Point Defense Turrets and Omnidrectional Beam Arrays
When installed in any weapon slot, the PD weapon is limited to a 5km range, and it auto-targets based on a priority list.
1) Targetable Projectiles
2) Small Craft
3) Enemy vessels in the rear shield arc
4) The currently selected target
It also prioritizes by proximity, so it will target the nearer of multiple small craft.
Mods specific to PD weapons:
Proximity Burst [PrB]
When a firing cycle achieves a "miss" result, the ammunition bursts causing 1/2 damage
Pinpoint Accuracy [Pin]
This reduces the potential damage output of the weapon but offers the benefit of [Acc]×3. Each stack of this mod further reduces damage at the same rate a [Dam] mod would increase it.
Pulse [Pul]
A pulse weapon charges and fires a compressed bolt of energy which generates a stacking shield hardness debuff.
Target Painting [Tar]
Any object struck by a painting weapon is illuminated on every allied vessel's targeting system, offering a stacking Accuracy bonus to teammates who fire on the target.
Gold level mod for PD weapons
Dual Purpose Weapon [DP]
A Dual Purpose Weapon has the range of a normal weapon of its type when not autotargeting, (which remains limited to a 5km range.)
I tried a turret build a while ago. But gave up when they only came from one hardpoint. Don't understand why turrets can't just use the beam array hardpoints.
I certainly like the ideas coming out of this thread though.
Honestly looking at it it would be nice if we had something like dual-turrets, and even an expansion of the heavy turrets we see some of the reps have. I could see dual turrets being something more limited either to one per ship), while to me heavy-turrets would feel more like something that should be restricted to more tactical oriented ship classes (escorts, battle-cruisers, Dreadnoughts, destroyers, and the like.)
Cannons are far less effective at distance than up close.
Any proof with that since the skill revamp? we have long range targeting now... the drop off of dmg by distance applies to both beams and cannons.
Travel time is still a factor. Beams apply their damage instantly upon firing. Cannons and torpedos have to wait for their projectiles to travel to the target before the damage is applied(even if the damage is calculated the moment it is fired). Long Range Targetting simply means there's a longer delay before that damage is applied now for cannons(unless you get in close where your cannons were/still are optimally effective).
Cannons are far less effective at distance than up close.
Any proof with that since the skill revamp? we have long range targeting now... the drop off of dmg by distance applies to both beams and cannons.
I didn't put points into LRTS on my cannon BoP so I don't have before-and-after results to compare. By the time it was an option I didn't need it any more; I had already learned the art of knife fighting. I did use it on my Warbird beamer. And my Recon torp boat. It really made very little difference in either case, but it's not worth a respec. Well, maybe the torp boat because those beams are only useful for the SST proc. (15 weapon power!)
The damage drop off for beams is sort of made up for by the fact that you can keep firing no matter which way you point, but with four DHCs up front your firing time is limited to what you can bracket between the horse's ears. A fast kill is far more effective than standing off and pumping damage downrange. To achieve a kill using cannons you want to maximize your damage, and even a 10% increase is significant, which means that even with LRTS you will want to be close. Close enough that you gain almost no benefit from LRTS.
It's not a build for players who use the circle and circle tactic, but it is certainly a blast the first time you open up on a Cube at point blank range and die in the resulting warp core breach.
Anything boosting specifically turrets (not cannons in general, but just turrets) would be as silly as anything boosting single beams only, but not dual beams or perhaps not even omnis.
I have to admit.. when put like that, it's pretty hard to argue.
I don't really buy into the logic that it would be "unfair" to dual heavy cannons to not get what turrets get. If you're a game designer, part of your job is crafting experiences and role fantasies for players to realize.
