Newcomer / Intro Please explain shield cell bank differences

[Abil Midena]

So, I did a search, but didn't turn up what I was looking for.

I have a python, and I know what shield cell banks do, but I have no idea what the differences between the differently rated banks are.

Example:
B5: Stabilisation rate B.
A4: Stab rate B.

So, other than the cost, power draw, mass, they are the same.

1. How do you know if a SC bank can recharge your shields entirely from almost gone? In other words, if my shields are almost all gone, and I use a A4, do I only get some of them back, where as if I used a B5, I would get more of them back?? See what I'm asking??
2. Does the rate refer to how fast the SC bank recharges after you use it? If so, what's the time difference for each rating (ED shipyard doesn't show this)?
3. Do SC banks use power all the time, only when you use them, or when they are recharging? i.e. if the power draw is 1.8, when is that being used...all the time? When you use it? When it's recharging?
4. Does allotting pips to SYS increase the SC bank recharge rate?

Thanks in advance.
Abil

 

[Gemat]

So, I did a search, but didn't turn up what I was looking for.

I have a python, and I know what shield cell banks do, but I have no idea what the differences between the differently rated banks are.

Example:
B5: Stabilisation rate B.
A4: Stab rate B.

So, other than the cost, power draw, mass, they are the same.

1. How do you know if a SC bank can recharge your shields entirely from almost gone? In other words, if my shields are almost all gone, and I use a A4, do I only get some of them back, where as if I used a B5, I would get more of them back?? See what I'm asking??
2. Does the rate refer to how fast the SC bank recharges after you use it? If so, what's the time difference for each rating (ED shipyard doesn't show this)?
3. Do SC banks use power all the time, only when you use them, or when they are recharging? i.e. if the power draw is 1.8, when is that being used...all the time? When you use it? When it's recharging?
4. Does allotting pips to SYS increase the SC bank recharge rate?

Thanks in advance.
Abil

I use B6. Even A6 cannot fully load a A6 shield with 2 boosters.
Banks require lots of energy for ...no reason! They are precharged and cannot be charged by the ship's plant.
I have not seen any time difference between banks. Only the charge seems different.
The B6 bank gives slightly smaller charge than A6, but carries 2 charges more and requires less energy to work.
As I said banks draw energy all the time for no reason when they are enabled.
Shields charge from the distributer. If the sys is full, even one pip will charge the shields as quickly as 4 pips. If the sys is low more pips will fill it faster.

 

[Abil Midena]

I use B6. Even A6 cannot fully load a A6 shield with 2 boosters.
Banks require lots of energy for ...no reason! They are precharged and cannot be charged by the ship's plant.
I have not seen any time difference between banks. Only the charge seems different.
The B6 bank gives slightly smaller charge than A6, but carries 2 charges more and requires less energy to work.
As I said banks draw energy all the time for no reason when they are enabled.
Shields charge from the distributer. If the sys is full, even one pip will charge the shields as quickly as 4 pips. If the sys is low more pips will fill it faster.

Thanks for the info!

Do you know if it's 1:1? I mean if you have a A6 shield with no boosters, an A6 SC bank will fully recharge it? I'm just looking for some sort of reference, so I know if I'm "wasting" a cell or not. Any data point would help.

So the only performance difference (not weight, cost, power use) is how much they recharge your shield when you use them, right?

The part about what SYS does has confused me from the beginning. I'm not sure I've ever seen SYS move. If I understand you right, the only time you would put pips to SYS is if your shields go down to 0, and the SYS was empty when it happened. As long as there's a bar in SYS, more pips to SYS won't help your shields, it'll just recharge SYS faster.

 

[Gemat]

Thanks for the info!

Do you know if it's 1:1? I mean if you have a A6 shield with no boosters, an A6 SC bank will fully recharge it? I'm just looking for some sort of reference, so I know if I'm "wasting" a cell or not. Any data point would help.

So the only performance difference (not weight, cost, power use) is how much they recharge your shield when you use them, right?

The part about what SYS does has confused me from the beginning. I'm not sure I've ever seen SYS move. If I understand you right, the only time you would put pips to SYS is if your shields go down to 0, and the SYS was empty when it happened. As long as there's a bar in SYS, more pips to SYS won't help your shields, it'll just recharge SYS faster.

I think the rechage is less than 1:1, but I am not sure. And there is no reason for it to be. You typically use a bank when you are over 33% keeping in mind that it takes a few seconds to kick in!

Yes, the only performance effect as I see it, is the energy they give to the shield and the number of charges.

The strength of the shield varies ( A REALLY LOT) regarding on how many pips you have assigned to the SYS.

In any case when you get hit, the shield's level drops and SYS power is needed to recharge it. The SYS will continue to give energy to the shield until its depleted. The more charge there is in your SYS capacitor, the faster the shield will recharge. But if the SYS capacitor is full, the charging rate of the shield will stay the same no-matter how many pips you have on SYS.

The above condition does not change if you loose your shields. The only thing that differs, is that the shield is unavailable until its charge reaches 50%.

To reach 50% faster you should disable your boosters from the module managing panel. After your shield is back on line you can enable the boosters. When you do, the charge will lessen 20% for each booster, but the available shield energy will be the same. Temporarily disabling the boosters is just a "trick" to have the shields on line a little earlier.