Let's Discuss Protection Modules

[DMR 675]

It should get a nerf, reduce maximum protection to 40%

[FrozenRailgun 1,771]

21 hours ago, Yveltal9 said:

It should get a nerf, reduce maximum protection to 40%

Absolutely not.

[wolverine848 13,097]

12 minutes ago, At_Shin said:

I think armadillo is useful, but not much. Some turrets deal 2x or 3x critical damage which is decreased by armadillo a bit. Armadillo protection is affected when your tank is applied with AP effect. 

A bit?

On any turret that has bonus critical damage (like Rail, Freeze, etc) 40%+ reduction would amount to more than "a bit".

It also negates the Supercharge ability since that creates Critical hits.

The following turrets have bonus damage that would be affected...

Fire / Freeze / Smoky (Autocanon LOL) / Striker/ Vulcan / Rail / Gauss / Shaft / Terminator

The list above is not insignificant.

 

[stat.padder 225]

I have had armadillo mk7 available for approximately 119 hours(in battle). I am pretty sure that I haven't used it all the time, I have had it unequipped for almost an hour. So it was almost useless for cca 1 hour out of 119 hours of battles, therefore my absolutely sensible conclusion is: armadillo is useless.

[LambSauce 1,883]

From playing a bit recently it seems that, compared to half a year ago, Shaft and Striker protections are an absolute necessity.

Shaft due to the shockingly large number of players camping with this turret in basically every match.

Striker due to its increased popularity and overall power.

Last year Magnum and Gauss protection was basically a must, however I’m not sure that’s the case anymore.

Is this a fair assessment?

[TheCongoSpider 8,942]

1 hour ago, LambSauce said:

From playing a bit recently it seems that, compared to half a year ago, Shaft and Striker protections are an absolute necessity.

Shaft due to the shockingly large number of players camping with this turret in basically every match.

Striker due to its increased popularity and overall power.

Last year Magnum and Gauss protection was basically a must, however I’m not sure that’s the case anymore.

Is this a fair assessment?

Turret diversity has been increased what with most of the turrets getting buffs. Whatever protection module you deem mandatory is usually a result of what you see in your own battles. I don't have that much of a problem with Shafts most of the time. My starting trio of protection modules since December has been Smoky, Striker and Gauss, with Gauss being the wild card that is most often changed, but they all can be changed depending on the diversity of turrets or enemy skill levels on the enemy team. 

 

While Striker protection is seen as a must, its potential can be quickly dashed away with one critical hit. You see your protection module working for the first two shots then suddenly you're near death on the third. Striker has unfair stats, yes. You have to hope that they aren't lucky when you're fighting against it. Just like Freeze. 

 

The only protection module that you can say has dropped off from its overall value is Thunder. The turret is so bad now and turret diversity is much better than the few years prior that more people are using other turrets now than Thunder alone. While there are select bottom tier turrets overall, I do not believe that any of them are so weak that it would be a crime to protect yourself against them. Thunder while it has poor stats, still has a template that is dangerous when under ideal circumstances. It's a common template with no additional gimmicks, but still fits the template. Subcalibre Rounds enhances this template a bit. 

 

[FrozenRailgun 1,771]

9 hours ago, LambSauce said:

Shaft due to the shockingly large number of players camping with this turret in basically every match.

WTH... I thought the recent Shaft rebalance reduce the number of campers.... 

[LambSauce 1,883]

23 minutes ago, FrozenRailgun said:

WTH... I thought the recent Shaft rebalance reduce the number of campers.... 

In the Brigadier to General ranks there’s a TON of them in basically every mode.

It also doesn’t help that I’m either matched up with Warrant Officers and Lieutenants or with Legends.

[FrozenRailgun 1,771]

Just now, LambSauce said:

In the Brigadier to General ranks there’s a TON of them in basically every mode.

It also doesn’t help that I’m either matched up with Warrant Officers and Lieutenants or with Legends.

[TheCongoSpider 8,942]

1 hour ago, FrozenRailgun said:

WTH... I thought the recent Shaft rebalance reduce the number of campers.... 

No, they just complained about their low brainpower gameplay being rightfully nerfed and went right back to camping as usual, not wanting try out the feature that the nerf was centred around. 

[Abellia 504]

On 2/13/2022 at 9:35 AM, wolverine848 said:

A bit?

On any turret that has bonus critical damage (like Rail, Freeze, etc) 40%+ reduction would amount to more than "a bit".

It also negates the Supercharge ability since that creates Critical hits.

The following turrets have bonus damage that would be affected...

Fire / Freeze / Smoky (Autocanon LOL) / Striker/ Vulcan / Rail / Gauss / Shaft / Terminator

The list above is not insignificant.

 

Firebird doesn't have bonus damage anymore, and Shaft only has a tiny bit of bonus damage. I'd say it's not just Autocannon for Smoky, also.

I think it reaaaaaaaaaally says something that taking double or triple damage on crits is so normalized that taking normal or one and a half times damage instead is "not much, only a bit." 

