Anshin, Hyperion, and Pangolin are the Shield manufacturers in Borderlands 3. Shields provide an additional layer of protection to your Vault Hunter as they defend your life bar from damage in the game. The Borderlands 3 Shields come in many variations and I’ll explain it all in this Borderlands 3 guide.
Table of contents
Introduction to Shields in Borderlands 3
Shields provide an additional life bar that shields your health points. Unlike your health bar, your shield will refill itself after a short delay.
Shields come in different varieties but the higher the level and rarity tier, the stronger the shield is.
You will find your first shield during the 4th section of the game’s tutorial. Your first shield will automatically be equipped. You can change your shield in the inventory menu or on the fly by holding down the pick-up button.
Main Shield Stats
Shields consist of 3 main attributes; Shield Capacity, Recharge Delay, and Recharge Rate.
| Attributes | Description |
|---|---|
| Capacity | Displays the number of hit points the shield can endure before it breaks. |
| Recharge Delay | The time you need to wait before your shield starts recharging when it’s been damaged or broken. |
| Recharge Rate | The number of hit points it refills per second when recharging. |
The various Shield manufacturers all have their Pros and Cons when it comes down to the three basic stats of the item.
| Attributes | Anshin | Hyperion | Pangolin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capacity | Average + | High ++ | Low – |
| Recharge Delay | Average + | Long – | Short ++ |
| Recharge Rate | Low – | Average + | High ++ |
Shield Rarity and Parts Explained
Shields can come with a lot of different parts and each of these components has a different effect on the capabilities of your shield. Higher rarity tier shields have more parts. These can be unique parts or even stack the same parts for an increased effect.
| Rarity | Color | Parts |
|---|---|---|
| Common | White | 0 |
| Uncommon | Green | 1 |
| Unique | Blue | 2 |
| Rare | Purple | 3 |
| Legendary | Orange | Unique |
Shield Components List
The Borderlands 3 Shields can roll with these additional components. Each module impacts the shield’s behavior, and this effect can stack when a module rolls multiple times.
| Component | Effect |
|---|---|
| Absorb | Adds the chance to absorb bullets as ammo. 15%/30%/40% |
| Adaptive | Increased Health and (elemental) resistance to the last damage type received for a few seconds. 8% health, 17% resistance, 3 seconds/15% health, 33% resistance, 4 seconds/23% health, 41% resistance, 5 seconds |
| Adrenaline | Increased Reload Speed while the shield is depleted. 23%/38%/50% |
| Amp | When the shield is full, Shots will drain a portion of your Shield’s hit points to deal bonus Weapon Damage. Shield Drain 30%, +20% Weapon Damage/Shield Drain 25%, +50% Weapon Damage/Shield Drain 20%, +100% Weapon Damage |
| Booster | When damaged, it has a chance to drop a Booster that restores a portion of your shield. 15% chance, 8% restoration/20% chance, 15% restoration/25% chance, 23% restoration |
| Brimming | Increases the Max Health per second while the shield is full. 5%/10%/15% |
| Capacity | Increases the Max Capacity 25%/50%/75% |
| Delay | Decreases the Recharge Delay. 25%/40%/50% |
| Fleet | Increased Movement Speed while the shield is depleted. 10%/17%/24% |
| Fortify Charge | When damaged, it has a chance to drop a Fortify Charge that provides some Damage Reduction. 15% chance, 10% Damage Reduction/20% chance, 15% Damage Reduction/25% chance, 25% Damage Reduction |
| Health | Increases the Max Health 10%/25%/50% |
| Health Charge | When Damaged, it has a chance to drop a Health Charge that restores some of your health. 15% chance, 15% max health restored/20% chance, 25% max health restored/25% chance, 35% max health restored |
| Nova | Triggers a Nova blast damaging nearby enemies when the shield breaks. 34658 Nova Damage/74268 Nova Damage/123780 Nova Damage |
| Power Charge | When damaged, it has a chance to drop a Power Charge that increases your weapon damage. 15% chance, +10% weapon damage/20% chance, +20% weapon damage/25% chance, +30% weapon damage |
| Projected | Crouching projects your shield forward, gaining some Damage reduction. 20%/35%/50% |
| Recharge | Increases the Recharge Rate. 15%/30%/45% |
| Reflect | Adds the chance to Reflect projectiles while shielded. 15%/30%/40% |
| Resistant | Adds some (elemental) Resistance. 27% elemental resistance (32% if Shock)/38% elemental resistance (41% if Shock)/51% elemental resistance (53% if Shock) |
| Roid | Increased Melee Damage while the shield is depleted. 80%/180%/300% |
| Spike | Returns X-amount of damage if meleed while shielded. 9902 damage returned/19805 damage returned/39609 damage returned |
| Safe-Space | Deals area-knockback on shield break. |
| Trigger Happy | Increased Fire Rate while the shield is depleted. 10%/17%/24% |
| Turtle | Increases the Capacity, While draining your Max Health. 40% capacity, -10% health/80% capacity, -20% health/120% capacity, -30% health |
| Vagabond | Increases your Movement Speed while the Shield is full. 10%/17%/24% |
Shield manufacturer don’t provide all available components. Here is an overview of the Shield Components they do support.
| Component | Anshin | Hyperion | Pangolin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Absorb | Yes (3) | Yes (3) | Yes (3) |
| Adaptive | No | Yes (3) | No |
| Adrenaline | Yes (3) | No | Yes (3) |
| Amp | Yes (3) | No | Yes (3) |
| Brimming | No | Yes (3) | No |
| Capacity | Yes (3) | Yes (3) | Yes (3) |
| Delay | Yes (3) | Yes (3) | Yes (3) |
| Fleet | No | Yes (3) | Yes (3) |
| Fortify Charge | Yes (3) | Yes (3) | No |
| Health | No | Yes (3) | Yes (3) |
| Health Charge | Yes (3) | Yes (3) | No |
| Nova | Yes (3) | No | Yes (3) |
| Power Charge | Yes (3) | No | Yes (3) |
| Projected | No | Yes (3) | No |
| Recharge | Yes (3) | Yes (3) | Yes (3) |
| Reflect | Yes (3) | No | Yes (3) |
| Resistant | Yes (3) | Yes (3) | No |
| Roid | Yes (3) | No | Yes (3) |
| Spike | Yes (3) | Yes (3) | No |
| Safe-Space | No | No | Yes (1) |
| Shield Charge | Yes (3) | Yes (3) | No |
| Trigger Happy | Yes (3) | No | Yes (3) |
| Turtle | Yes (3) | Yes (3) | No |
| Vagabond | No | Yes (3) | No |
Special Components
Quest Rewards and Legendary Shields have their own unique components and therefore have special hidden powers. Check out their respective guides on how they work.
Shield Tips & Tricks
- Amara has a lot of survivability with her “Sustainment” and “Mindfulness” Skills. Look for shield components that add to your play style.
- FL4K is the Glass Cannon character, use weapons or shield components to keep you in the fight. Hyperion Shields will often do the trick. FL4K can equip his Pet with a copy of his shield by utilizing his 4th Skill Tree.
- Moze can really benefit from Absorb shields to keep her bottomless mag builds going. Turtle shields are beneficial for her “Shields of Retribution” Builds.
- Zane can easily refill his health. Look for shield components that add to your play style. If you are using the Barrier, look for shields with a low recharge delay. Zane can benefit from more movement speed, therefore, Fleet could be useful. Zane’s Clone gets a copy of your Shield, allowing you to do interesting builds.
- Here is a list with the Best Borderlands 3 Legendary Shields
Mark Hubbard
Thanks for your concise descriptions…I could have used this 3years ago when I started!