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Thoughts on shield functionalty

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Nov 26, 2006 moldyman link
And I suppose a Prometheus isn't?
Nov 26, 2006 Zed1985 link
The prom is over powered. Making the Valk overpowered as well is not necessarily the best solution.
Nov 27, 2006 bojansplash link
I dont agree with owerpowered shielded valk theory.
Using that kind of valk would require a lot of skill.
Shield regeneration etc sounds fine but if you want to fight in it you actuall have to shoot your guns and use energy.
Shooting streams of neuts and shield regeneration will not go easy on your battery especially if you are a good pilot and you would want to have a smidgeon of energy in reserve for quick manouvering.
So....how many dual neut shot hits are required to shoot down a prom?
If prom is not moving and not shooting anything back it takes 18 dual neut hits to kill a prom.
Full UC battery cant produce more then 12 consecutive dual neut shots before it depletes.
Lets face it, in a dogfight you are lucky if every fifth of your shots actually hit.
So with armor cut and shields up... forget about long neut energy streams or quick turbotapping to change direction if you are facing prom. One mistake and prom will eat you in a matter of sec.
Ok, sure, there are rocket whores who cant aim and use only flares on a valk. Beating them is fairly easy with a slightly unpopular tactics: keep your distance and annoy him with energy shots. If you are in a prom, chance is you have rockets too so its just a matter of patience.
Nov 27, 2006 roguelazer link
The prom is slightly overpowered, within the construct of the game. It has a lot of armour and a big engine, but those are merely exaggerated elements that other ships possess to some degree. However, shields are, by nd large, not a part of the game and would be a new mechanic introduced solely to counteract the perceived strength of the prom and would itself end up vastly upsetting the balance of power. Don't get me wrong; I've been Itani since before you knew VO existed. But I don't think breaking the game is the way to fix things.
Nov 29, 2006 bojansplash link
There are ways to balance things Rogue.
For instance there could be serco nation specific ammo based gun /similar to railgun/ that can pass thru energy shields.
If Itani developed shields why wouldnt sercos develop a gun that can make shields a lesser problem in combat.
Nov 29, 2006 moldyman link
PS, Rogue, the faction system is within the coonstruct of the game! Enjoy it it don't need change!
Nov 29, 2006 SuperMegaMynt link
Would it be fun to add shields to alot of convoy ships? It makes me wonder why they persist to send fleets through Corvus territory when so few make it out alive. If any, that is. Also notice how Convoys are gaurded by the Warthog Territory Defender, and that ships been in want of a touch up. Think about it.
Mar 06, 2007 jexkerome link
I suddenly had this weird idea (might be someone else has suggested it before, but I couldn't find it if so):

Active, unreplenishable shields.

1. They take up a small port, and have moderate weight. This way one-port ships can't use it and fight, and it might not be worth to strap one on light, two-port ships like the vult, rev C or Raptor. At least not if you intend to fight with them.

2. They don't use up battery energy, they have ammo. Once the ammo runs out, the only way to get the shields back up is to dock and rearm. The amount of ammo would be large, but that would be because each point of damage the shield takes "drains" one point of ammo; for example, a quad-adv rail hit on the shield would take out 10,000 points of ammo. If the shield has that much left, the ship is unscathed, if not, the shield collapses and the ship takes the remaining damage. So while shielded you're invulnerable (as the current capship shields) but if enough force is brought to bear on your shields they will collapse in a hurry.

3. They aren't always on (passive), but are triggered by the pilot (active). So they work just like weapons, you fire to activate them, and stay active for as long as you keep the trigger pressed; give it a rate of fire just for ammo consumption, as in, when the shield is engaged every x fractions of a second deplete x amounts of ammo. This way a smart pilot can make his shield last by only engaging it when he (believes he) needs to, and yet he will run out, so the problem of loooong fights due to shield regeneration is lessened.

For a fighter, wise use of the shield would allow him to counter things like swarms, or energy spam as he closes in. For traders, engaging the shields at the right moment could allow him to escape pirates; the fact a small port is required makes all other tradeships a better alternative to a moth, since they would be able to equip shields while the moth can't. Other activities, like racing, would be a juggling game: you'd trade speed (due to increased mass) for a bit more security in getting to your destination.

Of course, things like anti-shield weapons (they do damage as normal, but if they hit a shield their damage is doubled or tripled), and different shield models with different capacities are possible under this system still.
Mar 07, 2007 bojansplash link
Ok, my 2c on this.

1. Giving Hive Queens & Leaviathans shields is kinda silly. According to backstory only shields in existence are Itani *mind focus* driven ones.

2. Giving all capships shields is also silly. See under 1.

3. Small port shield generator with ammo. It sounds... weird.
Shield generator, if its a mechanical device, should use energy source. Maybe if it is powered by unreplenishable battery included with the generator so once it runs out you have to go to station to purchase a new one?
We could put shield generator battery life to, i dunno, 60 secs of continuous shield operation?
Also, there is a question of shields strenght, how much damage can shield whitstand in 1 hit? 1000 hit points, 2000, 3000?