There’s a total of 12 Shield Rond Attachments in God of War Ragnarok, each of which can be attached to any of the five shields including the Guardian Shield, Dauntless Shield, Stone Wall Shield, Shatter Star Shield, and Onslaught Shield. This page will show you how to get each of the shield attachments, and what they do.

Best Shield Rond Attachments in God of War Ragnarok¶

The 12 Shield Rond Attachments each provide different stat boosts and different special abilities. They will also slightly change the way that a particular shield looks in terms of the shield boss design, though for most this will be a secondary consideration. The attachment you want to use will probably be based on how it fits into your playstyle, and there’s not necessarily one overall best shield rond. There are however situations in which particular shield ronds are best utilized for specific fights, so we’ll cover a bit about when and how you might consider using them.

How to Upgrade Shield Rond Attachments¶

As with almost every other piece of gear that you obtain in God of War Ragnarok, all Shield Rond Attachments can be upgraded to level 9 using Hacksilver and various materials that you obtain throughout the game. The earlier level upgrade requirements are usually the same for each rond, but as you upgrade beyond level 6 you’ll begin to notice that different types of rarer late game materials are required. You should have a decent amount of these by the end of the game, but if you’re lacking some, most can be acquired by completing the Muspelheim Trials and Challenges.

Rond of Volition¶

Where to Find the Rond of Volition¶

The Rond of Volition is unlocked during the first main quest at the beginning of the game, Surviving Fimbulwinter. It doesn’t come with any special ability but it has a decent set of stats when fully upgraded to level 9, with a focus on Defense as the highest stat at +29, while all the others are +17. You might consider using this one if you’re aiming for a more balanced build with stat improvements across the board, but you’ll be missing out on some useful abilities in exchange.

Max Stats for Rond of Volition¶

Rond of Aggravation¶

Where to Find the Rond of Aggravation¶

The Rond of Aggravation can be acquired from a Legendary Chest on Lyngbakr Island, in the Bay of Bounty in the realm of Svartalfheim. You need to free the Lyngbakr to reveal most of this island, so be sure to check our page on How to Unlock the Hidden Area Lyngbakr Island if you need help with that. This also forms part of The Weight of Chains favor. There’s only one Legendary Chest on this island, and you can see our All Collectibles in Lyngbakr Island page for a guide on how to find it.

Max Stats for Rond of Aggravation¶

Riposte Rage Burst Ability¶

The special ability for the Rond of Aggravation is called Riposte Rage Burst, and this grants you a high Luck chance to grant a Rage Burst when parrying. This means that each time you parry, you have a decent chance to recover part of your Rage bar. This rond is particularly useful if you’re using a Rage Build, and if you’ve mastered the art of parrying in combat.

There are some players who prefer to dodge most attacks, or you may find opportunities for parrying too infrequent to make the most of this rond. However, if you’re making good use of parrying and you find yourself in need of restoring more Rage than most, this rond could be a good option. You may also consider this rond if you think you need the extra Defense, Vitality, and Luck stats which can be upgraded to +29 Defense, +23 Vitality, and +23 Luck at level 9.

Rond of Expedition¶

Where to Find the Rond of Expedition¶

The Rond of Expedition is obtained after defeating the Light Elf boss named Alva, who you encounter in the Temple of Light in Alfheim during the fourth main quest, Groa’s Secret. You can click the hyperlink above for a guide to defeating Alva if you need it.

Max Stats for Rond of Expedition¶

Riposte Refresh Ability¶

The Rond of Expedition comes with the Riposte Refresh special ability, which grants a blessing of Cooldown whenever you interrupt concentric blue ring attacks from any enemy, including elites and bosses, but also whenever you parry. This makes it potentially extremely powerful if you make good use of the parrying mechanic, and if you’re quick enough to interrupt pretty much every concentric blue ring attack. The blue ring attacks will become much more frequent in the late game, so you’ll have plenty of opportunities to do this during boss fights, especially when fighting the Berserker Gravestone bosses, who make good use of them.

If you prefer to parry rather than dodge most attacks (and why wouldn’t you, since it gives you an opportunity to swiftly counterattack!), you will find plenty of opportunities grant blessings of cooldown for your Runic Attacks. You will quickly find that parrying multiples times within one fight can rapidly decrease the cooldown for all of your Runic Attacks, and the base +34 Cooldown stat gain from the shield rond at max level 9 only adds to this. So, if you enjoy using Runic Attacks, this is potentially a great Shield Rond for you!

