Prismatics

[Pville_Piper]

After close to 10 years of playing I finally have access to prismatic shields. I normally run biweaves on most ships because I usually run fast, maneuvering ships, what's the typical strategy for using prismatics?

Something else I've never paid much attention to, I guess because I haven't done very much in the way of a dedicated combat ship or a sheild tank, is sheild sizing... But with some of my builds for mission running since I've pledged to a power limits my options if I just slap a sheild in the biggest slot available.

 

[Inscydeus]

The advantage of prismatics - aside from using the biggest size in a shield tank build - is that they are typically as strong as a normal class A of the next size up, so on trade ships, for instance, you can reserve your largest optional slots for cargo racks and still have somewhat powerful shielding.

 

[Kzak]

After close to 10 years of playing I finally have access to prismatic shields. I normally run biweaves on most ships because I usually run fast, maneuvering ships, what's the typical strategy for using prismatics?

Something else I've never paid much attention to, I guess because I haven't done very much in the way of a dedicated combat ship or a sheild tank, is sheild sizing... But with some of my builds for mission running since I've pledged to a power limits my options if I just slap a sheild in the biggest slot available.

Prismatics are favored when you want a short fight, or when you flee from an enemy that has interdicted you. Prismatics are less good for drawn-out fights where shield regeneration becomes a factor such as in combat zones (CZs), but can still be used, of course, and regular shields still have their place.

 

[forbiddenlake]

PvE combat (human) still prefers bi-weave because as you stay out longer, the regen from the bi-weave soon outpaces the up-front strength of the prismatic.

For PvP, prismatics are almost required.

For trading, mining, etc, maybe even exploring, prismastics are good for the higher strength, possibly in a smaller slot, because your goal is to get away ASAP. Just watch the power requirements.

 

[Pville_Piper]

The advantage of prismatics - aside from using the biggest size in a shield tank build - is that they are typically as strong as a normal class A of the next size up, so on trade ships, for instance, you can reserve your largest optional slots for cargo racks and still have somewhat powerful shielding.

That's what I was thinking...

 

[molgrips]

Prismatics for PvP or for wing assassination missions, I reckon. For everything else, there's bi-weaves.

 

[Vasco Sapien]

Prismatics are heavier, have a higher power draw and a longer rebuild time.
I personally dont use them on small ships for these reasons.

But It depends on the unique strenghs of a particular ship if Prismatics make sense.

In use on a large ship coupled with Cell banks, Prismatics can be very effective in PvE.
Great for ramming.

PvP, Dont be fooled by the idea that High shield MW means better survivability. A ship has armour also and if built with good resistances coupled with module protection then Bi-Weave which are lighter and draw less power and have a faster rebuild time can be more effective on smaller ships than pure shield MW.

The lighter the ship the better it handles and often maneuverability and evasiveness saves the day more than tank shields.

 

[Surprize960]

Prismatics with the (op) enhanced low power mod are great on Multi-role ships with the smallest possible shield and you still have lots of MJs with great jump range. Enhanced lower power also reduced the weight to 50% in Grade 5, so they weigh the same as normal shields.

50+ LY 704 tons cargo 3200 MJ Cutter

EDSY

EDSY is a ship outfitting tool for Elite Dangerous

edsy.org

80+ LY 1875 MJ Conda

EDSY

EDSY is a ship outfitting tool for Elite Dangerous

edsy.org

 

[Reggit]

More is more!
Suppose I build a FAS with a standard shield strength of 500 - Prismatics could bump that up to 600....meh
But suppose I build a Cutter with a standard shield strength of 7000 - Prismatics could bump that up to 8400....nice increase!
Of course, power draw is a concern...and SCB's can be very handy without the passive regen...
It's a balance!

 

[Straha Yeagar]

As mentioned above, Prismatics are best for short duration fights with plenty of time between fights. I have them on my shield tanked FDL for soloing Wing Assassination missions. They can take a hell of a beating while being able to focus on the Corvette or Anaconda and ignore the support ships in the meantime without ever having to break off the engagement for shield regen.

