Parrying & Shields¶
A shield gives you a chance to block most of an incoming weapon hit. Your Parrying skill decides how often you block, how much armor the shield gives and how well you can taunt monsters with it.
Blocking with a shield¶
Every weapon hit against you, melee or ranged, from a player or a monster, rolls for a parry if you have a shield equipped:
chance = Parry × 0.2% + shield AR × 0.25% (max 20%)
| Bonus | Amount |
|---|---|
| Failed-parry streak | +5% after each failed parry, up to +15%. Needs 50+ Parry. Any successful parry resets it |
| Iron Guard (Swordsmanship codex) | +2% per tier, PvP only |
| Bulwark mastery | more parry chance by mastery level (set by staff) |
- Max chance: 65%. Min chance: 1%.
- A successful parry blocks 65% of the hit. You take the other 35%.
- Each parry attempt can raise your Parrying skill.
At 120 Parry with a 20% shield bonus and a full failed-parry streak, you reach 24% + 20% + 15% = 59%.
What else happens on a parry¶
- Mana Barrier (Wizard stance): part of the blocked damage becomes mana. See Wizard.
- Shield Bash (Swordsmanship and Macing codex): bashes and freezes the attacker. See Weapon Codex.
- Monster abilities: a successful parry against a monster's special ability lowers its damage by 20–35%. See Creatures.
Shield armor rating¶
A shield's armor rating (AR) starts from its base value, then:
| Modifier | Change |
|---|---|
| Low quality | −10% |
| Exceptional | +20% |
| Protection level (Defense → Invulnerability) | +10% per level, up to +50% |
| Metal | +2% (Dull Copper) up to +18% (Azurite), +2% per metal tier |
| Damage | up to −20% as durability drops |
Then your Parrying scales it:
shield AR = AR × (50% + 50% × Parry / 100)
So you get half the AR with 0 Parry, the full AR at 100 Parry and 110% at 120. The same AR feeds the parry chance above (0.25% per point, max 20%) and the taunt chance below.
Parrying with a two-handed weapon¶
No shield? Against monsters, a two-handed weapon can parry too:
chance = (Parry − 50) / 100 (min 1%)
A successful parry blocks 25% of the hit, or 15% if you're holding a bow or crossbow. This doesn't work against players.
Shield Taunt¶
Double-click your equipped shield, or say [taunt, to pull monsters onto you. Staff can switch Shield Taunt off. It can't be used in Turret Defense.
| Target | Chance | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Yourself or the ground (within 8 tiles) | (Parry + shield AR) ÷ 2 % per monster | Taunts up to the 3 closest monsters within 8 tiles |
| One monster (within 8 tiles) | (Parry + shield AR) ÷ 1.5 % | Taunts that monster |
- Taunted monsters attack you and deal 15% less damage to you (melee and spells) for 15 seconds.
- Cooldown: 15 seconds after a success, 5 seconds after a failure.
- Only hostile monsters can be taunted. Pets, summons and turrets can't, and the monster must be in line of sight.
- Taunting reveals you.
Casting and meditating with a shield¶
Staff decide whether shields allow these and how much skill you need:
- Casting with a shield: you can cast while holding a shield if it's enabled and you meet the Parrying and Focus requirements (set by staff). Your other hand must be empty or hold a mage staff. It can also be turned off during PvP.
- Meditating with a shield: if enabled, a shield doesn't stop Meditation once you meet the same requirements.
See Player Character for how armor affects mana regeneration.
Durability¶
- Each successful parry has a chance to cost the shield 1 durability (set by staff).
- Arms Lore protects it: 2% per 10 points, so 20% at 100 and 24% at 120.
- Below 10% durability you get warnings. At 0 the shield is destroyed.
- Shield properties can also wear down when you're hit (see Enchanting & Crafting).
Changing a shield's look¶
- Change Style (context menu, shield in your backpack): turn the shield into a torch, lantern or candle look for 5 Platinum Coins. Or target a torch, lantern or candle in your backpack to copy its look and color. That light item is used up.
- Shield Dye: double-click it and target a shield in your backpack to give it the dye's color.