Shields are frequently disregarded as a useful pieces of equipment because many players choose bows, spells, or dual-wielding.
In actuality, they can provide you with a significant armor boost, making you even harder to kill.
During hand-to-hand fighting, blocking is a powerful kind of defense that drastically reduces all physical damage taken and occasionally even knocks opponents back.
Most battles will be drawn out but straightforward wins, best employed in tandem with a highly damaging follower.
Players may be turned off by this type of play, but if you enjoy playing the tank, you’ll need to know which shield to utilize!
For this list, I’ll be going through Skyrim’s top 15 shields. Light armor shields aren’t really worth employing for any playstyle, therefore I’ve just chosen heavy armor.
You already own all of the DLCs if you are playing Skyrim Special Edition.
15. The Blooded’s Targe
This shield’s base defense is quite weak with only 7 defense points.
The wooden surface of the shield is covered in numerous sharp spikes. You can beat opponents using those.
When using the Targe of the Blooded to attack opponents, they will bleed for five seconds. This shield possesses an enchantment that cannot be removed.
14. Ebony Shield
How to obtain: Found as level 32 loot across Skyrim. Also present (at any level) in Ustengrav, Labyrinthian, and Valthume. or make it.
Ebony armor is the first significant obstacle you must get past while developing heavy armor.
Although earlier armor sets are respectable, Ebony handles the job better. You should therefore buy a complete set as soon as you can.
Of course, you can enchant an ebony shield. For best results, strengthen your health or stamina.
13. Aetherial Shield
It may be made when completing the Lost to the Ages quest.
Aetherial Shield has a strange defensive ability, making it maybe one of the most unusual shields or armor pieces in the entire game.
An enemy that has been bashed will turn ethereal for 15 seconds and cannot attack or be assaulted. Most helpful when outnumbered to swing the balance in your favor.
You can also use it to create some downtime so that you can recover, restore your stamina or magicka, or change your equipment.
A respectable basic armor stat is also nice, albeit it loses effectiveness once you reach level 35 or thereabouts.
This shield can be useful in specific circumstances on more tough challenges and is unquestionably worthwhile to add to your collection.
12. Dawnkeeper Rune Sword
Requires the Dawnguard DLC to obtain. During the Dawnguard faction’s Lost Artifact mission, an ancient relic was discovered.
The lone light armor shield on this list is the Dawnguard Rune Shield.
Attacking vampires will do 10 more damage, giving it a fantastic option for finishing the Dawnguard quest line.
Its secondary magic is what makes a sun shield appear when blocking repeatedly. It depletes stamina while dealing 10 sun damage to any assailants.
When used against undead enemies, like as vampires and draugr, sun damage is double, making it incredibly potent.
11. Nordic Shield
You can only get the powerful Nordic shield if you have the Dragonborn DLC. It is, however, one of the best shields available in the game.
Even to those who don’t believe it is capable of defending them from danger, its design has many distinctive elements that make it an appealing piece of armor.
It is available in the Dragonborn DLC as sporadic loot, and Quicksilver Ingots make it simple to upgrade.
10. The Ysgramor shield
Get it by joining the Companions and participating in (or finishing) the Glory of the Dead mission. found in Ysgramor’s Tomb’s last chest.
This shield will be useful to you because of its distinctive design and excellent base armor. Additionally, it will give you a whopping 20% magic resistance and a health boost of 20 points!
Overall, the lack of stats/enchantment fine-tuning prevents it from being the ideal counter to a certain adversary type (such as magical or physical), but it is capable of battling either.
Unfortunately, before you get this shield, you’ll probably have discovered one of the better ones on this list.
But it works well in a lot of specialized jack-of-all-trades character designs, especially if you have a reliable travel companion.
9. Falmer Shield
The Falmer shield may be made and improved using raw chitin and other resources, much like the majority of other items of Falmer clothing.
Almost every dungeon where Falmer creatures are present in the game can be found with this oddly designed shield. It is therefore not as uncommon as some of the other armor on this list.
