[Suggestion] Replace nanite-mesh generator with shield recharge ablitity

Discussion in 'PlanetSide 2 Gameplay Discussion' started by libbmaster, Mar 13, 2015.

  1. libbmaster

    For those confused, the Heavy Assault class's "overshield" is called the Nanite-mesh generator (NMG).


    What I was thinking

    I personally think the NMG is balanced. But there are many people in the community who disagree, and I can see how such an ability (even when well implemented) could be viewed as overpowered, mostly because it is frustrating to fight against.

    However, nerfing the NMG could easily result in it being useless, and simply denying the Heavy Assault class a special ability seems heavy handed (even if it received compensation in the form of access to assault rifles, or a second suit slot).

    So I thought I'd share this idea: Replace the NMG with a shield recharge ability for the Heavy Assault class.





    How it would work

    • This ability would function almost exactly like the Combat Medic class's Nano-Regen except instead of regenerating health it would regenerate shields, and instead of working on allies in a certain radius is would only effect the player using it.
    • The ability would draw power from a slowly restoring reserve (like the NMG, jet-pack, cloak and Nano-Regen do now) and would convert it directly into shield hit-points.
    • The ability would NOT affect the normal shield recharge timer: so if it takes 10 seconds for your shields to start restoring after you take damage, and you run your shield recharger for 5 seconds to restore some of your shields, you'd still have to wait 5 seconds for your shields to start "naturally" recharging.
    • There would be a small "Activation penalty" (Like NMG, the jet-pack, and ESF afterburners have now) that would eat up a small portion of the power meter simply for turning it on.
    • There would be NO movement penalty while the device is active. (Unlike the NMG we have now).
    • Upgrading the regen device with certs could ether increase the time it can remain active, increase the speed it refills shield hit-points at, decrease the time it takes to recharge it's power levels, or some combination of those things.

    Why it's a good idea


    It's already common knowledge that the Combat medic's Nano-regen is powerful enough to compete with the Heavy Assault's NMG in direct combat, but not nearly powerful enough to be regarded as OP like the NMG. The shield recharge ability would work kind of like that.

    Changing NMG to a shield recharge ability would still give the Heavy Assault a distinct advantage in direct combat while also being significantly less frustrating to fight against than NMG.

    I actually believe that this ability would make the Heavy Assault better at supporting an aggressive playstyle, because being able to instantly refill their shields would massively reduce their downtime and allow them to jump back in the fight quicker after taking damage, without penalizing them with a movement debuff like NMG.

    While this might make the "Advanced Shield Capacitors" suit upgrade worthless for the Heavy Assault, I think the benefits here outweigh that problem.

    Basically, the "shield regen power" would be much more flexible in use, much less frustrating to fight against, and just as powerful in a combat situation as NMG.



    So? Thoughts?

    EDIT: link, in-case you'd rather share on reddit: http://www.reddit.com/r/Planetside/comments/2yxusa/suggestion_replace_nanitemesh_generator_with/
  2. LodeTria

    Why would I use this over resist shield?
  3. libbmaster


    Resist shield has much longer downtime? Your shields can't recharge while resist shield is active? Resist shield carries the same movement penalty as NMG... I think?

    It's a good point you have there. I was gonna say out with resist too, but that seems excessive.
  4. BlueSkies

    Erm... why would anyone use this instead of ASC + resist or adren shield?
  5. Veph


    Yeah, I definitely wouldn't. Sorry. And OP makes it sound like it's a necessary nerf just to shut up the whiners, not because it actually is needed.
  6. Auzor


    Love the cartoon sig; even if it isn't the first on the theme.

    on topic:
    well..
    why would it be NMG, the default shield that gets this?

    Shield wise: if we want to retain the current "power level" there may be some issues:
    * it would have to charge those shields pretty quickly to be usefull at all during combat, if that is what you're going for.
    * it could have higher "sustaind" tankability than current. Or, how much "shield" does one full tank of new NMG contain?
    * What would be the recharge time?

    Suggestion: activation increases max shield by 250,
    and grants 250 shield immediately. Then it charges your shields. A full charge could contain 750 shield, generating 100-200 shield/second? It could charge faster the lower shields are. Keeping shields at 750 would drain energy slower than recharging.
    No slowdown, far less glowy effect.
    And recharges twice as fast as NMG; at least.

    Compared to current NMG, you still get some immediate protection,
    but a downside is, as written by OP, that it doesn't protect your normal shields.
    If your shields are down, you activate NMG, if the shields hold, your shields can start regenerating. In that sense, even per above, I'm not sure it would really reduce downtime.

    VS resist shield:
    it would still stack with NMG/flak.
    It would/could protect vs headshots, depending on range (would need full health/shields; not as good as current)
    But, resist shield, with the low drain and fast recharge, may remain better.
    IF you only activate your overshield after your shields are gone, the "new" NMG may have an advantage over resist shield.
    That's a pretty dangeruous way to plan the usage.
  7. MrJengles

    One of the reasons the HA shields are so powerful is that they are balanced around the individual. If you make a shield recharge ability and don't allow it to affect allies you'd really be missing a trick to finally create a team playing HA. That said, the reason I dislike that idea is it suddenly means the HA is a support class you wouldn't want to go in first.

    Finding a new direction for the HA abilities is tough. So far, I'm leaning towards directional shields and/or deployable cover.


    As for regenerating shields... I'd really love to see that make it's way over to the med-kits and turn them into a dual health/shield recharge because instant heal is totally lame.
  8. Liewec123

    death to HA nerf threads!
    • Up x 1