As a seasoned Dark Souls 3 player with over 500 hours sunk into the game, I‘ve battled countless enemies and bosses, experimented with vast weapon selections, and suffered an untimely fate more times than I can count.
But one key tool in a successful ashen one‘s arsenal is often overlooked – shields. While dodging and two-handing monstrous ultra greatswords may be alluring, mastering shield defense can make all the difference, especially against certain ruthless enemies and bosses.
That‘s why I‘ve compiled this comprehensive guide on the top shield selections in Dark Souls 3, from mighty greatshields to parry tools. Whether you are an aggressive knight or intelligent sorcerer, there is a fine shield out there to complement your build.
Before covering the best shield selections, it helps to understand what attributes distinguish an elite shield from an average one:
Stability
Stability indicates how much stamina is drained when blocking attacks. Higher stability means taking less stamina damage when holding up your guard.
Greatshields have the highest stability but weigh more. Smaller shields sacrifice some stability for reduced weight.
When your stamina empties completely while blocking, you‘ll enter the vulnerable guard break state. Enemies can riposte you, so stability directly correlates with blocking uptime.
Damage Resistance
All shields have physical and elemental damage resistance stats, reducing damage taken when hitting blocks.
Choose shields with high resistance values against the enemies you struggle with most. The Dragon Crest Shield, for example, excels specifically against magic foes.
Infusions can also heighten damage negation. A Fire infusion will boost fire damage reduction, perfect for fiery enemies like the Demon Prince.
Weight
Heavier shields require more strength to wield properly. Greatshields in particular add considerable equip load, which affects roll speed and stamina recovery.
Make sure your Endurance and Strength levels support your preferred shield‘s weight to avoid fat rolling. Otherwise you sacrifice mobility.
Lighter shields work well for lower strength builds. Just be mindful of stability, as lighter shields tend to block less efficiently than greatshields.
The core of Dark Souls revolves around conquering the unrelenting PvE challenges. Let‘s cover ideal shields for taking down zones and bosses:
1. Black Knight Shield
- Found in Smouldering Lake guarded by a Black Knight
- Requires 18 Strength
- Weighs 8 units
- Stability: 69 at +5 Standard/+4 Twinkling
- 100% Physical Damage Negation
- High Fire and Lightning defense
If I could only use one shield, I would wield the Black Knight Shield without hesitation. With formidable stability and damage negation, it has carried me to victory against Midir, Friede, and every lord of cinder.
The Black Knight shield boasts well rounded defenses, making it excellent in most scenarios. Its notable lightning and fire resistance in particular helps greatly against enemies like Dragonslayer Armour and the Demon Prince.
It weighs slightly heavier than other top tier medium shields but has over 10 more stability, paying dividends when blocking intense combo chains. If you‘re facing enemies that overwhelm lesser stability shields, the Black Knight Shield allows you to soak significantly more punishment.
The singular downside is lack of parry, though I gladly sacrifice that for supreme blocking stability. Plus the threatening black metal trim deters overconfident foes! For any melee build, you can‘t go wrong with the Black Knight Shield.
2. Lothric Knight Shield
- Found on various Lothric Knights
- Requires 18 Strength
- Weighs 6 units
- Stability: 66 at +10 Standard
- 95% Physical Damage Negation when Infused
- High Lightning defense
- Parry capable
If parrying prowess is a priority, the Lothric Knight Shield is specially designed for riposting foes. Boasting top tier parry frames combined with excellent stability and lightning absorption, it‘s ideal for Gwyn worshiping warriors.
Its lightning negation can approach an astounding 95% on top of solid physical and magical defenses, making it a great choice against dragon and faith based enemies. And at only 6 weight, it remains quite manageable on vitality focused builds, allowing room for devastating weapons like Ledo‘s Great Hammer.
While marginally less stable than the Black Knight Shield, the Lothric Knight Shield lets you leverage parries and lightning absorption against more agile opponents that require precisely timed blocks. It‘s served me flawlessly through many Ng+ cycles and makes parry kings like Gundyr looks like amateurs.
3. Dragon Crest Shield
- Found in Irithyll Dungeon guarded by a fire breathing serpent knight
- Requires 16 Strength
- Weighs 5.5 weight
- Stability: 62
- 87.9% Magic Damage Negation when Infused with Simple Gem
- 83% Fire Damage Negation
- 74% Lightning/Dark Damage Negation
Sorcerers and pyromancers, look no further for your shield of choice against magical foes. When infused with a Simple Gem, the Dragon Crest Shield‘s magic negation soars to 87.9%, turning enemy spells into tickles.
This shield laughs at spells and flame attacks, making it ideal for the Grand Archives and Irithyll Dungeon. Its moderate 62 stability drains less stamina than other magic negating shields as well, affording you more casts and blocks.
