During the long winded introductions, our opponents have their energy shield drain down to as little as 10% to 20% left by the time the fight start. Sure it would be nice not to have ours drain as well if we turn it on before entering. But having our opponents essentially nerfed that much should be fixed. The game auto-turns on our Energy Shield for the Gorsky quest when the big fight starts. The same should happen with arena fights for both us and our opponents.