Elden Ring - Small Shields

Small shields are carried for the parry window and their near-zero weight, never for blocking, since none reaches 100% physical negation but every one parries with more than twice the active frames of a medium shield.

Combat

Pros

• The parry window is the widest in the game. Ash of War: Parry on a small shield has 4 start-up and 5 active frames at 30 FPS, against 2 active frames on medium shields, thrusting swords, curved swords, fists and claws.
• Post-parry recovery is the fastest too, at 13 frames to a right-hand attack, 14 to block and 15 to roll or crouch, all 2 frames quicker than a medium shield's 15, 16 and 17.
• Weight runs from 1.0 (Rickety Shield) to 3.5 (Pillory Shield), and the Rickety Shield carries 46 guard boost at 1.0 weight, the best guard boost per weight of any shield.
• Barricade Shield (12 FP, 10 seconds) halves block stamina cost on small and medium shields regardless of guard boost and grants Tier 4 Hardness, while greatshields only get a 30% cut from the same skill.

Cons

• No small shield blocks 100% physical damage. The class ceiling is the Smoldering Shield at 89, then the Iron Roundshield and Gilded Iron Shield at 88, while the medium Heater Shield blocks 100 for 10 Strength and 3.5 weight.
• The guard boost ceiling is 51, shared by the Iron Roundshield, Gilded Iron Shield, Ice Crest Shield and Smoldering Shield, against 64 on the best medium shield and 82 on the Verdigris Greatshield.
• Free guard counters are the rarest of any shield class, because small shields are the least likely to stagger attackers and bounce only very light attacks.
• The best elemental block in the class is the Shield of Night's four-element total of 205, while a Fingerprint Stone Shield reaches 312.

Builds

Requirements top out at 10 Strength (Smoldering Shield, Coil Shield, Pillory Shield, Smithscript Shield), and most of the class wants 8, which every build already has.

• The only real asks are the Smithscript Shield (10 Strength, 15 Dexterity, 11 Intelligence, 11 Faith) and the Shield of Night (8 Strength, 15 Dexterity).
• Spare levels belong in Endurance instead, because the class's failure mode is a mistimed parry that becomes a block on 45 to 51 guard boost, and stamina is what survives that.

Best Weapons

Shield	Image	Guard	Weight	Str	Dex	Int	Fai	Arc	Why Take It
Buckler		45 boost, 74% physical	1.5	8	13	-	-	-	Buckler is a light parry shield at 1.5 weight, built around its own Buckler Parry skill. It deals 68 physical with D Dexterity and keeps a 45 guard boost, enough for chip blocking between parries, and as the Bandit's starting shield it gives a parry-focused build its main tool from the first minute.
Spiralhorn Shield		44 boost, 75% physical	2	8	10	-	-	-	Spiralhorn Shield raises Immunity, Robustness and Focus by 50 each on a 2.0-weight frame, three resistances for one slot, and its attacks also build 45 blood loss. It comes with Parry, which makes it the shield to carry into rot, frost or madness areas instead of a bigger one.
Shield of Night		43 boost, 74% physical	2	8	15	-	-	-	Shield of Night blocks 70% of magic damage, the highest of any small shield and better than almost every greatshield, which makes it a dedicated anti-sorcery tool. Its Revenge of the Night skill absorbs the power of a freshly blocked attack and fires it back as a projectile. It weighs 2.0, scales D in Dexterity and upgrades with Somber stones.
Coil Shield		38 boost, 78% physical	1.5	10	10	-	-	-	Coil Shield is the hardest-hitting small shield at 92 physical and only 1.5 weight, and it turns blocking into a poison plan: attacks build 72 poison, it raises Immunity, and its Viper Bite skill inflicts deadly poison. The trade is the class's lowest guard boost at 38, so it works best for players who parry more than they block.

Notes

• Parry frames are counted at 30 FPS and double at 60, and daggers sit between the two shield classes with 4 start-up and 4 active frames.
• After a parry, a small shield also returns to an Ash of War in 16 frames, a left-hand attack in 16, a quick item in 15, an item in 16 and walking in 17.
• Only small and medium shields can parry or take a parry-related Ash of War, while greatshields and thrusting shields cannot.
• Guard boost is a percentage cut to the stamina damage from blocking, so against an attack that would cost 100 stamina, 30 guard boost reduces it to 70. Upgrading raises guard boost every other level.
• Shields reject normal weapon buffs such as Fire Grease and Scholar's Armament, and only Immutable Shield, Scholar's Shield, Shield Grease and Barricade Shield apply.

All Small Shields

Name	Image	Physical	Magic	Fire	Light	Holy	Crit. Boost	Weight	Str.	Dex.	Int.	Fai.	Arc.	Sell Price	Skill
Blue-White Wooden Shield		72 85	0 45	0 35	0 22	0 42	100 49	2	E 8	0	0	0	0	100	No Skill
Buckler		68 74	0 30	0 30	0 16	0 30	100 45	1.5	E 8	D 13	0	0	0	100	Buckler Parry
Coil Shield		92 78	0 38	0 29	0 35	0 36	100 38	1.5	E 10	10	0	0	0	200	Viper Bite
Gilded Iron Shield		74 88	0 40	0 38	0 17	0 51	100 51	3	E 8	0	0	0	0	100	Parry
Ice Crest Shield		74 87	0 57	0 41	0 18	0 35	100 51	3	E 9	0	0	0	0	100	No Skill
Iron Roundshield		74 88	0 42	0 42	0 18	0 42	100 51	3	E 8	0	0	0	0	100	No Skill
Man-Serpent's Shield		70 85	0 35	0 48	0 18	0 33	100 48	2	E 8	0	0	0	0	100	No Skill
Perfumer's Shield		67 78	0 35	0 35	0 16	0 33	100 45	1.5	E 8	0	0	0	0	100	Parry
Pillory Shield		71 82	0 46	0 23	0 38	0 46	100 50	3.5	E 10	0	0	0	0	100	No Skill
Red Thorn Roundshield		70 81	0 32	0 42	0 37	0 37	100 47	1.5	E 8	0	0	0	0	100	Parry
Rickety Shield		70 74	0 29	0 24	0 34	0 34	100 46	1.0	E 8	0	0	0	0	100	Parry
Rift Shield		70 85	0 33	0 37	0 18	0 37	100 47	2	E 8	0	0	0	0	100	Parry
Riveted Wooden Shield		72 86	0 43	0 31	0 24	0 45	100 49	2	E 8	0	0	0	0	100	Parry
Scripture Wooden Shield		70 82	0 40	0 22	0 37	0 45	100 47	1.5	E 8	0	0	0	0	100	Parry
Shield of Night		78 74	50 70	0 45	0 45	0 45	100 43	2.0	8	D 15	0	0	0	500	Revenge of the Night
Shield of the Guilty		75 81	0 36	0 36	0 31	0 37	100 42	2.0	D 8	0	0	0	0	100	Shield Bash
Smithscript Shield		72 84	0 38	0 38	0 38	0 38	100 47	2.5	D 10	E 15	E 11	E 11	0	500	Discus Hurl
Smoldering Shield		58 89	0 38	37 56	0 14	0 38	100 51	3.0	E 10	9	0	D 12	0	100	Shield Bash
Spiralhorn Shield		75 75	0 35	0 39	0 39	0 32	100 44	2	E 8	10	0	0	0	100	Parry