Broken into three categories, Elden Ring’s shields range from being barely worth the pickup to being a must-have for most builds. The game’s Greatshields mostly belong to the latter category, offering an unparalleled level of protection against Elden Ring’s bosses and deadly environments. In true FromSoftware fashion, Greatshields also make for some pretty brutal weapons at times.
RELATED: Elden Ring: Medium Shields Tier List
Updated on August 21, 2022, by Cameron Swan: Over the last five months, Elden Ring has gone through a variety of changes, some minor, and some major. While Elden Ring has retained its unbelievably high level of quality, still well in the running for Game of the Year, there have been some slight changes to some of the game’s mechanics, and as such, the state of the PvP scene has changed a little bit. Just like any other game with online PvP mechanics, Elden Ring has received a plethora of updates that have nerfed some weapons and buffed others, and the game’s collection of Greatshields is no exception. So, while most of this tier list remains accurate, there are a few entries that have been shuffled around.
S-Tier
Jellyfish Shield: A decapitated head of one of Elden Ring’s adorable Jellyfish creatures, the Jellyfish Shield is one of the best Greatshields in the entire game. With an incredibly low weight of just 8. 0, the Jellyfish Shield can be wielded by a good variety of build types. While blocking 100% physical damage, the Jellyfish Shield’s Weapon Skill, “Contagious Fury,” is by far its most unique, and helpful asset, boosting damage by 20% for 30 seconds. Ant’s Skull Plate: Another beheaded creature fashioned into a shield, the Ant’s Skull Plate is another superb Greatshield. 100% physical damage negation, and some decent elemental reduction, the Ant’s Skull Plate is a good piece of defensive gear, but it truly shines as a weapon. While also boosting the player’s immunity by 50 points, this shield inflicts 90 points of poison build-up per hit, making it a lethal weapon. Eclipse Crest Greatshield: Aside from not being the most exciting shield visually, the Eclipse Crest Greatshield may just be the best shield in Elden Ring. A low weight of 15. 0 allows most builds to wield it easily, it blocks 72% of magic damage, and has a high guard boost of 67, meaning that less stamina is drained per hit absorbed. On top of all this, the Eclipse Crest Greatshield also passively adds 50 points to the user’s Immunity, Robustness, and Focus. Fingerprint Stone Shield: A shield that verges on being broken, the Fingerprint Stone Shield is infuriating to play against, but incredibly satisfying to use. With a whopping guard boost of 81, a player holding this shield can keep blocking for a staggering amount of time. To make it even better, the Fingerprint Stone Shield also has some of the best elemental blocking on any shield in Elden Ring, and when used as a weapon, this shield even causes 50 points of Madness build-up. The only trade-off is that this shield is the heaviest in the game. Even after five months of updates, various nerfs, and reworks, the Fingerprint Stone Shield still remains one of the most infuriating, satisfying weapons to use in the entire game. Though players have found a few workarounds to those using the Fingerprint Stone Shield, the weapon still claims victory in the vast majority of scenarios, whether it’s through actual skill or just sheer dumb luck. Golden Greatshield: One of the few Greatshields that’s actually managed to improve with updates, Elden Ring’s Golden Greatshield is a phenomenal mid-late game shield, capable of tanking just about anything the game can throw at the player. Though the Golden Greatshield isn’t quite as light as the Eclipse Crest Greatshield, its weight of 17. 0 is still on the lower side when compared to the rest of its class. While the Golden Greatshield isn’t the most sturdy option at first, upon being upgraded, it becomes one tough piece of gear, with a Guard Boost stat of 78. It doesn’t have any special gimmicks, and it isn’t quite as tough as the rest of the shields above it in this tier, but the Golden Greatshield is a great option for most heavier builds, especially when it can be easily farmed in both the Altus Plateau and Leyndell.
