Elden Ring randomly buffed the famously overpowered Brass Shield after 2 years, and I have never been so desperate to ask Hidetaka Miyazaki "why"

The latest Elden Ring patch brought not-unexpected nerfs to the final boss of Shadow of the Erdtree and sizable buffs to some underwhelming gear, including a few of my personal favorites. Dutifully adding numbers to FromSoftware's notoriously nonspecific patch notes, Elden Ring players noticed that there's also a much more surprising change hidden in the list: the Brass Shield, hands-down the best medium shield in the entire game, got a pretty significant buff. 

A post from Reddit user N_audio brought this to my attention, and my body rejected the knowledge so violently that I practically sprinted to my living room to boot up Elden Ring and confirm it for myself. It's real, folks. The Brass Shield's guard boost has been increased from 69, which already put its stability in the realm of greatshields, to a staggering 75 – a near 10% buff, no strings attached. 

When FromSoftware said it increased the physical damage negation and guard strength of some shields, I kind of figured it would focus on the ones that aren't, you know, the best in the entire game. To be fair, some other competitive medium shields like the magic-resistant Wolf Crest Shield and fire-resistant Serpent Crest Shield, which beat the Brass Shield in some resistances and rival it in others, also got a nice buff. They now cap out at 74 guard boost, and the only reason I know this is because I have a lot of shields maxed out for fashion purposes. I can understand buffing everything to maintain parity, but improving the Brass Shield in any capacity feels like raising money for Bill Gates. 

For the unfamiliar, the Brass Shield is not simply good. It is the uncontested gold belt champion of the Lands Between. It is a tireless workhorse that has enabled countless Tarnished to overcome obstacles that once seemed insurmountable. And it needed a buff the way the PS5 Pro needed expensive accessories added to its already eye-watering price tag. 

The Brass Shield blocks all physical damage, has three elemental resistances in the 50s, and even its low lightning resistance of 39 is pretty high for a hunk of metal. It has a low Strength requirement, it's lightweight, it's such a common drop that you'll probably acquire a dozen without even trying, and we've already covered its absurdly high guard boost stat which preserves your stamina when blocking. You can put a special parry on it, you can keep it skill-free to free up your weapon skill, and it works well with several Ash of War infusions to spec into certain elements. And now it's better.

Medium shields are suddenly so good, in fact, that it's harder than ever to justify the vast majority of greatshields in Elden Ring. They're heavier and harder to use, and the guard boost gap gain has never been smaller. There are still some standout big boy shields, but now more than ever, the Brass Shield is absolutely eating their lunch, or at least eyeing it hungrily. Go get one of these things, level it up, stuff the new deflecting hard tear into your Physick potion, throw on the guard counter talisman, and watch everything in the game vanish before your eyes as you play Sekiro with what feels like an iron wall strapped to your fist while bosses recoil like bugs off a windshield. 

Elden Ring players dig out their 'I beat Radahn before the nerf' stickers as early runs show FromSoftware really took a bat to Shadow of the Erdtree's final boss.