This thing seems pretty good so far From testing I have found the following: It dies to AoE damage You have an infinite supply of them with, but it has a CD The CD does not seem to be showing on screen (i.e. like the mana turret CD shows) There is no difference in the shield regen rate between (atleast) level 3 and 5. Both regen in 10 seconds. The range of the regen increases from each rank though The last ranks regen outside the shield bubble radius Multiple shield regen devices do not stack It does stack with your own shield regen. I'm not sure why there is not a difference in the shield regen rate when it states that each rank speeds it up Maybe this is a bug.
I'm getting a **** load of XP/Implants/Chargers due to it. It's a amazing ability to deploy at choke points/etc, specially at medium/long range fights where attriction gets more into play.
I have been liking the shield recharger, probably going to run it consistently since I can hop in a turret or something to heal myself and healing others is what the medgun is for. If it's true that speed doesn't improve past rank 3 though, I'm probably not going to spend the 1500 certs for those last two ranks. An extra 1m of radius just isn't worth that many certs when this thing already reliably covers doorways, turret pads, and the sides of vehicles.
While I do think this is shaping up to be far better than it appeared on test, I still think: -The effect could stand to stack only to two devices. (3 or more would give no more benefit than two.) But it's still quite decent on it's own. -The ability should show a cool down timer like the engie turrets. And lastly, I think that this really falls under the engineer's purview of "repair". I know that it synchronizes better with the medic's category of support roll, but only very slightly. All in all, a deployable health version would be preferable, with this as an engineer option. (This would also harmonize better than stacking, as it would be a joint effort between engineers and medics.) As well, these abilities would actively aid combat, rather than engies ammo, which is a secondary concern. A big one, don't get me wrong! Ammo is certainly important. But in the heat of battle, actually running out of ammo before you die would have to be a concern to warrant bringing out the ammo packs. ++++Edit++++ I should have clarified, by "replacing ammo", I meant the redundant ammo pack that takes up the "Utility" slot, not the alt fire on the turret. Engineers could still deploy both, but they'd have to sacrifice HP injections/proximity explosives/tank mines/C-4.
Shield device could be good, but it have a terrible con. PRESS [ability key] TO LOSE THE FIGHT ! It should be like engineer turret : [ability key] don't automatically switch from your weapon to the tool.
They are going to change engineer turret in [activation key] ? That's a bad news. Activation key is for quick usage, it's not needed for turret/beacon since you need time to deploy. Yes. For a shield tool rank 5, it's 14xp per sec (AoE heal is 7xp per sec). Just for info, the shield tool have xp-cap. (like the engineer ammo pack) I don't know the exact xp-cap but I've hit it only on a 48+ battle.
As a Combat Medic first and foremost since Beta, I gotta say this bubble is game-changing. It is a magnet for zerg! And therefor, shield bubbles can have a pretty dramatic impact on the movement of troops in the field. The benefits the bubble provides to player shield regeneration may be modest at best, but it IS a very visible sight on the battlefield. Players see a bubble and flock to it because they know they're chances of survival there are better than out in the open. As a result, proper placement of bubbles fosters better coordination for the players of the side using them. Let's face it; coordination in the midst of intense combat is difficult. Even if you are playing with a coordinated outfit, getting people to fire from behind a particular rock or protect a doorway from a specific angle or advance on an enemy stronghold from a particular direction is often difficult information to convey precisely. The shield bubble fixes this by providing simple, visual, inter-squad communication. I would encourage all combat medics to give this new utility a serious try. Sure, it sucks that you can't heal yourself with it like the other F ability... but this is a great tool for herding around your fellow teammates and getting tons of XP in the process!
Downside to all that coordination is that the enemy can just aim explosives around the giant florescent bubble on the field to get kills. The thing goes through walls so LAs know where to throw the C4. Crowding in a firefight is never a good thing, but I do agree on its handiness.
Only thing I don't like about this new item is every time I get shot at I instinctively press F and end up changing weapons to the shield and dying lol.
This thing really gives a ton of XP especially if you placed it down on chokepoints. You can force the zerg to do a "slow push" with this device as I find other players tend to move forwards if you have placed one down in a forward location.
Never going to use it. AOE heal - and more importantly, self heal - is a lot more useful IMO. I guess it's possible to substitute self heal with Regeneration implant and get the best of both worlds. Med kits are an option, but C4 is too useful to give up.
While I do agree with the sentiment that there's often not a ton to do as an Engineer amongst fellow infantry once the ammo pack is dropped (at least when there's no MAX units around), shield regen to me does fit better with the Medic class. Shields are something only infantry have and Medics are dedicated to supporting infantry, whereas Engineers are slanted quite a bit more towards vehicular support while still having a few tools to help infantry. A MAX, the hybrid infantry unit, is supported by both Medics and Engineers, but is the bulk of that support is from Engineers - their distinct lack of shields shouldn't be overlooked. Thus helping regenerate shields, something only true infantry have, being in the Medic tool kit instead of with Engineers just makes more sense to me.
