Current Electric Shield (Updated For U15!)

[Vyrn]

Updated for U15!

 

The old "bug" that spawned extra instances of damage has returned! However, it only applies to hitscan weapons, unlike the original bug. So far, all non-hitscan weapons receive no new bonus. What's interesting is that there's something entirely new from the original bug--the effect stacks per instance of Electric Shield.

 

For these tests, I used Akmagnus with only Seeker on it.

 

1 Shield (4 damage numbers)

 

2 Shields (6 damage numbers)

 

4 Shields (10 damage numbers)

 

For reference, here's Dera with Shred and Metal Auger. There are 2 damage numbers because I forgot to take Split Chamber off.

 

So far, it seems the amount of Punch Through is unnecessary. All that matters is that there is some.

 

Here's a video demonstration (mostly done for kicks):

Here's a link in case the embed doesn't work:

 

 

Change with 13.8:

First off, the point of this thread is to state how Electric Shield worked prior to this stealth (and major) change and to state how it works now. I encourage people to discuss how they feel about its current state and to give their views/opinions on it.

 

This thread is also to point out how utterly broken Electric Shield is now (debatable) and how it makes Volt potentially the most damaging Warframe. That's not really a bad thing at all, but the damage is just ridiculous. It's like AMD, only it can deal out damage faster (potentially is a key word, still).

tl;dr because it's a VERY long read: Electric Shield used to uber buff some weapons (like Dera/Drakgoon), but now it uber buffs all crit weapons (just click the spoilers for pictures)

 

Okay, so, here we go.

As some of you may know, Electric Shield recently got a big change, most likely with 13.8. It was not included in the patch notes, but it is very different.

Prior to this change

Certain projectile types (bolts, arrows, darts) were not affected by Electric Shield and passed right on through it without consequence. For those who don't know what I mean by those projectiles, think bows, Kunai and the like, Boltor and co., Acrid, etc.

Hitscan projectiles (no travel time--bullets, really), like those shot from Braton, gained +50% Electric damage (added on as Electric, does not combine with other elements, and can proc) and also gained a doubled crit damage multiplier.

Nonhitscan projectiles that were affected by Electric Shield, specifically Corpus Plasma weapons (Lanka, Cestra, Dera, Supra, Tetra, and Detron) and Drakgoon, were converted to hitscan and would instantly hit their mark on contact with the Shield. They gained the same bonuses as hitscan projectiles, but, as I found out through observation and testing on my own (and talking with a friend), they also got some neat bonuses of their own:

All Punch Through on the projectile was turned into extra instances of damage. In other words, a single round from Tetra would hit the enemy multiple times. As the amount of Punch Through increased, the number of damage instances also increased. Lanka's innate 5 meter Punch Through (on full charge) and Drakgoon's 2 meter Punch Through (also on full charge) gave them a massive boost. Stacking both Shred and Metal Auger caused many additional hits on an enemy, multiplying the damage done per round by a very large amount. Here was a picture from my initial testing several months ago (at least 3 months ago).

 

One shot from Tetra with only Shred and Metal Auger:

Again, that was a single round from Tetra, modded only with Shred and Metal Auger. Other pictures can better show the actual amount of numbers, but it did seem to vary somewhat randomly. Some shots would not even gain this effect at all, but those were mostly only seen (by me at least) with Lanka. Dera, the weapon I used the most after I discovered this bizarre effect, only occasionally did not result in this strange multihit. Supra also had an interesting feature where it would sometimes have a normal, unmoddified, slow-moving projectile pass through the Shield unaffected while multiple hitscan instances of damage did appear.

 

A similar affect could be gained with nonhitscan weapons, but at most they gained only a single additional instance of damage.

This used up all remaining Punch Through on the projectiles, so they could not go through enemies or terrain after passing through the Shield. However, it sometimes took several moments for the effect to finish, so hitscan projectiles would spew out of the Shield during the entire duration. This could be seen when a single shot from Dera (this happened to me a lot) appeared to hang in the Shield, and any enemy that passed in front of where I was aiming when I fired that shot would instantly die until it finished. I also have walked into my own projectile during this effect, resulting in suicides. It was pretty darn funny lol

Moving onto the recent change (big number warning)

Electric Shield no longer converts those weapons to hitscan, and it no longer results in that massive damage output on affected nonhitscan weapons. However, any and all projectiles are now affected. This means that Boltor, Tysis, Acrid, Bows, and everything else that ignored it in the past now gain both the +50% Electricity damage and the 2x crit damage. That's not all, though. Multiple Electric Shields now STACK. Their bonuses stack as well. The Electricity damage bonus is additive for multiple shields, but the crit bonus is multiplicative.

