Shield Emitter
What it is
A unique-category artifact that periodically deploys a stationary force field at the player’s position. The field persists for a short duration, damaging or blocking what passes through it, then expires. Higher tiers shorten the cooldown, enlarge the field, extend its lifetime, and (from tier 2 onward) add an explosion when the field expires. At tier 3+ two fields are deployed simultaneously.
Identity
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Display name | Shield Emitter |
| Category | unique |
| Description | ”Every few seconds, you drop a force field.” |
| Icon | shield glyph |
| Primary color | 4488ff |
| Secondary color | 2255cc |
| Bright color | 88bbff |
| Damage tag | none |
| Proc audio cue | none |
Per-tier values
Tiers index 0–3 correspond to uncommon → rare → epic → legendary. A common tier (index −1 in the array sense) shares the uncommon row’s values; differentiation at common comes from the flat-bonus layer described on the artifacts roll-up page, not from this table.
| Tier | Field radius | Field duration (s) | Cooldown (s) | Orb speed | Dual field | Explode chance | Explode radius |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Uncommon | 156 | 5 | 5 | 400 | no | — | — |
| Rare | 192 | 6.25 | 4 | 440 | no | 0.40 | 400 |
| Epic | 228 | 7.5 | 3 | 480 | yes | 0.90 | 550 |
| Legendary | 288 | 9.5 | 2 | 600 | yes | 1.50 | 700 |
Explode chance is expressed as a fraction; values above 1.00 indicate that more than one explosion is guaranteed on expiry (the fractional remainder is a chance for an additional one). Orb speed is in engine units per second.
Effect
A single effect is registered at run start. It listens for the run_start signal, applies no conditions, and runs a custom per-tick handler keyed to this artifact. The handler receives the four base parameters — field radius, field duration, cooldown, and orb speed — from the active tier row. Dual-field, explode chance, and explode radius are read directly from the tier values on tiers that include them.
The handler is responsible for: tracking the cooldown timer, spawning the field (or two fields, at tier 3+) at the player’s position when the timer elapses, holding the field for its duration, and triggering the explosion on expiry when the tier provides explode parameters.
Stacking rules
This artifact occupies a single slot. Re-rolling or re-acquiring it raises its tier in place rather than creating a second instance. Only the active tier’s value row is read by the handler — lower-tier values are not summed. Dual fields are produced from a single instance at tier 3 and above; the artifact cannot be combined with itself to produce more than two simultaneous fields.
The flat passive bonus that every artifact carries (per the artifacts roll-up) is applied independently of the field handler and does not interact with the field’s parameters.
EXTRACT-CANDIDATE: the common-tier promotion rule (uncommon row shared, flat-bonus differentiation) is repeated across every artifact page and belongs in the artifacts roll-up.
EXTRACT-CANDIDATE: the custom_tick action shape and the $param substitution convention is shared across artifacts and belongs in the effect-engine reference, not per-entity pages.