Gameplay: Max Unit Shield

[Froglicker]

I like the idea so long as shields can be destroyed and rendered useless until repaired/replaced. Invulnerable walls + turtle formations is just cheap. What I picture is:

-Shields are MAX only items, and replaces one of the weapons

-NC: Biggest shield with highest armor health but greatest penalty to move speed and turn rate (not HUGE, but still a noticeable penalty). Strongest shield bash "melee damage bonus". Small transparent view window

-TR: Smallest (but still big) shield, medium armor health with a smaller speed and turn rate penalty. Smaller melee damage bonus for shield bash. Medium sized view window

-VS: Energy shield with medium coverage, lowest armor health but can slowly regen. No (or very little) speed or turn rate penalty but is susceptible to emp/jammer grenades. No shield bash or no damage bonus, either works. Energy shield is mostly transparent, thus, biggest view window. (maybe also exposes more body area in offensive position due to hand mounted weapons rather than offset-on-the-side weapons).

-After being broken, all shields must be repaired/regened to 30% (maybe 50%?) before being functional again.

-All shields would have an idle position (protects left or right side, can shoot), an equipped position (full frontal protection, can't shoot), and an offensive position (expose 50%-70% of the frontal body, can shoot)

-Shields would have, on average, somewhere around 50%-100% the amount of armor MAXes have, and take extra AV damage.

Thats my best take on adding functional shields that are tactical and balanced and not be walking curtains of invulnerability. Thoughts?

Edit: I just thought that medics being able to equip smaller, significantly weaker shields that follow similar mechanics would also be cool. They'd be limited to pistols and other 1handed items for balance. It'd give the survivability to rez and protect a man down while in the middle of a firefight but wouldn't be nearly strong enough to last an extended fight or to attempt rezzing a whole squad in a bulletstorm.

[Soyokaze]

Asking for faction specific shield stats is, I think, over thinking things a bit. The simpler these concepts, the greater the likelihood of their inclusion.

I see this working exactly like Modern Warfare 2's riot shield, without the option to put it on the MAX's back. I'd even keep the mechanic of it being slightly off-center of the player so that they have to prioritize optimal coverage vs shooting the target.

Ideally, this shouldn't be an offensive tool. If you take a shield vs another MAX, and you both have AV weapons, the other MAX should win. The point of this should be for providing mobile cover for other units.

Picture this:
You have a long hallway with a line of defenders at one end. A killbox. The far door opens, and MAXs come crashing through 2 abreast. The first two are holding shields and, though they're turned such that they can't attack the defenders, are providing cover for the followers. They push up to the door, taking heavy fire all the while, but can't progress due to the stuck in defenders. The MAXs behind them then unload with dual flamers and force the defensive line to scatter. The shield MAXs can then progress into the room, allowing the rest of their force to leak into the room behind them.

Visually, I think everyone's pretty much on the same page:

TR: Round Riot Shield



NC: Angular Welding Shield
(The NC Maxes are adapted from heavy machinery, these were originally intended to protect the eyes of MAX)



VS: Energy Shield


The issue to keep in mind here, balance wise, is visibility. If the TR have a glass shield & the VS a nearly clear energy shield, but the NC's is a big chunk of steel - that's going to present an issue. The easiest solution, it seems, would be to go with the big-black opaque style riot shield for the TR and make the VS's energy shield be nearly opaque aswell. I think clear would be better balance wise for the defenders, but I simply can't come up with a better NC shield design than a welding shield.

[PlaceboCyanide]

Glad to see this thread still catching interest. I hope the Devs take notice as well.

btw- +1 on the NC shield Soyokaze

[GLaDOS]

This is awesome. My only addition is that for some reason I thought I heard once that the engineer would be able to place down little bits of cover with the ACE tool if they specced into it, which might make the deployability of shields somewhat less useful. I could be wrong/have dreamed that though. Also, should it be possible to roll grenades under the shields? I'm not really sure.

[Hosp]

I'm good with shields but only on the HA and LA Classes not the MAXs or the other classes. And of course, LA would have a jet penalty.

