Ninjanomyx
Imperfects
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Posted - 2013.04.12 08:58:00 -
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As someone who has exclusively Max Spec'd in Shield Tanks I can honestly say that the imbalances between the 2 are painfully obvious. I simply "Endure" it b/c I Adapt & Hone my skills to remain competitively relevant. In other words......I H'dTFU & simply grind while awaiting May 6.
1. It takes significantly less SP Investment to fit an Armor Tank & field it effectively. Simply taking a gander at the Relevant Skills on the Skill Trees & noticing the SP Cost Multipliers is enough to vividly recognize the disparity. (Among other Items)
2. Fittings are less Resource Intensive at Max Level (All relevant Tank Skills at 5) since Armor Adaptation yields a 5% PG decrease for Armor Plates (Large # plus % cut = Large ROI *Return on Investment*) & every other Skill decreases CPU Usage. I only have Shield Enhancements & Shield Adaptation to 3 & have yet to find a "Relevant Fitting" that overburdens my CPU Capacity. PG on the other hand is far less available & the only Skill that affects PG that is Mutually Beneficial is Combat Engineering.
3. Armor Hardeners last 1 Minute & have a 15 Second Cooldown while Shield Hardeners last 10 Seconds & have a 30 Second Cooldown. This currently forces a Shield Tank to engage far less frequently as Survivability is lost the instant you are hit. Currently I have adapted a Playstile that allows myself to survive and reengage effectively, but it takes an exceptionally high level of Skill & Situational Awareness when compared to Armor Tanking (Especially as a DS3 Tanker.....but more on that later). Nonetheless I believe this to be the result of one of many Statistical Oversights as it would seem to a "Well Trained Eye" that the 10 & 30 (Pulse & Cooldown respectively) have been oversighted after improper reversal, thus resulting in the excessive disparity between the Active Hardener Values.
4. Passive Hardeners only affect Base HP atm (HP viewed in the Description Section of selected HAV only, no Extenders/Plates/Bonuses applied). This disincentives their use entirely as even the gimpy Active Shield Hardeners are significantly more effective. Armor has a blatantly obvious choice & this both devalues Passive Hardeners completely & statistically makes them UP, thus creating further imbalance & useless Mods.
5. Armor Tanks can Passively Regen just as a Shield Tank can. most can even fit a Small Shield Repper to effectively nullify 1 Swarm Volley, AV Nade, or Flux every Intended Engagement. Shield Tanks on the other hand cannot rep Armor effectively (More often than not.....at all) since you have to get through the Main HP before getting to the Sub HP, thus allowing Armor the distinct advantage of Weakness Survivability & Regen/Repair constance over Shield Tanks. Armor Tanks rep Shields passively at 1/3 the rate of their Shield Tank equivalent. Passive Shield Rep is honestly a joke..... Both the Base Dropsuit Regen & Passive Regen Buffer Modules for Dropsuits are significantly more effective. I forget the exact numbers off the top of my head (No Computer/Laptop/SmartPhone, only have a PS3) but a Scout doubles Shield Tank Passive Regen & the Shield Tank Passive Regen Module is around a 15% Boost while Dropsuit Passive Regen Module is about a 48% Boost........
6. Armor Repair provides significantly more HP, especially considering the same Skill needed to use them both Buffs HP Repair Rate on Modules & Logi Repair Tools. This offsets the Pulse Delay providing a slight direction towards Balance.....but w/ the Active Hardeners functioning as they do now it honestly makes the Delay more beneficial than initially expected. Add in the fact that you can fit a Repair Tool on a "Free Suit" & hop out for some Active Repair after disengaging, while still having an Active Repair Module going at the same time (Assuming you are Solo Tanking & have no Logibro(s) to assist), you now have a constant stream of HP In (Shield Regen included) & can reengage with far more frequency. Shield Tanks have no such option as Repair Tools only affect Armor. Spider Tanking or LogiLAVing may seemingly alleviate this issue.....but it is far more SP Intensive, ISK risky, burdens Vehicular Spawn Cap, provides no WP Generation, provides the opposition with seemingly Free WP (Spider Tank cannot effectively Self Rep & LAV/DS = EZ WP on pop), limits Vehicular Mobility by increasing Traffic, increases Visibility (Map & Field) & Sound Signatures, & provides a probable nearby explosion that may further damage your Vehicle(s).....thus promoting Counterproductivity.
7. Since Missiles were Nerfed into obscurity the Maurauder Bonus for a Sagaris is essentially nullified, thus forcing the Playerbase to spec Hybrid Turrets. Blaster Turret Damage is significantly boosted by the Surya Maurauder Bonus, thus providing further advantage to Armor Tanks. As, more often than not, a Shield Tank Rail Fit forces a Shield Tank to lose PG towards adding Survivability Modules (I personally find only 2 at a time are ever "Optimal" when fitting) a Damage Modded Rail Shield Tank loses in an evenly positioned Standoff Scenario vs the Armor Fit Counterpart. This is especially apparent as Armor Base Resist is Hybrid, further Buffed by the Maurauder Tier Tank. You can fit a Damage Mod in place of 1 Repper & an active Heat Sink for continuous fire, or fit an extra Repper or Active Hardener w/ Active Heat Sink for increased Survivability w/ continuous fire. As a Shield Tank you, more often than not, can only fit 2 Large Survivability Modules. 10 Seconds of Active Resist is lost faster than the engagement will last, & a couple seconds are lost on each Active Hardener during the initial Activation Phase, thus further limiting the probability of a favorable outcome. This limits Shield Tanks to 1 Fitting Solution, 1-2 Damage Mods & a PG Mod (Gunnlogi & Sagaris respectively), forcing Homogenized Loadouts on Shield Tanks in High Tier Competitive Play. |
Ninjanomyx
Imperfects
Negative-Feedback
25
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Posted - 2013.04.12 09:23:00 -
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8. An Armor Tanker using a Keyboard both Accelerates & reaches Max Speed 1.5-2x faster than a DS3 Shield Tanker. This causes major balancing issues with both the Control Types & the way each Vehicle Type can Engage/Disengage Combat. KB Armor Tank vs DS3 Shield Tank = Armor Wins. Since the current Maps are rather limited in size (Especially in Ambush, which is currently the only viable SP/ISK Grind Mode both Pre & Post Cap) a Shield Tank cannot effectively disengage an Armor Tank in a "Same Skill" scenario, thus limiting the options to Engage or Die.
9. Active Modules can be Deactivated at any point during Pulse Interval. This allows the Armor Tankers the ability to take advantage of their higher yield Reps & extremely low cooldown Hardeners by taking control of Cooldown Resets between Successful Engagements while Safely Disengaged, allowing for significantly higher Engagement Frequencies.
I only hope these, among many others....., Imbalances/Oversights are properly addressed in the Uprising Build. Hopefully now those whom were willing to read through my TL;DRific Post have a better understanding of the situation. The rest of you can Fellate my Phallis :P |