Crystal Shield Projector

"Provide troops with crystal shields."

Summary

• Crystal Shield Projector is a Temporary Gunboat Ability that is occasionally available for players who have an Armory level of 8 or above, and automatically scales to its level.
• Crystal Shield Projector functions identically to Dr. Kavan's Ice Shields, providing all troops, Heroes and Critters in its area of effect with Shield Points.
• Shield hitpoints constantly deplete over time or when they come under fire. If destroyed, any excess damage from that hit is negated.
• Only one layer of Shields can be active on any troop at any given moment. If the ability is reused, any troops with shields will have them reset instead of gaining another layer. This includes other sources of Shield points, and the most recently applied one takes priority.
• Each use costs 9 more Gunboat Energy than the previous, with a starting cost of 5 Gunboat Energy.

Offensive Strategy

• Crystal Shield Projector is more versatile than Ice Shields and both can be used in tandem, but gets expensive quickly. In absence of other alternatives, it can substantially improve troops' matchups against strong point defenses, but is often invalidated by rapid-firing area defenses that can quickly deplete them.
  • Large units such as Tanks and Scorchers can easily absorb one devastating hit from a point defense and continue fighting.
  • Fragile units, such as Zookas, Laser Rangers and Riflemen can also benefit given the threat posed by Mortars.
• Crystal shield projectors can be very effective if you use them on fragile troops before they run into mines.
• If you have a large number of fragile troops within the radius of an exploding Flotsam Cannon, you can use it to protect your units.

Defence Strategy

• Fast-firing defenses such as Machine Gun, Flamethrower or Shock Blaster can quickly destroy the shields.
• Because of the high damage of the Hot Pot, it can not only quickly destroy the shields but also cause high damage.
  • The Microwav'r can also quickly destroy the shields and destroy fragile troops due to its fast attack speed.

Statistics

Area of Effect Radius	Duration
10 tiles	8.0s

Level	Shield Hitpoints	Armory Required
1	100	8
2	125	9
3	150	10
4	175	11
5	200	12
6	225	13
7	250	14
8	275	15
9	300	16
10	325	17
11	350	18
12	375	19
13	400	20
14	425	21
15	450	22
16	475	23
17	500	24
18	525	25

Number of Shots	Energy Cost	Cumulative Energy Cost
1	5	5
2	14	19
3	23	42
4	32	74
5	41	115

Warships

Rank	Level	Upgrade Tokens	Tech Level
1	8	N/A	5
2	10	135,000	10
3	12	255,000	15
4	14	632,000	20
5	16	1,045,000	25
Total		2,067,000	75