I'm not sure what game you have been playing, but shields have excelled in PvP for some time now. With shields you're much more agile, faster, can fit for gank and shield RR isn't delayed. Those are pretty big benefits in PvP, especially since the drawbacks of armor buffer makes you specifically vulnerable to range control.

Now shield burst tank has been buffed to the point, that trying to active armor tank just seems silly in comparison. Armor tankers got a module too, that is limited to a single one/ship, the resists it gives aren't impressive, it's slow to adapt, bad at adapting(doesn't take damage type proportions in to consideration) and resets if it shuts off for any reason. What an absolute sack of crap in comparison to the ASB. With armor you can still get a bigger buffer, but you sacrifice mobility and damage module slots to do it and armor RR is delayed, so it's starting to look like a one trick pony and that trick isn't all that impressive.

More importantly this isn't about making every tanking type the same. It's about making them all useful and good for something relevant. They guy in CCP who did the shield module leaned on the side of making it overpowered to get a lot of people to use it and planned to nerf it if/when problems come up. The armor guy created a prenerfed module, that has some marginal use cases, but isn't going to be in any way game altering.

What is an AAR you ask? Well, Ancillary Armor Repairer. The ASB has no real counterpart on the armor tank side, correct me if I'm wrong, but I can't think of something that compliments it. I mean, the ASB is an odd add to the game; did active shield tanking really need something like this added?

Oooo-k, cool, but can something like this be added for active armor tanking? Thanks.

U lot can haz AAR when shields get an X-L extender :)

Good lord if you want an ASB so bad then go fly a shield tanked ship!

When shields get a slave equivalent, an EANM equivalent, and the ability to fit EWAR in their lows, then maybe armor will need an ASB. Until then, enjoy the little diversity that is left in the game. If you prefer shield, there is nothing stopping you training it.

The comment of a man that does not know how the game works. Lemme enlighten you.

First off, there are 2 modules in this game that every pvp ship "needs" to have, one is the damage control, a low slot module that increases shield, armor and hull resistances (12.5% shields, 15% armor and 60% struct with t2 module). The other item that is pretty much need to have is a propulsion module, a medium slot module. Universally in most pvp fits both of these modules are present. What this means is that every armor tanker loses a low slot to a damage control module and every shield setup loses a medium slot for a propulsion module.

Now if we fit an armor ship with all low slot modules towards tanking we will receive a tank that is around the same as a ship that has all his mediums -propulsion used for tanking. Lemme give you some actual number.

Brutix vs Cyclone,
- A brutix will have 74.9k ehp when all low slots and rigs -dmg control are used for armor tanking
- A cyclone will have 68.7k ehp or 77.5k ehp when overheated when all medium slots & rigs -propulsion mod used for shield tanking

Prophecy vs Ferox
- A prophecy will have 112k ehp when armor tanked fully (the same way as the brutix above)
- A ferox will have 97.9k ehp or 112k ehp overheated when fully shield tanked (the same way as the cyclone above)

Now if we had an x-large shield extender in the game shield tankers would have clearly higher ehp than armor tankers.

What this leaves us about tanking differences is the fact that a shield tanker gets free low slots and an armor tanker gets free medium slots, both slot types are used for different things while having some overlap. Where the difference really in ehp only comes to play is when you're using very little slots for tanking. Letsay 2 slots +rigs, in those circumstances armor gets higher ehp, but that rather shows us the power of shield resistance modules on shield side, showing us more of the difference between armor and shield tanking, rather than a flaw.

Do not come talk about scramblers and such, you do not need those when someone else is tackling and to have a fair comparison, both tanking types need to sacrifice the same amount.

buffer. armor you get buffer. also mid slots you can use for something.

shield you get no useful mids.

if you wanted to argue armor and shield should have the same mods available then you should also allow low slot versions of all mid slot modules.

at which point you might as well not have shield and armor.

so to answer the OP: never, hopefully.

When are hull reppers going to get a shorter cycle time?

shield tank +/-
+good passive tank, u just no need to care about anything and only press f1 mainly.
+its have selfregen which in some situation double your ehp or even tripple if u fast/agile enough (tengu etc)
+new ASB, there not much to add its OP enough.
+u have low slotes for enough dmg/tracking/speed/agility etc. mods.
- less or sometimes even no slotes for EW modules but u still can have 1 disruptor atleast which is enough if u take in count all pluses.

armor:
+/-?relative good passive tank(if not adding bonuses from imps, commands, titans, but what if u add same to shields?).
+/- u have enough med slotes for EW (but still sometimes u alsoo adding capbooster)
- forget about speed/agility.
- forget about good set up of tank/dmg etc mods.
- no self regen.
- lack of mods like invuls or AAR.
- horrible cycles rates/boosts ammounts of ehp if active.
- that new armor hardner, pls.... its just a trolling or)?
- mostly amoror fited ships using cap therefor r not capstable as its shield mates, and if u still can use your firepower on shield ships there will a problem on armor one.

I so want fly Proteus, but still using a passive tengu (cyna/vaga/etc) where u can laugh at your target and just orbiting it (yea webbed tengu dead tengu but its just a matter of your class), so yea im choosing tengu...

im also wanna try out Hypperion its promiss to be a wherry kind BS, but hey? try compare this one with Maelstrom which is now using ASB where even 2-3 monthly noob can easy tank u and lauch than just dock.


P.S. sure if u good enough u can kill **** even in t1 frig but its so clearly that armor is need to be boosted.

P.P.S. +1 for hull boost also , there only 1-2 ships in eve that actualy can afford to troll with hull tank, but its still a trolling nothing more.

I have all these points in armor, what kind of armor battleship exists that's comparable to a pvp fit Maelstrom with the ASBs? There really isn't one. I guess I could wait another year and train up my "shield skillz" and fly caldari.

[This. If not an AAR-like module, then something to make active armor tanking better. I was suggesting taking the load off of the cap without giving up another slot.