They do move slower the second they activate their shield. And don't forget this is all that they can do. They can't fly, resurrect people, repairs vehicles, turn invisible, etc That said I wouldn't be crushed if someday the Devs decided to remove the extra Shield...
I like the HA because it has a rocket for rocket noobing when I want bodies to drop, it has a large magazine machinegun that is good for shooters...lots of bullets, you can never go wrong...and its called Heavy Assault..
I can last more than 5 seconds in a fight. I use a Thanatos on all non Infiltrator classes so it's just about having more staying power to get in close and blast people down.
