Protoneus is giving a lot of good advice as usual.
I agree with him, stick with Phasers. Not just because they're currently the 'best' energy type, but because they're abundant in mission rewards. It's so much easier to do low budget Phaser Builds then any other energy type.
Anti-Proton is going to be one of the harder ones. There isn't much that boosts AP, and what does is either going to come from a lock box or be ship specific. Phaser stuff is easy to get and free.
Still, I like my standard Phaser Fed ship. 6 beams, a few from Missions. And one torp fore and aft. It feels like Star Trek.
At least with... https://sto.gamepedia.com/Mission:_Everything_Old_is_New
...he could have 6 rare beams with 6 repeats, but there's no early level mission for that now. I feel bad for him since it would have been an easier feat.
The "Spectres" episode arc that contains "Everything Old is New" still exists, it just turns up on the "available missions" tab without any fanfare and has been removed from the mandatory mission string. Personally I do not see why they removed it, while it is long (and was a bit glitchy until not long ago) it is a very good arc overall.
I've asked Gen5 about his before, he says it's not under any tab that he can find.
I've asked Gen5 about his before, he says it's not under any tab that he can find.
What's the name of the first episode in the arc? I'll look under Available for it.
Edit: I really should use STO Wiki more. It would save all of you from answering probably 50% of my questions. The first episode in the arc is called 'Spectres' (oddly enough), but according to the wiki, I can't do the mission until I'm at least Level 65.
~~~~~
"We do not do this thing because it is permitted. We do it because we have to. We do it because we are compelled." - Rorschach
You can pick up Generic Phasers off the Exchange, just buy Blue Quality ones to level with.. those are just fine.
Your other option.. I think you said you had the Beams R&D School at level 15?
If that's so, then craft a bunch of Mark II Phasers. They will come out as Mark II Very Rare (Purple.) Use the blue cheap ones from the exchange for a couple weeks until the Upgrade Weekend. Then craft a few Superior Beam Upgrade Kits and upgrade your purple ones. You don't have to go really high, even just Mark XII will be fine.
You can get more stuff to boost Phaser damage then any other energy type currently. Right now, it's not a big deal, but once you get to end game and you're going to start acquiring reputation gear and looking at T6 ships you will find that there is a lot of stuff available for Phaser builds.
I've asked Gen5 about his before, he says it's not under any tab that he can find.
What's the name of the first episode in the arc? I'll look under Available for it.
Edit: I really should use STO Wiki more. It would save all of you from answering probably 50% of my questions. The first episode in the arc is called 'Spectres' (oddly enough), but according to the wiki, I can't do the mission until I'm at least Level 65.
I checked in-game, but there's no Episode called 'Spectres' in the Available tab. Oh, well.
~~~~~
"We do not do this thing because it is permitted. We do it because we have to. We do it because we are compelled." - Rorschach
The Spectres arc is under the Available tab and Spectres can be gotten from Quinn Fedside. It's how I got it recently for one of my newer toons. She just completed destroying Driffen in the past arc.
Now a LTS and loving it.
Just because you spend money on this game, it does not entitle you to be a jerk if things don't go your way.
I have come to the conclusion that I have a memory like Etch-A-Sketch. I shake my head and forget everything.
The Spectres arc is under the Available tab and Spectres can be gotten from Quinn Fedside. It's how I got it recently for one of my newer toons. She just completed destroying Driffen in the past arc.
My understanding is that it doesn't appear for new players.
For those that had the missions available during the silly revamp, it was moved there.. for everyone else, those missions are just gone. If they come back at some point, I don't know.. but it's not the first I have heard of players not having that arc available.
The great things about buying a Tier 1 Connie is twofold ( three if you count the joy of fly Kirk's ship ).
1) It comes with a pair of leveling Phaser beams. and 2) It only costs 500 Zen in the C-Store. After buying for my ST-TOS Captain, I picked it up and then dropped it three times so that I could get eight or those Leveling Phasers. I eventually put them on one of my Free Event ships. I forget which one. I didn't often use it because, as I remember, after a while the noise from using it in combat left a ringing in my ears. Not joking. Those beams seemed really loud back then.
I've started crafting. I have a Mark II of each Beam type (Anti-Proton, Disruptor and Phaser for the Fore Weapons with a Quantum Torpedo, and Plasma, Polaron and Tetryon for the Aft Weapons with a Turret (can't remember what type but it's got a 360 degree Firing arc)). This should be one heck of a light show during combat.
Now for the Consoles . . . Here's what I'm thinking (and we all know how dangerous that can be)
ENG: SIF Generator, EPS Flow Regulator, RCS Accelerator, and Diburnium Hull Plating
SCI: Field Generator and a Shield Emitter Amplifier
TAC: Zero Point Quantum Chamber, Phaser Relay, Directed Energy Distribution Manifold
Are these decent choices or is there a better layout? And what Level (Mark value) should the consoles be?
What would be good choices for the Deflector, Impulse Engines, Warp Core, and Shields and what Mark value should they be?
