Shield

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Module

Shield

Shields are an advanced defense technology. Once activated, they produce a large blue bubble around the spacecraft and protect that vessel from attacks. They also prevent any transporter beams from affecting the spacecraft.

Protection

Hull allocated to shields provides a set amount of protection for the ship. This amount is then divided between the 6 sides of the ship.

All attacks are completely absorbed by that specific side until the damage exceeds the absorption, and is then projected onto the hull itself. Shields can be diverted from other parts of the spacecraft to restore that particular section, however NPC crewmembers simply balance out the 6 sides until there is no shield energy remaining. Shields are hardened against attacks like hull armor is, so level 10 armor will apply its resistance to the shield as well.

Transporter beams are blocked as long as all shield sections have at least the strength of 2.

Ballistic turrets hitting a shield.

Recharge Rate

Shield regeneration is a fixed rate. Low power shields recharge rather quickly, within the range of 1-5m for 5k per side. However massive shielding (100k per side) can take up to 30 minutes to fully charge, leading to the belief that regeneration is not improved with QL. Regardless, each shield unit draws a moderate amount of power while it charges, so caution should be used on ships with weapon bays in combat.

Destabilization

When damage causes a shield to drop to zero, it gets 10 seconds of destabilization time.

Shield Types

There are 3 types of shields.

Energy Shield

Energy shields are 100% effective vs energy damage and only 80% effective vs kinetic damage.

Kinetic Shield

Kinetic shields are 100% effective vs kinetic damage and only 80% effective vs energy damage.

Such as ballistic weapons and rocket-propelled weapons.

Stealth Shield

Stealth shield module reduces the distance at which the ship can be detected on sensors. The effectiveness of the stealth shield depends on the quality of the module.[1]

The shield is only 80% effective vs kinetic and energy damage.

Quotes from patch notes

Related patch notes

2018-07-10 Shields: Military Shield Projector Military shield projector building is now operational. Shield bubble appears at the proper radius; it was previously incorrect. Shield protects its contents where they literally reside inside the bubble. Parts of buildings that extend outside the bubble can be targeted. Shield projector recharges its capacitors every 10 seconds. Energy is taken from power plants connected by ground. 2018-07-10 Shields: The Bubble is the Shield Previously, shields were treated as surface armor. The bubble was there only as a visual cue that shields were present. This was confusing to players who perceived the bubble to be the shield itself. Now, the bubble is the shield. This caused some things to change. Shields block weapon fire that originates outside the bubble. Weapons hit on the shield bubble, not the hull. Shields do not block weapon fire that originates inside the bubble. Weapons inside the shield can fire outward. Shields do not block explosives used to open doors because the blast originates inside the shield. This is a change from old style ships, where hull doors were protected by shields. Shields block objects that enter the shield too fast. An object is blocked if it enters the shield with a speed greater than 150m/s relative to the shield. This one is going to kill some people. Shields do not block objects moving around inside the shield or moving from inside to outside the shield. Shields block missiles, rockets and bombs that enter the bubble. They explode on the shield surface. Shrapnel does not hit shield contents. Bombs that hit shields do not make craters in nearby terrain. Shields absorb blasts and collisions. The protected ship cannot be pushed by hitting the shield. Incendiary, acid, etc. weapons that explode on the shield do not inflict the protected ship with fire or acid. 2018-07-10 Shields: Shield Hit Effect The hit effect on the shield bubble was not working. It is fixed. You will now see an orange glow at the point of impact on the shield. 2018-07-10 Shields: Shield Transparency Shields now become more transparent as their energy is reduced. On spacecraft, sides of the shield bubble are transparent according to energy at each side of the shield. On buildings, shields do not have sides and the entire shield bubble uniformly becomes more or less transparent.