zzZaXxx
The Exemplars
Top Men.
168
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Posted - 2013.08.12 04:38:00 -
[1] - Quote
Dropsuits are based on EVE ships and yes ship shields have passive recharge while armor does not, but unless you're in a Drake fit for passive recharge it's not gonna save you. If ships in EVE had the passive shield recharge that dropsuits do compared to armor repair, no armor tanks would ever undock. (Ahem) If dropsuits had EVE ships' passive recharge it would be a constant 1-4 hp/s base, depending on percentage of shields left.
So if CCP were to try to balance dropsuits by making them more like EVE ships then shields' passive recharge would drop to 1-4 hp/s or so and shield booster or passive recharge mods would be required...and delays would be removed. Shield boosters would boost smaller amounts faster, whereas armor repairers would boost larger amounts slower. Of course it would add delicious complexity to the game if capacitor were involved but I won't go there.
In this scenario the distinctions between shields and armor would be:
a) With shields you have the options of passive or active tank
b) Same basic rep amount but short bursts vs. big chunks of hp (need shield transporter for this to be balanced)
c) Different resists (will be more relevant when shield transporters come out and as more weapons come out, especially rifles)
d) Armor penalizes movement, shields....raise scan profile?
Alternatively, if shields aren't to be brought down to armor then armor needs to be raised up to the level of shields by means of passive rep. It's a simple yet elegant solution. Just tweak the numbers so that players can have a balanced but distinct tank either way, using the same amount of modules. If everything else is balanced but armor tanking requires more modules then it's UP. This just entails giving racial suits varying passive armor reps, changing armor repairers so that they only increase the rate of the suit's passive repair, and adjusting armor plates' hp and penalties. Once the right passive rep numbers are found for each dropsuit, the only differences would then be that armor reps constantly while shields have delays, and armor tankers have more hitpoints but are slower. Of course when shields and armor are balanced then armor will be very OP until shield transporters are introduced. (sigh) I wish I were designing DUST.
TL;DR
Give each suit appropriate passive armor repair. Change armor repairers' function to increasing the rate of repair (and change their name I guess). Tweak armor plates to provide the right balance of hp and movement penalty. Introduce shield transporters. Fixed. |