The Riot Shield And You

[TopHatPenguin]

I want to find out people's opinions on the riot shield , such as too Op Please nerf or it's fine how it is.

[Mycroft Macarthur]

i've experimented with the riot shield abit and i can say that the riot shield is REALLY really good for its uses, but the uses in question are quite limited.

the problem is less the shield itself and more what you can use with it, riot shield is essentially the only reason you want an SMG since as engineer you can just stop wielding m41a's or shotguns with both hands and use the now free hand for your tools (unless you keep them in a box in your pack) but the SMG is so complete garbage you may as well not even bother, revolver at least has good damage but the shield takes up your reloading hand so reloading becomes a pain (and with the revolver you will have to do it often, never mind cramming your pack, armor and/or pockets with speed loaders), you could try using the pistol (which MIGHT suck less then the smg) but as before, you may not even bother.

where the shield TRULY (and in my opinion, only) shines is when you pair it with a knife.

the shield does not protect against pounces, huggers or most other alien abilities (i think it stops sentinel neurotoxin but thats basically it) ergo the shield is only TRULY useful against other humans (which we almost NEVER fight) or for wading into melee and if you have a shield, MELEE IS WHERE YOU WANT TO BE! it will basically not do anything at range since the aliens have so few ranged attacks but it could keep your ass alive in close quarters engagements and it does so REALLY well (assuming the aliens only use regular attacks and not their abilities, which they are LESS likely to do if you keep them busy by stabbing the SHIT out of them, which can actually be quite scary since those knives can do solid damage if you can get more then one swing in).

what confuses me the most about the shield is that people who grab it always hide in the back or they chill somewhere, the point of the shield is to charge in like some psychotic motherfucker, keeping the aliens busy and distracted, they cant hide behind a wall if suddenly you move in behind them and STAB THE SHIT OUT OF THEM! the confusion can be just what the marines need to advance the lines and win the day, aliens are so used to marines just hanging back and firing guns at them endlessly that if you charge in, if you dont go down IMMEDIATELY from huggers, screech or pounce they're in some serious trouble now, some alien classes wont even be able to attack you at ALL because you may be covered by their sprite so they cant click on you (your job by comparison becomes WAY easier, its almost impossible to not be able to spam that stab action).

and thats....basically it, outside of melee the shield is only really useful at all against ranged attacks, which the aliens have very few of, i feel like i see sentinels and praetorians less and less often in my playthroughs and at best they should only represent a third or so of the alien forces, its literally only good for that one thing and if its melee defense was reduced we may as well stop using it altogether, by contrast if we wanted to improve it then either we should improve its utility (perhaps it can block some alien abilities like pounce and any huggers that an alien isn't directly attacking you with) or make it better at what its already good for, perhaps such as an occaisional shield bash (use the shield on an enemy with a given intent, knock their ass down for abit, you are now free to stab, or perhaps it just pushes them to another, nearby square)

just my thoughts, its more or less fine as is, its REALLY good for its intended purposes, its just that we dont need those purposes very often so you may as well not bother grabbing one at all unless you intend to go FULL spartan, "in the tiny hallways of virology the aliens greater numbers will count for nothing as they slam against our shields"

[Dabbster]

the problem is less the shield itself and more what you can use with it, riot shield is essentially the only reason you want an SMG since as engineer you can just stop wielding m41a's or shotguns with both hands and use the now free hand for your tools (unless you keep them in a box in your pack) but the SMG is so complete garbage you may as well not even bother, revolver at least has good damage but the shield takes up your reloading hand so reloading becomes a pain (and with the revolver you will have to do it often, never mind cramming your pack, armor and/or pockets with speed loaders), you could try using the pistol (which MIGHT suck less then the smg) but as before, you may not even bother.

what confuses me the most about the shield is that people who grab it always hide in the back or they chill somewhere, the point of the shield is to charge in like some psychotic motherfucker, keeping the aliens busy and distracted, they cant hide behind a wall if suddenly you move in behind them and STAB THE SHIT OUT OF THEM! the confusion can be just what the marines need to advance the lines and win the day, aliens are so used to marines just hanging back and firing guns at them endlessly that if you charge in, if you dont go down IMMEDIATELY from huggers, screech or pounce they're in some serious trouble now, some alien classes wont even be able to attack you at ALL because you may be covered by their sprite so they cant click on you (your job by comparison becomes WAY easier, its almost impossible to not be able to spam that stab action).

