Horizons Shield anomaly sucks

[Mike Reacher]

Viper Mk IV has a 4a shield generator and it is 196 MJ
Cobra Mk III has a 4A shield generator and it is 148 MJ

Why is this anomaly allowed. FD should fix this, I think.

 

[CTCParadox]

"The ship itself defines the base shield strength however so typically as ships get bigger there base strength goes up."

"The shields just modify the base shield strength defined by the ship itself. A Python has a base strength nearly 3 times as high as an Asp's."

I'm not sure what the in universe justification is but it's very deliberate.

CMDR CTCParadox

 

[Lucius-Darcia]

The anaconda has with a class 3A shield still more strength than the cobra with an 4A shield

 

[Shar]

It's exactly right, the 4A shield generator puts out a certain amount of power, that power has to then spread over the volume of the hull the more hull the less power per sq/in the numbers used IE 196MJ or 148MJ is at any given point. as the hull is hit and the field reduces the shield power is continuously redistributed equally across the hull.

There are precise and consistent formulas for this across all ships and it is perfectly balanced.

 

[Zieman]

It's exactly right, the 4A shield generator puts out a certain amount of power, that power has to then spread over the volume of the hull the more hull the less power per sq/in the numbers used IE 196MJ or 148MJ is at any given point. as the hull is hit and the field reduces the shield power is continuously redistributed equally across the hull.

There are precise and consistent formulas for this across all ships and it is perfectly balanced.

How come 4A on Anaconda is MUCH stronger than 4A on Viper IV then?

(answered in the 2 posts before your post )

 

[Shar]

How come 4A on Anaconda is MUCH stronger than 4A on Viper IV then?

(answered in the 2 posts before your post )

Hmm your right, well i thought i new how it worked. I'll blame fdev and say they don't explain anything to us.

Sorry for the bum stear mike.

Only logic i can think of is that the ship type has some inherent amplification as all 4A shield gens should be identical.

 

[Chaz]

Yeah, as said above, I think the ships come with some base rate set by FD purely for balance purposes, and the shield generators just amplify it.

 

[JohnCarter]

I remember reading a thread a long while back that explained the phenomenon as having to do with the shape of the ship and the amount and placement of the shield emitters. This thread was talking about the reduced shield effectiveness on the Imperial Clipper vs the Python. The way it was explained made sense but still was a hard pill to swallow for us Clipper lovers.

 

[TuxedoSteve]

Hmm your right, well i thought i new how it worked. I'll blame fdev and say they don't explain anything to us.

Sorry for the bum stear mike.

Only logic i can think of is that the ship type has some inherent amplification as all 4A shield gens should be identical.

I've always just said the base shield strength is to do with shield distributors/projectors which would be located throughout the ships hull (generator generates the raw field, the distributors are responsible for actually projecting it around to cover the ship's hull). The higher the quality, better the placement, and larger quantities of them allows for a higher strength of shield. The hull size that you mentioned is sort of used but instead in the form of the hull mass rather than the ship volume or surface area.

 

[Devari]

It's not an "anomaly" it's a consequence of ship-specific strengths and weaknesses. If all ships were perfectly round metal spheres, then sure, all that should determine final shield strength is the installed shield generator and the mass. The actual shield strength depends on how efficiently the ship's shield generators can deliver the shield power. It's the same for thrusters, it isn't not just an issue of a certain size of thruster moving a perfectly round metal sphere where it's going to be directly proportional to mass. Some ships have particularly powerful/efficient thrusters for their size and this allows them to outperform other ships with similar thruster/mass ratios. The "hidden" shield factor is the same as the "hidden" thruster factor or the "hidden" thermal efficiency factor for each ship. Each ship has base stats that are then modified proportionally by the modules you install, but generally speaking certain ships are going have advantages due to their base stats. Some ships run particularly cool (Diamondback explorer), some might run hot (most Lakon ships like the T6), some ships have good thrusters (most Imperial ships) and other ships have good shield strength (Python and FDL).

 

[Mike Reacher]

All that info is a bit hard to swallow.
But here is something even harder (I think)
Viper 4 ... 3E shield ... hull 190 = 103 mj
Cobra 3 .. 4E shield ... hull 180 = 99 mj Lightest hull of all.
Cobra 4 .. 4E shield ... hull 210 = 125 mj
Python .. 3E shield ... hull 350 = 99 mj
First three? Ok (I think)
But the Python (to my way of thinking) seems odd after reading your input. I know the Python comes with 4E but I changed it to see if it made sense.

Yes! It is a 6E[up]

 

[Codger]

The Python comes with a 6E, doesn't it?

 

[Devari]

The Python comes with a 6E, doesn't it?

Yes the Python comes with a 6E shield stock. Part of the issue with comparing "stock" loadouts is that many ships come with "undersized" shield generators in stock config and this is not an accurate reflection of their true potential in a top-end combat config. For example, the Asp comes with an undersized 5E shield but you could put a 6A shield if you wanted, although the shield modifier is low on the Asp meaning it doesn't have a particularly impressive shield strength even with a 6A shield installed. The FDL is the opposite, it comes with an undersized 4E shield but can fit a 5A shield and has a good shield modifier which takes its already high base shield strength modifier and makes it even better. There's also the issue that ships with more utility slots can use more shield boosters, like the FDL which has 6 utility slots available. The end result is that ships will really need to be compared with the highest "combat" size of shield generator because this is what they will carry in most cases. Some exceptions are ships like the Asp or T9 who have low shield modifiers and they are unlikely to use their largest internal slot for a shield as this dramatically cuts down on their cargo space and doesn't really improve their shield strength very much.