Whilst I can see the benefits of Powerplay modules, what are the implications of pledging to a power? Presumably they don't just give away modules, but expect something in return?
I'll be brief - you pledge to power A. You fly into power B space. A player is pledged to power B. They can attack you without becoming wanted yet if you fight back you'll be wanted. This used to be used as a griefing tactic during CGs if they were in Power Play space. NPCs don't do this - so the risk is exceptionally low.
you don't get to buy the modules until you've done enough work for them to reach rank 3 for 4 weeks. that means undermining other powers, or running fortification cargoes to their systems, or running cargoes to expand them into new systems, or whatever it is for that power. if you want to be a jerk about it, you can learn enough about powerplay to do these missions in a way that actually *hurts* their standing in the game, instead of helping them. you still get the rank and the modules. powerplay people call this fifth column behavior, or 5c, and they will not like you.
another problem is you will only have access to the module for as long as you are pledged so if you plan on stacking them all you will need billions , 11 months and 11 days minimum for all 11 superpowers so choose wisely ^^
An advanced version of this is flip your flight assist off and gun it in a straight line, hit the reboot and you’ll maintain velocity as you soar. Making it harder for the person to shoot you
As many have commented you can reboot/repair to get 50% of your shields back - IF you aren't moving, are FA-On AND you aren't taking fire. I'll cover that when we have a full look at everything shields soon - for now I covered this in my Reboot Repair guide: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-CPE2L6Qxpn8.html
6:05 "[armored power plants] lower your available power," compared ONLY to the Overcharged blueprint. Armored power plants generate more power than un-engineered power plants.
If you can't fit your build inside of a g5 armored and monstered Power plant' its probably not an amazing build. Armored gives you a lot more power and better heat efficiency. A corvette can run a class 7 prismatic with class 2 7 SCBs and 2 class 4 plasma accelerators. When built correctly
@@Lperry I agree. g5 armored monstered is practically the gold standard on all my ships. It wasn’t the snipe/penetrate proofness with double module reinforcement that got me to make switch... for me it was the heat, and didn’t want to resort to those greatly dps gimp’ing emission engineered ones. Absolutely loved the day when I finally was able to pop scb8 on my cutter and just needed to simply stop firing for a sec and watch my heat not break 99%. Still kept heatsync’s for other reasons😈...
@@MarsStarcruiser I will never understand the whole overcharged obsession. Maybe on a light and nimble ship but the big ships? I run all 8 boosters in my vette with medium long range thermal vent beams. The only reason I run my 7a prismatic on low draw is because the power curve is so tight I couldn't run small rails while running huge plasmas. But even on one of the largest ships in the game with 5 +73% boosters, low draw vs high cap is only 500 mj less. For 20% less power and distributor draw... really good builds can be fit in G5 Armoured/monstered. I've got 6400Mj of absolute shield(41%+ all res), two 7a scb, one 6a scb, 2 huge efficient plasma with plasma slug, one large efficient Healing beam(for my noob friends), two medium long range thermal vent beams, and two small rails long range feedback cascade. Oh and 4300 absolute hull. The things a damn monster. All in armoured Powerplant for sweet, sweet heat efficiency
One minor thing; while it doesn't fix your shields to full, you can use a reboot and repair sequence to restore your shields to 50% if they're low or have dropped over the course of fighting. It doesn't help if you're being actively shot at (I'm fairly sure taking damage aborts the repair sequence), but it can save you either a trip to a landing pad or 'wasting' a cell bank when you're outside of combat.
AX player here, taking fire *does not abort the sequence.* My ship did a 180 in the sequence because of momentum and turned to let me see I had accidentally forgotten to get rid of the 10 scouts that followed me...
Well you're on the right channel at least, feel free to stop by Level 11, my player group's Discord as we have over 3500 members, mentors, etc. many willing to give you a hand.
