The SCB (Shield Cell Bank) Thread

[{SAS}Stalker]

If it were to be a capacitor then it would be nice if we were actually able to chose where we dumped its charge. It would be great if we could control its flow into either of the 3 power zones, need a boost to weapons because your running 4 pips to shields then drain the capacitors into that bank. Could add some possible tactical variations perhaps.

 

[soma]

If it were to be a capacitor then it would be nice if we were actually able to chose where we dumped its charge. It would be great if we could control its flow into either of the 3 power zones, need a boost to weapons because your running 4 pips to shields then drain the capacitors into that bank. Could add some possible tactical variations perhaps.

But.. wouldn't that make multirole ships such as Python and Anaconda even more OP in combat?

Edit: Maybe I misunderstood. Were you expanding on the suggestion of vindicator jones? Then ignore my comment plz.

 

[{SAS}Stalker]

But.. wouldn't that make multirole ships such as Python and Anaconda even more OP in combat?

Edit: Maybe I misunderstood. Were you expanding on the suggestion of vindicator jones? Then ignore my comment plz.

Expanding on vindicator yes. Sorry for being unclear, still on first coffee . simply liked the ideavof a fixed and charging capacitor but thought it would be good if you could direct it to other systems as well as shields. Maybe even force it into weapons to overcharge them for a short period of time with risk of complete failure.

 

[Windscreen Smudge]

Can neither confirm not deny on the grounds of incriminating something something I forget now.



True. I'd rather see a counter to SCBs than just making them an irrelevance. But that is tied at the hip with shields themselves. Making it very very easy to cripple a shield, doesn't solve SCBs, for example. This is impactful for anyone who isn't actually running a combat vessel.

Given the rise in NPCs using rail guns and what not, making a change that impacts PVP (which lets be honest, most of the complaints are related to energiser pythons) actually will impact NPCs as well. So I'd like to see something happen that takes shields into consideration when addressing SCBs. Because they are now very much joined at the hip.

Takling one side, without consideration of the other tends to result in the sorts of violent swings we see repeatedly. One extreme to the other. Some of those I will happily hang on FD, others are purely a reaction to a demand that has been done in a vacuum, without even the slightest hint of testing.

The problem with making more modules equivalent to SCB's is that ends up being power creep. Too much power creep and the game becomes trivial, which we don't need given that PvE is already borderline trivial.

 

[Talarin]

Yes to time to charge on SCBs. This neatly solves a lot of the problems I see with their use/stacking - and means that carrying a ship-load of them actually has drawbacks in terms of available power.

Yes to revisiting length of time for natural shield recharge. The factors involved should be your power output, power distributor (and associated settings) and shield module. A flat recharge rate makes no sense at all.

 

[Billexista]

Yes to time to charge on SCBs. This neatly solves a lot of the problems I see with their use/stacking - and means that carrying a ship-load of them actually has drawbacks in terms of available power.

Yes to revisiting length of time for natural shield recharge. The factors involved should be your power output, power distributor (and associated settings) and shield module. A flat recharge rate makes no sense at all.

Yeah shield mechanics could use some love. Some different recharging system. Even power distributor could use some love like overdrive/overcharge modes, where you put more than 4 pips at cost of 2 each transfer. E: D have lot of places to expand and improve, 10 year game for sure, can't wait for all the features it can end up having.

 

[soma]

Expanding on vindicator yes. Sorry for being unclear, still on first coffee . simply liked the ideavof a fixed and charging capacitor but thought it would be good if you could direct it to other systems as well as shields. Maybe even force it into weapons to overcharge them for a short period of time with risk of complete failure.

Ah, thanks for the clarification! Yes that sounds like a good suggestion. Would move the whole ship power management a bit in the direction of the old X-Wing / Tie Fighter games. I like it

 

[Mark Lock]

NO, stop asking FD to nerf things, SCBs are good as they are now, just learn to play

 

[Windscreen Smudge]

NO, stop asking FD to nerf things, SCBs are good as they are now, just learn to play

Gee, you really won me over with that exemplary piece of oratory. I never thought of it like that. You're completely right, thank you for all of the work you put into this insightful and informative analysis of the issue.

