Planetary Shield

Planetary Shield improves the power efficiency of Planetary Shields. More precisely, it does not increase the shield’s stored energy; instead, it reduces the amount of power needed to block 1 damage. As a result, the shield’s effective durability increases as the technology is upgraded.

In-game, the efficiency value is displayed in kJ/hp, while the listed “+X% efficiency” is based on hp/MJ. The upgrade starts at 200 kJ/hp for 5.00 hp/MJ, and each level lowers the energy cost per point of damage blocked:

• Initial: 200 kJ/hp / 5.00 hp/MJ
• Level 1: 181 kJ/hp / 5.50 hp/MJ
  Cost: x200 x200 x200
  Prerequisite: Planetary Defense System
• Level 2: 160 kJ/hp / 6.25 hp/MJ
  Cost: x400 x400 x400
• Level 3: 137 kJ/hp / 7.25 hp/MJ
  Cost: x600 x600 x600 x600
• Level 4: 117 kJ/hp / 8.50 hp/MJ
  Cost: x1000 x1000 x1000 x1000 x1000
• Level 5: 100 kJ/hp / 10.00 hp/MJ
  Cost: x2000

Because the shield’s stored energy remains unchanged while its protection cost falls, each upgrade directly increases the amount of damage a fully charged shield can absorb. This makes Planetary Shield especially valuable for sustained defense, where the same energy supply must cover repeated attacks over time.

The tech is a straightforward way to strengthen planetary defenses without changing the shield’s basic operation. If a planet is already using Planetary Defense System, upgrading Planetary Shield is the natural next step when the goal is to make defense last longer before the shield depletes.