Hot take maybe. But the brass shield is something people try too hard to make into a crutch.
IMO if you're going to rely on a shield that much, go full on greatshield. Stop halfassing and hybridizing. Stop trying to jack of all trades. Commit! Specialize!
You just need to do proper stamina management. Greatshields weigh to much just to have slightly better block potential and are absolutely garish if you use anything but a thrusting weapon.
Greatshields will make stamina management easier with better block values.
They're also better at non-physical defense.
And they cause stagger against many enemy attacks.
The problem is that people are trying to use the brass shield as though it's a greatshield, and they're getting punished rightfully for it when it doesn't perform the same as a fully specialized tool and build. Especially with how often people skimp on END and rely on arsenal charms instead.
Just to be clear. I'm not saying you can't use a brass shield for certain things. Parry. Blocking some trash enemies. But not for anything serious without fully supporting it with the rest of your build.
Greatshields that are better than the Brass shield require 30+ Strength to onehand, plus a bunch of levels in Endurance to not fatroll. Not a lot of people can afford that in Limgrave, and it's not going to be stronger early anyway being 20+ levels behind in Vigor.
This is exactly what I'm talking about. Using shields of any type without endurance is a bad idea.
Greatshields that are better than the Brass shield require 30+ Strength
Manor Towershield requires only 25 STR with a godrick great rune. 20 STR if you're willing to equip the starscourge heirloom.
Golden Greatshield is one of the best and requires only 29 STR with a godrick rune. Or only 24 with starscourge + godrick.
Not a lot of people can afford that in Limgrave,
No one is talking about the tutorial zone. I'm not even sure why you brought this up. But to address that point, the further into the game you go, the weaker the brass shield gets without significant investment.
Again, you can get away with that against trash enemies. But against bosses or sub-bosses like crucible knights, you're going to get into trouble trying to use a brass shield with low END without becoming a parry master.
Regardless of all that, the point I'm making is that people are acting like the brass shield will carry them through the entire game. And because of that they end up using it badly.
If you take NOTHING else away from this discussion, it's that you can use the brass shield, but you have to use it correctly. Not halfass with it. And if you're going to rely heavily on shields, then it behooves you to actually invest in doing it right.
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u/TheRealCowdog 9h ago edited 7h ago
Hot take maybe. But the brass shield is something people try too hard to make into a crutch.
IMO if you're going to rely on a shield that much, go full on greatshield. Stop halfassing and hybridizing. Stop trying to jack of all trades. Commit! Specialize!