 

[Theodrid]

NO, stop asking FD to nerf things, SCBs are good as they are now, just learn to play

Oh yeah, because spamming SCB's is so incredibly difficult, it must be a 'L2P' issue, I mean, pressing a fire group button when needed, wow........

 

[MVP_Bluntman]

Could we not get rid of SCB's cause the last thing I would want is the python to be even more useless. What would happen if we got rid of the SCB's? Well Pythons would go down a whole lot easier, thats for sure, even after getting hit with the nerf bat.

I don't even want a counter, because regardless of what people to say, you still have a good chance of suffering hull damage at low shield HP, and SCB's are flawed because of their 5 second injection time. SO no.

 

[soma]

NO, stop asking FD to nerf things, SCBs are good as they are now, just learn to play

Many of the people asking for SCB rebalancing are experienced players. I would bet many own PvP fitted Pythons and Anacondas. It is not that the people do not know how to successfully play the current meta (its not that hard really). It is more likely that they have played to game long enough to realize that the meta quickly becomes boring and lacks variety.

I have mostly been lurking in this thread but the discussion has been quite constructive and a lot of interesting suggestions were made that go well beyond "nerf SCBs". It might be worthwhile to read the last 10-15 pages before passing judgement (I really hope someone at FD reads it).

 

[MVP_Bluntman]

I think the thing everyone here is missing is that, playtime regardless, its dependent on the quality of the pilot. The Python costs a good 140-240 mil (w/ armor, w/o armor). The FDL for a good combat fit costs half that with/without armor. The python's base shields are already low enough where Shield Boosters barely make a difference against anacondas and you still have to press that deploy SCB once, maybe twice if you don't land proper critical hits on the craft, and we're talking about a Ship, which in fluff was supposed to go head to head with the anaconda. The FDL has a role, the Python has a role, the Anaconda has a role, all ships in this game have a role, its not supposed to be "Get the best ship that's able to do everything. " Its supposed to be, " How can I make this craft effective at combat. " The game isn't designed for PVP in mind, as we should all notice that the PVP game mode came as a side mode, in game where PVE private groups are heavily present. I think the game is more directed at the PVE crowd than anything, and this can certainly hurt the game with newer players. I think their intention was that PVP should be attempted with a combination of ships, as these are only escorts, not capital ships. Thats what everyone is currently missing. The python already got nerfed due to PVP concerns, if we nerf or take away SCB's it will hurt the Python's value, so if you do nerf the python, nerf the prices too.

 

[Coolgroove]

Personally I have no problems with SCB's or even SCB stackers.. They can easily be overcome if you use proper tactics.. but fine, that argument has been done to death...

If you really want to fix SCB's them make them a singular Capacitor, and you can only load one. The larger the Slot size, the more capacitance you get.

but the differences are these

-The Capacitor can recharge from your ships SYS power output. The more pips set to SYS, the faster it recharges (recharge time would need to be balanced of course). No more stupid Ammo.. it never made sense
-You can discharge the capacitor once it reaches 75% capacity at anytime, but will only get the current capacitor level directed towards your shields
-When you activate the capacitor, your heat levels spike A LOT..
-Each charge activation is significantly more powerful than a single charge activation from a current SCB.
-Each time you land, your capacitor and shields are fully recharged

The whole idea is so those farming rez or cz to be able to recharge their shields much more easily without having to resort to multiple SCB's in order to stay in a zone. You will have to be far more tactical when activating an SCB as you cant just use it every 5 seconds. Also it will add another dimension to combat, of how many pips should you put into sys instead of weapons and engines. You could put full pips to shields, shield tank and hit your shield capacitor more often, but at the expense of having very limited weapons power and maneuverability. An anaconda being swarmed by light fighters would then have much more protection but at the cost of firepower..

Just my idea on how things could be changed, without compromising others who have a legitimate reason for using SCB's

Very clean solution!
I was thinking about something similar, but stuck at one thing - how it will actually work?

