Shield Cells OP

[Defacto]

I think they are ok and if you miss the point of charge your sheilds down nothing you can do. Also if a non npc attacks you it gives you at least a fleeing chance rather than no chance 3 lots canon or laser all going for you think about it. they are pills for open play. they were a life saver in a hauler when i was trying to get a jump out of trouble they have their place as they are. do not nurf

There are better ways, fairer ways, more interesting ways, for both parties, in those situations. Why do we need shield cells?

 

[Don_Von_Hulio]

No, I mean weapon heatsinks that allow you to fire while not powering your weapons

Technically that would be a Weapons Cell since they stop firing due to lack of capacitor energy.

But whatever. You still havent given any alternatives other than "they should be changed", as well as dodge the subject by going off topic.

 

[Defacto]

That's like saying well you could remove power management, heat sinks and chaff, having these things in the game that rely on player input at the correct time is a key factor in complexity, and each additional component add's an extra layer, just like using heat sinks with rail guns, or using chaff vs and opponent using gimballed weapons.

Removing any of these simplifies the complexity of combat.

Exactly!
Imagine if we had a module that allowed us to fire Railguns without them overheating. Would that add a new layer of complexity to the game?
Imagine if we had a cloaking device that allowed us to remain hidden until the ''ammo'' ran out. Would that add a new layer of complexity to the game?
Imagine that we had a device that would repair 25% hull damage each time you used it. Would that add a new layer of complexity to the game?

 

[WillFrog]

If you fit all Cells you cannot:

A. Pirate
B. Scoop loot
C. Complete mission specific tasks that come about
D. Equip a D Scan, limiting yourself to known space
E. Use Limpets
F. Use Field maintenance, so even if you have won a battle you may also be stranded, or without several working pieces making you very vulnerable if interdicted.

True but you can own multiple ships. This is why I stripped the cargo rack from my viper to fit in extra shield cells and use it purely as a short range fighter. I have another ship for everything else.

 

[zorianarki]

There's nothing that can stand up to high alpha builds, but they have their own downsides, cost, ammo costs, heat management, and power issues.

Shields cells have little to no downsides, they are cheap, the ammo costs next to nothing, there's no cool down. The only real issue they have is it takes a few seconds to work but once you get the timing down, you're golden.

That is a good point, I'll concede that, basically in most builds you're just loosing a little cargo space to get shield cells which is.. who cares in combat. Yeah, they might need some sort of downside. High ammo cost perhaps

 

[Don_Von_Hulio]

Exactly!
Imagine if we had a module that allowed us to fire Railguns without them overheating. Would that add a new layer of complexity to the game?
Imagine if we had a cloaking device that allowed us to remain hidden until the ''ammo'' ran out. Would that add a new layer of complexity to the game?
Imagine that we had a device that would repair 25% hull damage each time you used it. Would that add a new layer of complexity to the game?

Now you are just grasping straws and this thread is officially played out.

If you cannot see the downsides of shield cells you apparently have done nothing but shoot everything instead actually worryimg about logistics.

 

[Defacto]

Technically that would be a Weapons Cell since they stop firing due to lack of capacitor energy.

But whatever. You still havent given any alternatives other than "they should be changed", as well as dodge the subject by going off topic.

All right, if you want me to repeat myself:

Here's some possible ways:

Have the cells add SYS power instead

Have the cells empty the SYS capacitor and recharge shields equal to how much the SYS power would've recharged your shields

Have the recharging process get interrupted and/or system/ship hull damaged if you get hit during the recharging process

Act as an additional ''external'' shield that goes on top of the standard one, but takes several minutes to recharge, and can only recharge when offline (this is basically another module)

Now you are just grasping straws and this thread is officially played out.

If you cannot see the downsides of shield cells you apparently have done nothing but shoot everything instead actually worryimg about logistics.

I'm not saying that they are overpowered. I'm really not.
I think that they are bad and should be removed or changed.

 

[Tronicus]

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.

Exactly!

Just wait until you have spend mega hours building up credit for a python ( 54 million not counting upgrades BTW)! You will want every single advantage you can get.

Just wait till you attack an Anaconda that has a plasma accelerator, and find out that your shield cell bank is useless! LOL

You would also be surprised how many people DON'T have one of these! They take up valuable space.

 

[Adept]

I'd love to see them removed, especially as the NPCs don't use them.

 

[Evil]

Exactly!Imagine if we had a module that allowed us to fire Railguns without them overheating. Would that add a new layer of complexity to the game?

We do its called the heat sink...

Imagine if we had a cloaking device that allowed us to remain hidden until the ''ammo'' ran out. Would that add a new layer of complexity to the game?

We do its called heat sink's and silent mode.

Imagine that we had a device that would repair 25% hull damage each time you used it. Would that add a new layer of complexity to the game?

Well we dont have this yet, just the repair module. But yes it would IMO.

 

[MrGambler]

How are they op? They have on average 5 ammo. It helps give smaller ships a better chance against larger ships. If it's a 1 v 1 and you are a battle orientated pilot, you should automatically have a shield bank installed. Just as a trader would trade other components for cargo space.

