This is something i did awhile ago after i bought my first Aegis and wondered if it was truly worth it.

Shield Aegis costs 100 X-Charge cells and 200 shield amps.
It gives 300 shield and then an extra 5%

Considering just the worth of shield.
3700 is the break even point

If your shield is less than 3700, then you would receive more shield from using the 100 X-Charge cells

For those of us who value deck space a great deal and don't fill our ship with all the crappy trinkets just because they look so pretty.

You need 8000 shield to make the Aegis worth it
Reason why i say 8000

Heavy Obviation Shield has a shield/deck ratio of 10.75
Aegis is 20 deck space so it should be worth 20 * 10.75 = 215

So if your shield is 8000
Using the X-Charge you would have 8500
Using the Aegis you would have 8715 which is the break even point

But wait! Tree you can build 3 Aegis which each adds 5% so how does that affect it?
I am glad you asked that.

If your shield is 7000

*3 aegis = 60 deck so 645 shield needed to make it equal with obviation barrier worth

Long story short, get the Aegis whenever you want.
I just wanted to inform everyone of what they are actually getting for the price they pay

That's all very good, I applaud you for taking the time to work that all out. But one thing you missed. After you have 3 Aegis, each new XCharge is now 5*1.05*1.05*1.05=5.788125 which rounds to 6. You'll be gaining shield strength faster if you already have the Aegis. I can't be bothered with extensive math at the moment to show a more accurate "break even" point though.

I know what you mean with the Aegis counting each X-Charge.

I didn't think that would be worth showing (don't want to scare people away with a huge post)
However there are probably plenty of people like myself who have bought 1 shield Aegis not considering the math

Even counting the extra 5% to each X-Charge you will be gaining shield faster but playing catch up.
(Unless you are saying the game rounds up to 6 each time you use a X-charge cell and doesn't keep track of the decimals, i will check this myself the next few days)

Example
2 identical ships that receive the same amount of X charge cells
They both have 5000 shield with 1 Aegis

Ship A agrees with me and keeps adding X-Charge cells
Ship B saves for Aegis

100 X charge cells later...
Ship A now has 5525 shield
Aegis have shield/deck ratio of 3.154
Ship B now has 5564 shield
Both aegis have shield/deck ratio of 2.935

So while yes you will have more shield, your shield aegis is an even crappier shield/deck ratio

All of this math will change depending on what you consider a good ratio.

if you have low shield then is really not worth it but when you have a massive shield the percent you gain is worth the xcharge you wasted in making them in the 1st place.

Oh the best part I love about having high shield is if you have high defense the damage you take from NPCing will be negated by shield regeneration. meaning you will not need to repair your hull.

Put logic aside and do what feels right
Got my first aegis at rank 169. One of the best things to happen to me. 29 x-charges away from my second, at rank 175.

The Capacitor is essentially retro-active for Cells already used; you don't actually gain more than 5 even with the Capacitor, you just have extra while you have the Capacitor installed. The original 3700 is the number at which to start saving (unless you're looking at deck efficiency as well).

I agree with this because all that math just makes my head hurt. I am just over rank 500 and have all 3 Capacitors. I have only one researched shield mod installed on my ship, a bunch of the T.O. NPC drops and other small mods. With all three Capacitors my current shield is over 5300 and 3400 without. So currently those add 1900 to my shield numbers, more than what the 300 X-Charge Cells alone would have given me (1500). That is a big enough number for me to say it was worth the time to collect the necessary arts to make these. These capacitors also take up 60 deck space which the X-Charge alone would not (they take zero space). My personal thought process is to install as much attack, defense and shield NPC dropped mods as I can so I go for a lot of deck space.

One last thing to keep in mind, these capacitors come from the base lab. Not all bases have these discovered. I had to hop legions to get my last Capacitor because my home legion doesn't have them in the lab. If your home base has these discovered then by all means go ahead and get them. If not you need to balance the time it takes to do a legion hop. This is one week in the host legion and another back in your home legion to get back to full loyal status.

What it all boils down to is that PhantasyStar said.

Your numbers are off , even at 3499 shields adding all 3 Aegis Capacitors would only put you up to 5092.

They can't be off because I am just reading from my screen with them installed and uninstalled. I really didn't want to put exact numbers because this is personal ship data but to be fully clear here they are:

ZERO Capacitors installed: 3398
1 Aegis Capacitor installed: 3988
2 Aegis Capacitors installed: 4628
3 Aegis Capacitors installed: 5322

No other changes to my ship have occurred. According to the Wiki and in-game information each capacitor adds 300 shield then 5% more. That still doesn't explain the difference between the expected result and the shown result above.

