Prismatic Shields worth the effort

[Low Rider]

Have a Cutter and Python 8 & 6 sized A rated Shields that are engineered to level 4. It seems the Prismatics only add 10% to base strength, weigh a lot more and use more power plus i will need to grind a bit more to engineer them to level 4-5. Not sure it is worth the effort, thoughts?

I bounty hunt, trade a bit and a very little PvP

[Reaper453]

personally yes they are worth it they are ehavy but the damage you cant take is much higher with prismatics

[in memoriam of Sharky]

I have never had the motivation to unlock prismatic exactly because of that .

The "small" versions can be good I guess so you can get more advantage of their power with heavy duty Shield Boosters with smaller ships and limited utility slots but I think on big ships its totally pointless since you can have 2000+ MJ even with bi-weave whats more than enough while you will use SCBs anyways so prismatic just means you will start the combat on higher MJ level and you will regenerate the "MJ difference" with bi-weave in a few minute.

If you do the math with a Cutter with fully engineered SBs 8A Prismatic vs 8C Bi-weave than it will look something like this.

With prismatic you will have about 4500MJ shield strength while with Bi-weave you will hava about 3000MJ so thats 1500 difference if you check the regeneration difference thats 1.4/s vs 5.8/s so its the biweave regenerate 4.4MJ more in a sec so lets see how much time it needs to get back this 1500 with bi-weave 1500/4.4=341second thats about "6 min" while the 1500MJ is about a full 6A SCB(all charges used).

So using 8A prismatic is basically like if you would have a free 6A SCB compared to Bi-weave and it has only advantage in the first 6 minute after its damaged. After about 6 minute the Bi-weave already have regenerated the MJ difference and from that point using the bi-weave have the advantage.

TL;DR Personally I think (after doing the math) that prismatic on big ships is pointless for prolonged fights because the MJ difference "would be lost/wasted" by its lower regen rate.

Bi-Weave is the way to go for combat for traders Prismatic might be better so they won't need SCBs. :D (at least for PVE)

[L37]

Depending on purpose of the ship sometimes they are good, yes. They add to base shield, which it then multiplied by upgrades and shield boosters so the difference is noticable.

Biweave and regeneration is well and good, but considering that shield does not regenerate when under fire (and for short time after) it is only usefull to recharge shields between fights - and there is alternative - simply reboot when shield is low and it will be restored to 50%. Another consideration is - biweave drains sys capacitor fast - you need pips there to keep it recharging => less firepower and maneuverability.
As a result for single hard fights max capacity approach is plain better. For RES grinding - both work with biweave being more convinient.

[Low Rider]

Thanks guys, maybe will give it a go as already invested the 4 weeks.

I do not have issues in a RES and never have a real issues with PvE and only once when I got pulled out of Hyper by 4 Annacondas that I lost shields and a good piece of hull but, was able to kill one and almost a 2nd before running away.

I like the additional power for an intenense 1-1 confrontation and worry, as the engineering mods become more wide spread will need the extra to survive a 1-1 PvP fight if required.

I agree with the point on the sys capacitor drain with bi-weaves and the requirement for pips to keep the recharge going impacting weapons and maneuver ability that is why I went back to fully upgraded A shields. Am not using SCB though maybe I should but mostly use shield boosters.

[M00NSH0T]

it's not really that much work. you just sign up for the faction, then three weeks later you look for whatever enemy faction gives you CZ style undermining opportunities, then go fight in a CZ for a night or two. Pretty easy to unlock powerplay weapons... the only real cost if the 4 weeks it takes, during which time you may get sucked into some extra PVP, but you can always high wake.

[Dolphin Bottlenose]

They are great for trading/missions ships, where you have intensive rare fights and have time to recharge, while you keep travelling. The Enhanced Low Power engineering tames the weight and power requirements, while the general strength allows you to put a smaller generator, while use more space for your cargo racks.

[Straight White Male]

Now all you need to do is haul enough of her propaganda stuff or like I have done, find an anarchy system in enemy space and blow up enough ships until you have the merits you need.
But these will explain better than I can. :)
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/153464-Merits-What-do-you-need-to-do-for-each-of-the-Leaders
And this
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=175324&highlight=lazy+commander+powerplay

Good luck Cmdr. o7

[ZombieHunter]

Good for isolated PVP if you aren't travelling far and for transport ships. Other than that Prismatics are not that great.