Regular Shields, Prismatic, Bi-Weave - which is more useful and when?

[mossfoot]

What's the consensus on which shields are the best to use under various circumstances and ships?

For example, are you better off with a Bi-Weave shield on a small/medium ship because their shields tend to be weak to begin with, so (in theory) it's better to have them charge faster and reform faster once broken?

Are you better off with Prismatic shields in a larger ship because of the initial boost it gives and the fact you'll probably have Shield Cell Banks to top it up with?

Are you better off with normal shields because screw that whole fancy shmancy stuff?

 

[Pebble feline]

I use biweave on my clipper, is the same strength as the d7 i was using but will charge quickly enough that small ships cant strip much of my shields if i take on a wing.

Seems to work well with three sheild boosters. Good strength and it comes back from dropped in about thiry ish seconds.
Gives me around 400mj total

 

[bigity]

It seems they work well on ships with poor shielding in general, I use one on my FAS. I can hull tank easily, and the shield regenerates quickly. And I don't have to worry about SCBs.

 

[CMDR Byr Goefin]

I use biweave on my clipper, is the same strength as the d7 i was using but will charge quickly enough that small ships cant strip much of my shields if i take on a wing.

Seems to work well with three sheild boosters. Good strength and it comes back from dropped in about thiry ish seconds.
Gives me around 400mj total

Same a C7, not D7.

And they recharge 3 times as fast.

Good for PvE, not so much for PvP I would think. Prismatic? Maybe Mor PVP? I dunno, not my taste.

 

[CMDR Corlas]

I use bi-weave on all my combat ships. The faster regen get much more use than a few extra MJ's.

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Same a C7, not D7.

Same weight as a C7, same strength as a D7.

 

[SGT TickleFight]

You would have to go ship by ship to truly answer this.

Prismatics on my battle Cutter because strong shields are its greatest strength.

2-C4PAs for the Corvette mean that you need normal shields due to their power drain.

I agree that in general, ships with poor shields are better off bi-weave. I need to know what ship you are using to let you know my complete thoughts.

 

[znôrt]

prismatics are no good for my style (too heavy), but i'm liking bi-wave a lot in smaller ships (db scout) because of the fast recharge. with some pips in sys you can recover very fast from any moderate damage. shield down? just put some distance for a few seconds and there you go again. in the end it gives you more control over your shield. i'm using bi-weave on the fdl too and like it so far. i guess the bigger the ship the lesser it pays off. on an anaconda your shield will recharge substantially faster, but impact on capacity will be more severe and recharge is anyway so slow that it's hardly practical. if you have to wait over a minute you are out of combat anyway.

 

[Zephyriel]

prismatics are no good for my style (too heavy), but i'm liking bi-wave a lot in smaller ships (db scout) because of the fast recharge. with some pips in sys you can recover very fast from any moderate damage. shield down? just put some distance for a few seconds and there you go again. in the end it gives you more control over your shield. i'm using bi-weave on the fdl too and like it so far. i guess the bigger the ship the lesser it pays off. on an anaconda your shield will recharge substantially faster, but impact on capacity will be more severe and recharge is anyway so slow that it's hardly practical. if you have to wait over a minute you are out of combat anyway.

Funny, I would have thought it would be more useful on bigger ships because they normally take ages to recharge. Well, I might try it on my bounty hunter FAS then (currently I have regular A shields).

 

[Frenotx]

If you have a ship that you expect to keep under fire for extended time periods (res farming, for instance), the biweave may be a good choice. Since you're almost constantly getting shot at, you're almost always reaping the benefit of the faster recharge. If you're looking to get in ONE fight (assassinations, pvp, trader trying to escape), then regular or prismatic are likely the better choice, as the higher effective health pool is more relevant than the recharge speed over the duration of a single fight.

Exceptions: If a ship's hull is made of paper and completely incapable of taking hits, go for a regular or prismatic shield. If a ship's shield is naturally really small and the hull is durable enough to take a few hits, then biweave is probably a good choice since the recharge time will be short enough to be relevant even in a single fight.

 

[EAGLE 5]

So if I read this thread right on my Cobra I should be packing the bi-wave because the shields suck on it anyway so you might as well be bringing them back up as soon as possible while mitigating damage through hull tanking?

 

[SGT TickleFight]

So if I read this thread right on my Cobra I should be packing the bi-wave because the shields suck on it anyway so you might as well be bringing them back up as soon as possible while mitigating damage through hull tanking?

Yes, the Cobra is a great ship for bi-weave because it is fast.

 

[Quineloe]

I put Bi-weaves on my Clipper and added one shield booster, replaced the shield cell banks with HRPs.

