Vulcan vs shields

[CHV]

Is there a way to make a shield based tank build counteract vulcans effectively? Or are shield builds inferior to armor + hp-regen builds?

[MrPurple33]

Vulcans ALWAYS Ignore Shields, there is nothing you can do about it

BUT if you get a Flux Capacitor, and any of the Energy Barriers, you CAN pop those up momentarily to Negate damage from all sources- they have Cooldowns though, so you won't be (near) Invulnerable all the time, there will be Down Periods

[Myriad]

You don't see too many Vulcans. As one weapon out of dozens, they're not overbearing. I think Pirates and Marauders use them mostly. Still, they can certainly cause you trouble.

It depends on your ship size. If you're in a small ship with low hull points, they can be a nightmare. On the other hand, if you're in a large ship with lots of hull, you feel a lot safer.

To answer the OP, yes you still can make a shield based tank, with 90% shield gear, but, you still want a way to regenerate hull regardless, afterall, your shield could still diminish with enough damage. So stick a few repair drones, or a repair system on your ship to regenerate after you encounter Vulcans.

If you're asking is there a way to make shields impervious to Vulcans, the answer is no. There are no Hard Shield upgrades :P

[Zarinthal]

Armor build and shield build are both good, can both be just as effective. Balance is useful but I just prioritize killing enemies with Vulcan first

[quixotic_tinkerer]

Use barriers, use decent armor like Terran, Venghi Light or Heavy, even Xentronium. Also try to get your damage resistance as high as possible on tank builds. The cap for damage resistance is 80%, and 60% to 70% is achievable for most with some investment. Between those two things and an energy barrier for the moments you get swarmed a shield tank shouldn't have too much trouble against vulcans. Even a heavy energy armor shield tank can do ok. A good repair system is also key.

If your shield tank is building around Ralo of the Sea's Age then vulcan swarms become a big more dangerous, but not insurmountable. It gets better if you have an engineer or two with hp regeneration every 5 seconds like Miles Prower. Normal engineers can gain the regeneration bonus once their skill reaches Master (purple) rarity.

[CHV]

Thank you all for the answers! That is indeed very helpful :)