Its a really simple matter of tweaking numbers right now.

Currently, with increased TTK in 1.8 coming soon due to strategic rifle nerfs, shield extenders and rechargers will have come a long way into ceasing the shield-armor disparity gap.

However, there is one issue that many who have previously debated this issue with rage, anger, bitterness, and occasionally out right trolling, have really not discussed all that much. The issue at hand is fitting requirements and how reforming them for armor plates and shield extenders will positively affect intra game balance issues.

First off, armor plates and modules are generally Pg intensive, while shield extenders and modules are generally designed to be CPU intensive. This is because utility modules designed to be coupled with these two tanking module types are intensive in the opposite resource. For example, damage mods and precision enhancers are very CPU intensive, while kinetic catalyzers and cardiac regulators are very Pg intensive. To encourage diversity, fits that utilize these utility modules as well as primary tank type must be viable.

Now, with armor plates being Pg intensive and Extenders being CPU intensive, we must find a converting factor between the two. For prototype suits, in general, the ratio of CPU to PG is 4.7-5.2 CPU/PG. Therefore, we can conclude that every 5 CPU is worth approximately 1 Pg.

Now lets look at the comparative fitting costs of shield extenders and armor plates. We will look at prototype level, as prototype plates are currently relatively well balanced in regards to prototype shield extenders.

SE-54 CPU 11 PG-equivalent of 54 CPU and 55 CPU of PG, or 109 total fitting value
AP-30 CPU 12 PG-Equivalent of 30 CPU and 60 CPU of PG, or 90 total fitting value

What currently needs to happen to bridge the disparity between extenders and plates is to
a.) lower the pg cost of extenders
b.) raise the CPU cost of extenders to equate them with armor

New values for 1.8-(suggested) for shield extenders

60 CPU 6 PG, or simply the values of armor plates reversed

With these suggested changes implemented, there is really only one more problem with extenders versus armor plates-scaling.

Current values of AP HP,

STD ADV PRO
85 115 135

Current values of SE HP,

STD ADV PRO
22 33 66

the GêåHP % between STD and PRO, and ADV and PRO do not align

A PRO plate is 1.6 times the HP value of a STD plate, and 1.17 times the value of an ADV plate in HP

A PRO extender is 3 time the HP value of an STD extender, and 2 times the value of an ADV extender in HP

Currently, the scaling system with armor plates is the better of the two, as it reduces the gap between those with PRO gear and those with MLT/STD gear, so we will scale HP values of shield extenders accordingly, assuming prototype extenders and plates are balanced against each other.

Suggested HP values for 1.8 shield extenders-

STD ADV PRO
41 56 66

These values follow the same scaling as armor plates from STD through to PRO

Now, the more discerning of you may argue "with the changed CPU/PG values, what will stop dual tanking?"

This is a valid and legitimate concern that needs to be addressed.

My idea for this will allow for full customization and diversity while at the same time discouraging dual tanking in 1.8

For Caldari and Minmitar frames, if a single shield extender is fit on the suit, the HP from armor plates is reduced by 20%, and the movement speed penalty is doubled.

For Amarr and Gallente frames, if a single armor plate is fit on the suit, the HP from shield extenders is reduced by 20%, and the depleted regen delay penalty is doubled.

Further notes- Minmitar and Caldari shield regeneration, recharge delay, and shield depleted recharge delay values need to be switched-it makes no sense that Caldari suits receive both the greatest shield buffer as well as regeneration.

PS-Ferroscales and Reactive plates will be discussed at a later time, but they need some love as well

TL;DR
change the cost of a proto extender to 60 CPU and 6 PG, and change the scaling to 41, 56, 66, and extenders will be balanced with plates

well, minmitar are supposed to be regen tankers to make up for their very low HP and to compliment their slight speed advantage, while caldari get a massive shield buffer tank that regens rapidly, but not as much as the minmitar. Minmitar regen should be 10% better than caldari, solely because that is their primary tank other than speed. Caldari should have very high shield regen, just not as high as minmitar.

Aside from that, what do you think about the rest of the post?

Cal Assault based on my suggested changes (w/o doing the Extender CPU/PG as forgot, so this is keeping extender cpu/pg costs the exact same


Assault ck.0 57,690
Complex Shield Extender 4,275 CPU 484.45 / 393.75 gF
Complex Shield Extender 4,275 PG 67.8375 / 78.75 kW
Complex Shield Extender 4,275 Shield 262.5 [561.3] HP
Complex Shield Recharger 5,925 Armor 150 HP
Basic Armor Repairer Blueprint 520 eHP 412.5 [711.3] HP
Complex Profile Dampener 3,420 Shield Recharge Rate 30 [44.49] HP/s
Complex Shield Regulator 2,955 Shield Recharge Delay 5 [2.80] s
Kaalakiota Rail Rifle 47,220 Shield Dep. Rec. Delay 6 [4.12] s
N7-A Magsec SMG 4,845
M1 Locus Grenade 1,200
Ishukone Gauged Nanohive

So, even with a proposed change armor tanking will have roughly 160 HP compared to this suit, or 60 if run a 4th extender (which maybe at that point will be to close. This will make people struggle most against their non weapon specific areas making the game a bit more "interesting" and in itself could of helped TTk; as pending how 1.8 damages work; it could even more-so help/hinder the use of armored based weaponry tearing through shields, where is most still armor tank; it will hinder shield based users

This may help close the gap b/t the suits and cause more diversity again in both suits and weapons/setups