Oswald Rehnquist
1368
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Posted - 2014.05.21 04:22:00 -
[1] - Quote
Shield tanking currently survive based on 3 things,
1) Duel tanking- Because shield tanking alone is not enough of a buffer to survive alpha
2) Cloaks- getting hit isn't a problem is your not seen, also time to regen is given
3) Distance- Staying in your optimal and dancing on the edge of theirs.
Obviously there is so much to balance here, ehp stacking in general, scouts ehp stacking, shield vs armor utility, so fun yet so complicated, right now I'm just talking bout shields as a single form of defense. The issue is exasperated with short a short TTK, which my solution is to essentially increase it because otherwise no differentiation is noticeable and max buffer is king.
For shield tanking to "work" as a form of defense, meaning not relying on distance/cloak/armor, then it has to survive alpha attacks, which ballpark around 400-550 damage (and regular dps which is in the 375-550 range), which is essentially all of your shield buffer in one shot should any non heavy frame buffer entirely with shields. This is why shield tankers duel tank.
The value in delayed automatic regen is nullified if you can't survive long enough to weave in and out of cover (front line shield tactics). So shields need to provide enough buffer to survive the alpha or 1 sec of dps to still be functional with a realistic buffer.
This will be an arbitrary so don't pull out your torches and pitchforks yet, but if a proto Cal Assault had a final shield value of around 700 compared to full proto cal assault of 550 (which armor ehp would need to be reexamined), leaving you with 150-325 shields left after an initial hit (+100ish for base armor), then I think shield tanking would have some breathing room as a stand alone.
Again whether this is by turning plates into % of whatever value or just raw number increase plus decentives for scouts. These are the end numbers I think shield tanking (not stealth/armor/cloak with shields) needs to survive as a lone form of tanking, and again as noted before this would mean that armor would need another examination.
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Oswald Rehnquist
1371
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Posted - 2014.05.21 21:16:00 -
[2] - Quote
DeathwindRising wrote:
what if shields recharged constantly without the delay, like armor does?
shield tanks would have low over all hp but their high recharge rates help them survive drawn out battles, but weak in fights where there's no cover.
armor tanks would have high hp but suffer being worn down in drawn out fights.
While you can do that, it wouldn't make shields viable as a stand alone. A fast regen would just buff shield tankers who already rely on distance/cloak/armor (aka duel tanking).
Shield tanking ehp is not enough to survive the alpha, which means its not a viable form of tank as a stand alone and a removal of the regen delay isn't going to save you. Also with the removal of regulators, there is very little disincentives to not armor tank in your lows for front liners.
Obviously the intended goal is Shields= low ehp / slow auto regen / cover, Armor= High ehp / charge / fast active regen, always has, so if shields do get buffed ehp wise, then armor would need to rise accordingly to keep the dynamic consistent, which means rising TTK, but without that its just buffer>all and the clear buffer is armor.
Below 28 dB
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