In a fight, shields received damage - shields recharge starts to drain sys capacitor. But ship has SCB that also require energy from sys capacitor. We know that with current mechanic shields recharging with a fixed amount per second (is it 1MJ/s?).
- Will it slow shields recharge, like 1 MJ to shields and next 1MJ to SCB? or will it recharge only when shields stop recharging? or SCB recharge first and then shields?
- Does player need to activate it to recharge and then activate again to fire it, or it will always recharge automatically?
- And if SCB charged from sys capacitor can recharge shields for more MJs than regular recharge from sys capacitor - where the extra energy is coming from if there is no ammo?

Thinking about these questions I decided to dismiss my similar idea in favor of "SCB can be used only with hardpoints retracted" & Alexander the Grape ideas.

 

[MVP_Bluntman]

Very clean solution!
I was thinking about something similar, but stuck at one thing - how it will actually work?

In a fight, shields received damage - shields recharge starts to drain sys capacitor. But ship has SCB that also require energy from sys capacitor. We know that with current mechanic shields recharging with a fixed amount per second (is it 1MJ/s?).
- Will it slow shields recharge, like 1 MJ to shields and next 1MJ to SCB? or will it recharge only when shields stop recharging? or SCB recharge first and then shields?
- Does player need to activate it to recharge and then activate again to fire it, or it will always recharge automatically?
- And if SCB charged from sys capacitor can recharge shields for more MJs than regular recharge from sys capacitor - where the extra energy is coming from if there is no ammo?

Thinking about these questions I decided to dismiss my similar idea in favor of "SCB can be used only with hardpoints retracted" & Alexander the Grape ideas.

I would hate to disappoint you, but in-order to recharge your shields you need to have one pip inside systems, as once your sys runs out of energy with 0 pips, it doesn't do any recharging. SCB's also have a tendency of overheating a craft, making them timely more so to use with certain loadouts. Not to mention the delayed injection time.

 

[Muetdhiver]

What if the SCB's where the sys capacitor (i.e. extended it) ?

Something like shield boost. Need the SCB's to be switched on and charged.
No amo anymore, but once sys is empty, no more shield boost till refilled.

That would be quite a nerf, so I think that shields could become hardened (like putting 4 pips in shields) for the duration of the boost.
It also more interesting in the sense that it would be better to trigger it when coming Under heavy fire, than after (i.e. timing gameplay).

 

[Coolgroove]

I would hate to disappoint you, but in-order to recharge your shields you need to have one pip inside systems, as once your sys runs out of energy with 0 pips, it doesn't do any recharging. SCB's also have a tendency of overheating a craft, making them timely more so to use with certain loadouts. Not to mention the delayed injection time.

No disappointment. But it is better to read first and then think, and post only after you did that.

- - - Updated - - -

What if the SCB's where the sys capacitor (i.e. extended it) ?

Something like shield boost. Need the SCB's to be switched on and charged.
No amo anymore, but once sys is empty, no more shield boost till refilled.

Plus two more modules:
- ENG capacitor extender/booster
- WEP capacitor extender/booster

 

[MVP_Bluntman]

Hey, I'm just only relaying what I believe, and knowing what I know, the Python's value would drop off a cliff real quick if SCB's are nerfed improperly, or if the base value of the shields for the python takes another hit. My point is, in a game where your supposed to influence the galaxy on the whole through PVE in comparison to PVP, its not always about balance, but if you think about prices, speed, armor, maneuverability, base shield values for each craft, they all have their own specific positives and negatives.

 

[o2thaZ]

Plz FD nerf the OP plz..
And plz stop reponding to these I wanna...I wanna...win with eagle vs anaconda.
get a life. Sorry but these really grind my gears.
if any mod finds this reply to much OT, go ahead and do ur thang.

peeeace

 

[Windscreen Smudge]

Hey, I'm just only relaying what I believe, and knowing what I know, the Python's value would drop off a cliff real quick if SCB's are nerfed improperly, or if the base value of the shields for the python takes another hit. My point is, in a game where your supposed to influence the galaxy on the whole through PVE in comparison to PVP, its not always about balance, but if you think about prices, speed, armor, maneuverability, base shield values for each craft, they all have their own specific positives and negatives.

Then that just means that the Python needs to be fixed after SCB's are fixed. SCB's affect the entire game. Pythons are just one ship in that game.