Shields are a tool in Minecraft which have the primary use of defending the player. They are essential to everyone, as they are able to defend you from most attacks, whether they be in PvE or PvP.
The only attacks they are not able to block are Arrows which are enchanted with Piercing, self ignited TNT, throwable potions, fall damage, Ender Dragon flames or axe attacks from Vindicators. Deflecting an arrow with a shield will provide you with the ‘Not Today, Thank You’ advancement.
In this post, we’ve put together an entire Shield Guide covering everything you need to know from crafting them to repairing them. We’ve covered more detailed Minecraft Guides like this one too, here at PwrDown.
How to Make a Shield in Minecraft
In order to make a Shield in Minecraft, you’ll first need to open up a crafting table. You’ll need to fill up 7 slots, so the crafting inventory in your interface won’t work.
Place an Iron Ingot in the top middle slot, then surround it in any type of Wooden Planks. Add an extra plank into the bottom middle slot, so you’ve made a ‘Y’ shape. Congratulations, you’ve now made a Shield in Minecraft!
How to Use a Shield in Minecraft
With the shield equipped, you can use it by holding down the interact button, which is the right mouse button on PC (or the sneak button on Bedroom & PS4 Edition). Doing so, your Minecraft character will slow down to a sneaking pace, holding up the shield to block any incoming attacks, negating all damage.
There are two ways to use the Shield. Firstly, you can keep it on your hot-bar and hover over it when you need it. Otherwise, you should place it in the actual Shield slot inside your inventory. By doing so, you will always have the shield equipped no matter what you’re holding in your hand.
The Shield can block melee attacks, arrow attacks, flaming arrows, tridents, snowballs, eggs, lasers from guardians, thorns from pufferfish, bullets from shulkers, fireballs, creeper explosions, ghast explosions and TNT explosions.
How to Repair a Shield in Minecraft
Shields are really cheap to create, only requiring a few Wooden Planks and a single Iron Ingot. It might just be easier to create a whole new shield than repairing one you’re already using.
However if you’re carrying enchantments on your Shield, or have a unique pattern applied to it, repairing it might be a good idea. There are two ways to do so. Firstly, you can combine your damaged shield with another one in a crafting table. Doing it this way though will lose any enchantments or patterns.
The other way is to place your shield in an Anvil with some Wooden Planks, which will repair it depending on the number of planks you add. You can also name your shield in the Anvil whilst doing it this way.
How to Apply a Pattern to a Minecraft Shield
You can make your Shield custom by applying banner patterns to it in Java Edition. It allows you to simply change the color of the shield, or add a design to the front. Applying a banner allows it to match your armor, or be more intense such as matching it to a clan banner.
You can create a colored banner using a single stick with 6 pieces of Colored Wool on top inside a Crafting Table. Take the banner into a Loom to start designing a pattern. Once you’re done with the design, place the Banner and Shield in a crafting table together.
How to Enchant a Shield in Minecraft
There are only 3 Enchantments available for the Shield in Minecraft, and they can’t be applied through an Enchanting Table. These are Unbreaking, Mending and Curse of Vanishing. The two you probably want are going to be Unbreaking and Mending, both which increase the overall durability.
To apply Enchantments, you will require them in book form first. Take them to an Anvil, input both the Shield and Enchanted Book together to retrieve an Enchanted Shield back. Whilst you’re doing this, you also have the opportunity to give your Shield a unique name.