 

For more info/all the info, here's a blog: http://warframe.wikia.com/wiki/User_blog:PsycloneM/Volt:_Electric_Shield

 

What this means is that crit built weapons gain an absolutely massive and all around absurd damage boost when Shields are stacked. Here are some examples:

 

Grakata hitting about 35 million damage in a single shot:

Dread hitting 344 million damage in a single shot:

While this makes Volt absolutely terrifying and devestating at any level and against any faction (assuming you have time to plant the Shields of course), this also makes Electric Shield utterly broken. With Streamline+Fleeting Expertise, you can reduce the cost per shield to 12.5 energy, and other mods can easily make up for the cut duration from FE. This makes spammability and duration not issues. This makes the only problem actually placing them, which can be cut out entirely by placing them ahead of time (find a defensible location and slap 'em down) or helped by adding Natural Talent to the mix.

Especially since all Punch Through is now kept, a Grakata or Soma with stacked Electric Shields can keep all enemies down and out. Dread will take out anything at pretty much any level in a single shot (I was oneshotting level 1000+ Infested with yellow crit non-headshots on not even a full damage loadout with only 2 Shields).

 

Finally, bugs/funsies. I'm not gonna spoiler this because it gives people a taste of this mess.

If you stack too many Shields (18 was too many), your projectiles do not always go through. Damage is not always done to enemies, and arrows even get stuck in the Shields like a wall. Sometimes, though, they will hit enemies in a way reminiscent of old Electric Shield, only....different.

Dread hitting a mass of negative blue numbers against misc. unshielded Corrupted:

 

-2147483, baby.


Please, discuss this. Do you think it's entirely broken? Do you think it needs adjustments? Do you think it's fine the way it is? Speak out. I doubt I'll be able to respond much (busy + slow internet for a while), so discuss with each other as well.

 

Here's my opinion on it:

As for me, I personally liked it how it was before. While this change makes Volt even scarier, its old habit of only massively boosting a fairly small number of weapons made those weapons feel special. Also, they were weapons I just really liked (totally not biased). In a world where hitscan weapons are praised as the best, or where 90% of players run Boltor Prime, Paris Prime, Dread, Latron Prime, or Soma for longer Survivals/Defenses, it was nice to be able to rock out with weapons that are often decried as terrible. My Lanka could become a truly terrifying weapon capable of oneshotting a level 100+ Heavy Gunner with most of its damage left to spare, and my Dera could kill level 120 Gunners with only a short headshot burst.

 

If you have any qualms about where this was placed, please move it to where it belongs. For people who might get mad that I spill the beans, it's here for all (DE included, they above all else have the right to know) to see.

As for me, it's currently 1:15 AM, I didn't sleep last night, got like 1-2 awful hours of sleep today, and am plagued by terribad internet. Give me a break.

 

With Update 14.1.4, the critical damage bonus of Electric Shield no longer stacked, although the bonus Electric damage did (and still does).

Edited December 5, 2014 by Vyrnaazus

[Renegade343]

Good job. You broke the game (I wonder if DE uses unsigned int...). 

 

In all seriousness, the number may be large, but is it going to be useful in the long run?

[ShadowCore67]

I laugh at all the people who said my Volt isn't good.

 

HA!

[Rekkou]

Even as a Volt fan, i see this as way over the top. 50% electric damage that scales from total damage is more than enough for me. Stacking mechanics should not exist because it's prone to exploit and glitch.

[Inquisitioner]

Add a pulse effect to it, as in who it can affect after placed, LOL. It worked out well enough for Nova.

 

Jokes aside, a small nerf should be enough. Think Volt has just been neglected due to U14 and all other frames, new and old alike.

[Babalenong]

only stacking should be gone, and volt is one of my very fav frame now, oh that speed boost, shield, press 1 to stun a group of enemy, press 4 to stun the map...

[(PSN)jenax002]

i hope he doesn't get nerfed so bad that people stop using him. A small nerf is fine

Edited June 25, 2014 by (PS4)jenax002

[GreyEnneract]

Lol RIP Banshee even more.

