ToME: the Tales of Maj'Eyal

First play on the newest update and there appears to be a change to Disruption Shield that I can't quite figure out. It also might be another effect. Who knows?

So, the thieves lair... until then, the DS did what it does, namely stopping all incoming damage. Then a rare archer managed to penetrate the shield and this is where things get odd. The shield normally would go to zero and start draining mana except it didn't. It dropped to 82, mana was used, but I also took some damage to my life. It was a critical with the shoot talent.

Then it happened shortly thereafter against the boss. The shield didn't go to zero but I still took damage to my life and some to my mana.

An issue with the shield? A change? A quirky skill that penetrates the shield? Any ideas?

Nothing unusual was noted on the log.

Damage shield penetration is a rare stat on items, which the archer could have easily had.

I understand the idea of shield penetration. No problem there but given the mechanics, something seems off or I don't understand it.

1. The shield absorbs all damage up to its threshold.

2. Once the shield hits 0 then it continues to absorb damage by draining mana.

Okay...

Shield penetration is fine BUT why did it also absorb mana? It shouldn't do that unless the damage shield itself is at zero, which it wasn't.

What am I missing?

Okay, figured it out.

When the shield drops to a sufficiently low mana, it stops working but it doesn't turn off AND whatever that threshold is, it's way lower than 50%

As such, there's no indication that it isn't working other than you suddenly start taking damage. More importantly, if your mana increases even to full, the shield doesn't suddenly start working again. It just LOOKS like it's working and that's obviously crazy-dangerous for a player.