Whirlwind shield's passive ability

[Noelle]

The elemental shield has protection against fire and drowning, the force shield has two hits, and the attraction shield has... well, attraction. But the fourth original shield to SRB2, the whirlwind shield, has no passive ability yet. I have spent more time than I reasonably should thinking about this.

I wanna hear everyone's thoughts on a potential secondary ability. Personally, I think that it should have some kind of pit bounce, launching the player upwards upon contact with the death plane, along with them losing the shield. But, I wanna hear what everyone thinks... though, I probably care about this more than most people

 

[Magnemania]

The whirlwind shield's passive ability is being the best shield in the game already.

 

[Dabir]

I'm gonna agree with that, whirlwind's active is so powerful that it doesn't need a passive. Also, you forgot attraction's electric damage immunity.

 

[cookiefonster]

I think it might be cool if the whirlwind shield protected you from certain things that slow you down. Maybe stuff like the Canarivore breath in Arid Canyon, mud in Castle Eggman, and being able to walk on Techno Hill goop at normal speed? Probably not water slowness though, it would be weird for a shield to let you go faster in water but not breathe in water.

That said, I think if taking two hits counts as a passive ability for the force shield (it's really just a difference from other shields), then so does being able to use the whirlwind jump after falling off a ledge, jumping off a spring, and several other scenarios. But you could also argue that the whirlwind shield is powerful enough for mobility that it doesn't really need to also protect you from anything specific.

 

[LunickTMM]

Wind shield is by far the best shield in the game for everyone not named Tails. Double jump is so strong in this game for skipping platforming and routing short cuts.

The only thing I see applicable is maybe stopping pushing forces, but waterfalls are all I think that use that currently.

In a sense, its ability to be used after running off ledges or springs is somewhat of a passive.

 

[Icarus]

Also, you forgot attraction's electric damage immunity.

Last time I tried to touch any electric floor (in THZ 2) with the attraction shield I got hurt.


Also yes, Whirlwind is strong enough to not need any passive ability.

 

[Seaballer]

That is... very weird. THZ's electric floors aren't supposed to do anything to you if you have the attraction shield on.

To answer the topic, Whirlwind doesn't need a passive at all, as everyone already said. Too good for the rest of 'em, it seems

 

[Icarus]

That is... very weird. THZ's electric floors aren't supposed to do anything to you if you have the attraction shield on.

Are you using 2.2.4? I'm still on the 2.2.2 but it's maybe why it doesn't work for me.

 

[MK.exe]

What about no skidding. That would help with the slipperniess

 

[Spiky]

I dunno about it being the best shield. The Lightning Shield has the double jump too, but it doesn't leave you vulnerable after using it, and it attracts rings, and it makes you invulnerable to electricity.

Admittedly, the Whirldwind Shield can be used after walking off a ledge by accident, and doesn't short out in water, but meh.
I found the former ability more annoying than anything, as they mapped it to the jump button, making it awfully unintuitive. I believe I read that the logic of it was that this way, the WS would save people if they're trying to jump off a ledge and press the jump button too late. But honestly, I'd rather just fall in those instances, as activating the WS ability by mistake always throw me off. Besides, if I'm in an area where falling means dying, I'm more likely to be extra careful. So most accidental falls would happen in places where it's not a big deal.
And I don't recall many instances in which I needed or wanted to use the double jump underwater. Underwater sections don't tend to be very platforming-centric.

 

[cookiefonster]

I dunno about it being the best shield. The Lightning Shield has the double jump too, but it doesn't leave you vulnerable after using it, and it attracts rings, and it makes you invulnerable to electricity.

Admittedly, the Whirldwind Shield can be used after walking off a ledge by accident, and doesn't short out in water, but meh.
I found the former ability more annoying than anything, as they mapped it to the jump button, making it awfully unintuitive. I believe I read that the logic of it was that this way, the WS would save people if they're trying to jump off a ledge and press the jump button too late. But honestly, I'd rather just fall in those instances, as activating the WS ability by mistake always throw me off. Besides, if I'm in an area where falling means dying, I'm more likely to be extra careful. So most accidental falls would happen in places where it's not a big deal.
And I don't recall many instances in which I needed or wanted to use the double jump underwater. Underwater sections don't tend to be very platforming-centric.

I think most people don't count the Sonic 3 shields when ranking the SRB2 shields, because those aren't found in the main campaign. Even if those are counted, I find the whirlwind shield far superior to lightning.

The whirlwind shield's ability to be used in a fall or spring (falling or jumping off springs, not the seasons) state is an absolute game changer. You can use the shield to gain a boost of height and preserve momentum if you fall down to a different part of the level, which the lightning shield can't do. It's also useful for gaining extra height and momentum after springs or dust devils.

One part of Red Volcano Act 1 even encourages you to use the whirlwind shield after walking off a ledge. There's a golden whirlwind shield in one of the outside areas that is necessary as Sonic to traverse the area's uppermost path, and there's a path of rings at one point that indicates you're supposed to walk off the ledge and then press jump to use the shield (admittedly, it did take a while for me to figure that out):

 

[Goldenhog]

...I'm pretty sure you're actually supposed to jump and use the Whirlwind Jump as shown in the tutorial, not walk off the ledge and take advantage of a hidden bonus feature.

 

[cookiefonster]

...I'm pretty sure you're actually supposed to jump and use the Whirlwind Jump as shown in the tutorial, not walk off the ledge and take advantage of a hidden bonus feature.

The ring placement implies walking off and then using the shield, but I'd wait for a dev to see what they have to say.

 

[Magnemania]

Jumping in that section doesn't work too well. If they wanted you to jump, they wouldn't have put those springs on the roof that send you into the lava if you have any upward momentum. I tried to do that section with double jumping twice before giving up and trying the fall jump input on a whim.