Resistance is Not Futile

Starwalker was not normally interested in mathematics but was interested in what was a better choice for his frigate ship rig – buffer or resistance. Would 15% more buffer be better or 30% more damage resistance?

A Rifter has 391 base shield capacity and shield resistances: 0%, 20%, 40%, 50% for EM, thermal, kinetic and explosive damage types. A Small Core Defence Field Extender I increases shield capacity to 450, alternatively EM resistance would increase to 30% with a Small Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I.

The 30% more damage is applied to the incoming damage so thermal resistance in a Rifter, which is at 20%, increases to 44% (20% plus 30% of 80% or 100% incoming damage - 20% damage resistance) with the Small Anti-Thermal Screen Reinforcer I.

To simplify and for easy numbers, assume EM damage type and 100 DPS and once the shield is gone the Rifter will be destroyed.

• Rifter with 450 shield capacity and 0% EM damage resistance has 100% of the damage coming in and dies in 4.5 seconds (450/100)
• Rifter with 391 shield capacity and 30% EM damage resistance has 70% of the damage coming in or 70 DPS and dies in 5.6 seconds (391/70)

This is actually the worst-case scenario for this Rifter as the incoming damage is hitting the weakest resist. For example, if the incoming damage was thermal then:

• Rifter with 391 shield capacity and 44% thermal damage resistance has 56% of the damage coming in or 56 DPS and dies in 7 seconds (391/56)

These types of calculations can be done for different combinations of three rigs, subject to any stacking penalty, and similarly for the other types of damage resistance. In short, if the incoming damage type is known then a small resistance rig is better than a small buffer rig.