Best overall shield

[oprah_winfrey]

Kite shield takes more hits than the knightly shields, and is a lot stronger than the elite cav shield, which is weak.  It has lower resistance, but significantly more hit points.  It is tougher...do the tests yourself!  I already have.  It also takes more axe hits.

The width advantage of the other shields is minimal imho.  You just turn a little to block a hit.  I've used all the shields and having just a couple points of width does nothing.

The larger round shields (large round, huscarl) have significantly more width, but they are slow.

I don't think my +3 elite cav shield has ever broken when not getting hit by an axe. So calling it weak is a weird way to word it.

[Erzengel]

If you have 8 shield skill get an Elite Cavalry Shield or Heavy Round Shield. You won't regret it. Knightly Heater or Knightly Kite can also work because you will be very fast and can better avoid hits from the sides.

If you really want it to be unbreakable you can also get Huscarl's, but it will slow you down. 

[Tzar]

Depends on your build an your plans.

Heavy round shield is good for when you have throwing or carry a extra warspear for hoplite action an fight on foot.

Huscarl round shield is just the best shield if you only use your main weapon an fight on foot.

Elite cav shield or some of the knightly ones are good cav shields.

Plate covered round shield if your fight on foot an str crutch an lack shield skill. <----------- yet axe will screw you over but so will any other shield with low shield skill. atleast the plate covered lets you take on infinite dmg from none shield breakers.

Anyways depends also on your style.

I use the Heavy round shield it take a serious beating an lets me carry my jarids plus the coverage is nice an its fast enough to block after being kicked.

[Abay]

I bet on heavy board shield. You can try it in EU3 and see I am right 

if u need more experienced explanaiton, I can pm you

[wanteds]

Kite shield takes more hits than the knightly shields, and is a lot stronger than the elite cav shield, which is weak.  It has lower resistance, but significantly more hit points.  It is tougher...do the tests yourself!  I already have.  It also takes more axe hits.

The width advantage of the other shields is minimal imho.  You just turn a little to block a hit.  I've used all the shields and having just a couple points of width does nothing.

The larger round shields (large round, huscarl) have significantly more width, but they are slow.

So, hit points are actually more important than resistance for the durability?

So compare these 2 for example: heavy board shield and Huscarl round shield, one has more resistance, other more hit points, which one lasts longer?
same question could go for knightly shields vs kite shields, cause I hear ppl have different opinions about which is more durable.

Durability is of more importance to me cause I'm gonna play mostly DTV on this character and the enemy tend to be very punishing there.

[Penitent]

So, hit points are actually more important than resistance for the durability?

So compare these 2 for example: heavy board shield and Huscarl round shield, one has more resistance, other more hit points, which one lasts longer?
same question could go for knightly shields vs kite shields, cause I hear ppl have different opinions about which is more durable.

Durability is of more importance to me cause I'm gonna play mostly DTV on this character and the enemy tend to be very punishing there.

One is not more important than the other...they both contribute to durability.  In this case, the kite shield's hps make up for its lack of armor.  But take the Board shields (lots of hps) vs the Steel Shield (lots of armor) and you'll find the Steel Shield lasts longer in most cases.  Its armor is just so high.

I really think the kite shield is the best "overall" shield.  However, it might not be the best shield for you....for example if you will never be on a horse and you don't mind using 2 slots for a shield, you may find one that suits you better.

I made a chart showing how many hits different shields will take, on average.  Let me dig it up and share with the world.  I think I found that the knightly kite will take slightly more sword hits than the kite shield, but the kite takes significantly more axe hits.  When I averaged it, thinking I might face a shield-breaking weapon 1/3 of the time, the kite shield was slightly better.

[owens]

Elite cav shield or steal Buckler


The critical factor is how much shield skill you plan to invest and whether you are catching arrows or just want it for melee.


Shields have to be fast and long lived.

Elite cav is broad and has good resistance, in my opinion it outlasts and out-stats the heavy round shield. Decent against axes and usable with 4 shield skill.

Steal Buckler lasts a long time, protects the legs reasonably well and has extremely low weight. Its weakness is width as it tends to fall down against multiple fast opponents. Avoid axes when using this shield.

[Uhtred_III_of_Bebbanburg]

Depends on Your playstyle, offensive, defensive, agi, str...
Elite Cavalry - Plate covered Round Shield - Heavy Kite are surely the best.
Imo Heavy Kite Shield is the allrounder. Good Speed, a lot of Hitpoints, awesome Style ;)
But my own favorite is the Elite Cavalry Shield.

[wanteds]

I made a chart showing how many hits different shields will take, on average.  Let me dig it up and share with the world.

plz do!

Problem with kite shields is their width being the smallest of all shields and it could cause trouble when you are tanking arrows coming from slightly different angles.

Depends on Your playstyle, offensive, defensive, agi, str...
Elite Cavalry - Plate covered Round Shield - Heavy Kite are surely the best.
Imo Heavy Kite Shield is the allrounder. Good Speed, a lot of Hitpoints, awesome Style ;)
But my own favorite is the Elite Cavalry Shield.

build will be 18/24 (8 shield, 8 athl, 6 ps) and playstyle, kinda balanced. Weapons that I'll be using are sidesword and nordic champion sword, and medium weight gear.

I bet on heavy board shield. You can try it in EU3 and see I am right 

if u need more experienced explanaiton, I can pm you

Heavy board shield has got my attention too, but I dont know how fast/slow I'll be with (77+3=) 80 shield speed and 8 shield skill.