 

[Hugh Jardon]

Large (maximum) size prismatics work OK for prolonged battles if you support them with two maxed out SCBs. They're better than biweaves in a CZ when you get ganked by the other side. Biweaves are not so good in that situation, but if you rarely get ganked like that, biweaves are better.

Prismatics are also good against Thargoids at stations under attack because you can go back to the landing pad to re-charge them, and in other places you can use reboot to charge them to 50%.

 

[Cmdr Snuffler]

I use prismatics on ALL non combat ships where you don't really care about recharge time, you just need enough shield to escape or to take a large impact when you pick a fight with a planets surface.
As others have mentioned you can use a smaller shield class, but still have decent shield strength.
They are handy on a few combat ships, usually dictated by the fact they have less internals so therefore have a weaker hull, ie my Frag Python Mk2.
IMO prismatics are the only PP module that are a must...all other PP modules are personal preference and a nicety.

 

[Dillon Fallon]

I use them in CZs when I don't want a shield to drop. FdLs and Mambas are capable of getting around (or in excess of) 3000 mj which should keep your hull away from the railguns, missiles and corrosion effects in there.

A 720t cargo capacity Cutter with 4500 mj shields and significant positive resistances is nothing to sniff at either.

Something to consider with comparison to biweaves as well is your recharge and recovery time. A high strength biweave will never be as strong as a prismatic, but gains in recovery. However if it takes 3-4 minutes for that biweave to recover after breaking and you're rebooting the ship to get it back up in a reasonable time after blowing up a target, you might as well go with the prizzy. Then you have the strength up front, plus a higher 50% mj value after the reboot.

 

[Stealthie]

After close to 10 years of playing I finally have access to prismatic shields. I normally run biweaves on most ships because I usually run fast, maneuvering ships, what's the typical strategy for using prismatics?

Personally, I reckon the only/main use for prismatic shields is for cargo ships, to give you a big shield in the smallest possible slot.
I'd really only fit them to cargo ships because, in a cargo ship, you just need the shield to stay intact so you can, ideally, destroy your attacker and then escape.

The main reason I consider prismatic shields as a "one and done" thing is because the recharge times are absolutely ridiculous.

Sure, you can build a combat ship with a giant prism' shield and it'll be amazing for a while but it WILL gradually erode and then the recharge times are ridiculously long... and, because you can build such an enormous shield, not even the biggest SCB can begin to recharge it.

I had a C7 prismatic shield on my Corvette and, with added SBs, it gave me something like 5000mj of shield but the recharge time was something like FIFTY FIVE MINUTES if left to itself so I also had to fill up a bunch of slots with SCBs to recharge it quickly.
And, of course, SCBs are a finite resource so, sooner or later, you'll use all your SCBs, your shield will start to erode and then you'll have to head back to a station.
Also, your PP probably won't be able to support multiple big SCBs, so you end up with all the malarkey where you run two or three but then disable them all except one, use it, go back into your modules HUD, disable the used one, enable a new one and then use it to recharge your shield... all while in combat.

Life became far simpler when I swapped to a 7C Bi-weave, which recharges itself in a couple of minutes and doesn't need slots filled with SCBs so I can fit things like limpet controllers to hoover up debris and more HRPs/MRPs.

I mean, you can build a Cutter with a prismatic shield and a bunch of SBs that has 12,000mj (apparently) of shield and then use it as an "instant win button" for assassination missions, but you can complete those in a ship with 1,000mj of shield, or you can use it for PvP... probably against other ships with a similar loadout, thus making for the dullest combat ever.

Bottom line, as I said, is that I think they're best used for "one and done" situations, where you're going to get shot at once and then continue on to a station.

 

[aardappelianen]

equip the azure paint job because it goes well with the shield, boost away and reboot the ship (after coming to a stop) to recover 50% shield because you don't want to wait for it.
with a big enough shield even recharging at the station takes while.

its not clear to me what shield distributor draws are but i feel like prismatics draw the least and bi weaves the most.

