Talk:Shield/@comment-27.96.67.133-20170307211423/@comment-25254386-20171202202330

Only two factions use damage types that bypass shields, Grineer (Slash procs) and Infested (toxin).

However, Grineer do not proc Slash very often and when they do the damage bypasses armor too, rendering both useless, not just shields. Infested only have a select few units that deal Toxin damage as well (Mutalist Osspreys, Toxic/Lobber Crawlers, and Venomous Ancients).

Basically, Shields will pretty much always be preferable across the normal Star Chart unless you start hitting Infested enemies, but even then it's fairly easy to stay out of the way of Toxin damage. The only other time Health+Armor would be better is when facing higher level enemies that can blow through shielding like snow (lvl 70+).

I'm not saying you should only focus on shielding until these points, health and armor are important to have too. But don't dismiss shields just because they can't stand up to your endgame expectations. They're extremely helpful for noobs and most of the Star Chart. Your health likely won't even be directly hit with a decent amount of shields.