Engineers Shields and engineers 8A on a Cutter

[Paulusw]

I have read a few posts about shields, shield cells etc. and I seem to be getting more confused each time I read.

So let's imagine I know nothing (close to the truth) I want my Cutter to be able to last pretty well in a fight against an NPC wing. My existing shields are 8A and are pretty tough and put up with quite a battering. But let's say I have unlimited resources (but not aligned with anyone). What would be the best combination of shield generator and engineering of that shield to give me the toughest shields (or would you suggest faster refresh).

I know many of you can list stats and comparisons and be very technical - but I am a simple space pilot who hardly finished flight school and need direct advise.

Thank you to any and all commanders to answer me.

 

[StiTch]

Engineering is the easy part. Thermal resist, highest grade you can manage.

As for shields...either bi-weave or 8A depending on whether you want sustainability long term or against single hard fights respectively.

As shields do not regenerate while you're being shot at, and the cutter gets shot at a lot, bi-weaves don't get you much regen mid combat: they effectively mean that you don't need to resort to jumping to SC to regen any noticeable amount of shields back after a couple of fights. A bi-weave cutter with lasers can last all day in a combat site. You also get blessed with a lower power consumption on them.

8A shields are more likely to survive a single difficult encounter, but you will find yourself waiting for more shield to come back between fights, or will resort to wasting SCBs to do this.

 

[JetsonRING]

I have read a few posts about shields, shield cells etc. and I seem to be getting more confused each time I read.
So let's imagine I know nothing (close to the truth) I want my Cutter to be able to last pretty well in a fight against an NPC wing. My existing shields are 8A and are pretty tough and put up with quite a battering. But let's say I have unlimited resources (but not aligned with anyone). What would be the best combination of shield generator and engineering of that shield to give me the toughest shields (or would you suggest faster refresh).
I know many of you can list stats and comparisons and be very technical - but I am a simple space pilot who hardly finished flight school and need direct advise.
Thank you to any and all commanders to answer me.

It ain't the arrow, it's the Indian. You can talk ships, stats and shields all you want but the real answer if you want to last in any fight, in any ship, whether it be in PvE against NPCs or in PvP against humans is to Git Gud at combat. No amount of shielding or weaponry will save you if you do not learn how to fight your ship. Good pilots flying Eagles can take down bad pilots flying Corvettes. During the Korean war, pilots in F4 Phantoms regularly shot down north Korean pilots flying the latest Mig-15 fighters. The south Koreans did not have better airplanes, they had better pilots.

Also, fighting in a "big" ship like a Cutter, Anaconda or Corvette is a different animal than fighting in a "small" ship like an Eagle, Vulture or FerDL and requires somewhat different tactics.

Combat ships are not "multi-purpose", at least not if you want to survive and achieve victory in combat. Outfitting a ship to last in combat means outfitting your ship for combat. Removing passenger cabins, cargo racks, scanners, SRV hangars, etc. and replacing them with shield cell banks (SCBs), more SCBs, heat-sink launchers and shield boosters. o7

 

[Paulusw]

I agree with you fully - I think I saw a guy in a small ship take an Anaconda on a YouTube video. However - I want to rank up and I think there is an advantage in having a good mix of ship components which can help - not make a bad pilot good - but give an improving pilot a chance to survive longer - learn from their mistakes and progress without losing their ship too often.

This is why I wanted advise - I know I have a long way to go (I'm Master) but although I do reasonably well in combat - having the equipment might give me a small advantage.

I actually think my 8A's are really tough - just didn't know what engineering would help - and by how much.

 

[NecasekO]

Engineering the shield generator definitely helps - the most popular mods are either thermal resistant (for roughly equal resistance to all damage types) or reinforced (for more MJ).

What makes the biggest difference though is engineering shield boosters. You need lots of them (4 or more), usually with a combination of resist augmented and heavy duty. A good stack of modded shield boosters can make your shield something like 5x stronger.

 

[Flin]

Shield type: 8C Bi-weave if you want faster shield regeneration between fights or stick with 8A for greater shield strength.

Get G5 thermal resistance on the shield generator to establish good overall resistance against damage type.

Get about 3 G5 resistance augmented A-grade shield booster to get resistance above 50% while adding 60% to shield strength. [Diminishing returns occurs past 50%, so additional resistance booster would be sub-optimal]

Fit additional G5 heavy duty shield boosters to increase shield strength. E-class is good for this as it's have low power requirements and low mass. For easy setup on a cutter, suggest 7 of these. [Point defense is situational and chaff have limited ammo.]

 

[StiTch]

Engineering the shield generator definitely helps - the most popular mods are either thermal resistant (for roughly equal resistance to all damage types) or reinforced (for more MJ).

What makes the biggest difference though is engineering shield boosters. You need lots of them (4 or more), usually with a combination of resist augmented and heavy duty. A good stack of modded shield boosters can make your shield something like 5x stronger.

Don't bother with reinforced shields.

Use thermal resist shields, and preferably 2-3x resistant augmented boosters with however many heavy duty boosters you want on top.

 

[Firkrayt]

It ain't the arrow, it's the Indian. You can talk ships, stats and shields all you want but the real answer if you want to last in any fight, in any ship, whether it be in PvE against NPCs or in PvP against humans is to Git Gud at combat. No amount of shielding or weaponry will save you if you do not learn how to fight your ship. Good pilots flying Eagles can take down bad pilots flying Corvettes. During the Korean war, pilots in F4 Phantoms regularly shot down north Korean pilots flying the latest Mig-15 fighters. The south Koreans did not have better airplanes, they had better pilots.

You are so wrong here.
Why you've decided that TS doesn't know how to flight his ship is beyond my understanding. Anyway, gitting gud is easer when you fly a well-outfitted ship suited for the task, not the stock E-rated crap.
And there were no F4 Phantoms in Korean war - F4 Phantom II entered service seven years after that war ended.
South koreans didn't have better pilots, South Korea had only P-51 Mustang planes during the war and they shot down 0 Migs.

What all that has to do with the best shields for a Cutter, I wonder?

 

[Red Anders]

Finally got round to finishing mine off today, along with all the other engineering I'm doing on the Cutter with the exception of weapons. Engineering it to begin with is overkill considering that it's basically a PVE ship but I don't like slumming it, plus it means I've got the gear upgraded to G5 before Sandy's Big Engineering Adventure kicks in. In terms of shield performance though, here's the before and after:

Note - I just had the armour in the screenies I'd already taken, no direct relevance to the shield upgrades obviously. Anyway, those are with pips set at 2-2-2. With four pips to shields we get...

So yeah, that'll do. The 'before' is stock gear- 8A shield and 6x 0A boosters. 'After' is the shield with G5 thermal resistance, 2 x G5 resistance augmented boosters and 4 x G5 heavy duty. No epic rolls or anything but they're all decent, good enough for me anyway.