Highlights
- Mastery of Damage Types is essential in Elden Ring, with Holy Damage requiring specific shields for defense and survival.
- New DLC introduces unique shields like Gilded Iron Shield, Pillory Shield, and Carian Knight's Shield for Holy Damage Negation.
- Greatshields like Verdigris Greatshield, Erdtree Greatshield, and Black Steel Greatshield offer high Holy Damage Negation in Elden Ring.
Despite Elden Ring being a challenging game, players have already managed to speedrun through the entire storyline in less than 25 minutes. But not everyone who plays Elden Ring can pull that sort of stunt, which means they'll need to play the game the way it is meant to be played...by repeatedly dying to the same enemies and bosses.
FromSoftware has never held back when it comes to punishing players for using the wrong Shield or Weapon on certain bosses since all of their games feature a wide array of Status Effects and Damage Types that players must learn about, and one Damage Type that's quite prevalent in Elden Ring is that of Holy Damage. Fortunately, several shields in Elden Ring can help a player survive Holy Attacks, but players will need to know which ones are the best.
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Updated August 6, 2024, by Hamza Haq: With the release of Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, FromSoftware has introduced a plethora of new weapons, armor pieces, talismans, ashes of war, and, of course, shields. Among them, two stand out in terms of their holy damage negation, giving players looking to counter holy damage-dealing enemies more options to choose from. Considering that the hardest boss in all of Elden Ring primarily deals holy damage during his second phase, this is excellent news, especially because one of the two new shields handily dethrones the previous best shield.
12 Gilded Iron Shield (Small Shield)
- Requirements: Strength 8
- Base Holy Damage Negation: 51
The perfect companion for any player that enjoys traveling light, the 
Gilded Iron Shield is among the best Small Shields for Holy Damage Negation. Moreover, players familiar with Parry will find this Small Shield useful in Parrying most enemies and bosses. Using the Sanctified Affinity also boosts its Holy Damage Negation to 63, which is quite high for a Small Shield.
Players can easily acquire the Gilded Iron Shield by looting a corpse sitting on a grave outside theChurch of Pilgrimage towards the West in Weeping Peninsula. Players can refer to the above image to see the exact location of the shield.
11 Pillory Shield (Small Shield)
- Requirements: Strength 10
- Base Holy Damage Negation: 46
The 
Pillory Shield is not only useful in blocking most Holy Attacks, but it also has a useful Passive that increases a player's HP by 50 points. Furthermore, it also increases a player's Vitality, which means players can resist the Death Status Effect (one of the many deadly Status Effects players need to be aware of).
Obtaining the Pillory Shield is no easy task, and requires Two Stonesword Keys. Once a player has the Stonesword keys, they can head over to Gaol Cave, located East of Fort Gael in Caelid. Players should come prepared as this location is filled with Vulgar Militants and Rats, but getting this shield is worth the risk.
10 Beastman's Jar-Shield (Medium Shield)
- Requirements: Strength 10
- Base Holy Damage Negation: 55
Even though Medium Shields aren't as agile as Small Shields, they do a good job reducing lethal blows. The 
Beastman's Jar-Shield is a decent Medium Shield that can negate up to 68 Holy Damage once a player applies Sanctified Affinity.
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Most likely, players are familiar with Beastman, especially if they fought Beastman Of Farum Azula near the Church of Elleh. Fortunately, players won't have to fight a boss to acquire this shield, as it drops from normal Beastman next to the Crumbling Beast Grave Depths in Crumbling Farum Azula, located at the tip of the arrow on the previous image.
9 Carian Knight's Shield (Medium Shield)
- Requirements: Strength 10, Dexterity 10, Intelligence 15
- Base Holy Damage Negation: 71
The 
Carian Knight's Shield received a major buff in Elden Ring's latest patch, 1.03, going from a mere 58 Holy Damage Negation to an astonishing 71. Of course, this shield is aimed towards magic builds since it has a 15 Intelligence requirement. But even for non-magic users, this Medium Shield is well worth the investment.
Players can obtain Carian Knight's Shield by unlocking Raya Lucaria Academy Gate, which is North of Rose Church. Moreover, players will need to defeat 
Moongrum Carian Knight , which can prove a challenge to players since it has both melee and magic attacks. Fortunately, players can cheese this fight by running to the elevator the Carian Knight is guarding and blocking him from getting on, making him fall in the hole as the elevator goes up.
8 Ant's Skull Plate (Greatshield)
- Requirements: Strength 28
- Base Holy Damage Negation: 57
FromSoftware has always been known to go above and beyond when it comes to creating unique weapons, armors, and shields, so players shouldn't be surprised that Elden Ring features a Greatshield in the shape of a Giant Ant's head. The best part is that this Greatshield has Holy Damage Negation of 57, which is more than enough to survive the Elden Beast's onslaught of holy attacks. But, there's another reason why 
Ant's Skull Plate should be considered Elden Ring's best holy shield: it causes Poison build-up (90) and raises Immunity by 60 points.
Obtaining this Greatshield is no easy task since, Players will first need to gain access to Nokstella, Eternal City, which means they will either need to progress through Ranni's questline, take the Eastern Liurnia Lift, or plunge deep into Deeproot Depths.
