18 Best Shields in OSRS

Everyone in OSRS is always trying to get the most out of their strength boosts. They want to hit as often and as hard as they can.

But a strong defense is just as important (and pretty much a must if you want to go anywhere!).

And a shield is usually the best way to make your protection stronger.

Some bosses are too hard to tank if you don’t have a strong defense. And you’ll want to protect yourself with the best shield you can find.

But sometimes, you need a shield to protect yourself from dangers like dragonfire.

So before you go into your next fight, check out these cool shields that could save your life.

18. Mirror Shield

A mirror shield is a piece of slayer gear used to fight the Cockatrice and Basilisk Slayer monsters. To use it, you need to have 25 slayer and 20 defense.

If the player doesn’t use the shield when fighting these monsters, their stats will drop by a lot. You can buy it from any Slayer Master or trade with another player to get it.

If a player hasn’t finished the quest Elemental Workshop I, they can use mirror shields instead of elemental shields.

They also add +5 to the shield’s defense against magic, making it useful not only against Cockatrices and Basilisks but also against magic-based weapons.

17. Odium Ward

An odium ward is a Ranged shield that can only be used by people with 60 Defense. It’s the third best shield for Ranged Attack and Ranged Strength, after the Dragonfire Ward and the Twisted Buckler.

It is made at the Volcanic Forge in the Wilderness with an odium shard 1, an odium shard 2, and an odium shard 3, which are dropped by the Chaos Fanatic, the Crazy Archaeologist, and Scorpia, respectively.

When you buy the ward update kit from Justine’s stuff for the Last Shopper Standing, it makes the odium ward look better and turns it into an odium ward (or).

This only changes how it looks and makes it impossible to trade. This can be changed back, but the kit won’t be sent back.

16. Mind Shield

A mind shield is an elemental shield that has been improved. To make it, you need 30 Smithing, have almost finished the Elemental Workshop II quest, have a slashed book, and have a hammer you can use on a ready mind bar.

This will give you 30 Smithing experience. The smithing process is done on a Workbench (Elemental Workshop), not on a normal anvil.

Warning: If you try to make a mind shield but don’t have a cut book, you’ll end up with a mind helmet instead of a mind shield.

To wear a thought shield, you have to finish Elemental Workshop II. When the shield is equipped, the following motion happens: From the center, an orange circle grows until the whole shield is made.

15. God Armour kiteshield

Let’s start with the best free-to-play shields in each spot.

The God Armour Kiteshields can only be used by people with level 40 Defense. They come in different types, such as the Guthix kiteshield, which is just one example.

These shields have the same stats as a basic Rune kite, but they look much cooler because they have a prayer bonus of +1 and a fancy trim.

The shield is good at both close-range and long-range protection, but both its magic defense and attack bonuses are bad. So don’t use it if you’re going to use magic to attack or protect.

How to Get: F2P players will need to buy these off another player or the Grand Exchange. Members can receive them as a drop from Hard Clues.

14. Dragon kiteshield

The Dragon Kite is a better version of the Dragon Square shield in every way.

It’s a blood-red kite with a dragon drawn on it, which makes it look very cool. Wonderful for a fashionscape.

It can even be made better by adding a gold trim with a decorative kit.

But keep in mind that you need 60 Defense to wear this shield, so you might want to level up a bit.

Still, it has good defenses against melee and ranged attacks, but its magic bonuses are bad because it’s mostly a fighting shield.

How to Get It: Take a dragon metal slice, a dragon metal shard, and a dragon square shield to the Dragon forge to make this powerful shield. Also, you’ll need at least 75 Smithing to make this.

13. Granite Shield

The Granite shield is one of the largest on this list, at 6.8 kilograms. To use it, you need to be level 50 in both Defense and Strength.

It’s one of the few shields in the game that requires a certain amount of power.

In the end, it’s not the most popular shield because it doesn’t have the same defense against melee attacks as other choices in the same tier.

But it has a very high range defense bonus, which is the only reason it is ever used in this tier of shields. This is also something that many ironmen grind out because it is needed for an Elite answer.

How to Get: A rare drop of 1/128 from Ice Trolls and Troll generals.

12. 3rd age kiteshield

Personally, I love the overall aesthetic of this shield. It’s just beautiful designed.

