What is Shield Gating in Warframe?

Shield Gating is a mechanic that was introduced to Warframe with update 27.2.0. It is designed to reduce the number of single-hit kills players take in-game. During end-game activities, as you push deeper and deeper into a run, enemies escalate and readability screen may drop. This means that you are more likely to be hit by something and die instantly, like a grenade. This can be especially annoying in arbitrations, where that instant death will end your run. Shield Gating has been implemented to try to reduce the chances of this happening.

Gating shield for gamers

Shield Gating means that as long as you have active shields, a shot that depletes your shields won't harm your health either. When shields are active, an incoming hit that depletes your last piece of shields will not continue in your health pool, and also triggers a brief instant where your health is protected. Once this period is over, you can take health damage as normal. Additionally, you will no longer take Slash status effect damage to your health while shields are in place.

So if you get hit by a grenade that in the old system would kill you instantly, the damage will stop when your shields are completely depleted, and you will get a brief moment of invulnerability. After this period is over, the next hit you take can kill you if it damages your health enough.

Gating shield for enemies

Enemies will also have the advantage of Shield Gating, but there will be skill checks to get around it. If you hit a protected enemy with a headshot or in a weak spot, you can bypass the shield door completely. Hitting them anywhere else will deal 5% of the damage you did to bypass the shield door. This makes powerful builds and weapons feel very effective at lower levels, while skillful use of precise weapons will negate enemy shield triggering at higher levels.

Slash status effects now deal damage to shields over time, toxin damage remains as is, bypassing shields to directly affect enemy health. Damage from Warframe abilities will ignore the enemy shield gate.