[Suggestion] Shieldbreaker

Greets Forumside! *khem*

Watching yet another grinder at Subterranean Nanite Analysis I had a simple idea.

What if:

- We (Daybreak, that is) introduce a device that allows Infiltrators to bypass standard (faction-coloured) enemy infantry barrier shields except for those protecting spawn rooms.

- The "lorem ipsum" would replace the usual cloaking device. It's either that, or cloak.

- The Infiltrator would still be short 100 shield points as per usual.

I believe that could open up some interesting avenues for, you know... infiltration, without being OP since such Infiltrators would be forced to go toe to toe with any opposition without the cover their cloak normally affords.
However, it could (and probably *would*) disrupt the usual gameplay we all know and grew accustomed to.

Thoughts?

I think it should still allow to cloak in some way, cloaking is an infiltrators main advantage.

But the shield bypass idea sounds good.

That's SCU shields, shields into the Amp Station main building, especially important in one-point Amp Stations, and Biolab shields at the base. I suppose, for flanking purposes, the shields on Tech Plants also count. I can't think of any others that would matter as much.

I would envision this as an additional choice offering more of a shift in gameplay than the usual Hunter vs Stalker "dillema". Granted - it would force the Infiltrator into a much more aggresive playstyle, but it wouldn't be anything SMG users aren't already accustomed to. Superior urban flanking vs the now go-to exterior camouflage.

Those would suffice (for me anyway). Also - the Infiltrator would not be able to overload the SCU prematurely; he would, however, be free to hole up in there and use the building as an ambush point, or a transitional area at his leisure (or better yet - as the enemy presence would permit).

Why not?

Even if it was 100 infiltrators all piling into the SCU room, the defenders can get in - the attackers can not. A bored AI MAX could walk in and plaster the ceilings and floors with them, and then his personal repair buddy could disarm the SCU.

It would allow the infiltrator to infiltrate and affect an objective that would pull resources from the main fight and create a meaningful impact on the course of battle.

I could see making the SCU overload take LONGER when the shields are still up, but I don't see any reason to make it un-armable. If the defenders can't be bothered to disarm it, or can't get to it TO disarm it, the base is lost anyways.

I also don't see why it wouldn't just let infiltrators go through all shields. The spawn rooms are protected by pain fields as it is. If an infiltrator wants to run through to try and drop one proximity mine in the 3 seconds the pain field gives you (which starts before the door), he can get his suicides any way he wants.

Otherwise, I like the idea. The code already exists in the Gate Shield Defuser for the vehicles. It would largely be just numerics tweaks to move it to infiltrator.

Come to think of it - you're right. I would like, however (not that it matters), to implement the extended "premature" overload time to go along with this possibility.

I think there should be some degree of "sacred" consistency within the game, rules all players - veterans and newblets alike - can fall back on and be absolutely certain what is "doable" and what is not. There are already dozens of ways to lock down a spawn room - this feels like going overboard for me and I believe it would add to the confusion new players are already experiencing when entering the gamescape ("This is a spawn - you are safe here... *BOOM* Oh, safe, except when...).

Minor disagreements aside - good input. Thanks.

Yeah, this seems in particular largely useless honestly.

Most inf blocking shields are spawn room / enemy prohibited zones.

Mezinov suggested allowing premature SCU overload and after a tweak here and there I think that would be a meaningful addition. Also, I wouldn't downplay the advantage of having an additional avenue of approach - especially when operating with an Infiltrator "hit squad".

As mentioned before - nothing gamebreaking (I hope), but somewhat fun and somewhat new.

Maybe... it's a possibility I suppose.

Wouldn't need many ranks... you only need a fraction of a second to breach a shield so I only see a need for 1 rank, unless maybe it's got a long CD/recharge and ranks speed it up (basically making higher ranks required if you want to get in and get out )

I wanted to argue against it on the premise that it would remove the "safety" of the places protected by such shields, but realized we already have something that does that, and it's not a problem - Gate Shield Diffuser for vehicles.

I'd prefer some balancing measures, though. Like the infiltrator appears on the minimap when he walks through a force field, and his weapons are disabled for a couple of seconds.

Blinking on the minimap would go somewhat against the idea of infiltration. I think that being the squishiest class already and stripped of their cloak those Infiltrators would be vulnerable enough. It's a rough idea though, so brainstorming would be most welcome.

I was thinking single-rank only, but giving the device a cooldown would be another way to balance it. Maybe the final level could eliminate the need for a recharge entirely.

A shield defusor for infils?
Sounds like good idea!
But it should still cloak.

I suggest it be made like the armor cloak.
But instead of adding extra armor while cloaked, it adds the ability to pass through non-spawnroom faction shielding.

This would also require the infil to decloak before taking action, meaning no skill AI mine and grenade spam tactics would be a fair bit more difficult to accomplish.

There seems to be a lot of people in favour of combining the "diffuser" with generic cloaking (well, at least two people that I know of). If so, what would be the downside to it? If it lasts as long as an ordinary cloak it effectively becomes an upgrade to Hunter Cloaking. If it lasts only a few seconds the cloak itself becomes a "side effect" and a rather useless gimmick.

I was thinking along the same lines.
1. The diffuser cloak works the same as the regular cloak with the drawback of having a shorter on time.
2. While the cloak is up, you can run through any non-spawn room infantry shield.
3. Passing through an infantry shield uses up any remaining charge, and prevents cloaking until the cloak is fully recharged.

^ This. Perfect.

Well then, what we have so far:

"Diffusion Cloaking" <--- science!

- Allows the Infiltrator to bypass any enemy infantry barrier shielding (except for spawn room forcefields) while the cloak is active.

- Doubles as a generic cloaking device albeit with a shorter duration (akin to that of the Nanoarmor Cloak).

- Passing through a shield results in immediate total energy drain. The Infltrator cannot recloak until the ability is back at full charge.

- Certing further into the ability improves recharge time.

* Weapon slots unaffected.
* Infiltrator shield HP unaffected.


Keep those coming guys!

At max ranks-
The nano armor cloak:
-Adds 35% damage reduction.
-Has a max of 8.5 seconds cloak time.
-And takes 11 seconds to fully recharge.

The Hunter cloak
-Has a max of 10 seconds cloak time.
-And takes 8 seconds to fully recharge.


The downside to the nano armor cloak is apparent.
Slower regen, less run time.
In exchange, you get extra padding between you and incoming damage while said cloak is active.

So, if we dupe the armor cloak, but trade armoring while cloaked for the ability to pass through non-spawn faction shields instead, we now have a viable tool, which has already had it's major balancing factors determined.
Less work for the devs, and still just as useful to the players.

Sounds solid. Plus, I like Shellana's idea of forcing a complete ability drain when passing through enemy shielding. Ramps up the risk vs reward factor a bit.