The 3rd age kite has stats similar to a Dragon Kite, but it’s much rarer. The stats make it a decent tank shield for sure, but it’s seldom used outside of fashionscape because there are a few better shields in the same tier.

But it’s worth a good amount of gp, and looks great, so it deserves a mention in this ranking.

Wielding this shield requires level 65 defense, and a big bank balance, since it has a cost of roughly 30m.

How to Get: Either get insanely lucky on a hard, elite, or master clue, or buy this from the Grand Exchange.

11. God Books

God books are very useful and have many uses.

They don’t take a lot of stats, and once you’re done, you can do whatever you want.

Every god book is used for something different. For example, the Holy book is used to defend, while the Unholy book is used to attack.

Each god book has a +5 prayer bonus, no matter what.

The Unholy Book, the Book of Darkness, and the Book of Law are the three most interesting books about gods.

They have great stats in their own areas and are free, so you don’t have to worry about risking them in the Wilderness.

How to Get: You’ll gain access to these books once you complete the quest “Horror from the Deep”. God books must be filled up with their respective pages to make them whole. There are four pages per book.

10. Dragonfire Ward

The Dragonfire Ward is a great shield that protects you from Dragonfire and has the second-highest range attack bonus in the game.

It has good defense against both melee attacks and magic, making it a great all-around shield.

Due to its great stats and benefits, it is often used at Vorkath with a Dragon Hunter Crossbow.

But it’s important to note that you’ll need a high defense level of 70 and a range of 75 to even think about wearing this shield.

How to Get: Slay Vorkath and get the Skeletal Visage at a rare 1/5k drop. Take the visage with an anti-dragonfire shield to an anvil with 90 Smithing, and you can make the Ward. Alternatively, Oziach can make this for you for a fee of 1.25m.

9. Malediction Ward

With a requirement of 60 Defense to wield, the Malediction Ward offers the 4th best magic attack bonus in the game at +12.

This is +2 above the Book of Darkness.

The shield is ideal for mages, but ill equipped for melee, with -8 in all melee attack stats and a -12 range attack bonus.

However, it boasts strong melee defense stats, helping you tank melee quite nicely.

How to Get: Slay all three of the demi-bosses in the Wilderness for a chance at Malediction Shards 1, 2, and 3. Once you receive these, take them to the Volcanic Forge deep in the wilderness and smith them into a Malediction ward. This action has no stat requirement.

8. Mage’s Book

The Mage’s Book has one of the best (+15) magic attack bonuses in the game. It also has a very nice (+15) magic defense bonus on top of that.

The book isn’t as good as some other shields because it doesn’t have any other benefits.

But the bonus to magic attack is reason enough to think about getting one.

Since you don’t need a certain defense level to use it, it’s also very popular in the pure group.

How to Get: Obtaining this book is an absolute pain. It’s locked behind the infamous Mage Training Arena which is some of the worst designed content in the game (Sorry Jagex!). Getting through the arena takes around 12 hours, so be ready to grind. Alternatively you can try to buy this item off of the Grand Exchange.

7. Twisted Buckler

The best range attack bonus in OSRS can be found on the Twisted buckler:

The total range attack bonus is +18, and the defense bonus of +58 is just as good.

So, this shield is good to use with crossbows like the Armadyl Crossbow or the Dragon Hunter Crossbow.

This buckler also has a very nice +26 magic defense, which is one of the best bonuses for offhand magic defense.

The cover isn’t very good for close combat. But it wasn’t made to be a fighting shield to begin with.

Note that you need a Range and Defense level of 75 to wear this shield.

How to Get: This is a rare drop from the Chambers of Xeric.

6. Ancient Wyvern Shield

The Ancient Wyvern Shield is tied with the Mage’s book for the second best magic attack bonus you can get in a shield.

However, this one also offers defence across the board in melee, and protection against dragon fire from dragons and wyverns.

These added features push it a few notches up in the ranking.

And it’s important to note that this shield has negative range and melee strength bonuses too, and should not be used as an offhand for either styles.

How to Get: This is quite a process! First you have to get lucky and obtain a Wyvern Visage from the Wyverns on Fossil Island, which can be as rare as 1/12k. Then you’ll need to take the visage along with an elemental shield to The House on the Hill on Fossil Island, and use the components on the strange machine there – this requires 66 Smithing and Magic.