People citing their "turret" build has high DPS and then admitting it's actually a DHC escort with two turrets on the back is a good example of a player completely missing the point. I feel like I shouldn't have to keep repeating this, but the point of the thread is to design towards giving turrets more identity, not giving them more damage options. That has absolutely nothing to do with everyone's poor, neglected DHC escorts. Which I'm sure are just in dire need of more consoles and traits these days.
what's this nonsense about "how you fly your ship" with turrets? they are by default 360. just stick to your target (under 10 km) and it'll go boom sooner or later. for single target it's east mode.
unless they nerf procs to be from per shot to per activation...
if they put in a function that'll let you auto follow a target within 10km... you dont even need to control your ship just tab to next target...
They have nerfed the proc from per shot to per cycle
That is incorrect. Procs have always been 'per cycle'. There was for a while a bug with Fire at Will that made it proc the per-cycle procs every shot, and a few procs that were changed to per-shot due to them massively overperforming with Fire at Will due to that bug. This bug was fixed. Outside of the topic of those abilities that were reverted to per-cycle when Fire at Will was fixed, turrets were completely unaffected by this bugfix, and the change to those few abilities were felt the same by every weapon type.
Ahh, that makes more sense, thanks for the clarification If you could see your way clear to putting turret procs back to per-shot, rather than per-cycle, that would be great Cannons, it's not such a thing, as they have higher overall output, but turrets, with their lower output, really benefited from that per-shot proc to compensate for their lesser output Thanks in advance
"I fight for the Users!" - Tron
"I was here before you, I will be here after you are gone. I am here, regardless of your acknowledgement or acceptance..." - The Truth
> @silverlobes#2676 said: > Ahh, that makes more sense, thanks for the clarification If you could see your way clear to putting turret procs back to per-shot, rather than per-cycle, that would be great Cannons, it's not such a thing, as they have higher overall output, but turrets, with their lower output, really benefited from that per-shot proc to compensate for their lesser output Thanks in advance
What do you mean, "they benefited from it?" Did you even read Spartan's post? He literally said that only Beam Fire at Will activated per shot. Nothing else. Turrets and cannons never got those different proc rates, save for the small number of proc types that were changed to be weaker to coincide with the broken FaW.
Unfortunately people have just been debating whether turrets are bad (they aren't) rather than gestating ideas on what they'd like to see. A problem with the culture on this forum, I think; it can be hard to discuss anything if anyone senses even the slightest hint of negativity, so nothing gets discussed.
They're fun but nonoptimal builds. I'd like to see them get something to flesh their identity out more.
To touch on that subject..
I honestly don't think they should be made any better. Why? Because if you went too far with improvements, they would easily make everything else obsolete. Why would anyone use Beams or Cannons if Turrets were on par power wise? They're fun to play yes, but they're also incredibly easy.. they don't take any real positioning to use. You just slap them on your ship, fly into the middle of a pack and start spraying everywhere. They don't take the skill and positioning that cannons take and with Scatter Volley they can be even easier against large packs then Fire At Will. The downside is that they aren't as effective.
The problem with Turrets is that if you boosted them from 'viable' to 'desirable' they would become the new meta overnight and everyone would use them. As it is, there is just starting to be some actual parity between Cannons and Beams, to come along and make Turrets far better then either would be counter productive to that cause.
I like the idea of the turret build, and it's fun to play.. but honestly, I don't think they can do all that much to make them more powerful. They're not even intended to be used as a full build, they're supposed to complement cannons. I honestly think they're about as good as they're going to get.
The thing to bear in mind, however, is that using a scatter volley, is nowhere near as effective as the comparable BFAW. To be effective, such as the Protonic Kool-Aid build, turrets have to be brought to bear on one target at a time. Mission with multiple targets, such as the Kazon encounters, still need additional tactics and shield management, while each target is brought down
Equally, it won't become the new meta, because that is decided by the mechanics of the game itself. How people choose to deal with that mechanic, that's up to the individual, and as Trendy said, "Your fun isn't wrong" The only issue, is when things get crazy out of control DPS-racey, and requiring consoles and abilities like feedback pulse to be nerfed. That in itself, wouldn't happen just because more people started using turrets
"I fight for the Users!" - Tron
"I was here before you, I will be here after you are gone. I am here, regardless of your acknowledgement or acceptance..." - The Truth
> @silverlobes#2676 said:
> Ahh, that makes more sense, thanks for the clarification If you could see your way clear to putting turret procs back to per-shot, rather than per-cycle, that would be great Cannons, it's not such a thing, as they have higher overall output, but turrets, with their lower output, really benefited from that per-shot proc to compensate for their lesser output Thanks in advance
What do you mean, "they benefited from it?" Did you even read Spartan's post? He literally said that only Beam Fire at Will activated per shot. Nothing else. Turrets and cannons never got those different proc rates, save for the small number of proc types that were changed to be weaker to coincide with the broken FaW.
> @silverlobes#2676 said:
> Ahh, that makes more sense, thanks for the clarification If you could see your way clear to putting turret procs back to per-shot, rather than per-cycle, that would be great Cannons, it's not such a thing, as they have higher overall output, but turrets, with their lower output, really benefited from that per-shot proc to compensate for their lesser output Thanks in advance
What do you mean, "they benefited from it?" Did you even read Spartan's post? He literally said that only Beam Fire at Will activated per shot. Nothing else. Turrets and cannons never got those different proc rates, save for the small number of proc types that were changed to be weaker to coincide with the broken FaW.
This post will explain far more accurately and thoroughly than I can
"I fight for the Users!" - Tron
"I was here before you, I will be here after you are gone. I am here, regardless of your acknowledgement or acceptance..." - The Truth
Turrets are the red-headed stepchild? You've obviously never tried to use projectile launchers.
At least when you use a cannon ability, it affects ALL turrets for ALL their activations for the full duration, instead of just a single shot from a single turret once and for less of a boost than the duration effect would if it only affected one turret. When you fire a turret, it doesn't stick every other turret on a 1.5s cooldown. When a turret hits shields, it doesn't magically get 62.5% of its damage slashed clean off before applying regular resistances.
I wouldn't say that. Torpedoes are a frequent build choice of science vessels, what with there being a number of torpedoes that benefit from how science vessels are often front-loaded for. The 'torpedo boat' if you will. I still stand that single cannons are more your red-heads. Sure, they have a large arc for a cannon, but they also pay exponentially for that arc in damage. Much more so than turrets by comparison. My S'ateth (pictured below) uses only one single cannon in it's front arc, the Elachi lobi cannon to go with the Elachi lobi console for the Disruptor bonus. The rest of the forward slots are dual heavy cannons.
Honestly looking at it it would be nice if we had something like dual-turrets, and even an expansion of the heavy turrets we see some of the reps have. I could see dual turrets being something more limited either to one per ship), while to me heavy-turrets would feel more like something that should be restricted to more tactical oriented ship classes (escorts, battle-cruisers, Dreadnoughts, destroyers, and the like.)
Wouldn't dual turrets kind of be like single cannons ? (similar in damage output - but with a way better arc ?)
Or worse, make single cannons obsolete ?
I just fear if too much is added to turret class weapons (IE: dual/Heavy-without 1 per ship restriction), it will make single cannons a real example of a "Red Headed Step Child".
But.. I do like your idea to add more "Rep Heavy Turrets" though... with the "One per ship" limitation, of course.
That sounds pretty fun and reasonable, and adds a lot of variation to what you can do with turret builds. With the possible set bonus.. could make things a lot more interesting in the world of turrets.
That might be right up OP's alley, suggestion wise.
I feel like I shouldn't have to keep repeating this, but the point of the thread is to design towards giving turrets more identity, not giving them more damage options.
Turrets already have an identity, it's just not one you like. You're trying to get people to change how they think about Turrets, there is nothing wrong with that, but people have made some pretty good points as to why such changes are counter to normal game mechanics and you simply refuse to consider those suggestions. I changed my opinion on the topic because I listened to the counter arguments and they were valid. Turrets have an identity and currently benefit from anything that benefits cannons just like beams, dual beams, and omni beams all share the same set of 'buffs.'
There is nothing wrong with the idea of creating new and 'unique' turrets through rep systems or other methods that are special and different from normal turrets though, kind of like how the Undine Rep has the heavy Bio Turrets. I just doubt that Cryptic will specifically make turrets a focus since the majority of people just use them as augments on their cannon builds. You're trying to make them stand apart from all other weapons, I get it.. I just don't think it's going to happen.
The thing to bear in mind, however, is that using a scatter volley, is nowhere near as effective as the comparable BFAW. To be effective, such as the Protonic Kool-Aid build, turrets have to be brought to bear on one target at a time. Mission with multiple targets, such as the Kazon encounters, still need additional tactics and shield management, while each target is brought down
You should give it a try. After reading this thread, I took an Icarus Pilot Escort, put 7 turrets on it and I'm flying it around pretty regularly now. Scatter Volley with 7 turrets fills your screen with damage numbers.. yeah, they're not huge numbers, but there are a ton of them.
Scatter Volley is only less effective if you're hitting it while enemies are spread all over the screen. BFAW has the advantage of firing all directions at once, so it still hits everything, Scatter Volley requires enemies to be at least fairly grouped to be most effective. Even with 7 360 degree weapons, the volley is focused on the target you have highlighted instead of just sprayed all over the screen like FAW. It's all about deciding when to use it, but it's really easy to get down. Honestly though, if you have 2 Scatter Volleys, you can just indiscriminately spam it whenever and you'll be right there with a FAW build. Especially if you use the Withering Barrage trait from the T6 Defiant.
My all turret Escort started out as a joke, but honestly.. it's actually a pretty good ship.
Think of scatter volley as a cone attack focused on your primary target. Everything near your target, within the damage cone, will be hit and take damage. Distributed fire works well with scatter volley as well for additional aoe.
Honestly looking at it it would be nice if we had something like dual-turrets, and even an expansion of the heavy turrets we see some of the reps have. I could see dual turrets being something more limited either to one per ship), while to me heavy-turrets would feel more like something that should be restricted to more tactical oriented ship classes (escorts, battle-cruisers, Dreadnoughts, destroyers, and the like.)
Wouldn't dual turrets kind of be like single cannons ? (similar in damage output - but with a way better arc ?)
Or worse, make single cannons obsolete ?
I just fear if too much is added to turret class weapons (IE: dual/Heavy-without 1 per ship restriction), it will make single cannons a real example of a "Red Headed Step Child".
But.. I do like your idea to add more "Rep Heavy Turrets" though... with the "One per ship" limitation, of course.
That sounds pretty fun and reasonable, and adds a lot of variation to what you can do with turret builds. With the possible set bonus.. could make things a lot more interesting in the world of turrets.
That might be right up OP's alley, suggestion wise.
It would all depend on if the dual turret or heavy turret had a limitation on it, or was restricted to a ship type. I mean duak turrets as a concept would make sense on less tactical/combat oriented ships, while heavy turrets would make more sense as a weapon type for the more tactically/combat oriented ships. Though i will say that single cannons are in a very hard area to balance, since if you buff turrets too much they become more effective to use than single cannons.
I personally think that cannons as a archetype of weapons need to have a looking over, and adjusted to give each weapon int he type a niche they function best in. like that for example I think dual cannons make sense as the cannon type that the slower turning battle-cruiser type ships would use (to do this i would say buff their innate firing arc, and reduce their damage output to compensate), while dual heavy cannons would be the cannon type used by the nimble escorts/destroyer types that can thru their innate nimbleness employ the higher damage of the dual heavy cannons that have a much narrower firing arc.
I also think that single cannons could use a alteration to their stats to make them a alternative to the beam-arrays in broadsiding. If you give them a wider firing arc, as well as the ability to be slotted on the rear of the ship than they might be a appealing alternative to beam arrays. Beam arrays might have a wider firing arc for broadsiding than single cannons in this idea, but the single cannons might have a higher output to compensate for that fact.
Cannons are far less effective at distance than up close.
Any proof with that since the skill revamp? we have long range targeting now... the drop off of dmg by distance applies to both beams and cannons.
Travel time is still a factor. Beams apply their damage instantly upon firing. Cannons and torpedos have to wait for their projectiles to travel to the target before the damage is applied(even if the damage is calculated the moment it is fired). Long Range Targetting simply means there's a longer delay before that damage is applied now for cannons(unless you get in close where your cannons were/still are optimally effective).
isnt all that just cosmetic? you cant out run a torpedo nor a snowball... once your in range the dmg and the snowball is thrown... it's gonna hit you no matter what. (one of my pet peeves, I wish you could dodge or get under cover or out run torpedos) the time it takes for cannons to activate is no less if your up close or at 9.9km away. same for beams. for cannons, even if the "shot" has not hit you yet... the next shot is already fired. it is not dependent on the shot hitting it's target before it is fired again.
Think of scatter volley as a cone attack focused on your primary target. Everything near your target, within the damage cone, will be hit and take damage. Distributed fire works well with scatter volley as well for additional aoe.
This is exactly why teamwork is important. Suppose your friendly cruiser vaped something or your science vessel buddy opened some rifts: now you have a CSV target. 8 turrets with a group of targets bunched up... yeah. That's a lot of procs too.
Think of scatter volley as a cone attack focused on your primary target. Everything near your target, within the damage cone, will be hit and take damage. Distributed fire works well with scatter volley as well for additional aoe.
This is exactly why teamwork is important. Suppose your friendly cruiser vaped something or your science vessel buddy opened some rifts: now you have a CSV target. 8 turrets with a group of targets bunched up... yeah. That's a lot of procs too.
Even funnier is when you pop Distributed Targeting along with CSV...
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Things I want in STO:
1) More character customization options such as more clothing options, letting the toon complexion affect the entire body, not just the head. Also a true RGB color picker applied to all costume and appearance options, which would allow for true appearance customization and homogenous colors instead of "this same exact color looks vastly different on two different pieces."
2) Bridge customization, not bridge packs. Let us pick a general layout and adjust the color palette, console appearance, and chair types, as well as more ready room layout options.
3) Customizable ground weapons, i.e. The aesthetic look of phaser dual pistols but they shoot antiproton bolts. For obvious reasons this would only apply to standard ground weapons.
4) For the love of Q please revamp Plasma Ground Weapons. They look like demented Supersoakers right now.
5) True Vanity Impulse and Deflector effects similar to Vanity Shields.
6) A greater payout for hitting T6 Reputations. Currently it takes more time and resources to get from T5 to T6 than it does to get from nothing to T5. Make that grind really pay out at the end.
7) Mirrorverse Refugee event similar to AoY/Delta/Gamma, complete with new Mirrorverse recruits for all factions.
8) Independent Faction, because yo ho yo ho a pirate's life for me!
Cannons are far less effective at distance than up close.
Any proof with that since the skill revamp? we have long range targeting now... the drop off of dmg by distance applies to both beams and cannons.
Travel time is still a factor. Beams apply their damage instantly upon firing. Cannons and torpedos have to wait for their projectiles to travel to the target before the damage is applied(even if the damage is calculated the moment it is fired). Long Range Targetting simply means there's a longer delay before that damage is applied now for cannons(unless you get in close where your cannons were/still are optimally effective).
isnt all that just cosmetic? you cant out run a torpedo nor a snowball... once your in range the dmg and the snowball is thrown... it's gonna hit you no matter what. (one of my pet peeves, I wish you could dodge or get under cover or out run torpedos) the time it takes for cannons to activate is no less if your up close or at 9.9km away. same for beams. for cannons, even if the "shot" has not hit you yet... the next shot is already fired. it is not dependent on the shot hitting it's target before it is fired again.
Correct.
However, consider you have two ships firing on a target at 9km. One ship is loaded with cannons, the other is loaded with beams. They both fire on the same target at the same time.
The beam ship's damage is instantly applied, ripping through the enemy's shields and starting to chew on its hull. None of the damage from the cannon ship's weapon has 'hit' the enemy by the time the second volley fires.
Just before the cannon ship's FIRST volley lands, the beam ship's weapons instantly tear through the hull of the enemy, causing it to explode - before ANY of the cannon ship's damage is actually APPLIED to the target.
On paper, they should have both done similar damage(in all likelihood, the cannon ship would probably have higher raw dps). However, because of the travel time, the beam ship was able to do more effective damage.
This is why, regardless of whether you take long range targeting or not, it's always a good idea to get close to things with cannons - so your damage isn't in 'limbo' for any longer than it needs to be.
Comments
When installed in any weapon slot, the PD weapon is limited to a 5km range, and it auto-targets based on a priority list.
1) Targetable Projectiles
2) Small Craft
3) Enemy vessels in the rear shield arc
4) The currently selected target
It also prioritizes by proximity, so it will target the nearer of multiple small craft.
Mods specific to PD weapons:
Proximity Burst [PrB]
When a firing cycle achieves a "miss" result, the ammunition bursts causing 1/2 damage
Pinpoint Accuracy [Pin]
This reduces the potential damage output of the weapon but offers the benefit of [Acc]×3. Each stack of this mod further reduces damage at the same rate a [Dam] mod would increase it.
Pulse [Pul]
A pulse weapon charges and fires a compressed bolt of energy which generates a stacking shield hardness debuff.
Target Painting [Tar]
Any object struck by a painting weapon is illuminated on every allied vessel's targeting system, offering a stacking Accuracy bonus to teammates who fire on the target.
Gold level mod for PD weapons
Dual Purpose Weapon [DP]
A Dual Purpose Weapon has the range of a normal weapon of its type when not autotargeting, (which remains limited to a 5km range.)
I certainly like the ideas coming out of this thread though.
Any proof with that since the skill revamp? we have long range targeting now... the drop off of dmg by distance applies to both beams and cannons.
Travel time is still a factor. Beams apply their damage instantly upon firing. Cannons and torpedos have to wait for their projectiles to travel to the target before the damage is applied(even if the damage is calculated the moment it is fired). Long Range Targetting simply means there's a longer delay before that damage is applied now for cannons(unless you get in close where your cannons were/still are optimally effective).
I didn't put points into LRTS on my cannon BoP so I don't have before-and-after results to compare. By the time it was an option I didn't need it any more; I had already learned the art of knife fighting. I did use it on my Warbird beamer. And my Recon torp boat. It really made very little difference in either case, but it's not worth a respec. Well, maybe the torp boat because those beams are only useful for the SST proc. (15 weapon power!)
The damage drop off for beams is sort of made up for by the fact that you can keep firing no matter which way you point, but with four DHCs up front your firing time is limited to what you can bracket between the horse's ears. A fast kill is far more effective than standing off and pumping damage downrange. To achieve a kill using cannons you want to maximize your damage, and even a 10% increase is significant, which means that even with LRTS you will want to be close. Close enough that you gain almost no benefit from LRTS.
It's not a build for players who use the circle and circle tactic, but it is certainly a blast the first time you open up on a Cube at point blank range and die in the resulting warp core breach.
I don't really buy into the logic that it would be "unfair" to dual heavy cannons to not get what turrets get. If you're a game designer, part of your job is crafting experiences and role fantasies for players to realize.
People citing their "turret" build has high DPS and then admitting it's actually a DHC escort with two turrets on the back is a good example of a player completely missing the point. I feel like I shouldn't have to keep repeating this, but the point of the thread is to design towards giving turrets more identity, not giving them more damage options. That has absolutely nothing to do with everyone's poor, neglected DHC escorts. Which I'm sure are just in dire need of more consoles and traits these days.
"I was here before you, I will be here after you are gone. I am here, regardless of your acknowledgement or acceptance..." - The Truth
> Ahh, that makes more sense, thanks for the clarification
What do you mean, "they benefited from it?" Did you even read Spartan's post? He literally said that only Beam Fire at Will activated per shot. Nothing else. Turrets and cannons never got those different proc rates, save for the small number of proc types that were changed to be weaker to coincide with the broken FaW.
Equally, it won't become the new meta, because that is decided by the mechanics of the game itself. How people choose to deal with that mechanic, that's up to the individual, and as Trendy said, "Your fun isn't wrong"
"I was here before you, I will be here after you are gone. I am here, regardless of your acknowledgement or acceptance..." - The Truth
"I was here before you, I will be here after you are gone. I am here, regardless of your acknowledgement or acceptance..." - The Truth
At least when you use a cannon ability, it affects ALL turrets for ALL their activations for the full duration, instead of just a single shot from a single turret once and for less of a boost than the duration effect would if it only affected one turret. When you fire a turret, it doesn't stick every other turret on a 1.5s cooldown. When a turret hits shields, it doesn't magically get 62.5% of its damage slashed clean off before applying regular resistances.
Haste works on turrets.
Wouldn't dual turrets kind of be like single cannons ? (similar in damage output - but with a way better arc ?)
Or worse, make single cannons obsolete ?
I just fear if too much is added to turret class weapons (IE: dual/Heavy-without 1 per ship restriction), it will make single cannons a real example of a "Red Headed Step Child".
But.. I do like your idea to add more "Rep Heavy Turrets" though... with the "One per ship" limitation, of course.
That sounds pretty fun and reasonable, and adds a lot of variation to what you can do with turret builds. With the possible set bonus.. could make things a lot more interesting in the world of turrets.
That might be right up OP's alley, suggestion wise.
Turrets already have an identity, it's just not one you like. You're trying to get people to change how they think about Turrets, there is nothing wrong with that, but people have made some pretty good points as to why such changes are counter to normal game mechanics and you simply refuse to consider those suggestions. I changed my opinion on the topic because I listened to the counter arguments and they were valid. Turrets have an identity and currently benefit from anything that benefits cannons just like beams, dual beams, and omni beams all share the same set of 'buffs.'
There is nothing wrong with the idea of creating new and 'unique' turrets through rep systems or other methods that are special and different from normal turrets though, kind of like how the Undine Rep has the heavy Bio Turrets. I just doubt that Cryptic will specifically make turrets a focus since the majority of people just use them as augments on their cannon builds. You're trying to make them stand apart from all other weapons, I get it.. I just don't think it's going to happen.
You should give it a try. After reading this thread, I took an Icarus Pilot Escort, put 7 turrets on it and I'm flying it around pretty regularly now. Scatter Volley with 7 turrets fills your screen with damage numbers.. yeah, they're not huge numbers, but there are a ton of them.
Scatter Volley is only less effective if you're hitting it while enemies are spread all over the screen. BFAW has the advantage of firing all directions at once, so it still hits everything, Scatter Volley requires enemies to be at least fairly grouped to be most effective. Even with 7 360 degree weapons, the volley is focused on the target you have highlighted instead of just sprayed all over the screen like FAW. It's all about deciding when to use it, but it's really easy to get down. Honestly though, if you have 2 Scatter Volleys, you can just indiscriminately spam it whenever and you'll be right there with a FAW build. Especially if you use the Withering Barrage trait from the T6 Defiant.
My all turret Escort started out as a joke, but honestly.. it's actually a pretty good ship.
It would all depend on if the dual turret or heavy turret had a limitation on it, or was restricted to a ship type. I mean duak turrets as a concept would make sense on less tactical/combat oriented ships, while heavy turrets would make more sense as a weapon type for the more tactically/combat oriented ships. Though i will say that single cannons are in a very hard area to balance, since if you buff turrets too much they become more effective to use than single cannons.
I personally think that cannons as a archetype of weapons need to have a looking over, and adjusted to give each weapon int he type a niche they function best in. like that for example I think dual cannons make sense as the cannon type that the slower turning battle-cruiser type ships would use (to do this i would say buff their innate firing arc, and reduce their damage output to compensate), while dual heavy cannons would be the cannon type used by the nimble escorts/destroyer types that can thru their innate nimbleness employ the higher damage of the dual heavy cannons that have a much narrower firing arc.
I also think that single cannons could use a alteration to their stats to make them a alternative to the beam-arrays in broadsiding. If you give them a wider firing arc, as well as the ability to be slotted on the rear of the ship than they might be a appealing alternative to beam arrays. Beam arrays might have a wider firing arc for broadsiding than single cannons in this idea, but the single cannons might have a higher output to compensate for that fact.
isnt all that just cosmetic? you cant out run a torpedo nor a snowball... once your in range the dmg and the snowball is thrown... it's gonna hit you no matter what. (one of my pet peeves, I wish you could dodge or get under cover or out run torpedos) the time it takes for cannons to activate is no less if your up close or at 9.9km away. same for beams. for cannons, even if the "shot" has not hit you yet... the next shot is already fired. it is not dependent on the shot hitting it's target before it is fired again.
This is exactly why teamwork is important. Suppose your friendly cruiser vaped something or your science vessel buddy opened some rifts: now you have a CSV target. 8 turrets with a group of targets bunched up... yeah. That's a lot of procs too.
Even funnier is when you pop Distributed Targeting along with CSV...
Things I want in STO:
1) More character customization options such as more clothing options, letting the toon complexion affect the entire body, not just the head. Also a true RGB color picker applied to all costume and appearance options, which would allow for true appearance customization and homogenous colors instead of "this same exact color looks vastly different on two different pieces."
2) Bridge customization, not bridge packs. Let us pick a general layout and adjust the color palette, console appearance, and chair types, as well as more ready room layout options.
3) Customizable ground weapons, i.e. The aesthetic look of phaser dual pistols but they shoot antiproton bolts. For obvious reasons this would only apply to standard ground weapons.
4) For the love of Q please revamp Plasma Ground Weapons. They look like demented Supersoakers right now.
5) True Vanity Impulse and Deflector effects similar to Vanity Shields.
6) A greater payout for hitting T6 Reputations. Currently it takes more time and resources to get from T5 to T6 than it does to get from nothing to T5. Make that grind really pay out at the end.
7) Mirrorverse Refugee event similar to AoY/Delta/Gamma, complete with new Mirrorverse recruits for all factions.
8) Independent Faction, because yo ho yo ho a pirate's life for me!
Correct.
However, consider you have two ships firing on a target at 9km. One ship is loaded with cannons, the other is loaded with beams. They both fire on the same target at the same time.
The beam ship's damage is instantly applied, ripping through the enemy's shields and starting to chew on its hull. None of the damage from the cannon ship's weapon has 'hit' the enemy by the time the second volley fires.
Just before the cannon ship's FIRST volley lands, the beam ship's weapons instantly tear through the hull of the enemy, causing it to explode - before ANY of the cannon ship's damage is actually APPLIED to the target.
On paper, they should have both done similar damage(in all likelihood, the cannon ship would probably have higher raw dps). However, because of the travel time, the beam ship was able to do more effective damage.
This is why, regardless of whether you take long range targeting or not, it's always a good idea to get close to things with cannons - so your damage isn't in 'limbo' for any longer than it needs to be.