~~~~~
"We do not do this thing because it is permitted. We do it because we have to. We do it because we are compelled." - Rorschach
I've started crafting. I have a Mark II of each Beam type (Anti-Proton, Disruptor and Phaser for the Fore Weapons with a Quantum Torpedo, and Plasma, Polaron and Tetryon for the Aft Weapons with a Turret (can't remember what type but it's got a 360 degree Firing arc)). This should be one heck of a light show during combat.
Now for the Consoles . . . Here's what I'm thinking (and we all know how dangerous that can be)
ENG: SIF Generator, EPS Flow Regulator, RCS Accelerator, and Diburnium Hull Plating
SCI: Field Generator and a Shield Emitter Amplifier
TAC: Zero Point Quantum Chamber, Phaser Relay, Directed Energy Distribution Manifold
Are these decent choices or is there a better layout? And what Level (Mark value) should the consoles be?
What would be good choices for the Deflector, Impulse Engines, Warp Core, and Shields and what Mark value should they be?
Not sure why you seem to be trying to make a 'rainbow' build when about all it will accomplish is to decrease your damage by one third (directed energy distribution manifolds versus energy specific tactical consoles i.e. phaser relay)?
If you really want to (one day... years from now...) you'd want to use all directed energy distribution manifolds as mixing in an energy specific tac console as you have is only buffing a single beam type. What you really should aim for all Phaser Relays if you decide to do a phaser build as previously discussed as your 7 beam arrays are doing the vast majority of your damage. A rear torpedo is fine for canon role playing while doing missions.
Here are the specifics of the Weapons that I crafted:
Fore Weapons
Anti-Proton Dual Beam Bank Mk II [Acc] [CrtD] [Snare]*
Disruptor Dual Beam Bank Mk II [Acc]x2 [CrtH]*
Phaser Dual Beam Bank Mk II [Acc]x2 [Dmg]*
Quantum Torpedo Launcher Mk II [CrtD] [CrtH] {Pen] <nice for leveling until you get mission quantum phase torp>
Aft Weapons
Plasma Beam Array Mk II [Acc] [CrtD] {CrtH]*
Polaron Beam Array Mk II [Acc] [CrtH]x2*
Tetryon Beam Array Mk II [CrtD] [CrtH] [Over] <salvage or sell>
Tetryon Turret Mk II [Dmg]x2 [Pen] <nice one, save or sell>
Save any beam array with [Pen] (it can be re-engineered later or sold) or any combination of CrtD and Dmg i.e. [CrtD]x2 [Dmg], [CrtD] [Dmg]x2. [CrtD]x3 or [Dmg]x3) can be saved or sold as well. Dual Beam Banks not currently worth the effort... you're either broadsiding or you're not. If you're not you need weapons in the back that fire forward.
Right click and select 'salvage' for any beam array with [Snare] or [Over] or doesn't have both CrtD and Dmg (not worth re-engineering imho). You may be able to sell beams with the preferred CrtD & Dmg combination with the crafted [Over] modifier to those that enjoy the sound of a weak sauce beam overload.
You might find it easier to look for some reasonably priced beam arrays on the exchange if you intend to upgrade them from Mk II very rare. [CrtD] [Dmg] [Pen] is my personal favorite for very rare.
Notes: * = salvage. Craft Neutronium Alloy versus Diburnium, Positron deflector, Resilient Shields with [Cap]x2 [Reg] or [Cap]x3, Combat Impulse Engines with [Speed][Turn]x2, Deuterium W ->A warp core.
Again, just my opinion with respect to modifiers. Seek medical help if crafting creates anxiety, chest pain, or excessive flatulence.
I've started crafting. I have a Mark II of each Beam type (Anti-Proton, Disruptor and Phaser for the Fore Weapons with a Quantum Torpedo, and Plasma, Polaron and Tetryon for the Aft Weapons with a Turret (can't remember what type but it's got a 360 degree Firing arc)). This should be one heck of a light show during combat.
Now for the Consoles . . . Here's what I'm thinking (and we all know how dangerous that can be)
ENG: SIF Generator, EPS Flow Regulator, RCS Accelerator, and Diburnium Hull Plating
SCI: Field Generator and a Shield Emitter Amplifier
TAC: Zero Point Quantum Chamber, Phaser Relay, Directed Energy Distribution Manifold
Are these decent choices or is there a better layout? And what Level (Mark value) should the consoles be?
What would be good choices for the Deflector, Impulse Engines, Warp Core, and Shields and what Mark value should they be?
Usually it is best to stick to one energy type (on rare occasions two complementary ones), but if you are doing that rainbow to get the feel of the different types or whatever then I would recommend dumping the Phaser Relay in favor of another Directed Energy Distribution Manifold since you only have one phaser and the extra boost the Phaser Relay has over the Manifold is wasted on only one gun. You will get much better total output from the individually smaller boost to every beam weapon that the Manifold gives. For the same reason, I would dump the Zero Point Quantum Chamber and run three Directed Energy Distribution Manifolds with that arrangement, it is more efficient to enhance all the beams instead of one torpedo.
Once you find an energy type that you like you might want to specialize in it for that character though since it is much easier to tune a build and the skills, specializations, and other things that support it when you use one type (on the other hand, some traits, skills, and specializations apply more to the procs than the energy type and sometimes they can compensate for the loss of efficiency in supporting more than one energy type to some degree, so if you like to tinker that is one of the popular niche things).
