Covariant Mk IV "blue" vs Covariant Mk III "green"

I have the Mark III equiped now and Im looking to get the Mark IV from turning in badges.....

When I mouse over the Mark III (green) which is equiped I get,

Covariant Shield Array Mk III [Cap]
Uncommon Ship Shields
4434 Maximum Shield Capacity
(10% Bleedthrough)
81 Shield Regenration every 6 seconds
Value 13,300


When I mouse over the Mark IV (blue)
Covariant Shield Array Mk IV
Rare Ship Shields
4188 Maximum Shield Capacity
(10% Bleedthrough)
101 Shield Regenration every 6 seconds
Value 24,900


Any thoughts as to why the rare item has lower shield capacity?

because the green ones quality bonus is extra capacity (as shown by the [cap] at the end of the name)

The blue one seems to be just basic with no bonus

It has faster regeneration. So someone who wants to crunch the numbers could figure out which is better. I'm too lazy.

It does seem odd, though, that the blue MK IV is so weak imo.

73.8 seconds before the regen shields out-performs the capacity shield with the numbers as listed.

Of course there are all kinds of modifiers (such as your ships power distribution and Boff skills) that change those figures.

I have made some calculations in Open Beta. From the largest shield with slow regeneration to the smallest one with fastest regeneration the smaler one pays of after 2 mins of fighting. Not calculated are skills or faster rechargerate through more energy into shields. So if you think the fight would take more than 1 or 2 mins then take the regenerative one.

If you have lots of engineering power which gives you lots of shields back in an instant the larger one would seem the better option.

seems like a bugged blue item tbh, they should have 2 quality modifiers on it (the words in the []) but it doesn't so its essentially a white mk 5 compared to a green mk 3.

If your using covariants the green is best, as covariants are primarily used on low shield power settings so you don't really get any regen at all. If you are using high shield settings, covariants really aren't what you should be looking at.

The second shiled has a 25% faster regen.. which is a huge increase... but yes, as already pointed out the first shiled has a capacity bonus, so the actuall total shielding is artifically boosted from the normal

If i may be so bold, i think when you have shields equiped the tooltip is agumented by your stats to affect the value of the shield output.

Try unequipping them both and compare them side-by-side.

I may be wrong here but it was something i noticed during OB.

I've seen green and white with exactly the same stats...

what Mk were they. cause a Mk I green could have the same numbers as say a Mk II white.