Getting Defensive

[Darkhobbit]

I've restarted many times while messing with mods and such, so haven't gotten all that far (wandered well past St. K in the Network, but didn't get to the next plot system), but was hoping for a bit of advice on how people have balanced their shield/armor needs. Even with the 1 gw power plant the power drain on better shields is rather painful and the high hp/slow recharge systems have their own issues. Do most people use them as a minor buffer and rely more on their armor in most situations or have I just not found the right balance?

I have found the armor to be nice, although I haven't specialized against specific opponents yet like you can with the various resistances. One little question from looking at the wiki though was whether you could apply regenerating nanos to neutronium armor (which states it can not be repaired)? Just one of those crazy thoughts for late game.

Thanks again to George Moromisato for the great game and the modders/community.

[Atarlost]

Armor is the primary defense for most of the game with shields as a money saving buffer, though for the actual endgame you almost need shields and in the early game they're adequate.

Regenerating nanos are too slow to be practical.

[RPC]

I'm pretty sure neutronium armor can't be repaired in-game due to its high level.

[PM]

Neutronium armor can be repaired by the Domina power Restore if the playership has no shield installed and if the armor has not taken more than 75% damage.

[Darkhobbit]

Neutronium armor can be repaired by the Domina power Restore if the playership has no shield installed and if the armor has not taken more than 75% damage.

That's the sort of idea I was looking at. I was just curious as to whether the "...and impossible to repair" from the wiki meant just at stations because of item/tech level or if it was coded in some way to exclude nanos and other methods. I will probably never even see it, but was wondering.

[Cirevam]

Armour is definitely more important at least to me. At the beginning of the game I just get whatever cheap shield I can and try to find decent armour until I get to Rigel, then I worry more about shields. Plus more shields are available at that point, and usually I'll find enough armor paste that repairs aren't too much of an issue. By endgame I usually have a 150% plasma shield or a Kaidun if I get lucky but I always try to go for the best armour I can for whatever ship I'm flying.

Oh, and armour is really important against the Sung since a few of them can drop your shields instantly.

[WillyTheSquid]

I play with quite a few mods (cannibalized and then Frankensteined back together), tweaked to remove over-powered, game-breaking or pointless stuff. Mostly adding variant items to the game. Nonetheless, even though I've created for myself an enormous variety of item choices, But I keep finding myself returning to several "vanilla" items time and again. And keep hoarding those damned barrels of regenerating nanos and ordering them from Corp Trading posts. Yeah, they repair slowly but it helps repair armor that the Patcher stuff doesn't work on.

Early in the game, I usually focus on getting good armor first. My reasoning:
Shield (almost) down = retreat, recharge, revenge;
vs
Armor (almost) destroyed = back-track to the nearest dock for repairs NOW or it's game-over for you.

Aside from the backtracking, which can cost quite a bit of time and valuable fuel. Sitting around waiting for your shield to recharge means you're not using your thrusters, which suck additional power. You can also go longer without repairs if your armor is better. It increases your combat range and reduces dependency on stations. Keep in mind that "higher level" doesn't always mean "better"... if you can't repair your specialized armor without going back 2 systems, that will kill the flow of your game. And scrolling through a list of 20 items to repair your armor with a barrel/patch/kit is stressful as well.

I do upgrade my shields as soon as possible, but I tend to pick shields that use little power (like Deflectors). They regenerate slowly, yes, but they still soak up more damage that would normally be done to your ship's armor than a lower-level shield. I mainly use them for diving into combat and quickly killing the most dangerous enemies. Just try to get a higher-level shield with as much HP as you can for as little power-use as possible. Level IV shields will take less damage than level I-III shields, apart from any other defensive abilities, just because their level is higher.

I do use shields that are more power-hungry from St.K's onwards. In these cases, I look for the fastest shield regeneration instead of large amounts of HP. If you make a habit of clearing out the most dangerous enemies ASAP when you enter a new system, you can get away with flying around shieldless much of the time (disable the shield using the "B" key in-game). In these low-intensity combat zones, regenerating armor or a Patcher device really help out. So I tend to stick with an equipment set that can repair itself automatically for as long a possible, relying more on my power-slurping but decent shield in the mid-game. It saves on retreating, repairing and power use.

When you do find that shield that you think will see you through the mid-part of your game, you can use a ShieldEfficiency cube on it to knock down its power use by 20%. You need a HeisenMachines quantum computer installed for this. It's best to use the efficiency cube before you start using Domina's "Ingenuity" power... because it's random, she might increase your shield's H instead. But more HP doesn't mean squat when you can't spare the power to use it.
You can also increase a reactor's power output so you have more power for firing your weapons; before you (normally) get access to your Domina powers, your reactor can be enhanced by the University in the big St.K arcology, and pretty cheaply as well. If you refrain from upgrading your reactor straight away, waiting 'till you find a better one... well, you could suddenly find yourself with power to spare


Also make sure you disable weapons and devices you're not currently using -- if you have an X-ray laser installed but are mostly using particle weapons, it still sucks 10% of its normal power. Add the drain from that laser collimator you've still got installed and that starts adding up fast.

