Board Thread:Dark Souls/@comment-6132984-20130527010542/@comment-4511886-20140711111409

Not if you use an actual greatshield. If you equip according your play-style, tank-shield is perfectly viable for PVE. Honestly, if you are greatshielding, almost all of the bosses can't even touch you unless you let your guard down attacking. The only thing that could get through is elemental damage. You can tank O&S, Artorias, Magus, Kalameet, or pretty much everything else. Including up to NG+4 (that's how far I got, before getting bored).

If you are beginner, an excellent strategy is to walk in 2-hand shielding, and just spend 5 minutes blocking and learning, and don't attack until you've got a good hang of the boss.

If you are careful and not greedy, it's a walk in the park.

A dodge based build, while more efficient later on, is also much less forgiving, and requires a much better hang of the enemies. If you are on your first build, I'd definitely recommend a (great)hammer+(great)shield build. Fairly certain Zelron was reffering to the early game, where you have low stamina. Also, the original idea was a spear-using turtler.