Shield Defense
Overview
Shield Defense is a standard power set that is a primary set for Tankers and a secondary set for Brutes and Scrappers.
"Your mastery over the shield protects you from all forms of attacks in the form of defense as well as some moderate damage resistance to most types of damage. Your training with the shield enables you to protect your nearby allies boosting their defenses."
Shield Defense is incompatible with the following power sets: Claws, Dual Blades, Katana, Spines, Staff Fighting, and Titan Weapons. When a shield is deployed, many emotes are blocked.
Possible Shield Customizations.
Power Table
The Shield Defense power set is available as a primary set for Tankers and as a secondary set for Brutes and Scrappers. The following table shows the levels at which each power is available:
| Power | Level as Primary | Level as Secondary | Effect | |
|
Deflection | 1 | 1 | Toggle: Self +DEF(Melee), +Res(Smash, Lethal) |
|
Battle Agility | 1 | 2 | Toggle: Self +DEF(Ranged, AoE), +Res(DEF Debuff) |
|
True Grit | 2 | 4 | Auto: Self +Res(Fire, Cold, Energy, Negative, Toxic), +Max Health |
|
Active Defense | 6 | 10 | Self +Res(Disorient, Hold, Immobilize, Sleep, Fear, Confuse, Repel, Knockback, DEF Debuff) |
|
Against All Odds | 8 | 16 | Toggle: PBAoE, Foe -DMG, Self +DMG |
|
Phalanx Fighting | 12 | 20 | Auto: Self +DEF(Melee, Ranged, AoE) |
|
Grant Cover | 18 | 28 | Toggle: PBAoE, Team (but not self) +DEF(All) |
|
Shield Charge | 26 | 35 | PBAoE, Superior DMG(Smash), Foe Knockdown, Self Teleport |
|
One with the Shield | 32 | 38 | Self +Res(All DMG but Psionics, Disorient, Sleep, Hold, Immobilize, Repel, Knockback), +Recovery, +Max Health |
Powers
Active Defense
When you activate this power, it grants protection from Sleep, Disorient, Fear, Immobilize, Confusions, Repel, Knockback, Hold and Defense Debuff effects for a short duration.
| Recharge | Very Long |
| Minimum Level |  10 (Brute)
|
 10 (Scrapper)
| |
 6 (Tanker)
| |
| Effects | Self +Resistance(Disorient, Hold, Immobilize, Sleep, Fear, Confuse, Repel, Knockback, Defense Debuff) |
| Enhancements |  Reduce Endurance Cost
|
 Increase Attack Rate
| |
| Set Categories | None |
Against All Odds
The harder pressed you are in combat the greater your offensive abilities become. Each enemy that stands toe-to-toe with you in combat will grant you a damage bonus. The first foe you engage in melee grants the highest damage bonus, and up to 10 foes can contribute to this effect. Each foe in melee also suffer from reduced damage as your shield deflects a portion of their damage.
| Recharge | Slow |
| Minimum Level | 16 (Brute)
|
| 16 (Scrapper)
| |
| 8 (Tanker)
| |
| Effects | Toggle: Point Blank Area of Effect |
| Foe -Damage | |
| Self +Damage | |
| Enhancements | Reduce Endurance Cost
|
| Increase Attack Rate
| |
 Enhance Taunt Effectiveness
| |
| Set Categories | None |
Battle Agility
Your incredible reflexes allow you to position your shield to protect yourself from incoming ranged damage. While Battle Agility is active you will benefit from increased Ranged and AoE defense as well as some moderate protection from Defense Debuffs.
| Recharge | Fast |
| Minimum Level | 2 (Brute)
|
| 2 (Scrapper)
| |
| 1 (Tanker)
| |
| Effects | Toggle: Self +Defense(Ranged, Area of Effect), +Resistance(Defense Debuff) |
| Enhancements |  Enhance Defense Buffs
|
| Reduce Endurance Cost
| |
| Increase Attack Rate
| |
| Set Categories |  Defense
|
Deflection
Your mastery of the shield allows you to easily deflect melee attacks, and attacks that do get through your ironclad defenses tend to do less damage. While Deflection is active the user will gain defense to melee attacks and some minor resistance to lethal and smashing damage.
| Recharge | Fast |
| Minimum Level | 1 (Brute)
|
| 1 (Scrapper)
| |
| 1 (Tanker)
| |
| Effects | Toggle: Self +Defense(Melee), +Resistance(Smashing, Lethal) |
| Enhancements |  Enhance Damage Resistance
|
| Enhance Defense Buffs
| |
| Reduce Endurance Cost
| |
| Increase Attack Rate
| |
| Set Categories | Defense
|
 Resist Damage
|
Grant Cover
You are able to use your shield to defend nearby allies. Any teammates who remain nearby gain a bonus to their defense. (NOTE: The defense bonus from this power is only applied to nearby team mates, but not yourself.) Additionally, while this power is active, the user and his team mates will gain some resistance to defense and recharge rate debuffs.
