Greatshields | Dark Souls Wiki

Greatshields are defensive equipment in Dark Souls and Dark Souls Remastered. These heavy unrelenting shields resemble more a wall than anything else. Weighing as much as 26.0 units these aren't your regular shield. These shields are too heavy for light characters to even consider wielding without sacrificing mobility or dedicated rings to lighten their load. However any character with a strong endurance who doesn't mind the heavy burden will find the best protection behind these shields. Not only do they give a major damage reduction boost against all types of damage and have the greatest Stability of all shields, they typically have the highest rates of deflection causing even heavy hitters to recoil. Small hits shouldn't even drain your stamina and even large hits and combos can be blocked without your guard being broken. Sadly the drawback is that large shields can't be used for parrying and instead have a shield bash as their secondary attack. While it can be used for breaking the enemies guard it's slow speed limits its use and is quickly redundant if your weapon of choice allows you to kick. The Greatshield of Artorias has a total of 88 stability, but the Crystal Tower Shield +5 has 90 stability which is the highest currently available, if impractical. 

Greatshields

		Attack Power Damage Reduction (%)					Stats Requirements Param Bonus
Image	Name											Deflection	Bash	Acquired From Notes
	Greatshield of Artorias	88 100	0 50	0 80	0 40	100 88	34 D	0 -	0 -	0 -	600 16.0	Heavy	Bash	Ascended: any Shield +10 and Soul of Sif, at the Giant Blacksmith in Anor Londo. *Attacks blocked with the Greatshield of Artorias do not cause any status effect
	Eagle Shield	62 95	0 55	0 45	0 75	100 70	16 D	0 -	0 -	0 -	300 6.0	Heavy	Bash	Location: Blighttown near the bonfire on the upper level, a corpse perched on a support beam. Note: Physical damage reduction changed from 100% to 95% in PTDE
	Tower Shield	80 100	0 40	0 75	0 50	100 72	30 D	0 -	0 -	0 -	300 13.0	Heavy	Bash	Drop: Berenike Knights. (Undead Parish curch, Sen's Fortress and Painted World of Ariamis) Purchase: Can be purchased from the Crestfallen Merchant for 8,000 souls.
	Black Iron Greatshield	80 100	0 40	0 90	0 50	100 71	34 D	0 -	0 -	0 -	230 16.0	Heavy	Bash	Location: Found along with matching armor, on a corpse on the bottom floor of the Anor Londo cathedral, near the painting.
	Giant Shield	80 100	0 60	0 75	0 75	100 68	36 D	0 -	0 -	0 -	300 18.0	Heavy	Bash	Drops: Giants Guards in Anor Londo Purchase: purchased from the Giant Blacksmith in Anor Londo for 10,000 souls.
	Bonewheel Shield	80 90	0 30	0 30	0 51	100 66	30 D	0 -	0 -	0 -	200 12.0	Heavy	Spin*	Drops: Bonewheel Skeletons in The Catacombs and Painted World of Ariamis (rare). *Bash is replaced by a 3-hit wheel spin attack.
	Stone Greatshield	82 100	0 80	0 75	0 65	100 80	38 D	0 -	0 -	0 -	400 20.0	Heavy	Bash	Drop: Stone Knights in Darkroot Forest (rare).
	Havel's Greatshield	84 100	0 90	0 80	0 80	100 84	50 D	0 -	0 -	0 -	500 26.0	Heavy	Spell*	Location: in a chest behind an illusionary wall in Anor Londo. *Bash is replaced by a Stoneskin spell that temporarily increases poise and costs 300 durability.
	Cleansing Greatshield	75 80	0 80	0 80	0 70	0 77	31 D	0 -	0 -	0 -	300 14.5	Heavy	Bash	Location: Rescue Sif from the Chasm of the Abyss. (AotA only)

Table Key

Requirements / Parameter Bonus	Attack Values	Damage Reduction (%) Reducing the elemental damage taken in %	Auxiliary Effects	Others
Strength	Physical	Physical	Bleed	Durability
Dexterity	Magic	Magic	Poison	Weight
Intelligence	Fire	Fire	Divine
Faith	Lightning	Lightning	Occult
	Critical	Stability
	Magic Adjustment

Durability: The weapon's HP; when the durability hits 0, the effectiveness of its attacks become weakened to the point of almost useless. When an items durability is low, a message will come up saying "Weapon At Risk!" - at this point the weapon does not perform at it's best.
Weight: How much the item weights when equipped.
Stability: How well the player keeps stance after being hit.
Attack Type: Defines what kind of swing set the weapon has.
Regular(R), Thrust(T), Slash(Sl), Strike(St).