Armor vs Shield?

[Falkenherz]

Did I overlook a thread about this? Normally this is one of the first things to pop up in any decent space game. :D

 

I am now "Trinium-level" and have shield-based ships, to the point where I wonder why an armored ship would make sense. Shield ships are light and fast, they regenerate fast, and in my encounters so far I have not found any weakness.

[Tchey]

Some weapons bypass shield, i think.

[Tiberiumkyle]

Armor is heavy, will slow you down, but quite durable and stops the block penetration of railgun shots, which otherwise punch through all blocks in their line of travel, dealing damage to each.

 

Shields are lighter, and regen, but cost power, don't protect against collisions, and weapon generation RNG will sometimes slip in a % to penetrate shields modifier. Highest I've seen that I can recall was 24% chance per shot.

[Worm]

The damage done by shield-piercing weapons is IMO too low to have a significant effect against a ship (unless someone makes so detailed ship that you can destroy individual parts per shot), though thanks to the last update it can be used to disarm shield tanks.

 

Still, I'd pick shield over hull any day.

[Dinosawer]

Some weapons bypass shield, i think.

Well, some weapons have a slight chance of bypassing shields. Generally only a couple percent, not really useful

[Falkenherz]

I ran into that MAD boss. Huge spike in difficulty. Lightning seems to melt shields. That might have been an instance where a ship with a stone block coating would have come in handy.

[Dinosawer]

That's what you're supposed to do, yes, as rock blocks are immune to electricity weapons.

 

 

Or you build a battlecruiser with 255K shields and tank it. That works too. :V

[SageThe13th]

Rather than thinking of this as armor vs shields, since armored ships do in fact have shields, isn't this more of an armor vs speed thing?

[nitrogameace]

I like the balance the game uses with weapons vs protection types. The faction count needs to be reduced to a number that they have crafted the faction using a distinct style and weapon type. mainly so if you enter faction A control sector you could expect this kind of ship.

[LordHavoc]

You don't want to get hit by a railgun with a high shield penetration chance. Armour could save half your ship