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ShieldGenerator Ingame

Shield Generator icon

Forms a continually regenerating protective energy shield around the vessel.

— In-Game Description

A shield generator comes with each ship by default, and upgrades can be found throughout the galaxy. It occupies an Internal Compartment slot. Note that not all ships will keep this shield generator mounted; many NPC ships carry no generator at all, as well as some player ships that are not intended to see combat such as mining or cargo vessels.

A ship with a shield generator is protected by an invisible force field that prevents damage to the hull, and the hull does not take damage from impact or weapon-fire so long as the shield is both powered and charged.

Shields can be depleted by being struck, and regenerate slowly while using Systems energy. If a ship's shields are entirely depleted, it will take time to recharge the generator enough to create the field again, a process that consumes stored Systems energy. Shields will not regenerate or reactivate if there is no stored Systems energy.

Larger classes of shield generator are designed to encase larger sizes and masses of vessel, and shields have a maximum rating of ship size they are able to generate a field around. Shield strength is determined by rating and current ship's mass. Below the optimum hull mass a shield is rated for, shields work at capacity. Above the optimum, shields work on a diminished capacity. Over a certain amount above a shield's optimum mass is a maximum amount it can protect, at which point the field isn't able to be created.

Increasing System pips will increase the strength of the ship's shields. It is thus advisable to switch to 4 pips just before taking damage to maximize the shield's durability.[verification needed] Currently pips do not appear to increase the recharge or reactivation rate of shields, given that your System still has available energy for the recharge process to consume.[1]

Specifications[]

Only one Shield Generator can be equipped on a ship at a time. The base shield strength is determined by the ship model.

Class Rating Mass
(T)
Integrity Power
Draw
Regen Rate Regen Rate (Broken) Minimum
Hull Mass
Optimal
Hull Mass
Maximum
Hull Mass
Value
(CR)
1 A 1.30 A 1.680 1.0 1.6 13 25 63 88,075
2 E 2.50 A 0.900 1.0 1.6 28 55 138 1,978
2 D 1.00 A 1.200 1.0 1.6 28 55 138 5,934
2 C 2.50 A 1.500 1.0 1.6 28 55 138 17,803
2 B 4.00 A 1.800 1.0 1.6 28 55 138 53,408
2 A 2.50 A 2.100 1.0 1.6 28 55 138 160,224
3 E 5.00 A 1.080 1.0 1.9 83 165 413 6,271
3 D 2.00 A 1.440 1.0 1.9 83 165 413 18,812
3 C 5.00 A 1.800 1.0 1.9 83 165 413 56,435
3 B 8.00 A 2.160 1.0 1.9 83 165 413 169,304
3 A 5.00 A 2.520 1.0 1.9 83 165 413 507,912
4 E 10.00 A 1.320 1.0 2.5 143 285 713 19,878
4 D 4.00 A 1.760 1.0 2.5 143 285 713 59,633
4 C 10.00 A 2.200 1.0 2.5 143 285 713 178,898
4 B 16.00 A 2.640 1.0 2.5 143 285 713 536,693
4 A 10.00 A 3.080 1.0 2.5 143 285 713 1,610,080
5 E 20.00 A 1.560 1.0 3.7 203 405 1,013 63,012
5 D 8.00 A 2.080 1.0 3.7 203 405 1,013 189,035
5 C 20.00 A 2.600 1.0 3.7 203 405 1,013 567,106
5 B 32.00 A 3.120 1.0 3.7 203 405 1,013 1,701,318
5 A 20.00 A 3.640 1.0 3.7 203 405 1,013 5,103,953
6 E 40.00 A 1.860 1.3 5.3 270 540 1,350 199,747
6 D 16.00 A 2.480 1.3 5.3 270 540 1,350 599,242
6 C 40.00 A 3.100 1.3 5.3 270 540 1,350 1,797,726
6 B 32.00 A 3.720 1.3 5.3 270 540 1,350 5,393,177
6 A 20.00 A 4.340 1.3 5.3 270 540 1,350 16,179,531
7 E 80.0 A 2.100 1.8 7.3 530 1,060 2,650 617,370
7 D 32.0 A 2.800 1.8 7.3 530 1,060 2,650 1,852,108
7 C 80.00 A 3.500 1.8 7.3 530 1,060 2,650 5,698,790
7 B 128.00 A 4.200 1.8 7.3 530 1,060 2,650 17,096,371
7 A 80.00 A 4.900 1.8 7.3 530 1,060 2,650 51,289,112
8 E 160.0 A 2.400 2.4 9.6 900 1,800 4,500 2,007,241
8 D 64.0 A 3.200 2.4 9.6 900 1,800 4,500 6,021,722
8 C 160.0 A 4.000 2.4 9.6 900 1,800 4,500 18,065,165
8 B 256.0 A 4.800 2.4 9.6 900 1,800 4,500 54,195,495
8 A 160.0 A 5.600 2.4 9.6 900 1,800 4,500 162,586,486

