Shield

Shield is a stackable defensive buff that absorbs incoming damage on a one-for-one basis. Each point of Shield absorbs 1 point of damage before health is affected, and the Shield stack count decreases by the amount of damage absorbed. Shield does not regenerate on its own unless refreshed by abilities or items, making it a finite defensive resource that must be actively maintained. Shield is one of the primary defensive mechanics in the game.

Critically, Shield does not block all damage types. Burn, Bleed, and Poison damage all bypass Shield entirely, dealing damage directly to health. The Marked debuff also causes physical attacks to ignore Shield. These bypass mechanics mean Shield alone is not sufficient defense against damage-over-time effects or Marked targets. The Shielded elite buff grants scaling Shield to enemies that refreshes at the start of each round (3/5/7/9 by chapter for normal enemies, 4/8/12/16 for bosses), at the cost of -20% max health.

Shield stacks from multiple sources and can be built up to large values with the right items and abilities. Against Shielded enemies, focus on damage-over-time effects (which bypass Shield) or apply Marked to ignore it entirely. For defensive builds, Shield pairs well with Brace (which reduces damage before Shield absorbs it) and Constitution Up (which increases the health pool behind the Shield). Holy Shield is a separate, more powerful variant that blocks damage in a different way.