Shield regeneration versus armor hitpoints

[Panpiper]

Given that in combat, shield regeneration (apparently) is nerfed to 10% of what most people think they will be getting, it is almost worthless to have shield regenerators on a ship except for bringing shields back to full, 'outside' of combat. (The exception would be if you expect to spend many minutes in combat with pirates for instance, that do relatively little damage.) In the case of a slugfest duel between evenly matched ships, I have to wonder what would be best for the same mass, adding one shield capacitor or two extra basic hull?

One shield capacitor will give roughly 100 shield points. (This will be higher, up to 110 for small ships, and lower for ships with large shields, as there is a diminishing return on shields the more you add.) Two basic hull will give 100 armor hit points. A not trivial extra consideration is that the single shield module will add 100 system HP while the two basic hull will add only 10.

Assuming one has built a ship to make good use of armor, with several layers, perhaps spaced, of advanced armor to the fore of one's ship, and that one has maxed out passive pierce and punch defensive effects, what do you think increases one's defensive capacity more?

 

[jayman38]

Considering that most players will get into a single fight with other players and then run back to shipyard for repairs, the armor blocks are probably the better deal, but if you are planning to attack multiple targets in succession without repairs, the shield generator might be the better deal. I would say the difference would be whether you are in a real warship or a mere pirate hunter.

 

[shadowulf]

I agree with jayman

Armor is easier to replace and is better for a tanking ship that gets repaired right after the battle, if it survives.

However, shields are useful as a ship that fights and fights well in multiple fights before being repaired.

Based on my experience, I prefer higher regen shields on larger warships with armor. On fighters I prefer either straight armor or just shield capacitors and have them leach from the parent ship/station

 

[GRHayes]

Honestly I stopped building any ships at this point. I am waiting on seeing the decision on this http://phab.starma.de/T292 before I do.
If they decide to leave the nerf in the game where we don't even have modules as a work around I am just quitting the game.
I play games I enjoy and I hate when developers try and make people equal to the extent where they ruin the game.
I don't gain attachments to games if I like it I stay for as long as that lasts if it turns to something I don't like I move on.

 

[StormWing0]

Really tempting to come up with a super long range instalkiller ship just to watch people run back to base for repairs. :D :P

In any event thick enough armor can stop quite a bit, shields are still useful but you need to have way too many in my opinion. The shield rechargers should have the same bonus style as the power reactors. Sure it'd give shields one heck of a buff but seeing as the sum of all dimensions setup for 5.5 shield recharge rate isn't going to be much of a buff. All that'd mean is instead of having 5000 blocks of shield rechargers you'd have a few K less.

 

[GRHayes]

Given that in combat, shield regeneration (apparently) is nerfed to 10% of what most people think they will be getting, it is almost worthless to have shield regenerators on a ship except for bringing shields back to full, 'outside' of combat. (The exception would be if you expect to spend many minutes in combat with pirates for instance, that do relatively little damage.) In the case of a slugfest duel between evenly matched ships, I have to wonder what would be best for the same mass, adding one shield capacitor or two extra basic hull?

One shield capacitor will give roughly 100 shield points. (This will be higher, up to 110 for small ships, and lower for ships with large shields, as there is a diminishing return on shields the more you add.) Two basic hull will give 100 armor hit points. A not trivial extra consideration is that the single shield module will add 100 system HP while the two basic hull will add only 10.

Assuming one has built a ship to make good use of armor, with several layers, perhaps spaced, of advanced armor to the fore of one's ship, and that one has maxed out passive pierce and punch defensive effects, what do you think increases one's defensive capacity more?

You should check this out and see how worth while armor isn't
http://starmadedock.net/threads/left-mouse-vs-right-mouse.21288/

 

[Mork2]

The game seems to be designed around buff tanking not regen tanking in the main. You do want a decent amount of shield regen so your shields can top up in a decent amount of time, minutes usually.

Shields have a couple advantages over armour even without decent regen rates. Namely it defends against all hits in all directions. It is very heavy to have really good armour in all directions. All you have to do is trash the armour on the side facing you to get to the systems.

I would recommend a mix of both. Shields to help defend in all directions. Armour protecting critical areas and areas expected to come under heavy fire. Also armour to reduce the blast damage from missiles.

Armour can make big differences on small ships and other small entities. If something hits you that can punch through advanced armour it was probably going to get through the small amount of shields you could fit anyway.