First issue. I didn't know what to put in the class 6 compartment. There's no combat related module in size 6 that's not related to shields (and of course 7/8 too if we want to think about Cutters and Corvettes). The Python is also affected by this, so is the Anaconda and the Federal gunship.

So I put a size 6 Fuel scoop in there, as if I'm some sort of explorer.

I also had way too much power now that I had a C-rated shield instead of an A-rated (+1.4 MW) and no shield cell bank to power (+2.48 MW). I had nothing to put that power on either. So I blew it on A-rated sensors and an A-rated KWS - and I am already running a beam laser on that Clipper. I could go even more power hungry on the weapons, but the Clipper only has a class 6 distributor, so that wouldn't really help.

So I took the Clipper into combat. The results were underwhelming. The shield recharges faster, but that drains your power capacitor hard. Two pip SYS were required. Since Two pip SYS do next to nothing on your shield resistance, those are essentially wasted. On my A-shielded clipper I would go 4 WEP 2 ENG against big ships and 4 ENG 2 WEP against small ships and just kill them before they drop my shields. That did not work as well as my shields were considerably weaker and repeatedly failed. However, due to the 2000 armor hp my clipper now had, I took very little damage after that. Except the Canopy. That thing blew out at 80% at the latest, rendering all those HRPs and military grade armor moot.

So I switched to just running and rebuilding shields if they failed. Rebuilding in combat was out of the question anyways, because that requires all 4 pip in SYS else the Capacitor goes dry. 4 Pip SYS while not having shields basically leaves you toothless, so it's a terrible idea. It also takes 15 seconds to start up the rebuilding, then 20 seconds to rebuild it. In 35 seconds you'll usually get severe canopy damage already, if you don't lose it right away.

This build really only works against single enemies you get the drop on. Wings won't work, conflict zones won't work. The shields are just too weak and the 15 second timer before the shield even starts rebuilding is just too long to be viable in combat.

 

[Neofactor]

So if I read this thread right on my Cobra I should be packing the bi-wave because the shields suck on it anyway so you might as well be bringing them back up as soon as possible while mitigating damage through hull tanking?

That is exactly what I do. The stock cobra MK IV has 216 hull. I add an additional 660 with hull renforcement packages, and with military grade bulkheads the ship has more hull than a stock Federation Corvette. In PvP when a player strips my bi-weave shields they are shocked that my hull takes the abuse much better. I normally don't go below 85% when my shields come back online and I pop a SCB to bring them back to 100%. Every fight so far with a similarly classed ship has had the opposing player routed... a Darn shame I'm to slow to catch up.

 

[Frenotx]

I put Bi-weaves on my Clipper and added one shield booster, replaced the shield cell banks with HRPs.

First issue. I didn't know what to put in the class 6 compartment. There's no combat related module in size 6 that's not related to shields (and of course 7/8 too if we want to think about Cutters and Corvettes). The Python is also affected by this, so is the Anaconda and the Federal gunship.

So I put a size 6 Fuel scoop in there, as if I'm some sort of explorer.

I also had way too much power now that I had a C-rated shield instead of an A-rated (+1.4 MW) and no shield cell bank to power (+2.48 MW). I had nothing to put that power on either. So I blew it on A-rated sensors and an A-rated KWS - and I am already running a beam laser on that Clipper. I could go even more power hungry on the weapons, but the Clipper only has a class 6 distributor, so that wouldn't really help.

So I took the Clipper into combat. The results were underwhelming. The shield recharges faster, but that drains your power capacitor hard. Two pip SYS were required. Since Two pip SYS do next to nothing on your shield resistance, those are essentially wasted. On my A-shielded clipper I would go 4 WEP 2 ENG against big ships and 4 ENG 2 WEP against small ships and just kill them before they drop my shields. That did not work as well as my shields were considerably weaker and repeatedly failed. However, due to the 2000 armor hp my clipper now had, I took very little damage after that. Except the Canopy. That thing blew out at 80% at the latest, rendering all those HRPs and military grade armor moot.

So I switched to just running and rebuilding shields if they failed. Rebuilding in combat was out of the question anyways, because that requires all 4 pip in SYS else the Capacitor goes dry. 4 Pip SYS while not having shields basically leaves you toothless, so it's a terrible idea. It also takes 15 seconds to start up the rebuilding, then 20 seconds to rebuild it. In 35 seconds you'll usually get severe canopy damage already, if you don't lose it right away.

This build really only works against single enemies you get the drop on. Wings won't work, conflict zones won't work. The shields are just too weak and the 15 second timer before the shield even starts rebuilding is just too long to be viable in combat.

Consider using some of that surplus power to fit an afmu. You can use it to keep your canopy topped off, and prevent it from breaking.

 

[Armia]

For PVE, I believe bi-weave is currently the best option overall, since your goal in PVE grinding will be to stay in the combat zone as long as possible. This is where bi-weave shields can more than make up for its slightly lower shield capacity with its much better resilience.

