- The Dueling Shield is a powerful new weapon in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree.
- Its ability to combine offense and defense, potentially due to a bug, has raised concerns about its balance.
- While dominating in PvE and PvP, the shield may be countered by Reapers in PvP scenarios.
Elden Ring’s Dueling Shield: Overpowered or Perfectly Balanced?
The Dueling Shield, a new addition in the Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, has sparked debate among players. Some consider it overpowered due to its ability to trivialize boss fights and dominate PvP encounters.
A New Weapon Dynamic in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree introduced 103 new weapons, including the Dueling Shield and the Carian Thrusting Shield. These shields were designed to blend offense and defense, but the Dueling Shield’s effectiveness has raised eyebrows.
The new Dueling Shield weapons pretty much invalidate every fight in Elden Ring if you build it correctly. Its basically shield poking on crack because its the damage of a two handed weapon that also benefits from the Two-Handed Sword Talisman pic.twitter.com/ibQgjNlEg9
— Scott Jund (@ScottJund) June 27, 2024
The Dueling Shield’s Strengths and Potential Bugs
Twitch streamer Scott Jund highlighted the Dueling Shield’s synergy with various Talismans, enhancing damage output and negation. The shield’s unique animations, which often count as blocks even while attacking, make it incredibly potent. This potency has led some to believe the shield might be bugged. Content creator DrDecomposing even defeated the final DLC boss using the Dueling Shield and a saxophone, suggesting its potential to trivialize challenging encounters.
PvP Implications and Counters
The Dueling Shield has also caused frustration in PvP, although Reapers seem to be an effective counter due to their Pierce damage capabilities.
