Are Shields Worthless against AN Attacks

[Corinthian]

Possibly in earlier versions of dominions, but not in the current. I have tested Piercers earlier and they always damage tower shielded troops.

But keep in mind that most tower shielded troops are size 2. If there are only 2 of them in a square then there is a 33% chance that the bolt will hit the third, non-existent soldier.

[Knai]

There are some edge cases. The Shield of Gleaming gold is still useful against melee AN Attacks, due to the awe effect. It doesn't matter if the attack is AN if they don't hit you with it first. The Vine Shield is good for basically the same reason, though it gets there through entanglement and not awe. Then there is the Lucky Coin. However your bog standard shield, Black Steel shield, Barrier, etc. are all basically worthless against AN. In some cases, they are actively counterproductive.

[JonBrave]

...Sheesh, this game is complicated.....