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star wars - How do Droidekas fire blasters through their shields?


In the Star Wars universe, it's usually the case that shields can block energy weapons (blasters, lightsabers, lasers) but don't do much against physical objects (rocks, bullets, spacecraft). This is how they work in the new Battlefront game, where they protect against everything except explosives and slugthrowers.


In-game, the card for the personal shield powerup describes it as adapted droideka technology, and, notably, you can't fire your weapons while inside a personal shield. This may be for game balancing purposes, but it does raise the question: how can droidekas shoot through their own shields when no one else's energy weapons can? Are there any other examples of one-way shields in Star Wars? It's unlikely there's going to be much new canon material about this, so Legends answers are fine.


Droidekas firing from within their shields



Answer




On careful examination, the Droideka's gun turrets appear to extend outside of the defensive shield. When they fire, they either do so with the muzzle precisely aligned with the front of the shield or simply with the gun sticking right outside. The recoil obviously brings the blaster arm back inside the shield, presumably this also prevents their opponents from deflecting the shot back into the gun's muzzle.


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Interestingly this is somewhat contradicted by the (canon) Studio Fun - Star Wars: Droid Factory factbook which strongly implies that the shields are somehow modulated to block enemy fire, but to allow the Droideka's own bolts to pass through.


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