One of the most useful Ashes of War that the Tarnished can acquire in Elden Ring is the Barricade Shield ability. This skill is useable on all shields and allows the player to temporarily fortify their shields more than usual, which can allow the player to block extremely powerful blows.

Specifically, this skill boosts guarding by 40%, lasts five seconds, and only costs 12FP. Using this skill as part of a heavy strength or dexterity build alleviates the worry of blocking massive swings, especially if the Tarnished has a massive greatshield equipped. This Ash of War can be found very early on in Elden Ring, and is one of the first things that the player should get to ease their survival in The Lands Between.

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Where To Find The Barricade Shield Skill

As soon as the player starts in Limgrave, they should be able to head south towards the Weeping Peninsula, which is relatively friendly to early game players. Once they are over the bridge, the player should continue along the main road in the general direction of Castle Morne.

Once the Tarnished has reached the Castle Morne Ramparts Site of Grace, they will want to wait until night. Once nighttime falls, the player will encounter the Night's Cavalry boss patrolling the road nearby. They will need to defeat this boss in order to get the Barricade Shield Skill.

Strategies For The Night's Cavalry Fight

The Night's Cavalry is one of the first bosses the Tarnished may face in The Lands Between, and the one in the Weeping Peninsula is a great chance to warm up before taking on a Tree Sentinel. This fight is a lot easier once the player has Torrent, which allows them increase their maneuverability and fight on equal footing with the Night's Cavalry.

If the Tarnished is fighting the Night's Cavalry on foot, the best strategy involves using fire damage to kill the horse. The knight and the horse have separate health bars, and killing the horse with fire along with damaging the knight will kill him instantly after the horse dies.

As with the Tree Sentinel, the player should try to favor the Knight's left side to limit the number of attacks he is able to perform successfully. For magic users, using the Glintstone Arc spell is an excellent way to perform damage to the knight and horse simultaneously.

Once the Night's Cavalry has been defeated, the Tarnished will acquire the Barricade Shield Skill.

Elden Ring is available for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

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