Whats the point of upgrading shields?

[Nami]

In DS upgrading the shields would increase stability, on elden ring it increases only attack damage like wtf im not planning on using my shield as a weapon (at least on the 3 shields i have tried to upgrade)

[LQIM]

Finally, a viable shield only build

[XOLiD]

I mean if you use shield skills that do damage like shield bash or shield crash then it's worth it for the extra damage probably

[Nami]

Originally posted by LQIM 2:

Finally, a viable shield only build

is there a way to increase shield stability or something

[Tenshu]

it takes more levels to gain a point for Guard Boost compared to DS3, that's why you don't see ♥♥♥♥ until maybe two levels later.

[LQIM]

Originally posted by Nami:

Originally posted by LQIM 2:

Finally, a viable shield only build

is there a way to increase shield stability or something

I'd assume magic shield probably

[Red Phantom]

Are you sure it doesn't increase stability?

[ImHelping]

While it seems rare (I only bothered with a few upgrades on my brass shield for giggles). occasionally, you will get an increase in the boost stat. Which is the new name for stability, aka "The higher this is, the less stamina you lose when blocking".

Granted, again, rare. and even with 25 endurance the "As much boost as a lot of sub 100% physical greatshields" brass shield will lose piles of stamina. But, hey, helping people with godrick I only ALMOST get guard crushed, or only at the end of his combo.

So if you have a lot of spare shards (or unlocked a bell bit to buy those shards), might as well throw em onto your most used shield. Otherwise, who cares except as a gimmick

TL;DR: "Yes to stability but it seems ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ stingy because ♥♥♥♥ you I guess"

[Juno Brier]

There's a couple shields with attack skills, in case you want to use them for some reason.

[NEON KNIGHT]

This dude doesn't attack with a shield lmao casul

[Geist]

Makes guarding take less stamina. That's about it really.

[pcdeltalink]

I was wondering this the other day on a thread that I had made regarding greatshields. In short, it turns out that it's about every 3 or so upgrades that the guard boost is actually upgraded (and seriously, guard boost? Why the name change from Stability?).

[Yagger]

guard boost goes up with levels, not every level but it do go up

[pcdeltalink]

Originally posted by Yagger:

guard boost goes up with levels, not every level but it do go up

It does suck how misleading it is. I spent probably 40+ hours with base stats on my shields cause I saw the first upgrade didn't increase it so decided it wasn't worth spending my smithing stones on.

[Fen'Haral]

Originally posted by Nami:

In DS upgrading the shields would increase stability, on elden ring it increases only attack damage like wtf im not planning on using my shield as a weapon (at least on the 3 shields i have tried to upgrade)

You can use your shield as a laser beam. it also does improve its poise in this I think.

[ImHelping]

Originally posted by pcdeltalink:

Originally posted by Yagger:

guard boost goes up with levels, not every level but it do go up

It does suck how misleading it is. I spent probably 40+ hours with base stats on my shields cause I saw the first upgrade didn't increase it so decided it wasn't worth spending my smithing stones on.

At this point I am half convinced the refusal to let you preview anything you can't afford at the moment, in any game, is a conspiracy by people who sell strategy guides and write wikis.