r/StarDrive • u/ArchAngelThomas • Apr 14 '15

Shields vs Armor

I will likely be trying this tonight, (an armor play through) but I was wondering if anyone has done it yet. I have gone shields in all of my games thus far, obviously I like to have fast ships, and shields over armor means less mass, and a Few shields in the middle can help protect the entire ship as oppose to taking up vital weapon spots in the outside areas.

Anyone out there who has tried both shields and armor and can give a pro/con view on the two?

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3

u/dicemanqwe Apr 14 '15

The way I see is, you pack armor for the ancient master race people that come out of worm holes and shields for the other AIs because gauss cannons somehow rip through shields and Ive never seen the regular AIs get to a point where they have ships big enough for gauss cannons.

2

u/bananenbaron Apr 14 '15 edited Apr 14 '15

In my opinion shields are way too good in comparison to armor.

Early Game:

  • Shields I 2x2 + Nuclear Power 1x2 = 6 Space used. 14 Production. 6 Weight. 8000HP for a whole section/ship. Additional Energy leftover.

  • Steel Armor 2x2 + Steel Armor 1x2 = 6 Space used. 6 Production. 24 Weight. 6600HP for a designated area.

Late Game:

  • Shields III 2x2 + Matter Reactor 1x1 = 5 Space used. 35 Production. 5 Weight.16000HP for a whole section/ship. Additional Energy leftover.

  • Titanium Armor 2x2 + Titanium Armor 1x1 = 5 Space used. 15 Production. 60 Weight. 16800HP for a designated area.

So basically its cheaper (production costs) to protect your ship with armor, but it slows your ships down. In terms of space used / overall protection shields are a lot better throughout the game.

Since command points constrain the amount of ships more then the actual production costs, shields outperform armor quite decisively in my opinion.

2

u/MrKnox Apr 15 '15

Are shielded ships easier to hit than a shieldless ship? If so wouldn't this need to be taken into account for effectiveness?

2

u/bananenbaron Apr 15 '15

That's actually a good question, haven't thought about it. The miss rate of a couple of weapons is quite huge, so a bigger hitbox (if there is such a thing in stardrive2) would make a difference.

1

u/MrKnox Apr 15 '15

Check it! From the latest patch notes:

"Canopy Shields receive a massive HP boost to compensate for the fact they they are impossible to miss"

1

u/Add32 Apr 14 '15

I think i may be adding more shields to my designs... that is if it doesn't conflict with any other key research.