Harpyja
DUST University
Ivy League
349
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Posted - 2013.07.22 21:21:00 -
[1] - Quote
Let me start off by describing every single tanking method. I'll use my experience from EVE to describe them. I believe that these tanking methods should apply to Dust as well.
Armor only has two kinds of tanks: buffer and active. Buffer is obviously the one where you stack armor plates with resists without any armor reps. The obvious downside is that you have no way to repair yourself. Armor reps are never powerful enough for PVP which is why armor buffer tanks for PVP. These fits are most effectively used in conjunction with logistics.
Active tanking fits don't have as much buffer generally, but they are fitted with armor reps that help repair armor. As mentioned above, armor reps are typically not used for PVP as their rep rate is not high enough. However, active tanks are used for PVE, as armor reps allow armor tanks to take sustained damage over longer periods of time. The only useful fits with armor reps for PVP are used on ships with passive bonuses to armor reps. These fits typically use double or triple armor reps which make them competitive to active shield tanks.
Shield has three kinds of tanks: buffer, active, and passive. Buffer and passive are almost identical, as you can pretty much get both at the same time. Shield buffer tanking is no different than armor buffer tanking. You stack shield extenders and shield hardeners. The only difference is that stacking shield extenders helps to increase recharge rate as well, which in turn increases your passive tank.
A passive tank relies on the passive recharge rate of your shields in addition to resistances. This can be accomplished by recharge mods, but buffer tanks typically do a better job. There is a module that is an oddball: you got shield flux coils that go into your low slots (as opposed to mid slots in EVE where shield modules go). These shield flux coils divert energy from your capacitor to your shield recharge. So you can stack extenders and resists in your medium slots, and shield flux coils in your low slots to achieve maximum buffer and recharge.
Active tanks require the use of shield boosters, shield hardeners, and at times shield boost amplifiers. Shield boosters can do more hp/s than armor reps, but at the cost of higher capacitor usage. Shield boost amplifiers simply give a bonus to boost amount, but you use up a medium slot for that. Active shield tanking is referred to as burst tanking because typically you cannot run your booster forever, but rather for a very limited time. Burst tanking recovers vast amount of shields in a short timeframe. You can even recover full shields while in combat, depending on your fit and ship.
Here's some irony: armor reps in EVE don't have high hp/s while shield boosters do. Dust has armor reps with high hp/s and shield boosters with low hp/s.
How to correctly apply this ideology into Dust? Make shield boosters do more hp/s than armor reps, but they would last for a short amount of time and provide less total hp than armor reps. Example: 5000hp in 5 seconds. Your booster will pulse every second for 1000 shield. Armor reps will only pulse about 400 armor every second, but last three times longer. In the end, the shield booster will do 5000hp while the armor rep will do 6200 armor.
Alternative suggestions: due to the nature of shield boosters cycling faster but providing less hp per cycle than armor reps in EVE, I'd like to add this additional suggestion of making armor reps pulse once every three seconds five times for about 1200hp per cycle. Also, because armor reps in EVE repair armor at the end of each cycle, once you activate your armor rep, the pulse begins immediately, but you won't get your 1200hp until that pulse ends after three seconds.
Please note, when I talk about shield boosters and armor reps, I talk about the level three modules as they provide the most amount of hp. |