- For the shield-restoring tech power in Mass Effect 2, see Geth Shield Boost.
Defense Matrix is a tech power in Mass Effect 3's single-player mode.
Power Ranks
Rank 1: Defense Matrix
Reinforce armor with protective Foucault currents. Purge the currents to restore shields.
Slows power use by 60%.
- Recharge Speed: 10 sec
- Damage Reduction: 15%
- Shields Restored: 50%
Rank 2: Recharge Speed
Increase recharge speed by 25%.
- Recharge Speed: 8 sec
- Damage Reduction: 15%
- Shields Restored: 50%
Rank 3: Shield Bonus
Increase shield restoration by 20% when purging armor.
- Recharge Speed: 8 sec
- Damage Reduction: 15%
- Shields Restored: 70%
Rank 4: Durability/Shield Bonus
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Durability Increase damage protection by 5%.
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Shield Bonus Increase shield restoration by 30% when purging armor.
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Rank 5: Shield Recharge/Power Synergy
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Shield Recharge Decrease shield-recharge delay by 15%. |
Power Synergy Increase tech power damage by 25% while Defense Matrix is active. |
Rank 6: Power Recharge/Durability
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Power Recharge Reduce power speed penalty by 30%. |
Durability Increase damage protection by 10%.
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Player Notes
- Much like with Tech Armor, the damage protection from Defense Matrix applies to both health and shields, and remains in effect even when shields break. The damage protection can stack with Tech Armor or other powers. The damage protection ends when Defense Matrix is purged to restore shields, and only returns when the matrix is reactivated.
- The power use penalty at rank 1 is not a 60% overall reduction to power recharge speed, but a 60% points reduction of the Power Recharge Speed bonus visible in the weapon loadout screen. In other words, it functions like a weapon weight penalty.
- For example, if you have +200% Power Recharge Speed when looking at the weapons screen, activating rank 1 Defense Matrix reduces that Power Recharge Speed to +140%.
- The power speed penalty reduction of 30% with the rank 6 Power Recharge evolution reduces the penalty from 60% down to 30%. E.g. If you have +200% Power Recharge Speed bonus from a light weapon loadout, activating rank 6 Defense Matrix only reduces that to +170%.
- Defense Matrix can be activated and purged without interrupting the player while performing other actions such as running and firing a weapon.
- The rank 5 Power Synergy evolution only boosts the damage of actual tech powers such as Overload and not biotic powers or "combat" powers such as Carnage.
- Strategies
- Merely activating Defense Matrix does not cause powers to go on cooldown, meaning the power can be "double-tapped": activating then immediately purging for a large shield restore, useful as a quick "panic button." Leaving the matrix inactive doesn't provide the passive damage protection and/or tech power boosts but has the advantage of not slowing power use as much.
- The purge is one of the very few methods in single-player to restore shields without waiting for them to recharge normally (Energy Drain being another). This is especially useful against enemy attacks with damage-over-time effects that can delay shield recharge, such as the ranged attacks of Banshees and the acid attacks of Swarmers.
- The shield gate mechanic can allow the shield restore to increase the total amount of damage Shepard can survive much more than the amount of shielding would seem to indicate. Particularly on Insanity level where many attacks will take shields down instantly, regaining any amount of shielding can restore the "gate" and increase by one the number of large bursts of damage Shepard can survive.
- The gate invulnerability effect does have a minimum cooldown of several seconds, so if your normal shield recharge is rapid enough to restore your shields on its own, purging shouldn't be necessary and can do more harm than good, as your powers go on cooldown and you lose the passive damage protection. However, if your shields go down when you're in an exposed position, purging can save your life.
- On lower difficulties, shield gate invulnerability can last for a much longer period, which means that purging Defense Matrix instantly on losing shields isn't always necessary.
- Purging an active Defense Matrix can restore shields to an Infiltrator without breaking the invisibility of Tactical Cloak upgraded with the rank 6 Bonus Power evolution.
Availability
- Single Player: EDI, Commander Shepard (Bonus Power)
- Multiplayer: N/A