User blog comment:True Aranel/Help With Character Building?/@comment-177.183.27.236-20120825232042/@comment-5337347-20120905212021

For medium shields, take a look at the ones with good resistances, like the Crest Shield, Dragon Crest Shield, Black Knight Shield, etc. Out of all of those, I'd recommend the DCS or BKS the most, since fire spells are popular in PvP. I personally always use the Crest Shield, because it has decent all around defenses (100, 80, 55, 45, I believe, with a 55 stability).

Take some time to practice parrying. Any parryable monster is helpful to get the timing, but practicing on other players is really important, since they can be tricky sometimes.

Eventually it comes down to skill and tactics, knowing what to do and when, and being able to actually do it. That is something I can't help you with.