Alien Shields

[Lord Trogg]

I noticed that the two alien shields are very high level but they don't seem to have any resistinces or immunities nor do they have extrordinary regeneration or hp. So what is so good about an iocrym veil or jotun deflector?

[Yugi]

The Iocrym Veil is a well-balanced shield, which allows you to use it in most situations.

The Jotun Deflector can be set at different HP levels, at the cost of using more power, which can be handy at times.

[dvlenk6]

Try an Iocrym Veil out. You won't be sorry.

[Lord Trogg]

It's just that it would appear that a mammoth 100 shield would be so much better as it uses less power and is way bigger. The only reason that I can see is that the iocrym veil has a faster regeneration rate.

[Fossaman]

That's a very important distinction, though.

The mammoth regens at about one third the rate of the iocrym veil, meaning it takes nine times as long to recharge after being depleted. While the mammoth's massive hit points are good for short, chaotic battles, anything very long will see the shield being depleted, at which point you're in trouble. You'll have to use sustain, sit on a planet, or just run away very fast if you want to get out without getting your paint job scratched. With the iocrym veil, your shields go back up fast enough that you only have to dodge for a little bit to get back to safe levels.

Additionally, the Iocrym veil takes less damage per shot from all damage types than the Mammoth does. Not much, but it makes a difference.

[dvlenk6]

Another thing you can do with the Iocrym that you can't with the Mammoth100MW shield is that you can do some evasive maneuvering while in battle.
The Regen rate is high enough that you only need dodge a few shots to keep the Iocrym Veil from depleting. It's impossible to do that with the Mammoth Shields. They take too long to regenerate. You'll end up sitting on safes spots alot with the Mammoth waiting for it to regenerate.
There's a bigger delay between shield going down and starting to regen with the Mammoth also.

The only shield I'd dump an Iocrym Veil for is the Taikon-20.
Nephren X1 is really good shield too.

The Kaidun is just about like the Mammoth100MW
Lazarus take 900MW of power.

[Psycholis]

i tend to stick with the invincible to the bitter end. i dunno if it changed this game, but that sheild held it's own for a looooooong time in .97a. i read the tip on this forum about that and decided to test it. the only trouble i had was trying to crack ares bases. i imagine it's even worse now with all the new ares ships. end-game shield for me is usually the taikon-200 w/ ion reflection.

[FAD]

I still use the Invincible all the way to Heretic. Like I've said before, that shield will hold its own providing you have heavy hitting weapons to counter.

Speaking of the Kaidun, as D6 stated, it's similar to the Mammoth 100 but there is a nice little difference... Regen rate is slightly better so you won't be having to wait as long in any safe havens. Hit it with Ion reflect and hammer away!

[arichallan]

If I have enough diamond crystals or longzhu spheres, I'll pick up a Kaidun, if only because having a shield with 2000 hp looks really cool. But, I'll usually go with the Iocrym Veil since it's such an effective shield once it's ion-reflective.

[Burzmali]

I still use the Invincible all the way to Heretic. Like I've said before, that shield will hold its own providing you have heavy hitting weapons to counter.

Invincible + chasm gunships = dead player

The Invincible does not play well with positron damage.

[dvlenk6]

Invincible isn't the best shield; but you can get to Heretic and kill the Iocrym with it. I've done it in 0.98b, several times in other versions; And taken down every type of base and ship that is currently in the game in the process.
You just can't use sheer brute force with it in every circumstance. It is only a lvl6 shield.
So, yeah. Park in front of the Chasm Gunships (or amidst the Ares Sentries) and let them pound on you with their Archcannons; and you will definetly die. Wouldn't be much of an Archcannon if it wasn't powerful.
A lot of things can kill you with an Invincible, if you sit and slug it out w/ them; but it is strong enough and regens fast enough that if you use some tactics in the battles, you can beat anything currently in the game with it.

[FAD]

Agreeing with D6, and even with the new shields...after checking them out and giving my "Wow" on them, I'm still happy with my Invincible and still use it in every game.

And as for those Chasm gunships, yep, those positrons are fierce but they still have to hit the Invincible several times before it collapses. And they're really no match when looking through the crosshairs of an enhanced +Fast Ares Lightning turret. It'll rip them to shreds before they can fire a second round at me.

[Fossaman]

The problem comes, of course, when you have to rip five of them to shreds before they can fire that second round...

Give me an Iocrym veil or a Taikon any day.

[Burzmali]

Anything that can take Positron Reflect will do...

[F50]

Oh, about those crystals, after you upgrade a shield, can you put a different upgrade on it now that 9.8 has come out? What about armor?

I am just using an Invincible for the first time and find it is *very* nice. However I cringe whenever I think of getting a direct hit from a kiloton. Even with resistances, 90 hp isn't lots...