For PVP, absolute shield capacity is all that matters, so I'd choose prismatic shield if power consumption is not a constraint. Shield regen rate doesn't matter in PVP situations, since you'll be chomping up SCBs anyway.

I myself have replaced my combat Anaconda's 7A regular shield with 7C bi-weave, and I'm more than impressed with the result. Not only it recharges faster, the reduced power consumption allowed me to add an additional shield booster as well. All in all I have only 90 MJs less shield than before, in exchange with much faster regen rate and also saving 36M Credits that I can happily go spend elsewhere.

 

[Quineloe]

Consider using some of that surplus power to fit an afmu. You can use it to keep your canopy topped off, and prevent it from breaking.

An active AFMU in combat constantly repairing the canopy? That's just trying too hard to make a crappy build work.

Besides, I've used the AFMU to repair the canopy. It's 1% every few seconds, there's no way it can counterrepair it takes.

For PVE, I believe bi-weave is currently the best option overall, since your goal in PVE grinding will be to stay in the combat zone as long as possible. This is where bi-weave shields can more than make up for its slightly lower shield capacity with its much better resilience.

For PVP, absolute shield capacity is all that matters, so I'd choose prismatic shield if power consumption is not a constraint. Shield regen rate doesn't matter in PVP situations, since you'll be chomping up SCBs anyway.

I don't think so. Biweaves don't charge through attacks (which would really give them the edge they need), and since you're more likely to get attacked in CZs, the recharge would be constantly interrupted.

Besides, both in my Python and my Corvette I had to leave because I ran out of ammo, not because I ran out of shield cells. My Corvette has a total of 18 shield cells (and there's room for a lot more). That provides enough regeneration to shoot those PAs dry over and over. I very rarely even touch the third bank out of four.

 

[mossfoot]

To answer an earlier question directed to me, I am looking at my Keelback. Class 3 Dual weave provides 91MJ of protection, while regular provides 124MJ and Prismatics provide 157MJ (no boosters in any case).

It's too slow to flee most fights easily (unlike it's cousin the T6) and in combat it's got poor turning rate. I do fine against NPCs in it, but doubt I'll survive any decent player CMDR

Obviously I'll be tanking up on armor to take more punishment, but was wondering if a faster reforming shield will keep me alive longer than a beefed up shield. Honestly, how long will 66MJ last?

 

[Armia]

I don't think so. Biweaves don't charge through attacks (which would really give them the edge they need), and since you're more likely to get attacked in CZs, the recharge would be constantly interrupted.

Besides, both in my Python and my Corvette I had to leave because I ran out of ammo, not because I ran out of shield cells. My Corvette has a total of 18 shield cells (and there's room for a lot more). That provides enough regeneration to shoot those PAs dry over and over. I very rarely even touch the third bank out of four.

I rarely do CZs. And speaking from my experience, bi-weaves more than proved to be efficient in RESs. Mostly because the time spent flying from wanted NPCs to another and scanning them provided enough time for the shield to recharge meaningfully. Also, the decrease in total shield capacity isn't that large anyway, in my case only 90MJs out of total 1070 MJs. That's like being able to absorb an additional single shot of 3B PA. Not a big deal to me.

 

[Quineloe]

I rarely do CZs. And speaking from my experience, bi-weaves more than proved to be efficient in RESs. Mostly because the time spent flying from wanted NPCs to another and scanning them provided enough time for the shield to recharge meaningfully. Also, the decrease in total shield capacity isn't that large anyway, in my case only 90MJs out of total 1070 MJs. That's like being able to absorb an additional single shot of 3B PA. Not a big deal to me.

FdL, right? I dont need shield cells in an FdL in CZs either. Go up behind your target, and kill it, it won't even shoot back.
The only reason I use shield cells in my corvette in Haz RES is because I'm just way too ram happy

 

[Frenotx]

An active AFMU in combat constantly repairing the canopy? That's just trying too hard to make a crappy build work.

Besides, I've used the AFMU to repair the canopy. It's 1% every few seconds, there's no way it can counterrepair it takes.





I don't think so. Biweaves don't charge through attacks (which would really give them the edge they need), and since you're more likely to get attacked in CZs, the recharge would be constantly interrupted.

Besides, both in my Python and my Corvette I had to leave because I ran out of ammo, not because I ran out of shield cells. My Corvette has a total of 18 shield cells (and there's room for a lot more). That provides enough regeneration to shoot those PAs dry over and over. I very rarely even touch the third bank out of four.

Higher rating (and possibly higher class) afmus have a quicker repair rate. Alternatively, you can stack 2 or 3 of them for very quick repairs. Shield tanks have SCBs. Hull tanks have afmus.