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Shields don’t seem to add to your overall defense, or at least that’s what is showing for my kite shield.


Also how does shield skill rise? Is it just from wearing a shield and grinding? What does the skill do?

Are you looking at the defense line in the character dialog?

Shield skill rises from receiving hits. Every time you get hit, there is a chance that a worn shield will absorb some or all of the damage, when these are successful, it increases the skill. The higher the shield skill is, the higher the chance of success. So shields aren't very effective until you get the skill up