Newcomer / Intro Shield or Hull tank?

[tclancey]

I've seen various conversations explaining one ship or another is a shield/hull tank, what is that decision based on?

In the game I'm more used to (Eve) it's easy to work out as ships have bonuses in certain areas, either a boost to shields or hull strength. but as far as I can work out this game doesn't have the same mechanism. In the ship fitting web sites I've found you can see the hull strength, is that all there is to go on?

Thanks.

 

[Nerwan]

In the early days of Elite Dangerous, shield tanking was king. Then for a while during 2.1 hull tanking was king.. now we're most definitely back to shield tanking.

Does that help?

 

[Chris Simon]

.. and once 2.3.03 hits, we're back to hull tanking.

Interesting times.

Up until now, the trouble with hull-tanking was that our ships have most of the modules near the surface and therefore unprotected by the hull. Plus there are weapons that can bypass the armour completely - Railgun can shoot right through the whole ship, armour or not.
So the thing is, it doesn't matter how much armour (which is basically just ship's overall "health") you have, if an enemy destroys your modules, you're dead, nonetheless.

So right now, the most viable tactic is - shield-tank as long as you can, once shields are down, run.

That's going to change, however, in 2.3.03 (January).
1) There will be multiple kinds of hull reinforcement packages, some of them focused specifically on module protection, giving you up to 85% damage reduction to modules.
2) Many combat ships will receive one or more extra specialized internal compartment, dedicated to HRP and shield cell banks.
3) Reboot and repair function will reactivate collapsed shields (if you can avoid damage while rebooting)

All these things will enable us to be much more creative with our builds and especially the ability to protect modules is an awesome addition, for both Battle People and ordinary folks who just want to survive longer.

 

[tclancey]

Oh blimey, I was hoping the answer was going to be really straight forward! But it all sounds exciting. Which forum/blog/email do I need to subscribe to for this rich source of knowledge?

Thanks as always.

 

[aRJay]

Oh blimey, I was hoping the answer was going to be really straight forward! But it all sounds exciting. Which forum/blog/email do I need to subscribe to for this rich source of knowledge?

Thanks as always.

There is a sub section of Dangerous Discusions about the current beta.

 

[Deleted member 38366]

Basically : do both!
Shield Tanking is very nicely augmented by Hull Tanking.

Since these don't exclude each other, there's no single reason not to be well-prepared for Shield loss - and be able to continue fighting instead of having to egress immediately.

 

[pipo zelvelder]

.. and once 2.3.03 hits, we're back to hull tanking.
That's going to change, however, in 2.3.03 (January).
1) There will be multiple kinds of hull reinforcement packages, some of them focused specifically on module protection, giving you up to 85% damage reduction to modules.
2) Many combat ships will receive one or more extra specialized internal compartment, dedicated to HRP and shield cell banks.
3) Reboot and repair function will reactivate collapsed shields (if you can avoid damage while rebooting)

So, they are going to make the game more difficult again? Do they really not want any more newbees; everything points in that directi...on

 

[Chris Simon]

So, they are going to make the game more difficult again? Do they really not want any more newbees; everything points in that directi...on

What?
All these changes are focused on improving our defensive capabilities. They are straightforward buffs. Give it a break, will you?

 

[Shadowdancer]

I've seen various conversations explaining one ship or another is a shield/hull tank, what is that decision based on?

Shields can currently be boosted to stupid levels. That may stop.

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/314820-(very)-Experimental-shield-change

On the biggest ships, Shields actually get stronger and hull gets harder, but you can't boost shields to over 5-6 times their base strength any more.

The "newbee" flying a small ship won't even see a difference. The change is intended to keep the biggest ships from being all but indestructible.

 

[Codger]

One point that hasn't been mentioned is that hull tanking can be quite expensive. Repairs to your hull cost significant credits. Shields on the other hand regenerate for free. Just something to keep in mind.