While the Dragon Crest Shield lacks exemplary physical damage negation, its magical prowess can‘t be overstated. I‘ve walked through Crystal Soul Spear barrages and Chaos Bed Vestige‘s unscathed thanks to this trusty shield. And I often infuse it with Simple to boost FP regeneration further.
If you rely heavily on spells, embedding this shield is wise. Boosting magical damage negation through Infusions helps shore up its medicore physical defense too.
4. Shield of Want
- Found in the Profaned Capital guarded by a court sorcerer
- Requires 18 Strength
- Weighs 5.5 weight
- Stability: 58
- 100% Physical Damage Negation
Sometimes the best offense is a good defense. That sums up the formidable Shield of Want. It uniquely boosts souls acquired by 20% including from bosses, providing a major edge in leveling and gaining strength quickly.
The Shield of Want isn‘t the most defensive or stable shield. But its ability to accelerate soul gain shouldn‘t be underestimated, especially when combined with soul boosting armor and rings.
I used this shield when farming Winged Knights for titanite chunks and obtained hundreds of thousands of souls quickly. It noticeably sped up leveling pace and let me reallocate stats sooner.
While I relied on stronger shields against most major threats, the Shield of Want‘s soul gathering perk persisted in my off-hand. An excellent utility booster for any build.
5. Ethereal Oak Shield
- Found in Cathedral of the Deep guarded by a giant spider
- Requires 12 Strength
- Weighs 5 units
- Stability: 50
- 100% Physical Damage Negation when Infused
- Grants gradual HP regeneration
No other shield in Dark Souls 3 grants slow but consistent health regeneration. The Ethereal Oak Shield provides exactly that, replenishing roughly 1% HP every 2-3 seconds.
While it‘s no substitute for Estus or miracles, the modest health bump relieves pressure to perfectly dodge every attack. That breathing room often saves me from fatal blows against relentless bosses and strong enemies.
The Oak Shield retains decent stability following upgrades along with excellent dark, magic, fire, and lightning defenses when taking elements. This featherweight shield can produce some extremely potent resistances through upgrades and infusions.
If you haven‘t purchased the wonderful Ashes of Ariandel DLC, this shield alone warrants that investment. While Ethereal Oak Shield lacks awe inspiring stability, its gradual regeneration has saved my life countless times.
While heavier and stamina taxing, greatshields provide the ultimate protection by completely shielding your body. The highest stability greatshields can block dozens of hits from Gael, Nameless King, and more nightmares with ease.
Stone Greatshield
Weighing a hefty 17.5 units but boasting 84 stability, the Stone Greatshield is an elite strength warrior‘s best friend.
It requires a staggering 46 strength just to equip but pays off that investment with impenetrable defense. Infusions shore up its elemental weaknesses as well.
While slower builds must two hand this monstrous shield, earning guard breaks against the Stone Greatshield is nearly impossible. Face tank Midir, Gael, or any boss fearlessly thanks to its preposterous stability.
Just beware fat rolling without Havel‘s Ring!
Moaning Shield
Criminally underused, the Moaning Shield produces a unique aura that gradually damages nearby enemies.
While its 78 stability lags behind other greatshields, the Moaning Shield is practically a weapon itself. Its dark damage aura pressures groups of enemies and even persists during guarding.
Against dark vulnerable enemies like Aldrich, the aura melts boss health bars rapidly. And with strong fire and dark resistances, this shield makes a mockery of enemies wielding those elements.
If you haven‘t discovered the Moaning Shield‘s secret yet, you‘re missing out!
Greatshield of Glory
Boasting 80 stability and an outrageous 95 physical damage negation when upgraded fully, the Greatshield of Glory is aptly named.
This phenomenal greatshield is specially suited for faith builds as well, providing excellent lightning, magic, fire, and dark defenses.
The Greatshield inflicts a stamina recovery debuff initially, but this effect disappears after raising its stability through upgrades. Considering it has the highest physical damage reduction in the game, that‘s a small price to pay.
While requiring 50 strength and weighing an intimidating 23 units, properly leveled builds will discover the Greatshield makes nearly any enemy harmless. Its blessing weapon art can also regenerate HP for unkillable builds!
Beyond physical melee builds, intelligence and faith casters need solid shield options too for when mana and spacing run dry.
Crystal Sage‘s Shield
Crystal Sages live up to their magical namesake with a shield specially attuned for sorcerers.
The Crystal Sage Shield naturally boosts spell buff by 12 points, synergizing phenomenally with the two most useful rings for sorcerers:
- Young Dragon Ring: Boosts sorceries by 25%
- Bellowing Dragoncrest Ring: Strengthens sorceries by 25%
Stacking these three multipliers compounds for extreme damage potential.
