The shield is a Viking’s best friend and they are super powerful in Valheim. Shields will greatly improve your blocking and parrying. They come in two variants and can be decorated with several preset designs.
- Round Shield
- Tower Shield
You will have to choose which shield you prefer, the tradeoff is whether or not you can parry. Round Shields have a good block and can be used to parry. Tower Shields have an excellent block but cannot be used to parry.
Parrying is powerful but takes some skill to pull off. You have to block at the right time to parry an attack. If you do, the enemy will become staggered and open to a counter-attack.
Table of Shields
| Icon | Item Name | Shield Type | Block Power | Parry Force | Parry Bonus |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Wood Shield | Round | 20 | 20 | 1.5x |
 | Bronze Buckler | Round | 45 | 30 | 2x |
 | Banded Shield | Round | 60 | 40 | 1.5x |
 | Silver Shield | Round | 75 | 40 | 1.5x |
 | Blackmetal Shield | Round | 90 | 60 | 1.5x |
 | Wood Tower Shield | Tower | 35 | ||
 | Iron Tower Shield | Tower | 75 | ||
 | Serpent Scale Shield | Tower | 90 | ||
 | Blackmetal Tower Shield | Tower | 105 |
Shield Designs
Shields can be styled with different preset patterns when crafting them. To decorate your shield, click the “Style” button at the top of the shield’s crafting page. The Bronze Buckler cannot be decorated.
Wood Shield 
Wood Tower Shield 
Banded Shield (Iron) 
Iron Tower Shield 
Silver Shield 
Blackmetal Shield 
Blackmetal Tower Shield
Blocking Skill
Blocking is a skill in Valheim which improves your character’s effectiveness with shields. Raising your blocking skill will make you use less stamina and take less damage while blocking. Click to learn more about Skills.
Shields in Viking History
All Vikings carried shields — without one they would be defenseless.
They came out of the womb and were handed a shield, well, not actually, but they did learn from an early age to carry a shield. The most basic protection for a Viking warrior would have been an iron helm and a round shield.
Their shields were constructed primarily with wood and reinforced with an iron boss that protected the hands and helped link shields together and catch weapons. Shields were also used in concert with a Viking’s melee weapon as a secondary offensive tool. If necessary, they could swing the shield and easily knock enemies unconscious with a swift blow.
Viking shields weren’t extremely heavy (15 lbs) but you needed to be strong in order to perform the maneuvers necessary of you when fighting in an infantry unit. Wielding a shield for a few minutes is easy, but imagine hefting it around for hours with the understanding that if you’re too slow, you’ll die.