Please explain the difference in shield emitters

[Pat Splat]

High frequency better absorbs high impact damage?
Low frequency better absorbs low impact dmg?

But this doesn't seem to be the case when looking at the stats?

[Ceo]

It does, certain weapons do damage at different impact speeds. Melee tends to be Very low to Low. SMG's and pistols tend to be Medium and sometimes High. Assault Rifles are High, sniper rifles are very high. And I think energy pistols are very high typically.

So if you've got a high frequency emitter, your shield will have higher numbers ranging through the medium to very high. But virtually no absorbtion ability in the very low and low.

The opposite is true as well.

If you combine say a low frequency emitter in the top slot, with a high frequency emitter in the bottom crafting slot (assuming your crafting, if not, don't worry about this), you will get a better spread of absorbtion ability.

It's a fairly confusing system I have to agree. But you can work it out eventually.

[Pat Splat]

Originally posted by Ceo:

It does, certain weapons do damage at different impact speeds. Melee tends to be Very low to Low. SMG's and pistols tend to be Medium and sometimes High. Assault Rifles are High, sniper rifles are very high. And I think energy pistols are very high typically.

So if you've got a high frequency emitter, your shield will have higher numbers ranging through the medium to very high. But virtually no absorbtion ability in the very low and low.

The opposite is true as well.

If you combine say a low frequency emitter in the top slot, with a high frequency emitter in the bottom crafting slot (assuming your crafting, if not, don't worry about this), you will get a better spread of absorbtion ability.

It's a fairly confusing system I have to agree. But you can work it out eventually.

When comparing a low to high emitter, the absorbtion barely differs on both in the low end, but greatly differs on the high end. Like, the low emitter might absorb a few more points of dmg from low impact but aborbs only half as much from high impact compared to a high emitter. I was just looking at a $17k low emitter and comparing the stats to my $8k high emitter, Overall, it seems that the high emitter is a MUCH better value and I'm not sure why the low emitter is so expensive. Looks like junk compared to the high emitter.

[Jean-Luc]

I'd agree that low-mid frequency emitters aren't good enough vs. melee/xbows to justify them. It's always better to just go high frequency and be really resistant to bullets/energy.

Lower frequency shields would need to do a much better job vs slower impacts in order to be worthwhile.

[Qiox]

Originally posted by ClawlessVictory:

When comparing a low to high emitter, the absorbtion barely differs on both in the low end, but greatly differs on the high end. Like, the low emitter might absorb a few more points of dmg from low impact but aborbs only half as much from high impact compared to a high emitter. I was just looking at a $17k low emitter and comparing the stats to my $8k high emitter, Overall, it seems that the high emitter is a MUCH better value and I'm not sure why the low emitter is so expensive. Looks like junk compared to the high emitter.

You will never get Low frequency protection anywhere close to the High end. But if you want any significant Low protection you have to use a Low frequency emitter. This makes sense because the individual damage done from Low speed attacks are generally much smaller than High velocity hits. Therefore the smaller damage absorption of a punch still represents a significant % of the damage, in the same way the higher absorption of a sniper shot gives a reasonably similar % absorption of that High velocity hit.

[Pat Splat]

Originally posted by Qiox:

Originally posted by ClawlessVictory:

When comparing a low to high emitter, the absorbtion barely differs on both in the low end, but greatly differs on the high end. Like, the low emitter might absorb a few more points of dmg from low impact but aborbs only half as much from high impact compared to a high emitter. I was just looking at a $17k low emitter and comparing the stats to my $8k high emitter, Overall, it seems that the high emitter is a MUCH better value and I'm not sure why the low emitter is so expensive. Looks like junk compared to the high emitter.

You will never get Low frequency protection anywhere close to the High end. But if you want any significant Low protection you have to use a Low frequency emitter. This makes sense because the individual damage done from Low speed attacks are generally much smaller than High velocity hits. Therefore the smaller damage absorption of a punch still represents a significant % of the damage, in the same way the higher absorption of a sniper shot gives a reasonably similar % absorption of that High velocity hit.

i don't know, most melee enemies I've encountered use sledge hammers that can kill me in 2 or 3 hits.

[Qiox]

And a sniper shot can do 300 to 500 on a crit while sledges are doing 100 to 150 from same level enemies.

[Pat Splat]

Originally posted by Qiox:

And a sniper shot can do 300 to 500 on a crit while sledges are doing 100 to 150 from same level enemies.

snipers seem very rare by comparison while sledge hammers are everywhere, therefore, it seems like there's very little reason to ever bother with low emitters since they're not going to offer much protection vs sledge hammer and almost zero protection vs. snipers.

[Qiox]

My current shield uses a mix of High and Low giving:

11-35-114-167-216 with a power of 851

The 35 for Low speed is very useful. What gets past the shield general does not get past my armor which has a 39 threshold.

[Pat Splat]

Originally posted by Qiox:

My current shield uses a mix of High and Low giving:

11-35-114-167-216 with a power of 851

The 35 for Low speed is very useful. What gets past the shield general does not get past my armor which has a 39 threshold.

nice, sounds like you made that emitter?

[Qiox]

I made the shield yes, using a High as the primary emitter and a Low as the optional secondary emitter. Made it around level 14 or so. You can make much, much better later in the game.

[Pat Splat]

Originally posted by Qiox:

I made the shield yes, using a High as the primary emitter and a Low as the option secondary emitter. Made it around level 14 or so. You can make much, much better later in the game.

Cool, my character is pure psi, I haven't dabbled in crafting at all yet.

[Jean-Luc]

Yeah, you'd never get those values with an uncrafted shield.

[Morgian]

I use only low (and sometimes a medium secondary) emitters, since I usually need protection against melee much more than against ranged attacks. Typically stepping around a corner will blunt all ranged attacks, but those melee types can be a real pain, when they knife you 6 times in a row.
My current is with 21-63-93-125-160 (1281 capacity) pretty much all I can do before DC. I can occasionally find a good part in a dungeon, but merchants seem to stop between 110-120 quality, if even that.

[Racocac]

Low frequency shields are very useful, not so much against sledgehammers as knifers. In addition, in the late game, in the Mushroom Forest, low-freq shields are indispensable - everything there has very low frequency attacks or so, and a good low frequency emitter does wonders for one's survival there.

[Wagon Wheel]

Different weapon have different impact speeds.

On shield emitters, there are values next to each impact speed. This tells you how much damage it can absorb for that particular impact speed per hit. Damage exceeding this value goes to the character instead.