What are the mechanics of using multiple shield modules?

Question

I've been playing quite a bit of gratuitous space battle, and have quickly learned that the best way to keep your ships from turning into piles of burning debris is to equip them with shields. However, I am pretty sure that I do not understand the mechanics in play when using multiple shield modules. This is even more confusing considering that it is possible to mix shield modules of different qualities.

The different types of shield modules differ in strength, resistance and recharge rate, allowing for quite a bit of mixing and matching, so what I hope to get is the set of rules that will allow me to figure out the following two cases at least:

• I use two shield modules, one with high strength and one with high resistance. Do I get the best of both worlds (the total of both modules' strength plus the higher resistance)?
• I install three shield modules. Will they deplete one at a time, or will they "take turns" soaking up damage, lasting longer overall?

Answer 1

Based on a quote from this forum post:

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-1394320.html

Shields do not "stack" as you would expect but all are handled seperately. Every time you get hit, a random shield takes the damage.

They all recharge seperately and yield seperately. If you mount the reflective shield and the fast recharge shield, you don't get a single super shield, but you still have two shields with different stats. You will see Proton beams reflected 50% of the time, which is when they hit the reflec and not the fast recharge. As for the multiples penalty... That's called arbitrary game mechanic to make ship designs more diversified and interesting.

It seems as though although your stats report the highest resistance, a random shield will take the hit, which may not be the highest-resisting shield.