Hang on...what happened to shields?

[JaQ]

Has anyone else tried the Bi-Weave Shield Generator? I replaced my 3A Sheild Generator and 3A SCB with a 3C Bi-Weave after reading about the changes. I'm flying an iCourier.

Anyway, I got interdicted by a Fed Gunship. I got his shields down quite quickly but mine were almost gone so I boosted away, giving pips to Sys to get the sheilds back up. FGS followed me but his sheilds showed no recovery.

When mine were back up I turned round and killed him quite quickly. Without shields he was toast to my Multi-Cannon.

I am using Bi-Weave on FDL right now. It is weaker (756MJ with 5xSBoost= +100%) but it is also less power hungry with bit more than 1MW reduced power use. With new bigger Power Plant you can pull out something like this FDL or This. Also I want to get some info about how much faster it actually recharges in combat situation, as it may turn out that effective shield (base + regen) may be better with Bi-Weave. It is certainly better than standard if a fight will most likely drag for longer. Must have in Res.

 

[Obnoxious_Gamer]

I'm not sure how they'd be on bigger ships, but I'm loving them on my DBS.

Between the quick recharge and the buff to HRP's I can usually pull some evasive maneuvers, pop chaff and I barely take any damage before my shields are back up.

Even if they only take a few hits before going back down, in a maneuverable ship that's often enough, because you are spending most of your time out of your opponents fire arcs.

On larger ships, armor is now equally as valuable as shields. If you can get three or four HRPs into a ship, plus one of the dedicated armor upgrades if you want overkill, weapons barely touch you. Heck, even the FDL becomes a tank. After 1.5, shields recharge much faster, so I'll stick with standard for now.

 

[Fire70]

I only played with two ship last night FAS (which had bad shields) and ASP (which I actually lowered to C4) so none of this will be that earth shattering.

With the FAS in a Haz RES it did seem I lost the shields a little easier, it didn't notice anything different about the NPC's just less spinning of death. My FAS relies on armour not it shields.

Now with the ASP I actually dropped the shields to put a bigger fuel scoop and I tried one of those new bioweave shields. It wasn't all that good but i managed to stay alive long enough to get away so it did its job..

NPC's who pulled me out of super cruise did do a better job though, one actually got away before I could kill him and I was nearly was killed a couple of times which isn't normally like that.

 

[CariadocThorne]

On larger ships, armor is now equally as valuable as shields. If you can get three or four HRPs into a ship, plus one of the dedicated armor upgrades if you want overkill, weapons barely touch you. Heck, even the FDL becomes a tank. After 1.5, shields recharge much faster, so I'll stick with standard for now.

HRP's got a lot better for smaller ships too. With their shields coming up insanely fast now (especially with bi-weave), a couple of HRP's can mean virtually no damage before the shields are back up. I run a DBS, and with 2 3D HRP's I get 736 armour even on lightweight bulkheads, which is insane when shields recharge that fast.

When I do get around to trying a big ship (planing to jump straight to the Cutter), I can't see myself bothering with Biweave either

 

[AceFlares]

Anything which prevents easy mode cookie cutter fits is fine. Tweaks to game play requiring slight ship refits and adapting to new styles keeps the game fresh.
Try the new Viper... I bought one today and took a trip into a high intensity CZ... 500k credits in 20-30mins and docked safely with 44% damage. For me as a relatively casual player with a two A3 SCB & 1 HRP fit, the totally unexpected overheating made things interesting, as was the perceived increased accuracy of NPC rails. I wouldn't say things were harder than before, just different...

 

[TheOnlyOne]

Could have been NPC's with 100% accuracy rail guns. #

well, this npcs are scarry :/ a6 shields get down after 5 or 7 magical hits my jesus npcs with god aim.

 

[Mr_Foxhound]

I like the shift. look at it this way for a sec:

How interesting would combat be if you could just keep shields up ALL THE TIME? - I mean- what kind of play is that? boooring!

I believe Shields became a crutch to many many players, and now that they cannot lean on it as much- they feel betrayed.

