Possible solution for SCB being overpowered

[-Joe]

How is this for an idea. We still have all classes of SCB as we do now but they work slightly differently.

The change would be thus:

In the 5 seconds delay time it takes to ready the shield cell booster after you have deployed it, make the shields shimmer or fuzz and this

be a visible effect that other pilots can see. Target indicators / wing indicators should also shimmer or fuzz to show the vulnerable state.

During this time any shield hit would cancel the shield boost.

Defending pilots would need to avoid the chance of being hit before deciding to use a SCB. Skilful attacking pilots would notice the SCB

boosting effect and try hard to land hits when they do.

 

[GluttonyFang]

How is this for an idea. We still have all classes of SCB as we do now but they work slightly differently.

The change would be thus:

In the 5 seconds delay time it takes to ready the shield cell booster after you have deployed it, make the shields shimmer or fuzz and this

be a visible effect that other pilots can see. Target indicators / wing indicators should also shimmer or fuzz to show the vulnerable state.

During this time any shield hit would cancel the shield boost.

Defending pilots would need to avoid the chance of being hit before deciding to use a SCB. Skilful attacking pilots would notice the SCB

boosting effect and try hard to land hits when they do.

Inb4 boost out of range/turret mounting all day meta counter...

 

[h347h]

How is this for an idea. We still have all classes of SCB as we do now but they work slightly differently.

The change would be thus:

In the 5 seconds delay time it takes to ready the shield cell booster after you have deployed it, make the shields shimmer or fuzz and this

be a visible effect that other pilots can see. Target indicators / wing indicators should also shimmer or fuzz to show the vulnerable state.

During this time any shield hit would cancel the shield boost.

Defending pilots would need to avoid the chance of being hit before deciding to use a SCB. Skilful attacking pilots would notice the SCB

boosting effect and try hard to land hits when they do.

It would make them useless for slow ships and change nothing but when they use them for fast ships. They also already have a visual que.

 

[-Joe]

The visual que, I can't recall noticing that before. I think a more obvious indication would be required.

I think that slower ships would be disadvantaged because they would not be able to chain deploy shield cells whist remaining under fire, but is that a bad thing!

Zoom in zoom out to pop a SCB for fast ships could be countered by larger ships fitting at least 1 long range sniping weapon & a turret.

 

[CmdrBulldog]

The visual que, I can't recall noticing that before. I think a more obvious indication would be required.

I think that slower ships would be disadvantaged because they would not be able to chain deploy shield cells whist remaining under fire, but is that a bad thing!

Zoom in zoom out to pop a SCB for fast ships could be countered by larger ships fitting at least 1 long range sniping weapon & a turret.

I don't recall them being all that overpowered.... In the 400 hours that I've played I don't use them all that much.

Fly somewhere above turd-bird level and you should not need them.

 

[Cmdr Andy B]

During this time any shield hit would cancel the shield boost.

rendering them completely useless in combat zones, no thanks.

 

[-Joe]

You only would have to break contact for 5 seconds during combat.

 

[h347h]

You only would have to break contact for 5 seconds during combat.

Which is impossible for some ships.

 

[deathmagnet]

Which is impossible for some ships.

Yes...a python is all punch no go...I think every ship out there that would be in a fight is faster than it other than the Conda.

 

[Cmdr Andy B]

Which is impossible for some ships.

and impossible for all ships if you are in the middle of the CZ being fired on by more than one enemy.

 

[Heavenly-Hammer]

Nah bruh, this doesn't work for any ship more expensive than a FdL. They're all slow as molasses. There is no way they can predict when or if they'd ever out turn a smaller ship long enough to get a 5 second reprieve. That's a pipe dream and if you've piloted a Python/T9/Anaconda or any of the dedicated trade ships, you'd know that.

 

[-Joe]

For bigger ships speed up regular shield recharge rate to compensate?

 

[CMDR Hagglebeard]

Yes! I would support this.

 

[Frenotx]

An interesting idea. This would certainly help a good bit, but I personally prefer my proposed more comprehensive overhaul: https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=164381

 

[Morbad]

The visual que, I can't recall noticing that before. I think a more obvious indication would be required.

It's been there since before launch and has always been pretty obvious.

Perhaps some graphics option or glitch is preventing you from seeing it?

An interesting idea. This would certainly help a good bit, but I personally prefer my proposed more comprehensive overhaul: https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=164381

These changes would essentially give my typical PvP vessel unlimited SCB uses.

Under the current system I have an extra 2GJ of shield capacity, if I use it wisely, that can be depleted, but cannot be restored without docking.

Under your proposed overhaul, I have roughly double to triple the recharge rate (1MJ base, then lets say half the power consumption of each permanently powered SCB), plus the capacity of the installed SCBs added to shields (equally renewable).

While none of this is inherently any more problematic, it would still make SCBs little more than super shield boosters. Current SCBs at least have a different set of mechanics and different considerations. The game may or may not need SCBs, but it doesn't need to types of shield boosters.

 

[Frenotx]

It's been there since before launch and has always been pretty obvious.

Perhaps some graphics option or glitch is preventing you from seeing it?



These changes would essentially give my typical PvP vessel unlimited SCB uses.

Under the current system I have an extra 2GJ of shield capacity, if I use it wisely, that can be depleted, but cannot be restored without docking.

Under your proposed overhaul, I have roughly double to triple the recharge rate (1MJ base, then lets say half the power consumption of each permanently powered SCB), plus the capacity of the installed SCBs added to shields (equally renewable).

While none of this is inherently any more problematic, it would still make SCBs little more than super shield boosters. Current SCBs at least have a different set of mechanics and different considerations. The game may or may not need SCBs, but it doesn't need to types of shield boosters.

Shield cell banks would be infinitely renewable, but they'd need energy from the capacitor to actually recharge. If you want to keep using your SCB(s) over and over in combat, then you need to pull pips away from weapons and / or shields to do so. You're faced with a dynamic choice. More tankiness at the expense of maneuverability and firepower. I suppose you could say they act like "super shield boosters", but the key distinction is that they'd be active, and require strategic thinking on when to use / refill them. It also gives your more choices in outfitting. Do I want several low-power SCBs installed to run in parallel to basically boost my recharge rate, or do I want one or two big ones that give me big chunks of shielding back in dire situations? Do I want to be good at dealing with DPS-based attacks, or big alpha strikes?