Dual Wielding Halberds Made Me Better At Elden Ring

thegamer.com:

For my first 20 or so hours of Elden Ring, I was playing with a shield. I started as a Warrior who came equipped with a Riveted Wooden Shield (that was after one restart to re-spec, anyway), and I opted for that rather than the dual sword option.

Soon, I found a massive shield made from a tortoise shell. I’m sure you can see it in the screenshots of my character that have popped up in various articles I’ve written about this game. It looks badass, and I almost entirely run my build on the basis of the ‘rule of cool’. However, the Great Turtle Shell also has a nice Skill: Barricade Shield. This consumes a small amount of MP and in return improves your Guard Boost: in simple terms it makes it easier to block and absorb damage from enemy attacks.

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It’s useful for taking on bosses as it essentially allows you to get hit for free one time without taking any damage. But it quickly became a crutch. I was hiding behind my massive tortoise shell, occasionally peeking at Margit or the Grafted Scion to give them a quick poke with my spear. This was truly maidenless behaviour, and switching out my beloved Great Turtle Shell was a difficult decision, but an important one.

But what to change it for? I had a levelled up Partisan in one hand, so what would compliment a sharp, pointy stick? Another sharp, pointy stick of course. At first, I found another Partisan, but as I progressed I swapped it out for the Banished Knight’s Halberd +8 that Edgar the Revenger drops. I must admit I swapped my big shield back in for some attempts at that fight, but it didn’t fare me any better than dual spears. This new spear and my poor success with the shield cemented