Honestly I don't really like the shields much. It is an alright concept, but they are really plain. Perhaps if they were two tone with the swords on them and you could pick your colors it would be cooler. Also, through looking at the armatars the ones that you get for 1 AP and 5 AP are all missing. Not sure if that's a glitch on my end or not, but if so it seems kinda lame to lose like 20 or so armatars for the 5 or 6 shields.
I considered having a shield, but then I noticed the spring armatars are gone. so I wouldn't be able to switch back to my rose if I'm not feeling the shield.