 

[Don_Von_Hulio]

All right, if you want me to repeat myself:

Here's some possible ways:

Have the cells add SYS power instead

Have the cells empty the SYS capacitor and recharge shields equal to how much the SYS power would've recharged your shields

Have the recharging process get interrupted and/or system/ship hull damaged if you get hit during the recharging process

Act as an additional ''external'' shield that goes on top of the standard one, but takes several minutes to recharge, and can only recharge when offline (this is basically another module)

Nobody would use it because it would always be interrupted and you would die making them useless and now since you have no more capacitor because you activated it you are really stuck under rock.

And are you suggesting an overshield feature?

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I'd love to see them removed, especially as the NPCs don't use them.

I see them used by Master and up NPCs. So idk what you are talking about.

 

[Defacto]

We do its called the heat sink...


We do its called heat sink's and silent mode.


Well we dont have this yet, just the repair module. But yes it would IMO.

Those do different things. You know that.

Nobody would use it because it would always be interrupted and you would die making them useless and now since you have no more capacitor because you activated it you are really stuck under rock.

And are you suggesting an overshield feature?

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I see them used by Master and up NPCs. So idk what you are talking about.

It would always be interrupted? what do you mean?

Some NPC use them but they usually loose their shields before they amnage to press the button.

 

[Renegade Roach]

Yes going into pvp without shield cell is silly, like going without shields, which you can remove by the way and replace with cargo racks, or going without guns, which you can do to save weight for longer jump range.

That's part of the pvp load out, like guns, and shields.

Yes you can remove them for trading/exploring but shields can be considered a 'base' module for combat. Shield banks not so, they are a tactical module. The very fact that you are repeatedly stating that Shield Banks are a required module for combat shows that they are OP. They should be at least limited to one bank.

 

[Ydiss]

We shall only able to have 1 Shields cell bank, not more

I personally use multiple shield cell banks but would be quite happy if this was enforced. Sure, it'd mean a docking trip more often whilst out hunting, but I tend to agree with the OP.

No need for a cool-down. If you're out-gunned and out-skilled, you use shield cells quite quickly. So a limit of one module per ship would make a huge difference, where it counts.

 

[Jarek Storm]

Elite is not a game I which you die, respawn, die, respawn like some fps arena with no consequence.

You have to keep your shields up to survive heavy weapon damage, or smaller ships may as not even bother. Don't even pretend that the innate shield recharge rate is enough to withstand that sort of damage. Even with 4 pips to shields they do not recharge at any sort of reasonable rate, even with all A rated gear, shields, distributor, power plant.

The shield cells work very well with the balance of combat as it is now, the game is playable but still difficult for most players. Sure the hardcore top 1% want everything harder! but that's not reasonable.

Even with 8 charges per cells, it's still hard to take on high rated NPCs for most players. The game has to be fun and playable, not DayZ or Dark Souls in space.

 

[Evil]

Elite is not a game I which you die, respawn, die, respawn like some fps arena with no consequence.

You have to keep your shields up to survive heavy weapon damage, or smaller ships may as not even bother. Don't even pretend that the innate shield recharge rate is enough to withstand that sort of damage. Even with 4 pips to shields they do not recharge at any sort of reasonable rate, even with all A rated gear, shields, distributor, power plant.

The shield cells work very well with the balance of combat as it is now, the game is playable but still difficult for most players. Sure the hardcore top 1% want everything harder! but that's not reasonable.

Even with 8 charges per cells, it's still hard to take on high rated NPCs for most players. The game has to be fun and playable, not DayZ or Dark Souls in space.

Yup, and this is only the start of the game, theres so much more to come, only the dev's know the correct balance for the shield cells and maximum number of modules.

 

[Defacto]

Elite is not a game I which you die, respawn, die, respawn like some fps arena with no consequence.

You have to keep your shields up to survive heavy weapon damage, or smaller ships may as not even bother. Don't even pretend that the innate shield recharge rate is enough to withstand that sort of damage. Even with 4 pips to shields they do not recharge at any sort of reasonable rate, even with all A rated gear, shields, distributor, power plant.

The shield cells work very well with the balance of combat as it is now, the game is playable but still difficult for most players. Sure the hardcore top 1% want everything harder! but that's not reasonable.

Even with 8 cells, it's still hard to take on high rated NPCs for most players. The game has to be fun and playable, not DayZ or Dark Souls in space.

If that's the problem, how about we make all the NPC's weaker, instead of giving the players shield potions for their ships.

Before the shield cells were added (was it Beta 2?) I even remember having to run away some times.

I do not understand the connection between elite not being a fps arena and us needing shield potions for our ships.

I don't think the innate shield recharge of small ships are supposed to withstand heavy weapons damage.

 

[Shepard]

NPCs use shield cells too. It all depends on the rank of who is sitting in cockpit. Try to kill deadly anaconda in 20 seconds... Even with shields cells she'll rip your ship apart.

 

[Grayman]

Back in Beta 3 I managed to kill a player Viper just fine while he had shield cells fitted and I didn't. There's no secret there, just better maneuvering and running them dry on cells or simply get the shields down before they can use one (there's a time delay between activating the module and it actually adding charge to the shields in which you can break the shields without issue unless they're spamming them on mostly charged shields, in which case they'll run out before long unless they have nothing but shield cell banks fitted).
The only change I might make to the module is to make it so that it charges a certain amount per shot and anything left over from charging your shield gets turned into a huge burst of waste heat to try to prevent people using them on mostly charged shields.