Energy shielding

Energy Shields are an important piece of technology in The Halo Universe that protect the users from harm, if only for a short time.

Summary
Energy Shields, which are generated by MJOLNIR armor or the Elite's armor, provide the user with an extra layer of armor protecting him against small arms fire. The shields however will collapse after taking multiple shots. It will protect the user's Health from damage until it is depleted, and it will regenerate after a while, provided that the user is not injured during this time. Be forewarned, although the shield protects your health, it doesn't render you invincible. Pay attention to your shield meter, and if it is depleted, seek cover until it regenerates. Also, it will not protect you from everything, and rockets, grenades, sniper bullets, and some other weapons such as the needler may shred right through it. It also seems that the shielding is more vulnerable to plasma-based weaponry (e.g. the Covenant Plasma Pistol, especially overcharged) than to ballistic weaponry (e.g. the UNSC Assault Rifle).

In Halo: Combat Evolved it is shown at the top-right corner of the screen, in Halo 2 it is in the bottom-left, and in Halo 3 the top-center. They have been changed since Halo: CE by making it charge faster and more resistant.

Human Energy Shielding


Humans first began using energy shields with the production of the MJOLNIR Mark V powered assault armor and later the Mark VI. It uses a reversed engineered Jackal Personal Arm Shield that has been modified into a full body shield, much like a Covenant Elite's. Unlike the Covenant Elite Personal Energy Shield, when the human shield takes damage it glows gold. The Covenant ones glow blue. The color difference is speculated to be because of the two technologies being different.

Although the shields of MJOLNIR armor are very resilient, they can be stripped in seconds if you're not careful. Plasma weapons are especially effective against MJOLNIR shields. This seems to be a natural weakness of energy shielding. Plasma Rifles, Plasma Pistols, and Plasma Cannons are all very good at depleting the MJOLNIR's shields.

Covenant Energy Shielding
Unlike the humans, the Covenant have a very extensive knowledge of shielding equipment and it's uses. Examples of this excellent understanding are everywhere. Elite Personal Energy Shields, Jackal Point Defense Gauntlets, Stationary Shield Generators, Portable Shield Generator, Shield Doors, and Starship Shields are just some of the basic examples. The greatest example of the Covenant's understanding is that of body shielding, as all Elites, with the exception of Stealth Elites in Halo 1, use it.

Also, the Covenant have discovered how to run Active Camo and Shielding at the same time. Even Tartarus and the Prophet of Regret were equipped with a personal shield. Regret's shield, presumably projected by his Gravity Throne, was very similar to the bubble shield. It deflected all forms of projectile, plasma, and explosive weaponry and never depleted. It was also similar in that one could simply walk through the shield. It was this that allowed the Master Chief to kill Regret.

It is also said that the covenant has a harder time reverse-engineering technology unlike the human because of their religious beliefs and other factors.

Covenant Starship Shielding
The only known starships to have shields are Covenant ships. All Covenant vessels are protected by a highly resistant energy shield that can recharge over time. Covenant Starships shield's are a light-gray color. The shields can take a vast amount of punishment, and can recharge very quickly. They can absorb anything including hundreds of Archer Missiles and even a Shiva nuclear missile(although shiva nukes will usually deplete their shields making them vulnerable to mac and archer missile fire). The only UNSC weapons capable of penetrating a Starships Shields is the MAC cannon and nuclear weapons. The only known weakness of Starship shields is that when the vessel fires its plasma weapons, the ship needs to drop a section of its shields for a fraction of a second.

Forerunner Energy Shielding
In both of the Halo campaigns the player encounters several Sentinels that are equipped with energy shields, possibly suggesting that the Covenants shielding technology is based off of Forerunner designs, and in turn the humans as well (As human shielding technology is based off of Covenant designs). Their shields are about equal to an Elite's. The Enforcer is also energy shielded, and can absorb more damage than a normal Sentinel. The shield, which only guards the front area of the machine, is nearly immune to ballistic weapons, similar to the Jackal shield, but is weak against plasma weapons. It is also very strong, capable of withstanding up to three Scorpion shells or two Wraith shots. In the novel, Ghosts of Onyx, a group of Spartan-IIIs encounter a unique type of sentinel. One of their primary advantages is a gold-colored Energy Shield that is completely resistant to all projectiles much like the UNSC Bubble Shield. However it shares the same weakness: slow moving projectiles (such as rocks, people, and vehicles) pass straight through it.

Energy Shields in Multiplayer
Like in Campaign shields protect you for a short time from small arms. However in Multiplayer, you can have 50%, 100%, 200%, 300%, 500%, 1000%, 2000% shield, or none at all. Both Elites and Spartans have the same amount of shielding. A players shields can be further augmented if they pick up a Regenerator or Overshields. If a player deploys a Bubble Shield he/she will be protected from weapons fire by a spherical energy shield.

Related Links

 * MJOLNIR Armor
 * Elite Personal Energy Shield
 * Jackal Point Defense Gauntlet
 * Bubble Shield
 * Overshields
 * Regenerator
 * Stationary Shield Generator
 * Portable Shield Generator