Elite Buff: Shielded 2 (Boss)

Internal engine status effect. Boss-specific variant of the Shielded elite buff at tier 2. Grants the boss 8 Shield stacks that refresh at the start of each round, at the cost of -20% max health.

At 8 Shield stacks, this moderate tier is manageable with focused damage but still requires conscious effort to break through each round. Burn, Bleed, Poison, and Marked all bypass Shield, making them highly efficient. The Shield refreshes at round start, so coordinate damage to maximize health damage within each round.

The -20% max health trade-off means the boss is squishier once past the Shield barrier. Standard elite versions at tier 2 have 5 Shield stacks instead. Higher tiers (3 and 4) have significantly more Shield, scaling up to 16 for tier 4 bosses.