Stealth fighters - keeping shields up. yes/no?

[Weylin]

I still have trouble figuring when it's best to go with or without shields when using a SF.
On one hand you can get missiles off on your approach, and not get eyed till you're firing your Util cannon. But you can die to anything in a split second.
If have your shields up, and take a proper approach, you can avoid getting eyed till you're well within missile range, and nearly into Util range. You can survive for a few seconds longer to possibly deal more damage.


I don't know what to think, I see so many people dismount their shields and die instantly, other times they swoop in for the kill and get away clean.
But I've been able to brute force a miner with a pair of figs after me and was able to survive long enough with shields to kill the miner.



What factors do you guys usually take into account on whether you should keep your shields up or not?

[Clay_Pigeon]

It depends on what you're trying to do. If I'm defending a base, I usually camp well above/below the hostile aleph so I can get a shot at the rear of the bomb train [baby]. Scouts have a harder time seeing me, and I can play with cloak/missiles/snipers to consistently gain/lose eye and distract/frustrate gunners.

If I'm hunting miners, I never ever (ever) pack shield, and if I'm hunting in a pack, I usually encourage only 1 person to mount hunters.

[omegahero]

true that the hunter is mostly for taking the shields off so u can concentrate all your precious energy for util'ing down the hull

[Shizoku]

Keep it simple if you don't know what your doing and leave the shield at home.

[RealPandemonium]

Unless it's med2 lxy, i keep the shield off. ss1 is not gonna buy you an appreciable amount of time.

[minigun]

you can use a gauss gun with a solar inverter. just stay as far away as possible. load up them lrm's.
does this even work? not many commanders dare to go GT tac with the neon green gauss gun.

I love the sound this gun makes.

[Broodwich]

spidey refuses to buy it after a sg where i sat in front of srm's red door holding thte trigger down for 5 minutes :(

[Elzam_]

You guys bought it that game! I remember getting shot down by SBs using it!

[lexaal]

I usually mount shields on miner offense at the moment i start shooting my utils guns.

[DasSmiter]

I never bring shields unless it's a ms2 lxy