Can i fit A5 shields to a Fer de Lance?

stocko1111

S
Hello all,

I've swapped an internal compartment over for my shields which are currently A4 so now I can go up to a class 5 on paper but I've not been able to find any A5 shields as yet for my FDL. Is it possible for me to upgrade to A5 shields now or is A4 still the largest shield a FDL can carry?
 

Dbrn47

Dbrn47
Aleksej said:
If they increase your chances of survival, which they do - they are the best.
Click to expand...

I think you misunderstand what Morbad is saying. There are situations, due to power constraints, where having the strongest shields isn't the best. It is going to depend on how you want to fly and what you want to fly with.
 

Morbad

Morbad
Aleksej said:
If they increase your chances of survival, which they do - they are the best.
Click to expand...

My pure combat FDL runs a D5 shield generator because I have a better chance of survival with the reduced weight and power requirements of D5 plus a suitable mix of boosters, counter measures, SCBs, and weapons than I would have if I went for broke on the shield gen itself.
 

Aleksej

Aleksej
Dbrn47 said:
I think you misunderstand what Morbad is saying. There are situations, due to power constraints, where having the strongest shields isn't the best. It is going to depend on how you want to fly and what you want to fly with.
Click to expand...

I clearly understood what he was saying, so I totally do not agree with that.

Morbad said:
My pure combat FDL runs a D5 shield generator because I have a better chance of survival with the reduced weight and power requirements of D5 plus a suitable mix of boosters, counter measures, SCBs, and weapons than I would have if I went for broke on the shield gen itself.
Click to expand...

I've tried to make a comparison using http://edshipyard.com/, aiming at 110% power consumption with deployed hard points:

D5 + 2xA and 1xD shield boosters, shield energy is 570MJ:
http://edshipyard.com/#/L=60O,7RL4yG4yG7OX7OX0_g0_g0-8,2-7_7_6Q6u9Y6Q5A,7TC7go7go

A5 + 2xC boosters, shield energy is 589MJ:
http://edshipyard.com/#/L=60O,7RL4yG4yG7OX7OX0__0__,2-7_7_6Q6u9Y6Q5A,7Sk7go7go
 

Jackie Silver

Jackie Silver
It's not purely a trade off on power but also on mass. I use a D5-and-boosters on my Fer-de-Lance to help keep the mass below half-optimum for the thrusters, even at the cost of a small increase in power consumption over an A5-and-boosters setup.
 

Morbad

Morbad
Aleksej said:
I clearly understood what he was saying, so I totally do not agree with that.



I've tried to make a comparison using http://edshipyard.com/, aiming at 110% power consumption with deployed hard points:

D5 + 2xA and 1xD shield boosters, shield energy is 570MJ:
http://edshipyard.com/#/L=60O,7RL4yG4yG7OX7OX0_g0_g0-8,2-7_7_6Q6u9Y6Q5A,7TC7go7go

A5 + 2xC boosters, shield energy is 589MJ:
http://edshipyard.com/#/L=60O,7RL4yG4yG7OX7OX0__0__,2-7_7_6Q6u9Y6Q5A,7Sk7go7go
Click to expand...

This is one of my typical (I frequently adjust the mix of weapons and mount locations on the medium hardpoints as necessary, but the rest is usually the same) combat setups: http://www.edshipyard.com/#/L=60O,4zg5Rr5Rr7u57u50_g0Wg0__0__01Q01Q,2-7_7_6Q6u9Y6u5A,7TC7gy7gy4xo0HM

There are ~1959MJ of total shield capacity available (555MJ base + 1404 more from five twin B4 SCB uses), with no module/priority adjustment needed during combat (both SCBs are powered at all times, even with hardpoints deployed), while still being light enough to maximize speed/rotational performance (which peaks at half thruster optimal weight), and keeping the countermeasures I find useful to carry (dual chaff, because many CMDRs are heavily reliant on gimbals, plus heatsinks being firing lasers continually while using SCBs in tandem can easily melt subsystems).

A weaker base shield also allows me to get my shields back up faster in the rare occasions when my shields do fail. This is because shield regeneration rate is an identical ~1MJ per second across all shield setups, and shields are restored once they reach 50% capacity. I can disable all my boosters and only need just under three minutes before I have shields again, vs. over four minutes if I mounted an A5.

