Superconducting Shield Generator

[Watch TV, Do Nothing]

Let's discuss the superconducting shield generator: an oddball shield generator that operates on a different principle than all other shields.

I don't see many people mentioning this shield, and I suspect that if George includes some sort of equipment usage stats in his highscores, you wouldn't see many using it either.

First, the description from in-game:

"This generator uses an array of superconducting coils. Individual coils must be replaced to restore the field after damage is taken"

Superconducting shield generators are level 5 and have a base value of 8000 credits, theoretically placing them in the same performance tier as the Yoroi S100, Nephren P25, and Class V.

Code: Select all

Type:     HP       Resist                  Regen       Delay            Power
SSG:      200     (200,200, 50, 50)            0           0             5 MW
S100:     100     (  0,  0,  0,  0)           36         360            20 MW
P25:      100     (  0,  0,100,  0, 75)       25         360            30 MW
Class V:  100     (100,  0,100,  0)           48         360            30 MW

In most respects the superconducting shield's performance is extraordinary when compared to other shields in its class. It has double the base HP, high resistances against common damage tiers for its level, negligible power requirements (which saves fuel and allows you to mount bigger weapons or more devices,) and it can be brought back to full strength nearly instantaneously when it goes down, rather than having to wait. This ability is an excellent second line of defense against enemies with EMP or radiation attacks.

The cost of all this is that superconducting shields do not regenerate. At all. They must be recharged using either superconducting coils or Domina's Restore power.

You should start encountering superconducting shields at armor dealers practically right off the bat. Rigel Aurelius is a good place to look. They can also be created at Tinker stations from 10 superconducting coils, but it may be difficult to scrounge up that many before St. Katherine's Star.

Superconducting coils are a problem. They are generally encountered only in groups of 2-7 and are only found at Commonwealth settlements and Colonies prior to St. Katherine's star (they aren't sold at armor dealers). Since each coil restores 40-60 HP, you will need between 4 and 8 coils to bring your shields back to full strength depending on enhancement level. The SSG will accept Hiro's shield rom for a 50% boost, but coils will still give you the same amount of charge, so you will need more with an enhanced generator. In many games you may not run into more than a couple coils prior to St. Katherine's Star. Coils are also bulky, weighing 100 KG each.

Both coils and SSGs are available in bulk quantities from Huari wrecks, but only if you decide to make war against them; many players may prefer to befriend them instead, which cuts off this avenue. They can also be ordered at Trading Posts, but only 21 at a time, which really is not practical.

To make best use of the SSG, it must be used it in conjunction with the Domina Restore power. Restore is the first Domina power acquired; it instantaneously brings any shield generator up to full strength. If you enhanced your SSG to +50%, this means you can suddenly gain 300 HP with strong damage resistances in the middle of combat- absolutely free!

You can probably get Restore in Eridani through some judicious donations to the temple there. Restore has a very fast cooldown and no downsides; you should be able to use it during or after each engagement without issue, although you will still want to carry a few coils around for protracted battles.

The SSG starts to lose its edge only when you start encountering enemies with strong ion and thermo attacks; as a level V shield it is intrinsically weak to these attacks and cannot take field crystals (although with Longzhu spheres you could take it all the way up to 500HP if you really wanted to.)

Has anyone else had good experiences with this shield? I've found it to be a generally excellent shield; it's also a crucial component of any no-reactor strategy unless you decide to go the meteorsteel/worldship armor route. I believe that a reactorless freighter with an SSG and the QAC should be able to beat Heretic without too much difficulty, although I haven't made it that far yet. To some extent this playtype will be heavily dependent on finding an enormous number of Longzhu spheres.

[Cirevam]

The way I see it, the SSG is just a fairly powerful shield that uses coils instead of fuel on-demand. Like you said, the coils are a bit heavy but they're not any heavier than most fuel rods. So you're basically substituting fuel for coils which leaves more fuel for everything else your ship has while not taking up a ridiculous amount of cargo space. The only reason I've never used them is because the coils are generally rare and you can make so much money from using Tinkers to turn coils into shields that it seems better to use the shields as income. Besides, once you start seeing the Huari you're probably thinking about getting a level 6 shield unless you haven't been able to get a decent generator.

