psionic shields and damage shield penetration

[Majestix]

Are the psionic shields (kinetic shield, thermal shield, etc.) affected by damage shield penetration? And how exactly does the formula work? E.g. does 10% damage shield penetration mean that 10% of the damage gets through unchecked and the remaining 90% are treated normally? If so, then how useful is damage shield penetration against the psionic shields if my attacks are fairly strong? After all, every attack probably deals more than the max damage that the shield can absorb. So even if 10% comes through unchecked, the remaining 90% probably still allows the shield to absorb its maximum?

I am asking because my Sun Paladin simply cannot kill Gorbat, the pride boss. He has huge psionic shields against every kind of damage that I can deal, 50% resist all, and over 12k HP. Against normal lev 50+ enemies, I am dealing over 1000 damage with my shield attacks, but against him it's more like 100. I can get him to 80% HP, and then he and his summoned trees get me down so low that I have to retreat. By the time I am ready to stick my nose out again, he has healed up. He also has Spine of the World, so the usual daze/stun/blind combo does not work. In general, his saves are pretty big, so I almost cannot land any debuffs on him. And the Rod of Annulment didn't drop for me on this run, so I cannot get him to take his shields down.

I can't figure out how to deal him maximal damage, what kinds of egos I should be looking for. If my understanding above is correct, then I guess I am looking for resist penetration rather than damage shield penetration?

[Micbran]

Damage shield penetration only affects damage shields. Psionic shields are Psionic shields.

[Majestix]

Well, I did end up killing him through a combination of an axe with 20% damage conversion: blight, one of the few elements that weren't covered by his psionic shields, and of stacking crit. multiplier. But boy, was that an annoying fellow. Cost me my vial of life.

[Micbran]

Either way, good job! One hurdle down, only a couple more!*


*some hurdles might be more akin to walls.

[HousePet]

Damage shield penetration probably works against the spiked shields.