The design of this shield is definitely peculiar. Its organic character appears to be disliked by many gamers.
However, in the early phases of the game, it will undoubtedly give you some good cover.
8. Stalhrim Shield
One of the best light shields in the game is the Stalhrim shield. Additionally, the DLC for Dragonborn includes it.
Baldor Iron-Shaper sells it, or you can find it as treasure. Even some of the game’s heaviest shields can’t match its coverage.
This is not an item of clothing that you can acquire early on in the game because it won’t begin to emerge until level 35.
Due to Stalhrim’s characteristics, this shield is excellent at repelling frost damage; therefore, to increase its efficiency, add defensive enchantments to it.
7. The Orcish Shield
The Orcish shield provides 30 points of defense. This makes it one of the strongest shields in the game.
After reaching level 25, it may be made with orichalcum and found all around Skyrim.
Due to its stunning and exquisite design, it is one of the most sought-after shields in the game, with warriors from all across Tamriel vying for one.
6. Herebanes Fortress
Herebane’s Fortress scores 21 points in defense. As a result, it ranks among the best uncommon shields in the game.
It is an elven shield, hence it has the same style and shape as every other elven shield in existence.
Along with having above-average defensive points, this shield also grants the user a 50% improvement in frost resistance. Because of this, they may sustain significant frost damage before dying.
We are all aware of how annoying and frequent frost is in the world of Skyrim. Thus, having Herebane’s Fortress with you will enable you to access virtually limitless power.
Sadly, Herebane was removed from the game’s final release, therefore the only way to get it is via accessing the game files!
5. Dragonplate Shield
How to obtain: Found as level 40 loot across Skyrim. or make it.
Items made of dragonplate are always effective because they have the third highest base armor stat of any shield in the game.
Better shields (found later on this list) may be encountered quite early in your play-through, but if you have good smithing or enchanting skills, you can construct a Dragonplate shield that is just as effective.
You’ll know you’re the ruler of Skyrim when you find it because it’s extremely expensive to build and quite challenging to find.
It can be enchanted according on your need; I only like to utilize Fortify Block.
4. Auriel’s Helmet
Requires the Dawnguard DLC to obtain. carried across the Forgotten Vale Forest by a Falmer Warmonger.
The most enjoyable of its kind for a free Fus Ro Dah, Auriel’s Shield is probably.
It saves up to three charges’ worth of damage sustained when blocking. Similar to shouting, power pounding when powered up will send foes flying.
Just keep in mind that while being classified as a Heavy shield, which greatly reduces its armor, it benefits from the Elven Smithing bonus.
The enchantment would be considerably too powerful when combined with a lot of armor, therefore that is warranted.
3. Daedric Shield
How to obtain: Found as level 48 loot across Skyrim. or make it.
The Daedric shield in Skyrim has the highest base armor stat of all non-unique shields. Like other Daedric objects, it has amazing aesthetic appeal. It can only be made using a Daedra Heart, which are extremely difficult to come by.
It can be reforged to a higher base armor value than any other item, making it one of the greatest shields you can receive after casting a powerful spell on it.
The majority of gamers usually choose this, however I believe there are two other shields that are more worthwhile to get.
2. Spellbreaker
Complete Peryite’s daedric quest The Only Cure to obtain.
Spellbreaker is a special shield unlike any other, offering the greatest base armor stat of any shield in the game.
Possibly the coolest-looking shield and piece of armor in the entire game. It completes any tanky build perfectly.
Spellbreaker creates a ward to stop up to 50 spell damage when confronting opposing spellcasters. Naturally, this also defends against dragon fire assaults, making it Skyrim’s best anti-spell shield.
Obtaining this shield is a top priority because tanky characters are in desperate need of anti-magic armor. For Peryite to give you the task, you simply need to be level 10.
1. Shield of Solitude
Despite the Shield of Solitude’s low base damage, its enchantments are absolutely terrifying.
It increases your magic resistance by 30%. You can also block an additional 35% of damage with it.
That implies that as you get stronger, it gets better!
To get it, you must complete the Wolf Queen Awakened questline.