This page details a brief explanation of the differences between the Dauntless Shield and the Stone Wall Shield, which are the two main early game shields that you’ll need to choose from when meeting Brok again at this shop. We’ll cover the best use case scenario for each, and which might be better for specific playstyles. For a demonstration of what you can do with each shield, be sure to check out our video at the bottom of this page.

God of War: Ragnarok - Dauntless or Stone Wall Shield?¶

In the early game of God of War: Ragnarok, after defeating The Huntress and meeting Sindri again, you’ll soon find yourself at his house in the Realm Between Realms. Here you’ll also meet Brok, and Kratos asks him to take a look at his damaged shield, which was broken during the fight with Thor. Brok says that it will need some work, but he offers the choice of using two new shields for now instead - the Dauntless Shield and the Stone Wall Shield. These are just two of a total of five shields that you’ll be able to acquire in the game, and you could easily be using one of these for the entire duration of the story if you like them enough. The question is: which do you choose? We’ll cover the pros and cons for each below.

Dauntless Shield¶

“A shield fit for high risk and high reward parries.”

Special Attack: The Dauntless Shield has a special attack called Shield Bash which allows you to inflict significant stun damage to an enemy by double tapping . The power of Shield Bash can be increased if you perform a regular parry, and even more so if you perform a perfect parry, just before using Shield Bash.

In the most basic terms, the Dauntless Shield is generally more suited for players who prefer a more aggressive playstyle. The description indicates why: you can’t rely on this one to hold up a consistent sturdy defence, since most enemies will break through a pure block stance from it. Instead, this shield is designed to perform perfect parries, which occur when you tap just before an enemy strike is about to hit you. If you time it correctly, the enemy will be pushed back slightly, giving you an opportunity to attack. If you time the parry just right, it will also inflict base stun damage to the enemy, which can be extremely useful to build up to a Stun Grab attack with .

If you’re confident in your ability to parry effectively, this shield is a good choice for those who want to increase their stun damage output when parrying, but keep in mind that you won’t be able to hold down to block most attacks even from regular enemies, whereas you can do this with the Stone Wall Shield.

Stone Wall Shield¶

“A shield fit for absorbing attacks and striking back.”

Special Attack: The special attack for the Stone Wall Shield allows you to Shield Slam by double tapping , which slams the shield on the ground and knocks enemies back. You can only use this after blocking enough attacks (usually 2-3) to fully charge the shield by absorbing them.

This shield is more of a traditional one in the sense that it will allow you to block a number of attacks by holding down , rather than having to rely on parrying attacks at just the right time, as you need to do with the Dauntless Shield. As a result, this shield is a much better for option for those struggling to perform perfect parries, and it’s generally more forgiving when facing powerful single enemies or multiple enemies at once, when unexpected attacks are more likely to throw your timing off. You still won’t be able to block attacks which are marked by the red circle around the enemy, but all other attacks can be blocked.

Keep in mind that there’s a limit to the amount of blocks you can perform consecutively. Any enemy will eventually break through your block stance if you don’t use Shield Slam to disperse the absorbed energy from their attacks, and you should still intersperse blocks with attacks of your own to make sure that you’re not relying too much on defensive gameplay.

What Are the Upgrades for Dauntless and Stone Wall Shields?¶

Aside from the basic playstyle features of each shield mentioned above, you should also consider which one will be most useful to you as you begin to upgrade them. You’ll find that both improve their Defence stat at the same rate, starting at 10 and eventually reaching 130 Defence for both. However, there’s an additional stat for both shields which occurs on upgrades from level 3 onwards. For the Dauntless Shield, you’ll eventually be able to improve your Cooldown stat to a total of 26, allowing you to use special attacks more often. For the Stone Wall Shield, you’ll be able to increase Vitality to level 26, which not only increases your maximum health, also improves your stun resistance.

Where Did Kratos Get the Guardian Shield?¶

You may be wondering why Kratos mentions that his broken shield, the Guardian Shield, is important to him. This is because it was given to him by his wife, Laufey (also known as Faye), on their anniversary. Kratos may embody many stoic principles, but it seems he’s not entirely beyond sentimentality, nor would an advocate for a healthy application of stoicism necessarily demand that he should be!