What can I do to prevent my shields from being taken down so fast?

[Astrostars2025]

I have an [Elite Fleet Adaptive Covariant Shield Array Mk XV [Adapt] [Cap]x2 [Cp/Rg] [Reg]] that is at max level (gold, epic quality). In my skill tree shield hardness is at max. Yet for some reason my shield drops REALLY fast, and I can't figure out why. I don't have any shield consoles, only tactical ones.

[ImperatorPavel]

What are you flying? Shield strength varies by ship, and there's other things like NPC Tetryon procs that could be nuking your shields too.

If you're losing power to your ship's Shields subsystem (like when that subsystem is disabled) then that'll cause issues with your shields as well.

[x1Heavy]

I use the Iconian Kit. That kit auto brings back anything bricked online again without me having to worry about it.

Depending on what I equipt the ship with in terms of consoles and so on it can be very hard to hurt the shields.

Even then I tend to carry armor and other things to help the hull because I generally tank. If I fly a warship so big its not going to dance around little fast fighter pilots I can delete them. And if I did run into something really big I can tank them and avoid that thing deleting my fighterpilot little ship human teammates.

You usually find me next to or nearest the really big enemy inside the cloud of many enemies. One of us will come out of there.

In the ship task bar at the bottom of the screen, I keep several commands. One of these is the secondary shields. Its worth the trouble to have them. Combined with the special armor alloy and the deternium consumable device you can make do without shields for a little while.

You can have a ship build with a billion shield points and there lies the problem. Most weapons will penetrate them hurting your hull.

STO is a aging game product. And a goodie. But not a true simulation. Space combat is by and large kept... somewhat simple.

[Eggy]

A bit of advice, if your shields are going down, then you need to keep moving and TURNING to spread the fire out over as many shield facings as possible.

Also, if this is happening vs a specific enemy or weapon type, that would point you in the direction of an answer. Enemy tractor beams will drain shields faster, plasma fires will keep them from rebuilding for a period of time, etc.

[Jaq]

I'm so fed up with Borg Spheres and Terran Science Vessels deleting my shields that I've started carrying Jam Sensors I just to shut their Tachyon Beams off. But that only helps when fighting one at a time. If it was possible, I might actually consider putting something other than a shield in my shield slot and setting shield power to 0. In fact, if they're running out of ideas for new space sets, how about quad cannons that go in the shield slot and use shield power? Then I'll just carry more hull healing abilities to compensate, and actually use the ensign tactical slot for something other than Tactical Team.

[That Crazy Squirrel]

Originally posted by STARMAN20290:

I have an [Elite Fleet Adaptive Covariant Shield Array Mk XV [Adapt] [Cap]x2 [Cp/Rg] [Reg]] that is at max level (gold, epic quality). In my skill tree shield hardness is at max. Yet for some reason my shield drops REALLY fast, and I can't figure out why. I don't have any shield consoles, only tactical ones.

There's nothing you can do about to that, just make peace with the fact that it'll happen.
The only way to keep your shields from going down is to one-shot everything before they can fire on you.

[Crowbot]

From what I gather your shields are always going to go down so you should build with that in mind. I've seen arguments for having DPS so high they die before they can do much damage and others for hull tanking. I'm no expert so you'll have to decide which is the best option for you.

[davidleetcu]

Shields are not a reliable defence on their own but are very useful for surviving torpedo volleys.

As the previous posters have said;

The Iconians tend to knock your systems online so you spend some time motionless and helpless unless your build accounts for this.

Enemies in Science vessel will strip your shields.

Personally, I find my shields drop and bounce back up very quickly because of my build and playstyle.

In the brief seconds that my shields are down my hull only takes a few scratches, my little escort ship feels almost invulnerable in all but the toughest battles.

I would be happy to show you online, my in game handle is @slobby2000 I don't feel like writing a giant wall of text explaining my build, it's easier to show in game.

[davidleetcu]

Weird, my previous post has gone missing.

Anyway I'd be happy to help anyone who is struggling with the game, I can be contacted online, you can find me @slobby2000.

My main character flies a little escort ship and I feel invulnerable in all but the toughest fights.

Basically the other posters are correct except shields are still useful. I'd be happy to show you how to turn your ship from a redshirt to a hero with plot armour.

[x1Heavy]

Sheilds are ok. When paired with Pilot skill and you can roll the damn thing, other possibilities open up in battle at full impulse.

That led to plasma trail three combined with speed booster. Choke them while laying mines.

Ive sat on big dreadnoughts, gas them into a cloud and then deploy the big green bubble around them.

If its the Crystaline enemy, you find me way up above it. So its blast wave is a minor annoyance.

I could build for DPM with dakka. But thats something I'll have to put together. Tac Cubes are my problem generally.

My favorite tool is the Miranda. It shows up when summoned and feeds the warship when things look pretty bad.

[Jaynoble55]

Originally posted by Orgunis:

Originally posted by STARMAN20290:

I have an [Elite Fleet Adaptive Covariant Shield Array Mk XV [Adapt] [Cap]x2 [Cp/Rg] [Reg]] that is at max level (gold, epic quality). In my skill tree shield hardness is at max. Yet for some reason my shield drops REALLY fast, and I can't figure out why. I don't have any shield consoles, only tactical ones.

There's nothing you can do about to that, just make peace with the fact that it'll happen.
The only way to keep your shields from going down is to one-shot everything before they can fire on you.

But there is, you just have spend hundreds on loot boxs to get it.

[VoodooMike]

Originally posted by x1Heavy:

STO is a aging game product. And a goodie. But not a true simulation. Space combat is by and large kept... somewhat simple.

How do "true" force fields work, exactly?

Originally posted by Crowbot:

From what I gather your shields are always going to go down so you should build with that in mind. I've seen arguments for having DPS so high they die before they can do much damage and others for hull tanking. I'm no expert so you'll have to decide which is the best option for you.

That's pretty much the truth - shields are a weak form of defense in STO, and you should assume they will be taken down during serious battles. Hull healing is the stronger form of defense and has been for several years.

Originally posted by Jaynoble55:

But there is, you just have spend hundreds on loot boxs to get it.

Only someone who hasn't done so would believe this bitter comment to be true.

Regardless of what consoles and traits you have access to, your shields are going to be burned down by stronger enemies. Traits like "Automated Shield Alignment" can recover chunks of shield fast enough to make them available to soak some damage at all times if you're in a cloud of smaller, easily killed enemies, but you can't guarantee that in all situations.

[Vulpis]

Have you tried not getting hit? :-) Okay, smart-a**ery aside, a useful tactic sometimes is to bring along friends, in either PC or summoned-NPC flavors, to get shot at instead of you...or at the very least, shot at at a rate that lets you recover some between hits.

[andreasaspenberg575]

you could try to install some mark 15 shield consoles.

[Eggy]

Fly or die. Keep moving and turning to spread the damage out over all of the shield facings. Use Redistribute Shields to do just that.

Pay attention to the energy types that are giving you the most trouble. I find the Borg plasma weapons cause quite a bit of grief.

ALL of your equipment has a potential to help - impulse engines, warp core, deflector and various consoles all offer secondary traits that can increase regen rate, shield capacity and hardness.

[Eggy]

You might want to browse your ship and character traits to see if there is any benefit hiding there. We've seen these get unchecked a few times in the past, so that might have happened to you.