The Sage Shield also provides auxiliary effects like increasing soul gain and item discovery. While stability and physical defense aren‘t great, this shield empowers mage builds substantially.
Magic is all about offense, and the Crystal Sage‘s Shield delivers big.
Golden Wing Crest Shield
faith casters have an excellent shield option too in the Golden Wing Crest Shield. Found in Lothric Castle, this blessed shield provides major boons:
- Adds 8 faith for meeting requirements
- Boosts miracle damage and effect by 5%
- Raises stamina recovery speed
Granting faster spellcasts and greater damage, the Golden Wing Crest Shield is a perfect partner when tossing lightning spears and sacred flames.
Its 59 stability and 100 physical block on parry make it functional defensively as well. And weighing just 5 units means easy wielding for most builds.
Miracle builds lacking shield options should grab the Golden Wing Crest Shield and never unequip it!
Dragonhead Greatshield
While incredibly heavy at 23 weight, Dragonhead is the premiere greatshield for Intelligence builds thanks to its embedded Skill.
Activating the Skill unleashes a wave of souls that temporarily boost damage by 15% andAbsorption by 20%. Extending that damage buff with the Sage Ring lets you bombard enemies with Crystal Soul Spear during the window.
And with 78 stability, the Dragonhead Greatshield lives up to its colossal weight in resilience. Infusing with Magic fortifies its magical defenses even further too.
If you can spare the vitality and equip load, the Dragonhead Greatshield empowers spellsword builds tremendously through its Skill. Charge in with Moonlight Greatsword, block an attack, then retaliate harder!
Yhorm‘s Greatshield
Requiring an intense 60 strength, the storied Yhorm‘s Greatshield befits its legendary former owner. Weighing 23 units and boasting 86 stability, just two handing this shield makes you virtually immune to damage.
And that practically counts as a weapon – Yhorm‘s Greatshield has temperatures high enough to ignite enemies struck with its heavy bash!
It also completely shields the player, covering your entire body while blocking. Greatshields already excel defensively, but Yhorm‘s shifts that up another notch.
Meeting the absurd strength demands restricts its wielders, but Yhorm‘s Greatshield offers the greatest protection in Dark Souls 3. Tank Midir‘s flames or Gael‘s cape swings with impunity!
While PvE challenges players through level design, enemy attacks provide patterns to study. PvP throws unpredictability into the mix, requiring quick reactions or proactive reads.
Certain shields excel better in PvP compared to PvE:
Iron Round Shield
Popularized by legends like Prod and Fighter PL, the Iron Round Shield weighs only 3 units but achieves 71 stability fully upgraded.
It lacks impressive damage negation but serves better for setup parries. Quick movement speed and excellent stability for the weight enable baiting unsuspecting foes.
I often pair this with an off-hand Demon‘s Scar, toggling the weapons to mix aggressive Curved Sword swings with parry bait opportunities. The Iron Round Shield shines best with high vitality to leverage those setup parries.
Llewellyn Shield
Before Bloodborne popularized gun parrying, small shields allowed the most precise parry windows. The Llewellyn Shield continues that tradition with the rare ability to parry spells alongside weapons.
Weighing only 3.5 units with 54 stability, its lightweight easily fits any build. The magic parrying intrigues as well – skilled practitioners can reflect a Soul Spear back to its caster!
While the Llewellyn Shield lacks impressive defenses, its stellar parry speed cements its popularity. Many pro PvP players keep one equipped specifically to reflect spells.
The magic parry property alone warrants keeping this shield attuned. Catch your enemies off guard by swatting Crystal Homing Soulmass back in their face!
Ethereal Oak Shield
One of my personal favorite dueling shields returns great utility – the Ethereal Oak Shield.
That ever valuable health regeneration can‘t be understated in PvP. When spacing and dodging prevail, gaining gradual HP between close trades makes a difference. It often baits over aggression too.
With 100 stability and excellent elemental defenses through Infusions, the Ethereal Oak Shield brings nice protects as well. Its 5 weight keeps equip load flexible for vit gouged builds too.
While the Black Knight Shield offers superior defense, don‘t sleep on the Ethereal Oak Shield‘s sly regeneration in the heat of PvP combat.
And there you have it – the ultimate guide to finding stellar shields for every build and playstyle in Dark Souls 3. While weapons and spells get more notoriety, a properly leveled shield complements any arsenal against the merciless world of Lothric.
I hope this guide has provided ample options to consider for your next journey. Let me know your favorite or most underrated shields in the comments section too! MAY THE FLAMES GUIDE THEE.