Equipment is always best at the highest tier that you can get them to as character level and resources allow. MK. XII is usually enough for most endgame missions and normal difficulty TFOs though, so many people run with that until an upgrade weekend rolls around to compensate for the steep climb in cost of upgrading beyond XII.
A single "superior" quality tech upgrade (which you can built with research level 15 in the type of weapon or system you want to upgrade) will get you to around mk. VII or VIII so I would take them that far at the very least if your character level allows it (just watch out for your dilithium balance when upgrading items, and your EC balance when building the upgrade kits, it is easy to run dry if you are not careful). I have a number of endgame characters already so I usually craft on them, apply an upgrade without doing the actual upgrade step, then sending the item to my lower level characters so it spreads out the cost a bit.
Also, the reason people recommend starting out with magenta quality MK II stuff is that quality upgrade chance is statistically better with more tries and you have a reasonable chance to get violet quality or occasionally even gold quality before it reaches mark twelve.
Personally I would put any [pen] and [over] beams in the front and [snare] in back unless you are planning to use a lot of gravity wells, tyken's rifts, or other AoE attacks where you want the enemy to have less movement to get out of the area (science attacks usually have a front firing arc). Otherwise [snare], when it procs, is useful for shaking escorts and Hurq off your tail but if you are the one chasing the enemy it is likely to land them right in your face as they suddenly slow down. Of course in a beam-array based cruiser it is not as much of an issue since you will want to keep your side to the enemy so all your guns bear on them at once instead of chasing them like a WWII dogfight, dipping your nose at them for a second when your torpedo is ready to fire then turning broadside again.
That goes double for the tetryon beam since it is an anti-shield weapon primarily and so it makes a nice complement to the torpedo (make sure it comes before the torpedo in the firing order, which usually means putting it left of the torpedo since unless you override the firing order it goes left to right starting in the front then again left to right in the back skipping anything that has not cooled down yet).
The dual beam banks do complicate things a bit since they have narrower arcs and can only slot in the front. Usually they are used in tandem with omni-beams, cannons, and maybe a mine launcher in the rear, since while you can make an oblique attack with dual beam banks in front and beam arrays in the rear, the angle where they can all bear at once is very narrow and almost impossible to keep trained on the enemy. It does work well enough if you play to use Fire At Will a lot though or have enough turn speed to loop a lot. I often use two beam banks and two torpedoes in front and a pair of Omni's in the back (you can only have one crafted and one mission or reputation award omni on each ship) along with something to fill the other rear slots, but then I tend to run science captains and exotic damage torpedoes (and as I said earlier, most of the science attacks are front arc).
Not sure why you seem to be trying to make a 'rainbow' build when about all it will accomplish is to decrease your damage by one third (directed energy distribution manifolds versus energy specific tactical consoles i.e. phaser relay)?
You're right, of course, I was just being silly. I'm just tired of using plain Phasers. Maybe I should try a Disruptor / Cannon build just to try something different. Are there any Beam energy types that complement Cannons so one console buffs them both?
Oh, during crafting, I hit Level 50. In City of Heroes, I'd be at the max level, and ready to begin the Incarnate system. God, I miss that game.
~~~~~
"We do not do this thing because it is permitted. We do it because we have to. We do it because we are compelled." - Rorschach
Here are the specifics of the Weapons that I crafted:
Fore Weapons
Anti-Proton Dual Beam Bank Mk II [Acc] [CrtD] [Snare]
Disruptor Dual Beam Bank Mk II [Acc]x2 [CrtH]
Phaser Dual Beam Bank Mk II [Acc]x2 [Dmg]
Quantum Torpedo Launcher Mk II [CrtD] [CrtH] {Pen]
Aft Weapons
Plasma Beam Array Mk II [Acc] [CrtD] {CrtH]
Polaron Beam Array Mk II [Acc] [CrtH]x2
Tetryon Beam Array Mk II [CrtD] [CrtH] [Over]
Tetryon Turret Mk II [Dmg]x2 [Pen]
Honestly, at this point.. you have received a ton of advice and you seem determined not to take any of it.
I am not trying to be harsh.. but there is no easy way of saying this..
If these are the weapons you intend to use on a 4/4 cruiser you absolutely could not have done a worse job. Dual Beams up front and Single beams in the rear? seriously? They're all different energy types, another bad idea.. and then like that wasn't bad enough.. you threw in a turret just to somehow manage to make it even worse.
I am not sure what you're gaining from this thread, but you're not listening to advice given. That layout makes absolutely no sense at all.
Not sure why you seem to be trying to make a 'rainbow' build when about all it will accomplish is to decrease your damage by one third (directed energy distribution manifolds versus energy specific tactical consoles i.e. phaser relay)?
You're right, of course, I was just being silly. I'm just tired of using plain Phasers. Maybe I should try a Disruptor / Cannon build just to try something different. Are there any Beam energy types that complement Cannons so one console buffs them both?