[Abay]

Well, I played with every kind of shields in the game for almost 3 years. Lets take a look...

If your shield has high body armour but low hit points like steel ones or elite cav shield etc, it is really nice against swords and arrows. But any axe can break it in really short time.
If your shield has low body armour but high hit point like heavy board shield and fur covered shield, it will stand long against axes but it will also take any kind of attack to its body like arrows and swords, too.
Well, lets think.
If you dont fight against axemen with your shield, you must use plate covered or steel one. I went to EU3 with Diagonal(he has 8ps and danish gs) for testing huscarl, steel and heavy board. When he hits huscarl, it standed for 10 hits; heavy board took 14 and steel took 27 hits until it was broken. Also we tested them with an axe. Against axe, the low class steel one, and then huscarl is mid, but heavy board standed much longer.

Well, if you want to play in servers that has not many player, you must use fast and high body armored shields. But if you want to play in EU1 or EU2 when they are crowded, then high hit pointed shields will save your ass to the end of the tour.

Also you can not get any hit to your legs if you use heavy board 

As I said, crowded servers get you to heavy board or huscarl but others to elite cav, plate covered, steel or some knightly shields.

I tried to tell what I know about shields by my experience.

So, good luck 

(click to show/hide)

Note: If you want to try +3 heavy board shield, I can lend it to you for 2-3 days

Edit: I see some people talks about speed of the shield. I must say that I have one of the worst ping(75-100) in EU servers and play with heavy board. And if I would have ping like EU guys(30-50), you would call me God 

[Dalhi]

With that high shield skill I'd recommend using Elite Cavalry Shield, it can last quite a lot of hits. As you are really awsome in manual blocking once you counter someone with weapon that has bonus against shield just put it on your back. Round shields gives really nice cover against range, and will protect your sides in melee much better then kite shields. Its weight comepred to other shields is much lower so it won't affect your movement that much, and mobility as a shielder is a key. With over 100 speed it's as fast as manual blocking with the difference that you don't have to bother yourself with directional blocking 

[rustyspoon]

Rounds shields give overall MUCH better coverage than non-round shields. As calculations in this game are percentage-based, increases to your horizontal forcefield are much smaller if your shield is not round. It becomes very noticeable when fighting multiple people at once.

If you have enough shield skill speed isn't much of an issue, unless you are using one of the REALLY slow metal shields.  All shield speeds max at 100 anyway. They can't be increased past 100.

Heavier shields will weigh you down more, so that you move slower, but they will also give you more protection against block stun. You'll get block stunned more frequently with an Elite Cav than with a Heavy Round.

As most everyone in this thread already mentioned, if you're on foot you're much better off with a round shield. Elite Cav and Heavy Round are both very solid choices and the Huscarl is really good if you don't mind losing the extra movement speed.

For a point of reference...a MW Heavy round with 6 shield skill rarely breaks. With 7 it only ever breaks during a long siege round where I never die. If you have enough shield skill and put it away when fighting shield breakers...it will pretty much never break.

[Mlekce]

mw elite cav shield with 5 shield skill works like charm.
Rest of shields are shit.

[wanteds]

tnx for the compliment Dalhi but I've become very rusty lately 

Tnx guys for all your feedback, I appreciate it.

As for my choice, as I said I'm going to be playing a lot of DTV with this chr, so I'll need a shield that can take a beating, gives good coverage against missile and can withstand waves of axemen.
So the choice will be one of the last tier shields as in Huscarl which is the better version of elite cav and heavy round shield (if we ignore the weight and speed penalty which is less of a concern in my case) or heavy board. My favorite shield is knightly heater but the low hitpoints wont make up for the good resistance, same thing with plated covered shield. Kite shields are good shields except they're too narrow. No one mentioned the heavy Norman shields, so I don't have any idea of their performance. And finally the all mighty steel shield which wont break but the speed is just too low.

 

[Phew]

Heavier shields will weigh you down more, so that you move slower, but they will also give you more protection against block stun. You'll get block stunned more frequently with an Elite Cav than with a Heavy Round.

I'm surprised this didn't get mentioned until now. Held attacks can stun shields up to twice their weight, so while the Elite Cav/Knightly shields may be fast and somewhat durable, the speed and durability is often wasted because you spend so much time block stunned, unable to attack. I prefer shields that weigh more than 7 kg, so they can't get stunned by 2h swords/axes, only the heavy hitters like bar mace/mauls. Not to mention, heavy shields actually block crushthrough weapons sometimes; good luck ever blocking a great maul overhead with an Elite Cav shield.

The other big consideration that I didn't see mentioned is crossbow bolt penetration.  Bolts penetrate low armor shields, and you need about 20+ shield armor to stop a +3 steel bolt from a +3 arbalest (which are pretty rare on the battlefield). I used a +3 Brown Lion Heater for several gens, and I got tired of always being headshot through the shield with only 12 armor.

So after weighing the most important considerations for me:
1. 7+ kg weight so I don't spend the whole round block stunned
2. 19+ armor so I don't get headshot by bolts through my shield
3. Width so I can block people on both sides simultaneously
4. >85 speed so I can block after being kicked or feinting lowering my shield
5. 1-slot so I can carry two stacks of heavy throwing axes
6. 400+ HPs so my shield survives more than a couple axe swings

I was left with a single option, the +3 Heavy Round Shield I have used for the last 8 or so generations.