That unstable shields nerf seems EXTREMELY harsh to me. I think either of the two changes would probably be fine on its own but together its hard to justify ever using it.
[EDIT] With some more testing, I think I was too hard on the change, or maybe the changelog isn't really accurate? Its hard to tell exactly whats going on with it. The changelog doesn't mention it now also takes longer for shields to START decaying while deployed, which does make a big difference. I still dont like how long they have to be down to START "repairing" though. I think taking 6 seconds to recharge fully is fine, but the new long delay means you almost have to be totally out of a fight to start getting them back. I think this is bad because it just encourages and rewards shield flicking even more than it did before, especially with ships that have normally terrible shields.
Maybe experiment with having the shields both decay and recharge very slowly, but start recharging almost immediately when closed. That way flicking wouldn't be as good, and making the choice to let them deploy more isn't as permanent of a downside.
