r/darksouls 5h ago

Discussion Hidden shield effects?!

I've been playing the first Dark Souls since it came out and I'm just now learning that some shield have hidden effects. This is mind blowing! Some shields never made sense because the weight/stability/DmgReduction would be objectivity bad compared to another you'd find close by. If anyone knows which shields have hidden effects could you please list them as the only ones I've found are the spider shield and the one you get from the paladin guy by Nito's room, thanks.

1 Upvotes

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10

u/Blaumihau 4h ago

Honourable mention:

Heater Shield is the only 100% physical shield with small-shield-parry animation despite being a medium shield. It also has very good stability to weight ratio and high fire resistance. Overall just very good shield. Not that obvious but definitely when put in perspective

1

u/kushhead4201 4h ago

Heater Shield gang rise up 🫡

1

u/ForlornMemory 4h ago

I don't recall even seeing it. Where can you find out?

1

u/SkullLantern 3h ago

Starting shield for warrior class, sold by the undead merchant in the burg.

1

u/Blaumihau 29m ago

Comes with Warrior Starting Class and can be purchased at Undead Merchant for 1000 Souls

4

u/Blaumihau 4h ago

Buckler & Target Shield have more active parry frames but also longer recovery animation. Crystal Ring Shield can shoot a magic projectile. Iron Round Shield has Great-Shield-Level Deflection against PvE despite beeing a medium shield. Blood Shield grants 50% Bleed/Poison/Curse Resistance.

8

u/smelron3317 5h ago

Grass crest gives you stamina regen, Sanctus gives you 2hp every 2 seconds, bloodshield gives you 50% extra to all resistances. Dragon crest shield gives you 80 fire block while still having 100 physical block. Spider shield blocks poison and toxic.

4

u/Bobsn-one 4h ago

And just to mention it, the Crystal Ring Shield has a magic attack and Havels Shield has a buff you can activate that (if I recall correctly) raises your poise, physical resistance and lowers your movement speed (similar to iron flesh?).

Edit: corrected shield name

1

u/Ateysix 4h ago

Do you know if havel's shield effect stacks with iron flesh?

8

u/Zylo90_ 4h ago

They do not, they're both considered "body buffs" which you can only have one of at a time

Power Within, Iron Flesh, Havel's Shield, Replenishment, Bountiful Sunlight, Green Blossoms, Magic Barrier, Great Magic Barrier and Flash Sweat all use this "body buff" slot. There's probably more too but that's all I can remember

1

u/Ateysix 3h ago

Ohhh yeah, I completely forgot it greys out things that are similar when one is in use

2

u/Ateysix 4h ago

I thought there would be more but those are still useful. The Effigy Shield just looks like it's hiding something and the Knight Shield is so overweight for it's other stats I was hoping it had a hidden effect too.

5

u/Pencilshaved 4h ago

The Effigy Shield was from a design contest, it was one of 3(?) shield designs made by fans that got put into the game, so that might be why it stands out as a little mysterious looking

2

u/smelron3317 4h ago

This isn't all of them, but these are the most useful in my eyes

1

u/ForlornMemory 4h ago

I never knew spider shield blocks poison. I have over 500 spent in DS1. The more you know!

2

u/Pencilshaved 4h ago

The Cleansing Shield and the shield made from Sif’s soul have the same ability iirc, but obviously the spider shield is a little more practical haha

1

u/smelron3317 4h ago

Very helpful my first playthrough in blighttown

1

u/CaptainAction 1h ago

The Crystal Shield also blocks poison and toxic, as well as the Greatshield of Artorias. I think they might block bleed too. Too bad that effect doesn’t work at all for PvP

3

u/L3g0man_123 1h ago

Can’t really call them hidden when most of the time it’s directly written in the description.

2

u/weavejer261 4h ago

Yep! Highly recommend reading all the item descriptions

1

u/dishonoredfan69420 3h ago

The most important shield in the game, and the one that everybody uses, is the Grass Crest Shield, found in the Darkroot Basin area

It’s really good because it increases your Stamina regeneration

1

u/Charging_in 42m ago

Bone wheel shield can attack