Rond of Affliction¶

Where to Find the Rond of Affliction¶

The Rond of Affliction can be obtained from a Legendary Chest found in The Barrens of Alfheim. There’s a small puzzle to solve in order to reach this chest, the solution to which you’ll find on the linked page. You can also see it in the video below if you need some extra help.

Max Stats for the Rond of Affliction¶

Strike of Affliction Ability¶

The Rond of Affliction comes with the Strike of Affliction ability, which allows you to absorb the status damage from any status-afflicted enemy by double tapping L1 for a shield strike. Once you’ve absorbed the status damage, it can be released as an elemental explosion, allowing you to inflict more damage than usual from your shield attacks. This can be powerful depending on the type of status damage absorbed, and whether or not the enemy you’re facing is weak to it, but otherwise there are arguably better ronds available unless you enjoy using shield strikes a lot.

Rond of Restoration¶

Where to Find the Rond of Restoration¶

The Rond of Restoration can be found in a Legendary Chest within The Abandoned Village of Vanaheim. You can access the area where the chest is found after defeating the Draugr Hole encounter there, which is detailed on the linked collectibles page.

Max Stats for the Rond of Restoration¶

Restoring Shield Ability¶

The Rond of Restoration comes with the Restoring Shield special ability, which grants a chance based on your Luck to gain a buff to your Defense stat whenever you take damage, and for your next shield strike attack (by double tapping L1) to provide a Health Burst. The chance for both of these to occur increases the lower your health is, so this shield rond attachment can be particularly useful for getting you out of any sticky situations. You’ll also get the base stat boost from the increased +29 Defense and +34 Vitality, so you can see that this rond specializes in making Kratos as much of a tank as possible.

With that said, ideally you won’t be taking enough damage to warrant the need for a boost in your Defense stat, or a Health Burst from shield strikes, so there are better shield rond attachment for those who prefer a more aggressive playstyle, or if you’re confident enough with your parries and dodges to ensure that you won’t need some last minute buffs as you take damage. If you find yourself getting low on health a little too often, however, you might consider this rond as being useful.

Rond of Deflection¶

Where to Find the Rond of Deflection¶

The Rond of Deflection can be crafted at any blacksmith shop (where you’ll meet either Brok, Sindri, or Lunda depending on where you’re at in the main story) once you reach The Word of Fate main quest.

Max Stats for the Rond of Deflection¶

Agile Deflection Ability¶

The Rond of Deflection comes with the Agile Deflection special ability, which increases the timing window for parries. This is one of the more basic special abilities which won’t be required for all players, but for those who struggle with timing their parries correctly, this could make things much easier for you to make use of them more often. You will now have more time before the opportunity to perform a perfect parry is lost, but you’ll still need to perform the parry just before an attack hits, only now the time you have to execute it will be more generous.

If you already perform parries without any trouble, this rond won’t be necessary. You get the base +29 to your Defense stat once you’ve upgraded it to max level 9, but you can get similar stats from other shield ronds.

Rond of the Nine Realms¶

Where to Find the Rond of the Nine Realms¶

You can acquire the Rond of the Nine Realms after completing the For Vanaheim! favor, during which you fight The Crimson Dead dragon as you seek to rescue Birgir. You can check the link for a detailed guide if you need it.

Max Stats for the Rond of the Nine Realms¶

Riposte Realm Shift Ability¶

The Rond of the Nine Realms comes with the Riposte Realm Shift special ability, which is great for anyone who is looking to make the most of a Realm Shift Build. This will provide you with another opportunity to spawn a Realm Shift whenever you parry, but keep in mind that this only occurs with a low Luck chance, so it may not happen as often as you’d like. If you don’t know what a Realm Shift does, it essentially slows time around Kratos, allowing you to hit any enemy while they’re rendered mostly immobile. You can learn more from the Realm Shift build linked above.

Rond of Absorption¶

Where to Find the Rond of Absorption¶

You will obtain the Rond of Absorption as part of the main story, specifically when you return to Sindri’s House as Atreus in the Realm Between Realms during the Unlocking the Mask main quest.

Max Stats for the Rond of Absorption¶

Defender’s Momentum Ability¶

The Rond of Absorption comes with the Defender’s Momentum special ability, which increases the skill gauges for Permafrost, Immolation, and Maelstrom whenever you perform a successful block or parry. This essentially means that you will be able to build each of the essential elements for the Leviathan Axe, Blades of Chaos, and Draupnir spear respectively, allowing you to inflict more damage with the attacks and skills associated with them more quickly.

