You can add buffer tanking with full plates on the list of armor advantages too cause thats the case when a decent logi is in the squad. Reptool+buffer tank= extremely hard to kill.

This post is shockingly objective and constructive. Are you certain that you are actually a DUST player?

On a more serious note, while I have zero issue with your assertions, they are well thought out and they touch on actual issues, I must add that the community mindset on how fittings should be optimal is not compatible with the systrengths of shield tanking.

Part of it is that a few things need adjusting. The other part of it is armor tanking is just easier and takes less thought. I say this as a habitual sentinel who also runs all four assaults.

As far as shields vs. Ferros: sshields have a regen advantage upping the HP of extenders isn't the answer IMHO. It would swing the pendulum back a little too hard.

However, the extender penalty came before some of the better refinements to armor were a thing. It might be time to consider lifting them.

Kincats should be made equivalent to damage mods. Mobility is king with shields. Lowering the cost of kincats will not make the wiggle wiggle strafe detection dumbassery worse because kincats do not add to base speed, which is the attribute that dictates backpedal and strafe speed.

Shield threshold should be set to the lowest base value individual bullet in the game so a single stray round out of optimal will not screw you. But a stray shot from optimal can.

Jerking with range invariably gets people crying because if an assault can fit it so can an HMG/forge sentinel.

All in all I'm on board with you here.

I need only point to the number of people who absolutely screamed about how unfair it is that HMGs could kill them outside 20m over the last few weeks alone. Now apply the lesson to all the weapons.

Are you crazy? If you make a solo shield suit better then a fully plated suit which aswell gets repped then thats imbalance cause that would mean 1 player>2. Getting a shield logi would set the field for fair play.

you say ferroscales were trash because they didnt give enough HP for the PG / CPU needed.
Have you looked at shield extenders lately?
Ill save you the trouble, they take more fittings and give less HP. They also cost more ISK too so thats nice.


Also the RR does not have the highest alpha in its class, both the TAR and SCR do more, even ignoring the SCR charged shot. I could argue that one burst is technically still alpha, meaning burt AR and CR also have higher alpha. Infact im going to have to check the numbers but i have a suspicion breach AR does more damage per shot, too
Just because rails have 'high alpha' doesnt mean they dont need damage mods - high alpha does not mean high (or even decent) DPS.
You say that gallente have poor range so they have to use damage mods which in no way fix their bad range, yet caldari which have poor damage do not need to use damage mods.
Additionally, you state that you can armor tank minmatar suits and stack damage. This is true but still leaves the caldari with low speed, low HP and pathetic damage.

Since youre unfamilliar with amarr ill break it down for you
in EVE they have lots of lows and usually armor resists, so they can stack armor and damage pretty well at the same time, though increasing one will decrease the other.
Meanwhile in DUST, they can tank as much as they want, stack damage on an already high damage weapon (that already has high DPS) and not have to sacrifice any DPS.

The point is shields simply dont measure up to armor in many ways, and a simple damage threshold isnt going to solve much other than making shields slightly better at rooftop camping (which, by the way, can still be countered by armor suits because they can stack myofibs and armor)

You are looking at it wrong. There is a difference between an active tank and a passive tank. A passive tank is RAW HP. An active tank has rechargers and regulators to make it rebuild quicker.

The Ferroscale falls under the Passive tanking mode as do Shield Extenders.

Reactive Plating and Rechargers, Regulators fall under the Active tanking mode and as such your comparison is flawed.

Look at the cost for active modules as I mentioned previously, thats where the comparison can gain traction if there is any, if a person fits feros they need reps, so armor repair or the Reactive plating, otherwise all that equals the armor tank you describe is a shield tank no rechargers or regulators, they cannot be compared. A+B does not equal C+C.

The damage threshold is another matter entirely, and for someone who runs both armor and shield as well as bottle tanked suits I can say without a doubt that some of what you say regarding damage threshold strikes a chord but I would be concerned that setting it too high would result in other balance issues, no more than 10 hp threshold would be ok.

EDIT: No, just checked some numbers and remembered why that is there, it prevents Shields from being OP.

I have a quick question.

Does anyone know if the total number of hitpoints (HP) are the same for dropsuits within a class? For example, can the caldari sentinel achieve the exact same amount of total HP as the Amarr sentinel. Just divided seperately between shield and armour obviously, based on racial lore?

I've never bothered to check this, but I was just wondering whether the suits take this kind of balance into account.