OSRS Best Shields For Magic, Ranged, Melee, Defense

Petecleff13

Created: Apr 30 2025

Shields are important when facing bosses with high offensive stats. They increase a player’s defensive bonus, and while some also reduce the attack bonus, others offer additional offensive bonuses. There are several types of shields in OSRS, and they provide defensive bonuses against different combat styles, as shown below.

Best P2P shields

Best P2P Magic Shields

Magic level	Defence level	Shield	Cost (GP)	Magic Attack Bonus	Magic Defence Bonus	Magic strength bonus	Other requirements	Information
1	1	Book of Darkness		+10	+0	+0%	Horror from the Deep	This is the god book aligned with Zaros. It can be purchased from Jossik for 5K GP after completion of Horror from Deep
60	1	Mage’s book	2M	+15.	+15	+2%		It is popularly obtained by playing the Mage Training Arena minigame. It offers the third-best magic attack bonus in the shield slot.
1	60	Malediction ward	1.9M	+12	+15	+2%		The Malediction ward offers the fifth-best magic attack bonus for the shield slot.
65	75	Arcane Spirit shield	156.7M	+20	+2	+3%	70 prayer	This shield also provides an additional magic attack bonus. It is made by attaching an arcane sigil to a blessed spirit shield using a hammer at an anvil; this process requires 90 prayer and 85 smithing
80	80	Eldinis’ ward (f)		+25	+2	+5%	80 prayer.	It has similar bonuses to the Arcane Spirit Shield. The ward is fortified by attacking an arcane sigil to Elidnis’ ward, requiring level 90 prayer, 90 smithing, and 10,000 soul runes.

Best P2P Ranged Shield

Ranged level	Defence level	Shield	Cost (GP)	Ranged attack bonus	Ranged defence bonus	Ranged strength bonus	Other requirements	Information
1	1	Book of law	Not sold	+0	+4	+0%	Horror from the Deep	This is the God book aligned with Armadyl.It can be purchased from Jossik for 5K GP after completion of Horror from Deep
70	40	Blessed dragonhide shield	390K	+7	+14	+0		All Blessed dragonhide shields share the same bonuses and can be received from completing hard treasure Trails.
1	60	Odium ward	4.6M	+12	+52	+4		This shield provides the third-best ranged attack and ranged strength bonus in the shield slot. It is created at the Volcanic Forge in the wilderness with an odium shard 1, odium shard 2, and odium shard 3.
70	75	Dragon Fire Ward	Not sold	+15	+58	+8	Having started Dragon Slayer I.	The Dragon Fire Ward offers the second highest ranged attack and ranged strength bonus in the game.
75	75	Twisted Buckler	15.2M	+18	+58	+10		The Buckler offers the best ranged attack and ranged strength bonus for the shield slot and 3rd best magic defence.

Best P2P Melee Shields

Strength level	Defence level	Shield	Cost (GP)	Melee attack bonus (stab, slash, crush)	Melee defence bonus (stab, slash, crush)	Strength bonus	Other requirements	Information
40	40	Rune Defender	Not sold	+20, +19, +18	+20, +19, +18	+5	Combined attack and strength level of 130 or atleast 99 in one skill for access into Warrior Guild	This is the third strongest defender obtainable from killing Cyclops in the top floor of the Warriors Guild
50	50	Granite Shield	37K	+0	+40, +42, +38	+0		The main disadvantage of this shield when compared with rune kitshield is that it is heavier and has lower melee defence bonuses.
1	60	Dragon SQ shield	305K	+0	+56, +60, +58	+0	Legend’s Quest	The Dragon SQ shield is the strongest square shield in the game.
1	60	Dragon defender	Not sold	+25, +24, +23	+25, +24, +23	+6	Combined attack and strength level of 130 or atleast 99 in one skill for access into Warrior Guild	The Dragon Defender is the second-strongest. It can be obtained from the stronger level 106 Cyclopes found exclusively in the Warrior Guild.
1	70	Avernic defender	Not sold	+30, +29, +28	+30, +29, +28	+0	70 defence and Dragon defender	The Avernic defender is the strongest defender. It is obtained by combining a Dragon defender with an Avernic defender hilt. It has the highest strength bonus of any shield slot equipment.
1	70	Crystal shield	Not sold	+0	+51, +54, +53	+0	Roving Elves, 50 agility	The Crystal shield is a powerful degradable shield. It can be made by combining 40 crystal shards with one crystal weapon seed at a singing bowl in Prifddinas.
1	75	Dragon Fire Shield (charged)	4.97M	+0	+22, +25 +22	+7	Having started Dragon Slayer I.	It is the Upgraded version of the anit-dragon shield. It is one of the strongest shield in the game, only behind the Elysian spirit shield and Dinh’s Bulwark.
1	75	Dinh’s Bulwark	14.8M	+124 crush	+106, +109, +109	+38	75 attack	The Dinh’s Bulwark is a two-handed shield that can be obtained as a rare reward from the Chambers of Xeric. It is the strongest in-game shield and is commonly used to defend against PKers.
1	75	Elysian spirit shield	740M	+0	+63, +65, +75	+0	75 prayer	This shield is considered the strongest melee shield in the game since it is the best at migrating the damage taken and also has a powerful passive effect where it can reduce damage by 25%.

Best F2P shields

Best magic shield in F2P

Anti-dragon shield

There are not a lot of options for magic shields in F2P, but the best option is the Anti-dragon shield. It can be obtained from Duke Horacio in Lumbridge Castle during the Dragon Slayer I quest. It gives a +2 magic defence bonus, +8 ranged defence bonus, and defence bonuses in melee attack styles.

Best Ranged Shields for F2P

Several F2P shields provide decent ranged defensive bonuses, with some offering up to a +46 ranged defense bonus. Few shields can give this bonus in F2P, they include Saradomin kiteshield, Rune shield, and Guthix shield. Gilded kiteshield, Armadyl kitshield, and Bandos kiteshield. However, all of them give negative ranged attack bonuses, with the highest ranged attack bonus being -2.

Best Melee shield in F2P

A few shields that offer the best melee defence bonus in F2P. They include:

God shields: Zamorak, Saradomin, and Guthix shields.

Gilded Kiteshield

Armadyl kiteshield

Bandos kiteshield

Rune shield

Rune kiteshield

These shields give +44 stab defence, +48 slash defence, and +46 crush defence bonuses.

About Author

Petecleff13

Petecleff13 is a passionate writer who has authored hundreds of articles in many areas throughout the years. He has also played OSRS with several account builds for over 5 years. He uses his passion for playing OSRS and writing to provide informative guides for both novice and experienced OSRS players. He is originally from South Africa and joined LuckyCharmGold as an Author in 2020.