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How to use Shields in Minecraft

Posted: Aug 28, 2023 in Minecraft

mc head By Kevin Lott

Minecraft Shield

Overview

Ever since the combat changes in 1.9, Minecraft has never been the same. The absolute necessity of a shield in combat, whether it be PvP or PvE, has fundamentally changed how we play the game. Shields are difficult to utilize because of their unique mechanics and gameplay, and so here we are today. In this blog, we’re going to go over how to utilize shields in Minecraft combat. Let’s begin.

Minecraft Shields

What exactly are shields, and how do they work? Minecraft shields serve as a means of defense, allowing players to block incoming attacks. To activate the shield, the player can right-click, but doing so will result in a reduction in movement speed. Nevertheless, it provides protection from attacks coming directly in front of the player, causing no harm. However, if the shield blocks an attack with a strength of three or more damage points, it will lose durability equivalent to the attack’s strength, rounded up.

One of the advantages of the shield is its ability to block projectiles carrying status effects, ensuring that the blocker remains unaffected by these effects. Additionally, skilled players can deflect tridents and arrows, redirecting them toward other targets. The shield effectively prevents knockback from both melee attacks and projectiles, while reducing the impact of knockback from explosions, hoglins, and ravagers.

The shield’s coverage extends across a hemisphere in the direction the wielder is facing, providing comprehensive protection from attacks within the field of view. However, if the wielder faces straight up, they may miss blocking incoming attacks.

When dealing with certain mobs that continuously inflict contact damage, such as slimes, magma cubes, and blazes, the shield’s durability rapidly depletes as long as the player remains within the mob’s hitbox.

Applying patterns

You can customize shields by applying a banner through a crafting table. This process consumes the banner, and the shield must not have any existing patterns. It’s worth noting that the durability and enchantments of the shield remain unaffected.

Unlike banners, shields lack the capability of being repainted or washed in a cauldron. Moreover, shields have only half the resolution of banners, resulting in slight differences in the appearance of patterns. In the game files, the pattern texture can be located in a separate directory known as entity/shield.

Banner on Shield

Advancement

Not Today Thank You

There is only one advancement directly tied to shield gameplay. To achieve the ‘Not Today, Thank you’ advancement, all you have to do is block any projectile with a shield. This is simple enough. Just find a nearby skeleton archer, and let him shoot at you while you hold the block button. Done!

Enchanting Minecraft Shields

When crafting a shield in your Minecraft world, you might wonder about the most effective enchantments for it. Fortunately, the best enchantments for Shields are relatively straightforward compared to axes, weapons, and tools. Enchanting offers a fantastic opportunity to improve your shield’s durability and become more powerful while using it. For instance, adding the “Unbreaking” enchantment to your shield will slow down durability reduction, thus saving resources and prolonging its usefulness. Applying Mending will allow you to restore a shield’s durability by gaining experience.

You can read more about enchanting Minecraft shields and how you can acquire these enchantments here.

Conclusion

That’s all there is to it! Shields are fairly complex, providing essential defense, allowing players to block incoming attacks and deflect projectiles. It is an incredibly useful item with a fair amount of customizability and its off-hand nature is fairly unique. So, wield your shield wisely and triumph in the face of danger!

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