I've been recently playing a Vital Shielding / IDF support and it seems that this playstyle is not fully integrated into the game, when it comes to scoring for open missions/cosmics. Cosmics and things like DRA are a big part of L40 gameplay, but it does not seem to be scoring shields for participation and rewards. This is not a build issue - the build is good and I can protect my team well - the issue is scoring and getting rewarded for my time and effort.
I can be fully involved in a cosmic/om from the start to the finish, focusing on refreshing shields, using redirected force when appropriate, occasionally applying bionic shielding and it works in that the team stays safe, the tank stays up, etc. However, if I focus mainly on shielding, like I should, I often come in below the score threshhold. Let's say 80-90k in cosmics if the fight doesn't drag on, or sub-50k in DRA. If I just stand around spamming Arcane Vitality and occasionally applying Bionic Shielding, I always score way above the threshhold. The more I focus on healing instead of shielding, which is the opposite of what IDF / Vital Shielding is supposed to be about, the better I do.
It's frankly disheartening to play a build the way it's meant to be played, to be more active and engaged in a fight and score less than the lazy way. I've brought this up with some other players who play shield support characters and it seems that most gear their playstyle towards healing, favoring Mindful Reinforcement for the heal it can also provide to make sure to get scores above the necessary threshhold.
IMHO there should not be a properly built character that if played to their intended playstyle ends up with scoring issues in endgame. The change notes at one point stated that shields were scored for Cosmics and OMs, but as far as I can tell, this is either broken or the scoring is off by an order of magnitude.
Please adjust the scoring to make sure that players who play to the intended playstyle of a shield support get above the reward threshhold.
0
Comments
Shield Effects
- Direct Shields and Personal Force Field now credit during open missions.
- Note: Some open missions may not credit damage taken, please call those out.
In my experience, the Cosmics and DRA are still not counting shielding (or at least not nearly enough, if you focus on shielding instead of healing). This resulted in several "failed" Cosmic/DRA runs where despite being very active in shielding and protecting others over the anniversary, my L40 shield support did not meet the scoring threshhold. Never had this problem with any other character/playstyle in CO.
At a minimum, applying Protection / Mindful Reinforcement / Redirected Force should count. Ideally also some of the constant shielding IDF gives should count as with the healing from Nanites.