# Shields
## Mechanics
You will encounter many enemies in Abyss that have some form of shield ability. Knowing how to properly deal with the shields is important in clearing certain floors.
### Elemental Effectiveness
Elements have different levels of effectiveness against certain shields. Knowing these interactions is important when choosing which characters to bring for a particular floor/chamber where shields are present.
| Shield | Most Effective | Medium | Least Effective | Not Effective |
|---|
 |  |  |    |  |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | All non |
### Elemental Gauge
Shields often do not have HP like regular monsters. They instead have a specific amount of **Elemental Gauge Units** that can be depleted by triggering **Reactions**. Once these units are depleted, then the shield will be broken. How quickly you take down a shield depends on several factors:
* How **effective** the element is against the shield. Refer to the section above on **Elemental Effectiveness**.
* How strong the ability used against the shield is at applying the element.
* The **cooldown** of the skill used to apply the element and/or the **frequency** that it applies the element.
#### Does character damage affect shieldbreaking?
For **Elemental Armor** and **Physical Shields**, damage does not factor into shieldbreaking at all. On **Elemental Shields**, damage is factored in, however the amount of damage you need to close to **Reaction** damage is extremely high, so in practice, you can also treat it as being unimportant.
This means that a completely un-invested character will be as effective as a fully invested character when it comes to shieldbreaking ability. As long as you can keep them alive, don't be afraid to bring your un-invested characters along to help with shields in specific chambers.
{% hint style="info" %}
For more in depth information on **Elemental Gauges**, please see the **Resources** section at the bottom of this page.
{% endhint %}
{% hint style="info" %}
**Infused** attacks that apply an element have a special cooldown referred to as **Internal Cooldown (ICD)**. This means that faster **Normal Attacks** do not necessarily mean you will apply the element any faster.
You can get around this restriction by swapping characters between attacks (which resets ICD), or using **Charged/Plunging Attacks**, which do not have an ICD.=
{% endhint %}
### Geo Shields
Unlike other shields,  can also be broken without using elemental reactions. You can use:
* **Crystallize** reactions
* damage
* **Claymore** attacks
* \*\*Overload \*\*(+)
* Other **explosive** attacks (**Klee**)
## Shield Types
Different types of shields will block damage in different ways.
### Elemental Shields
These shields **block all damage** until the shield is destroyed.
#### Tips
* These type of shields often have very high **Elemental Gauge**. Repeatable sources of elemental application work best.
* Make sure to save your high damage abilities until after the shield goes down.
#### Enemies that use Elemental Shields
| | Enemy | Shield HP (U) |
| :------------------------------: | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- | :-----------: |
|  | [Pyro Abyss Mage](/abyss/monsters/abyss-order/pyro-abyss-mage.md) | 12 |
|  | [Hydro Abyss Mage](/abyss/monsters/abyss-order/hydro-abyss-mage.md) | 12 |
| | [Cryo Abyss Mage](/abyss/monsters/abyss-order/cryo-abyss-mage.md) | 12 |
| | [Electro Abyss Mage](/abyss/monsters/abyss-order/electro-abyss-mage.md) | |
|  | [Abyss Herald](/abyss/monsters/abyss-order/abyss-herald.md) | 36 |
|  | [Abyss Lector](/abyss/monsters/abyss-order/abyss-lector.md) | 36 |
|  | [Electro Cicin Mage](/abyss/monsters/fatui/electro-cicin-mage.md) | 8 |
|  | [Cryo Cicin Mage](/abyss/monsters/fatui/cryo-cicin-mage.md) | 4 - 12 |
| | Cryo Slime | 8 |
| | Geo Slime | |
{% hint style="warning" %}
Note that **Abyss Lector** shields do not obey the **Elemental Effectiveness** table.  and  are both equally effective.
{% endhint %}
### Elemental Armor
These shields **reduce damage** until the shield is destroyed.
