Shield generator

A shield generator is a component which generates a protective energy barrier around a ship in Star Citizen. Shields deflect projectiles, explosions, debris, and certain shields restrict the movement of air.^[1]

Shield Generators serve as an essential middle step to the generation of a protective shield, transforming power received from a power plant into a form of energy suitable for projection by shield emitters as a protective field. A ship can actively operate two shield generators at a time, with any spare generators forming a reserve to come online when an active generator goes down.^[2] When impacted with energy (such as an energy weapon), shields absorbs the incoming energy, weakening the shield in the process but protecting the ship.^[1] Only when the shields are downed will the incoming energy inflict damage upon the ship's hull. Shields are effective against ballistic projectiles but will only absorb a significant fraction of the projectiles' damage potential, the remainder penetrating to reach the ship's hull.^[1] Shield generators come in multiple sizes, and have varying levels of segmentation (single 'bubble', front/back, quadrant, etc.).^[1]

• Civilian: Average stats across the board. Reliable and easy to maintain.^[3]
• Competition: Excellent shield regeneration and a rather quick reboot after collapse, but with lower max health. Perfect for hit-and-run or short, reactive engagements.^[3]
• Industrial: The highest health pool among all classes. However, regeneration is slow and reboot time after collapse is long. It is best to tank a lot of incoming damage.^[3]
• Military: Strong in both health and regen, making it the go-to for direct combat. Downsides include a longer reboot after collapse.^[3]
• Stealth: The lowest health and regen rate but reboots extremely quickly. Great for skirmishes or situations where you need to get in and out fast.^[3]

• A: The best possible performance, usually has an additinal Sub Item slot.^[4]
• B: A good upgrade to performance, may have an additional Sub item slot.^[4]
• C: The standard item for most ships be default, average performance.^[4]
• D: Lower grade, generally makes up the NPC/AI populace, good for emergency use to get through troubles.^[4]

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• Rapid Charge shields with low recharge delay and high recharge value, offset by weaker base shields with lower HP. They are often found in racing ships.^[5]
• Durable Item shields have reinforced components with strong component HP and boosted shield HP at the expense of a higher signal. They are often found in industrial ships.^[5]
• Direct Damage Shell shields have Improved direct fire absorption with reduced splash damage absorb. They are often found in civilian ships.^[5]
• Splash Damage Guard shields have Improved splash damage absorption with reduced direct fire absorb. They are often found in civilian ships.^[5]
• Second Skin shields have Improved overall damage absorption with higher power draw. They are often found in military ships.^[5]
• Hard Light shields have substantially improved shield HP and absorption with increased Heat generation. They are often found in military ships.^[5]
• Phalanx shields are point defense shields that provides a very strong but limited protective face. They are mostly found in Tevarin ships.^[6] They have 100% ballistic absorption and massively increased shield hardening ability.^[7]
• Airshields are energy barriers that trap air while allowing other objects to pass through.

During the First Tevarin War, human ship technology was relegated to launch tubes for fighters and isolated personnel carriers for troop deployment out of atmosphere, an unwieldy and time-consuming process. While the Humans were dragged down by their technology, the Tevarin were freed by theirs. Localized airshields along the body of the main Tevarin dropship allowed the Tevarin elite Naulle to move from ship to space without needing to open a door, which permitted the dropship to move quickly and quietly. After the defeat of Tevarin in the war, the study and use of these airshields on the dropship unlocked vast technological advances in Human development, many of which are still in daily usage today.^[8]