Phasers were recommended as there's quite a few different mission rewards that buff them and those same missions are earlier in the story line so you'd be getting them sooner. Having an extemely effective quantum torpedo as part of a set with bonus' makes things even better. Many of the same missions give rewards that also work great for a phaser cannon build. But by all means try whatever turns your fancy... experimenting with different things is a big part of the game and a lot of fun. There are also some great mission pieces for plain disruptor, plain polaron, and other energy types.
The idea was to get you an achievable build that works well for somebody relatively new to the game so that you'd be best prepared for level 50+ and be better and more efficient at being able to 'harvest' what you need to try other things.
Cannon builds are great fun and currently do the most damage in the game. The play style is very active and reward precise piloting.
One of the biggest challenges that you'll have at L50+ is making a set of account bound weapons weapons with decent modifiers. This can consume a considerable amount of resources so sticking with a single energy type to start with would probably be the most cost efficient as well.
As the cost of resources would be high it would be prudent to start with the best modifiers for those weapons as well... any combination of CrtD and Dmg, with Pen being icing on the cake, which is why I was a little exacting on starting with optimal modifiers. Kind of a do it right once sort of thing.
Now that you can working toward completing reputation and acquiring both rep and fleet gear things get better yet both in completing and improving your first build(s) and start looking at other things that work well together. Your beam and cannon builds will have additional pieces that make them work even better yet.
Having a phaser beam boat and phaser cannon escort would serve you well at this point. Consider it as a foundation to work towards other things, one step at a time. Adding other energy types would get you different colors of energy weapons visuals but not really anything more than added cost... for now.
Just my 2 EC
p.s. be sure to check mission rewards (mission replay list from the wiki) as many of things you proposed to craft would be great to level up with but will also be superseded in short order or could be replaced with mission or blue items off the exchange for now at less cost.
Edit: Phaser Relay Tac consoles buff both beams and cannons.
So 3 Phasers (not Dual Beam but maybe 1 Omni-Directional) with a Phaser Cannon up front and 3 Phasers (not Dual Beam) with a Phaser Cannon in the Rear with 3 Phaser Relay Tac Consoles. I'll start working on this as soon as I get back from running some errands.
~~~~~
"We do not do this thing because it is permitted. We do it because we have to. We do it because we are compelled." - Rorschach
So 3 Phasers (not Dual Beam but maybe 1 Omni-Directional) with a Phaser Cannon up front and 3 Phasers (not Dual Beam) with a Phaser Cannon in the Rear with 3 Phaser Relay Tac Consoles. I'll start working on this as soon as I get back from running some errands.
For a cannon build you'd probably use all dual heavy cannons up front and all turrets at rear.
I like to mix in one dual cannon up front to mix up the firing cycles a bit. Sometimes I put the mission phaser omni in the rear for a beam overload if tactical boff space permits. If no mission omni just use all turrets rear. A front torpedo as well as the omni are highly optional and may very well reduce your damage. Both of these are just things to try... many would just keep to all cannons and turrets.
Quantum Phase Catalysts This set from the mission Sunrise provides a console and dual heavy cannon that work well together and is the same mission you get the beam array and quantum phase torpedo from for 3 piece set on a beam boat.
The more important question would be what ship do you plan on using this on? I ask because you need the correct boff layout for a cannon build.
Preferred ships to start with energy builds and cannon builds due to their Tier 6 ship mastery traits are respectively:
Arbiter Battlecruiser Mastery trait is best in class for any energy build. Can use cannons as well but must use an A2B build that requires 3 very rare technician active duty doffs.
So 3 Phasers (not Dual Beam but maybe 1 Omni-Directional) <*no omni> with a Phaser Cannon<*don't mix cannons & beams> up front and 3 Phasers (not Dual Beam) with a Phaser Cannon<*don't mix cannons & beams> in the Rear with 3 Phaser Relay Tac Consoles.
Since a cannon build was mentioned in the previous post will clarify beam build weapons for you again with reference to phaser:
Front: all beam arrays and one torpedo. 1 of the beam arrays + torpedo + console can be sourced from the mission as above.
Rear: all beam arrays, one of which can be replaced with the omni (use console as well) from the mission 'Beyond the Nexus' as a 2 piece from the Trilithium Laced Weaponry set.
As mentioned before you can put a 2nd torpedo in the rear to fulfill canon needs during missions. This will decrease your damage dealt and isn't usually suitable for a forward firing cannon & turret build. It can work well with the Hurq in-mission as a drive by rear spread or versus the Elachi (the only exceptions I can think of).
Just so you know, we leave mixing Cannons and Beams and turrets and multiple torpedos up to Cryptic. Base equipmentas arranged and found on earned or purchased ships doesn't necessarily indicate proper use and makes no sense what so ever (it's sample gear only). Also, the base Neutrino deflector is junk as are the shields, warp core, engine, and everything else.
So 3 Phasers (not Dual Beam but maybe 1 Omni-Directional) with a Phaser Cannon up front and 3 Phasers (not Dual Beam) with a Phaser Cannon in the Rear with 3 Phaser Relay Tac Consoles. I'll start working on this as soon as I get back from running some errands.
That's a tad better, but again.. Omni in the front? Why? All beams with 1 cannon? Again.. why?
You can't put cannons in aft slots.. and why would you want to?
