Is it just me, or do large shields feel useless?

[Jiffypop]

Not going to lie, they just seem awful compared to a pair of small shields. They need to be exposed, they don't cover that much area, and they seem pretty weak. The only time I think it's justified is in smaller weaker blitz fights so you don't have to repair anything. Beyond that, the risk of it blowing up and losing diamonds heavily outweighs the triple health it gives compared to other shields

[lalelunatic]

i did a few tests with large shields, small ones and pure armor on my dreadnought i´m redesigning right now and in an average the small shields seem to perform better.

so yeah, i rarely use large ones aswell, beside in a tunnel setup for ions or rails, where the stacking enables them to recharge the front ones before the least back shields shut off.

on the outer layer of ships it depends on the setup a lot. large shields generally use to much space behind the actual shield arc, that you lose for stuff like armor. especially with the supply stuff you need to really make them work. this gets less impactfull the smaller the ships get though, as you cant fit much armor behind them anyway.

in the tests i did above the primary problem was if the shields got "one shot" and then vaporized by another impact of technically any serious weapon, which instantly nullyfies any defense not only for the space used by the shield, but also from the supply stuff like generators/bunks etc.

shields work best against dmg that comes in constantly, but at a slower pace. and they absolutely suck against burst dmg, with the right firing speed, or better said, concentrated fire. which makes them only semi usefull in pvp, as good players tend to focus fire, while against AI shields can have an edge.

at least thats what i got from them so far. so the thing that makes large ones suck vs small ones for me the most, is the fact that they have to be on the outer layer. where an array of small ones, behind a serious chunk of armor (5 rows gives a perfect thin skin of shield for the armor) works the best so far.

[arrow_2536]

I like the large shields it works well for me. Make a fleet if you can't get far. That is what I am trying now.

[Tenebris]

They really need a buff to make them more worthwhile, be that a big boost to the shield health, or just scrap the concept of needing to be exposed to work

[umop-apisdn]

I stack them together, myself; they're complimentary, not either/or.

The large shield can't project through other blocks, but the small ones can... so I drop a pair of small shields behind a screen of armor on either side of a large shield. Enemy disruptors take down the small shields while my weapons take out their disruptors, and the large shield provides a second layer so that the front of my ship isn't obliterated by the enemy's "actual" weapons before the small shields come back up.

Edit: I misspoke. The small shields are the second line of defense, protecting the large shield while it regens after the first barrage. Other than that, my initial statement was accurate.

[WillieSea]

The large ones require you to setup the biggest reactor very close by.

Why?

The biggest reactor allows "3" batteries be carried by 1 crew each trip. That means the shield will never go down if you have dedicated crew and reactors close by to keep it recharged. I go right into the danger zone of the central star to push out the rich asteroids and it completely protects my ship indefinitely.

If you don't set the shield up correctly, then it 'appears' to be weak.

[jacobellinger]

I sometimes use the large shields for my back end for rare rockets or surprise attackers from behind. Also I've found if you armor them then as the armor gets blown away the shield acts like a last defense. so in short they are not as useful as small shields but I think they can be used in creative ways.

[Scorp]

when you get to the end locations 14+ you will ships and they turn them on the side behind armor panels...as long as you have tons of armor.... they have like 12 plates thick protecting them. them they have overlapping bubbles protecting the inner laser firing crystals. About to swap mine today. I do okay with one large shield on the front then a small gap then another. I think the front of my ship has 12 large shields.

[Nox]

They're more expensive than they are useless really. And they are a good holdout for when your armor gets punched through. it gives you time to turn the other cheek at least.