Shield Cells OP

[Jarek Storm]

I bet it sucks when an enemy plants themselves topside on you haha.

A Python can turn as fast as anything. It's a beast.

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I think they're fine as they are; just incorporate them into a combat strategy.

Otherwise we'll go down the road of banning more powerful pulse lasers etc. because they're 'OP'!!

Exactly. The last thing ED needs is to go down the never ending balance rabbit hole, all because some guy doesn't want to use cells for some reason.

 

[zorianarki]

Also worth noting is that shield cells don't counter high alpha strikes, which turns them into wasted space. And there are plenty setups that can alpha strike high enough to kill shields. as far as I remember a single hit from the big slow plasma ball thing kills an A5 shield on an ASP. I'm sure most beam lasers and canons can kill shields on smaller ships equally fast before shield cells can be put to use, their effect isn't instant.

 

[IronBane83]

I'v been saying this ever since shield cells came out. They add notting to the game and should be removed or reworked somehow.
In beta and gamma my threads just got shot down by ppl that could not fly for XXXX and thought sheild cells would save them in pvp, NEWSFLASH I and everyone with half a brain will just ram his ship up your tailpipe so you can't charge you'r fsd and you are still dead! it only takes longer.

EDIT: Use railguns if you whanna kill shield cell users, unless shield cells are fixed it's going to be the only weapon worth using in pvp.

 

[Phaaded]

Shield Cells have been tested and balanced with the combat system for months.

They're part of the strategic nature of ED combat. There are all sorts of counters to attacks in combat, chaff disables tracking of gimbled weapons, ECM counters missiles, heat sinks make you disappear from radar, point defense shoots down missiles, and shield cells allow combat to last more than 20 seconds.

In a game where you can lose millions from combat, you need means of survival and strategy.

You must be joking....

Those all counter one specific threat. Something that instantly recharges your shields counters EVERY threat. Shield cells, based on what the OP has mentioned, are incredibly broken. No cooldown.....seriously? Why would I ever choose something other than those for direct combat lol

 

[Papa]

I was in the heavy war zone yesterday killing independant scum in my Python with A7 shields and A6 cells. Twice I was down to one bar and had to run.

Don't be silly asking for things to be nerfed. When the aliens come, we will need every tool in the book and cells are one of them.

Take care all

 

[Flappers]

I see no issues with Shield Cell's.

Perhaps a longer cooldown between use could help with balance, but apart from that I see no problem.

It's part of a loadout, you are sacrificing other slots for using this, which is combat orientated, you could use other modules instead, but it's up to the player in question.
I have a couple of ships, one of them has them, and one doesn't. And I cope just fine on the ship without.

At the end of the day, if you are a better pilot, you don't need them. And if you go up against someone who has them, again, the better pilot will always win.

It's the same with the Re-enforced alloys etc. Stronger hulls... someone with stronger hull may last longer in a fight than one without, but again, it's a sacrifice of weight for added protection.

 

[Defacto]

They allow you to instantly refill your shields.
This is bad, because it is practically a must in combat and it makes more interesting mechanics less important.

I see no issues with Shield Cell's.

Perhaps a longer cooldown between use could help with balance, but apart from that I see no problem.

It's part of a loadout, you are sacrificing other slots for using this, which is combat orientated, you could use other modules instead, but it's up to the player in question.
I have a couple of ships, one of them has them, and one doesn't. And I cope just fine on the ship without.

At the end of the day, if you are a better pilot, you don't need them. And if you go up against someone who has them, again, the better pilot will always win.

It's the same with the Re-enforced alloys etc. Stronger hulls... someone with stronger hull may last longer in a fight than one without, but again, it's a sacrifice of weight for added protection.

Reinforced hull increases damage protection by, what? Something like 4% I think.

 

[fergal]

Well I'll certainly try them out after reading this, only because everyone here saying they aren't overpowered has convinced me they probably are.

80 cr cost to replenish should just be changed to 0, not sure who would think of saving the money, what does a single multicannon round go for right now?

 

[Ericlas]

You must be joking....