The only use I see for it is as a way to save fuel since it uses a measly 5 MW.

[Watch TV, Do Nothing]

The way I see it, the SSG is just a fairly powerful shield that uses coils instead of fuel on-demand. Like you said, the coils are a bit heavy but they're not any heavier than most fuel rods. So you're basically substituting fuel for coils which leaves more fuel for everything else your ship has while not taking up a ridiculous amount of cargo space. The only reason I've never used them is because the coils are generally rare and you can make so much money from using Tinkers to turn coils into shields that it seems better to use the shields as income. Besides, once you start seeing the Huari you're probably thinking about getting a level 6 shield unless you haven't been able to get a decent generator.

The only use I see for it is as a way to save fuel since it uses a measly 5 MW.

Well, as I noted I really only use coils to charge the generator in emergencies, since the powerful Restore power has such a short cooldown. I haven't done the calculations but experience suggests to me that running an enhanced SSG using only Restore will actually give you a faster effective recharge rate than running a Mammoth series generator without using Restore (and it has better resistances, too). The SSG delivers the best performance if you first get it long before you ever see the Huari; Rigel Aurelius is about right. This will let you really make the most out of its extraordinary 200% resistance to laser and kinetic.

[RPC]

I'm pretty sure that longevity has more to do with choosing the other regen coils than the SSG. The issue is that for a successful game, the SSG needs to be taken care of – something that most people probably don't want to do.

That said, it's also easier to transition to late game using a Mammoth 25 (I even beat the ICS with it but it was +50% at that time ).

[Watch TV, Do Nothing]

I'm pretty sure that longevity has more to do with choosing the other regen coils than the SSG.

Could you elaborate? I'm not quite sure what you're getting at here.

That said, it's also easier to transition to late game using a Mammoth 25 (I even beat the ICS with it but it was +50% at that time ).

The stock Mammoth-25 has 35% more HP than a SSG but it has an unusually long depletion delay and can't be restored with coils in an emergency; it has no intrinsic resistances; and (of course) it uses 5 times as much power. I would argue that performance-wise they are roughly equivalent, except that the SSG can be mounted earlier and used without a reactor.

[RPC]

-longetivity:
With the M-25, the shield can charge infinitely, but with the SSG, there is /always/ a threat of not having enough shield coils. I'm unsure if station regen with ammo applies to shield coils.

-Easier to transition to late game:
The M-25's 35% more shield health translates into 70hp. Also, while the SSG is resistant to lower tier damage types, the M-25 will last longer as a result of its higher hp. (clarification: longer if the SSG is not being actively recharged. However, this ties to care and effort.)
As for care, all an M-25 user has to do is be much more diligent with their armor hp -- a lot easier than keeping tabs of shield coils and cargospace.

As I said before, both points tie to this:

The issue is that for a successful game, the SSG needs to be taken care of – something that most people probably don't want to do.

I'm pretty sure that the SSG can be as effective as the M-25, but the level and effort to care that is required is just not present in some players (like me )
*EDIT
Ok I reread my post and realized that it was a bit vague. When I was talking about both points I was referencing the M-25, not any of the other shields on the list.

[shanejfilomena]

-longetivity:
With the M-25, the shield can charge infinitely, but with the SSG, there is /always/ a threat of not having enough shield coils. I'm unsure if station regen with ammo applies to shield coils.

-Easier to transition to late game:
The M-25's 35% more shield health translates into 70hp. Also, while the SSG is resistant to lower tier damage types, the M-25 will last longer as a result of its higher hp. (clarification: longer if the SSG is not being actively recharged. However, this ties to care and effort.)
As for care, all an M-25 user has to do is be much more diligent with their armor hp -- a lot easier than keeping tabs of shield coils and cargospace.

As I said before, both points tie to this:

The issue is that for a successful game, the SSG needs to be taken care of – something that most people probably don't want to do.

I'm pretty sure that the SSG can be as effective as the M-25, but the level and effort to care that is required is just not present in some players (like me )
*EDIT
Ok I reread my post and realized that it was a bit vague. When I was talking about both points I was referencing the M-25, not any of the other shields on the list.