 

[Kira Goto]

its not clear to me what shield distributor draws are

If I had to guess based on the edsy figures for an unengineered 7C bi-weave, it's the distributor draw multiplied by shield charge speed. So for that size of shield, you'd be looking at 2.64MW/s(don't shoot me people who want to say it should be a different energy measurement... er... thingy) while the shield is active [4.4*0.6], and 6.6MW/s when it goes down. This lines up with my experience that a class 8 charge enhanced/super conduits distributor at 2 pips to sys can happily keep a class 7 biweave fed even if it uses fast charge. My maths suggest even a reinforced/fast charge C7 biweave can be handled by it.

... but don't be too tempted by a C8 biweave on a Cutter (if you ever had a reason to be). Your power distributor may have thoughts of strangling you in bed at night.

Prismos, meanwhile, well. Between their abysmal recharge rates and having the same distributor draw as a biweave (apparently), even a weapon focused distributor can keep it quite happy at one pip to systems, providing the shield isn't broken. At which point you might as well not bother diverting power unless you need the sys charge for something else like heatsinks or a shutdown field neutralizer in AX.

 

[nanothargon]

They’re big; lots of power and mass. Because of that, it’s only worth using prismatics if you’re trying to max out the shield imo. So, combat ships for me. On a trader I’d try to go for lower power/temp because of the likelihood of carrying dodgy cargo.

As others have said, they take an age to recharge, so “reboot and repair” will become your new normal; this restores the shield to 50% in a few seconds. I was surprised that I found this totally fine in long PvE bounty hunting sessions; it’s less of a pain than you’d think.

The other problem is heat. You’re likely to want to max out the shield boosters, which means lots of power, which means heat. In my prismo ships I find myself overheating when fuel scooping, and sometimes in combat. This is normally fine, but a heatsink might help calm the nerves

 

[Surprize960]

An enhanced low power hicap Prismatic has more strength than a normal A-rated reinforced hicap. The prismatic draws less power and they weigh the same.

The enhanced low power prismatic is sometimes even better than the normal A-rated one class better:

Class 5 Prismatic Enhanced low Power 2857 MJ; 3,6MW power, 20 tons

Coriolis EDCD Edition

A ship builder, outfitting and comparison tool for Elite Dangerous

coriolis.io

Class 6 Reinforced A rated Shield 2801 MJ; 4,77 MW power, 40 tons

Coriolis EDCD Edition

A ship builder, outfitting and comparison tool for Elite Dangerous

coriolis.io

As long as recharge time is not important, the prismatic is the better choice.

EDIT: Not always, it depends on the ship, shield boosters and the class of the shields

 

[Lhorndra]

I put prismatics on exploration ships. Together with G5 "enhanced low power" + "hi cap" or "stripped down" experimental, usually you'll get a better jump range / shield strength compromise than with other shield types. Of course, an explorer doesn't need a lot of shields, but just when you've been lulled into a false sense of security, a planet with high gravity appears in front of your nose. After you have hopefully survived the lithobraking, the shields can recharge on the surface.

 

[Three Stars]

One of the most underrated engineering options in the entire game is the Lo Draw experimental.

Do you love Prismatics? Do you hate fitting their power draw into your build? Here’s a 20% discount on power draw. That is enormous savings that lets you include a smaller or more thermally improved power plant or better weapons. I dare say it beats out the more marginal benefits of things like Hi Cap.

As well, for Biweave shields, do you hate draining your SYS capacitor and needing 3+ pips to SYS at all times? Here’s a 20% distributor draw discount. Suddenly you can run biweaves with 2 SYS pips and you’re firing your PAs more often and at lower heat levels because you can afford more pips in WEP. You even get marginally better recovery time, albeit because your shields are slightly smaller, but we’ll take the trade.

Bigger numbers always get the headlines but better usability wins the day.