Garrett Blacknova
Codex Troopers
1888
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Posted - 2013.03.08 11:16:00 -
[1] - Quote
If it was exactly as described in the OP, then this would be a broken item. But I can think of ways to make it NOT overpowered. How? Lets list the important points.
1. It's shields. Weapons that are strong against Shields (like Lasers) have an advantage against this device. Lasers having a long range means this would make them even better as a counter-sniper weapon when the Sniper is relying on a deployable shield generator like this. Additionally, unlike the shields on your suit or vehicle, I don't think this should have regen.
2. Area-effect equipment. Much like the Nanohive, but I'd suggest having a wider radius than the Nanohive. Not huge, but slightly bigger. No more than 0.5m increase to radius.
3. Duration. This wasn't addressed, but should be a limiting factor. This could either be a fixed duration allowing for the shield to remain at full strength unless damaged, then just cut off when the power runs out, or a "decay rate" where the shield gradually weakens over time and shooting it accelerates the process.
4. Offense vs. Defense. I think that, while inside the shield, you should be able to fire out. But while outside the shield, you can't fire through it even if it's friendly. Just like how friendly shields get in the way of your weapons fire, but your own shields don't, even though they still protect you while you're firing. You could consider a shield to be a one-way barrier, and because it wouldbe a spherical protective bubble.
5. Visibility. The "Shield Bubble" produced should be (unlike any other equipment which all have serious visibility issues in the current build) highly visible at long ranges. Additionally, anyone inside the boundary should have their Scan Profile SEVERELY impacted. This, combined with the above point, means that you can either use the shield as cover WITHOUT being able to return fire, or you can have the ability to attack from a protected location, but you expose your location by doing so.
6. Variants. There could be a version at each tier with a longer duration (or lower decay rate), but with the cost being that it has a smaller radius. You could have a "Decoy" variant with the previous tier stats, except that it gets marked as a Dropsuit instead of (or in addition to) a Deployable on enemy HUD/map. A variant with higher PG/CPU requirements, shorter duration/faster decay, but an appropriate increase in HP. |