Buzzwords
Deadly Blue Dots
RISE of LEGION
416
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Posted - 2012.08.16 09:58:00 -
[1] - Quote
well... apologies in advance for the wall of text, but:
i would say shield tanking (shield VS armor is really the only significant difference so that's what i'll focus on) has:
a serious advantage in the utility it can gain from the "free" low slots.
most shield modules go in high slots, leaving a shield tanked HAVs low slots empty. those slots could be used for PG/CPU upgrades to fit even BETTER shield modules in the high slots, or better turrets. they could be used to increase the HAVs speed via nanofiber modules (these actually WEAKEN the armor, so they are somewhat out of the question for armor tanks) or even on damage modules.
"free" high slots on an armor tank HAV can only be used for a militia CRU (no combat utility at all) or a damage control module (decent module, but you can only fit 1 per vehicle) everything else is shield related.
shields also have the benefit of passively recharging. the effect is rather weak on HAVs compared to on dropsuits, but it's there and it recharges faster than the armor... which doesn't recharge at all.
as for boosting to tank damage, that's actually sort of a wash. armor rep modules exist, and they do work. in fact they restore more armor than an equal shield booster will restore shield.
they do however, repair this armor SLOWER than the shield booster restores shields. so shield tanking is definitely more forgiving. if your timing is off and you activate your booster a little late, no big deal. if your shields even hit 0 for a second, no problem, you can take a few point of damage to armor and survive. if you make the same mistake with armor, and your armor hits 0 for a second... you are dead. and due to the slower nature of armor reps, it's easier to make that mistake.
so yah, in a bubble, shield tanking is definitely better. but there ARE a few caveats that are worth mentioning.
supply depots:
a supply depot will passively repair the armor of any nearby vehicle, but NOT the shields. how useful this is to armor tanking is debatable. if you have to stand in one spot for an extended period of time you're probably not accomplishing anything and are probably an easy target. but no matter how useful this is to an armor HAV, it is LESS useful to a shield HAV. all the same caveats would apply, but with the added problem of.. if a shield HAV is taking armor damage, he very may well be to the point where 1 good hit will finish him off. regeneration doesn't matter when you die all at once.
FIRE:
when a vehicle reaches low armor health, it catches on fire. while a vehicle is on fire, it slowly bleeds off health. any competent armor tank would have some way to recover his armor. therefore he can put the fire out, and survive. a narrow escape remains just that... a narrow escape
but a shield tank may very well NOT have any way to rep it's armor. unable to put out the fire, he just has to deal with it and hope help comes. this could potentially turn "narrow escapes" into "slightly delayed deaths"
the fire damage doesn't seem to dramatic so far, but again... it is a factor that definitely tips the scales in favor of armor. by how much is open to debate.
lastly
FLUX grenades:
flux grenades deal some pretty big damage. more-so even than anti-vehicle grenades. the caveat being that they only deal damage to shields. so while a flux grenade will never KILL anything, a shield tank with no shields is fairly close to dead. an armor tank with no shields is fairly close to full health. the loss of the true AV grenades magnetism function, and the inability of these grenades to kill anything on their own seems to be limiting their use. so again, how much this matters is debatable, but they absolutely hurt shield tanks MORE than they hurt armor tanks. |