Engineering/Armor in 4.7

Quick Summary

• Shields take more damage from energy weapons

• Stronger armor at full health will not take damage from smaller weapons until armor health is reduced

• Life support is slower and costlier to maintain

• Missile explosions will no longer damage internal components inside a ship

• Ship's doors and elevators have more health, meaning they'll require more sustained fire to open

Detailed Notes

Shield Balance Update

• Buff to shield health across all ships

• Reduced gaps between shield variants to make their performance differences less extreme

• Energy weapons deal more damage to shields

Armor Balance Update

• Armor has minimum damage requirements

• When armor is at full health, certain smaller projectiles will no longer damage the armor, ship, hull, or internal components

• Once armor has been weakened and reaches a lower health state, smaller caliber weapons will begin to penetrate and deal damage

In general, heavier weapons or sustained damage are now required to break through strong armor before lighter weapons are effective.

Life Support Adjustments

• Increased Life Support cost to maintain the atmosphere

• Reduced the exchange rate between Life Support systems and rooms

• Reduced exchange rates between connected rooms

• Life Support generators will now also take longer to refill rooms and perform heat exchange

Basically, atmosphere management must be more deliberate, especially on larger ships where room-to-room air exchange plays a bigger role.