The Buckler Shield in Elden Ring is a small shield that looks like a metal round plate. Players can get the Buckler Shield by starting out as the Bandit Class or purchasing it from Gatekeeper Gostoc, an NPC located within Stormveil Castle. Players can reach Stormveil Castle by heading towards the castle in the northern part of Limgrave. One of the closest Sites of Grace to Gatekeeper Gostoc is Stormveil Main Gate in Elden Ring.
When a player first encounters Gatekeeper Gostoc, he will not allow the player to purchase the Buckler Shield, he will currently be a Story NPC and will only allow the player to talk with him. In order for Gostoc to become a Merchant, players will have to defeat Godrick the Grafted at the top of Stormveil Castle and obtain the Rusty Key. The Rusty Key can be found within Stormveil Castle as well.
After players have obtained the Rusty Key, Gatekeeper Gostoc will now become a merchant, willing to sell the Buckler Shield. If players do not want to complete Gatekeeper Gostoc’s main questline, they can also kill Gatekeeper Gostoc to obtain Gostoc’s Bell Bearing. With this, players can head back to the Roundtable and give the Twin Maidens Merchant in Elden Ring the Bell Bearing to unlock Gatekeeper Gostoc Merchandise.
While this does speed up access to Gatekeeper Gostoc's inventory in Elden Ring, it does come with consequences. Later on, when Gatekeeper Gostoc is a merchant, he will change his inventory giving players a chance to obtain a legendary Smithing Stone. In order for players to properly wield the Buckler Shield, they will have to have a minimum Stat Requirement of 8 Strength and 13 Dexterity. The shield mainly scales with Dexterity and Strength, making it a good weapon for Dexterity Builds.
The Ash of War on the Buckler Shield is the Buckler Parry, a unique parry that is only possible when using this specific shield. In simple terms, the Buckler Parry is an upgraded and improved version of the standard Elden Ring Parry Ash of War in every way. It provides a faster start-up time, longer parry window, and increased parry distance. But unlike the Parry Ash of War, the Buckler Parry can only be used with the Buckler Shield. Which has one of the worse stats for blocking compared to a standard small or medium shield. Players should keep in mind that even though the Buckler Parry is unique to the Buckler Shield, players can still add other Ashes of War to the shield.
Elden Ring is available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
