1.08 "git gud" at andromeda (enemy shield gate mechanics)

relevant 1.08 path notes:

"Decreased enemy shield gate duration from 0.25 seconds to 0.1 second. // very good thing - easier to wait it out
[MP] Increased enemy shield gate amount on Bronze/Silver/Gold from 330/640/950 to 495/1152/1995" // high hitpoint amount potentially problematic

The enemy shield gate represents a LARGE amount of hidden hitpoints granted for a set duration to the a shielded target when its shields are depleted in combat by an attack that doesn't ignore the shield gate.

Attacks that ignore the enemy shieldgate Frag & Sticky Grenades & Trip Mines (Kobra missile ?).

Two key differences from the similarly named mechanic from ME3.
- it is not a percent reduction, is a flat reduction of damage going from shield hitpoints to armor hitpoints and due to its large hitpoint amount on gold it will act like a 100% damage reduction (very few attacks will have the damage to "brute force" the shield gate and bleed damage to health - think single shot sniper rifles with cloak damage bonus and disruptor ammo hitting weakspot or Gladiator Pull Melee combo )
- it has a set duration of 0.1 seconds during which it will ABSORB ALL ATTACKS provided it doesn't run out of hitpoints first. One consequence is it allows the shieldgate to "eat" MULTIPLE shotgun pellets that would've gone trough unmolested vs the ME3MP type of shieldgate (had no duration) or COMBO + DETONATOR triggered vs low shields.

The stated design goal (twitch stream) of this mechanic is to make the shielded enemies more durable against the players who don't prepare/react appropriately. (extra difficulty that is more or less mitigable by learning a lot of underlining damage mechanics )..

Those extra ~2k hitpoints represent A LOT of POTENTIAL extra hitpoints added to shielded enemies and can effect any type of damage source (weapon/ powers/ combos/ melee).

Sady while most of the math is known we're still lacking a publicly available character builder/ weapon and power damage calculator that would be an INVALUABLE tool at tweaking builds around the 1.08 shieldgate which affects at least in some measure EVERY BUILD.

Three ways to go around the enemy shield gate:

A) Large magazine, high ROF [AUTO] weapons are the least affected by the shield gate

(usually minimal damage loss over 0.1 second of continuous fire unless you get staggered or run out of ammo before finishing the target).

B)_ Brute force it (weakspot + large damage bonuses )

While 2k is a lot of hit points to add to the already beefy enemies killing fully shielded mooks with 1 bullet in Andromeda is not impossible.

things that help: high weakspot damage bonus built in (most non-AUTO SRs), built in damage bonus versus shields [Lanat *1.15 vs shields], disruptor ammo [*1.25 vs shields and vs synthetic health], debuffs on shielded target [invasion/annihilation], high base damage weapon, lots of additive damage bonuses from skills, passives, gear and booster.

(assuming you can land the weakspot hits consistently ..)

By far the easiest time doing it is had by fully charged LANAT X - it can 1 headshot gold shielded mooks on any class in the game with minimum booster effort. Link to numeric example with what is required

Isharay X is not that far behind if you cannot stand charging mechanics. (will need cloak + higher grade boosters). Widow takes even more work (more expensive boosters on 0.9 cloak infiltrators).

The dream would be to get BW X or better yet Valiant X to 1 bullet per shielded mook territory. Maybe impossible at this point - I don't feel like runing numbers ATM since I'm very far from getting those weapons at X (we need that char builder with damage app..)
 2 body shots waiting the gate between the shots also viable  and probably much cheaper to achieve with BW/Valiant/Inferno ..

Another attack that (theoretically) has  the potential to brute force mook shieldgate is maxed melee Pull + hammer on gladiator with *1.4 debuff in annihilation field. 

C) TRIGGER THE GATE AND WAIT IT OUT

Many builds will often find themselves in this category. Low shields on enemy IS DECEPTIVE INFORMATION (remember the extra 2k hitpoints invisible WALL hidden behind). It will "consume" shotgun shot, most MAXED damage melee attacks , low rof high damage per shot (but not obscenely high enough) attacks, incinerate impact and NO DOT, combos , hard hitting lance (powers), etc ..

