Is there a way to reduce the amount of damage taken done by the TakeDamage method?

From your blocking script, you can check if the player/NPC the weapon attacks, has a shield / whatever your game utilizes to block, and deal less damage. For example:

This is a Script (server) inside a sword.

local debounce = false

script.Parent.Blade.Touched:Connect(function(part)
    if not debounce then
        debounce = true
        local sh = part.Parent:FindFirstChild(“Shield”)

        if not sh and part.Parent ~= script.Parent.Parent then 
            sh.Parent.Humanoid:TakeDamage(25)
        elseif sh and part.Parent ~= script.Parent.Parent then
            sh.Parent.Humanoid:TakeDamage(10) 
        end

        wait(2) 
        debounce = false
    end
end)

I didn’t event check for a humanoid, since if a player equips the shield, their character obviously will have a humanoid. If an NPC equips it, the NPC needs a humanoid to do so, so it will have a humanoid and needs one to work. I also made sure the player can’t self inflict damage. Hope this helps.