God of War Ragnarok best shields for early & late game

The shield is an important part of defence in God of War Ragnarok, but there are a few of them to choose them throughout your journey across the nine realms. With different stats and bonuses to sift through, I can help you find the best ones for the early and late game.

Best shields in the early game

At the beginning of God of War Ragnarok, Kratos still has the Guardian shield he used in the previous game.

It gets broken early on, and needs replacing. This is where we are introduced to the new shields in this game. Our first choice is between two shields, the Stonewall shield and the Dauntless shield.

Dauntless Shield

This is where the game tells us that there are two ways to use a shield, blocking and parrying, and we can specialize in one or the other if we choose.

The Dauntless shield is your dedicated parrying shield, it can parry projectiles that other shields can't, and parrying charges a more powerful shield bash that deals massive stun damage to enemies.

Stonewall Shield

The Stonewall shield is the other side of the coin, it can't parry at all but it is great for blocking. The Stonewall shield's unique ability is that it stores energy when you block attacks, and that energy can be channelled into a ground slam that can stun, knock back, and even launch enemies into the air, depending on how much you charge it.

Which shield is better?

The differences between the two really come down to playstyle, as the Dauntless shield is really only for those who plan to make use of the parry mechanic in a big way. Otherwise, the Stonewall shield is the better option.

Blocking is safer and easier, but also the Stonewall shield's ability is much more useful in general than the Dauntless shield's ability. If you aren't sure which to choose, the Stonewall shield is the safer bet as Ragnarok's best early game shield.

Best shields for the late game

The great thing about upgrading your equipment in God of War Ragnarok is that every piece of gear can be used throughout the game. As such, we have all five shields in the game to choose from for the later stages of the game. We have discussed two of them, so let's quickly run down the other three.

Guardian Shield

The Guardian shield returns later in the game, repaired by Brok and Sindri. This shield is your all-rounder, it can block and parry with equal effect. It's a good choice if you really aren't fussed one way or the other, but something to consider is the stat bonus.

Every shield grants a boost to defence, and every shield other than the Guardian shield also gives a boost to another stat, like luck or runic. The Guardian shield does not give any more defence than the other shields, so for that reason, it doesn't really stand out at all.

The last two are much more specific in their uses.

Shatter Star Shield

The Shatter Star shield is a lot of fun, holding it up will charge up its ability, Shield Punch. What it does depends on how much you charge it, little to no charge will have a similar effect to a regular shield bash, the first level of charge will stagger enemies and interrupt their attacks, and the fully charged version will send enemies flying.

This can be very useful as charging only requires you to hold the shield up, and you can easily use the full charge to send enemies flying off of ledges. The shield also has a timing effect, where using the Shield Punch just as an enemy is attacking, similar to parrying, will instantly raise the charge by one level.

Onslaught Shield

The last shield is our pick for the best shield in the game, the Onslaught shield. This shield grants additional luck, which is very useful in tandem with any chance abilities. The reason it is so good is that it is a blocking shield, so it is generally very useful, but also because of its ability, Shield Rush.

Shield Rush is exactly what it sounds like. Activating the ability will have Kratos charging forward with the shield, directly towards the enemy. If you run for more than a couple of seconds, the shield will charge up and when you make contact with an enemy, Kratos will launch them into the air.

What makes this ability even more useful, is that while you are charging in, the shield will block incoming attacks. It is totally safe to use, you do not need to worry about enemies hitting you while you use it. Also, because it does not need to be charged like other shield abilities, you can use it anytime and anywhere.