3398 + 300 = 3698
3698 +5% = 3882.9

(3400+300+300+300)*1.05*1.05*1.05=4978, not 5300.... So yeah, something off.

I am experiencing something similar.
Without aegis my shield is 2786
With it is 3345
(2786+300)*1.05 = 3240

im getting 104 extra shield from somewhere

Dan messed up, it isn't giving +300
It is giving +400

Using Kaytrims data
(3398+400)*1.05=3988
(3398+400+400)*1.05*1.05=4628
(3398+400+400)*1.05*1.05*1.05=5323

Dan is fixing it
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=21243

Oh right, I feel like strangling you now

Your Numbers are screwy..



1. If you ignore the possibility of equipping any shields at all, assuming you will ONLY use XCharge Cells to add to your Shield (note several other items CAN and DO add to your shield!) Then the point at which adding the Aegis shields will give you more shield then 100 Xcharge are as follows:
For 1 Aegis: 3720
For 2 Aegis: 3313
For 3 Aegis: 2913

It seems an obvious course of action to use XCharge Cells until you have 2913 Shields, and then buy Aegis Units until you have three. the Increase in shields over the course of those 300 Xcharge Cells will only be 1500, but the three Aegis Units will net you 1501.

However, there are a lot of other ways to gain shields either through modules or through Lazuli Parts Vaults, or through Missions, or through Mission Tier rewards.

All of that means you can reach 2913 shield without only using XCharge Cells.

now, it's true that you've used 60 space for the 1501 shields, and you COULD have used 0 space for 1500, but now every shield item you add gets the 1.157625 Multiplier (AKA 115.7625% Bonus) from the three Aegis.

This is important to realize, while I see your point about the break even for Heavy Obviator Shields being 215 Bonus on top of that 500 it's flawed.

1st off, your numbers are again off because you don't take into account the compounding Bonus. If you want to Break Even with an Obviator Shield in Shield per Space BEYOND what you get from the XCharge Cells then with three Aegis, the Break Even is 7000 Shield while with one, it is 8000 as you suggested. You aren't taking into account the compounded effect the Aegis had in both instances.

Also the Heavy Obviator Shield is a long way down the research chain, and the Aeigis break even with Say a Heavy Stasis Shield at about 116 (6000 Shield Base) for one or 349 (5125 Shield Base) for 3.

It also doesn't take into account that the upkeep and (therefore) repair cost is FAR lower for an aegis than for one of these other modules, which is also important for a ship to keep in mind at each of those points. Sure, the Xcharge Cells would technically be adding less additional shield than if you added xcharge cells and one of the more expensive modules, but they also only take 20 space, 60 total, and cost very little upkeep comparatively, and you are still getting more additional shield than JUST the XCharges themselves.

By the time you have about 2913 Shield you probably have some basic shields researched and on your ship, call me crazy, but it seems more useful to dedicate 60 space to shield modules which give you the bonus, let yourself keep accruing the XCharge cells, and not even bother researching heavier shields until you are done with most of the other research. In Fact I myself didn't bother researching shields very far until almost every other searching line had been completed. Hull is a far more useful research line than shields. so in the face of the low-ranked shields Aegis are great too.

Anyway, regardless, the "better than" is 2913, if you are looking to replace one of your Heavy Obviator Shields the break even is 7000.

I am tired and need sleep. lol. Good Night.

-Q

I just wanted to educate others on this matter. I have seen a handful of rank 200 or below with an Aegis on and no other shield modules and i doubt they have more than 2000 shield.

If you are a leader or an officer in your legion and some rank 70 is telling you about how they are saving X-charge cells for this module. Educate them.

I will try to keep my math explanations simplified because i think most of you don't want to see everything. Feel free to ask for the long drawn out version

I think one of the most important things I brought up is the likely best times to consider buying an Aegis verses getting more XCharge Cells comes much sooner than 3700. Considering that Shields should be a low priority research, it's most likely that you should devote 60 Deck space to 3x Aegis Capacitors at 2907 or 2913 Shields (depending is you want to break even first or wait until you get an actual bonus for having the Aegis verses the XCharge Cells First):

[I Edited the quote to include additional Information.]