Edited February 20, 2022 by Abellia

[wolverine848 13,097]

On 2/19/2022 at 7:02 AM, TheCongoSpider said:

The only protection module that you can say has dropped off from its overall value is Thunder.

Well, since Rail has ~ 50% critical I'd say it falls into this category for the opposite reason.

[TheCongoSpider 8,942]

16 minutes ago, wolverine848 said:

Well, since Rail has ~ 50% critical I'd say it falls into this category for the opposite reason.

Ah right thanks, I forgot about that. I still use Railgun protection semi-regularly. It doesn't help as much as before but it helps. 

[0179432 146]

On 11/14/2021 at 11:30 PM, Desghidorah said:

Anyone got Armadillo? Is it good?

I usually leave the battle if more than a couple of opponents have it maxed out with a 9999. 

I've opened a few hundred ultra containers and yet to get it

Edited April 6, 2022 by 0179432

[Apis_the_Professor 335]

Is it necessary to upgrade firebird, isida and freeze protections more than 40%? Any advice regarding these modules?

[TheCongoSpider 8,942]

3 hours ago, Apis_the_Professor said:

Is it necessary to upgrade firebird, isida and freeze protections more than 40%? Any advice regarding these modules?

Certain modules can be stopped at certain numbers so you can use crystals elsewhere instead of committing to the exorbitant cost to 50% any module. Due to Firebird, Freeze, Isida, Vulcan, Ricochet and Twins being DPS turrets, there isn't really a set number to stop at because it ultimately boils down to "they'll kill you slower". There is no stark difference that can be made compared to the other turrets, where a difference of 1% could mean you survive something or don't. That said, 40% is an economical number to stop at for those modules until you may need to focus on one of them.

 

The number that you can stop at for these modules can change depending on what happens to them in balance changes. Some of them are high and some of them are low and within easy grasp. Everything below assumes that the turret that you are fighting is Mk7+ with Double Damage (Boosted Damage with a 20/20 drone) and that your hull is Mk7+. The current numbers as of 21/05/22 are: 

 

Quote

Hammer

39%

 

This pushes the final damage below 1,334, which will allow your light hull with DA to survive the 3-shot onslaught and use a repair kit. 

 

Quote

Tesla

39% 

This pushes the final damage per zap below 1,000 - the most important barrier at endgame. 

 

47%

This pushes the final damage per zap below 1,000 against Teslas that are using Booster. 

 

Quote

Smoky

43%

This pushes the final normal damage per shot below 667, allowing you to survive more shots overall, that number depending on the category of hull you use. 

 

Quote

Thunder 

48%

This pushes the final normal damage per shot below 750, allowing your medium hull to survive at least one more shot. 

 

Quote

Striker

45%

This pushes the final normal damage per shot below 1,000, allwing your hull to survive more shots overall, that number depending on the categroy of hull you use.

50% protection, however, will not help you against Strikers with Booster, because they innately break the 1,000 damage barrier. 

 

Quote

Railgun

 50%

This pushes Stock's final normal damage per shot below 1,000, allowing you to survive more shots overall, that number depending on the category of hull you use and how lucky that Railgun is with its critical hits. 

 

39%

This pushes Electromagnetic Accelerator "Scout's" final normal damage below 1,000, allowing you to survive more shots overall, that number depending on the category of hull you use and how lucky that Scout is with its critical hits.

 

44%

This pushes Round Stabilisation's final normal damage below 1,334, allowing you to survive more shots overall, that number depending on the category of hull you use and how lucky that RS is with its critical hits. 

 

Quote

Shaft

 45%

This pushes the final arcade normal damage below 750, allowing your medium hull to survive at least one more shot.

 

40%

This pushes the final sniping damage of Light Capacitors below 3,000, allowing your medium hull without DA to survive from full HP.

 

Quote

Gauss

45%

This pushes the final arcade normal damage below 750, allowing your medium hull to survive at least one more shot.

 

38%

This pushes the final sniping damage within the first 11m from impact below 2,000, allowing your light hull without DA to survive to use a repair kit. 

 

46%

This pushes the final sniping damage within the first 11m from impact below 2,000 against Gausses with Boooster, allowing your light hull without DA to survive to use a repair kit.

 

Quote

Magnum

45%

This pushes the final splash damage within the first 11m from impact below 1,500 and the splash damage between 11-20m from impact below 750, allowing your medium hull to survive more shots overall, that number depending on how lucky that Magnum gets its critical hits in the 10m-from-impact radius. 

[krokorok 836]

I wish they had the decency of lowering the cost of Protection modules and their MUs given how utterly useless they are half of the time (if not most of the time).

[wolverine848 13,097]

Does Armadillo module (maxed out) cut the entire critical hit damage in half?  Does not just affect the "boost" damage?

example... every other (stock) Rail hit will only do 755 damage, even if Falcon module is not equipped?

[TheCongoSpider 8,942]

On 8/10/2022 at 10:43 PM, wolverine848 said:

Does Armadillo module (maxed out) cut the entire critical hit damage in half?  Does not just affect the "boost" damage?

example... every other (stock) Rail hit will only do 755 damage, even if Falcon module is not equipped?

