Along with well over 100 weapons and armors, Elden Ring also offers players over 70 different shields. While Greatshields are the best option for tankier builds, and Medium Shields are a great choice for just about any type of player, Small Shields are strictly designed for those Elden Ring players who have a particular penchant for parrying.
Because of this, Elden Ring's Small Shields don't tend to offer a lot of damage resistance, but they can be used to deftly deflect incoming attacks, which can leave an opponent wide-open for a riposte. While a good portion of Elden Ring's Small Shields only really have that one purpose, there are a few options that offer some more powerful side effects.
S-Tier
Buckler: As is the case in FromSoftware's Dark Souls series, the Buckler is one of the best shields in the game, not for its damage negation, but its unparalleled parry ability. With the Buckler equipped, players can parry oncoming attacks much easier than with other Small Shields, with each swing of the shield allowing for eight parry frames. Though the Buckler's parry frames are technically outdone by the Carian Retaliation Ash of War, that requires FP to use, thus making the Buckler the more viable option overall. 
Ice Crest Shield: Boasting both a fairly high physical damage resistance, and magical resistance, the Ice Crest Shield is one of the best Small Shields in Elden Ring. On top of its decent stats, the Ice Crest Shield also gives players a passive boost to frost resistance, and increases Robustness by 40 points. With its impressive stats, its lightweight nature, and the ability to put powerful Ashes of War on it, the Ice Crest Shield easily deserves an S-ranking. 
Smoldering Shield : The final Small Shield in the S-Tier, the Smoldering Shield offers the second-highest physical damage resistance of the entire category, while also having a surprisingly powerful attack. As well as providing a good resistance to fire damage, attacks with the Smoldering Shield also inflict fire damage. Paired with the Shield Bash Weapon Skill, the Smoldering Shield can be a pretty menacing item.
A-Tier
Coil Shield: While the Coil Shield only resists 65 points of physical damage, it does provide the player with a slight resistance to poison, and has an extremely unique Weapon Skill. Taking the appearance of a coiled snake, this shield can use the Viper Bite skill, which launches the snake into an opponent, inflicting some poison build-up. 
Spiralhorn Shield: An extremely unique-looking Small Shield, the Spiralhorn Shield offers the best passive abilities of its class. When the Spiralhorn Shield is equipped, Immunity, Robustness, and Focus are all increased by an impressive 50 points. 
Iron Roundshield: The Iron Roundshield doesn't have any special gimmick like the other two shields in this tier, but it does offer the most damage resistance of any Small Shield, offering 80 points of physical damage reduction. However, this extra damage negation does come at the cost of the ability to parry.
B-Tier
Shield of the Guilty: The Shield of the Guilty is another Small Shield with some impressive additional abilities, but their lack of relevance to most situations puts this shield in the B-tier. The Shield of the Guilty raises the player's Focus by 40, and has an okay physical damage resistance of 68. But, with the thorns wrapped around the shield's face, players can inflict 50 points of blood loss build-up per hit, making it an occasionally powerful weapon. Though, landing a hit with this shield can be pretty tricky, and can leave the user easily vulnerable. 
Perfumer's Shield: A great option for those trying to get through Elden Ring's poison or rot-infested swamps, the Perfumer's Shield raises the player's Immunity by 40 points. The main drawback of this shield, however, is that it can be pretty tricky to obtain, often requiring a lot of farming. 
Rift Shield: The Rift Shield increases the user's Focus stat, and is also capable of blocking 76% of incoming physical damage, making it a good option for an early-game shield, especially as it retains the Parry Weapon Skill. Being a piece of starting equipment for the Prisoner Class, the Rift Shield can be obtained with minimal effort. 
Man-Serpent's Shield: Boasting the second-best fire resistance of any Small Shield, and 75% physical damage negation, the Man-Serpent's Shield is a formidable piece of gear. However, this shield can only be found in Volcano Manor, which many players won't get to until Elden Ring's late-game, where the shield will have practically no use. 
Gilded Iron Shield: One of the heavier Small Shields, the Gilded Iron Shield offers both a substantial resistance to physical damage, and holy damage. For those going up against Elden Ring's tougher holy-based foes, the Gilded Iron Shield is a good option, and still allows the user to parry. 
Pillory Shield: The heaviest Small Shield in Elden Ring, the Pillory Shield doesn't really offer great damage resistance of any type, but it does raise the user's Vitality by 50.
C-Tier
Red Thorn Roundshield: Essentially, all the shields in the C-tier are fine, albeit flawed Small Shield options that offer similar damage negation, just with slightly varying degrees. The Red Thorn Roundshield, for instance, only offers 68% physical damage resistance, but does have an okay fire resistance of 42, firmly placing it below the rest of the shields on this tier list, but still making it a perfectly acceptable choice. 
Scripture Wooden Shield The Scripture Wooden Shield offers a very similar physical damage negation to the Red Thorn shield, but swaps its fire reduction for holy damage reduction. 
Blue-White Wooden Shield: The Blue-White Wooden Shield offers pretty good damage reduction all round, but it doesn't do quite enough to get it into the upper echelons on this list. 
Riveted Wooden Shield: The same can be said for the Riveted Wooden Shield. Although it offers 74 points of physical damage reduction, it really hasn't got much else to offer that shields in the tiers above can't provide. 
Rickety Shield: While it's certainly the worst shield on this entire tier list, offering the least physical damage reduction of any Small Shield in Elden Ring, its inherent ability to parry still makes it a worthwhile option for those just starting out in the game.
Elden Ring is out now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