So now we actually take armor damage in combat. Shields are never eternal (and probably was never intended to be). System failures, hull reinforcements, and several many other elements of the game will now get a chance to emerge. [... you did buy armor for going into combat... right? why not? eh? Crutch much?]

i hope you keep to your guns when you get ganked by a wing and you cant keep your shield up long enough to high wake

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Fanboy, nothing. He said something incredibly stupid and I replied. If anything, I'm about to quit this game because of the idiotic design decisions made in this patch.

agreed looks like i'll be off to warthunder

 

[Mr_Foxhound]

The more I think about it, the more I believe that this is a move in the right direction, even if it makes E the game which isn't for everyone (possibly myself included).

The game's title is Elite: Dangerous, not Adequate: Chill Space Trucking. And it should live up to its name and the creator's vision first and foremost. Read up the Dark Wheel (the original 1984 Elite's companion fiction). Space traders are constantly broke, constantly threatened, and trading up even to a Cobra takes half a lifetime; the other half a lifetime is spent paying to outfit it and to scrap together enough money to retire. On top of that, every time you fly you can get in a fight (so flying shieldless or weaponless is not an option), and every fight can wipe out any potential profits from your trade and put you in the red, if you survive that is. The main character literally fusses over whether he should or shouldn't fire a missile because reloading that missile would likely eat up his current trade's profit. And combateers have short lifespans, with Elite rank being so rare that they are almost legendary. Nearly everyone who fights for a living either flies an OP fighting craft, or wings up, or both.

For reference, here's a handy illustration on EVE Online's learning curve: http://imgur.com/gallery/jj16ThL. E should strive to achieve something similar, PLUS the twitch skills requirement.

Really, the end goal should be Ninja Gaiden-level difficulty, where every time you fight, you fight for your life; every mistake is potentially fatal; every decision is life and death; and every loss is keenly felt. The base for this model is already there: Elite's main currency is time, and when you are threatened, you should be looking at potentially losing months or years (not days or hours) of hard grind. Yes, it would drive off certain segments of the playerbase, but it would attract others to replace the departed. So nerfing shields, upping prices for everything, increasing weapon strength and increasing death penalties are the right way to go, as those are elements of the original vision. Those in disagreement with it may just have to seek greener pastures elsewhere.

what you just said make me want to punch the screen

 

[WR3ND]

NPCs? Two Cobras or two Vipers? :S

I don't use SCBs against them in my combat capable exploration Vulture build. I sometimes pop into haz. RES for a bit with it without any issue. I wouldn't trust it against another Commander in a comparable or better ship though, but NPCs aren't really ever an issue.

http://coriolis.io/outfit/vulture/2...RgkCY-iBmcQ?bn="Ronin" - Combat & Exploration

 

[IceFire122]

After doing quite some CZ runs in FDL, Python and Conda, I can say, that all three are good in combination with Bi Weave shields.
-It is important to balance the weak Bi Weave strength with at least two-three shield boosters. Hence, The Python has to live w/o chaff for now.
-The FDL does not need an SCB, as it can fit only a class 4 and your speed gives you the ability to retreat for recharge.
-The Conda can still fit 2-3 class 6 SCBs w/o too much compromise. Two class 3 plasma guns make it a mini Corvette.
-In general class 6 SCBs are great due to their increased recharge level.

-Additionally to Rail Asps & Eagles, there is a new nemesis on the battle field: the FAS.
FD did improve the FAS loadout somehow and 1 or 2 on your tail can bring your shields down quickly, if you are not careful. The FAS can also get out of the fire cone of the Python and Conda due to their agility. Class two beam turrets are one option to counter this.

In summary, the rules of engagement have changed a bit, and mainly the new NPCs FAS should be considered dangerous.

