Shield doesnt block completely?!

Whenever I fight some types of enemies, I take a little damage that goes through my block.
Its minor, but in a long fight, it can chip almost all my health away. Why does it do this?
I use the hollow shield+3.

If you look at your shield's stats, there's a % block for different attacks. No shield gives 100% blocking for magic, fire, or lightning damage, so that's probably why. Some shields don't give 100% block for physical, but that's not the case for you.

Just as Jy4 said, also if you ever get into PvP you'll notice people swinging at you without lock on and using odd patterns. If they strike you while doing this their strikes will ignore your shield, this is called dead angling. If you see someone successfully doing this I would not try to block them, however until you get to a higher SL you really shouldn't see any of this.

Thanks. Is there anyway I can boost resistance to that type of damage, or is it locked in?

Actually yes you can, you have to upgrade the shield along that path. A Magic Warrior's Shield will have extra block against magic, a lightning Baldur Shield has extra against lightning, and a Fire Heater Shield has extra against fire.

thanks.

When you go along the other upgrade paths with shields I've seen a drop in stability. Can't confirm it but its something to keep an eye on if you guard is broken easily.

No that's correct, with +5, +10, and +15 you have more stability, so you'll be using Base stability with elemental shields.

I wouldn't reccommend using elemental shields as stability is rather precious, especially against bosses or PVPers with big weapons. Instead, use a Crest shield for high magic defense (80%), Black knight (95%) or Dragon Crest shield (85%) for fire defense, and Effigy (90%) or Crystal shield (60%) for lightning. Dark hand gives 80% for everything including physical, but stability is utterly miserable. Don't expect to vlock more than a few hits with that. Oh and if you're a strength build a lot of great shields have great defenses against everything.

for a strength build I would us greatshield of artorius

My favorite shield is the black iron great shield it block all physical damage 90% magic and 80% fire and lightning. the only draw back is that it is heavy 15.0 equip load. But I use it for shield bashing anyway so I can break guards

ARSP wrote:My favorite shield is the black iron great shield it block all physical damage 90% magic and 80% fire and lightning. the only draw back is that it is heavy 15.0 equip load. But I use it for shield bashing anyway so I can break guards

Are those not the stats for Havel's shield?

Wade_Wilson wrote:

ARSP wrote:My favorite shield is the black iron great shield it block all physical damage 90% magic and 80% fire and lightning. the only draw back is that it is heavy 15.0 equip load. But I use it for shield bashing anyway so I can break guards

Are those not the stats for Havel's shield?

My mistake the shield stats are that it block all damage 40% magic 90% fire and 50% lightning oops. I must have been thinking of havel's shield (yes I have the strength to carry that thing)

But I thought you can't parry with heavy shields?
And is the Silver Knight Shield viable, or not?

You cannot parry with the heavier shields, the Silver Knight shield is one of the most commonly used shields around given its great blocking and its strength when it comes to stamina loss being mitigated.

Where can I get one(SKshield)?

They drop from Silver Knights of course silly billy.

It is a random drop, so I might suggest carrying humanity and the golden serpent ring. They're a fairly easy enemy to parry riposte.

Alright. Thanks

Also to upgrade a SK shield so you'll use less stamina when you block you'll need Twinkling titanite. It can only be upgraded to +5 like all twinkling items.