Those all counter one specific threat. Something that instantly recharges your shields counters EVERY threat. Shield cells, based on what the OP has mentioned, are incredibly broken. No cooldown.....seriously? Why would I ever choose something other than those for direct combat lol

So you stated your point for PVP.
(Sidenotice: you only have a fixed amount of them, once depleted your advantage is gone.)
Now what about people playing Solo only?
What about traders, that depend on this shield cell while trying to run from an interdiction?
Still OP or exactly the increased lifespan they need to survive long enough to get away?

 

[Defacto]

Sorry, but, this is a stupid nerf trhead. Everybody can fit Shield cell, it s just a choice and not OP. After, you ll ask to nerf class 2 weapon cause it s op vs a class 1 ?? Seriously... go play instead troll the forum.

Shield cells degrade the feel and mechanics of ship to ship combat. They also provide great advantages to little cost, and the usage of shield cells does not lead to new possibilities and strategies.

 

[charognard]

Shield cells degrade the feel and mechanics of ship to ship combat. They also provide great advantages to little cost, and the usage of shield cells does not lead to new possibilities and strategies.

Well if anybody can buy and fitt it, it s just a part of the strategie and a part of the figth. Stop.

 

[Ericlas]

Sorry, but, this is a stupid nerf trhead. Everybody can fit Shield cell, it s just a choice and not OP. After, you ll ask to nerf class 2 weapon cause it s op vs a class 1 ?? Seriously... go play instead troll the forum.

I am somewhat very calm, as i know those threads come and go and FD has always shown enough confidence and sense to judge those "nerf"-calls the way they should.

 

[Ericlas]

and we went through this discussion before:

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=49812

 

[Don_Von_Hulio]

Shield cells degrade the feel and mechanics of ship to ship combat. They also provide great advantages to little cost, and the usage of shield cells does not lead to new possibilities and strategies.

Sounds like you wanted to say "immersion" but you used "feel and mechanics" instead.

The mechanics are sound.

My ship feels the same with or without them.

And the yea it does add new strategies. Being able to stay in a large battle longer is one them. Using them in conjunction with ecm to battle missile heavy enemies, because when your shield falls you are basically a free kill.

 

[Defacto]

Well if anybody can buy and fitt it, it s just a part of the strategie and a part of the figth. Stop.

They are horrible
They remove one of the in my opinion most important elements of fighting
They make fighting NPC ridicilously easy because even those few NPC's who do have shield cells doesn't know how to use them.
They are practically a must in player to player fights.
Worst of all: They're so boring... all the other stuff you can fit in those slots do interesting stuff, but this is basically just a health potion dispenser.

 

[Commander M.O.]

And, so it begins... the cry for devolution into balance madness and flavor of the week mechanics. I hate MMOs for this very reason.

 

[Defacto]

And, so it begins... the cry for devolution into balance madness and flavor of the week mechanics. I hate MMOs for this very reason.

I don't think it's about balance, really. As has been said, everyone can have them. They're not even expensive.
I think the problem is just that they basically are just health potions. They don't involve interesting mechanics or considerations, they're just health potions.
I think they could be made more interesting. What if they refilled the SYS capacitor instead? What if taking damage while using the cell cancel the refill or maybe even damages the cell?

 

[Bardolin]

Shield Cell Banks are fine for how combat works.

 

[Miimis Maks]

Still, their Quality limitations, delays, low number of Applications and the correct timing to use them still requires alot of attention.
I'd be fine if their reloads costed alot more, though. 80Cr for an application of a 2A Cell Bank is nearly for free; I wouldn't complain to see i.e. 500Cr per Application.

Exactly.

And NPCs still use them as well.

Low number of application? 8-10 shield cells for every bank?
By the way, had 400+ kills in beta, ~185 in gamma/release, never saw npc used it. Even chaffts, only traders use it once or twice before exploded which makes no difference.

It needs some kind of limitation.

 

[Commander M.O.]

I don't think it's about balance, really. As has been said, everyone can have them. They're not even expensive.
I think the problem is just that they basically are just health potions. They don't involve interesting mechanics or considerations, they're just health potions.
I think they could be made more interesting. What if they refilled the SYS capacitor instead? What if taking damage while using the cell cancel the refill or maybe even damages the cell?

If you can't kill someone how about this novel idea ... Bring more help.