Beams/Omni's and Cannons/Turrets can be used in together in certain specialized builds like Surgical Strikes single target builds, or they can be mixed in Miracle Worker setups to trigger certain bridge officer abilities, but unless you're going for one of these specialized builds.. you need to decide on Beams or cannons. You're not doing anything but handicapping yourself by mixing them.
If the item has Snare, Thrust, Rapid or Arc I trash it.
Those mods cannot be re-engineered, they are permanent. Any of the other mods can be re-engineered. Personally, the only mods I use on Cannons are Pen, DmG and CrtD but I tend to build for the highest damage possible.
If the item has Snare, Thrust, Rapid or Arc I trash it.
Those mods cannot be re-engineered, they are permanent. Any of the other mods can be re-engineered. Personally, the only mods I use on Cannons are Pen, DmG and CrtD but I tend to build for the highest damage possible.
Actually, Rapid is not a bad modifier at all, it puts all of your cannons into rapid fire mode when it procs which can be handy when your ship is a bit light on Tac seating since it can trigger when the boff skill is in cooldown.
Arc can also be handy on a heavy cruiser, especially that standard Federation T5 one you are building on, if you do not plan to stuff the engineering slots with multiple RCS accelerators along with mounting a high turn rate impulse drive to keep one of those wallowing hippos on target with cannons. That turn problem is why so many cruisers end up as beam boats, and why some of the worst turning ones like the Vo'Quv often end up with the "Galactica" style build and mount all turrets and omnis.
Snare is definitely situational, it is handy in some scenarios and in control boats (though temporal reputation weapons are generally better for that), but it does not add anything to parsed DPS and is difficult to take advantage of which makes it unpopular.
The general purpose king of mods is Pen of course. It is the easiest to take advantage of, especially if you have good tac seating and whatnot to keep the rate of fire up, but whether you want to craft a dozen or so weapons for each one that comes out with Pen or just go with a mix of procs is a matter of personal preference. Also, a magenta quality weapon with one of those other mods is no worse off than a blue of the same type and level if you want to ignore the non-re-engineerable mod.
If the item has Snare, Thrust, Rapid or Arc I trash it.
Those mods cannot be re-engineered, they are permanent. Any of the other mods can be re-engineered. Personally, the only mods I use on Cannons are Pen, DmG and CrtD but I tend to build for the highest damage possible.
Actually, Rapid is not a bad modifier at all, it puts all of your cannons into rapid fire mode when it procs which can be handy when your ship is a bit light on Tac seating since it can trigger when the boff skill is in cooldown.
Arc can also be handy on a heavy cruiser, especially that standard Federation T5 one you are building on, if you do not plan to stuff the engineering slots with multiple RCS accelerators along with mounting a high turn rate impulse drive to keep one of those wallowing hippos on target with cannons. That turn problem is why so many cruisers end up as beam boats, and why some of the worst turning ones like the Vo'Quv often end up with the "Galactica" style build and mount all turrets and omnis.
Snare is definitely situational, it is handy in some scenarios and in control boats (though temporal reputation weapons are generally better for that), but it does not add anything to parsed DPS and is difficult to take advantage of which makes it unpopular.
The general purpose king of mods is Pen of course. It is the easiest to take advantage of, especially if you have good tac seating and whatnot to keep the rate of fire up, but whether you want to craft a dozen or so weapons for each one that comes out with Pen or just go with a mix of procs is a matter of personal preference. Also, a magenta quality weapon with one of those other mods is no worse off than a blue of the same type and level if you want to ignore the non-re-engineerable mod.
My list of mods is based on nothing but my personal preference. While those mods you listed do have some use, as a general rule none of their situational benefits out perform the constant benefit of one of the mods I listed.
Again though, this nothing but my personal preference which is based purely on damage dealing potential. Other users preferences will vary.
During today's TFO, I hit Level 51 and received my first Specialization Point.
According to the Skill Planner that seaofsorrows whipped up for my Captain (and in case I didn't thank you earlier for doing this, seaofsorrows, thank you so much), my Primary Specialization is Intelligence, but it doesn't indicate which of the Skills to take in the Intelligence Tree, so I'll ask:
Flank Protection I OR Hide Weakness I
~~~~~
"We do not do this thing because it is permitted. We do it because we have to. We do it because we are compelled." - Rorschach
I tend to take all of Intel Tier 1 right asap as it seems to help is space, then the first point or two into Tier 1 left which is ground before skipping ahead as rapidly as possible using the minimum number of points to get to the next level. I focus on areas that help space such as Tier 2 adaptive targeting and Tier 3 space flanking until I get to tier 4 opportunistic as a temporary final point. Other ground and non-essential space can be filled in later.
Unless you really like doing admiralty (personally I don't) perhaps an argument could be made to do even less in Intel and to work on Strategist Tier 1 left to get to Tier 2 Attrition Warfare 1 and 2 done as soon as possible to assist with cool downs in combination with threatening stance.
Everybody has their own system but short answer is Intel Tier 1 right seems to help firm things up in space quite nicely for me at least.
