Yes, I know it depends on what mission, but I want to know, overall, what's a good shield. I'm thinking of Volcanic Plate Shield, Ironmight Plate Shield, Crest of Almire, Grey Owlite Shield, Heater Shield, Dragon Scale Shield
Which shield is good?
Grey Owlite covers 2 annoying and somewhat common statuses (fire and shock) wich are dealt by 2 game bosses (vanaduke and twins). I'd say it's the best choice overall.
But instead of defense, you may opt for a barbarous thorn shield and get sword damage.
Swiftstrike is the best for T2 by far and away, to the extent that I recommend considering one even though most players don't find it to be enough for T3. Most players end up farming Sovereign Slime and/or Built to Destroy for Wall of Heroes certification, enough that the 200 energy for a shield that lets you blaze through that stuff is a really nice deal, esp. if you're not using the Twisted Targe. Speaking of that...
If you're a sword specialist, Barbara's Thorn Shield is not merely a very powerful shield, it's probably the most important shield. If you don't use swords, there's no practical reason to get it. I imagine most peops are in between those extremes, so it depends on how much you use swords and how much you have trouble with Beasts, Slimes, those "Walkon" hazards, and whatever else deals Pierce damage. I think a Pierce shield is not a high priority, but YMMV.
If you're not going for BTS, then Grey Owlite is the most popular general-purpose shield, mostly for the features that Juances pointed out. The Volcanic Plate is probably second-best, and not trailing by far. I think they're similar enough that either can substitute for the other in _most_ cases, so either one should be fine. The biggest functional differences are that VPS is slightly better for FSC and emphasises defense against melee attacks a wee bit more, while GOS is much better for anywhere with Shock monsters and emphasises defense against ranged attacks a wee bit more. For what little it's worth, as I find myself specialising in guns I start thinking Normal defense looks better than Elemental since relatively long range is my strength and tight, crowded, locked rooms my weakness. Maybe a swordie would have the opposite preference.
If you need another T3 shield, it's likely to be a Shadow one, so... The most coveted Shadow type is probably Crest of Almire, with its very useful Fire and Shock resist, but it's just not practical to acquire until you're able to farm the [Almire] out of Kingdom of Ashes, so if you find yourself needing a Shadow shield before then, the Skelly line is the way to go since it's the only option available.
I'd like to point out that I normally wear Mercurial set or P.Mask+Fallen armor, so I don't give much care to Shock or Fire.
Are you going to mindlessly farm FSC?
I'd say work towards a Grey Owlite Shield or Volcanic Plate Shield and be done with that. (I can't vouch for either one being better because I only have a Grey Owlite Shield)
Otherwise I'd recommend either the Heater Shield or a Plate Shield
-As Zeddy has commented somewheres:
"If you're Frozen, most likely you'll need to tank the next hit which is also a freeze hit."
Especially with the rise of Dash, Freeze becomes the more dangerous status effect. You can Dash to cancel Shock effects and a tick or two of Fire damage, but you can't Dash out of the Frozen effect. Frost-themed constructs are dangerous when you get Frozen (Silversaps are nightmares).
-The Plate series is great for blocking against Giant-class enemies (Trojans, Dreadnaughts) because they deal mostly normal damage. I used to bring my Ancient Plate Shield to FSC to tank Trojan hits for fun (like 4 or more smashes in a row).
Do you play safely?
If you play safely, get these shields as they would help with those niche moments where you desperately need that shield because you don't need that extra defence against a couple more shadow or piercing or fire-elemental-whatever attacks. For the majority of the time, you only need a shield that completely blocks at least once.
I don't really recommend the CoA because if you've gotten this far without the CoA, why would you need to make it? Unless you were carried by friends all the way to Vanaduke. I personally use an Ancient Plate Shield as a go-to shield for any situation that I find I don't need a specialised shield, which is pretty much everywhere there aren't elemental enemies. (I has problems with elemental enemies, perhaps because I am mostly using a Cutter or Winmillion atm)
No offense Qwez, but from your equipment suggestions, you'd be fairly screwed in most danger missions or shadow lairs, not to mention any mission or depth involving lots o' Devilites. Coincidentally, I interchange between the Dread Skelly Shield and CoA depending on the status of the current depth. They're both good shields, but the CoA is definitely cheaper to produce if you plan on running FSC frequently anyway. As for the Mercurial set, not really worth it except for the shock defense. The movement speed increase is negligible at best. The Fallen set is not good at all with the fiend penalty, which why you're screwing yourself over.
As for FSC, the Owlite and CoA are both the best shields there from a defensive standpoint, but for different purposes. The Owlite is better for defense against shadowfire, Red Rovers, and Vanaduke himself, while the CoA is better against Trojans and Slag Walkers, both of which deal plenty o' Normal and Shadow damage.
The Heater shield, as I've stated before, is inferior to the Grey Owlite. Freeze defense simply isn't as useful for general use as shock and fire defense. For Silversaps themselves, protip: Don't get hit in the first place. Lumbers tend to give away their attacks quite visibly, and are fairly slow. Wait for them to attack, strafe around them, and hit them in the back, problem solved.
For playing safely, you'd be better off with shields and armor that protect you against normal attacks and status' while still giving you an edge in combat. Niche gear is just that, niche gear. It's not good for many places, and there's really no point in crafting it for hypothetical situations you may only encounter a handful of times. If you're only looking for a shield that block once, God knows why, then go with a Swiftstrike Buckler, which is good at everything except being a shield.