M-25??????? not met it .
did you mean the P25 or is it something I have not seen yet?
=====
I like the Super conducting shield but the availability of coils is a major issue : they can pretty fast.
on the ship I have right now : a freighter in 1.08 , it has a Monopole Deflector and kicking tail : I just reached an Auton dealer and emptied them out of all but the defectives : I am using dual turboLasers, which are good but the configuration is not good enough to take on the Charon System ( not enough places to use to shield the ship without an Omni directional Weapon : I hate getting Sneaked up on by Corsairs and often will use Asteroids, planets or stations to cover my back until I get an Omni)

[RPC]

M-25=Mammoth 25

[shanejfilomena]

M-25=Mammoth 25

LOL
I am using it now and while I was clearing Charon with it at 20%, a Mark III and a Neutron Blaster :
I realized I had the mysterious " M-25 " on my ship !!!!!

While I am a fan of Omni Directionals : the main reason being it has been hard to afford a good fast weapon or find one available so I go either powerful ( Howitzers, Slam Cannon, Mag Launchers ) and rush in like Bull in a China Shop or whatever Omni I can find and keep my back up against something.

With the Blaster I love that thing : hard to get for me before leaving STK, but IF I get it I take in dwarg Masters , Drakes and Triploi with no fear:)

[Watch TV, Do Nothing]

-longetivity:
With the M-25, the shield can charge infinitely, but with the SSG, there is /always/ a threat of not having enough shield coils. I'm unsure if station regen with ammo applies to shield coils.

[...]

As for care, all an M-25 user has to do is be much more diligent with their armor hp -- a lot easier than keeping tabs of shield coils and cargospace.

No!

No no no no!

My point is that you should almost NEVER need shield coils when using the SSG!

99% of the time you should be using Domina's Restore power to restore your SSG. It has a very fast cooldown, it's free, and it requires no cargo space!

You will require less cargo space when using the SSG because of the fuel savings.

A fully-charged SSG should take you through the majority of station encounters until you start seeing massed ion weapons used against you. If you are diligent about using Recharge between stations, you will only need shield coils for emergencies and only need to carry a few around with you - a ton of coils gives you 500HP which ought to be enough to extricate you from most scrapes.

I believe the cooldown on Restore may actually be faster than the time it takes to recharge a Mammoth-25 to full strength. Admittedly, you could also be using the Restore power with the Mammoth, but you will need to use it more frequently because the Mammoth has no resistances. The SSG can often be acquired much earlier in the game, costs half as much as the Mammoth and does not require you to spend money on a reactor or sacrifice the ability to use helium-3 fuel rods.

My last game using a SSG I took it to point Juno and only required about 12 shield coils all game. I would have taken it further but I had a game-killing crash.

[Atarlost]

Getting Domina powers before you get slaves, which aren't good for much else, is an uncertain proposition. Only a few items get you any domina relationship: prayer stones, jewels of contemplation, heirolith crystals, halo gems, optical knowledge arrays, and soul containers. The only reliably available items are Slaves (a soul container) and halo gems, neither of which are available as early as you're talking about using a superconducting shield.

I'd guess you're either lucky or are playing something like the network where so many items are generated that even rare things are reliably available somewhere.

[WillyTheSquid]

Not to mention that The Network has a new enemy station that will generate an infinite amount of Huari ships.

Damned superconducting coils. Hundreds upon hundreds of the things, can't get rid of 'em anywhere anymore because all vendors are sick of my trying to sell them.

[Vachtra]

One of the best sources of income was taking all those coils and bringing then to a tinker to make SSG's out the you know where (cargo hold). Then selling them at a rediculous profit to various stations. Someone always wants mre SSG's. I've never actually used one before though. I'm not much of a fan of Domina.

[pip]

I prefer to stay away from SSGs.
The 3 main reasons reason being:
- Coils are a pain to find (if you can find them at all without kicking the Huari).
- You can't rely on Domina if you don't have access to her, and when you can get hold of SSGs unless you've been very very lucky you won't have access.
- In order to charge the shields (without Domina which we don't have yet) you have to faff about using individual coils, which is at best tedious.

Personally I'd like them a lot more if the coils charged the shield for a given length of time before burning out, like the etherium crystals.