(Very Rare) Phaser Cannon Mk II [Acc] [CrtD] [Dmg]
(Very Rare) Phaser Cannon Mk II [CrtD] [CrtH] [Dmg]
Deflector: (Rare) Positron Deflector Array Mk XII [CdrD] [Shd Heal] Impulse: (Rare) Combat Impulse Engines Mk XII [Spd] [Turn] Warp Core: (Uncommon) Deuterium-Stabilized Warp Core Mk XII [Sep] [SST] Shields: (Rare) Resilient Shield Array Mk XII [Cap] x2
Aft Weapons
(Very Rare) Phaser Turret Mk II [CrtD]x2 [Dmg]
(Very Rare) Phaser Turret Mk II [CrtD] [Dmg]x2
(Very Rare) Phaser Turret Mk II [CrtD]x2 [Pen]
(Very Rare) Phaser Turret Mk II [CrtD] [CrtH] [Pen]
Engineering Consoles
(Rare) SIF Generator Mk XII
(Very Rare) Diburnium Hull Plating Mk XII
(Very Rare) EPS Flow Regulator Mk XII
(Rare) RCS Accelerator Mk XII
Science Consoles
(Very Rare) Field Generator Mk II
(Rare) Shield Emitter Amplifier Mk XII
Tactical Consoles
(Common) Phaser Relay Mk XII
(Common) Phaser Relay Mk XII
(Common) Phaser Relay Mk XII
Devices are empty . . . What would be some good choices to fill these 4 slots with?
Off the top of my head, getting Cannons into a narrow 45 degree arc on a target might be difficult with one RCS Console on a heavy hull ship, maybe a second would be better to increase those tough turns. It will never turn like a Defiant, but you might get it turning something like a Light Cruiser.
What do you guys think? Cannon ships are not my bailiwick.
Comments
I've asked Gen5 about his before, he says it's not under any tab that he can find.
What's the name of the first episode in the arc? I'll look under Available for it.
Edit: I really should use STO Wiki more. It would save all of you from answering probably 50% of my questions. The first episode in the arc is called 'Spectres' (oddly enough), but according to the wiki, I can't do the mission until I'm at least Level 65.
"We do not do this thing because it is permitted. We do it because we have to. We do it because we are compelled." - Rorschach
~~~~~
Your other option.. I think you said you had the Beams R&D School at level 15?
If that's so, then craft a bunch of Mark II Phasers. They will come out as Mark II Very Rare (Purple.) Use the blue cheap ones from the exchange for a couple weeks until the Upgrade Weekend. Then craft a few Superior Beam Upgrade Kits and upgrade your purple ones. You don't have to go really high, even just Mark XII will be fine.
You can get more stuff to boost Phaser damage then any other energy type currently. Right now, it's not a big deal, but once you get to end game and you're going to start acquiring reputation gear and looking at T6 ships you will find that there is a lot of stuff available for Phaser builds.
I thought it was odd that the only sound effect was that of Phasers with a rare sound Torpedoes scattering across the distance. Usually from my ship.
For the longest time I was the only guy in a TFO making Phaser sounds. Who knew I'd become a trend setter, one day.
I checked in-game, but there's no Episode called 'Spectres' in the Available tab. Oh, well.
"We do not do this thing because it is permitted. We do it because we have to. We do it because we are compelled." - Rorschach
~~~~~
My understanding is that it doesn't appear for new players.
For those that had the missions available during the silly revamp, it was moved there.. for everyone else, those missions are just gone. If they come back at some point, I don't know.. but it's not the first I have heard of players not having that arc available.
https://sto.gamepedia.com/TOS_Constitution_Class_Cruiser
The great things about buying a Tier 1 Connie is twofold ( three if you count the joy of fly Kirk's ship ).
1) It comes with a pair of leveling Phaser beams. and 2) It only costs 500 Zen in the C-Store. After buying for my ST-TOS Captain, I picked it up and then dropped it three times so that I could get eight or those Leveling Phasers. I eventually put them on one of my Free Event ships. I forget which one. I didn't often use it because, as I remember, after a while the noise from using it in combat left a ringing in my ears. Not joking. Those beams seemed really loud back then.
Anyway, that only works if you have Zen to spend.
Now for the Consoles . . . Here's what I'm thinking (and we all know how dangerous that can be)
ENG: SIF Generator, EPS Flow Regulator, RCS Accelerator, and Diburnium Hull Plating
SCI: Field Generator and a Shield Emitter Amplifier
TAC: Zero Point Quantum Chamber, Phaser Relay, Directed Energy Distribution Manifold
Are these decent choices or is there a better layout? And what Level (Mark value) should the consoles be?
What would be good choices for the Deflector, Impulse Engines, Warp Core, and Shields and what Mark value should they be?
"We do not do this thing because it is permitted. We do it because we have to. We do it because we are compelled." - Rorschach
~~~~~
Fore Weapons
Aft Weapons
"We do not do this thing because it is permitted. We do it because we have to. We do it because we are compelled." - Rorschach
~~~~~
If you really want to (one day... years from now...) you'd want to use all directed energy distribution manifolds as mixing in an energy specific tac console as you have is only buffing a single beam type. What you really should aim for all Phaser Relays if you decide to do a phaser build as previously discussed as your 7 beam arrays are doing the vast majority of your damage. A rear torpedo is fine for canon role playing while doing missions.