After all that work, you‘ll have an uncharged shield! So to charge it you need to use numulites or fossils on it. Once you do all this, you’ll have a fully charged Ancient Wyvern Shield.

5. Spectral Spirit Shield

The Spectral Spirit Shield is one of the most sought-after shields in the game. To use it, you need 75 defense, 70 prayer, and 65 magic. Quite a few needs.

With a +30 magic defense, the shield has the best magic defense in OSRS. It also has great defenses for close and range, making it a great off-hand defense all around.

The shield doesn’t help you hit at all.

But it has a special effect that doesn’t do anything.

Only in PvM does the shield make it harder for an enemy to pray, which drains 50% of their strikes. Because of this, a lot of people use this defense for Cerberus, who uses a lot of prayer.

How to Get: Face off against the Corporeal Best for a 1/1365 chance at a Spectral Sigil drop. You’ll need to attach the Sigil to a Blessed Spirit Shield. This action requires 90 prayer and 85 smithing. Alternatively, take it to the monastery and pay a fee of 1.5m to Abbot Langley.

4. Crystal Shield

As a strong Elven shield, this one has some good stats for striking defense.

But it has +80 range defense, which is more than any other shield in OSRS.

On the other hand, its range and magic attack bonuses are both bad.

But since this is easy to get (compared to some of the other items on this list), many players use it as a cheap Dragonfire Shield.

The only big problem is that it gets weaker over time and needs to be refilled with Crystal Shards.

You need at least 50 Agility and 70 Defense to use this shield.

How to Get: Complete the “Roving Elves” quest and ask for the shield as a reward. You can also exchange crystal weapon seeds for the shield.

3. Arcane Spirit Shield

The Arcane Spirit Shield is the second shield in the Spirit Shield set. It has almost the same numbers as its spectral brother, except that it has a huge +20 bonus to magic attack and a +3 bonus to magic defense.

It also needs the same stats to be worn.

Because it is so well-balanced, it can be used for any kind of fighting. But I think you should really put your attention on magic with this one.

Because of its stats, it is by a +5 margin the best off-hand magic attack shield in the game.

And at 142 million dollars, it’s certainly worth it.

How to Get: As with its brother, the Spectral, you’ll need to beat the Corporeal Best for a 1/1365 chance at an Arcane Sigil drop. Then you’ll need to attach the Sigil to a Blessed Spirit Shield. This action requires 90 prayer and 85 smithing. Alternatively, take it to the monastery and pay a fee of 1.5m to Abbot Langley.

2. Dragonfire Shield

A list of OSRS items without the Dragonfire Shield just wouldn’t be right.

This shield has a beautiful design, and it’s easy to see that it’s one of the best shields you could use.

The DFS needs 75 defense to wear, and all of its melee defense stats are in the 70s, which is crazy high.

It also has a range bonus of +72 and a small magic defense boost of +10.

But on the other hand, it has no positive attack benefits and a negative magic bonus and range bonus. So don’t use it for those kinds of styles.

Once it’s fully charged, the shield can also be “discharged,” which shoots a huge fireball at the target that can do a lot of damage.

How to Get: You need a Draconic Visage, which is dropped by OSRS dragons at a rate of about 1/5k per dragon. You can make the DFS by taking the face and an anti-dragonfire shield to an anvil with 90 Smithing. Or, you could pay 1.25m to Oziach to make it for you.

1. Elysian Spirit Shield

The Elysian Spirit Shield is the last and most powerful of the three Spirit Shields.

Wow, that’s a lot.

It’s one of the few things worth more than 1 billion coins because it’s so good.

Except for magic defense, the Elysian has even better defensive stats than the other Spirit shields.

But the Ely is used for its passive effect, which is way too strong. There is a 70% chance that this result will cut all income damage by 25%. So this can help you get through the hardest parts of the game, such as the Inferno.

I should also say that the impact never goes away, so it stops a lot of damage from happening over time.

How to Get: As with the other two Spirit Shields, you’ll need to beat the Corporeal Best for an increased 1/4095 chance at an Elysian Sigil drop. Then attach the Sigil to a Blessed Spirit Shield. This action requires 90 prayer and 85 smithing, or take it to the monastery and pay a fee of 1.5m to Abbot Langley.