[quote=QCubed]1. If you ignore the possibility of equipping any shields at all, assuming you will ONLY use XCharge Cells to add to your Shield (note several other items CAN and DO add to your shield!) Then the point at which adding the Aegis shields will give you more shield then 100 Xcharge are as follows:

Aegis BREAKS EVEN with XCharge Cells:
1x Aegis: 3700 Shield (500 either way)
2x Aegis: 3303 Shield (1000 either way)
3x Aegis: 2907 Shield (1500 either way)

Aegis Gives MORE than XCharge Cells:
1x Aegis: 3720 Shield (501 from 1 Aegis)
2x Aegis: 3313 Shield (1001 from 2 Aegis)
3x Aegis: 2913 Shield (1501 from 3 Aegis)


The Best course of action if you are not putting heavy research into Shields would be to Wait until 2907 or 2913 Shields (Player Preference, but I would suggest that 2907 is "more" favorable) and then use all further XCharge Cells to apply to Aegis until you have three before returning to applying them directly.
[/quote]

What's More is that the % bonus applies to all shields installed, so if you are 2907 shield Base, and then you have 5x Heavy Stasis Shields attached, and Deck Space is at a premium, then the Aegis are still a better call, why? Because 5x Heavy Stasis Shields give 1165 Shield for 200 Space. If you are maxed out on Shields, then for 60 Space you get an additional 58 Shield verses adding 300 Excharge Cells, while this is only 1 approximately a 1:1 bonus, it IS a bonus verses not adding the aegis.

However, lets be frank you probably only have a couple if any of the shields installed until MUCH later int he game, by which point the math will be a moot point.

So If you have limited space available for shields, then you probably want to dedicate the space to the 60 Space for Three Aegis at this point, and get the inherent bonus to your XCharge cells and other shield bonuses you add.

Even if you DO do the research of the shield line early on, it's mostly just useful for the planet structures. The upkeep is huge and the space required is huge, verses a small upkeep kick and a small space requirement kick to add the 3x Aegis, which make any passive or even small shield bonus modules you add worth more.

Yes if you look at it as 60 Space for 5% Bonus the proper break even is 7000 Shield verses Heavy Obviator shields, but those take 260 space by themselves, which is a huge premium. 5120 verses Heavy Stasis Shields which take 200 Space by themselves.

However how long will it take you to reach the next tier of research, and how long will it take you to be able to afford the upkeep, and how long will it take you to get the Deck to upgrade them?

If you have 60 deck free, and 2907 shield base, equip the aegis, and consider them sunken cost permanent -60 deck, and you are probably doing very well.

If most of your Shield bonus comes from modules instead of XCharge Cells, then you get into a "Bidding War" of sorts between what the best Shield/Deck Ratio Modules you have available to you are. (Most likely they are NPC / Mission Dropped) and how many you can fit, verses the bonus from the Aegis.

I have to agree it's not a completely simple answer; but I felt that the Original Post was a bit miss-leading, it almost makes the Aegis seem completely useless.

If you have 60 Extra deck to Spare with all your Shield Modules equipped, and nothing to equip in that 60 space that you would rather have other than a shield bonus, than 2907 or 2913 shield is the magic number no matter how you slice it. If you have more than 2913 shield then you can start playing the game of "is the bonus verses UN-INSTALLING Shield Module X Worth it.

However once you Buy an Aegis, it's always best to consider it a sunken cost and never un-equip it because when you un-equip it you got get 500 bonus to the ship in exchange for the Aegis. That is part of why it's a moot point, you need to make the call based on 2907 sheild, and your available deck and modules at that time. if you have 5x of your max shields available to you online at that time, and are just hitting 2907 or 2913 shield, I argue do the Aegis, you are quite likely to make 60 deck space int he time it takes to save 300 XCharge Cells

Okay I'm sorry I am rambling/ranking, I'll stop now.

-Q

I researched to Fermionics, because the hull/deck ratio was much higher then Obviators, then researched the first level of Obv's for the Obviator planet structures

I will agree, my original post is a bit misleading. I will do a better job next time i do a math rant

I still consider the 7000 shield to be the break even but that is just for me and the way I am running my ship with 0 shield modules on and most trinkets uninstalled because I don't think they are worth raising my damage cap.

I also think shield modules are extremely useless until much later on in the game or unless you are someone who has lots of patience and likes to pick off npcs while their shields recharge.

There are a couple people that are following my footsteps and this is for them, I just thought i should share this tidbit with the public for some feedback.
Now the next time someone asks me I can point them towards this post so mission accomplished.