Local power connector module for modular armor

[Coolthulhu]

Low level modular armor can be only charged by the crappy portable solar panels. You pretty much need a portable fusion reactor to use anything but shields. Once you get it, batteries stop being useful for a while.

If the character could charge from the grid, the huge, bulky 4x4 fusion reactor wouldn't be mandatory just to power the exoskeleton that makes running around less tedious. You could easily sprint from base to base, fix some walls while recharging and go back.

Also, the character could power a small forward base with armor modules alone. Output of a single portable fusion reactor and a few batteries could power a bunch of turrets when creepers sever the power lines or in other similar emergency.

[ficolas]

The problem with this is that batteries would be way too small, and if they were bigger, using several batteries with fusion reactors would be useless.

[Coolthulhu]

At the moment it's pretty much impossible to use anything but shields without a reactor.
That way at least exoskeleton could be used to speed up running around the base and sprinting distances too close to use a car.

[Ranakastrasz]

Structure that if you stand in range with power armor equipped, it will expend energy to wirelessly transfer input power into your suit's power reserve.

[Alfdaur]

Yeah, this would be great.

[Xecutor]

It would be nice to have subj.
i.e. item in modular/power armor that allows charging armor batteries or using other armor items using power lines of the factory, obviously while you stand within coverage area of power.

[Align]

Sounds pretty cool. It'd certainly see more use than the discharge defense...

[Thomasnotused]

I came to post the exact same thing.
It would make armor setups with just a bunch of batteries possible, like super-suits that need to return home to recharge instead of the current suits that we have, which are much weaker than they could be (have you seen the size of those reactors?!?)

[ssilk]

Should already be easy possible as mod.
I think the factor 100 which is between power armor and "normal devices" should not be converted, aka. the items in the power suit needs 100 times more power, if charged from outside. One charge of the batteries in the power suit should drain the power network more or less remarkable. There is also a maximum drain the power suit can drain off.

Another good use is then also, to uncharge into a power network! So that the power suit is a "running accumulator".

[TuckJohn]

I would love this feature, especially if it worked with another suggestion that I made (basically power tools)

[bobucles]

Running off of batteries is pretty much a wasted effort. A fusion generator will fill up its entire volume worth of batteries in less than a minute. As is, batteries are only good as an emergency buffer for charging shields.

[ssilk]

Yeah, but wouldn't it be cool, if you can power a network with your backpack fusion generator? If you can feed some accumulators up?
Or to recharge the shields much faster than possible with only one fusion generator?

[Wyrm]

That would definitely give you the home-team advantage.

[TuckJohn]

That would definitely give you the home-team advantage.

Oh I didnt think about that; It would make for some interesting PVP strategies.

[Align]

That's kind of discouraging, sounds prone to stalemates.

[lukethanuke]

Was posted in General. Joined with this thread. -- ssilk

A minor quality of life (or maybe more) idea: A Power armor plug that allows the player charge their other power armor modules by standing inside a powered zones influence.

Perhaps a lower level tech that only works if you right click and drain an accumulator.

[bobucles]

Induction chargers are the most realistic choice here as they can wirelessly leech energy from a grid. IMO this is the best choice for making a middle tier power source. The jump from solar to fusion is too great and a middle choice would help a lot.

Charging the grid from a suit is not very useful due to the extremely low output of suit power.

[bobingabout]

Running off of batteries is pretty much a wasted effort. A fusion generator will fill up its entire volume worth of batteries in less than a minute. As is, batteries are only good as an emergency buffer for charging shields.

in base game this may be true, but when you consider mods... I think at one point I had batteries so large it would take half an hour or so to fully recharge them with 4 MK4 fusion reactors (4 times as powerful as base game reactor), and the shields and lasers were so power hungry, it could fully depleat those batteries in about 2 minutes... but then you had to pretty much walk through a heavy biter base to not only keep the weapons going constantly, but also have biters and spitters constantly bombarding you to make all those shields draw power too.

of course I tuned all the numbers to make them conform more to the base game format.

as for the original sugestion, yeah, I think the abillity to recharge yourself at some kind of port (like robots recharging at a roboport) should be a valid and viable thing. it would be a very good alternative to solar power before you get a reactor.

[Ranakastrasz]

This is both some self-promotion and a mod that contains, among other things, a power conduit module at low tech level that lets you take power from the power network into your armor, and larger batteries.

I haven't figured out how I might allow you to discharge power into the power network however.
https://forums.factorio.com/forum/vie ... 93&t=14894

[TuckJohn]

That's kind of discouraging, sounds prone to stalemates.

You would still have the limit on sheild recharge speed.