Does the Plasmonic Leech stack well with the MACO shield? I ask because I read somewhere that the power stack mechanic from the Shield will interfere with stacks from the Leech.
The effect of the shield resets the effect of the leech when triggered meaning the cancel each other out.
However that said this only apples to the Adapted MACO set.
TBH, your better off with Borg or Elite Fleet
I ran borg and elite fleet depending on enemy until I got a elite AMP warp core then I changed to adapted honor guard with leech and now all 4 powers are well over 75 with weapons at 125 and aux set to 77 before bonus power applied.
that 12.12% damage bonus is nice and noticeable.
Trophies for killing FEDS ahh those were the days.
Decronia is correct in that there is overwriting involved, but the actual mechanics are a little weird.
Leech and the MACO shield both work by granting you a silent passive buff with a set duration. This buff gives you X new "fresh" bonus power to all systems ONCE and then increases your current ships energy levels by an identical amount for its duration (this means if you use up the bonus power, you can regenerate it again until the buff's duration expires)
You keep the lingering energy level buff until it expires or gets overwritten. If it gets overwritten by the SAME power (e.g. Leech gets overwritten by Leech) it will stack: up to 5 in the case of the MACO shield, or 8 in the case of Leech.
The problem is that if Leech gets overwritten by the MACO shield or vice-versa, this lingering buff won't stack. This is because the two abilities use the same type of passive buff and don't care/know about each other.
However, each time either ability triggers you will still get that first initial boost of "fresh" bonus power regardless of stacking... so even whenever the lingering energy level buffs end up overwriting each other, you'll still get a burst of "fresh" power coming into your systems.
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In MOST situations, you'll not want to use Leech and the MACO shield together because of all the boosts you can get from stacking the lingering power level buff. Having somewhere in the region of 15-25 extra power (depending on your Flow Capacitor's skill) in all systems is very powerful.
But in certain situations, getting "fresh" energy more regularly can also be useful because it counteracts energy drains extremely well.
In practice, the only real situation where using both the MACO shield and the Leech console together might be considered useful is whenever you're already at 125 Weapons Power, are running Cannon weaponry, and are being shot at regularly (to trigger the MACO buff). Unlike beams, the energy drain from firing multiple cannons simultaneously can't be counteracted by overcapping weapons power... but it can still be somewhat counteracted via injecting fresh weapons energy into the system during the firing cycle. The upshot is that Tanky Cannon builds can deal slightly more damage over time, at the expense of not being able to stack up higher energy levels in their other systems.
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However that said this only apples to the Adapted MACO set.
TBH, your better off with Borg or Elite Fleet
I ran borg and elite fleet depending on enemy until I got a elite AMP warp core then I changed to adapted honor guard with leech and now all 4 powers are well over 75 with weapons at 125 and aux set to 77 before bonus power applied.
that 12.12% damage bonus is nice and noticeable.
Adapted Maco ist fine. The Problem is the resilient shield of Maco (and Adapted Honor Guard).
That said, the Plamonic leech is far superior in effect than those shields, so Maco is now pretty much trash.
Go with Fleet Elite or Adapted Maco (which is a covariant shield, the same as normal Honor Guard).
Leech and the MACO shield both work by granting you a silent passive buff with a set duration. This buff gives you X new "fresh" bonus power to all systems ONCE and then increases your current ships energy levels by an identical amount for its duration (this means if you use up the bonus power, you can regenerate it again until the buff's duration expires)
You keep the lingering energy level buff until it expires or gets overwritten. If it gets overwritten by the SAME power (e.g. Leech gets overwritten by Leech) it will stack: up to 5 in the case of the MACO shield, or 8 in the case of Leech.
The problem is that if Leech gets overwritten by the MACO shield or vice-versa, this lingering buff won't stack. This is because the two abilities use the same type of passive buff and don't care/know about each other.
However, each time either ability triggers you will still get that first initial boost of "fresh" bonus power regardless of stacking... so even whenever the lingering energy level buffs end up overwriting each other, you'll still get a burst of "fresh" power coming into your systems.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
In MOST situations, you'll not want to use Leech and the MACO shield together because of all the boosts you can get from stacking the lingering power level buff. Having somewhere in the region of 15-25 extra power (depending on your Flow Capacitor's skill) in all systems is very powerful.
But in certain situations, getting "fresh" energy more regularly can also be useful because it counteracts energy drains extremely well.
In practice, the only real situation where using both the MACO shield and the Leech console together might be considered useful is whenever you're already at 125 Weapons Power, are running Cannon weaponry, and are being shot at regularly (to trigger the MACO buff). Unlike beams, the energy drain from firing multiple cannons simultaneously can't be counteracted by overcapping weapons power... but it can still be somewhat counteracted via injecting fresh weapons energy into the system during the firing cycle. The upshot is that Tanky Cannon builds can deal slightly more damage over time, at the expense of not being able to stack up higher energy levels in their other systems.
Personally, I just tend to go with Leech