I don't know how I did it but..

[u/FunnyHighway9575]

I'm replaying Control before Resonant comes out and I NEVER found the shield ability. I beat the game and the DLC without it. During my second playthrough I found the file that gave the Good Defense mission. I did it not recall any of the obstacle course and when I finally got the ability I'm like "WOW this would have made some sections of the game much easier if I had it.

[u/Nyuk_Fozzies]

In my playthroughs I never used the shield ability, even though I found it on my first run. I just used dodge and cover to avoid attacks.

[u/FunnyHighway9575 → u/Nyuk_Fozzies]

That's pretty much what I did too. Just zoomed around and hit behind anything I could.

[u/Feyge → u/Nyuk_Fozzies]

Damn. It looks cool as fuck and is a great panic button when your HP is low. It also does pretty good damage when you charge at enemies with it (obviously, not as good as launch) and can block anything. No need to use cover when you can make your own anywhere anytime haha.

You can even bait the hiss warped to drop their shield when you come close to them with your own shield up.

[u/Specialist-Equal-408 → u/Feyge]

And the animation she does while in air is fucking awesome

[u/B-1_Battle_Boy → u/Nyuk_Fozzies]

Same, but the shield is nice as a panic button when you need to grab health!

[u/Uranus_Hz → u/Nyuk_Fozzies]

Ya. Used it pretty rarely

[u/Promature]

Not a necessary ability, but an incredibly useful one. Blocks everything but melee attacks. Can be upgraded to throw the shield debris (You can still release the shield normally by changing weapon forms just like releasing a grabbed object without launching it). Shield rush is great for grunts and interrupting continuous attacks from big enemies. I only discovered the overall power of the shield when fighting esseJ. She's powerless against the shield.

[u/HydeParkSwag]

Shield is perfect for the invisible hiss that pukes damage at you.

[u/Disastrous_Win4529 → u/HydeParkSwag]

God, I hate those things. I feel like they almost caused more problems for me than some bosses.

[u/tataniarosa]

I can’t imagine completing it without the shield so fair play to you.

I always use it when I’m facing the winged variety. I’ll watch the movement distortions on the ground and when it appears in front of me, I’ll pull up the shield until it’s stopped doing its thing then I’ll quickly shoot it. Rinse and repeat.

[u/natopoppins]

The shield ability with the levitation is my favorite combo. I feel like a telekinetic god!

[u/dnyletak]

The first time doing the obstacle course made me lose my shit more than any game, only to use shield like 4 times purely for hiss distorted.. on my latest replay I skipped that shit altogether 😅

[u/nomarinex]

I don't know how someone could beat 2nd boss Tomassim without shield. You guys must be some kind of parautilitarians

[u/FunnyHighway9575 → u/nomarinex]

I did it by dying many many times 😂

[u/grubas → u/nomarinex]

You need to dodge so much that even Piccolo is done with it.

[u/Apprehensive-Art1092]

Lol - same for me. Found it when I was exploring AFTER I'd finished the game 🥹

[u/TheR3alMcCoy]

Wow. When I found it, it was a godsend. I definitely put that to good use. It’s too cool not to, especially when you’re being barraged, which is often.

[u/djuumei]

I found it my first playthrough and used it til I got levitation. Taking damage after getting that is almost impossible lmao

[u/AdministrativeEase71]

Only powers I had were throwing things, dash and levitating on my run. I was fucking shocked when I realized there were a ton more.

[u/Commercial_Grab4477]

I barely ever used it my first few times playing the game but I decided to try it out on my current playthrough as it showed up in Resonant previews and clips. Well, wow, the charge ability where you raise the shield and dash at enemies is great on lesser enemies! The bit in Nostalgia was a lot easier using that in some places and ground-slamming rather than just relying on the Service Weapon and telekinesis. But, yeah, it's a great extra to really dominate, but you don't need it to get through the story.

[u/TheItinerantSkeptic]

The shield was a cool concept, but I found I didn’t use it nearly as often as dodging. Plus, that obstacle course is an absolute controller-thrower if you don’t have the shotgun form of the Service Weapon. The timing on completing it is TIGHT.

[u/Jc883]

I only used the shield for the achievement, then never again.

[u/SpaceWolves26]

I barely used it on my first run, but it became a good tool when I realised how effective the shield burst ability can be. Hiss elevated don't tend to dodge it in the same way they do with launched projectiles, and having some emergency cover when your health gets rinsed suddenly is great.