Shield (NPC ability)

Blue shield effect on an MJ12 Commando

"Shield" is an ability of certain non-player characters (NPCs) in Deus Ex that provides them with resistance against certain damage types. On these NPCs, activation of the shield will generate a blue barrier-like visual effect.

Overview

The term "shield" is not mentioned in-game, and is only referenced by the game's internal code, which contains the functions ShieldDamage and DrawShield. NPC classes that have the "shield" ability have a specially defined ShieldDamage function in their class script that specify a multiplier, ranging from 0 to 1, for specific types of incoming damage. This damage multiplier implements resistance against specific damage types, similar to the damage resistance that the player receives from various items or augmentations. When this multiplier is in effect, the glow effect is spawned.

The shield is not a universal ability, but varies among classes as to the damage types it protects against and the extent of the given resistance. It is also not the only mechanism by which damage resistance for NPCs are implemented. Damage resistance can also provided using different internal implementations that do not involve the shield function and associated its effect.

NPCs that have shields

The following NPC classes have a "shield" ability. A multiplier of 0.0 means that the NPC is fully immune to the given damage type, while a multiplier of 0.1 means that the NPC takes only 10% damage (i.e., 90% resistance).

NPC Class	Damage Type	Multiplier
MJ12 Commando	Flamed, Burned, Poison, and PoisonEffect	0.5
	TearGas and PoisonGas	0.0
Paul Denton Gunther Hermann Walton Simons	Flamed, Burned, Stunned, and KnockedOut	0.0
	TearGas, PoisonGas, HalonGas, Radiation, Shocked, Poison, PoisonEffect	0.1

Notes

• Anna Navarre notably does not have the shield ability while still having damage resistances. Instead, her resistances are implemented through the ModifyDamage internal functional. Functionally, there is no difference other than the fact that Navarre lacks the barrier visual effect.

See also

• Cloak (NPC ability)