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Enemy Shields and Armor

Introduction​

Currently, there are two main types of shields that players should be aware of, Elemental Shields and Elemental Armor. We'll talk about what the differences are between these two shield types, as well as how to eliminate them. An understanding of Gauge units and ICD is required.

📄️ Elemental Gauge Theory

The current method of explaining all game mechanics involving elements

Elemental Shields​

Elemental Shields are shields that NEED to be taken down in order to deal direct damage to the enemy HP bar.

To deal with Elemental Shields, you'll need to apply a different Elemental Aura. For example, The fastest way to take down a Cryo Shield is by applying a total of 6U Pyro Aura. However, Pyro Aura is not the only Aura that can take down a Cryo Shield.

Due to the nature of how ICD works, it is recommended to use different character rotations as opposed to spamming a certain attack, like Infused Normals. That being said, Bow Users can spam their Charged Attack to apply an aura over and over because the assumption is that the charge time is longer than the ICD.

Before we get into how to deal with different types of shields, some types (whether its Elemental Shield or Armor) can be damaged through Heavy Attacks and Light Attacks. These types of attacks deal bonus damage due to their property of being Heavy or Light (and some attacks are neither Heavy nor Light). However, Light Attacks do insignificant damage, and it's advisable to avoid using Light Attacks to break Shields.

Abyss mage shields, unlike other types of shields, take any damage directly. Any type of attack reduces Abyss mage shields HP by the amount of damage it deals in addition to bonus damage due to Elemental Aura application. However, Abyss mage shields have very large HP pools and it is not advisable to rely on direct damage compared to Elemental damage.

To add to that, Geo Attacks are considered Heavy Attacks and also can cause Crystallize. Meaning the GU required to break Shields that are susceptible to both Geo and Heavy Attacks is much less in practice.

The following is a table consisting of different types of Elemental Shields as well as how many Gauge units are required to take them down. Character Gauge Units Database

Abyss Order​

Elemental SourceGauge Units Required
PyroNull
Hydro6GU
Electro12GU
Cryo24GU
Anemo24GU
Geo24GU

Slimes​

Elemental SourceGauge Units Required
Pyro4GU
Electro8GU
Anemo16GU
Geo16GU
Claymore N114 Hits

Cicin Mages​

Before we get into how to take down a Cryo Cicin Mage's Elemental Shield, first we have to know that the amount of Cicin (or flies) matter. The less Cicin there are, the easier it is to take down their Shield.
C = Numbers of Cicin alive.

Elemental SourceGauge Units Required
Pyro2GU × C
Electro4GU × C
Anemo8GU × C
Geo8GU × C

Elemental Shield strength varies from domains, abyss, Co-op, and overworld. Testing was done in overworld using level 1 Weapons and no Artifacts.

Elemental Armor​

Elemental Armor is the type of shield that protects mobs such as Stonehide Lawachurl, Fatui, Geo Slimes, and Regisvine bosses.

One thing to remember is that unlike Elemental Shields, it is possible to deal direct damage to enemies protected by Elemental Armor. However, the enemy gains +100% RES to Elemental attacks and Physical attacks while armored, which comes out to a total of 110% Elemental RES and 80% Physical RES.

The Elemental Armor surrounding specifically Fatui Agents works in a unique way. Unlike other shield types, they are only damaged by the Specific Element that counters them. For instance, an Electro Fatuus' Elemental Armor will only take damage if inflicted by Cryo Element. Other elements deal extremely insignificant damage that it is practically negligible.

The following are tables consisting of different types of Elemental Armor as well as how to take them down:

Fatui​

Fatui Skirmisher TypeElement + Gauge Units
Cryo Fatui4GU Pyro
Electro Fatui4GU Cryo
Hydro Fatui5GU Electro
Anemo Fatui1GU Cryo\Hydro\Pyro\Electro
Pyro Gunslinger4GU Hydro
Geochanter5~7 Heavy Attacks OR Crystallize Reaction
  • Foreign auras can exist on these armor and there are some interesting interactions when trying to break said armor. See this Vault Entry for more information.
  • Against shielded Cryo, Electro, and Hydro Skirmishers, the reaction coefficients of reactions unrelated to the shield's Element are fixed at 1. See this Vault Entry for more information.

Whopperflowers​

Cryo WhopperflowerGauge Units Required
CryoNull
HydroNull
Pyro1GU
Electro2GU
Anemo4GU
Geo4GU
Claymore N14 Hits

Lawachurls​

Note that both Stonehide Lawachurl, Thunderhelm Lawachurl, and Frostarm Lawachurl armor decays each second for up to 90 seconds.

Damage SourceHits Required
Claymore N1 over 24 Seconds11
Overload over 45 Seconds~9
5 Ningguang N15

Regisvines​

IMPORTANT: These values are for Aura applied to the Core of the Regisvine. It takes HALF the GU of each Element to break the shield protecting the COROLLA. So for example, it only takes 6GU Electro to break the eye of either Regisvine.

Elemental SourceGauge Units Required
Hydro6GU
Electro12GU
Cryo24GU
Anemo24GU
Geo24GU

Mitachurl Shields​

Mitachurl Shields are rather different than other types of shields. For one, they only protect the Mitachurls from one direction only. There aren't any special mechanics as to how they work, and dealing with them is quite simple as well.

Wooden Mitachurl's shields can be taken down by applying Pyro Aura. However, when you apply Pyro to the Wooden Mitachurl's Shield, he will attempt to extinguish it. There are two ways to deal with that:

  • Keep attacking him while the Pyro Aura is burning his shield so he is forced to guard.
  • Apply another Pyro Aura as soon as he extinguishes the first one and the shield will burn.

Childe​

During the Childe boss fight, he can enter into a shielded state where he takes no damage. This shield is only affected by poise damage and not normal damage. Attacks like Claymore Attacks, Blunt Attribute attacks, and Overload will be the most effective at breaking said shield.

Shield Damage​

Genshin Impact does not use a generic single-variable HP system for enemy shields like other games. Instead, total Shield HP is in the form of its Shield Gauge Units (Shield GU), a value which represents the shield’s “Elemental strength”. This can be decreased to 0 (thereby breaking the shield) through reactions, character damage (excluding Elemental Armor shields) and the Poise values of your talents. (Poise values are explained in the document and affect Geo / Frozen shields only)

Total Shield Damage = Reaction Cost + Damage Cost + Poise Cost

For an in-depth analysis on shield damage as of 2021-06-05, vibe checker#5502 has written An Extensive Look Into Shield Damage in Genshin Impact

Additional notes on shield damage:

  • Transformative damage is also applied in the damage cost of shield damage, and is affected by Elemental mastery.

Credits​

Writers​

  • 3b00d_09#2235

Theorycrafters​

  • Bobrokrot#0111
  • Iron IV#3832
  • sexyeboy69#3215
  • Yukarix#6534
  • Ayzel#7399
  • srl#2712
  • vibe checker#5502

Evidence Vault:

📄️ Enemy Shields and Armor

Reaction Efficiency at Breaking Elemental Shields \(Translation\)