7 Crossed-Tree Towershield (Greatshield)
- Requirements: Strength 30
- Base Holy Damage Negation: 66
The 
Crossed-Tree Towershield is one of the better-looking Greatshields in Elden Ring, perfect for players who focus on the Fashion Souls aspect of the game. Nonetheless, the Crossed-Tree Towershield is a robust shield that can protect its wielder from Holy damage (66). But there's more to this Greatshield than the Holy Damage Negation. It also has 66 Fire Damage Negation, making it the ideal choice to use against The Fire Giant.
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Fortunately, players can purchase the Crossed-Tree Towershield for 3,800 Runes from the Nomadic Merchant West Altus Plateau, who also sells the Ancient Dragon Apostle's Cookbook. Players can find the Nomadic Merchant right next to the Forest-Spanning Greatbridge Site Of Grace.
6 Crucible Hornshield (Greatshield)
- Requirements: Strength 26
- Base Holy Damage Negation: 64
Players who are part of the Crucible Knight Fan Club undoubtedly know that the 
Crucible Hornshield has a decent level of Holy Damage Negation. Most players avoid using this Greatshield since they find it lackluster when it comes to Shield Bash, but apart from that minor detail, the Crucible Hornshield more than deserves to be counted among Elden Ring's best holy shields.
Moreover, this Greatshield has an Equip Load of 11.5, less than half of the Fingerprint Shield, which has an Equip Load of 29. But, the real issue with this Greatshield is that players will need to defeat a Lesser Crucible Knight found patrolling the bridges of the Siofra Aqueduct.
5 Verdigris Greatshield (Greatshield)
- Requirements: Strength 49
- Base Holy Damage Negation: 68
The Verdigris Greatshield offers 68 Holy damage negation, which, while quite decent, is not the main reason players should opt for this shield. That being said, when upgraded to +10, it boasts a whopping 90 in Guard Boost, the highest in all of Elden Ring. This means that not only will the Verdigris Greatshield block a decent chunk of Holy damage when used, it will also conserve player stamina better than any other shield, making follow-ups easy to execute.
Verdigris Greatshield is part of the Moore set, which can be obtained either by completing 
Moore 's questline or killing him at any point in his story in the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC. When defeated, he will drop the entire 
Verdigris Set , Moore's Bell Bearing , and 
Verdigris Greatshield .
4 Erdtree Greatshield (Greatshield)
- Requirements: Strength 30, Faith 12
- Base Holy Damage Negation: 76
Despite being affected by the nerf hammer in the 1.03 patch, the 
Erdtree Greatshield still useful for PVE. And even though its base Holy Damage Negation doesn't go higher, the Erdtree Greatshield has one of the best Shield Skills in Elden Ring:
Golden Retaliation Skill , which deflects any magic attack back to the attacker.
Unfortunately, obtaining the Erdtree Greatshield is quite challenging since players must defeat two Tree Sentinels guarding Leyndell Royal Capital's gates. But instead of facing both Tree Sentinels simultaneously, players can run past them into the city and active the Outer Wall Phantom Tree Site of Grace. After this, they can aggro one of them into the city gates, which makes the fight a lot easier.
3 Fingerprint Stone Shield (Greatshield)
- Requirements: Strength 48
- Base Holy Damage Negation: 75
This Greatshield requires a lot of Strength to use, but it's among the best Greatshields in Elden Ring, especially in PVP since its Weapon Skill, Shield Bash, causes Madness Build Up. On top of that, its Fire Damage Negation is 81, Lightning Damage Negation is 79, and Magic Damage Negation is 77, making it even more valuable.
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Obtaining the 
Fingerprint Stone Shield requires the player to be well into the main storyline. They will need to have defeated 
Morgott, the Omen Kingin the Royal Capital, and 
Mohg, the Omen at the Cathedral of the Forsaken (Subterranean Shunning-Grounds).
2 Haligtree Crest Greatshield (Greatshield)
- Requirements: Strength 36
- Base Holy Damage Negation: 79
The final Greatshield players should consider using to Negate Holy Damage is that of the 
Haligtree Crest Greatshield . This shield has the highest base Holy Damage Negation in the base game. Furthermore, at max upgrade and imbued with Sacred Affinity, it reaches 98.75 Holy Damage Negation, which will prove useful in the final boss fight.
The best part is that players won't have to kill a boss to obtain it, but rather farm Haligtree Knights that are scattered around Miquella's Haligtree. It seems that players get best drop results farming only the Knights, not Archers, and doing it during the daytime.
1 Black Steel Greatshield (Greatshield)
- Requirements: Strength 35
- Base Holy Damage Negation: 84
Black Steel Greatshield steals the crown from the Haligtree Crest Greatshield as the final answer for players looking for the absolute highest possible holy damage negation. At +25 with a Sacred Infusion, the Black Steel Greatshield boasts 100 holy damage negation, the highest of any shield in the entire game. This means that even Radahn, Consort of Miquella's lightning beams don't pierce through its defenses, making it the absolute best in its category.
To find the Black Steel Greatshield, players will need to defeat 
Black Knight Garrew in the Fog Rift Fort in the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC. It can also sometimes drop from the Black Knights in the Church of Consolation in the Gravesite Plains.
Elden Ring
RPG
Action
Systems
- Top Critic Rating:95/100 Critics Recommend:98%
- Platform(s)
- PS5 , Xbox One , PS4 , Xbox Series X , Xbox Series S , PC
- Released
- February 25, 2022
- Developer(s)
- From Software
- Publisher(s)
- Bandai Namco Entertainment , From Software