EDTutorials by Exigeous I appreciate it. My "problem" is all the meta aspects of Elite and what one stat means over another, what are the true percentages, understanding the ships, etc.
when i first started learning the ropes of elite, my dream build was a mega shield tank cutter. so i do all the stuff, i get the prismatics, i get all 8 boosters, i get all the guns, i get everything engineered, and i go out to my local haz res. im loving life til i realize how long they are taking to recharge. this is before i find all the knowledge from sources like you and tools like coriolis. the build worked fine, but i realized once that shield finally went down, i was done. id have to head back to a station to recharge. i later switched to a bi-weave which would actually stay charged between fights. i could stay out fighting til i ran out of fuel if i wanted.
I gotten a huge amount of invaluable information from your videos. Many thanks and keep up the good work. Would you consider doing a video on which Power Play weapons are the most useful? Maybe a ranking? Thanks.
Really helpful vid Ex. Have seen a few technical shield vids but this was way more useful, with straightforward language and advice. Enjoyed the backing soundtrack too - beautiful. Cheers.
It is one of the most satisfying things you can see in all of Elite, especially when you use a mine launcher. Have a look at the very first video I ever published, I killed a Cutter with my Cobra Mark III - it was awesome.
Bought: 2 8A 3 7A 4 6A 6 5A 5 4A 5 3A 6 2A 6 1A Number of ships I have: 3 Number of ships I use prismatics on: 0 Hmm, might have went overboard, but I still feel like I don't have enough.
I love how strait to the point you are in your videos, and I always learn something from it, but I really cannot bring myself to unlock power-modules, I think it's bad gameplay, too much commitment too little reward, maybe one day I'll change my mind..
First thanks for the kind words - as for the "commitment" they really aren't bad at all. You pledge, wait 3 weeks, do 1 run carrying 750T of cargo and done. Takes less than an hour once a month, really not much of a commitment to me. As for useful ones the following are pretty great: Prismatics, Packhounds, Pacifier Frags, Enforcer Cannons, Advanced Plasma Accelerators, Imperial Hammers and - yes - Mining Lances. Lances are VERY misunderstood as they are advertised as a mining laser that does damage when really the benefit is the 4 TIMES longer range (500M vs 2000M). Great if you're gonna do a lot of mining (and most people do)
@@Exigeous My issue is more of a state of mind than anything else, so I might give it another go when in the mood, the modules are usefull no question about it, I just wish there was a different gameplay to get them
@@Exigeous I have finally decided to unlock power play modules, much less effort than I thought ( as you said ), I'll get prismatic on the next cycle, more over power play is very good to farm arx
I have Prismatics on just about everything I own. ESPECIALLY those ships that don't normally engage in combat. The stock #8 shields on a Cutter, even when A Rated tend to drop pretty fast if you cuddle up too close to an asteroid while mining. Using 6A Prismatics I've never had them fall. But yes, they are most certainly a power hog.
Getting my Prismatics today. Gonna reference that # of bought shields in the beginning of the video. Did the same with Pack-hounds, got loads of them in storage.
Thanks so much Cmdr Exigeous. I’ve just got around to purchasing the prismatics and was scouring the internet for how many of which size to buy with little luck. Given the lack of information I went with two of each size except one of size 8; sooo expensive! So may get some more size 5s. Thank you so much for the vid which told me exactly what I needed to know and when to use them. Perfectly timed. I hope you are planning similar vidz for the other power play modules.
It's not based on Fed or Imperial, if you're pledged to say Li Yong-Rui and fly into another power's space you'll be "hostile" - this simply means someone pledged to the systems power can attack you without getting wanted but if you fire back you will get wanted. NPCs don't do this, only humans so you only need be cautious around players in Community Goal systems, etc.
As a federation officer, I had no problem saving imperial refugees. CMDR's welcomed all the help. So caution is appropriate, but friendly players abound (in this, current, situation). Technically, you'll be hostile to them and notice you're in a hostile environment (lower right corner). If there are more combat ships around (Community Goal, Galnet news around bounty hunting), exercise that caution though! Trigger happy CMDR's will have more incentive to shoot you down. Federation officers tend to work together. I hear it's slightly different per faction leader in other powerplay groupings (discord, reddit, 3rd party sites around elite). I'm just an ensign, but saving all there imperials makes me consider switching powerplay faction after it's done. Not yet, as I don't want to be hunted down while saving imperials.