Save any beam array with [Pen] (it can be re-engineered later or sold) or any combination of CrtD and Dmg i.e. [CrtD]x2 [Dmg], [CrtD] [Dmg]x2. [CrtD]x3 or [Dmg]x3) can be saved or sold as well. Dual Beam Banks not currently worth the effort... you're either broadsiding or you're not. If you're not you need weapons in the back that fire forward.
Right click and select 'salvage' for any beam array with [Snare] or [Over] or doesn't have both CrtD and Dmg (not worth re-engineering imho). You may be able to sell beams with the preferred CrtD & Dmg combination with the crafted [Over] modifier to those that enjoy the sound of a weak sauce beam overload.
You might find it easier to look for some reasonably priced beam arrays on the exchange if you intend to upgrade them from Mk II very rare. [CrtD] [Dmg] [Pen] is my personal favorite for very rare.
Notes: * = salvage. Craft Neutronium Alloy versus Diburnium, Positron deflector, Resilient Shields with [Cap]x2 [Reg] or [Cap]x3, Combat Impulse Engines with [Speed][Turn]x2, Deuterium W ->A warp core.
Again, just my opinion with respect to modifiers. Seek medical help if crafting creates anxiety, chest pain, or excessive flatulence.
Usually it is best to stick to one energy type (on rare occasions two complementary ones), but if you are doing that rainbow to get the feel of the different types or whatever then I would recommend dumping the Phaser Relay in favor of another Directed Energy Distribution Manifold since you only have one phaser and the extra boost the Phaser Relay has over the Manifold is wasted on only one gun. You will get much better total output from the individually smaller boost to every beam weapon that the Manifold gives. For the same reason, I would dump the Zero Point Quantum Chamber and run three Directed Energy Distribution Manifolds with that arrangement, it is more efficient to enhance all the beams instead of one torpedo.
Once you find an energy type that you like you might want to specialize in it for that character though since it is much easier to tune a build and the skills, specializations, and other things that support it when you use one type (on the other hand, some traits, skills, and specializations apply more to the procs than the energy type and sometimes they can compensate for the loss of efficiency in supporting more than one energy type to some degree, so if you like to tinker that is one of the popular niche things).
Equipment is always best at the highest tier that you can get them to as character level and resources allow. MK. XII is usually enough for most endgame missions and normal difficulty TFOs though, so many people run with that until an upgrade weekend rolls around to compensate for the steep climb in cost of upgrading beyond XII.
A single "superior" quality tech upgrade (which you can built with research level 15 in the type of weapon or system you want to upgrade) will get you to around mk. VII or VIII so I would take them that far at the very least if your character level allows it (just watch out for your dilithium balance when upgrading items, and your EC balance when building the upgrade kits, it is easy to run dry if you are not careful). I have a number of endgame characters already so I usually craft on them, apply an upgrade without doing the actual upgrade step, then sending the item to my lower level characters so it spreads out the cost a bit.
Also, the reason people recommend starting out with magenta quality MK II stuff is that quality upgrade chance is statistically better with more tries and you have a reasonable chance to get violet quality or occasionally even gold quality before it reaches mark twelve.
Personally I would put any [pen] and [over] beams in the front and [snare] in back unless you are planning to use a lot of gravity wells, tyken's rifts, or other AoE attacks where you want the enemy to have less movement to get out of the area (science attacks usually have a front firing arc). Otherwise [snare], when it procs, is useful for shaking escorts and Hurq off your tail but if you are the one chasing the enemy it is likely to land them right in your face as they suddenly slow down. Of course in a beam-array based cruiser it is not as much of an issue since you will want to keep your side to the enemy so all your guns bear on them at once instead of chasing them like a WWII dogfight, dipping your nose at them for a second when your torpedo is ready to fire then turning broadside again.
That goes double for the tetryon beam since it is an anti-shield weapon primarily and so it makes a nice complement to the torpedo (make sure it comes before the torpedo in the firing order, which usually means putting it left of the torpedo since unless you override the firing order it goes left to right starting in the front then again left to right in the back skipping anything that has not cooled down yet).
The dual beam banks do complicate things a bit since they have narrower arcs and can only slot in the front. Usually they are used in tandem with omni-beams, cannons, and maybe a mine launcher in the rear, since while you can make an oblique attack with dual beam banks in front and beam arrays in the rear, the angle where they can all bear at once is very narrow and almost impossible to keep trained on the enemy. It does work well enough if you play to use Fire At Will a lot though or have enough turn speed to loop a lot. I often use two beam banks and two torpedoes in front and a pair of Omni's in the back (you can only have one crafted and one mission or reputation award omni on each ship) along with something to fill the other rear slots, but then I tend to run science captains and exotic damage torpedoes (and as I said earlier, most of the science attacks are front arc).
You're right, of course, I was just being silly. I'm just tired of using plain Phasers. Maybe I should try a Disruptor / Cannon build just to try something different. Are there any Beam energy types that complement Cannons so one console buffs them both?
Oh, during crafting, I hit Level 50. In City of Heroes, I'd be at the max level, and ready to begin the Incarnate system. God, I miss that game.
