Kite shield: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 15:48, 6 October 2026

Version 0.34: This article is up to date for the latest stable release of Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup.

Name	Kite shield
Size to wear	small to big
Shield Value	8
Base shield penalty	10
Maximum Enchantment	+5
Grants	nothing
Time to Wear	5
Maximum Blocks	3

A piece of wood and metal, to be strapped on one arm for defence. It is cumbersome to wear, and impedes the evasion, spellcasting ability, and attack speed of an unskilled wearer. These penalties will be reduced and eventually eliminated with increased Shields skill.

A kite shield is a shield that provides moderate SH at a manageable penalty. They are a reasonable choice for both melee and caster characters, at least with a bit of Shields skill. While wielding a kite shield, you can block a maximum of 3 attacks per turn. Only Spriggans are too small to use a kite shield.

Egos

They can be found with the following egos:

Shield egos are relatively rare. Of the egos, reflection and protection are the most common. You can occasionally find cold resistance and fire resistance in Ice caves and Volcanos, respectively.

	Image
Mundane
Magical
Artifact
	Unrandart kite shields
Shield of Resistance
Shield of the Gong
Storm Queen's shield

History

Prior to 0.34, resistance ego could appear on a kite shield as well. ^[1]
Prior to 0.31, shields did not have a maximum number of blocks per turn. Instead, the more blocks you made per turn, the less likely the next block was to be made.
Prior to 0.28, kite shields' penalties were negated completely by 15 Shields skill, but their initial penalties were higher.
Shield penalties increased in 0.27.
Kite shields were just called "shields" until 0.25.

References

↑ Change shield ego weighting (0.34.0-g363eb5a)

Armour
Body Armour	Leather armour • Ring mail • Scale mail • Chain mail • Plate armour • Crystal plate armour Robe • Animal skin • Troll leather armour • Steam dragon scales • Acid dragon scales • Swamp dragon scales • Quicksilver dragon scales • Fire dragon scales • Ice dragon scales Pearl dragon scales • Shadow dragon scales • Storm dragon scales • Golden dragon scales
Miscellaneous	Hat • Helmet • Cloak • Scarf • Gloves • Boots • Barding
Shields	Buckler • Kite shield • Tower shield • Orb

[1] Change shield ego weighting (0.34.0-g363eb5a)

[1]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{armour
+{{version034}}
-  |name = Shield
+{{shield
+  |name = Kite shield
   |cost = ?
   |weight = 15.0
- |AC = n/a
   |SH = 8
-  |EV = -3
+  |EV = 10
-  |maxenc = +3
+  |maxenc = +5
   |skill = Shields
   |size = small to big
-  |acquirement = ?
+  |weartime = 5
-  |weartime = 6
+  |maxblocks = 3
 }}
+{{flavour|A piece of wood and metal, to be strapped on one arm for defence. It is cumbersome to wear, and impedes the evasion, spellcasting ability, and attack speed of an unskilled wearer. These penalties will be reduced and eventually eliminated with increased Shields skill.}}
-{{flavour|A piece of metal, to be strapped to one's arm. It is cumbersome to wear, and slightly slows the rate at which you may attack.}}
+A '''kite shield''' is a shield that provides moderate SH at a manageable penalty. They are a reasonable choice for both melee and caster characters, at least with a bit of [[Shields (skill)|Shields skill]]. While wielding a kite shield, you can [[Shields#Blocking|block]] a maximum of 3 attacks per turn.  Only [[Spriggan]]s are too small to use a kite shield.
+==Egos==
+They can be found with the following [[ego]]s:
+*[[Reflection]]
+*[[Protection]]
+*[[Cold resistance]]
+*[[Fire resistance]]
+*[[Poison resistance]]
+*[[Positive energy]]
+Shield egos are relatively rare. Of the egos, reflection and protection are the most common. You can occasionally find cold resistance and fire resistance in [[Ice cave]]s and [[Volcano]]s, respectively.
-A [[shield]] is a piece of [[armour]] which can be carried by any species but [[felid]]s and [[spriggan]]s to provide some degree of blocking defense ([[SH]]). It benefits equally from both [[strength]] and [[dexterity]], making it a versatile choice for many characters, but without a decent [[Shields skill]], you'll find that it can significantly slow your attack speed. It can be found with the following brands: [[protection]], [[resistance]] ([[fire]] and [[cold]] only), and [[reflection (ego)|reflection]].
 {| class="prettytable" style="border:none; margin:auto; padding:0; text-align: center"
-! || Random Shields
+! || Image
 |-
-| '''Mundane''' || [[File:Shield 1.png]]
+| '''Mundane''' || [[File:Shield1.png]]
 |-
-| '''Magical''' || [[File:Shield 2.png]]
+| '''Magical''' || [[File:Shield2.png]]
 |-
-| '''Artifact''' || [[File:Shield 3.png]]
+| '''Artifact''' || [[File:Shield3.png]]
 |-
-| || '''[[Unrandart]] Shields'''
+| || '''[[Unrandart]]<br>kite shields'''
 |-
-| '''[[Unrandarts#+5_Shield_of_Resistance|Shield of Resistance]]''' || [[File:Shield_of_resistance.png]]
+| '''[[Shield of Resistance]]''' || [[File:Shield_of_resistance.png]]
 |-
-| '''[[Unrandarts#+6_Shield_of_the_Gong|Shield of the Gong]]''' || [[File:Shield_of_the_Gong.png]]
+| '''[[Shield of the Gong]]''' || [[File:Shield_of_the_Gong.png]]
 |-
-| '''[[Unrandarts#+15_Shield_"Bullseye"|"Bullseye"]]''' || [[File:Shield Bullseye.png]]
+| '''[[Storm Queen's shield]]''' || [[File:Storm_Queen's_shield.png]]
 |}
+==History==
+*Prior to [[0.34]], resistance ego could appear on a kite shield as well. <ref>{{commit ref|363eb5a|0.34.0|Change shield ego weighting}}</ref>
+*Prior to [[0.31]], shields did not have a maximum number of blocks per turn. Instead, the more blocks you made per turn, the less likely the next block was to be made.
+*Prior to [[0.28]], kite shields' penalties were negated completely by 15 Shields skill, but their initial penalties were higher.
+*Shield penalties increased in [[0.27]].
+*Kite shields were just called "shields" until [[0.25]].
+==References==
+<references/>
+{{armours}}
 [[Category:Shields]]