The shields make me refund this game.

[Thedeadmemelord]

I have no regrets, I'm not gonna play a game where all of the enemies are immune to all attacks apart from specific items.
Unless the developers adds an option to disable these, I don't see any reason to play further.

[JollyGreenJack]

skill issue

there are SO MANY ways to deal with shields.

teleport them somewhere else with a trap or a swapper.
break a window and have them sucked out into space.
subvert the shield so if they shoot you their bullet bounces off the inside of their shield and kills them.
blow up that entire room, obliterating everyone and everything inside.
steal another ship and crash it into the one you're attacking.

it's not the dev's fault you have no imagination.

[Physical Theorist]

There's a contractor called "the soft target" who gives missions where nobody has armor or permanent shields. Higher difficulty missions from this contractor will still give everybody the activated shields so you'll have to deal with it sooner or later.

[JollyGreenJack]

Originally posted by Physical Theorist:

There's a contractor called "the soft target" who gives missions where nobody has armor or permanent shields. Higher difficulty missions from this contractor will still give everybody the activated shields so you'll have to deal with it sooner or later.

This. Soft Target missions are good for relaxed runs or early gameplay, but by the time you NEED to confront shielded enemies you should be very well equipped to do so or at least have reliable access to your solution of choice.

I'm partial to Crash Grenades, as well as the good ol' Visitor + Window routine.

[umad41]

Agreed, skill issue. Rechargable subverter or crash beam is like, mandatory, part of my kit. Or crash grenades, or you lure the enemy into the engine room, teleport out, blow up the room, then carry on. The game gives you SO MANY tools to handle shields actually

[dD_ShockTrooper]

You'll find that you don't actually need any specific items whatsoever to run past shielded goons, provided none of them are armed with shotguns. Well, assuming you're playing with mouse and keyboard, not a controller. You'll need to use the throw-running technique to get the precise movements required to dodge bullets at close range, pickpocket keycards at maximum distance, and round corners quickly.

Unless you get unlucky with room layout, it's surprisingly possible provided you have a non-gun object to throw. Guards who aren't currently looking at you or investigating where they thought they saw you will look at thrown objects. Teleport it back to your inventory when they're looking at the right spot and they'll continue staring blankly at that empty space where the object once was for several seconds. You can't use guns because they shoot when they bounce, which will set off alarms. The only issue is a shielded assassination/capture target if you fail the luck check and there's no good way to lure them to a window.

You can also use one guard's shield to deflect bullets flying at you from another's gun - typically one set of guards will see you before the others, and the others will turn towards those guards that fire at you instead of immediately turning around, provided you haven't also been spotted by them. So you can use the guards facing the wrong direction as a temporary shield before sprinting past down the next corridor, where you are hopefully far enough away to be able to dodge bullets.

This is a required skill for some daily challenges. Today's is an excellent example of getting unlucky with room layout and with shotgun guards (an auto-shotgun defender too!) - the first room is ludicrously difficult and after several attempts at trying to juke shotguns without a slipstream I ragequit when one guard threw another out the airlock along with my body, failing the the no harm objective. Still; if you can get past that room without losing any points, you could probably do anything. It's almost possible, I was very close on the first try.

[Laroche]

The variety of tools is the fun part... Go back and play call of duty, OP.

[Thedeadmemelord]

Originally posted by Laroche:

The variety of tools is the fun part... Go back and play call of duty, OP.

"Variety of tools" and it's 2 items that teleport enemies and a window.

[JollyGreenJack]

Originally posted by Thedeadmemelord:

Originally posted by Laroche:

The variety of tools is the fun part... Go back and play call of duty, OP.

"Variety of tools" and it's 2 items that teleport enemies and a window.

Subverters, turn enemy devices against eachother.
Crashers - come in traps you can place and devices you can aim - disable devices entirely.
Breach Grenades, destroy one entire square cell of any ship along with everything in it.

Windows, teleporters, other ships, the Foundry Brick, weapons that can penetrate shields.

Again, it's not the dev's fault you have no imagination.

