This mod balances shields in two ways:

1. Vastly reduced Strength requirements
2. Makes guard and weight consistent across archetypes

The first change is so that characters don't have to invest so heavily into Strength just to use shields, and the second is to let you choose an archetype for your build, and then choose which shield within that archetype for fashion.

This mod does not change the elemental or affinity resistance of shields; just the weight, requirements, guard, and physical absorption.

ARCHETYPES

Small Shields

Includes:
All Small Shields

Small Shields require 8 strength and have 45 guard and weigh 1.5.
Small Shields also all have a physical absorption of 91%.
All Small Shields start with the Parry Skill, unless they have a unique skill.



Wooden Shields


Includes:
Hawk Crest Wooden Shield
Horse Crest Wooden Shield
Candletree Wooden Shield
Flame Crest Wooden Shield
Marred Wooden Shield
Sun Realm Shield

Wooden Shields require 8 strength and have 48 guard and weigh 1.5.
Wooden Shields also all have a physical absorption of 91%.
All Wooden Shields start with No Skill, unless they have a unique skill.



Round Shields

Includes:
Round Shield
Large Leather Shield
Black Leather Shield
Marred Leather Shield

Round Shields require 8 strength and have 50 guard and weigh 3.
Wooden Shields also all have a physical absorption of 95%.
All Wooden Shields start with No Skill, unless they have a unique skill.



Heater Shields


Includes:
Heater Shield
Blue Crest Heater Shield
Inverted Hawk Heater Shield
Red Crest Heater Shield
Beast Crest Heater Shield
Eclipse Crest Heater Shield
Brass Shield

Heater Shields require 10 strength and have 52 guard and weigh 3.5.
All Heater Shields start with No Skill, unless they have a unique skill.



Kite Shields


Includes:
Kite Shield
Carian Knight Shield
Golden Lion Shield
Twinbird Kite Shield
Scorpion Kite Shield
Blue-Gold Kite shield
Silver Mirrorshield

Kite Shields require 12 strength and have 54 guard and weigh 4.5.
All Kite Shields start with No Skill, unless they have a unique skill.


Large Kite Shields

Includes:
Banished Knight's Shield
Wolf Crest Shield
Serpent Crest Shield
Messmer Soldier Shield

Large Kite Shields require 14 strength and have 56 guard and weigh 6.
Large Kite Shields start with No Skill, unless they have a unique skill.



Greatkite Shields


Includes:
Wooden Greatshield
Jellyfish Shield
Icon Shield
Golden Beast Crest Shield
Ant's Skull Plate
Cuckoo Greatshield
Redmane Greatshield
Eclipse Crest Greatshield
Distinguished Greatshield

Greatkite Shields require 18 strength and have 65 guard and weigh 14.
Greatkite Shields start with No Skill, unless they have a unique skill.

Wooden greatshield is special and has 58 guard, with nothing else changed from vanilla.
Jellyfish Shield is special, requiring 15 strength and has 59 guard while weighing 10.5.
Icon Shield is special, requiring 15 strength and has 59 guard while weighing 11.5.
Icon Shield also now has 100% physical resistance.
Golden Beast Crest Shield is special, requiring 16 strength and has 62 guard while weighing 12.5.
Ant's Skull Plate is special, requiring 17 strength and has 63 guard while weighing 13.5.



Towershields

Includes:
Lordswon's Shield
Inverted Hawk Towershield
Manor Towershield
Crossed-Tree Towershield
Dragon Towershield

Towershield's require 20 strength and have 67 guard and weigh 16.



Greatshields

Greatshields are balanced different than the other shields, in that they scale up based on their strength requirement.
Meaning every greatshield is different.

Here's the stats of each greatshield:
Golden Greatshield - requires 22 strength and has 69 guard and weighs 17.
Gilded Greatshield - requires 24 strength and has 70 guard and weighs 17.5.
Haligtree Crest Greatshield - requires 26 strength and has 71 guard and weighs 18.5.
Black Steel Greatshield - requires 28 strength and has 72 guard and weighs 19.5.
One-Eyed Shield -  requires 30 strength and has 73 guard and weighs 20.5.
Fingerprint Greatshield - requires 36 strength and has 77 guard and weighs 29.
Fingerprint Greatshield also has hardness similar to the Ant's Skull Plate.
Verdigris Greatshield - requires 40 strength and has 82 guard and weighs 28.



Offensive Greatshield


Offensive Greatshields are Greatshield that are more or less designed to deal a bit more damage than the average shield.
Greatshields not on this list can still be used for damage, but this list has their actual damage values more closely monitored.

Includes:
Briar Greatshield
Crucible Hornshield
Dragonclaw Shield
Spiked Palisade

Here's the stats for each Offensive Greatshield:
Briar Greatshield - requires 16 strength and has 62 guard, weighs 12.5, and deals 132 damage.
Briar Greatshield also has a physical absorption of 95%.
Crucible Hornshield - Greatkite Shield stats with vanilla damage.
Working on getting Crucible Hornshield damage to be peirce.
Dragonclaw Shield - Greatkite Shield stats with vanilla damage.
Spiked Palisade - Towershield stats with 141 damage.

This mod is in 1.0, meaning there is more to do.

Shields that are meant to deal damage have their infusions adjusted as well, but most other shields still need to have their values adjusted for infusions.


INSTALLATION
This mod comes with a '.csv' file. Use that to merge the changes into your modded regulation.bin

The relevant params are labeled on the csv files.


Also, check out my other mods:
Deflecting Hardtear on a Talisman