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Covariant Mk IV "blue" vs Covariant Mk III "green"

SystemSystem Member, NoReporting Posts: 178,019 Arc User
edited February 2010 in Feature Episodes, Events and PvE Content
Covariant Mk IV "blue" vs Covariant Mk III "green"

I have the Mark III equiped now and Im looking to get the Mark IV from turning in badges.....

When I mouse over the Mark III (green) which is equiped I get,

Covariant Shield Array Mk III [Cap]
Uncommon Ship Shields
4434 Maximum Shield Capacity
(10% Bleedthrough)
81 Shield Regenration every 6 seconds
Value 13,300


When I mouse over the Mark IV (blue)
Covariant Shield Array Mk IV
Rare Ship Shields
4188 Maximum Shield Capacity
(10% Bleedthrough)
101 Shield Regenration every 6 seconds
Value 24,900


Any thoughts as to why the rare item has lower shield capacity?
Post edited by Unknown User on

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    Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    because the green ones quality bonus is extra capacity (as shown by the [cap] at the end of the name)

    The blue one seems to be just basic with no bonus
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    Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    It has faster regeneration. So someone who wants to crunch the numbers could figure out which is better. I'm too lazy.

    It does seem odd, though, that the blue MK IV is so weak imo.
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    Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Aliven wrote: »
    It has faster regeneration. So someone who wants to crunch the numbers could figure out which is better. I'm too lazy.

    It does seem odd, though, that the blue MK IV is so weak imo.

    73.8 seconds before the regen shields out-performs the capacity shield with the numbers as listed.

    Of course there are all kinds of modifiers (such as your ships power distribution and Boff skills) that change those figures.
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    Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    I have made some calculations in Open Beta. From the largest shield with slow regeneration to the smallest one with fastest regeneration the smaler one pays of after 2 mins of fighting. Not calculated are skills or faster rechargerate through more energy into shields. So if you think the fight would take more than 1 or 2 mins then take the regenerative one.

    If you have lots of engineering power which gives you lots of shields back in an instant the larger one would seem the better option.
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    Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    seems like a bugged blue item tbh, they should have 2 quality modifiers on it (the words in the []) but it doesn't so its essentially a white mk 5 compared to a green mk 3.

    If your using covariants the green is best, as covariants are primarily used on low shield power settings so you don't really get any regen at all. If you are using high shield settings, covariants really aren't what you should be looking at.
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    Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    The second shiled has a 25% faster regen.. which is a huge increase... but yes, as already pointed out the first shiled has a capacity bonus, so the actuall total shielding is artifically boosted from the normal
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    Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    If i may be so bold, i think when you have shields equiped the tooltip is agumented by your stats to affect the value of the shield output.

    Try unequipping them both and compare them side-by-side.

    I may be wrong here but it was something i noticed during OB.
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    Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    I've seen green and white with exactly the same stats...
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    Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Naevius wrote:
    I've seen green and white with exactly the same stats...

    what Mk were they. cause a Mk I green could have the same numbers as say a Mk II white.
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    Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Glorian686 wrote: »
    I have made some calculations in Open Beta. From the largest shield with slow regeneration to the smallest one with fastest regeneration the smaler one pays of after 2 mins of fighting. Not calculated are skills or faster rechargerate through more energy into shields. So if you think the fight would take more than 1 or 2 mins then take the regenerative one.

    If you have lots of engineering power which gives you lots of shields back in an instant the larger one would seem the better option.

    If you find yourself running with high shield setting at any time in combat the regen rate is tripled. So if you're really getting hammered and set to your defense setting, the difference between a high and low regen shield is triple what is listed (which is quite significant).

    I have come to the conclusion that regen is generally the better shield if you're playing a cruiser, simply because you can soak damage longer. If an encounter is difficult enough that your choice of shield even matters, then it's going to last long enough for the regen to come out ahead.

    On the other hand an escort, which plays more hit and run, might be better off with capacity, especially because their shield strength is lower to begin with.
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    Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    I know this is slightly off topic...

    Wouldn't a cruiser benefit more from the resilient shield to reduce bleed-through rates?
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    Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    its a coin toss really between resilient and regen, if cruiser is forgoing hull repair moves then resilient may be better if their natural hull regen cannot cope with the 10% bleedthrough, otherwise regen is better.

    Resilient on science is a bit more reasonable as they don't tend to have the natural hull regen to counter 10% bleedthrough.
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    Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    SpaceFork wrote:
    what Mk were they. cause a Mk I green could have the same numbers as say a Mk II white.

    Both Mk III, same type of rifle, exactly the same except for title text and color. Made no sense.
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    Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Kyias wrote: »
    I know this is slightly off topic...

    Wouldn't a cruiser benefit more from the resilient shield to reduce bleed-through rates?

    Cruisers benefit from resilient the least. They have the largest hull.
    IMO
    Resilient = best for science
    Covarient = best for cruiser

    For some reason escort captains tend to like regeneration but they never last 2 minutes so not sure why...
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    Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Neteru wrote: »
    If i may be so bold, i think when you have shields equiped the tooltip is agumented by your stats to affect the value of the shield output.

    Try unequipping them both and compare them side-by-side.

    I may be wrong here but it was something i noticed during OB.

    I unequipped the uncommon Mark III [cap] and moused over the tooltip and it had the same stats. I have not bought the rare Mark IV yet to test it out would cost me over 300 badges and if it would be a fail I would most definitely /facepalm :eek:

    BTW - Im am setting my T2 Cruiser up to "tank". I want to be able to withstand 1-2 mins in PvP against 2-3 enemies. Are even the Covariant style the shield for me?

    Thanks in advance.
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    Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Covariant really are not the sustained tanking shields.

    Regen with 125 shield power, resistance and recharge buffs are the way to go.
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    Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    I actually find that standard shields (those with higher regen rates than covariant and resilient, and higher capacity than resilient and regenerative before extra bonuses) work quite well on my cruisers. The mix of the regen rate and capacity means I can take a better alpha than the regen shields, but I restore faster than the covariant.


    Resilient is, meh.
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    Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    One thing I noticed about the tooptip is, if you have your character screen up and your inventory up and you mouse over an item in your inventory to compare it to something you' have equipped....it'll display the exact same stats as the item in your inventory only with the names changed.

    I had to mouse over each individually to see the different stats with only one window open (Mk I Engineering kit compared to a Mk II green Engineering kit). I did file a bug report on it.
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    Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    From what I've seen with most items

    Uncommon will have one bonus or stats of a higher level
    Rare will have up to two bonuses and/or stats of a higher level
    Ultra Rare will have up to three bonuses and/or stats of a higher level

    most of the time when there like the MK IV it means that its stats are
    that of a MK V or higher. I've seen rare cannons during beta that had
    the stats of MK III or IV but where only MK II that you could but in a non
    escort
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