Shields and Parrying

What it is

A Shield is a one-time block against magic. It sits on you, unseen, until a harmful spell comes at you. Then its magic circles spring up in the way. A light spell is stopped; a heavier one smashes through. Raise it at the very last moment and you parry: the spell is turned back on its caster.

Armour, the Warding enchantment and your spellguard also help against spells. See Defending Against Magic.

How to get it

Shield is a Tier II Earth effect that costs 12 mana and needs a Copper Cord or better. Craft it from a Blank Rune, a Shield, 2 Lapis Lazuli and a Gold Ingot. See Rune Recipes.

• Who it guards: you and your allies. Self · Shield guards you; Burst · Shield or Nova · Shield guards everyone it touches.
• How long: 30 seconds. Extend doubles it; Frugal shortens it; Persistence on your Cord lengthens it.
• One at a time. Raising another keeps the stronger one and restarts the timer.
• The spell panel shows Shield N · Ns: its strength and seconds left.
• A Shield can’t be a passive.

How to use it

Strength

A Shield’s strength is the mana the whole spell that raised it is worth, before any discount. Every spell that meets it is weighed the same way. Discounts like Thrift never make your Shield weaker, or your spells lighter.

Spell	Strength	Circles	Lasts
Self · Shield · Frugal	6	1	18 s
Self · Shield	12	2	30 s
Self · Shield · Extend	16.8	3	60 s
Self · Shield · Amplify	18	3	30 s
Nova · Shield	18.6	3	30 s
Burst · Shield	24	3	30 s
Self · Shield · Amplify · Amplify	27	4	30 s
Self · Shield · Overcharge	31.2	4	30 s

For comparison, Bolt · Fire and Bolt · Harm weigh 11.8, so a plain Self · Shield stops them. Bolt · Fire · Amplify weighs 16.2 and breaks it.

A Shield draws one circle per 8 strength, up to 7.

Stopped or broken

The first harmful spell that touches it decides. Either way the Shield is spent.

The spell weighs…	What happens
the same or less	Stopped. It cracks some front circles, the next one holds, and the rest of that spell stops at you. “Your Shield stopped a spell”.
more	Broken. Every circle shatters and the spell hits as if the Shield wasn’t there. “Your Shield shattered!”

• It meets any spell that hurts or moves you, from players (with PvP on), Runebound, the Archivist and bosses, and damage that lingers after a spell, such as a burn or a zone’s pulse.
• It ignores anything that isn’t a spell (arrows, swords, falls, lava), ordinary burning, your own spells, your allies’ spells and helpful spells.
• Secret spells weigh their full secret price. See Secret Spells.

Parrying

A Shield parries when either:

1. it went up no more than about a third of a second before the spell hit, or
2. the spell was already flying at you, within about 7 blocks, when you raised it.

So you can wait until you see a bolt coming, then raise your Shield. Weight doesn’t matter for a parry: it turns any spell, even one that would break the Shield.

• Flying spells turn round and fly back at their caster 25% faster. The turned spell is yours now, and they can parry it back.
• Everything else is stopped, and a counter-burst lances back at the caster if they’re within 32 blocks. It deals 2, plus 0.2 per mana the spell weighed, up to 12.
• “Parried!” shows above your hotbar, and the caster is told.

Parrying needs a player’s Shield. A Shield on your pet, or from wild magic, only blocks. Lingering damage (a burn ticking, a zone pulsing) can’t be parried.

Tips and counterplay

• Watch for the circle. A Runebound holds its spell circle in its hand before it casts. Raise your Shield as the spell leaves.
• Keep a cheap Shield ready. Self · Shield parries anything if your timing is right.
• Can’t time it? Go heavier: Self · Shield · Overcharge blocks far more by weight.
• Guard friends with Burst · Shield before a fight.
• Break an enemy’s Shield with one cheap spell, then send the real one. A Shield stops only one spell.
• The feats Spellguard (block a spell), Shieldbreaker (shatter a Shield) and Parry each give 250 mana toward your next Heart Circle.