The more laid back/down you have the shocks, the less they work.
edit again; now I realize I misread your statement and it has nothing to do with droop. Ah well this maybe useful to someone anyway. sorry lol

and I agree, my back shocks which are (very laid back) do nothing other than keep the back squat when climbing (due to the droop springs), and the external springs keep the chassis off the links the rest of the time.
and my droop rant;
you need droop if you don't want it to tip over backwards.
The rear needs to have a strong enough droop to stay "squat" even when its up on its back wheels. and/or the links needs to be positioned so it rests back on them, as opposed to wanting to arch its back outwards when it leans back on them.
In my image below, the droop springs in the rear are strong enough, and the links at such an angle to stop the back of it arching outwards when upright like that (staying "squat" I say), allowing it to climb pretty much vertical without it flopping backwards.
It does not stop the suspension working at all. It still has full travel. If it was go tip forwards more the axles will droop down/ the crawler will arch its back to meet the ground.
here I made a video. shows full suspension movement and the ability to stand almost vertical with droop setup
https://youtu.be/zPO_PQrIEUo
Maybe we shoudlent even call it "suspension" because I sort of agree its not really suspension in the sense that it suspends the body / cockpit or attempts to reduce movement within it like a 1:1.
The sole purpose of this "suspension" is to maximize the amount of time that all 4 wheels can contact the ground, with zero regard to what "suspension" does is the normal sense. Normal suspension tries to keep all 4 wheels in contact with the ground,
while keeping the body off the ground, and maximizing comfort. We don't care about any of that.
Literally, the only reason the external springs are even there on my setup is to stop the chassis bottoming out on the links.