Improvement: Division of Personal Defenses: Shields, Armor, and Utility

[Neurotoxin]

The main discussion is here, on the PS2 forums.

This proposition is for a division of personal defenses, so that a player can further specify the defenses they want for the situation. Instead of only being able to equip one Shield Capacitor upgrade, one Armor upgrade, or one Utility upgrade, the player should have the ability to select modifications for each one. The goal is to allow players to choose a shield type, armor type, and one utility, that fits the class needs for their situation.

On the Customization screen, the current place for armor would need to be expanded or redesigned to let the player see all the items they have equipped for personal defense. This way, the player can actually specify all three items that would be a part of their personal defense and utility capabilities.

The Advanced shield capacitor could easily be changed to be the default one, with no extra bonuses without the player spending certs to upgrade. The player would also have the option of unlocking other shield generators, and could specify the type of shield generator they have equipped. (Maybe one that is weaker but start charging faster, or is even weaker but never stops recharging, or even one that is stronger but needs an engineer to recharge it)

Basic body armor could stay as is, or otherwise become like Nanoweave level 0 and require certs to make it more effective (like with the shield generator detailed above). Additional armor would need to be unlocked with certs.

Utility would be empty by default for all classes. Every class would need to unlock it's own specific Utility upgrades, such as the Grenade Bandolier. Only one could be equipped at a time, but it would be accessible while using defenses that are better than the default defenses, rather than being used instead of improved defenses like we see now.



My main inspiration for this is playing as an Engineer, having the choice of a Utility Pouch OR Flak Armor. Lemme tell ya, I deal with a lot of explosives, and I don't always get to make a clean getaway. So I have to choose between limiting my ability to place explosives or my ability to survive them. It makes no sense that the armor and shield can't be upgraded separately, and that a functional upgrade for armor can only be used for the basic armor.


I understand that this probably wouldn't go in for at least a few weeks if the team decides to do it (unless they are already planning on it) and so I'd like to discuss it here to see if it is a good idea, and how it can further be designed or developed. If a similar discussion already exists, please provide a link so we can leverage that discussion as well. Thanks!