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ok. x wings have shields, right? why werent they used at the battle of yavin and the battle of endor?

They were. Hence them talking about setting their deflector screens.

but i saw several instances in which an x wing was taken out by a single shot. remember red leader? he lost an engine and went plowing into the death star.

That's because shields don't work in Star Wars like they do in Star Trek-they seem to mitigate rather than prevent damage and those TIE cannons do a good job of doing damage (far more than any computer game has it working). When they hit a vital part it does the trick.

But they clearly talk about setting their deflector screens in the battle.

then whats the point of having shields if they dont protect vital parts of your craft, like, say, your engines?

remember they are a 'rebelilon' probaley don't have enough recourse to have full shield and weopen power!.... thats what i think anyway!

The shields DO protect you, just not perfectly.

And that logic isn't great, Robin, as the Imperial figjhters don't use shields at all. Though this is nowhere near the liability in the films as it is in the games.

yeah, that sux that the ties dont have shields. the empire sacrificed durability, but gained speed and maneuverability. no life support either. kamikazes.

there is logic, listen, thye empire is the controlling power in the universe
right? which means they have next to an infinate number of power rescourses man power, where as the rebellion are flying worn out, almost falling apart fighters through lack of support from other worlds
i'm not saying there all falling apart, or old all i'm saying is there limited by the rescources they have, especially cutting back, maybe only giving shields half the power they were designed for. i maybe wrong but thats what my idea of a rebellion is.

The only point where it is suggested that TIE fighters are 'kamikaze' is in the EU.

As they seem to be pretty even with the X-Wings in ANH I really don;t think their lack of shielding is THAT big a deal. As RJ has already pointed out, the shields don't do very much anyway.

wait, i just remembered. shields can be adjusted, right? like when han is fleeing the star destroyers after escaping the space slug, when he turns to "attack" the oncoming star destroyer. didnt he tell chewie to forward all power to the front shields? episode 5

yes

Yes, and that is the same fashion in which they are talked of by the pilots at Yavin.

thanx for clearing that one up.