How do these things work anyway? I'm still fairly new to the game and don't really understand.
The Shield discussion thread
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Voted other. They do seem a bit like a blunt instrument that was added at the last minute with little playtested balancing.
I would have them work very differently. Possibly one per ship, or at least some kind of stacking penalty. Also I would have them charge very slowly from your ships power and be very power hungry. They should be for emergency use, not something to fill your ship with and use as standard in general combat.
I would have them work very differently. Possibly one per ship, or at least some kind of stacking penalty. Also I would have them charge very slowly from your ships power and be very power hungry. They should be for emergency use, not something to fill your ship with and use as standard in general combat.
Even a Bank is too much. That's - as far as I understand - 4 to 9 cells per bank. Way too much.
I'd rather see the Shield Cell recharge the Shield Capacitor instead of the Shield itself. Takes longer to actually recharge the shield, and this makes it insufficient to recharge the shield while taking damage.
And much more heat, too. It should damage the Hull (Unless you deploy a Heat Sink at the same time).
Voted "Other"
Each bank contains a few cells (Apparently up to 9 for B class, maybe more). Each cell fully recharges your shield. No cooldown. Just instant recharge of the shield. Makes you pretty much impossible to kill as long as you have cells. And you can have more than one Shield Bank at the same time, increasing the number of cells to several dozens.
They stop working when your shield falls to 0%. But as long as you have 1% of shield, that's an instant and full recharge.
See https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=86536 for discussions and details
I'd rather see the Shield Cell recharge the Shield Capacitor instead of the Shield itself. Takes longer to actually recharge the shield, and this makes it insufficient to recharge the shield while taking damage.
And much more heat, too. It should damage the Hull (Unless you deploy a Heat Sink at the same time).
Voted "Other"
Each bank contains a few cells (Apparently up to 9 for B class, maybe more). Each cell fully recharges your shield. No cooldown. Just instant recharge of the shield. Makes you pretty much impossible to kill as long as you have cells. And you can have more than one Shield Bank at the same time, increasing the number of cells to several dozens.
They stop working when your shield falls to 0%. But as long as you have 1% of shield, that's an instant and full recharge.
See https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=86536 for discussions and details
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Honestly, I feel that limiting the cells in a bank to 4 would reduce the reason to buy the better upgrades. I have 11 at any given time right now because of a B4 Shield Cell Bank. I hardly have to use them unless I'm fighting anacondas. And that's exactly what I bought them for. They might be a little overpowered. Maybe they should only charge your shields 75% instead of all the way?
Some PVP players seem to prefer to be able to 2-shot other ships in a surprise attack, by preventing shield recharge.
Well, since nobody is prevented from using them, it just prolongs battles and costs more ammo, which is not a bad thing, is it now?
If it takes quite a while to kill some guy, maybe people will think twice if its worth the effort to kill someone just for kicks.
Seems like a good limiting factor to me.
Well, since nobody is prevented from using them, it just prolongs battles and costs more ammo, which is not a bad thing, is it now?
If it takes quite a while to kill some guy, maybe people will think twice if its worth the effort to kill someone just for kicks.
Seems like a good limiting factor to me.
What? But then how i text and play at the same time?
[video=youtube;a-nhC4vf6Ec]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-nhC4vf6Ec[/video]
[video=youtube;a-nhC4vf6Ec]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-nhC4vf6Ec[/video]
The mechanic needs to be redesigned from the ground up. A simple heal button has no place in a skillbased dogfighting game. Redesign/remove them entirely, or if you're really so attached to having them, restrict it to 1, one, uno charge, not a pack of 5.
Shield potions break combat by virtue of their basic design at this point. I remember having to manage my shield and avoid hits :\
Shield potions break combat by virtue of their basic design at this point. I remember having to manage my shield and avoid hits :\
Shield Cells banks don't affect only PvP. They make Elite Anacondas easy prey for any Stock Sidewinder (Well.... Stock + A few Shield Cell banks). I mean, if you're patient enough. Well, actually, maybe Anaconda's shield will recharge faster than the damage you can deal with a Stock Sidewinder. But still, they won't be able to kill you either.
So what's the point if even the hardest PvE opponent isn't a challenge anymore?
So what's the point if even the hardest PvE opponent isn't a challenge anymore?
Wow, I might be a very average pilot but I lost all my cells against cheney the elite mission anaconda in a very well upgraded viper.
I cant wait to see your video of you taking on the 180k elite mission in a stock sidey with a few shield cells and winning. Bring it on!
One per ship with a 40 second cool down
Other:
They're definitely too powerful as-is, but it isn't the effect itself so much as the ability to spam them. My idea for fixing them would be to make them essentially a battery, one that would need to be charged up from system power once it had been used. You'd no longer need to worry about ammo for them, but you could use it only once before it would need to draw power to recharge - power which would be needed for the shields if they were under fire, so once you popped it you'd actually have less energy for your shields for a good while. It would even deal nicely with people bringing more than one, since yes, they might then get 2-3 shots of it, but they'd suck up every ounce of system power once used leaving you basically no choice but to flee combat or continue with no shields.
That would make them a powerful short-term 'oh crap' button, but it would actually hurt you long term in a drawn-out fight.
They're definitely too powerful as-is, but it isn't the effect itself so much as the ability to spam them. My idea for fixing them would be to make them essentially a battery, one that would need to be charged up from system power once it had been used. You'd no longer need to worry about ammo for them, but you could use it only once before it would need to draw power to recharge - power which would be needed for the shields if they were under fire, so once you popped it you'd actually have less energy for your shields for a good while. It would even deal nicely with people bringing more than one, since yes, they might then get 2-3 shots of it, but they'd suck up every ounce of system power once used leaving you basically no choice but to flee combat or continue with no shields.
That would make them a powerful short-term 'oh crap' button, but it would actually hurt you long term in a drawn-out fight.
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