So your Shields have three stats:
- Shield - Total Shield point value
- Shield Regeneration - How fast your Shield regenerates
- Shield Cooldown Reduction - % reduction to delay before your shields begin refreshing

Gear and Pilots can also enhance your Shields or complement your Shields with other abilities that provide additional kinds of Shields.

If you are a player who takes into consideration your Shields - which we all should be - then I suggest to pay special attention to the Skills of your Pilots to see if they have abilities that affect Defensive Gear or Shields directly. Some Pilots, even common Pilots, have abilities that pop a Shield if a Module falls below a certain Armor Value. Other Pilots have a Skill that adds Shield Cooldown Reduction.

Based on your Role and Playstyle you may require a big fat pool of hit points for your Shield. You need to dump your damage and then go into cover for a long reload. So a big fat Shield is perfect for you because it will likely have less Cooldown Reduction.

However, if you prefer fast combat where you gota stay in the fight - or your weapons reload fast - then I suggest going as I do and having a hefty Shield Cooldown Reduction of over 35%.

It's actually possible to wear different Shoulders which allows you to shape your Shields in addition to augmenting them with Pilots and Gear.

An example of a high Shield hit point pool would be in upwards of 35,000 total Shield hit points between both Shoulders. Some Shoulders can have 50,000+ total Shield pit points.

An example of a high Shield Cooldown Reduction would be upwards of 44% total.

But keep in mind you can mix your Shoulders. So one Shoulder may have a high Shield pool which the other provides a nice amount of Cooldown Reduction - this creates a more balanced Shield.

I personally prefer a super high Cooldown Reduction.