Shiren:Shield
Shields (Japanese: 盾) are a type of Item in the Shiren the Wanderer Series. They're the primary method by which Shiren and Asuka raise their Defense stats in Dungeons. Other items, such as the Herb of Strength can be used to raise the player's stats, but it's not feasible or recommended to forgo shields over the occasional Herb boost. Shields are found on the floor in Dungeons, sold in Shops, or given as gifts or rewards for finishing certain Quests.
Attribute Points
Attribute Points are a bonus to the innate strength of a shield. Early titles, such as Shiren 1 SFC and Moonlight Village GB lacked caps on attribute points. Weak items, such as a Hide Shield in Moonlight Village GB with a starting defense of 2 can be raised to +99. Starting with Shiren 2, shields were given attribute caps, such as a max of +10 on a basic shield, and +99 for shields such as the Stormward. Some games are the exception to this rule, such as the Nintendo DS Remake of Shiren 1, which didn't include these limitations, despite them being a series staple when it was released.
Gear Rack
In Shiren 2, Asuka the Swordswoman, and Shiren 6, players are able to donate their shields to Gear Racks to display them. Displayed items will be shown on a screen with all other shields, and weapons in designated sections which allows for a much better view of the equipment in Shiren 2 and Asuka. Asuka the Swordswoman and Shiren 6 allow the player to use any donated equipment, while Shiren 2 doesn't.
Identification
Shields will be Identified upon being picked how. However, their Blessed or Cursed state, as well as their attribute bonus will be hidden until they're properly identified or equipped. Cursed shields cannot be unequipped without being blessed, or without stepping on an Unequip Trap.
Levels
Starting in Shiren 4 DS, a leveling mechanic was added to Weapons and Shields that allowed them to level up to a max of 8, changing into different items along the way. Upon reaching level 8, their appearance would slightly change as well. Numerous shields from past media appeared with new upgrades, such as the level 5 Heavy Shield, the "Heavy Aspis", which is a renamed Armor Ward from previous entries.
Resonances
Some titles in the series feature Resonances between items. When equipping a Wood Shield and a Cudgel in Magic Castle DS for example, the player may gain a bonus to attack and defense. When equipping a Demon Slayer and a Demon Shield in Shiren 3 Wii, and killing Monsters, the items will gain bonus attribute points after a set number of slayings.
Runes and Fusion
Resonances aren't the only useful side effect equipping shields may provide. The majority of shields have innate effects that range from positive, to negative, and in between; such as decreasing the rate at which Fullness decreases, converting damage to Gitan or HP, returning part of damage taken onto the attacking monsters, or decreasing the amount of damage received from monsters based on their Monster-type. As with weapons, and occasionally Armbands, Shields can be Fused together to create a shield with multiple Seals that greatly aid the Wanderer in dungeons or during combat.
Starting with Shiren 2, and present in nearly every game after, Shields have slots that limit the number of seals that can be synthesized into them. In Shiren 1 DS, for example, slots aren't a thing, so all 10 of the positive shield seals can be synthesized into a single Stormward, In contrast, in Magic Castle DS, a Stormward is limited to 6 out of the 17 positive seals.
Exclusive to Magic Castle DS are Doubled Rune Shields
, which, as the name implies, have double the amount of seal slots a normal version of the shield might have. They can only be obtained as Rescue rewards, and are highly sought after by collectors. A Mamel Shield
with a base defense of 1, and a max attribute bonus of +99 has 10 seal slots. If a player were to obtain a Doubled Rune Mamel Shield, it would have 20 seal slots, allowing them to synthesize all 17 of the beneficial seals.
Weapons
A handful of Shields even blur the line between defense and offense. The Halberd Shield and the Power Shield are two-handed shields that apply their defensive capabilities to the player's Attack stat. The Spiked Ward will return some of the damage taken back to the monster that attacked the player, and the Kigny Shield will deflect certain types of attacks onto nearby monsters.
Appearances
For more about Shields in specific media, see the following articles:
Games
| Shiren 1 | Save Surala | Moonlight Village | Shiren 2 | Magic Castle | Asuka | Shiren 3 | Shiren 4 | Shiren 5 | Tower of Slumber |
Shiren 6 | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SFC | DS | SP | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | GB | PC | PCI | SP | GBC | DS | DC | PC | Wii | PSP | DS | PSP | DS | Vita | 2020 | SP | ||||
| ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
Gallery
(1995)
A Shield in Shiren 1 for the Super Famicom.
(1996)
A Shield in Moonlight Village GB.
(2006)
A Shield in Shiren 1 for the DS.
(2008)
A Shield in Shiren 3 for the Wii.
(2008)
A Shield in Magic Castle DS.- Shiren 5 - Shield.png
(2010)
A Shield in Shiren 5 for the DS. 
(2024)
A Shield in Shiren 6.
In Other Languages
| Language | Name | |
|---|---|---|
| English | Shields | |
| Japanese | 盾 | |