EDTutorials by Exigeous This is incorrect. If you are pledged to say Aisling, and you got to another imperial power’s system, you will be marked as neutral. If you are pledged to Hudson and you go to Winters’ system, you will be neutral.
One thing you may want to add is how many credits one has to have to purchase the recommended (both sides) number of prismatics. If you spend 4 weeks waiting, then discover that you're 100 million credits short to buy the shields, then you may get annoyed. :)
Yeah, I'm honestly annoyed at myself that I didn't include that - this is why I usually say if you don't have 500M or more you should wait and go for something like say Packhounds first. If you're a hard-core player you're going to need something like 1.5 Billion credits for everything.
Wow, thanks, I really appreciate that. I'm honestly not that great with the Adobe tools but can copy what others do to try to bring the production value up. I'm getting there and hope to learn more in the future.
Great video, as usual, but I would've pointed out that these shields are NOT ideal for 'Goid hunting, as they have the electrical discharge that just wrecks your shields.
Yep, completely agree they are not a good choice there -- and yes, you can reboot to get 50% back but you can do that with any shields and you have to be sitting still AND not taking damage for that to happen.
@@Exigeous Well, AXI themselves recommend prismatics on large ships, since you're better off with raw strength rather than regen. As for rebooting, not hard there (you will do that regardless of your will), boost away, FA off, reboot, done.
Prismatic’s loose less shields comparatively when downsizing, than any other shield type. I run class 6 prismatics on my cutter with about as much shield strength as class 8 bi-weaves. When testing both, I found that you can’t really take full advantage of bi-weave 8’s enhanced recharge rate for very long with lower sized distributor(cutter only has class 7), so it was well worth the switch. Also free’d up power, weight, and a big slot for scb8 which was a much better gain in a real fight.
Always remember that u can restore any shield to 50% regardless of charging times by doing a reboot/repair. Even on the hour recharge cutter build u can get half your shield back in about 30 seconds. This wont work in pvp tho, no commander will let u get away with it
My Mamba only has 2307MJ of shields. (5A G5 Reinforced + Multliweave. 4x shield boosters G5 to 73.9% each) Never lost my shields in any battle including going to High conflict zones taking out 20 odd NPC's one after the other. Never bothered with a cell bank, as by the time I've used up my ammo and collector limpets, I've headed back to a station to restock. Also to note, if you loose shields, turn off the boosters, so your main shield gen gets back online faster, then enable the shield boosters one at a time.
You should have mentioned the 30 second rebuild time for 1c bi-weaves Extremely useful on small combat ships like eagles The shield is pretty low but for hit n run high manuverability builds you can use them as an 'impact Shield's to soften rams/take the oof out of a PA
Yeah, I covered that in my specific "Reboot/Repair" video but should have here. The main issue is you have to be still, FA-On and can't be taking fire for that to work. So in many ways not viable during active combat as you have to run away. I'll cover this when we do a deep dive on all shields.
i went through a period of ranking for other powers just to get their stuff, prismatic shields was the first one i got. there's still others i need to go after, but yeah, it's a grind.
Around the 5:30 mark or so - was that a Clipper? I have a bizarre appreciation for the I-Clipper (even ones being shot at). It seems oversized for its price range, but when you add all the requirements together it actually adds up to an above average [if above size class] vessel, and it's a sleek shiny Gutemaya craft, so i've grown to like it ever since I came back to Elite last week. Oh gosh sorry for going way off topic of the video, I was just happy to see Clippers in general use.
To get a little bit more power out of your combat ships shut off your cargo hatch and set your interdictor to Priority 5. If you're running an armored power plant and still want to have access to multiple Shield cell Banks run with the bank turned off that you can't afford to power. Once you've used your final Bank shut it down and turn the next one on. Also any event your power plant becomes damaged it's a good idea to have your weapons set on priority 2, life support on 3 Shield cell banks on 4 in the event you accidentally turn on two banks at once and overload your power plant. Also when your Shields drop in combat you can speed up the recovery time of The Shield by shutting down Shield boosters. Primarily your heavy-duty boosters. If you have a strong Shield and you shutdown your heavy-duty boosters the recovery time for your Shield will be a lot faster. On your Corvettes and cutters engineer your prismatics high capacity reinforced. The idea is to never let your Shields drop.
