Elite Buff: Shielded 1

Internal engine status effect. Standard elite variant of Shielded at tier 1 (weakest). Grants the elite enemy 3 Shield stacks that refresh at the start of each round, at the cost of -20% max health.

At 3 Shield stacks, this is the easiest Shielded tier to break through. Most cats can deplete this small Shield with basic attacks alone. However, the Shield still refreshes each round, so any unspent damage against the Shield is wasted if you do not also deal health damage in the same round.

Damage-over-time effects and Marked bypass Shield regardless of tier, though at tier 1 the Shield is thin enough that brute-forcing through it is also viable. The -20% max health trade-off makes the elite slightly squishier overall. Boss variants at tier 1 have 4 Shield stacks. The Shielded modifier scales up to tier 4 (9 stacks for standard elites, 16 for bosses).