Editing Shield

'''Shield''' is a temporary extra health layer that absorbs damage before HP is affected.

[[File:HUD_Shield.png|thumb|right|Shield is visible as an orange overlay on top of your health]]
[[File:Ingame_Shield.png|thumb|right|The same health and shield bar is visible above all ships in game]]

== How to gain Shield ==
You can gain Shield in several ways:
* Some abilities grant Shield.
* If you use '''Repair''' and the healing exceeds your total HP, the excess is converted into Shield.
* The [[Barrier Dynamo]] weapon generates Shield when it triggers its special.

Shield can never exceed your ship’s max HP, but you can have more Shield than your current HP.

Note: The amount of Shield gained is reduced by [[Status Effects|Corruption]], a Status Effect that weakens healing and Shield gain.

== Natural Shield Decay ==
If you don't gain any new Shield for 7 seconds, your Shield will begin to decay naturally. This decay rapidly drains your Shield over a few seconds.  
Gaining new Shield resets this timer and stops the decay.

== Shield Decay (Status Effect) ==
'''Shield Decay''' is a [[Status Effects|Status Effect]] applied by certain enemy abilities.  
While active, it causes your Shield to decay continuously, even if you gain new Shield.  
The effect ends only when the debuff duration expires.

== Notable ships that use shield ==

* [[Prism]] manipulates Shield in multiple ways: it steals Shield from enemies, gains Shield when pulling with [[Prism#Polarity Bond|Polarity Bond]], and can grant Shield to allies. Prism can also convert Shield into damage with [[Prism#Prismatic Shield|Prismatic Shield]].
* [[Stingray]] gains Shield from all of its abilities and relies on maintaining high Shield through aggressive play. Don’t underestimate a low HP Stingray — it can turn a fight around by rapidly stacking Shield.
* [[Mosaic]] gains shield from its abilities and uses shield to scale its healing capabilities
* [[Sampan]] can gain Shield using the Striker augment on Wind in a Bottle, granting Shield for each nearby enemy.