Damper Fields or Shield Level X?

[Sovereign]

I'm really curious about one thing.

Damper fields versus Shield Level X.

I'm not sure which is better, since the few times I had Damper Field, it seems to be broken 1/2 of the time, while Shield Level X seems to be consistent in deflecting energy damage.

Any insights or ideas about why this is happening?

[Stormhound]

I think I always picked X. Damper fields don't block damage, just lessen it.

[bakalov]

Both have some plusses and minuses:

Class X shield

+ High damage reduction
- Lower capacity
- Low recharge rate

Damper field
- Lower damage reduction
+ Very high capacity
+ Ridiculously high recarge rate

Conclusions:
Damper field is invincible if the enemy firepower is low. It cannot stop a bunch of high damaging missiles. It does fine in prolonged fights. If the fight does not end in the first minute, you'll probably win.

I personally like damper fields with LSG more.

[Whoha]

Originally posted by Stormhound
I think I always picked X. Damper fields don't block damage, just lessen it.

I think all the shields only block a portion of the damage, is it always blocked or just when the pool is up?

[Stormhound]

Normal shields absorb all damage (except from weapons that ignore shields). Those are the blue numbers you see in combat...shield hits. It's the other colors that represent real ship damage (yellow armor, red internal). If you see nothing but blue numbers on your ships during combat, you should be a very happy camper. Of course, if it's the other guy's ships that only show blue, too bad...

QS originally wanted shields to only absorb part of the damage, but I suspect that that plan went by the wayside somewhere.

[Sovereign]

Stormhound and Bakalov,

You're basically saying I'll see more "blue numbers" using Shield Level X than the Damper Field?

Therefore, my ships will shrug off more energy based damage with Shield Level X than Damper Field?

If so, should I forget Damper Field and use Shield X instead?

[Stormhound]

It depends. Some weapons ignore shields...against those, Damper Field is the way to go. It really depends upon what sort of stuff you're facing (this, at least, is one of the remnants of an initial plan to set up ship combat so that no one weapon or defense was always the best).

Oh, and I second the Lightning Field Generators...don't leave home without them.

[Sovereign]

Thanks. Just one more question, people.

Right now in my game, the enemy has tachyon beams, distingeration beams, disruptor cannons, maulers, etc.

Basically all the level 30+ tech energy weapons and mass drivers.

Should I keep Damper Fields to defend aganist those weapons, or should I use Shield X instead? If I remember correctly, some of these weapons have a "shield piercing" percentage to bypass shields, like 10% to 50%.

This will clarify things for me once and for all. I appreciate the feedback, people.

[Hydro]

Gads! You folks play Moo3 until damper fields? I'm sorry to say I've never had the patience since the game is long since over by then. The game, for me, dissolves into tedium, with hundreds of planets. Also, the mid and late game planetary management AI requires lots of micromanagement (some typical comments: “Stupid AI! I do not want my highest production planets building bloody battleoids! Make superdreadnaughts, darn it!” or “Why are a third of my planet military building queues empty? Did all the planets go on holiday? Grrrr” or “Sigh… Another spontaneous economic implosion planet, and there’s nothing I can do…”)

The early game, however, is very fun. Trying to eek every little bit out of little hulls is a challenger, and every decision counts. For me the fun even extends into the mid game (turn 100-200) when the first real fleets show up.

[Sovereign]

Understandable, Hydro.

For me, I lock down the production queries so planets can't build ground troops. This reduces the "Turn Waiting" quite significantly in turns 200+ as I tested and posted in my other thread entitled "Fixing MOO3's Bugs".

I scroll down my planet list every 10 or 15 turns, then fill up the queries with shipyards or whatever else needs to be built. I do this after turn 200 when I have many planets. But before Turn 200, I usually do it every 5 turns.

I don't think I've ever had any economic problem planets. They all seem to do pretty well in my games.

Also, I've fixed the MOO3 tech bug, and my "mod" advances tech levels much faster. I usually get up to tech level 40 - 50 by turn 200-250, rather than turn 600+

[robinmoore]

The potential issue you mentioned about Damper Fields being "broken" half of the time could indicate that they have a chance of malfunctioning or failing under certain conditions. This could be a drawback of this particular defense mechanism, as it may not provide consistent protection.