Elden Ring - Thrusting Shields

Attacking straight out of a guard is the thrusting shield's whole trick, letting a player hold block almost permanently and still deal weapon-grade damage, though no thrusting shield blocks 100% of physical damage.

Combat

Pros

• Attack and guard happen at once. Light attacks and guard counters end in a block, and heavy-attack windups begin with one, so the wielder is almost never unguarded.
• Unlike any other shield class, these carry genuine weapon attack rating, with the Dueling Shield reaching 306 physical at max standard upgrade and the Carian Thrusting Shield 298 physical plus 88 magic.
• They are fully infusable. A Dueling Shield at max Occult has 272 physical with B Arcane, a Carian Thrusting Shield at max Magic has 226 physical plus 280 magic with B Intelligence, and Keen takes either to B Dexterity (284 and 265).
• Guard boost is high for the requirement. The Carian Thrusting Shield has 64 at +0 (76.8 at max standard), matching the best medium shield's base and beating every small shield, and the Dueling Shield has 58 and 69.6.

Cons

• The Dueling Shield and Carian Thrusting Shield are both found in the Shadow Keep's Specimen Storehouse, so the class is tied to the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion.
• None reaches 100% physical block, with the Carian Thrusting Shield at 94, the Dueling Shield at 88 and the Ritual Thrusting Shield at 82, so a Heater Shield at 10 Strength and 3.5 weight blocks more physical damage than any of them.
• Thrusting shields cannot parry and cannot take a parry Ash of War, the same exclusion as greatshields.
• Elemental negation is poor for the weight, with the Carian blocking 36 fire, 34 lightning and 35 holy, the Dueling 44 magic and 39 fire, and the Ritual 35 fire.

Builds

A quality or hybrid line fits the class.

• The Ritual Thrusting Shield is the cheapest entry at 13 Strength and 12 Dexterity, with 135 physical, D and D scaling and a 55 guard boost.
• The Dueling Shield asks 15 Strength and 14 Dexterity and finishes at C and C on Standard (306 physical) or B and B on Quality (248), and its Occult route reaches B Arcane at 272, which makes it the bleed and Arcane pick.
• The Carian Thrusting Shield asks 17 Strength, 13 Dexterity and 15 Intelligence and is the only shield that pays Intelligence properly, since a Magic affinity gives it B Intelligence with 226 physical plus 280 magic.
• Because the class is always guarding, the real damage multipliers sit off the weapon, in the Curved Sword Talisman (20% more guard counter damage) and the Deflecting Hardtear (up to 80%), with Endurance funding the blocks that trigger them.

Best Weapons

Shield	Image	Guard	Weight	Str	Dex	Int	Fai	Arc	Why Take It
Carian Thrusting Shield		64 boost, 94% physical	10.5	17	13	15	-	-	Carian Thrusting Shield is the defensive and magical thrusting shield, with 94% physical block, a 64 guard boost and 64% magic block, plus 36 magic attack at base. With a Magic affinity at max upgrade it reaches B Intelligence, making it the strongest caster shield-weapon in the game. As Rellana's own shield, it suits a Carian-themed Intelligence build.
Dueling Shield		58 boost, 88% physical	9	15	14	-	-	-	Dueling Shield is the offensive thrusting shield, hitting harder than the Carian Thrusting Shield at every stage, with 125 physical at base and around 306 at max upgrade, plus B Arcane under Occult or B Dexterity under Keen. It is lighter at 9.0 weight and blocks lightning better. The trade is a 58 guard boost and only 88% physical block.

Notes

• The default skill, Shield Strike, costs 0 FP, cannot be charged and allows up to three follow-up attacks. It is also an Ash of War for any shield, so attacking from guard is not exclusive to the class.
• Thrusting Swords, Heavy Thrusting Swords, Spears and Great Spears can already attack while guarding with a shield in the other hand, the direct competitor to committing 9.0 to 10.5 weight to this class.
• Guard counters deal stance damage comparable to a fully charged heavy attack.
• The Deflecting Hardtear is the class's best pairing precisely because the wielder is always guarding. A spontaneous guard sets physical negation to 100% and elemental to 75%, negates the attack's status buildup, and stacks 20% guard-counter damage up to 4 times. Heavier attacks give 2 stacks, and stacks reset after about 5 seconds.
• Barricade Shield on a thrusting shield applies the 50% stamina reduction of small and medium shields rather than the greatshield 30%.

All Thrusting Shields

Name	Image	Physical	Magic	Fire	Light	Holy	Crit. Boost	Weight	Str.	Dex.	Int.	Fai.	Arc.	Sell Price	Skill
Carian Thrusting Shield		122 94	36 64	0 36	0 34	0 35	100 64	10.5	D 17	D 13	D 15	0	0	100	Shield Strike
Dueling Shield		125 88	0 44	0 39	0 55	0 53	100 58	9	D 15	D 14	0	0	0	100	Shield Strike
Ritual Thrusting Shield		135 82.0	0 42.0	0 35.0	0 52.0	0 50.0	100 55	9.0	D 13	D 12	0	0	0	0	Shield Strike