The Spriggan Shield is one of Skyrim’s oddities: a heavy-class shield that exists mainly so that spriggans can block attacks without visibly carrying a shield. Every spriggan has one tucked into its combat behavior. It has no enchantment and, in the original game, no visible model at all, which makes it the most stylish shield nobody has ever seen.
How to get it
In normal play, it is mostly a curiosity:
- In the original release, you cannot loot it from spriggans, and it does not appear in their inventories.
- In the Special Edition, spriggans and burnt spriggans may drop the shield when killed.
So if you want to try, go hunting spriggans in forests and groves around Skyrim, for example in Falkreath Hold, and check what they leave behind. Collect some spriggan sap while you are at it, so the trip is not wasted.
Is it worth wearing?
As a joke, yes. The numbers are not bad for something that started as an internal tool: 24 armor and a weight of 8, which puts it ahead of many early shields. However, there is no crafting recipe, it cannot be upgraded, and its appearance is, depending on version, either invisible or rather odd. Any steel shield you craft and temper will do the job more reliably. Collectors love it; practical players skip it.
Spriggans themselves are worth a word of warning: they blend into the forest, heal themselves and call animals to fight for them, so a lucky drop can take a while. If you are farming, focus on groves where several spawn and bring a sturdy weapon. And remember that in the original release you are chasing something that cannot be picked up at all, so check which edition you play before spending an evening in the woods.
Good to know
- In the original game the shield had collision but no mesh or texture.
- It has no crafting recipe and cannot be improved.
- Its whole purpose was to let spriggans block in fights.
Stats
| Item | Slot | Type | Armor | Weight | Value | ID |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spriggan Shield | None | Heavy | 24 | 8 | 100 | 000EC8B1 |
Stats from the Skyrim game files (Skyrim.esm and the official add-ons): base values before Smithing and perks. Where several versions exist (leveled copies), all are listed.