The Crest of Almire, as I've stated, is affordable to produce and is debatably the best shadow-defense shield in the game. Its usefulness is not limited to FSC, and there's no reason to think it is. I find it to be my lean-to shield in candlestick keeps, devilite offices. As for your Cutter and Winmillion, not everyone is foolhardy enough to use them, so why suggest shields based on your own silly choices?
"No offense Qwez,"
"Do you even danger mission? L(^o^L) "
"...which is why you're screwing yourself over. "
"...suggest shields based on your own silly choices?"
You really need to work on that, "no offence" thing you are trying to go for.
I'd like to point out that Devilites are easy to cheese through with the correct weapons (Blitz, Flourish, Brandish). Trojans deal normal damage on their smashes, but have that shadow damage indicator because it is a shadow enemy. People rarely get hit by Slag Walkers, so I don't know why you put that in your argument. Vanaduke smashes give the player enough time to recharge the shield, one does not need a specialised shield for the boss fight, just one that will take the hit. There is a point in crafting for hypothetical situations, because I do experience those hypothetical situations because I mainly run random T3 missions to help others.
I don't own a Heater Shield, because I've already gotten a Grey Owlite Shield and spending the time to get a similar shield is redundant in my opinion, but if I had to choose between the two with my current knowledge of the game and enemy mechanics, I'd choose the Heater Shield.
Having the most correct shield for a given situation is only if you are inexperienced with the enemies and use the shield to cover that inexperience. Choosing the right defensive shield becomes less important as you gain experience with the game. So the niche shield is helpful when you actually need that shield.
Regarding Cutter and Winmillion, I have overpowered weapons that I can use when I want to, the game isn't fun if I'm overpowered all the time. Well, Dementia-Paradox, you can have fun running FSC, SLs, and Danger missions with the same loadout and have an easy time. It's like Dark Souls with SL1 runs, people get used to a game and they want to challenge themselves or whatever. My thoughts are becoming really incoherent.
Owlite shield ftw, Although some people will say crest but owlite shield offers defense against the 2 hardest bosses in the game ( well atleast for me ) Twins and vanaduke, Arguments are invalid :D
You're missing the point. It's not about what is good for you specifically, it's what's good for the original poster. Most people don't want to have a hard time, have you considered that? I certainly have. Your own preferences for underpowered weapons should not be reflected in suggesting an actual good piece of gear. If I suggested what I actually used, every single time, I would simply say Swiftstrike Buckler, every single time. But, I acknowledge that not everyone actually wants to be a glass cannon like me, or in your case, underpowered. That said, the Grey Owlite shield is considered to be superior to the Heater Shield by most of the forum-goers, as well as the people who play the game. They just must all be wrong, and you're right, eh? Your tendency to get frozen is because of your own impractical playstyle, and does not reflect the playstyle of everyone else. Also, you're forgetting that many players lean on the Firestorm Citadel for their funds. But again, you didn't consider that. It's all about having a challenge, isn't it? How many players do you see with the Grey Owlite, or Crest of Almire, versus a Heater shield or Plate shield? I'll give you a hint, nobody uses the Heater shield because it's inferior. Why constrain yourself to one status defense when you can have two? That alone makes the Grey Owlite superior from a general perspective. As for my loadouts, I change based on the threats present in the current mission or depth, but nice try with that shot in the dark. Though really, it's more of a shot in the dark while riding a pogo stick.
As for Dark Souls, NG+7 at SL 1 with a Pyromancer, son. Fast/mid rolling Giantdads can't touch this.
Well yeah gotta agree with dementia, Its all about your play style, If you just dodge and never get hit, I would recommend swift strike
if you wanna be a tank and rely on your shield more its grey owlite, I personally chose to tank, although i rarely get hit but i don't like being in the back while in a run, I like to attack, and owlite helps, But heater shield is just fire defense, And not that better than crest nor better than owlite, So why have 1 status defense for vana, When you can have for both vana and twins?
Pretty much all of the 5* shields in spiral knights do exactly the same thing, plus or minus a hit from whatever source they are combatted against.
What are these +s and -s? Use your imagination after looking at the various potentially inaccurate tool tips provided for you by OOO. Now look at the levels you're going to be fighting on a lot. Now use your imagination again, and just pick one that seems like it would fit.
If you chose a shield titled "royal jelly shield" or "dragon scale shield" or "Aegis", congratulations. You get to pick again, because one has birth defects and the other two are objectively worse than the "barbarous thorn shield" that you should craft instead. Seriously, barb thorn shield is on the OP side of things. And if you're really serious about a piercing shield for defense, get ironmight. That thing is a beast.
But seriously, it honestly doesn't matter very much which shield you pick when your shield grants you at most 2-3 hits more or less versus the various things it tries to fight.
Get rid of the Plate Shields, Heater shield, and Dragon Scale Shield, and put in a Barbarous Thorn Shield. The BTS, CoA, and Owlite shield are really all you need. The plate shields, while nice, aren't optimum for everyday defense and certainly not offense. The Heater shield is inferior to the Owlite shield, since most enemies that deal elemental and have a status are usually fire and shock. The Dragon Scale Shield is niche one, and while it is good for some places, there are better shields out there for overall use. If you're feeling skilled, you could throw all those shields out the window and go with a Swiftstrike Buckler for faster attack speed.