How can I increase my shield bonus?

Question

I am playing a Fighter using a heavy shield, and looking at feats like Encouraging Shield and Stout Shield. They're nice in that they stack with Improved Defenses, but the lack of scaling makes them less appealing. Is there any way to increase the shield bonus granted by my shield?

I know about Snapping Testudo, but I'm not willing to focus my entire build on shields, so it's not a viable option for me. Feats like Shield Specialization, Brawler Guard, and Shield Defense, while nice, are not what I'm looking for here, since they won't actually increase the bonus I get from Encouraging Shield.

Answer 1

I don't think there are many ways to increase a shield bonus that you already have (besides finding something else that gives a bigger bonus to supersede it). The only item I could find is the Rhythm Blade, which has the following property:

While you wield this weapon in your off hand, your shield bonus to AC and Reflex increases by 1.

Unfortunately for you, it specifies it improves your shield bonus only to AC and Reflex, so even if you were to wear a heavy shield in your main hand and wield a Rhythm Blade weapon in your off hand, it wouldn't help.

While it's hard to prove a negative, I am willing to claim that there probably isn't something that does what you are looking for. I could see how it might get difficult to balance such a 'meta-bonus' when in general you want bonuses not to stack, so I am not very surprised it was hard to find an example.