The latest Elden Ring patch brought not-unexpected nerfs to the final boss of Shadow of the Erdtree and sizable buffs to some underwhelming gear, including a few of my personal favorites. Dutifully adding numbers to FromSoftware's notoriously nonspecific patch notes, Elden Ring players noticed that there's also a much more surprising change hidden in the list: the Brass Shield, hands-down the best medium shield in the entire game, got a pretty significant buff.
A post from Reddit user N_audio brought this to my attention, and my body rejected the knowledge so violently that I practically sprinted to my living room to boot up Elden Ring and confirm it for myself. It's real, folks. The Brass Shield's guard boost has been increased from 69, which already put its stability in the realm of greatshields, to a staggering 75 – a near 10% buff, no strings attached.
