Shield or armor...which is you?

[Daehawk]

So what are you...a shield player or the type to use armor. I dont like that it makes me choose...Im terrible with decisions. Im thinking shields myself but my shields fail after 2 hits. Maybe I should try armor?

[Lurler]

If you are going to use armor you'd have to go all the way

Ship with armor, best armor plating, skills giving armor, boosters increasing armor, etc.

Then you will be pretty much immune to lower and mid-tier enemies.

[WelshPixie]

If you are going to use armor you'd have to go all the way

Ship with armor, best armor plating, skills giving armor, boosters increasing armor, etc.

Then you will be pretty much immune to lower and mid-tier enemies.

Ah that's good to know - I was wondering the same thing!

[omicron]

thought always that armor is more or less useless...hm

have to try it ^^

[Strmy]

after long consideration as mining psycho i went with the armor (no energy consumption so more POOOWA TO THA DRILLLA) and i was surprised how good change it was :-)

[hockeyhacker97]

Both seem to have their uses, in the early game I generally end up ramming my shields into the enemies shields to take them down almost instantly, it adds a risk of taking hull damage, but I find it kinda fun ramming into the enemy and then firing a torpedo at point blank range, probably not a viable strat later in the game so might as well do it while you can still get away with it.

But either way different weapons types have an easier time going through shields then armor and vis versa so it just depends on what your fighting as to which is best, but early game shields seem more useful since most low level enemies weapons are the type that shields are good against. It's probably mostly shields early game, but mostly armor late game is what I am thinking will be best, both for game mechanics and for my play style.

[RavenFellBlade]

Shields, but only because there are so many different types that each have their own uses. Armor tends to just be... armor. Big, heavy metal plating that soaks up some damage. I'm sure that it is equally flexible, I just haven't been patient enough to really experiment with it. Though... Strmy makes an excellent point, being a dedicated asteroid miner myself: Armor has the bonus of not cutting into your power consumption, so that can make a difference in your other power-dependent equips. I may have to play around with it, see what happens.

[Creat]

I'm really missing some more detailed information on some of the stats/properties, armor in particular. What does having "30 armor" mean from a mechanics standpoint? Often, it implies that everything that hits/damages you will damage you by 30 points less than it would otherwise (30 damage reduction). I've checked the Wiki, and it doesn't have any info on this either (or I couldn't find it). There are a few more stats that aren't 100% clear from the name alone, and obviously you can't mouse over something in a tooltip to get more info

[Lurler]

Often, it implies that everything that hits/damages you will damage you by 30 points less than it would otherwise (30 damage reduction).

That's exactly it!

[Vampyre111]

I use shields.  They always regenerate.. Armor doesn't.

It would be interesting to see various types of armor that may have negetive effects on a ships movement or maneuvering ability.

[Lurler]

Actually there is a booster that would regenerate your armor. So, if you max out all possible things for armor and put several of these regenerating boosters it could be quite a good combo.
But yeah, I myself prefer shields too, it's just simpler that way.

[Hammish]

In vanilla it probably depends quite a bit on the hull you drive as well.   Larger ships are going to be more effective with armor overall because you can stack it higher and take better advantage of the flat reduction.  Also, in something like a Hammer you are unlikely to be able to dodge many shots, thus ruling out a shield tactic where you can disengage and allow for regen.

[p0ki]

after long consideration as mining psycho i went with the armor (no energy consumption so more POOOWA TO THA DRILLLA) and i was surprised how good change it was :-)

NICE! I have used shield until now, might change it because of your statement