So once again a very informative video, but I felt a little lost in the end. Currently I'm having a fun flying an "Eagle", how would set up the shields and pulse lasers? On my way to see the Digger tonight for engineering.
"low power" upgrade for the shields. I wouldn't really use more than 1 energy weapon on an eagle, mix it up with missiles;kinetic weapons, it doesn't have the power distributor for that.
I use prismatic on ships with smaller shields then I would normally put on it... My t10 mining with a class 5 or 6 prismatic. Gives me enough shield that I don't have to run from every pirate. But I find that they do not have the staying power for when I intend to be in combat for awhile. I utilize the recharge rates of the other shields for all other cases.
I fought a heavy duty prismatic ship in a medium fighter, with a squad, and we just couldn’t kill it.. We needed to leave and go get special weapons to fight them. Now I have a corvette and use high regen-bi-weave. I fight alongside someone with prismatic, and surprisingly, although they can tank a lot of immediate damage, I can still talk on about five ships at a time, and my shields come back so quickly I can outlast my prismatic shield friend.
Yep, this has been mentioned several times - I covered this in the Reboot/Repair video and will certainly cover it in my upcoming full look at shields. Remember you can't be moving, have to be FA-On and can't be taking fire for a reboot to restore your shields to 50%
The only purpose of prismatic's is when compared to the same size biweave generator, prismatics save one slot which is generally utilize to hold a single cell bank. In as much as one can install in a available slot, multiple cell banks, a biweave with multiple cell banks even though it takes one additonal slot, is considerably better.
"is considerably better" is a VERY subjective term as while sure there are builds that work great for both, say the large class ships mainly, ships like the FDL and Mamba are arguably FAR better with Prismatics, especially in PvP form. Yes, you can make damn near anything work in Elite, hell I've killed Cutters with a Cobra and Anacondas with a Sidewinder but I wouldn't say a Sidewinder is "better" (even though it is clearly!)
@@akaBeaucoupFish Two 8's, four 7's, eight 6's, and a bunch of all other sizes. Enough that I won't need to pledge again. Look up the prices here under Optional, Prismatic Shield Generator... inara.cz/galaxy-outfitting/
1:54 yes but not the recharge time. data on screen shows visible difference and you've mentioned later that recharge is pretty much double for prismatics. and blue haired unicorn girl is more than just kinda hot :) nice guide
Prismatics are technically the best, but at a Regen rate of 1.1 per second with a meta setup, it'll take about an hour and a half to recharge real time, bi-weaves regenerate 5 times that fast, so if you can win with bi-weaves, they'll give you more shielding over many frequent engagements while weighing your ship down less giving slightly better handling. Prismatics are only necessary in pvp and the hardest PvE hunts.
Did they change the shield colours? I have bi-weave and haven't noticed any green. Perhaps it still looks blue on the little diagram showing where you're being hit?
EDTutorials by Exigeous, I pledged today to get the Prismatic Shields and already delivered 750t required for the 750 merits. Now I need to wait 4 weeks before I can purchase this power play module?
Sounds to me like any wing with a ship running heal beams would be ideal for prismatics as well. I know, the heal beam is heresy. It's still a solid strategy.
It's a very solid strategy in PvE but please, PLEASE don't use them in any PvP - as you say they are completely and totally broken. A single medium on a ship with even modest shields will become unkillable thanks to them. But in a Conflict Zone sure, have at it!
@@Exigeous Honestly I think it depends on what kind of PvP you're talking about. If you're out looking for a gud fite sure stay away from them I agree. If you're trying to mitigate risk of ganks or clearing those types out of a system I got no problem with playing dirty. All's fair in love and war, after all. ;-)
I'm still confused on this Power Play stuff. Its very confusing. I grinded out my Duke with Empire for the Cutter but now I'm fearful to change allegiances.
