Shield

A shield is a facet of equipment of Kratos that was functionally introduced in God of War: Chains of Olympus, and later became a more customizable feature in God of War Ragnarök. It servews as the player's means in proactive combat defense. Instead of the conventional form of shields, these gears mechanically retract and unfold from a wrist attachment Kratos wears on his left arm.

Gameplay[]

In Chains of Olympus, the Sun Shield was the first one of such tools in the series and the only shield in the game. It could be upgraded with red orbs to receive new attacks.

In the 2018 game, the Guardian Shield was the only one of such tools in the game, and thus it was treated more as a mechanic rather than a Gear. Whilst there was no upgrade, Kratos can attain abilities in bare-handed skill tree which focuses on the Guardian Shield as a weapon.

In Ragnarök, shields can be interchangeably equipped through the menu like armor pieces do, they also contribute towards Kratos' overall attribute variably, tough all of them add towards Defense. Likewise, they can be upgraded to boost their attribute bonus further. Shield can be attached with a single Rond which adds to their attribute boost, which could also either grant additional effect.

Shield is utilized through the L or L1 button, and in its most basic use, function to Guard against incoming attack from the direction it is facing, averting damage that would otherwise eat at Kratos' health bar, a Guard can only hold so many punishment off before it breaks. In a more deft use, shield can be used to Parry, which is done by guarding in approximate time a block-able hit would land. A shield can also be used to do Shield Bash, which could break enemy's poise.

Enemy attacks that are prompted by Yellow signal would break a normal Guard immediately, but can be Parried. This is a risk v reward situation because these attacks often would leave the enemy staggered if successfully Parried, but getting a normal Guard broken against them could leave Kratos in more danger than if he got hit normally, because the broken Guard animation would leave him open for follow-up attacks or strikes from other enemies in the area.

Attacks with Red signal prompt cannot be Guarded against or Parried, and must be avoided.

Attacks with Blue signal prompt are poised, and must be interrupted by a Shield Bash; on top of being impervious to Guard and Parry, these attacks are often difficult to dodge and inflict a lot of damage.

Shields[]

Sun Shield[]

The first of such equipment that Kratos came to wear, the Sun Shield was the personal shield of Helios that was used to block attacks. It received new abilities when it was leveled up, and it also received the Helios Reflect ability after Kratos obtained the Primordial Fire within the Caves of Olympus. After Persephone was defeated and Kratos returned to Earth, Helios took his shield back.

Players could press L to perform Helios Reverse before being hit to reflect attacks or perform Helios Reflect before being hit by projectiles to return them. After a parry, players could press square to perform Helios Flash to counter enemies with a quick strike or press triangle to perform Helios Offensive to counter enemies with a heavy overhead attack. The Helios Flash attack could cut heads of enemies and give a small orb blue for magic for one head.

Guardian Shield[]

The Guardian Shield possesses all the essential feature of which the other shields can be seen as modifications and trade offs. It is both a useful tool and a personal memento to Kratos, handed down to him by his departed wife, along with the Leviathan Axe. Early in the first act of Ragnarök, the shield got terribly damaged after a fight against Thor, forcing Kratos to temporarily leave it to the Dwarves for repair whilst he is forced to explore the use of alternatives.

After a successful parry, players can press R1 for a light counterattack jab that can be directed to another, R2 for a heavy ground slam that could launch smaller enemies into the air, and the case of a projectile, players can have it shot back, or towards other enemies with R1.

Stone Wall shield[]

At the cost of immediate Post-Parry counterattacks, this Shield implements a mechanic revolving around tanking against attacks. When equipped, Kratos wil have 4 bars appears encircling his weapon icon. These bars indicate the amount of kinetic energy the shield has absorbed. The shield will fill one segment for tanking a normal attack, and two for a Yellow-prompt attack; it is the only shield known to be capable of Guarding against Yellow-prompt attacks by default, tough only when the shield's bar is not fully filled.

The amount of charge the Shield has gathered would reflect on it visually; it grows redder and more scalded the more the bar is filled. Players then can discharge through double L1, which instead of a normal Shield Bash, would have Kratos do an AoE slam with magnitude of strength depending on the charge stored prior; this attack still counts as a Shield Bash and likewise would break poised attacks on top of its added effect.

Dauntless Shield[]

At the cost of relatively fragile Guard, this shield's quirk revolves around Parrying. It automatically counterattacks against Parried opponents and reflects ranged attacks. Successful parries also store kinetic energy that can be discharged through a powerful Shield Bash which deals more damage, Stun, and has stronger pushback.

Unlike the Stone Wall shield, the charges collected do not add with each new occasion, and they would diminish when languished. The level of charge differs, however, on how close the player parried from actual contact. Mildly-timed parries would incur a normal charge marked with yellow energy, but a very close Parry would get a stronger red-colored charge that would dish out stronger impact.

Shatter Star Shield[]

Shatter Star Shield focuses on Guarding. By default, Kratos can move around the fastest with his Guard up using this shield. Whilst Guarding, this shield builds up kinetic energy that can be discharged through double-tapping L1, which inflict damage and Stun to the foes close in front of Kratos. The discharge's strength is reflective of how much charge the player put into the shield prior, tough it can be amplified by releasing it at the moment a hit would land on Kratos, akin to parrying.

Onslaught Shield[]

Onslaught Shield's Shield Bash would have Kratos charge towards through some distance. Kratos is Guarded in the entirety of the charge, deflecting Guard-able attacks. The strength of the Bash depends on the distance Kratos travelled before making the hit; the further he travelled, the stronger the hit would be, with the upper limit having the ability to launch smaller enemies to the air.

The charge attack counts as a Shield Bash still, thus it would break poised attacks; there's a niche usefulness in this move in which the Shield could quickly close in against foes who are about to execute an AoE poised attack, which normal sprint and Bashing could fail to counter in time.

Trivia[]

In Ragnarok, there are several 'secret' QTE that could be triggered by Parrying certain un-prompted attacks, such as the Drake's charge and the Light Elf elite's dash attack.