Resistances[]

All shield generators have the same base resistances, regardless of class or rating:

  • Explosive: 50%
  • Kinetic: 40%
  • Thermal: -20%

Class[]

  • Increases Power Draw
  • Determines the Minimum Mass, Optimal Mass and Maximum Mass.[2]
  • Does not directly provide a bonus in shield strength.[3]

Rating[]

Higher rating increases shield strength. Appears to be a 7.5% increase in shield strength per rating increase.[1]

  • D is ~7.5% stronger than E
  • C is ~15% stronger than E
  • B is ~22.5% stronger than E
  • A is ~30% stronger than E

Mass[]

Each ship has a base mass which is the main factor in determining how effective each shield type is. If the ship's base mass (doesn't include cargo or modules) is below the optimal then shield strength is increased by a modifier whereas if it is above optimal then the shield strength is decreased by a modifier.[4]

Calculating Shield Capacity[]

A shield's capacity can be determined by the following equation:[4]

SHIELD STRENGTH = BASE SHIELD STRENGTH * MODIFIER

MODIFIER is based upon the difference between a ship's Hull Mass and a shield's Optimal Hull Mass.

Thus it can be concluded that shields have fixed stats which are modified when applied to different ships.

A table with all precalculated values can be found here.[5]

Resistance stacking[]

It can sometimes be easier to think of a damage resistance as a damage multiplier - for example a resistance of 20% is equivalent to a damage multiplier of 0.8, 50% is equivalent to 0.5, -40% is equivalent to 1.4, etc.

When multiple sources of resistance are applied, the first step is that these damage multipliers are all multiplied together. Combining the 3 examples above would give 0.8*0.5*1.4 = 0.56 which is a damage resistance of 44%.

There is an additional step to prevent damage resistances stacking too far however - up to 50% resistance nothing further is done, but the range of 50-100% is remapped to 50-75%.  It is impossible to reach or exceed 75% static resistance to a damage type. To clarify with numbers, if you had a lot of sources of 20% damage resistance (Not something you can actually do in game, but it illustrates the maths easily), the final resistance value would end up being:

1 * 20% => 20%

2 * 20% => 36%

3 * 20% => 48.8%

4 * 20% => 54.5%

5 * 20% => 58.6%

6 * 20% => 61.9%

7 * 20% => 64.5%

8 * 20% => 66.6%

9 * 20% => 68.3%

10* 20% => 69.6%

There is no cap when stacking resistances that end up being a negative, so in the opposite direction damage increases can get a bit exponential!

This mechanic applies uniformly for all Players, AI, and anything else that takes damage.  Other sources of temporary damage modification (such as corrosive weapons, or the damage resistance from shield pips in the power distributor) stack multiplicatively with the final damage multiplier after the diminishing returns have been applied. Even allowing for this though, immunity to a damage type is not possible.[6]

Engineer Modifications[]

Modifications[]

The following modifications can be applied to this module by Engineers to enhance its abilities:

Experimental Effects[]

Notes[]

  • Engaging Silent Running instantly drops a ship's shields, and disengaging silent running will require the shields to recharge as though depleted. This can be alleviated by going into a "cool-running" mode instead.
  • Offline shields recharge rates depend on Class and type. Bi-Weave shields recharge quicker than Standard, Prismatic recharge slower than Standard. Higher Classes of each type recharge quicker.
  • Switching off any Shield Boosters once your shields are offline will get you back to 'shields online' quicker, but will take longer to regenerate to 100% total shields (generator + boosters).
  • Keeping your Shield Boosters on during offline recharging will take longer to get back to 'online' shields, but will reach 100% total shields faster.
  • The current shield health and resistances are displayed on the right HUD in the Status Panel > Statistics.
  • Class 1A Shield Generators are exclusively available at the Engineer's Workshops of Elvira Martuuk, Didi Vatermann, Lei Cheung and Mel Brandon.

Videos[]

Gallery[]

References[]

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