Resist Shield

Resist Shield is an active ability available to the Heavy Assault. It is unlocked and upgraded using Certification Points.

When activated, the ability applies a damage resistance overshield to the user, reducing the damage they take from all damage types by 35%. The shield's duration varies based on the levels of the ability, and it takes up to 15 seconds to recharge at all levels.

The damage reduction effect provided by the overshield does not stack with other similar effects, such as that from the Nanoweave Armor and Flak Armor suit slot enhancements or the Response Jacket implant. However, unlike these effects, the reduction provided by Resist Shield also reduces the damage dealt by headshots where applicable, rather than only applying to body and legshots.

To activate this ability, press the Use Ability hotkey ( by default).

Effects
Resist Shield can last up to 15 seconds, based on the level of the ability, with higher levels reducing the energy drained per second. Activating the overshield instantly drains a small amount of energy.

While the overshield is active, the user's movement speed will be slowed by 25% in all stances.

Resist Shield recharges from empty to full in 15 seconds, with an additional 3.5 second penalty incurred before recharging begins if the overshield's energy is expended while the ability is active.

Certification
"Generates a decaying shield of nanites around the soldier that mitigates 35% damage instead of preventing it. Damage taken does not cause this shield to drain more quickly."

Related Implants
Resist Shield benefits from a wide variety of implant's effects, including some that interact specifically with overshields.
 * -|Assimilate=

Assimilate
Assimilate is an uncommon implant that immediately restores the listed amount of shielding to the user whenever they are awarded with a headshot kill. At rank 5, the effect additionally restores 10% of the user's ability energy, if applicable. Assimilate's rank 5 effect will restore 10% of 's energy, even if the ability is active. As Resist Shield's energy drain is reduced when upgraded, the net benefit of Assimilate improves at higher levels of the ability.


 * -|Failsafe=

Failsafe
Failsafe is a rare implant that causes the user to instantly restore the listed amount of their ability energy whenever their shields are depleted. At rank 5, the implant will deal 150 damage to any hostile who deals damage to the player using a melee weapon while the implant's standard effect is on cooldown, though this effect cannot kill. The implant's effect will restore the listed amount of 's energy, even if the ability is active.


 * -|Mobility Mesh=

Mobility Mesh
Mobility Mesh is a Heavy Assault-specific implant that reduces the movement speed penalty suffered while an overshield is active by the listed percentage. At rank 5, the implant also increases the user's base sprint speed while an overshield is active by 10%. As Resist Shield imposes the same movement speed penalty on the user while active as any other overshield, it works as expected with this implant, reducing the severity of the movement speed reduction effect by up to 25%, based on the rank of the implant.


 * -|Nanomesh Specialist=

Nanomesh Specialist is a Heavy Assault-specific implant that reduces the rate at which the user's overshield depletes over time by the listed amount, with increased potency if the user is stationary. At rank 5, the user's personal shield will continue its recharge cycle even if their overshield is active. Due to Resist Shield's duration being solely tied to its energy drain, Nanomesh Specialist can greatly increase the duration of the overshield. Thanks to the reduction in energy drain, a Heavy Assault using Nanomesh Specialist at ranks 4 or 5 will see the ability's potential duration increase to 75 seconds, if the user remains stationary while the overshield is active. The implant's rank 5 effect works as expected with the overshield.

History

 * Game Update Number 8 (2013-05-02)
 * The resist shield duration will now correctly increase with each cert rank.
 * Performance Update Number 2 (2013-12-17)
 * Nanoweave no longer stacks with the Heavy Assault’s Resist Shield ability. This was not intentional and it was granting the Heavy Assault too much survivability when compared to all other classes
 * ESF Update January 16, 2014
 * Added following resist types to Heavy Assault Resist Shield:
 * Vehicle Grenades
 * Vehicle Shotguns
 * VS Vortex AV: C3
 * VS Vortex AV: C2
 * Liberator Indirect Damage
 * Lancer AV
 * Anti Aircraft Machine Gun
 * Flak Projectile
 * Patch February 13, 2014
 * The effect for the Heavy Assault resist shield will stay on for the entire duration of the ability.
 * March 5, 2014 Patch
 * Heavy Assault Resist Shield and Nanoweave now properly resist Aircraft Machine Gun resist type.
 * November 12, 2014 Hotfix
 * Bugs Fixed
 * Heavy Assault: Resist Shield: Actual duration and tooltip descriptions are inconsistent
 * June 17, 2015 Update
 * Resist Shield now resists melee damage
 * January 14, 2016 Update
 * Resists for Small Arms, Melee, and Anti-Vehicle projectiles decreased from 45% to 40%.
 * Increased active duration by 50%.
 * November 18, 2016 Hotfix
 * Resist Shield effects received minor visual adjustments.
 * September 26, 2017 Update (Critical Mass) / (Undocumented Changes)
 * Damage mitigation amount from 40% to 35%
 * February 8, 2018 Update
 * Nanoweave Armor no longer prevents Resist Shield from protecting against headshot damage.
 * August 29, 2018 Hotfix
 * Symbiote's resistance bonus no longer stacks with Resist Shield.
 * April 28, 2021 Update (Containment Sites)
 * Heavy Assault shield visuals have been adjusted in first person to make them more visible.