Knockdown shields are pretty bad

The point of the shield isnt to make you invincible till you feel like dying.  What do you want a bubble surrounding you with password protect and a hand print scan?  If the person is right up on you then hell yea he should be able to get past your shield.  You are a crippled person bleeding out and dying with a shield covering your front.  You expect too much.  It does exactly what its supposed too and should.  covers your front and holds off people at a distance.  

@Luxxtenebri That's the thing, to have the gun phase through the shield would be more to technically be able to fire through it rendering it useless. Then there are the larger legends like Gib and Caustic where their size is their downfall and the enemy can still do direct damage by taking shots just beyond the edge of the shield.

I'm not asking to remove the down state timer, that's fine and makes sense. I'm just trying to think of ways to make the knockdown shields viable, usable. They barely work half the time and that half is only when you're down and used as bait for the other members of your team (should they not have left you to die) cleans house. Other half, unless its a level 4 shield and even then your teammates are trying to protect you.. its a useless piece of gear as your team can die and usually pretty quickly given how stupid fast most of the weapons currently fire.

@MadsciencelichIdk. It makes sense that the larger you are the easier you are to hit shield or no shield. I also don't feel like the shield has ever failed me. When I get knocked I turn and face people so they dont hit me and I turn my body to match the direction of incoming fire. I realize that everyone knows these tactics, but its really all you should get. You already lost the fight so your lucky you even get a shield since no other BR gives you a shield. If you have played any other BR than this one then when that shield comes out you are thankful for it even if it isn't a full proof defense. At best its a deterrent from thirsting players. Which people think is cheap or cowardly, but its tactical. I always made sure I was thirsty as possible since the enemy gives away positions and pings in knockdown. Plus you prevent their return even if you get knocked down. IMO the shields are perfect as is. May be the only thing they got right straight from the start. At absolute most maybe they can be made only large enough to cover caustic and Gib fully and not a micron more. However, trying to prevent a player to get around your downed body with a far larger shield defeats the purpose. Downed players should be easy to take out not impossible. You shouldn't have to always charge them and do some dance to finish them off. Predict your opponents movements and turn accordingly. Keeping yourself alive with the shield needs to be a skill like everything else.

@Luxxtenebri While i agree with a majority of that and that blocking with the shield should be a skill there is still a few flaws with that. I have played a few other BRs and while glad Apex has these shields, again sometimes it really isn't worth it with how easily they can be exploited.

1. Mastiff, someone has that you're dead. As players can easily psyche each other out with direction. Before that it was the same with the peacekeeper and it still kinda is.

2. You're slower while the shield is up so you'd need to drop it for a few seconds to try and turn fast enough but that also leaves you completely vulnerable at the same time.

3. As you mentioned 'thirsting'. While i can't disagree that it is useful the shield really isn't a deterrent for it, finishers just ignore it granted it does take a while and can be interrupted... worst case is still getting separated from your team and being finished while the rest of your team is pressured away/downed as well. Best case lone enemy tries to finish you but teammate(s) save you.