Kite Shield
Kite Shield is a purchasable medium shield in Liurnia of the Lakes. Its balanced metal defense, Parry, manageable weight, and ordinary shield-skill customization make it a straightforward upgrade path for guard counters and general exploration.
Key Takeaways
Kite Shield is a lightweight medium shield that offers straightforward physical protection without the heavier Strength commitment of some larger alternatives.
Light medium-shield option
Its medium-shield profile gives it a practical balance of protection, weight, and handling for characters that do not want to commit to a greatshield.
Shield Bash is its default skill
Kite Shield uses Shield Bash by default, allowing a guarded forward bash; its Ash of War compatibility also lets the skill be changed when the chosen Ash supports shields.
Accessible Strength requirement
The shield requires only a modest Strength investment, making it usable by many melee characters without being built specifically around heavy shields.
Available from a Liurnia merchant
Kite Shield can be purchased from the Nomadic Merchant at Liurnia Lake Shore, rather than requiring a boss reward or a random enemy drop.
Lighter, but less defensive than heavier alternatives
Its lower weight is useful for preserving equip load, while heavier medium shields such as the Brass Shield can offer stronger guard performance at greater weight and with higher requirements.
Overview
Kite Shield is a standard medium shield in Elden Ring, built for dependable blocking and conventional parrying rather than a unique weapon gimmick.
Its role is straightforward: it gives a character more defensive coverage than a small shield while remaining less specialized than a greatshield. The trade-off is the usual medium-shield balance between protection, equipment burden, and the stamina demands of sustained guarding.
Kite Shield is most relevant to characters who want a conventional shield without committing to a heavy defensive setup. Its default Parry skill supports active timing, while its shield slot can also be considered alongside other Ashes of War where customization is available.
As a standard Elden Ring shield rather than a named legendary or DLC-specific armament, Kite Shield fits the ordinary equipment progression. Its value comes from reliable fundamentals and build compatibility, not from a unique passive or story association.
Statistics
Elden Ring publishes no 0–100 stat bars, so this page lists the verified requirements, scaling and handling figures instead. Taken from the project's verified weapons database, not from generated text.
- CategoryMedium Shields
- Damage TypeStandard
- Primary ScalingStr D
- Weight6
- SkillShield Bash
- Str Req10
- How to ObtainCommon early-game find
Figures verified against Consolidated Game Weapons Database.
Compared to similar medium shields
| Weapon | Str Req | Weight | Primary Scaling |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kite Shield | 10 | 6 | Str D |
| Carian Knight's Shield | 12 | 6 | Str D |
| Duelling Shield | 12 | 6 | Str D |
| Lordsworn's Shield | 10 | 6 | Str D |
| Manor Shield | 12 | 6 | Str D |
Requirements, scaling grades and weight are the game’s own published figures. From Consolidated Game Weapons Database.
How to Obtain
- 01Travel to the Liurnia Lake Shore Site of Grace in Liurnia of the Lakes and find the nearby Nomadic Merchant. He sells the Kite Shield directly for runes; this is a guaranteed purchase rather than an enemy drop or quest reward.
- 02The merchant is available without a quest prerequisite, and the purchase is not tied to Shadow of the Erdtree, New Game Plus, or a one-per-playthrough reward.
Availability
Requires Requires 12 Strength to use
No separate Story, Online, difficulty, or NG+ availability distinction applies.
Mechanics and Handling
The Kite Shield is handled as a conventional medium shield: its primary role is to let the player keep a guarded stance while approaching attacks, then create openings through guard counters or its assigned skill. It does not have a weapon-specific status effect or a ranged, charge, reload, or resource loop that changes ordinary shield use.
Shield Bash as the default skill
Its distinctive action is Shield Bash. The Tarnished braces behind the shield and drives forward, striking with the shield while retaining defensive coverage during the movement. The bash can stagger weaker enemies and is most useful when an enemy is already committed to a close-range attack, rather than as a replacement for every defensive option. It also gives the shield a way to press an enemy without lowering the guard immediately.
Guarding and skill flexibility
The Kite Shield remains subject to Elden Ring’s normal guard-break and stamina rules: blocking repeated or heavy attacks can exhaust the player’s stamina and leave the guard vulnerable. Shield Bash does not remove that cost or make the shield universally safe against large attacks. As a standard shield, its skill may be changed with a compatible Ash of War, allowing a player to exchange Shield Bash for a defensive utility such as a parry, subject to the usual skill and affinity restrictions.
Upgrades and Variants
Strengths, Weaknesses and Best Uses
Strengths
- A medium shield offers a practical balance between defensive coverage and equipment burden, making it easier to carry than a greatshield while retaining reliable blocking for ordinary physical attacks.
- Shield Bash lets the user attack while keeping the shield raised, and can stagger or push back vulnerable enemies at close range.
Weaknesses
- Blocking still consumes stamina, so repeated heavy attacks or poor timing can cause a guard break even when the shield prevents health damage.
- Its elemental protection is not uniformly complete, so magic, fire, lightning, or holy attacks may still cause chip damage or impose a larger stamina cost than physical strikes.
- Shield Bash requires close distance and is less dependable against enemies that resist stagger or punish committed shield attacks.
Best uses
- General PvE exploration when a player wants a defensive off-hand without committing to a greatshield's heavier equipment cost.
- Close-range encounters against humanoid or otherwise stagger-vulnerable enemies, where Shield Bash can interrupt pressure while maintaining guard.
- Physical-focused matchups where blocking is more valuable than maximizing elemental mitigation or greatshield-level stability.
Compared With Similar Weapons
| Shield | Class and role | Defensive profile | Weight and requirements | Skill and best fit | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kite Shield | Medium shield; general-purpose metal shield | Balanced physical and elemental protection for ordinary guarding | Moderate equipment burden; suited to low-to-mid Strength shield setups | Ships with Shield Bash; a practical all-rounder when a medium shield is preferred | — |
| Heater Shield | Medium shield; lighter general-purpose option | Strong physical protection with a lower burden than many metal alternatives | Lighter and less demanding than the Kite Shield | Often preferable for mobile builds that still want full physical blocking; its skill can be changed where permitted | — |
| Brass Shield | Medium shield; defense-focused alternative | Higher guard-oriented performance, with greater investment and equipment burden | Heavier and more Strength-demanding than the Kite Shield | Better suited to builds prioritizing sustained blocking over weight efficiency | — |
| Blue-Gold Kite Shield | Medium shield; close family alternative | Comparable general-purpose protection with a different stat and skill profile | Similar role and handling considerations to the Kite Shield | A reasonable family alternative when its defensive profile or available skill better matches the build | — |
Used In
- Nomadic MerchantA Nomadic Merchant in Liurnia of the Lakes sells the Kite Shield.
- Liurnia of the LakesThe Kite Shield is available from a Nomadic Merchant in this region.