[Froglicker]

Originally Posted by Soyokaze

Asking for faction specific shield stats is, I think, over thinking things a bit. The simpler these concepts, the greater the likelihood of their inclusion.

One of the biggest features of Planetside has always been (and still kinda is) that each empire not only looks different, but also feels different. Every empire has weapons, vehicles, and MAXes that feel different, why not this as well? I could understand a common pool, NS shield for all empires with medium stats, but no empire specific versions would definitely be a missed opportunity.

The issue to keep in mind here, balance wise, is visibility. If the TR have a glass shield & the VS a nearly clear energy shield, but the NC's is a big chunk of steel - that's going to present an issue. The easiest solution, it seems, would be to go with the big-black opaque style riot shield for the TR and make the VS's energy shield be nearly opaque aswell. I think clear would be better balance wise for the defenders, but I simply can't come up with a better NC shield design than a welding shield.

This again goes back into each faction being different both visually and functionally. NC could be a large welder style piece of steel like you said, or possibly a repurposed blast door with a small(ish) bulletproof window balanced against it's high health and coverage. TR would have a smaller, lighter, purpose-built shield with more visibility but less health. VS could have the most area of visibility but be balanced by being less transparent, especially while it is taking fire (ex: the shield graphic acts like a wet window, can see everything but requires a bit of effort, while under fire it'd be like spraying a hose at the window; practically blind)

Originally Posted by Hosp

I'm good with shields but only on the HA and LA Classes not the MAXs or the other classes. And of course, LA would have a jet penalty.

I'm sorry, but light assault with shields? That just doesn't sound right nor can I picture a way that it could be implemented that wouldn't be overpowering or breaking the purpose the class it self.
If you penalize the jet pack a little then they're still high mobility with high defense which is still OP and subject to abuse. Penalize jet pack more then you pretty much have an underpowered heavy assault with a slightly better jump.

I think MAXes make more sense because it matches their versatility. They have to sacrifice half their dps to use it their turn speed is already slow enough that you can easily flank around the shield. You can be a:
-(dual wield same wpn) mobile specialized weapons platform thats useless against anything you're not specialized for
-(2 separate wpns) mobile multipurpose weapons platform kind of good against 2 enemy types but excels at nothing
-(shield) mobile cover with only 1 weapon but double armor that only works in 1 direction at a time

[elementHTTP]

Awesome idea 5/5
+ imagine adding melee for MAX and shield bash EPICNESS

[Sledgecrushr]

Great idea, I am all for max using a shield.

[Zekeen]

Does anyone else think of the MAX like the Starcraft marines, and think of those huge arm shields they would get in SC2, the bonus that gave them like +10 health?

[BeastBuster]

I like this idea. Life is good when you have choices

[Lumberchuk]

Love this idea, I think they would be useful offensively as well for pushing through tight corridors/doorways since the TTK is a lot lower now. It should replace one of the arm weapons and be raise/lowered with the respective fire button. I really like the idea of riot shields in MW2, but I feel that they did not properly fit into that game's gameplay. PS2 will invole a lot more teamwork and I can see shield MAXs playing a vital role in base assualt I really hope these get added in for a class, even if its not the MAX. Though it makes the most sense for the MAX.

[Baneblade]

Originally Posted by GLaDOS

This is awesome. My only addition is that for some reason I thought I heard once that the engineer would be able to place down little bits of cover with the ACE tool if they specced into it, which might make the deployability of shields somewhat less useful. I could be wrong/have dreamed that though. Also, should it be possible to roll grenades under the shields? I'm not really sure.

The important distinction is that engineer deployables are generally defensive, while 'riot/tactical shields' are offensive.

This idea would revolutionize the MAX Crash.

[Dacrim]

ooo this is a good idea

[Kriegson]

Good to see some new interest on the subject!

[Nolerhn]

This sounds like an amazing idea. It could add alot of versatility to MAX's, sacrificing half their potential damage for survivability, or perhaps being mobile cover for allies.

Provided the shield would be destructible, I'm all for something like this.