THE TRICK HERE IS TO USE THE FASTEST HITTING, LOWEST OVERKILL DAMAGE REQUIRED TO DEPLETE THE REMAINING SHIELDS .

This obviously depends on the current state of the shields of the enemy your're facing. Could be charged overload stripping it from full (if your charged overload cannot do that you probably have a shit build - again char builder damage app NEEDED - finishing low shields with COMBO will most often sacrifice the COMBO and the detonator to the shieldgate), hard hitting weapon or a auto weapon you tap for less than a second to strip whatever shields are left. Could be a quick melee tap on non melee build with fast melee animation to clear lasts bits of shields before the fallowing with a heavy hit.

AND THEN (0.1 second will pass quick removing the gate wall) USE THE (potentially) SLOW hard hitting attack (duelist melee, avenger strike, widow body shot, shotgun blast, dhan etc ..) to finish off the shieldless, gateless enemy like any other redbar. Throw him off map ..Whatever.

TRY HARD NOT TO USE SLOW HARD HITTING ATTACKS TO VS LOW SHIELDS (will end up wasting a ton of damage to the gate).

Turbo charge and munition training are skills that favor auto fire and not as much single shot SR rifles. Still it might not be impossible.  

The cards that should make it work are disruptor ammo 4 and targeting VI 4. Might run the numbers later.

Thanks for another useful and hugely informative post peddroelm !

re: gladiator --

"Another attack that (theoretically) has the potential to brute force mook shieldgate is maxed melee Pull + hammer on gladiator with *1.4 debuff in annihilation field."

Not clear on this because you cannot Pull shielded targets? She needs something to strip shields first. Or, perhaps you mean to take Pull 6a Anti-Shields to help with removing shields first?

When I use my Angara Avenger I'll focus on shielded mooks first (since spec'd for 6a Disrupting Strike) -- Avenger strike leaves a sliver of shields on mooks, then attach a sticky grenade/Dhan them. Use a similar tactic on characters with Barricade (6b Electric Defense) -- drop in their face.

Funny how none of these powers (or even high ROF autos) do much of anything to Defender's shields? They must be huge! Can only target the turrets & wait 'til they open their "mouths"

I disagree with the TC remark. It gives you the option to go for weakpoint damage, and the freeload is a significant aspect as well.
And because of lvl 4 boosters rarity, I don't consider it a viable option, because it greatly limits the times you can make it work. Too much anyway to play it regularly. And that's even if 2 ur boosters would work, which I doubt because of the testing by lawshadow

TSOL isharay X 1457 base damage to 1 shot gold anointed maximal damage

Additive weapon Damage bonuses
Turbo charge 0.35, munitions 0.18 (4a 5b 7b), 0.21 weapon add on, 0.1 gear, 0.1 disruptor ammo IV
weakspot bonuses 0.7 weapon, 0.2 munitions 7b, 0.6 targeting VI IV

target gold Anointed 1900 shields 1995 shieldgate 2375 health

(((1457 * (1 + 0.35 + 0.18 + 0.21 + 0.1) * (1.4 + 0.7 + 0.2 + 0.6) * 1.25) - 1900) / 1.25) - 1995 - 2375 = 1884.552 // Ridiculous overkill
we can dial back a bit on the boosters

(1457 * (1 + 0.35 + 0.18 + 0.21 + 0.025) * (1.4 + 0.7 + 0.2 ) * 1.25 - 1900)/1.25 - 1995 - 2375 = 24.6915
The deed should be doable with disruptor ammo 1 and free second booster slot.

I will sacrifice a level 4 disruptor ammo and targeting lvl-4 later this day when i come back home....Jesus...all that effort to make it work just as in post 1.08....

Tech barrels do 100X combo damage

Yes, ME3 had percentage for damage bleeding over to health or amour, not a fucking dmg immunity for set time.