This setup's performance cannot be duplicated with an A5 sheild generator. Shielding per MW of power consumption is very close between boosted D5 and A5, but the A5 is 12 tons heavier, and shielding for mass is definitely in the D5's favor. The closest combination achieves about 5% more initial shield strength, but is seven or eight tons overweight, and has longer shield restoration time.
 
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Deleted member 38366

D
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Bazorlag

B
FalconFly said:
I found the FdL too vulnerable until I fitted 5A Shields w/ 2x 0A + 1x 0B Shield Booster.
Since the Internals are so limited, the 4A Cell bank is the best you can get.

For that compromise, I'm running 4A Thrusters and Class 2 Pulse Laser Gimbals w/ Class 4 Gimbal Cannon.
I kinda miss the 4x Class 2 Beams - but I ain't got the Power for them.
At least with that Shield setup, I can afford a solid Station time and take quite some hits before having to bug out.

PS.
Was surprised to see that the FdL actually takes a Hull beating just like a Dropship - so losing Shields isn't automatically the end of the fight (to some extent).
Gotta say, solid ride when it comes to that.
Click to expand...

Don´t use 4A thrusters. Fit 5D, which is lighter, cheaper, takes less power and produces more thrust.
 
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nosleepdemon

nosleepdemon
There is no situation where you would want under powered shields on a combat build for a ship as big as the FDL. If you lose your shields, the change in regen rate isn't going to make the massive hull damage and component loss you will suffer any easier to bare. You may as well shift to super cruise instead, since nothing can stop you.
 

Shadowed

Shadowed
Here's my bounty hunting FDL:
5A shields are absolutely necessary

[Fer-de-Lance]
H: 4A/F Plasma Accelerator
M: 2D/G Beam Laser
M: 2D/G Beam Laser
M: 2D/F Beam Laser
M: 2D/F Beam Laser
U: 0I Chaff Launcher
U: 0I Chaff Launcher
U: 0I Chaff Launcher
U: 0D Kill Warrant Scanner

BH: 1I Lightweight Alloy
RB: 5A Power Plant
TM: 5A Thrusters
FH: 4A Frame Shift Drive
EC: 4D Life Support
PC: 6A Power Distributor
SS: 4A Sensors
FS: 3C Fuel Tank (Capacity: 8)

5: 5A Shield Generator
4: 4A Shield Cell Bank
4: 4A Shield Cell Bank
2: 2A Frame Shift Drive Interdictor
1: 1A Fuel Scoop
---
Shield: 475.10 MJ
Power : 17.90 MW retracted (88%)
25.37 MW deployed (124%)
20.40 MW available
Cargo : 0 T
Fuel : 8 T
Mass : 429.7 T empty
437.7 T full
Range : 13.23 LY unladen
13.23 LY laden
Price : 91,242,096 CR
Re-Buy: 4,562,105 CR @ 95% insurance
 
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[HJ]-RedRaven

[HJ]-RedRaven
Morbad said:
This is one of my typical (I frequently adjust the mix of weapons and mount locations on the medium hardpoints as necessary, but the rest is usually the same) combat setups: http://www.edshipyard.com/#/L=60O,4zg5Rr5Rr7u57u50_g0Wg0__0__01Q01Q,2-7_7_6Q6u9Y6u5A,7TC7gy7gy4xo0HM

There are ~1959MJ of total shield capacity available (555MJ base + 1404 more from five twin B4 SCB uses), with no module/priority adjustment needed during combat (both SCBs are powered at all times, even with hardpoints deployed), while still being light enough to maximize speed/rotational performance (which peaks at half thruster optimal weight)...
Click to expand...

@Morbad - mine is almost the same.

An interesting strategy; I'm using the 4A shield cell banks over the B's - the 4A's have only 4 cells each rather than 5 (163MJ each cell over the 140MJ/cell of the 4B banks. The total capacity is slightly lower 4A 652MJ vs 4B 702MJ total but quicker recharge when you set a cell off (B for 4A vs C for the 4B's).