And when the additional protection is sorely needed, you can switch it back on and quickly be fully shielded again. In this scenario, 10HP regen on a 80HP shield is better than 3HP regen on a 200HP shield.

Anyway. Good vanilla defensive equipment:

ICX point defense devices. Reduce the amount of hits you take, sparing both your shield and your armor.

Rasiermesser V300 powered armor. Good stats and repairs itself. Uses power, though.

Duralloy armor. Regenerates, pretty nice stats. Duranium ores can be found very early in the game. Race the Salvager Nomads to the abandoned cargo containers floating around early systems and take the Duranium ore to a Tinker station for custom work (5 ores = 1 armor segment).

There's some more stuff, but these are the big ones. If you are open to using mods, I can heartily recommend the following mods for being very well-balanced without being over-powered at all:

- PM's "Items pack 912" mod. Adds multiple Ironman and Solaris armor types, both regenerating (and Solaris armor also recharges your reactor when near a star!). Also has the "Solar Array", an external device (like patch spiders) that has 10 times the fuel regeneration of a solar panel device but can be damaged by enemies during combat.

- PM's "Reactors pack 912" mod. Lets you install better reactors at friendly dockyards (CW stations, Ringers, etc). Also makes all vanilla reactors slotless.

- TheLastBrunnenG's [url="http://xelerus.de/index.php?s=mod&id=670"]"New armors" mod. Adds many variants to existing vanilla armor types (ultralight, heavy, massive) as well as some entirely new stuff. Notable for reducing shield (and thus power dependency) are the Duralloy variants & the heavy Photorepair/Solar armors.

- TheLastBrunnenG's [url="http://xelerus.de/index.php?s=mod&id=671"]"New shields" mod. Adds many BALANCED new lower- and higher-level variants of vanilla shield, giving you more options to choose from. Helpful for balancing power use with reactor output.

- TheLastBrunnenG's [url="http://xelerus.de/index.php?s=mod&id=620"]"New devices" mod. Adds a low-lvl mini patch spider and an advanced patch spider & arm. Also in here: new ICX devices, spares your armor/shields so you can get by with lower-level equipment for a little while longer.

Hope all this helps, it took me an ass-load of time to write up and research. Good luck, and godspeed on your journey corewards.

[RPC]

It would be a nice intro page to armors on the wiki

[WillyTheSquid]

Hint taken. I'm on it.

[Song]

Another important defensive system is your primary weapon....especially if it's something like an X-ray laser or dual-turbolaser. Doubly so if it's been optimised. Apart from the whole "dead things don't shoot at you, except pteravores"..... ICX is (in theory) more accurate, but if you're attacking something at range with an unguided weapon that doesn't use ammo, a few less hits on the target is a good trade-off for taking out incoming missiles.

Edit: And autons, if you can afford to throw away cash with them.

[christian]

Well anyone speak about engines, a good engine can save your live, if your enemy is shotting at you with a omni weapon it'll calculate your course and shot where you SHOULD be, and the engines can save you from non-omni weapons as well, I'm testing the PunkGeek Tech Center v5 and was flying with a wolfen with Deflector 5 Class, and a Phobos was chasing me(...ooooh hell...), well eventually I was kill (I was following to the gate when a saw two Sung Dragon on the Radar and thought "Why not!?"), but the engines of the Wolfen save me from several shots of that Ares - BIG (plasma ~160 damage) cannon, and those lighting turrets...

[WillyTheSquid]

Yeah, true, I hadn't really considered the engines yet. Or maneuverability differences. When loaded with cargo and not. Good point.

[christian]

oh, i forgot, you can take cover on plantes and stars(please, don't do this on Dynamic Systems...bad idea......bad...idea...) as well, so you 'll have time to recharge your shield and get back to the fight

[sun1404]

for me, shield is the main defense. Shield down = flee for your life. Usually I try to find a great armor for my ship's rear end. So that I can flee easily. Anyway, shield comes first for me.

[PM]

For me, shield is my primary line of defense. This is because I usually have (fragile) solar armor equipped until I get a jumpdrive (sometime after St. K's). Free fuel is too good to pass up. If I see my big bad shield get too low, I flee. Even if I have other armor equipped, I dislike spending money on repairs... or getting EMP'ed by Barbaries or Dwarg masters... or ionized by Ventari.