Greatshields are one of three types of shields you can find in Elden Ring and are unique in the sense that they grant the most defense and protection. If you are going for a strength/defensive build, you will need to find yourself a good Greatshield.
There are many enemies and bosses, especially in the late game, that hit like a truck. Unless you are nimble on your feet, you can use Greatshields to mitigate a lot of their damage and increase your survivability.
We have prepared this guide to list the best Greatshields to equip that will protect you from high-damaged attacks from different types of enemies in Elden Ring.
How Greatshields work in Elden Ring
Greatshields are the heaviest shields you can carry in Elden Ring, meaning that your mobility and speed are going to take a massive hit when you are hauling around a Greatshield.
In return for sacrificing your agility, you get the best protection any shield can possibly give in the game. That is in addition to some highly useful abilities.
Beyond their excellent defense stats, most of your attacks with a Greatshield that strike the ground stagger nearby light enemies. This works in tandem with your guard stance which consumes fewer stamina points than the other shield types.
Furthermore, you can interrupt enemy combos with Greatshields in Elden Ring, which is one of the most useful abilities you can have against enemies and bosses that may as well kill you in a single combo.
Best Greatshields to use in Elden Ring
5) Erdtree Greatshield (for Faith/Str builds)
The Erdtree Greatshield has a useful shield skill called Golden Retaliation in Elden Ring that allows you to disperse sorceries and incantations.
That boosts your defense abilities since this Greatshield already has some of the best blocking stats and damage mitigation in the game.
Stat requirement: 30 Strength and 12 Faith
How to get: If the name did not already give it away, you just need to defeat the Tree Sentinel Duo to get the Erdtree Greatshield in Elden Ring. You will find the duo boss near the Outer Wall Phantom Tree Site of Grace in Altus Plateau.
4) Manor Towershield
Manor Towershield is a Greatshield that you have the chance to equip early in Elden Ring. This shield scales primarily with Strength and with a Physical Guard of 100, it can provide a great value of protection to its wielders.
Using its default shield skill Shield Bash, you can charge while in guarding stance and rush forward to push your opponent backward. This type of shield is best used with a Strength Build.
Stat requirement: 30 Strength
The Manor Towershield is located inside Stormveil Castle in Elden Ring. Using the Secluded Cell Site of Grace as a starting point, make your way west until you come to a wooden platform.
After reaching the end of the platform, you have to jump onto the ledge of the wall. This is how you will reach the archways on the right.
Keep following the right path to enter a Storage room in Stormveil Castle. Head upstairs to enter another Storage room. You will find the Manor Towershield on the left under the stairs.
3) One-Eyed Shield
The One-Eyed Shield is a unique Greatshield that primarily focuses on Strength. It provides a good amount of protection to you against some of the hardest mini-bosses in Elden Ring.
Similar to the Manor Towershield, it also possesses a 100 Physical Guard that grants a high value of guard against adversaries.
Using its default shield skill Flame Spit, you can charge the shield and shoot a fireball that explodes upon contact to deal a ton of Fire damage.
Stat requirement: 36 Strength
How to get: You can find the One-Eyed Shield as a dropped item from a mini-boss called Chief Guardian Arghanthy. This boss can be found in the Mountaintops of the Giants inside of the Guardians’ Garrison.
2) Visage Shield
Scaling primarily with Strength, the Visage Shield is one of the best Greatshields you can use in Elden Ring. This is because it grants additional Guard to you compared to the other shields.
Instead of parrying, this shield focuses more on damaging and guarding you throughout the battle. With its default shield skill Tongues of Fire, you can spray the opponent with a wave of fire from its maw, and deals tons of damage.
You can continue to spray the opponent with fire even while walking, making it a useful skill when faced with several opponents at once.
Stat requirement: 44 Strength
How to get: To find this shield, you must head into the Caelem Ruins. Simply head to the eastern side of the ruin into an underground area where you will encounter the Mad Pumpkin Head Duo bosses in Elden Ring.
They will be guarding a room. Defeat the Duo to gain access to the treasure room and find the shield inside the chest.
1) Fingerprint Stone Shield
Arguably the best Greatshield to equip in Elden Ring, the Fingerprint Stone Shield provides a high caliber of protection with its large size. Wielders can simply hide behind this massive shield while attacking the opponent using the likes of a Greatsword.
This shield scales primarily with Strength and using its default shield skill Shield Bash, you can charge while in guarding stance and rush forward to push your opponent backward. This type of shield is best used with a Strength Build.
Stat requirement: 48 Strength
How to get: This shield is found at the Cathedral of the Forsaken. However, there are other tasks to complete before accessing the area of the shield such as defeating Morgott, the Omen King.
After defeating the Omen King, proceed to reach the bottom of the area till you reach a coffin with a corpse on it. Go right and into the hallway to find the shield at the end.
