Shields

Alpha-2 Wreckage of Carphin Shield 3D renders. Modelled by Danny Shinwoong Kang.^[1]

Shields are a type of weapon in Ashes of Creation.^[2]

Shields in the MMORPG grant a static defense/damage mitigation value.^[3]
Shields may also offer additional value/block chances on a directional basis.^[3]
Shields cannot be dual wielded.^[4]^[5]

List of shields

This section contains information from Alpha-1 testing. It will be updated when new information is made available.

Item	Source	Rarity	Level requirement	Set
Carphin Shield	[[]]	[[]]
Demonic Offering Aegis	Crafted items	Epic	15
Dented Shield	Vendor	Poor	2	Dented
Eldritch Lightguard	Crafted items	Rare		Eldritch
Lava Forged Defender	Crafted items	Rare		Lava Forged
Lorica Vindicta Shield	[[]]	Common		Lorica Vindicta
Tower Shield	[[]]	Rare

Shield abilities

Skill	Icon	Rank 1	Rank 2	Rank 3
Bulwark		Bash enemies in front of you twice. The second attack temporarily increases block chance. You must have a shield equipped to block.^[6]^[7]^[8]^[9]	Additional increased block chance.^[6]^[9]	The second attack knocks down enemies.^[6]^[9]

Shield cosmetics

Gear slots

Alpha-2 character sheet work-in-progress UI.^[10]

We wanted to create something that would handle a couple of different roles, with obviously your equipment slots for what we call a "paper doll", which is that display of your character. Eventually it won't just be a image of your character, we hope to have the 3D character and be able to rotate around, look at what you're wearing. And then we wanted to support a couple of different features here, with some base stats; the equipment, which will show what equipment you have available to quick swap, so you don't have to have your inventory and the screen open; detailed stats for those people who want to get into all of the details; and then of course gear sets. So this is going to be able to swap to your sets of gear quickly; and being able to save different loadouts.^[10] – Colby Marchi

There are multiple gear slots in Ashes of Creation.^[10]

Artisan gear may be able to be equipped in an "undergarment" slot that can be toggled between adventuring gear and artisan gear.^[11]

Previously it was stated there were 16 gear slots.^[12]
- 8 Armor slots
- 5 Jewelry slots
- 2 Weapons slots
- 1 Ranged slot

Active blocking

Tank active blocking with a Shield in Alpha-2.^[13]

The shield version would probably be better but you'd still be able to parry or whatnot with a two-handed weapon, or even maybe a dual wield.^[14] – Tradd Thompson

Cleric active blocking with a Shield in Alpha-2.^[15]

Active blocking is a universal skill that applies to all classes.^[16]^[17]^[14]^[18]

Active blocking is present in Alpha-2.^[17]^[13]^[15]
- The developers will be testing the use of separate energy mechanics for universal skills in Alpha-2, such as Mana and Stamina.^[17]^[19]^[20]^[15]

Active blocking might be an ability that- it's universal, of course it's universal- but it might be consuming mana; and you'll be able to adjust that mana consumption based off of your passive spec into your skill trees. In addition, it might also consume stamina, where that's something we're going to be testing as part of Alpha-2.^[17] – Steven Sharif

Shields are better for active blocking, but any melee weapon can also be used to parry with a lesser amount of mitigation.^[16]^[14]

Q: How are you designing encounters around active blocking? Will it be situational use, or would I expect to be laying on my block keybind for most of the fight to prevent getting deleted by bosses?

A: It depends really on the type of adversary you're facing. Some of them are going to have indicators or tells that a big attack is coming. It's an animation wind up where you'll have an opportunity to use active block in very unique situations that are based on timing and additional mitigation for those incoming one-off attacks. In other occasions you'll be able to use it off of rotational cooldowns, or if you're waiting for a particular ability or you're during the use of your Aegis. There's different situations for when active block is a relevant use-case.^[21] – Steven Sharif

Previously the developers had not finalized designs for active blocking and were leaning toward using more traditional buff-oriented universal damage mitigation for the MMO, and were also considering interaction between action-based blocking and a passive block stat.^[22]^[23]
- The Paladin's Might shield in Ashes of Creation Apocalypse had its own hit box and hit points (HP); that could actively block projectiles.^[2]