Originally posted by RasaNova:

Yeah, they seem pointless. Slightly better blocking isn't worth the penalties. Now, if they had another advantage over small shields, such as reduced stamina drain... That might help to them flesh out a tank role.

The Serpent Shield kinda circumvents that by having the benefits of a tower shield without the usual penalties, but like fully upgraded troll gear and stagbreaker, I think it comes at a time in the game when it's already too late because your health/stamina pool are so high
& the black metal round shield is so strong that it's almost pointless.
Other than that, yeah, sadly tower shields are great decorations and somewhat useful when
soloing Yagluth.