Editing Armour and Shields (section)

==Shields==
[[Shields]] are [[:Category:Designed Systems|designed systems]], and therefore must be designed and researched before becoming available in the class design screen. They must be activated manually and use [[Fuel Storage|fuel]] when active. In overall ship defense, the shields act as a buffer between the armour and incoming weapons fire. They absorb damage up to their rating and are slowly recharged, recharging speed depending on technology researched.  Shield components scale linearly as more are added (unlike armour, which increases in cost and weight per layer added) and provide consistent protection over the entirety of the ship in contrast to the per-area protection of armour.

For a complete listing of shield technologies and their effects, please visit the shield [[Shields|component page]].

Shields will block all weapons except for [[Mesons]] until depleted, and unlike armour will block [[High-Powered Microwave]]s, albeit at a 3x damage multiplier.  [[Shock Damage]] from attacks is also absorbed by shields.  Their strength-per-HS is vastly inferior to armour, but their passive regeneration enables a potentially much larger capability to absorb damage as long as the overall strength of the shields is not depleted.  When activated, shields begin charging from zero strength at their normal charging rate.  It is therefore possible to be caught at a tactical disadvantage if shields are not activated well prior to engaging in combat.  However, this carries the strategic disadvantage of broadcasting your position to passive [[EM Sensor]]s, as shields increase the EM signature of their ship by an amount equal to three times their strength.

Unlike armour, shields may be prefabricated separately using [[Construction Factory|construction factories]], considerably reducing a ship's overall build time.

Shields cannot be used inside of [[Nebulae]].