As a trader, explorer and rat, I don't think I will have use for the pp weapons? I might can fit a prismatic onto my trader, but that's the only module I might need
I have prismatic on my anaconda my python and my Vulture. Have yet to decide if the vulture was a good idea or not yet as I have only flown it in combat a few times. Did not know pips to systems raised shield strength, I thought it sped up recharge. Good to know
Yeah, PIPs have no effect at all on recharge rate, so long as there is energy in the distro. A prismatic Vulture can be great, I have one at 1700 base with 2500 total with banks. Given it's hard to hit already it's a tough little bitch.
Is it really worth running a lower class prismatic for a higher bank on an FDL? Without the boost from pips is it even really more total MJ in the end?
Hi Exigeous. I hope you see this. As someone with limited play ability (As in physical limitations) I can never PVP. That said, I just got my corvette and killing NPC pirates has me laughing like a maniac but I often find myself hull tanking with lots of hull and module reinforcement modules. Given that I won't PVP and that I often can't fly well enough to avoid getting shot up, would I be better off going with a bi-weave or prismatic shield build for my conflict zone / bounty / pirate hunting play?
So, I've tested this multiple times but for some reason my Shields regenerate faster when there are less pips or 0 pips with capacitor charge. They take less damage at 4 pips but the Regen is slower. I figured this was because of lowering the shield cap. Prismatic with a balanced mix of capacity and resistance augmentation. I tend to empty my pips until the capacitor is drained and then recharge it. It makes a very noticable difference. Are you saying this is not supposed to be the case?
I don't think anybody really addresses this in the video, having more pips in shields effectively raises your defense, slowing the drain of your shields.
Would prismatics be the best option in cases where you are doing assassination missions - you attack and kill ONE target, and then go collect your reward?
I have a question. Your argument for bi-weave on hull tanks is that since they regenerate fast, you'll have them more often. But isn't the point of a hull tank to...tank with the hull? In that regard, wouldn't make more sense to go with prismatic, so that you have long "free" damage reduction before actually doing what your ship is designed to do, which is take damage with the hull?
So I'll go into more detail in the upcoming full shield guide but the issue is as weapons like missiles and super penetrator rails do so much hull and module damage you use the biweave as a buffer against them. For PvE combat you really don't want to be losing your shields as NPCs will absolutely go after you with missile (not so much super pen rails). For some ships, namely the Alliance and Federal ships prismatics don't result in very high shields, even with engineering so it's generally better to go with biweaves where you get regenerate them so much more quickly vs. if/when you lose prismatics you'll basically have to go land (or reboot) to get them back.
Prismatics are heavy... on a Conda max engineer a reinforced stripped down standard 7A shield generator and boost (2 heavy, 3 thermal) for a very good all rounder 4,300MJ across the board with 70T less weight than a standard prismatic. Try getting near that with a Prismatic without the weight.
Yep, I'd absolutely agree with that. I run a class 6 on my miner and 5 on my trader, excellent choice. Both have been "ganked" 40+ times between them and they've died exactly once, wing of 4 with a Grom bomb (the FSD disrupter missile)
4:47 I mean...the obvious solution to that is play solo. It makes more sense to run those shields just because you're exploring and you never know what will happen. Honestly though, FD should have a peaceful open play where you can't attack anybody. I would LOVE that. I want to be in a world of real other players but when people are allowed to attack anybody, the assholes just can't help but show themselves.
Yes. The only time you lose access is when you change powers. Meaning if you want a particular module for multiple ships, you need you buy said module for each ship before pledging to another power.
I don't feel like prismatics are worth the costs if you're running SCBs. Cell banks restore the same MJ regardless of your shield power, so you're only gaining a little shield at the cost of weight and drain and a lot of regeneration. On cargo ships (especially delivery missions where you can collect bounties on npc pirates) a prismatic with more cargo instead of cells / reinforcement will carry you through a couple encounters and then refresh at the destination
