Thoughts on the state of the level 4 knockdown shield?
Before I start, I am not trying to complain or whine about features because I lost a gunfight. I just find myself not picking up gold shields because they are relatively pointless and just make everyone focus on you. I would expect more from such a rare item.
Issues with the shield (my opinion):
-animation is very loud. even if you sneak away and manage to find a safe place to revive yourself the animation is so loud that anyone in a 2 mile radius is gonna hear you and ape rush you.
-If you ignite your gold shield while down everyone focuses on you, even if there are still other threats.
-The animation is very slow. This wouldn't be a big deal (I think the timer is fine) but combine this with the other issues and it really feels pointless to try.
Here are some ideas that I think may help improve the level 4 shields usefulness:
-make the animation considerably quieter so if you manage to sneak away you don't ring the dinner-bell for every player in a 2mile radius
-perhaps make the level 4 shield look like a level 3 shield except for a small detail. for instance, the level 4 shield could be fully purple like the level 3 except for the centre of the shield where it is gold (or something like that). This way it can be easily overlooked in the heat of the moment and does not draw everyone's attention but can still be noticed by a player with a keen eye.
-One other idea I had that would make the shield more useful is to increase crawl speed whilst the shield is ignited. when you ignite the shield with all others it slows you down. perhaps with the level 4 you can still maintain fulls crawl speed allowing you to better find safety and crawl away whilst still protecting yourself (maybe this replaces the revive mechanic, or maybe even as a red level 5 shield? who knows).
ultimately I don't think it is useless but it is definitely missing something. With some minor tweaks I think it could be very useful but as is I honestly just avoid it unless in duos where I have less team to rely on.
What do you guys think?
