Tusc Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 (edited) 6% absorption that I assume only works when the shield procs, and reduced cooldown on kolto overload....or 16% armor which doesn't reduce all types of damage, but what it does reduce, it does it 100% of the time. And we have a pretty big number for armor to start with, so 16% of a big number doesn't sound bad. Has it been definitively determined which is better? And please don't answer both, that isn't the question. Edit: While we're at it, let's throw Ion Screen into the mix as well. Edited January 4, 2012 by Tusc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlazingShadow Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 (edited) well according to the tooltip ablative upgrade also decreases the cooldown of kolto overload by 60 seconds for the 2 points. 16% armor may seem like alot but remember there are alot of armorpiercing and elemental damage abilities in this game, so just like the absorption, it is a limited ability. Ion screen is a straight 2% damage decrease at all times. it is the only true gurantee you have. If I had to choose between all of them, I would say Ablative Plating for the cooldown and to make your shielding stronger. As a ST tank you should be maxxing out your shield chance, so of course you want more absorption on top of it, but more importantly, the 60sec cooldown timer allows you to pump your only true self-heal more often, and I believe with the 60sec cooldown, that puts it on level with your energy shield, IE 2min cooldown, so you can pump both at the same time and have a guranteed 10-12sec of strong tanking. However, if you dont plan on grabbing the 5point shield box on the 2nd-last tier of ST, then you may prefer the straight 16% armor increase box, as your goal wont be full-tanking anyways. I hope that answers your question. If you are going full tank, I do reccomend grabbing all three, as well as powered armor in the AdvProto line for the additional 2% dmg decrease. Edited January 4, 2012 by BlazingShadow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badalchemist Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 But both is better! What are you getting instead? No Escape? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tusc Posted January 4, 2012 Author Share Posted January 4, 2012 (edited) Thanks BlazingShadow. I think you get where I am coming from because you mentioned the 5 point 10% shield chance talent. Answering the other poster, what else I plan on getting is Pyro skills. I'm not looking for maximum tank. I'm looking for the maximum tank that I can get while only going 21 points into the shield tech tree, and while still getting some of the non tanking skills in that tree. And like BlazingShadow is saying, I was thinking that if I don't skill for the extra 10% shield chance, then maybe armor is the better way to go. But the math is all pretty mystical at this point. A minute off kolto overload is nice, but I am still pretty baffled as to which one is actually better in this scenario. Edited January 4, 2012 by Tusc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badalchemist Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Your shield chance can refresh your rocket punch and vent heat for you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tusc Posted January 4, 2012 Author Share Posted January 4, 2012 Yeah, thanks for the news flash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guurzak Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 The relative value of these abilities is going to vary with your indivudal setup. 2% from ion shield is a fixed constant; that's your reference point for everything else. Ablative upgrades are superior to ion shield if you have at least 33% shield chance (6% absorb * .33 shield chance = 2% mitigation). If you have less than 33% shield chance, you have to weigh in the intangible value of the cooldown improvement to make that decision. 16% from rebraced armor is apparently inferior to ion shield except at extremely high armor values, even for armorable damage. When you weigh in the amount of armor-penetrating and armor-ignoring abilities you encounter in PVP this talent loses almost all appeal. See google doc here for playing with mitigation values. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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