Bronze Shield

A Bronze Shield is a common Shield-class arm equipment available throughout the Golden Sun series.

Basic Description by Game
In all appearances, a Bronze Shield increases the wearer's base Defense by 14 points. As a common item, it can be bought repeatedly from vendors for 500 coins each, and sold for 375 coins each.

In Golden Sun, it is sold in armor vendors at Bilibin, Imil, and Kolima, and can be equipped by Isaac and Garet. In Golden Sun: The Lost Age, Bronze Shields are sold in Garoh, and can be equipped by Felix and Piers. In Golden Sun: Dark Dawn, Bronze Shields are sold in Kaocho and Ayuthay, and can be equipped by Matthew, Tyrell, and Eoleo.

Analysis
In Golden Sun, it can first be bought in Bilibin, where it is an excellent upgrade to the Wooden Shields or Padded Gloves Isaac and Garet would be wearing at that point. At the same time, it is the most expensive item at the armor vendor, so the player may not have sufficient money to buy all the upgraded armor and weapons available, unless the player does many random battles for coins. Thus, the player may have to prioritize what equipment they want.

In Golden Sun: The Lost Age, the Bronze Shield is much less useful because it is sold only in Garoh after the town is "returned to normal" following your completion of the Air's Rock dungeon. In Air's Rock, it is possible to find the far superior shield artifact Fujin Shield, which is stronger than even the Iron Shield. As Felix is the only party member at this point who can equip shields, the Bronze Shield is only useful if the player missed the Fujin Shield while exploring the dungeon.

In Dark Dawn, the Bronze Shield is a good upgrade from the Wooden Shields Matthew and Tyrell will have, and is worth considering. Later on, a much stronger Dragon Shield can be found in Ayuthay for one of the Adepts, so the player may wish to buy only one Bronze Shield. Once the player revives the Alchemy Forge in Passaj, they will be able to replace the remaining Bronze Shield with an Iron Shield.

Trivia

 * The default item icon for the Bronze Shield in the GBA games, including both the English and Japanese language versions of The Lost Age and the Japanese version of Golden Sun, is that of a metallic gray shield. However, for some unknown reason, it received an all-new, brown-colored shield graphic for the English version of Golden Sun, a change that was not carried over into the English version of The Lost Age. The same thing happened with the Bronze Helm.