Yes. Armadillo is a module for critical damage specifically, just like Grizzly module is a module for Thunder damage specifically. 

[wolverine848 13,097]

On 8/11/2022 at 2:28 PM, TheCongoSpider said:

Yes. Armadillo is a module for critical damage specifically, just like Grizzly module is a module for Thunder damage specifically. 

So... aside from crystal-costs, not sure why anyone would not equip it.  It's replacement-plus for a Falcon module, and then it gives you benefits against all other turrets as well.  Some more than others... but still...

[v_C 15]

The Armadillo module, properly upgraded, is the single most powerful piece of equipment in this game.

But as the game will not allow the loading of battles for most players since Wednesday noon, the Armadillo module is as irrelevant as any other piece of equipment.

[TheCongoSpider 8,942]

On 8/11/2022 at 6:20 PM, wolverine848 said:

It's replacement-plus for a Falcon module, 

A bit outdated, aren't we? Railgun no longer has a high critical hit rate like when you were still playing. It technically has the current highest critical hit parameters after Smoky, but the firing rate is what brings it down. That particular critical hit scheme works well with faster-firing/higher hit rate turrets like Scout Railgun, Thunder, Scorpion, Shaft and Magnum (there all share the same numbers). Stock Railgun is unfortunate in that it has the lowest firing rate out of all of them and it needs accuracy to advance the critical chances. Basically current Stock Railgun isn't good. 

 

Instead, Armadillo just protects you against everything. Some turrets, like Thunder, Hammer, Shaft and Magnum have had their critical hit rates increased whether that be in the numbers (all of them) or in the firing rates (Magnum, Thunder, Smoky, Hammer). Some of them are accompanied by increased critical damage. Thunder with x1.25, Shaft with x1.39, Magnum whose boost isn't that high but it deals above 1,500 which can one-shot an unprotected medium hull or combine with the normal damage to deal 6,000 damage (2,880 + 3,260 = 6,140). Hammer has x1 critical damage still but its recent direct damage buff makes it more fearsom.

Currently, Armadillo doesn't single out a particular Stock turret like it did with Railgun back in 2021. The balance changes made to turrets since you've stopped playing have made the critical damages more synergistic than outright overpowered (like Striker's x2 critical damage in 2021). Taking Thunder for example, its critical damage bonus isn't that high, x1.25, but it synergises with the normal damage to give you a -1 shots to kill on a medium hull. 900 + 900 + 1,200 will kill the medium hull in  3 hits while 900 + 900 + 900 would require a fourth shot. Magnum would have 1,440 + 1,630 to 2-shot a medium hull while 1,440 + 1,440 would require a third shot. A benefit of Armadillo in this case is breaking this synergy up. A Thunder won't be able to 3-shot you with the synergy, it would need 4 shots. A Magnum won't be able to one-shot you when you don't have DA active, it will need another shot. It's many little things around the game that come together to give Armadillo its value. 

 

And yes Armadillo is a nice counter to the Supercharge status applied by Hornet and Dictator's Overdrives. 

[wolverine848 13,097]

On 8/11/2022 at 8:19 PM, TheCongoSpider said:

A bit outdated, aren't we? Railgun no longer has a high critical hit rate like when you were still playing.

Is it my fault the entire WIKI is completly out of date? Shows Rail with 50% avg crit.

Also shows Fire+100% dmg.  Freeze +200% dmg. Striker +100% dmg.  Vulcan +100% dmg. Gauss +100%.

I find it a bit odd that you go out of your way to point out I'm out-of-date. Does not detract from my main point which  is... Armadillo's effective damage reduction is quite significant.    

[Frylock 1,617]

On 8/11/2022 at 7:14 PM, wolverine848 said:

Is it my fault the entire WIKI is completly out of date? Shows Rail with 50% avg crit.

Also shows Fire+100% dmg.  Freeze +200% dmg. Striker +100% dmg.  Vulcan +100% dmg. Gauss +100%.

I find it a bit odd that you go out of your way to point out I'm out-of-date. Does not detract from my main point which  is... Armadillo's effective damage reduction is quite significant.    

Here is the link to the DE wiki it is always updated if you need to check something. https://de.tankiwiki.com/?attempt=1

Edited August 12, 2022 by Hiroyukisa

[TheCongoSpider 8,942]

On 8/11/2022 at 10:14 PM, wolverine848 said:

Is it my fault the entire WIKI is completly out of date? 

You would realise parts of it are out of date if you were playing with the equipment in-game. 

 

On 8/11/2022 at 10:14 PM, wolverine848 said:

I find it a bit odd that you go out of your way to point out I'm out-of-date. Does not detract from my main point which  is... Armadillo's effective damage reduction is quite significant.    

It was to fully explain the current situation with Armadillo, which is different to how it was when you were playing. Critical hit chances, damages, firing rates, and ranges for turrets have changed a lot since you've last played. And as Hiroyukisa said, use the DE Wiki if you want information that is most up-to-date. It may not always be 100% reflective of what is happening in the game but it is the most reliable.