I am sorry but the entire idea of a 'glass cannon' tank makes no sense. Well, it might be worth thinking about except for the very actions of CCP. Specifically how can you shoot at range when there is no range in the game anymore? Tanks and turrets have gotten repeatedly ganked by the shank masters. FG and AV can get close enough to the red line that CCP's idea just cost anyone silly enough to listen to them a tank. Not to mention these forums and the chats are filled with QQs about red line tanks (but CCP likes it doesn't stem the tide of QQs).

My alt got in a tank fight tonight (UTC morning) and the Red tank fired from extreme (okay, Dust's pizz ant) range. I backed up, put on the hardener, enabled the missile damage mod, rolled forward and dumped a clip. Dead shield tank (C/1). I suspect that target acquisition focus cost them their tank (that a bad fit). With the exception of the blaster tanks both missile and rail guns have effective damage at exactly the same range. With hardeners coming with 2 second delays waiting until you see the shields dropping is too late. Once I have blasted through their shields they are dead.

It is rare that a shield tank can get away from my Maddies. They have, but not many. Not saying my Maddies are perfect. Losing them happens more than I like and it is much too expensive. One of the reason not to play Dust too long, this game is so weird in that playing costs game currency. Win or lose, you lose.

Sorry, I run XTs more than any other turret (I have yet to adjust to the heat reduced rail guns). I pop more armor tanks than shields. There are more armor on the field, so that is normal. But I can eat through their shields in just a few missiles and most of their armor in one clip. Fast reload and I can get enough back in the magazine to finish it off, even with hardeners and with repair going constantly. Every now and then I find a tanker that neither can get the edge over. Quite funny when it happens and we both have back off. Hoping for AV support or another tanker (or our side).

You are correct on their shield warning. I use Maddy shields as a I got shot flag.

To survive in a shield you must enter the fight with at least one hardener active. They reduce missile strikes by a significant amount. For blasters, you simply cannot get close to them. Armor or shield. Turning on a hardener after you get hit will usually be fruitless, as in you get no apple today - cause you're dead. 2 second delays are lethal. Two hardeners take 4-5 seconds to be active.

The great TANK SHANK of 1.7/1.8 redesigned tank warfare. It is quite a bit simpler, easier to understand, less rewarding and it moved me from shields to armor. As designed by CCP. That is what they stated they wanted to accomplish. Shields are glass cannons, meant to hit and run. Or come in close and die.

It worked. Of course, I have very few of my friends left here down in the dust.

Possibly not as they planned.

Lowering the cost of shield boosters would be quite nice, since the only thing that really makes the armour HAV stand out, is its ability to recover from damage.

Really, map and turret type decide more than the tanks themselves... Small maps leave every tanker in the redzone with a rail, or getting shot from the redzone by AV and Rails (why in the hell do such tiny maps exist anyway?)

But on the better maps it's really just turret preference... If the Maddi is sporting anything other than a blaster, you can run rings around it with a Gunni... If it's got a blaster, then rails are the best best, because even though missiles do a decent amount of damage, the turbo Maddi is going to be in range within seconds and when a blaster is in range, you're pretty much fooked.


Madrugas with rails are pretty laughable... Like a turtle with a slingshot.

Free access to fitting modules bro.

3x CMP Shield Extenders and 2x ADV Hardeners with 1x ADV PG enhancer can amount to 6175 Shields and 10,000+ Effective Shielding in combat and fit any turret barring the Missile Launcher which requires a BSC CPU Upgrade. Thing about Shield HAV currently is that they have essentially unrestricted access to PG and CPU modifiers which can massive impact on how your fit your HAV.

So yes Shield Modules do cost a larger percentage of their base fitting allocation but can modify those allocations without sacrificing their racial tank.

Also why are you comparing a Shield Extender to an Armour Hardener. That's not a good comparison at all since one is a raw HP modifier while the other is an effective hit point modifier.