This rond attachment can be great if you find yourself properly utilizing these aspects of each weapon, but if your playstyle doesn’t incorporate them much you may find better use in a different rond. For example, if you prefer to spam Runic Attacks as often as possible, a rond which improves the Cooldown stat may be better, or if you enjoy using shield skills more, choose a rond which alters those could be preferable.

Rond of Purification¶

Where to Find the Rond of Purification¶

The Rond of Purification can be found in the Legendary Chest at the Well of Urd in Midgard. You can check the linked page for a full guide on how to access it.

Max Stats for the Rond of Purification¶

Contagion Discharge Ability¶

The Rond of Purification comes with the Contagion Discharge special ability, which allows Kratos to cure any affliction from Frost, Burn, Poison or Bifrost by using a Shield Strike attack (performed by double tapping L1). This will not only remove the status afflicted damage, but it will also inflict it onto nearby enemies at the same time. This can be an extremely useful rond against most types of enemies, and even some bosses, but it of course relies on you being hit in the first place, which ideally you’d be avoiding.

With that said, most of us will always get hit repeatedly during a fight, and if you find yourself struggling against some of the tougher enemies due to the damage over time from their status afflicting attacks, this is a great rond to counter them.

Rond of Disruption¶

Where to Find the Rond of Disruption¶

The Rond of Disruption is obtained as a reward for completing the A Stag for All Seasons favor in The Crater region of Vanaheim. This requires you to find and return the Stag of Winter, Stag of Spring, Stag of Summer, and Stag of Autumn. You can find a guide for this on the hyperlinked page.

Max Stats for the Rond of Disruption¶

Elemental Storm Ability¶

The Rond of Disruption comes with the Elemental Storm special ability, which provides a low chance based on your Luck stat to create an Elemental Storm whenever you interrupt concentric blue ring attacks, or whenever you perform a successful parry. Although the chance is low, we found that the storm occurred more frequently than you might expect, and it has the potential to inflict a lot of damage to nearby enemies.

If you’re confident in your ability to parry attacks successfully, this is already a potential end game worthy rond attachment. The same goes for interrupting blue ring attacks, which you’ll encounter much more in the mid to late game. Add to this the decent stat boosts to Defense, Runic, and Luck, and you’ve got a contender for one of the best rond attachments in the game.

Rond of Fortification¶

Where to Find the Rond of Fortification¶

You can acquire the Rond of Fortification by putting Crystalline Shards, which can be found throughout The Crater region of Vanaheim, into the Wishing Well (or cleansing pool) in the same region. You will need to do this multiple times before you get the Rond of Fortification, since it’s one of the last things that you obtain from the pool. However, you can also collect as many Crystalline Shards as you can while adventuring through the region, then place them all in the pool at once to get all of the rewards instantly, so long as you have enough. Be sure to hit the shard deposits to loot them whenever you encounter them.

Max Stats for the Rond of Fortification¶

Fortification Ability¶

The Rond of Fortification comes with the… Fortification ability, who would’ve thought? Anyway, this empowers any shield that you’re wielding with the Fortification effect, which triggers a high stun explosion on the next successful block or Shield Strike (double tapping L1) attack. However, you will need to hold L1 for “several seconds” before the Fortification effect comes into play, and coming out of the block stance without being hit or without using a Shield Strike will reset it.

This one can be useful if you enjoy playing defensively, but in truth it’s one of the more mundane special abilities from any rond attachment. The main reason you might consider using this is for the +63 Defense stat, which provides far more than the others.

Rond of Obliteration¶

Where to Find the Rond of Obliteration¶

The Rond of Obliteration is obtained after defeating the super boss in Muspelheim, Valkyrie Queen Gna. You will find her in The Crucible region of the realm, but only after you’ve completed the main story, so don’t bother looking for her until you’re done with that. Gna is one of the toughest fights in the game, so be sure to check our guide from the hyperlink if you need help.

Max Stats for the Rond of Obliteration¶

Shards of the Valkyrie Ability¶

The Rond of Obliteration comes with the Shards of the Valkyrie special ability, which allows you to fire a volley of Valkyrie shards, similar to those used by the Valkyrie bosses themselves, by holding L1 (the block stance) for several seconds, then pressing L1 and L3 at the same time to release the volley. This is one of the best rond attachments for those who have a more aggressive playstyle, although it does require you to maintain the block stance for longer than you might want to otherwise. It also has a pretty animation and the shards will almost always hit the enemy directly, so long as they’re in front of you.

In addition to the Valkyrie shard volley shot, this rond attachment also provides a decent balance for all of your main stats including Strength, Defense, Runic, Vitality, Cooldown, and Luck, so it may be preferred by those who prefer a more balanced stat build.