Shielding Confusion

Loftus
Loftus Posts: 79 Match Maker
edited May 2015 in MPQ Tips and Guides
Hi all.

Can somebody explain shielding in pvp to me please? i've never bought one (as i'm trying to collect all the characters so want to keep HP for roster slots) but i see many people talking about high-end pvp and shielding is nearly always mentioned. I see different time-length shields cost differing amounts of HP, but i know when you attack you break it and are able to be attacked again.

Could someone please explain them to me (in-depth, if possible) and give pros and cons for using them? I've finished top 5 in pvp events a handful of times but quite often as soon as i start approaching the top few players i get attacked from all angles.

Thanks in advance icon_e_biggrin.gif

Comments

  • spatenfloot
    spatenfloot Posts: 670 Critical Contributor
    If you are shielded, you do not lose points when you get attacked. You also will not appear in the nodes to be attacked. People who already had you in the queue before you shielded will still see you.
  • Arondite
    Arondite Posts: 1,188 Chairperson of the Boards
    Essentially, top end pvp'ers use shields in the following way

    Push to any number of points you can comfortably push to without "hopping"
    Begin "hopping" in the final hours of an event

    0 Hour - Play 2 Matches, Begin 3 Hour Shield, Set timer for Hour 8
    Hour 2 - Break Shield, play 2 Matches, Begin 8 Hour Shield immediately after matches, Set timer for Hour 10
    Hour 8 - Break Shield, play 2 Matches, begin 3 Hour Shield immediately after matches, set timer for Hour 11

    Rinse repeat until the event ends.
  • Loftus
    Loftus Posts: 79 Match Maker
    Thanks for the replies.

    The bit i don't quite understand is.. why?

    If shields cost 75 HP a pop, by shield hopping wouldn't you be spending hundreds of HP for a maximum of a 100 HP reward? Or is it simply about trying to obtain the star.pngstar.pngstar.pngstar.png cover that usually comes with finishing first?
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    The 4* progression at 1000 is impossible to obtain without shield hopping, which incidentally, uses both 75HP and 150HP shields.

    Many people can't win a 3* cover (which would cost 1250HP to buy outright) without using at least one shield. Or, it saves a lot of effort of having to 'defend' your rank by constantly grabbing points as they're being grabbed off of you.

    Most shielders only use one shield per PVP. At more competitive levels, you need to use more.
  • Arondite
    Arondite Posts: 1,188 Chairperson of the Boards
    Loftus wrote:
    Thanks for the replies.

    The bit i don't quite understand is.. why?

    If shields cost 75 HP a pop, by shield hopping wouldn't you be spending hundreds of HP for a maximum of a 100 HP reward? Or is it simply about trying to obtain the star.pngstar.pngstar.pngstar.png cover that usually comes with finishing first?

    Yo wouldn't do this unless you're going for broke - 3 Star or 4 Star progression/placement rewards.

    If you spend less than 2500 sheild hopping for a 4 Star, you've actually saved HP. If you spend less than 1250 hopping for a 3 Star, again, you've actually saved HP.
  • Loftus
    Loftus Posts: 79 Match Maker
    thank you arondite & daibar, that makes a lot more sense. I guess where i was looking at HP for roster slots at the incentive to do well in tournaments, the top players are looking to get specific 3/4 star covers, and so the HP cost is worth it.

    One last thing. When you buy a shield and then attack somebody, do you have to buy a whole new shield or do your previous shield continue from where it was?
  • spatenfloot
    spatenfloot Posts: 670 Critical Contributor
    If you attack, the shield goes away and you will have to buy another one.
  • wymtime
    wymtime Posts: 3,769 Chairperson of the Boards
    Loftus wrote:
    thank you arondite & daibar, that makes a lot more sense. I guess where i was looking at HP for roster slots at the incentive to do well in tournaments, the top players are looking to get specific 3/4 star covers, and so the HP cost is worth it.

    One last thing. When you buy a shield and then attack somebody, do you have to buy a whole new shield or do your previous shield continue from where it was?
    Yes your shield goes away. Also shields have a cool down period so if you buy a 3HR shield you have to wait 8HRs from when you bought the shield to use the 3HR shield again. If you break shield you have to the use a different shield, so in this example a 8HR shield or a 24hr shield.

    You Gould only be shield hopping if you are looking to score 800 points plus. If you are not able to get the HP progressions you can go HP negative preety quickly.
  • TxMoose
    TxMoose Posts: 4,319 Chairperson of the Boards
    wymtime wrote:
    Loftus wrote:
    thank you arondite & daibar, that makes a lot more sense. I guess where i was looking at HP for roster slots at the incentive to do well in tournaments, the top players are looking to get specific 3/4 star covers, and so the HP cost is worth it.

    One last thing. When you buy a shield and then attack somebody, do you have to buy a whole new shield or do your previous shield continue from where it was?
    Yes your shield goes away. Also shields have a cool down period so if you buy a 3HR shield you have to wait 8HRs from when you bought the shield to use the 3HR shield again. If you break shield you have to the use a different shield, so in this example a 8HR shield or a 24hr shield.

    You Gould only be shield hopping if you are looking to score 800 points plus. If you are not able to get the HP progressions you can go HP negative preety quickly.
    negative hp can be very bad for f2p players unless you hit the jackpot in a taco or ultron token, but can make sense if it is a character you would consider buying a cover for anyway (think of it as buying a cover at a deeply discounted price...if it provides the extra covers where you wouldn't have made it without it). if it pushes you over a threshold for an extra cover it can make sense. if it doesn't push you over any threshold (i.e. lets you finish t100, t25, or reach ~800, if you wouldn't have otherwise), it really makes no sense at all. last season I dabbled with shields more because I coveted the featured characters more. this season the only event I've done more than a 3 hr at the end was for the blade reward. the rest I finished t100 and moved on (got one t50 with defensive wins during the last hr).
  • Rogan_Josh
    Rogan_Josh Posts: 140 Tile Toppler
    Don't worry too much about shield hopping if you're not in a competitive alliance.

    Shielding at the end of a PvP is very useful though. It's worth securing a good score if you've ranked well in your bracket.

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