 

[CariadocThorne]

*Nevermind*

 

[Mr_Foxhound]

NPCs? Two Cobras or two Vipers? :S

I don't use SCBs against them in my combat capable exploration Vulture build. I sometimes pop into haz. RES for a bit with it without any issue. I wouldn't trust it against another Commander in a comparable or better ship though, but NPCs aren't really ever an issue.

http://coriolis.io/outfit/vulture/2...RgkCY-iBmcQ?bn="Ronin" - Combat & Exploration

im gonna silently facepalm

 

[WR3ND]

im gonna silently facepalm

It isn't "silent" if you say that you're going to. Just sayin'.

Piloting the "Ronin" is the most fun I've had in the game, but as I mentioned, it isn't a PVP ship. https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=175238&page=3&p=2828837&viewfull=1#post2828837

Fly safe, Commanders.

 

[Draxxen]

LOL

Having read through this post I am thinking the contributers to this thread need some fast recharging shields...
On a serious note, I am sure most of us will adapt fairly quickly.

SCB spamming is over; This post should cover stage 2 in the mourning process (= anger), and possibly stage 4 (= depression), so lets move on the the last stage: Acceptance!

Never leave port without insurance claim coverage my dear fellow Commanders!
See you out there!

 

[IceFire122]

so lets move on the the last stage: Acceptance!

Already past this stage at Adaption, as I started with Acceptance in Beta .

SCBs are still viable for the large ships, though spamming multi-banks is over. And I totally like, that Bi-Weave + recharge boosts + new HRP makes SCBs unnecessary in small PvE Ships like Vulture and FDL.

 

[CariadocThorne]

I think people will be fine once they adapt, stop relying on SCB's, and replace some of their SCB's with HRP's. In reality, you're just as survivable, maybe moreso since the new craze for NPC railguns means there's a much greater risk of having your shields blitzed before the SCB kicks in.

 

[Ydiss]

Didn't notice anything had changed at all. Except for everything being way more fun.

Biweave shields are amazing.

 

[Obnoxious_Gamer]

LOL

Having read through this post I am thinking the contributers to this thread need some fast recharging shields...
On a serious note, I am sure most of us will adapt fairly quickly.

SCB spamming is over; This post should cover stage 2 in the mourning process (= anger), and possibly stage 4 (= depression), so lets move on the the last stage: Acceptance!

Never leave port without insurance claim coverage my dear fellow Commanders!
See you out there!

That would be fine, except I've never used SCBs on any of my ships. They just use too much power IMO. There was a problem occurring with the A6 shield generator on the Python, which made its shield incredibly weak and generally confused and angered people.

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I think people will be fine once they adapt, stop relying on SCB's, and replace some of their SCB's with HRP's. In reality, you're just as survivable, maybe moreso since the new craze for NPC railguns means there's a much greater risk of having your shields blitzed before the SCB kicks in.

Once again, it was a problem with a bugged shield generator on the Python. Nothing was said about there being anything wrong with SCBs, aside from intended changes.

 

[ShadowWolf Kell]

Didn't notice anything had changed at all. Except for everything being way more fun.

Biweave shields are amazing.

This, though one thing did change. NPCs don't spin around their axis and stop now. They still crash into asteroids though.

Bi-Weave is sexy. Loving it on my FdL.

 

[CMDR Kantos Kan]

Already past this stage at Adaption, as I started with Acceptance in Beta .

SCBs are still viable for the large ships, though spamming multi-banks is over. And I totally like, that Bi-Weave + recharge boosts + new HRP makes SCBs unnecessary in small PvE Ships like Vulture and FDL.

It should be noted that not everyone is carrying hull reinforcement packages. I do multiple things in the game, among others trading occasionally. HRP would be a waste of internal slots for me, so I don't have any on any of my ships. But my standard outfit for most ships is one shield cell bank. When outfitting with a lower class, the heat is manageable, even without heatsinks. As you may guess, RES and CZs are not the places I hang out most. The closest I do is undermining and I use my SCB strictly when I'm taking some pounding, as "a last resorts", as Michael Brookes said. It's a bit annoying that Frontier, in wanting to address the stacking problem, slapped this increased heat generation across the board, punishing all players, not only those who stack. But I can live with it so far...