[Rokk]

Originally posted by JollyGreenJack:

skill issue

there are SO MANY ways to deal with shields.

teleport them somewhere else with a trap or a swapper.
break a window and have them sucked out into space.
subvert the shield so if they shoot you their bullet bounces off the inside of their shield and kills them.
blow up that entire room, obliterating everyone and everything inside.
steal another ship and crash it into the one you're attacking.

it's not the dev's fault you have no imagination.

I actually had a somewhat similar experience, the game seemed pretty normal and doable but you can get some absolutely disgusting combinations of rooms and enemies, and then your run is just over if you get that on a Personal Mission. Like some of the layouts I have seen have made me question why you'd even play a run like that if you knew you were going to run into that

Yes, you can take out a few like you described. Pop a window, or teleport them outside with a Glitch Trap. Okay, so you've used your Glitch Trap. Now what? There's 5 guys left and you've already used up all your other "free" shield kills. Now what if there's 8 more people in the next set of rooms, 8 people all in tight patrols or formations, all with some combination of shields and armor, as well as very dangerous other effects mixed in such as glitch dashers?

Shields are lame and stupid because it's boring and is just a checklist check. You win if you have one of the items designed to auto-win against shields. You lose instantly if you don't. It's round peg into round hole, and that's it. The depth ends there. These enemies do not play the videogame. They aren't engaging with the videogame's mechanics. You're not smart for dealing with them. They're just an inventory tax.

[JollyGreenJack]

"they're just an inventory tax"

whoa dude items in a game need to be used? yeah nvm you're right refund it

[Rokk]

Originally posted by JollyGreenJack:

"they're just an inventory tax"

whoa dude items in a game need to be used? yeah nvm you're right refund it

They suck because that's all they are.

There is no strategy involved, you just have those items and these enemies become free. It's literally round peg round hole. It's boring.

[celesti]

try completing missions with the ghost rank - no alarms, no witnesses, no guards harmed. then whether a guard has shields or not won't matter anymore.

that should teach you a few tricks with items you've rarely used. you won't need weapons anymore so that's more space to experiment with your kit.

[DoesDoodles]

Unless you picked a "mistake" difficulty level Hijack mission with perma shields on both guards and bosses, you really shouldn't need to kill them all. Play it smart and adjust your loadout to a given contract, the game gives you up front contract info for a reason.

Stealth shields, sidewinders, swappers, visitors, traps, slipstreams, key cloners, all of them allow you to pick and choose your confrontations. A combination of these tools can allow you to sneak through even the largest ships in 5 in-game seconds with zero witnesses. Subverters and crash beams are useful for more than just shields, too. Hacking teleporters, jammers, doors, turrets, they're basically a standard part of my toolset.

And if you really do need to clear a whole ship full of shielded enemies, you still have plenty of options. Lure as many as you can into a room and crash grenade them. Lure them into a room and evict them with a breach grenade. Lure them into the engine room, blow up the engine and jettison them. Lure them into a window room and defenestrate them. There are almost always multiple strategies, and "shoot everything that moves" doesn't always belong to those options. This isn't Hotline Miami (and I love Hotline Miami).

As others have pointed out, the game even gives you plenty of room to rarely come into contact with shields. Contracts inform you beforehand, and the Soft Target offers a whole range of shield-free contracts. And if you do find yourself in a situation that you're not equipped for, you can always return to a nearby base and change your loadout, or even cancel the contract for zero cost.

So no, shields aren't inventory tax, they're a puzzle with a whole range of solutions.

[MarkedInRed]

If you have a rechargable crashbeam, subverter, or something to crash, you can always just recharge it by going back to the station during the mission. If you are on a mission with a jammer, you can use a long range or extreme range subverter to subvert the jamming modules, which make them permanently crash enemies that walk into them. Shields are easy to get around and if you could just take them out with any equipment, they would be useless. There's a reason that crashing effects exist, and it is specifically to counter shields.

[OctoberFox]

The best thing about this post is that the replies show just how incredibly versatile and flexible this game allows you to be. So many options presented, and still there are more to choose from. This thread ironically shows how great this game really is!