A-Tier
One-Eyed Shield: Amongst some of the most unique shields in Elden Ring, the One-Eyed Shield does great damage negation across the board, but its primary use is actually as a ranged weapon. Using the attached Weapon Skill, “Flame Spit,” the user can launch fireballs out of the shield’s mouth. It may take some effort to land a hit, but once it does, the damage is pretty sizeable. Visage Shield: Much like the One-Eyed Shield, the Visage Shield fires flames out of its mouth. As opposed to one devastating fireball, though, this shield sprays several jets of fire at once, and can also be used while moving, making it a tough weapon to counter. Dragonclaw Shield: A striking, and fearsome visual design, the Dragonclaw Shield is another Greatshield that works just as well as a weapon as it does as a defense. Boasting a fairly low weight of 13. 5, and an upgraded Guard Boost of 67, the Dragonclaw Shield offers a good amount of protection, especially with some extra lightning negation added for good measure. But where the Dragonclaw Shield really shines is through its use as a weapon. Equipped from the offset with the Shield Bash Weapon Art, players can use the Dragonclaw Shield to ram into their opponents, often breaking their guard and staggering them temporarily. While other Greatshields have this same Weapon Art, the Dragonclaw Shield offers the best damage of the lot, even dealing a small amount of lightning damage on top of the physical. Using a Greatshield as a weapon isn’t often a recommended strategy, but with Elden Ring now being out for a good few months, it provides a fun new way to experience the game’s intense fights. Redmane Greatshield: Boasting some of the best fire damage resistance of any Greatshield, the Redmane Greatshield is another great option, especially for builds that aren’t looking for a heavier shield. The only real issue with this shield is that it can take some time to farm. Cuckoo Greatshield: The Cuckoo Greatshield is an excellent option for those looking to absorb some magic damage, but unfortunately, it’s outshone by the Eclipse Crest Greatshield in just about every way. Still, this shield remains a great one if the player hasn’t found the Eclipse Crest yet. Distinguished Greatshield: With a visual look that pairs well with a vast range of Elden Ring armors, the Distinguished Greatshield is a great fashion option, and a great defensive one, with good stats across the board. Dragon Towershield: Requiring slightly less strength to wield than most of the shields on this list, the Dragon Towershield still offers good elemental damage absorption, and a base guard boost of 69, which is more than worth the trade-off. Manor Towershield: Though its stats aren’t quite as high as the rest in this tier, the Manor Towershield just has the edge by being available quite early on, once the player gets to Stormveil Castle, making it a great early-game option. Erdtree Greatshield: The Erdtree Greatshield may not be the toughest shield around, nor is it the lightest, but it may just be the best option for any Faith builds. To start with, the Erdtree Greatshield is fairly light, coming in at just 13. 5, and once fully upgraded, it offers a solid Guard Boost of 66. The real advantage of the Erdtree Greatshield is that it’s impressively resistant to any type of Holy and Sorcery damage, making it the ideal choice for any of Elden Ring’s tougher mage fights. The top it all off, the Erdtree Greatshield has a Weapon Art that lets it deflect oncoming sorceries and incantations. Called Golden Retaliation, this Weapon Art can be used to absorb oncoming magic attacks, and launch them back at the enemy. Though the timing for this can be pretty difficult to nail down, especially in the heat of battle, a successful Golden Retaliation can deliver a devastating counter-blow.
RELATED: Elden Ring: Small Shields Tier List
B-Tier
Haligtree Crest Greatshield: Offering the best holy damage negation of any Greatshield, the Haligtree Crest Greatshield is a good piece of defensive gear, but the amount of effort required to farm the item won’t be worth it for many players. Gilded Greatshield: Another shield that can be infuriatingly difficult to farm, the Gilded Greatshield is otherwise, a pretty good shield, having decent elemental damage negation, and a relatively high guard boost. Inverted Hawk Towershield: There’s nothing wrong with the Inverted Hawk Towershield, being another good shield across the board, and taking minimal effort to farm, but there’s also nothing too special about it, landing it on the B-tier of this list by default. Crucible Hornshield: A disappointing Greatshield, the Crucible Hornshield looks incredible, but its functionality doesn’t really match. Though it can pack a punch as a weapon, its elemental damage negation and guard boost aren’t great, and don’t quite justify the lofty requirements. Crossed-Tree Towershield: Another shield that doesn’t technically have anything wrong with it all, the Crossed-Tree Towershield is another Greatshield that lands in the B-tier by default, having decent stats, but being outshone by most of the other shields on this list. Golden Beast Crest Shield: For a shield that just requires 24 strength to wield, and only weighs 12. 5, the Golden Beast Crest Shield is a great option for builds that don’t specialize in strength, with stats that aren’t the best, but are still decent. Icon Shield: Just scraping in at the bottom of the B-tier, the Icon Shield only has 95% physical damage negation, but its passive ability does slowly regenerate the user’s health, making it worth the trade-off in most situations.
C-Tier
Spiked Palisade Shield: As a shield, the Spiked Palisade Shield isn’t all that great, only negating 95% of physical damage, and only having a guard boost of 59. On the other hand, this shield isn’t a bad weapon, causing 70 points of blood loss build-up with each successful hit. Briar Greatshield: The Briar Greatshield is a similar story, but a little worse, only blocking 93% of oncoming physical damage while causing 70 points of blood loss per hit. Lordsworn’s Shield: A pretty good early-game Greatshield, the Lordsworn’s Shield can be farmed fairly easily at the Gatefront Ruins, and has a surprisingly good guard boost of 60, but its low physical damage reduction of 94% lands it in the C-tier. Wooden Greatshield: Still not a bad shield, especially for Elden Ring’s early game, the Wooden Greatshield still offers good knockback on enemy attacks, but its defensive stats are much lower than the rest of the shields on this list, landing it right at the bottom.
Elden Ring is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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