The 4A's cell banks are also 6 tons lighter each, a saving of 12 tons - I do keep one switched off (I pre-set my right hand panel with the cursor on one cell that I power down once its depleted; the second bank is set at Priority 1 so as soon as I drop power to the depleted bank, the second bank comes online automatically. Its 5 button presses on my HOTAS that I do in less than 2 secs (3 to change the the right panel focus and 2 for the cell bank power status(Repair, then Off)).

You could then use the 12 ton saving and one-bank-off power saving to raise your two 0C Shield Boosters to full 0A boosters - that takes you from 554MJ shields to 616MJ shields base. Its like having the 5th cell of the 4B's in your main shield base, rather than in a cell. There, it can be recharged passively many times.

Can also exchange a few more tons and use a 5C shield, yielding 664MJ total and weighing in at 424tons with full fuel. Still very close to optimal manoevrability, but 102% power after de-prioritising non-SC modules.

http://www.edshipyard.com/#/L=60O,4zg5Rr5Rr7u57u50_g0Wg0_g0_g01Q01Q,2-7_7_6Q6u9Y6u5A,7T27go7go4xo0HM

I'm using my FdL in a RES mainly; all minor differences and it mainly caters for differing play styles.
Good food for thought, thanks!
 
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Morbad

Morbad
FalconFly said:
I found the FdL too vulnerable until I fitted 5A Shields w/ 2x 0A + 1x 0B Shield Booster.
Since the Internals are so limited, the 4A Cell bank is the best you can get.
Click to expand...

I have no complaints about it's ability to weather fire with the 555MJ provided by a D5 gen and 1x A + 2x C boosters:
[video=youtube;oZAJtXtnq84]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZAJtXtnq84[/video]
[video=youtube;PQRCFB_v9nM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQRCFB_v9nM[/video]

Or if you prefer PvE...
[video=youtube;DCRejFkOmns]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCRejFkOmns[/video]
[video=youtube;XpwQH6ipvfM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpwQH6ipvfM[/video]
[video=youtube;-MX4Y3YgKRo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MX4Y3YgKRo[/video]


nosleepdemon said:
There is no situation where you would want under powered shields on a combat build for a ship as big as the FDL. If you lose your shields, the change in regen rate isn't going to make the massive hull damage and component loss you will suffer any easier to bare.
Click to expand...

Here is an explorer test build I was running through trials in a CZ:
[video=youtube;okIh8t0NGFY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okIh8t0NGFY[/video]

I did make a few mistakes and lost my shields in the process, and I stuck around until they were back up. I could have waited a bit longer and allowed them to restore even if I had a 5A, but the situation could easily have been different; there are times when every second counts.

nosleepdemon said:
You may as well shift to super cruise instead, since nothing can stop you.
Click to expand...

Except, that unless I want to abandon the fight all together, I can't come back without exploiting the SC shield recharge oversight, which I will not do as a mater of principle.

[HJ]-RedRaven said:
I'm using my FdL in a RES mainly; all minor differences and it mainly caters for differing play styles.
Good food for thought, thanks!
Click to expand...

Definitely room for differences in preference. However, I build my ships around the need to combat other CMDRs, often while outnumbered, and even something as simple as flipping off a module is easy to botch, or can take too much time, in the heat of combat. I need to be able to concentrate on fighting while watching my opponents and my sensors. I've been tempted by, and trialed, many more complex setups, but I always go back to having everything I will need in a fight always enabled, with no fiddling.
 

CyFur

C
5A shields every time.

RES PvE small mission running - http://www.edshipyard.com/#/L=60O,5TP5Rr5Rr5Rr5Rr0_g0_g0_g0_g3gs3we,2-7_7_6Q6Q9Y6u5A,7Sk7go0724xo0nE
You can fit a class 4 cannon if your want. (withdraw hard points to charge the 855 shields) (power 20.15 / 20.26)
..dont scoff at the autodock.. i have voice attack and i like my comforts

or
PvP 4pipstoSYS FA off - http://www.edshipyard.com/#/L=60O,7RL7OX7OX7OX7OX0_g0_g0_g01Q3gi3we,2-7_7_6Q6u9Y6u5A,7Sk7gy7gy9qI4wE
Can fit Large pulse for longevity. One shield cell active at a time to charge the 760 shields. (power 20.32)
(need more practice with FAoff ..heh.. If i need to chase something across multiple star systems .. then i'll think about a larger class scoop)
 
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