Quote Originally Posted by roguedubb:412498
Suggested armor percentage increases are rather... dramatic, though I do find some merit in the idea of a scaling increase.

I would argue an increase to the mana regen granted by shield is unrequired, given that a green geared Eng should rarely have trouble with mana on all but the longest Guardian fights and mana regen on trash is a simply matter of damage output vs speed. Any more regen and an Eng could simply use every specced ability on every cooldown, at which point the game is no longer a strategic use of resources but simply a button mash festival.
If you have read kamikazees' armor study, the percentages are not as dramatic as they sound. Consider the following example; a level 26 Commando using full Sandstorm gear has an Armor rating of exactly 400. At the max percentage I have suggested, Protection would provide 200 additional points of armor, which would mitigate between 4 and 8 points (from a regular mob) of incoming damage. A level 26 Engineer using full Sunwalker gear has an Armor rating of about 280, or so. At the percentages I have suggested, Protection and Force Shield would provide 140 and 280 additional armor, for a total of 420 additional armor, which would mitigate between 8 and 16 points of incoming damage (regular mob). And remember, the Force Shield could still be broken by a strong enough hit, and in such a case would act as a "spike preventer". This mitigated damage may not seem so dramatic when you recall the regular mob deals approximately 25 to 50 points of damage per hit.

Regarding the additional 1 M/s I am proposing the Force Shield provide at level 6; I don't think this is such a radical idea, as a maxxed skill should provide significantly more than its previous levels. If you believe an additional 1 M/s would break the mana regen vs. skill use curve, then consider the curve already broken. Any player can purchase a Plat implant that provides such a boost, which is active 100% of the time. What I am proposing would make an additional 1 M/s active 66% of the time, at most, and then only for the Engineer.

Anyway, that's my opinion (backed up with as much fact as I can muster)! Thanks for feedback!