what is blade and soul Soul Shields

Soul Shields are sets of 8 fragments which serve as the main source of attributes to a character. Additional attributes can be gained from Soul Shields when equipping multiple fragments of a same set. These bonus attributes are gained when a set of 3, 5 or 8 fragments is equipped. One can gain bonus attributes from different sets in this way. Soul Shield fragments can be fused with lesser quality ones, upgrading a specific attribute on the original and sacrificing the lesser quality one.

Soul Shields, like items, range in quality from Normal to Paragon.

In addition to their active Soul Shield, players can carry an alternate Soul Shield to switch to for different occasions (such as one for PvP, one for PvE). Soul Shields can be switched at any time outside of combat either directly through the Inventory window by clicking the cycling arrows button in the top corner, or through the Soul Shield tab at the right of the Inventory window by clicking Equip.

For certain Soul Shields (particularly high-level ones), multiple instances of the same fragment may have different attributes. In these cases, a fragment's attributes are decided randomly when it is unsealed. Most of the time a fragment will have the same type of attributes but the values will change each time a fragment is unsealed.

Soul Shield fragments are numbered clockwise, with the first fragment being at the top.

Each Soul Shield fragment belongs to a set. Collecting and equipping fragments from a same set will unlock additional bonus attributes.

Collect and equip three fragments in a set to unlock the first bonus, collect five to unlock the second, and collect all eight to unlock the final one. This leaves room to mix and match sets if the player feels the second or third bonuses are not helpful. For instance, you may collect five fragments of one set and three of another.