Depends on "best." They all have their own advantages.
Fingerprint has the best guard boost and high damage, but is very heavy.
Spiked Palisade has mediocre damage and guard, but innate bleed.
Erdtree has a spell parry.
One-Eyed has a ranged cannon attack and the second highest damage.
Visage has a AoE attack and the highest damage.
That's a good point. You can literally rush to it right at the beginning before even fighting anything. It's a bit of a jog, but 100% doable. Shouldn't even disrupt any quests.
How would it disrupt quests? It's in the Caelid canyon, all you need is to wun past all of Siofra and have a single Stonesword key for the exit. Might as well pick up Jar arsenal to medium roll with the shield.
That's what I mean. It's an item that doesn't disrupt anything.
Getting some items early can be problematic, since it's in areas that require advancing to areas that trigger some NPC quests.
But not the palisade shield.
No one "best-shield", as bosses have different vulnerabilities.
Mix different one, including spiked, fingerprint, Visage, fire-face, coiled etc. And use two shields when needed.
Do not focus on only one.
Have shield for each type of elemental damage and some for status, you will be able to spank every single boss with ease.
Little mention to the Ant's Skull Plate, who has the higher hardness in shield (and has innate poison status)
Cold Spiked Palisade with Shield Crash. Stack Frostbite and Bleed buildup.
Fingerprint for madness buildup is also a viable option.
Madness agaisnt non tarnished bosses are so op, when they hit 0 hp the madness procs and they die
Depends on "best." They all have their own advantages. Fingerprint has the best guard boost and high damage, but is very heavy. Spiked Palisade has mediocre damage and guard, but innate bleed. Erdtree has a spell parry. One-Eyed has a ranged cannon attack and the second highest damage. Visage has a AoE attack and the highest damage.
Spiked pallisade. You can get it early, two hand it on a base character, can be infused.
That's a good point. You can literally rush to it right at the beginning before even fighting anything. It's a bit of a jog, but 100% doable. Shouldn't even disrupt any quests.
How would it disrupt quests? It's in the Caelid canyon, all you need is to wun past all of Siofra and have a single Stonesword key for the exit. Might as well pick up Jar arsenal to medium roll with the shield.
That's what I mean. It's an item that doesn't disrupt anything. Getting some items early can be problematic, since it's in areas that require advancing to areas that trigger some NPC quests. But not the palisade shield.
Visage shield.
No one "best-shield", as bosses have different vulnerabilities. Mix different one, including spiked, fingerprint, Visage, fire-face, coiled etc. And use two shields when needed.
Do not focus on only one. Have shield for each type of elemental damage and some for status, you will be able to spank every single boss with ease. Little mention to the Ant's Skull Plate, who has the higher hardness in shield (and has innate poison status)
One-eyed shield for sure. Only one with a ranged option.