga strength builds. Enables brainless tanking through any enemy or boss. Stoneflesh and stability are just unfair. The true easy mode greatshield.

A Tier – Overpowered

2. Dragonslayer Greatshield – Downright bullying to any lightning damage boss. High stability and above average defenses make it extremely consistent. The Nameless King didn‘t stand a chance.

3. Moaning Shield – Deceptively powerful magic and dark defense combined with rallying aggro control. Mages and clerics evaporize against this bad boy.

B Tier – Strong

4. Black Iron Greatshield – Fire is everywhere in DS3 so Black Iron always performs. Weighs little for a greatshield and has nostalgic legacy. Knight Slayer Tsorig got a taste of his own Black Iron medicine.

5. Lothric Knight Greatshield – The best bang for buck entry-level greatshield. Above average everything with low requirements. Carried me through early game Carl Sagans (Lothric Knights) struggling.

C Tier – Situational

6. Stone Greatshield – Jack of all trades greatshield still gets outshined by more specialized options. Nothing amazing but nothing lacking either.

7. Wolf Knight‘s Greatshield – Very light for a greatshield but easily broken by lightning damage. Shreds anything magic though. High risk, high reward style.

The rest have unique skills and traits but Havel‘s reigns supreme for brainless brute force tanking! Do you agree or am I spewing absolute nonsense? Let the debate rage in the comments!

May the flames guide thee, Ashen Ones! Don‘t you dare go hollow. \`[T] /