[Vyrn]

In all seriousness, the number may be large, but is it going to be useful in the long run?

Aside from having to set it up, which also makes a wall enemies can't shoot through, yes. A lot of damage would be wasted and is utterly unnecessary, sure, but you can still make your Grakata, a fully automatic smg, oneshot any enemy you could conceivably face lol

[Xurix3000]

has this been tested on T4 stuff like survival or any survival where you have gone over 40+ minutes? if so and volt still does those millions of hit point damage then that's pretty awesome and yet, looks like volt might have to be nerfed. :(

Edited June 25, 2014 by Xurix3000

[Athros]

This is totally over the top. Even if stacking were allowed, there should be a limit on how much it could be stacked.

Losing hit-scan conversion also really hurts way too much for Elec. Shield...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And that comes from a guy who barely played another frame other than Volt from way back in the CB phase. The truth is, I love how Elec Shield got adjusted this way, but it won't be a healthy and balanced change if it kept this way.

[CelticMoss]

That's only 34 millon

 

wait that last floating 0

Edited June 25, 2014 by SarahApple

[Yaerion]

Moved from General Discussion.

[Prany]

Electric and laser weapons should keep their hitscan. As for weapons with "hard" projectiles, they could get flight speed boost. Crit damage should not be multiplicative. Nothing that can be stacked so much should be multiplicative. Right now it only invites to use Soma even more.

 

And thumb up to OP who is more concerned about game's balance than power of his/her favorite frame.

[Warriorrogue]

Wow, two's compliment possibly coming into full force here.

[Renegade343]

Aside from having to set it up, which also makes a wall enemies can't shoot through, yes. A lot of damage would be wasted and is utterly unnecessary, sure, but you can still make your Grakata, a fully automatic smg, oneshot any enemy you could conceivably face lol

Oh dear. 

[Vladokapuh]

the -214whatever damage comes, because damage ammounts were too high, and caused variables to fail :]

[TrashSpider]

Like what everyone else said, a tiny nerf will do, I play volt myself. But I think DE went a tad to far on the numbers. 

[DeadScream]

How about a stacking limit on the shield use ? 

 

Like, at mod rank 0 you can place one at a time, and at mod rank 3 you can place 4 at a time. 

 

Seems legit ?

[Flackenstien]

I hope DE can safely revert this change, without somehow nerfing Volt, as he was finally in a solid state needing only minimal buffs or fixes.

Edited June 25, 2014 by Flackenstien

[LascarCapable]

God dammit. I hoped you guys didn't find out about thIs until I ask Rebecca to tell to the devs to Hardcap the shield stacking or something.

 

I sent a PM to Rebecca this morning (Paris hour), saying that if the new shield mechanic looks awesome, it's totally broken once the 4th shield is deployed. The good thing would be to hardcap the shields to three stacks, so all bullets trying to reach a 4th shield would be blocked. Since the +200% critical bonus is given multiplicatively and the +50% bonus is given additionnaly, it would be still stay a neat +800% critical damage and +150% damage. Enough to make Volt shine as much as the most played frames.

[Athros]

God dammit. I hoped you guys didn't find out about thIs until I ask Rebecca to tell to the devs to Hardcap the shield stacking or something.

 

I sent a PM to Rebecca this morning (Paris hour), saying that if the new shield mechanic looks awesome, it's totally broken once the 4th shield is deployed. The good thing would be to hardcap the shields to three stacks, so all bullets trying to reach a 4th shield would be blocked. Since the +200% critical bonus is given multiplicatively and the +50% bonus is given additionnaly, it would be still stay a neat +800% critical damage and +150% damage. Enough to make Volt shine as much as the most played frames.

 

So it's an official change? How about the hitscan conversion? Is it gone forever or just a bug?

[LascarCapable]

It's not already made official. Devs are still trying to figure out the issue. I asked rebecca to make it official when they'll know about it though, but with that kind of exploit they may wait a bit.

 

EDIT : Rebecca have just taken knowledge of the issue. Everything will be transmitted to the devs. It's just a matter of time. ;)

[Taefed]

the -214whatever damage comes, because damage ammounts were too high, and caused variables to fail :]

 

Variables never fail, data types do!

[MerelyARumor]

someone get a SS of a Prime chamber vectis heatshot on a leaper mid jump with all the atk boosts :P 

Edited June 25, 2014 by MerelyARumor