NERF THIS - The ballad of the Personal Shield antagonist

[Ricky_the_banshee]

You see a group of officers discharge bullets, lasers, plasma rounds you name it. All in vain as faced to them stands the funny man, wearing a perculiar device around his waist that seems to generate an energy shield. The man laughs, and returns gunfire on the officers as one by one, they cripple from their injuries, or die from bloodloss. The antagonist gloats over the radio, informing everybody of his killconfirms before he proceeds to wreak havoc until what's left of command calls the ERT....Here we go with a forced 2+ hour round.

This is a tale as old since the introduction of the personal shield. It has quite frankly, been a useful tool to ensure that antags engage more regularly in combat. And while this initially sounds good on paper, it has  simultanuously decreased the variety within rounds by offering antagonists with a trump card. Why bother establishing a large, intriguing mystery that spans across the station? A mystery that inspires investigation, whispers among the crew in regards to the "whodunnit"...when you could just go to the captain's office, get your all-access, wait for security show up at your department so you can unpack that plasma shotgun, turn on that personal shield and futfil your Doomguy fantasy on those dirty secmains who've been bashing on this exact same gimmick for the nth time in your SS13 lifetime.

I feel like the personal shield should not be used as an offensive tool, but should rather act as a getaway tool with a short timer on it. EA's Battlefront is a good example of what I mean. The shield can still be used as a means to rush opponents and surprise them with gunfire, but it's not always the optimal choice, especially not when confronting a large group. Instead, it forces the antagonist to think twice on how they should implement the shield's usage. Use it offensively when approaching two officers, use it to avoid laser fire from an entire security team charging right after you.

 

To illustrate what I had in vision for a revamped persona shield, here is a video EA Battlefront's version.

 

 

 

[Carver]

I would disagree on the sheer basis of a limited-use, viable defensive option for combat being a particular niche that direly needs filling. You cannot afford to take damage as a solo antagonist when even so much as a single shot might cause you organ damage.

When you brought up Battlefront as an example of a shield, I first thought of the Heavy's shield - a defensive bulwark that allows the class to lay down a ton of fire from relative safety at the cost of being slowed down. If it needs a nerf, why not take from that example and make it slow down the user so their opponents can flee the situation?

[Ricky_the_banshee]

1 minute ago, Carver said:

I would disagree on the sheer basis of a limited-use, viable defensive option for combat being a particular niche that direly needs filling. You cannot afford to take damage as a solo antagonist when even so much as a single shot might cause you organ damage.

 

"Limited-use" was a poor choice of words on my end, apologies! Cooldown was the correct word for it. 

Quote

When you brought up Battlefront as an example of a shield, I first thought of the Heavy's shield - a defensive bulwark that allows the class to lay down a ton of fire from relative safety at the cost of being slowed down. If it needs a nerf, why not take from that example and make it slow down the user so their opponents can flee the situation?

The heavy shield was another example I initially had in mind, but it still adds to the initial problem I raised where antagonists that do show up, feel more compelled to deploying the shield in an offensive strategy that generates, at least to me, nothing but an added killfeed to a round. Either the antagonist gets mowed down, or the security team ends up mowed down, and that's not what antagonists are supposed to add to the round, at least to me. 

If a revamp is out of the question, a slow down DOES sound like a good alternative I'll admit.