Yeah, I used to do Riot Shield + SAW, but one handed weapons are too useless I feel.
I think the problem with the shield guy not going in first, is the marines are always pushing each other to be the first one to get where they're going, so they try to go around shield guy if you're infront. But yeah, Riot shield seems to only be good at stopping neurotoxin, since it doesn't effect aliens tackling.

I would say it's fine right now, if it's only job is to block neurotoxin throwing aliens. (Or aliens using Harm intent)
Otherwise I guess a tiny buff would be already

[MrJJJ]

Riot shield does block pounces and neurotoxin, it's a random chance though, and blocking the pounce just results in a alien being stunned for VERY short second, not even enough to kill him unless you have a energy gun.

But yea, shield is not much use...

[Davidchan]

Riot shield, for the most part is fine. If I had to rate it as a 1 being underpowered and 10 being over powered, I'd put it a 3.5-4.

If it could block huggers, specifically those thrown Carriers or other Xenos, but also just huggers in general, I'd say it'd be just about perfect. I don't expect the shield to prevent a larger and stronger creature from attacking me, 90% of the time I use one is because I am TIRED of being pushed around by other marines. A sawed off or side-arm rated Shotgun that could be used with a shield would be nice (thinking Locomotive from Payday 1/2) it would be a pretty well rounded set.

Having to stow your gun or drop the shield to reload is annoying to no end, but it's something I'm willing to put with for extra protection against marines being idiots and nearly pushing me into nests or shoving me away from doors/walls I'm trying to engineer.

[Infernus]

I always use the riot shield with an SMG. It can block up to 5-6 bullets in a row, has a descent chance to block the alien pouncing you, fairly good chance of blocking neurotox and so-so on blocking tackles and slashes.

The shield saved my life so many times from both marines and aliens that I can't go to the field without it. In case I lost it, I always have my shotgun strapped on the back.

[Davidchan]

The shield saved my life so many times from both marines and aliens that I can't go to the field without it. In case I lost it, I always have my shotgun strapped on the back.

I can never bring myself to forgo a backpack. Where do you keep the extra shells for the shotgun? Or do you just make sure you are dragging the ammo bag?

[Infernus]

2 shell boxes, 4 SMG clips and a flare in belt, and one extra mag in the pocket

[Shadowling1232]

I think if you get pounced, it should make you drop the shield, just cause getting hit by something that fast and holding it with one-hand just makes sense, So, If a person is pounced it should make them drop the shield or stun the for a certain time (getting dazed) In which time the alien has a chance of taking some damage or getting dazed just to make pouncing and these fights a bit more fair.

[Davidchan]

@Infernus Ah, I never realized you could put shotgun boxes in your belt or pocket before last night, definitely made things interesting when I figured out macros. M37 is a better weapon then I thought it was, but still not something I'd suggest a rookie marine to pick up since it takes a certain amount of knowledge to use. For the love of god, why is I can load and pump my shotgun 3-4 times and it still not have a shell in the chamber if I ever have to unwield it?! :S

@Shadowling1232 Realistically, I could get behind that. But lots of things going on with Riotshields (and CM in general) aren't very realistic. I'd like to keep Riotshields blocking Runners and Warriors, the alien stun is pretty short as is, I'm actually certain it's shorter than the delay if you pounced a marine, and if the shield gets dropped that means an Runner/Warrior could pounce you, disarm you and drag you off faster than they could if you hadn't been holding that shield.