Protected

Protected grants the elite enemy 1 stack of Divine Shield (Holy Shield) and regenerates it at the end of each turn if it has been broken. The enemy also has its maximum health reduced by 20% to compensate. Divine Shield absorbs damage completely, meaning the first hit each turn deals zero damage to the enemy's actual health. After the shield is broken by any attack, it regenerates when the turn cycle ends, forcing your team to break it again next turn.

Protected is most frustrating against teams with low attack frequency, since each turn requires at least one attack just to pop the Divine Shield before any real damage can be dealt. Single-target burst builds waste their biggest hit on the shield. Protected on enemies with high health regeneration or other defensive buffs creates a layered defense that is extremely time-consuming to chip through. In multi-enemy encounters, spending an extra attack per turn on the Protected elite reduces your team's ability to handle other threats.

Multi-hit abilities are the ideal counter since the first hit pops the Divine Shield and subsequent hits deal real damage. Abilities that hit multiple times in a single action are extremely efficient against Protected enemies. Damage-over-time effects like Poison or Burn can pop the shield at the start of the enemy's turn, leaving it vulnerable to your attacks. Status effects that bypass shields also work well. The 20% health reduction means that once you consistently break through the shield, the elite actually dies faster than a normal enemy would.