Tip to restore your shields faster!

Zephyriel

Zephyriel
This is a neat trick I found out a while ago but forgot to share with you all, so here it is now. If you use shield boosters, once your shields are down, deactivate all of them. The red circle showing the recharge progress will fill up faster, and your shields will be back up sooner! As soon as they're up, you can reactivate all your shield boosters.

If you need proof, just wait a while when your shields are restoring to let the gauge build up a little, then look at the gauge as you switch off your boosters. It will suddenly jump up a few squares.
 

Lucifer Hate

Lucifer Hate
Zephyriel said:
This is a neat trick I found out a while ago but forgot to share with you all, so here it is now. If you use shield boosters, once your shields are down, deactivate all of them. The red circle showing the recharge progress will fill up faster, and your shields will be back up sooner! As soon as they're up, you can reactivate all your shield boosters.

If you need proof, just wait a while when your shields are restoring to let the gauge build up a little, then look at the gauge as you switch off your boosters. It will suddenly jump up a few squares.
Click to expand...

Most people that have ships worth equipping shield boosters already know this
 

Kzak

Kzak
True, tested this some months ago. The shields will go up once they have filled a certain percentage of the maximum capacity. Disabling the shield boosters lowers that maximum capacity and hence makes the shields go 'up' faster.
 

Wasp0

Wasp0
I wonder if you can VA this or Hotkey it, as i have enough to think of when running or fighting without going into modules and disabling watching, the re-enabling again. Nice tip though OP, i'll try to get a VA command setup for this.
 

Jordan Cobalt

Jordan Cobalt
It's is a bit of a misdirection. They don't actually charge faster, they just come back online quicker. All shields charge at the same rate, they also all come back online at 50%. If you have 2 A rated boosters and disable them, your shields are effectively coming online at 30% instead of 50%, which is nice if you really need them online quick. If you have shield cells, it'll help, but without cells you'll still be waiting the same amount of time for them to recharge fully.
 
Last edited:

Zephyriel

Zephyriel
True, Jordan, maybe I didn't explain correctly. Kzak summed it up better ; they don't charge faster but activate sooner.
 

LeetNoob

LeetNoob
Yup, I've used this a few times, it works well, just don't forget to switch them back on once the shields come back up. I didn't notice for two days once:eek:
 

GunnerBill

GunnerBill
Yeah but when you turn the boosters back on again don't you lose shield strength (so to speak) as the total capacity increases?

Or...

Put another way - it may appear you are charging quicker but when the boosters come one they raise the limit on your shields and this extra now has to be charged too?
 

Kristov

K
GunnerBill said:
Yeah but when you turn the boosters back on again don't you lose shield strength (so to speak) as the total capacity increases?

Or...

Put another way - it may appear you are charging quicker but when the boosters come one they raise the limit on your shields and this extra now has to be charged too?
Click to expand...

Correct, you will get your shields UP faster, but the total capacity is lower when you turn off the boosters. Once you turn the boosters back on, you'll see your shields 'drop' as your total capacity gets increased suddenly, and it'll take as long as usual to refill them totally when boosters are on.

It IS a great way to get shields online and working quickly however, and it's saved me a few times in the past, just have to remember to turn those boosters back on afterwards, I went a week before I realized I'd left them off. Kept wondering why my shields would go down SO quickly and just couldn't figure it out, then I changed a heatsink out for a chaff and realized the problem when I was setting my power rankings...DOH!
 

FiddenUK

FiddenUK
Kristov said:
Correct, you will get your shields UP faster, but the total capacity is lower when you turn off the boosters. Once you turn the boosters back on, you'll see your shields 'drop' as your total capacity gets increased suddenly, and it'll take as long as usual to refill them totally when boosters are on.

It IS a great way to get shields online and working quickly however, and it's saved me a few times in the past, just have to remember to turn those boosters back on afterwards, I went a week before I realized I'd left them off
Click to expand...

It also allows you to return to doing what you were doing before your shields dropped, as you can't use an SCB until your shields are restored. Once they are, you can then boost them back up to full quicker. I do forget this trick sometimes, so this topic has been a useful reminder, thanks!
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom