Rethinking The Bomb

Let's talk about Bombs real quick.

In a Schoot-em-up, a Bomb is basically a screen clear for everything but bosses, who just take a chunk of damage- it doesn't exactly need to be bomb itself, it could be an energy pulse, or a magical seal, or anything really, but they're all Bombs, with a capital B. At higher levels of play Bombs serve as a "get out of a bad situation" move,  using the Bomb to avoid taking a hit and dieing. 

When I play Shoot-em-ups, I have a huge issue though: Most Bombs are limited use, and I am an item hoarder. Most of the time I end up never using a bomb thinking I could use it later and now would be a waste, or I use my bombs too often and I waste all of them before I really need them. So I've made a compromise- I made Bellerophon's Bomb (or as I'll refer to it from now on, the shield) infinite use, with a cooldown and a mechanical trimming-down.

First, I decided to take the previously mentioned "get out of a bad situation" functionality and cut the rest- no wave clear, no projectile clear, no damage to bosses, just a shield that absorbs incoming projectiles to protect you for long enough to reposition or avoid damage. Then I decided to give the shield a 30 second cooldown- just a bit longer than the time it takes for a wave to pass and enemies to swap out; so when the player does use the shield, they'll have to get through a wave and some change before they can use it again. I'm hoping this prevents the extremes I struggled with- no more reason to hoard charges since there's no charges to hoard, and no more overuse of/reliance on it since you can only use it once before needing to cool down.