Reinforced Bond

What triggers the fire-rate bonus?

The Companion must exceed 1,200 Max Shields or Overshields. At rank 0, the listed fire-rate increase is 10%; rank 3 gives 40%, and rank 5 gives 60%. The condition refers to the Companion’s shield value, so a Companion below the threshold does not meet the stated trigger.

What does reloading do?

Reloading restores Overshields to your Companion: 25 at rank 0, 100 at rank 3, and 150 at rank 5. This is separate from the fire-rate condition. The mod is a standard Companion mod with Naramon polarity and base drain 4.

How should you invest in ranks?

It reaches rank 5. Raising it increases both the conditional fire-rate bonus and the Overshields restored per reload. Listed example costs rise from 30 Endo and 1,449 Credits for the first step to 480 Endo and 23,184 Credits for the rank 4-to-5 step. Rank it as far as those increases justify, especially if the shield threshold is reliable in your setup.

How does it differ from other Companion choices?

Loyal Companion activates when your Health falls below 35%, granting damage reduction while the Companion becomes invincible and draws fire, with a 60-second cooldown. Astral Bond instead keys off Operator or Drifter damage and buffs Companion attacks; Contagious Bond spreads part of a status effect when the Companion kills an afflicted enemy. These listed effects serve different triggers and purposes, so they are not direct replacements for Reinforced Bond’s shield threshold and reload interaction.

Limitations and tradeoffs

• The fire-rate bonus depends on exceeding a specific Companion shield threshold.
• Rank-up costs rise substantially at higher ranks.