phased shields?

[maud'dib]

i'm sure this info is buried some where here, but do phased shields only stop ppb from skipping shields or stop all shield skipping weapons??

[Cyrien]

In the unmodded game they only stop PPB Last I checked.

[Taera]

Phased shields stop any weapon that has the "skip normal shields" ability. Modded and unmodded. Usually thats Phased Polaron something.

[Ed Kolis]

That's just because PPB's happen to be the only weapon that skip normal shields only - there are other weapons that skip shields and armor (Nullspace Cannon), weapons that skip shields and only damage internal systems (Tachyon Projection Cannon, Shield Disrupter) and there's even a damage type that allows a weapon to skip all shields, even phased ones, but no weapon uses that - does it even work? It would be nice if phased shields prevented nullspace cannons, tachyon projection cannons, and shield disrupters from skipping shields, but unfortunately they don't http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif

But if you did decide to mod in another weapon with the same damage type as PPB has (forgot what it's called, something like "Skips Normal Shields"), then it would also be blocked by phased shields.

[Rollo]

Originally posted by Ed Kolis:
...there's even a damage type that allows a weapon to skip all shields, even phased ones, but no weapon uses that - does it even work?...<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">yep, that does work. The chant crystal from Devnull Mod uses that. Also that ability has been given to the Graviton Hellbore in some mods (which ones I cannot recall right now).

Rollo

[ April 16, 2003, 22:10: Message edited by: Rollo ]

[maud'dib]

thanks,
so then it doesnt even seem like shields are worth the research and space....

do you feel that fighters are worth anything once pd becomes avail?

[Taera]

fighters are never worthless. if you make tonns of them, they have to go PDC. When they do, well, storm them with your battlecruisers.

[Taera]

re: worthlessness of shields: if you dont research shields pity on you cuz ID's are soon to cripple your ships. There are only three standard weapons that skip all shields - NSP, Tachyon and SD. NSP... well some say this cannon rocks but when facing it all you need is distance. Its costly and has a low range, plus a ROF3. Tachyon is quite expensive too but effective... but shooting a cannon (if hit) once in three turns on low range is aint a problem. SD is neither.

All those weapons are expensive and difficult to use so shields are quite useful. Besides, they always regenerate. Which is good.

[Phoenix-D]

"re: worthlessness of shields: if you dont research shields pity on you cuz ID's are soon to cripple your ships."

-standard- shields are almost useless because PPBs are so powerful and common. The upper level Phased shields work nicely (upper level, mind- you get better protection out of armor if you use the lowers)

Phoenix-D

[Cyrien]

Originally posted by Phoenix-D:
upper level, mind- you get better protection out of armor if you use the lowers
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Unless facing a Crystal race. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[maud'dib]

stupid question , ID's = ?????

[Suicide Junkie]

Ionic dispersers, I believe.

The engine destroying weapons; they don't go through shields.

[Fyron]

Ionic Dispersers. Research Propulsion 4 and then Engine Overloading Weapons.

Bad SJ, posting half a sec before I did! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/tongue.gif

[ April 16, 2003, 23:49: Message edited by: Imperator Fyron ]

[maud'dib]

does it state that ID's dont go through shields but weapon destroyes (tach i think) do??

[Fyron]

IIRC, Security Station Only, Boarding Party Only, and Engines Only are the only 3 special comp-only damage types that do not skip shields. They do normal damage to the shields until the shields are down.

[ April 16, 2003, 23:59: Message edited by: Imperator Fyron ]

[maud'dib]

i could have sworn in the manual it said that engine destroyers skip shields.... hmmmm

[maud'dib]

this is from the html manual

Only Engines Will only damage engines. It also has the added benefit that shields and armor will not stop it.

[Rollo]

that has been changed in a later patch. engine killers now do not skip shield anymore.

from history.txt
Version 1.70:
...
7. Changed - Engine Damaging Weapons no longer skip shields.
...<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Rollo

[ April 17, 2003, 00:16: Message edited by: Rollo ]

[capnq]

That was changed in one of the Gold patches; v1.70 if you check History.txt.

[oleg]

Originally posted by Rollo:
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by Ed Kolis:
...there's even a damage type that allows a weapon to skip all shields, even phased ones, but no weapon uses that - does it even work?...<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">yep, that does work. The chant crystal from Devnull Mod uses that. Also that ability has been given to the Graviton Hellbore in some mods (which ones I cannot recall right now).

Rollo</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">In Proportions. It is my favorite weapon now. Not the best and most efficient for sure but I just like the name http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif and "skips all shields" sounds very cool to me.

[narf poit chez BOOM]

i normally skip armor and just plow it into shields. rp effiency.

[ April 17, 2003, 01:36: Message edited by: narf poit chez BOOM ]

[Taera]

narf - wrong. sd's are the best weapons when talking about bang-for-buck in everything - almost long range, awesome damage, no range reduction, cheap to research. And there are the SDs which are just made against those heavily shielded ships.

Fyron, you oughta know what im talking about. Remember my counter attempts? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/tongue.gif

[Stone Mill]

do you feel that fighters are worth anything once pd becomes avail? <font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Check out the Strategy article on fighters in the Newbie FAQ and decide for yourself...

[Phoenix-D]

"i normally skip armor and just plow it into shields. rp effiency."

Bang for your buck wise, Armor III is cheap and very good. It's only in comparsion to the advanced, expensive to research shields that it becomes less of an option (and when IDs are in play..personally I find that a bad design call..)

Phoenix-D

[Fyron]

Fyron, you oughta know what im talking about. Remember my counter attempts?
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Yes, and they did not work very well. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

[leo1434]

Hey everybody:

As we are talking about armor, engine damaging weapons, shields and so on...

Do any of you know about the Ionic Shield Generator (used in Proportions)?
How does it works? It don´t seem to have any special ability. Is only like putting a big chunk of armor inside a ship and wait that the engine damaging weapon hits it instead of an engine?

In Last game I had to combat against a group of 100 sats which were made of: 1 Computer core, 1 Depleted U Cannon and two Ionic Shield Generators (each of those had 40 kT tonnage and 450 kT structure) very tough to wipeout, to say the least.

Altough the are designed for "ship only" the AI used them, I think AI picks the best comp in each Category (armor in this case) wichever it is for its designs and just use them.

Any knowledge about this topic??

Thanks!!

[narf poit chez BOOM]

well, that and i'm not mr. micromanegement. unless i have to. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[Fyron]

The Ionic Shield Generator is an Engine with no appreciable movement generation. So, it takes an engine slot and is hit by engine damaging weapons, but doesn't move the ship any faster. A nice tradeoff, if you ask me. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

They should be set up to be only available on ships though, cause they make no sense elsewhere.

[ April 17, 2003, 08:50: Message edited by: Imperator Fyron ]

[narf poit chez BOOM]

i think the engine thing is just so they'll get hit by engine damaging weapons.

[Fyron]

Well that is what I said. But it does create a design choice because it lowers the engines you can have by 1. You can't go as fast when using an Ionic Shield on your ship. That is what I was talking about.

[narf poit chez BOOM]

oh.

[Phoenix-D]

They should be set up to be only available on ships though, cause they make no sense elsewhere."

Well, aside from tricking engine killers into firing at ships with no engines.

Phoenix-D

[Fyron]

Well, that shouldn't be allowable. Ship crews are not so stupid to go around firing their weapons at targets that could not have engines on them.