So... Shield Cells...

[Amazing Mr. X]

I know there's a lot of people talking about 1.1, but I haven't seen much discussion on the re-balancing of shield cells, so I thought I'd go ahead and make a thread about it.

As far as I can tell, Shield Cells are no longer viable for smaller ships, at least not for combat scenarios. I have a viper and a cobra fully outfitted with top tier power plants, and both of them lack the power capacity to keep a shield cell bank active while deployed. Mind you that's any shield cell bank, I actively went through the list of all possible shield cells at my station to see if lower classes or ratings mattered but the results were fairly universal. If I started pulling out guns and scanners then I'd probably be able to stock at least the most minor shield cell banks but I think that would probably begin to defeat the purpose of a small combat vessel. In either case, it looks like shield cells are meant to be something you activate and utilize only when running away from a fight. My guess is you're meant to leave them dormant until you start taking more hits than you can stand, and then you activate them as you flee by juggling power distribution away from your weapons.

What I found interesting was that my Python didn't appear to have any problems holding a shield cell bank of the top tier variety. Regardless of how you might feel about the nerfing of said ship, I only ever intended to use it as a defensible trading vessel on the path towards a Type 9 or Anaconda. These bigger ships always had oversized power plants, but now they appear to be able to safely squeeze shield cell banks into their power envelopes with relative ease.

So here's my theory: Shield cell banks are now meant to only be a defensive mechanism. You pack them into fighters before going into battles you think you might lose, and stuff them into trade ships to offer protection from pirate interdictions. Mainly you use them to keep your shields up while running, especially when mass locked. In each case it's a sacrifice for extra insurance, as traders lose cargo space and fighters will need to sacrifice better weapon loadouts.

Overall, they appear to have had a massive role switch away from the last-save mechanism they were prior to the patch. Of course, that's to speak nothing of how they actually work, as I haven't had an opportunity to try and pop one yet.

Still, anyone have any thoughts on the New Shield Cells^™?

Any opinions?

Any experiences?

Any suggested loadouts?



Anything other than complaints?

 

[Tenshi]

My Cobra is doing fine with all A grade upgrades on it. You just need to manage your power usage better.

 

[Mungrul]

Same.
In a Cobra, balance modules so that fuel scoop, cargo scoop and FSD are as low tier as possible; you won't use those while fighting. Same goes for discovery scanner and FSD interdictor.

Edit: To clarify, when you deploy weapons and push your power usage over maximum, your ship will disable low tier modules first. As your guns are out, there will be a LOT of non-combat modules you can't use, so set them to a low tier as outlined above.

Oh, and if fighting Anacondas, don't set life support to a low tier

 

[Traven Mayhem]

yea just set all the stuff you don'y need in combat to priority 2 in your power management and you should be fine.

 

[mandellorian]

To fit one to a fighter requires such compromise it ceases to be a fighter...the new system coupled with the new heat generation system means not only do you need the shield cell...which is a ridiculous power hog but you are also going to need a heatsink to try and stop your ship from melting..and with the delay in its use against a competent opponent you would have to activate it almost on the first shield hit.
It has i`m afraid joined the long list of utterly pointless modules and equipment ED is littered with.

 

[Xpats]

Basically, you can run almost any load out you want (making some compromises with module rating from time to time) as long as you are willing to manage your module power efficiently (micromanage).

If you run into a ship that you think may require a SC, just switch it on after you have scanned them, but before engaging. Also, there is a 5 second delay now, so you have to be smarter when using them.

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To fit one to a fighter requires such compromise it ceases to be a fighter...the new system coupled with the new heat generation system means not only do you need the shield cell...which is a ridiculous power hog but you are also going to need a heatsink to try and stop your ship from melting..and with the delay in its use against a competent opponent you would have to activate it almost on the first shield hit.
It has i`m afraid joined the long list of utterly pointless modules and equipment ED is littered with.

Disagree, 100%.

 

[Kramster]

Got a shield cell on my Viper, not top grade but it does the job I need it to do.
A ship doesn't need all A grade modules to be effective, life support and scanners I tend to fit D class

 

[Amazing Mr. X]

Same.
In a Cobra, balance modules so that fuel scoop, cargo scoop and FSD are as low tier as possible; you won't use those while fighting. Same goes for discovery scanner and FSD interdictor.

Edit: To clarify, when you deploy weapons and push your power usage over maximum, your ship will disable low tier modules first. As your guns are out, there will be a LOT of non-combat modules you can't use, so set them to a low tier as outlined above.

Oh, and if fighting Anacondas, don't set life support to a low tier

yea just set all the stuff you don'y need in combat to priority 2 in your power management and you should be fine.

That's actually a fairly creative answer. I never actually thought of utilizing power management in such a way that spare systems fall off the edge when hardpoints deploy.

My answer to power woes has usually been to just throw money at upgrades.

Though this certainly does offer an option to people that want to continue utilizing shield cells in their ships, assuming we can indeed gain back enough power from other sub-systems to fully power them.

I'll definitely need to take a look at this while I'm still in my home system.

 

[Meritz]

Still packing dual shield cells on my Cobra. Switched out B2 beam lasers for multicannons though.

They're a shadow of their former self though. They generate heat now, take a loooong time to actually start recharging your shield, and of course, instead of eight, now I have four per bank. But that's all good because those things were OP as hell. Now they're more tactical and certainly not mandatory for fighting loadouts, especially for smaller ships which should use their maneuverability to avoid getting hit in the first place, not soak up damage.

 

[Dr Roly]

To fit one to a fighter requires such compromise it ceases to be a fighter...the new system coupled with the new heat generation system means not only do you need the shield cell...which is a ridiculous power hog but you are also going to need a heatsink to try and stop your ship from melting..and with the delay in its use against a competent opponent you would have to activate it almost on the first shield hit.
It has i`m afraid joined the long list of utterly pointless modules and equipment ED is littered with.

No.
They're still very useful, just not stupidly OP like they were before. It's true that big ships manage them a lot better, but should a Viper actually be able to tank an Anaconda or Python? Nope. Should a big ship be able to tank a Viper? Yep (at least temporarily).

 

[Neil Martin]

I used a shield cell earlier today. It was slower to work than before & I that nearly caught me out!
If the best way of staying alive is to keep your shields up, then in a big fight the cells are a must. If you are in a fortunate position of choosing easy fights, then with careful power management & a good shield generator you should be victorious!