Shields are used by Raiders to negate incoming damage while Topside. Some shields reduce mobility for the upside of increased protection. Augments are needed to wear the higher end shields.
| Name | Image | Description | Shield Charge | Damage Mitigation | Movement Penalty | Compatible With | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Light Shield |  | A lightweight shield that blocks a small portion of incoming damage without impacting mobility. | 40 | 40% | NONE | All Augments | 5.0 |
| Medium Shield |  | A standard shield that blocks a medium portion of incoming damage at a moderate cost to mobility. | 70 | 42.5% | 5% Reduced Movement Speed | Tactical MK.1 Combat MK.1 Tactical MK.2 Combat MK.2 Tactical MK.3 (Healing) Combat MK.3 (Aggressive) | 7.0 |
| Heavy Shield |  | A heavy shield that blocks a large portion of incoming damage, but carries a significant cost to mobility. | 80 | 52.5% | 15% Reduced Movement Speed | Combat MK.2 Combat MK.3 (Aggressive) Tactical MK.3 (Defensive) | 9.0 |
Notes
Each blue segment in the shield bar equals 10 shield charge. Shields aren’t extra HP; instead, they redirect part of incoming damage into shield charge loss.
Every free loadout comes with a Light Shield.
If you’ve unlocked the Weight perk in the Conditioning skill tree, it reduces the movement-speed penalty from Medium and Heavy shields.
Damage calculation
As long as your shield has at least 1 charge, it provides full damage mitigation. For example, even with only 1 charge left, getting hit by a Ferro is reduced exactly as if the shield were fully charged. Mitigation only stops once the shield charge reaches 0.
Let Y be the weapon’s base (body) damage.
- Shield charge is reduced by Y (headshot multipliers don’t matter here — shields always lose base body damage).
- Your HP is reduced by Y after applying the shield’s deflection rate (e.g., 40% on a Light Shield).
Example
A Ferro body shot deals 40 base damage.
With a Light Shield (40% deflection) and 1+ charge remaining:
- Shield charge loss: 40
- HP damage taken: 24 (instead of 40)
Headshot case
If a Ferro headshot deals 100 damage:
- Shield charge loss is still 40 (base damage only)
- HP damage taken: 60 (100 reduced by 40%)
Bottom line: shield charge always absorbs base damage, while HP damage is calculated from the final hit after deflection.
Shield Durability
Once shield charge hits 0, the shield starts losing durability.
At 100 durability, a shield can usually handle about 5 full charge break cycles before reaching 0 durability and breaking:
- Light Shield: 40 → 0 charge five times (or 20 → 0 ten times)
- Heavy Shield: 80 → 0 charge five times
There’s a tiny amount of variance, so sometimes a shield may end up with 1 durability left after five full depletions.