Frozen Cyodrake Shield is one of the few weapons in the game offering full Fire protection. Other Fire-blockers include the situational Wand of Flamebolt, the single use Slippery Floor Potion, and the incredibly expensive Rod of Dark Nova. Fire defense is had to come by, and sadly Frozen Cyodrake Shield is the best option available to many players.

Despite its unique ability to block all Fire icons, Frozen Cyodrake Shield isn't particularly great. This shield offers only 8 icons of defense in addition to the full Fire defense, 5 icons of Air defense and 3 icons of Light defense.

The purpose of a full Fire blocker is to block a serious amount of Fire icons. What weapons deal a heavy amount of Fire icons? Only a few - Portable Kiln, Sword of Reif, Ghostkerbomb, and Grapes of Wrath. Although few in number, all of these weapons are common sights in the 2-Player realm. Despite the prevalence of Fire in upper-level battling, Frozen Cyodrake Shield is not necessarily the best choice in the price range.

Consider the debate between a powerful shield and a powerful reflector. The powerful shield is versatile - it can block a variety of icon types and a great deal of damage. The powerful reflector relies more on timing - its defensive capabilities are more limited than the powerful shield, but if timed correctly, it will deal great damage in addition to great defense. Shields are safer options, but reflectors offer greater potential reward.

That said, Frozen Cyodrake Shield is a shield, but it is not a versatile shield. Unlike Hidden Tower shields, Frozen Cyodrake Shield does not have a huge defensive spread. Frozen Cyodrake Shield possesses neither a large spread nor the potential to reflect damage back at the opponent. When it comes to combating a Sword of Reif or Portable Kiln, using Clawed Shield would make more sense given that both Clawed Shield and Frozen Cyodrake Shield will do very little should the opponent not use Fire icons.

When it comes to Grapes of Wrath or Ghostkerbomb, Faerie Tabard or Pirate Captains Hat would be better options thanks to the increased versatility of the defense.

Simply put, Frozen Cyodrake Shield struggles to find a home in a price range where Clawed Shield, Faerie Tabard, and Pirate Captains Hat are more affordable and more useful given the weapons that need to be countered. The uniqueness of the Fire defense is nice, but sadly the lack of significant additional defense greatly reduces the shield's usefulness.

Rated on August 9, 2013