- Shields now have infiltration values. They are very bulky and thus take a long time to infiltrate, more than a grenade launcher does.

- Tier 2 and Tier 3 Shields have single-build costs now. The Tier 2 one requires Plated Armor research, as well as 20 Supplies and 3 Alien Alloys per shield. You'll also need 3 Engineers. The Tier 3 one requires Powered Armor research, as well as 40 Supplies, 5 Alien Alloys and 5 Elerium Dust per shield. You'll also need 6 Engineers. These costs/requirements apply to both the humanoid and the SPARK versions of the shields.

- The SPARK and MEC Trooper version of the Shield Bash ability can only be used once per turn, since it does a 2-action stun instead of a disorient. You can get rid of this cooldown entirely (or make it longer) via XComShields.ini (change the value of SPARKSHIELDBASHCOOLDOWN to 0 for no cooldown, or a bigger number for a longer one).

- Shields now grant Dodge and Armor instead of Ablative, reduce Mobility by 2 instead of 1, deal less damage with bashing, and no longer penalize the soldier's Aim at all. These changes were inspired by Lago's Shield Rework. A soldier with the Guard ability will make the best use of them (such as a Hoplite, Stormrider, or MEC Protector).