The Guardian Shield is the default shield that you have access to at the beginning of God of War Ragnarok, but you soon lose it and don’t get it back until later in the story.

Guardian Shield Location in God of War Ragnarok¶

The Guardian Shield is with you at the beginning of the story, but you soon lose it after fighting Thor in the Wildwoods of Midgard. Kratos gives it to Brok in the hope that it can be repaired, and Brok will give it back to you at the beginning of The Word of Fate main quest, which is the ninth quest in the main story. At this point you should have a decent amount of materials from your adventures, so you can upgrade it to a similar level to whichever shield you might have been using up until that time.

You will notice that this is the same shield Kratos used throughout the first game in the recent series, God of War 2018. It has sentimental value to him because he received it as a gift from his wife Laufey. However, there aren’t any references to this as you’re using the shield, so it doesn’t necessarily add anything to your experience other than knowing this.

Guardian Shield Special Attack - Shield Check¶

As with all of the other shields, the Guardian Shield has a special ability which can be executed by double tapping . You can also press or after a successful parry to perform an additional special attack with this shield, so keep that in mind when you’re trying it out. The full description of the special attack for the Guardian Shield is as follows:

“Shield Check: Double Tap to quickly Shield Check an enemy and break their guard. Parry (Press before getting hit) and then immediately press or to do special counterattacks.”

How to Perform Special Counterattacks¶

The result of the counterattack after parrying will depend on which button you press. If you press , Kratos will quickly bash the opponents in front of him and inflict some stun damage. If you press , Kratos will slam the shield on the ground and knock the enemy down in the process. However, keep in mind that not all enemies can be knocked down in this way, so it will only work on the weakest of enemies, whereas will always inflict decent stun damage.

In addition to the melee counterattacks, Kratos can also perform a ranged attack after parrying by catching the projectile being thrown and then launching it back using the shield. You can actually determine where the projectile will hit if you quickly aim as you catch the projectile by pressing just before it hits you, in the same way that you parry a melee attack just before it lands. This means you can direct projectiles either back at the enemy which initially fired at you, or you can choose to hit something else in the vicinity.

How to Use Shield Check¶

The basic special ability for the Guardian Shield can be used by double tapping at any time. This will break the guard for most weak enemies and even a significant number of more powerful enemies, but it won’t always work on some elites and bosses. In general, the Guardian Shield is one of the more fun shields to use once you master parrying projectiles and firing them back at enemies in the same moment, but there are arguably better shields for melee combat.

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(1 of 4) You can parry projectiles just before they hit you and then cast them back at enemies.