I've had a lot of games land on my desk...

[Rosencrantz]

You start off with a wooden shield. Which as you use starts to break, and can be set on fire. If it breaks, you go buy a new one. If you pick up the right materials, you can increase its durability, but if it gets set on fire, it's gone again... And the store is back in town, which you have to back track to get to, which is a fucking chore.

That's incredibly lame.

How far are you into the game? This sounds like an excuse for them to give you a more legitimate shield that won't break halfway into the game.