| Recharge | Slow |
| Minimum Level | 28 (Brute)
|
| 28 (Scrapper)
| |
| 18 (Tanker)
| |
| Effects | Toggle: Point Blank Area of Effect |
| Team (but not self) +Defense(All) | |
| Enhancements | Enhance Defense Buffs
|
| Reduce Endurance Cost
| |
| Increase Attack Rate
| |
| Set Categories | Defense
|
One with the Shield
When you activate this power, you gain strong resistance against most types of damage and also to Disorient, Immobilization, Hold, Knockback, Repel and Sleep effects. One with the Shield costs little Endurance to activate and increases your recovery and maximum hit points for its duration, but when it wears off you are left exhausted, and substantially drained of Endurance. This crash can be avoided if you have trained Unrelenting from the Presence pool. Note that One with the Shield is unaffected by Attack Rate changes.
| Recharge | Very Long |
| Minimum Level | 38 (Brute)
|
| 38 (Scrapper)
| |
| 32 (Tanker)
| |
| Effects | Self +Resistance(All Damage but Psionics, Disorient, Sleep, Hold, Immobilize, Repel, Knockback), +Recovery, +Max Health |
| Enhancements | Enhance Damage Resistance
|
| Reduce Endurance Cost
| |
| Set Categories | Resist Damage
|
 Healing/Absorb
| |
 Endurance Modification
|
Phalanx Fighting
Fighting very near your allies allows you to deflect attacks much easier. You will gain a small bonus to your melee, ranged and area of effect defense this bonus grows for each ally near you. This power is always on and costs no endurance.
|
Editor's Note: The in-game description omits the fact the player gets a small unenhanceable bonus to melee, range and area of effect defense even without having allies in range. |
| Archetype | No Allies (unenhanceable) |
1 Ally (base value) |
2 Allies (base value) |
3 Allies (base value) |
| Brute | 3.75% | 6% (+2.25%) | 8.25% (+2.25%) | 10.5% (+2.25%) |
| Scrapper | 3.75% | 6% (+2.25%) | 8.25% (+2.25%) | 10.5% (+2.25%) |
| Tanker | 5% | 8% (+3%) | 11% (+3%) | 14% (+3%) |
| Minimum Level | 20 (Brute)
|
| 20 (Scrapper)
| |
| 12 (Tanker)
| |
| Effects | Auto: Self +Defense(Melee, Ranged, Area of Effect) |
| Enhancements | Enhance Defense Buffs
|
| Set Categories | Defense
|
Shield Charge
You can throw all of your might behind your shield and charge through ranks of foes in the blink of an eye. Using this power allows you to teleport to a selected area to deal significant smashing damage to all foes near the location you teleport to. Most foes that are struck by your Shield Charge will be knocked down.
| Recharge | Very Long |
| Damage | Superior (Smashing) |
| Minimum Level | 35 (Brute)
|
| 35 (Scrapper)
| |
| 26 (Tanker)
| |
| Effects | Point Blank Area of Effect |
| Foe Knockdown | |
| Self Teleport | |
| Enhancements |  Enhance Accuracy
|
 Enhance Damage
| |
| Reduce Endurance Cost
| |
 Enhance Knockback Distance
| |
 Enhance Range
| |
| Increase Attack Rate
| |
| Enhance Taunt Effectiveness
| |
| Set Categories |  PBAoE Damage
|
 Knockback
| |
 Taunt (Tank/Brute Only)
|
True Grit
Your intense training has left you tougher than even the hardiest of heroes. You gain additional hit points and resistance to fire, cold, energy, negative energy and toxic damage sources. This power is always on and costs no Endurance.
| Minimum Level | 4 (Brute)
|
| 4 (Scrapper)
| |
| 2 (Tanker)
| |
| Effects | Auto: Self +Resistance(Fire, Cold, Energy, Negative, Toxic), +Max Health |
| Enhancements |  Enhance Heal
|
| Enhance Damage Resistance
| |
| Set Categories | Resist Damage
|
| Healing/Absorb
|
Historical
|
This section contains information about changes that took place in City of Heroes: Rebirth. The content provided may refer to City of Heroes Freedom. It is provided for historical purposes. |
- This set was added to the game for Brutes, Scrappers, and Tankers in Issue 13.
- The original information release included Stalkers in the list to get Shields, but was corrected. [1]