#### Tips
* The mechanics of these shields vary greatly depending on the enemy. Make sure to check the help page for the enemy for how the shield works.
* Make sure to save your high damage abilities until after the shield goes down.
#### Enemies that use Elemental Armor
| | Enemy | Shield HP (U) | Shield Effect |
| :------------------------------: | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | :-----------: | :-----------: |
|  | [Electrohammer Vanguard](/abyss/monsters/fatui/electrohammer-vanguard.md) | 4 | +100% ALL RES |
|  | [Cryogunner Legionnaire](/abyss/monsters/fatui/cryogunner-legionnaire.md) | 4 | +100% ALL RES |
|  | [Hydrogunner Legionnaire](/abyss/monsters/fatui/hydrogunner-legionnaire.md) | 4 | +100% ALL RES |
| | Pyrogunner | 4 | +100% ALL RES |
| | Geochanter | 4 | +100% ALL RES |
| | Stonehide Lawachurl | | None |
|  | [Frostarm Lawachurl](/abyss/monsters/hilichurls/lawachurls/frostarm-lawachurl.md) | 30 | -80% DMG |
|  | [Pyro Whopperflower](/abyss/monsters/animals/pyro-whopperflower.md) | 2 | None |
|  | [Cryo Whopperflower](/abyss/monsters/animals/cryo-whopperflower.md) | 2 | None |
| | [Electro Whopperflower](/abyss/monsters/animals/electro-whopperflower.md) | 2 | None |
{% hint style="warning" %}
Note that **Fatui** shields do not obey the **Elemental Effectiveness** table. They will only take damage from elements that are **most effective** against their shield. All other elements have greatly reduced effectiveness.\
\
The **Hydrogunner** is a special case since there is not an effective element against  shields. Their shields are weak to.
{% endhint %}
### Physical Shields
These shields **block all damage** from the direction the shield is facing.
#### Tips
* Enemies will be vulnerable when performing their attacks. You can use these windows to get damage in.
* **Taunt** abilities can draw aggro and make the enemies face away from you. Attacks from behind will not be blocked.
* Enemies that are **Frozen** will not be able to block damage from any direction. You can use this to bypass shield damage entirely.
* Some **Charged Attacks** and **Plunging Attacks** can bypass enemy shields.
* Enemies will still take damage from **Elemental Reactions**
Shields can come in different types
#### Wooden Shields
* Useto apply **Burning** which applies a **DoT** to these shields.
* Repeated application ofwill not make the shield HP go down faster.
| | | |
| :------------------------------: | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- | - |
|  | [Wooden Shield Hilichurl](/abyss/monsters/hilichurls/classic-hilichurls.md) | |
| | Wooden Shield Mitachurl | |
#### Geo Shields
* Similar to other shields (see above section)
| | | |
| :------------------------------: | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | - |
|  | [Rockshield Hilichurl](/abyss/monsters/hilichurls/classic-hilichurls.md) | |
| | Rockshield Mitachurl | |
#### Cryo Shields
* is the most effective way of breaking through these shields.
* These shields will regenerate their HP over time
| | | |
| :------------------------------: | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- | - |
|  | [Iceshield Hilichurl](/abyss/monsters/hilichurls/classic-hilichurls.md) | |
| | Iceshield Mitachurl | |
## Resources
For more in depth reading on shields, please check out these additional resources
[**Enemy Shields and Armor** - KQM Theorycrafting Library](https://library.keqingmains.com/mechanics/enemies/enemy-shields-armor)
[\*\*Elemental Gauges \*\*(list of all Character Talents and strength)](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1uiJje5yqv7v2UKrWoBAgBMrHrrNemtkooo8JqAGJpP8/edit?usp=sharing)
[\*\*Shield Damage in Genshin Impact \*\*(in depth mechanics of shields)](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SUc9A7O5C7CX0qYHmCqB44uhpHYY-Txgv6rdibM8Jw4/edit)
---
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