"We do not do this thing because it is permitted. We do it because we have to. We do it because we are compelled." - Rorschach
~~~~~
Honestly, at this point.. you have received a ton of advice and you seem determined not to take any of it.
I am not trying to be harsh.. but there is no easy way of saying this..
If these are the weapons you intend to use on a 4/4 cruiser you absolutely could not have done a worse job. Dual Beams up front and Single beams in the rear? seriously? They're all different energy types, another bad idea.. and then like that wasn't bad enough.. you threw in a turret just to somehow manage to make it even worse.
I am not sure what you're gaining from this thread, but you're not listening to advice given. That layout makes absolutely no sense at all.
The idea was to get you an achievable build that works well for somebody relatively new to the game so that you'd be best prepared for level 50+ and be better and more efficient at being able to 'harvest' what you need to try other things.
Cannon builds are great fun and currently do the most damage in the game. The play style is very active and reward precise piloting.
One of the biggest challenges that you'll have at L50+ is making a set of account bound weapons weapons with decent modifiers. This can consume a considerable amount of resources so sticking with a single energy type to start with would probably be the most cost efficient as well.
As the cost of resources would be high it would be prudent to start with the best modifiers for those weapons as well... any combination of CrtD and Dmg, with Pen being icing on the cake, which is why I was a little exacting on starting with optimal modifiers. Kind of a do it right once sort of thing.
Now that you can working toward completing reputation and acquiring both rep and fleet gear things get better yet both in completing and improving your first build(s) and start looking at other things that work well together. Your beam and cannon builds will have additional pieces that make them work even better yet.
Having a phaser beam boat and phaser cannon escort would serve you well at this point. Consider it as a foundation to work towards other things, one step at a time. Adding other energy types would get you different colors of energy weapons visuals but not really anything more than added cost... for now.
Just my 2 EC
p.s. be sure to check mission rewards (mission replay list from the wiki) as many of things you proposed to craft would be great to level up with but will also be superseded in short order or could be replaced with mission or blue items off the exchange for now at less cost.
Edit: Phaser Relay Tac consoles buff both beams and cannons.
Like I said:
So 3 Phasers (not Dual Beam but maybe 1 Omni-Directional) with a Phaser Cannon up front and 3 Phasers (not Dual Beam) with a Phaser Cannon in the Rear with 3 Phaser Relay Tac Consoles. I'll start working on this as soon as I get back from running some errands.
"We do not do this thing because it is permitted. We do it because we have to. We do it because we are compelled." - Rorschach
~~~~~
I like to mix in one dual cannon up front to mix up the firing cycles a bit. Sometimes I put the mission phaser omni in the rear for a beam overload if tactical boff space permits. If no mission omni just use all turrets rear. A front torpedo as well as the omni are highly optional and may very well reduce your damage. Both of these are just things to try... many would just keep to all cannons and turrets.
Quantum Phase Catalysts This set from the mission Sunrise provides a console and dual heavy cannon that work well together and is the same mission you get the beam array and quantum phase torpedo from for 3 piece set on a beam boat.
https://sto.gamepedia.com/Counter-Command_Ordnance You can check out this reputation for additional pieces that work well with cannons.
The more important question would be what ship do you plan on using this on? I ask because you need the correct boff layout for a cannon build.
Preferred ships to start with energy builds and cannon builds due to their Tier 6 ship mastery traits are respectively:
Arbiter Battlecruiser Mastery trait is best in class for any energy build. Can use cannons as well but must use an A2B build that requires 3 very rare technician active duty doffs.
Tactical Escort Mastery trait extends the duration of CSV.
- Front: all beam arrays and one torpedo. 1 of the beam arrays + torpedo + console can be sourced from the mission as above.
- Rear: all beam arrays, one of which can be replaced with the omni (use console as well) from the mission 'Beyond the Nexus' as a 2 piece from the Trilithium Laced Weaponry set.
As mentioned before you can put a 2nd torpedo in the rear to fulfill canon needs during missions. This will decrease your damage dealt and isn't usually suitable for a forward firing cannon & turret build. It can work well with the Hurq in-mission as a drive by rear spread or versus the Elachi (the only exceptions I can think of).Just so you know, we leave mixing Cannons and Beams and turrets and multiple torpedos up to Cryptic. Base equipmentas arranged and found on earned or purchased ships doesn't necessarily indicate proper use and makes no sense what so ever (it's sample gear only). Also, the base Neutrino deflector is junk as are the shields, warp core, engine, and everything else.
That's a tad better, but again.. Omni in the front? Why? All beams with 1 cannon? Again.. why?
You can't put cannons in aft slots.. and why would you want to?
Beams/Omni's and Cannons/Turrets can be used in together in certain specialized builds like Surgical Strikes single target builds, or they can be mixed in Miracle Worker setups to trigger certain bridge officer abilities, but unless you're going for one of these specialized builds.. you need to decide on Beams or cannons. You're not doing anything but handicapping yourself by mixing them.
OK. Hypothetically, let's suppose that I want a Cannon build (just to try something different).
The modifiers that apply to Cannons are as follows:
[CrtD], [CrtH], [Acc], [Dmg], [Snare], [Thrust], [Pen], {Rapid], [CrtX], [Arc]
When I craft Cannons, which of these modifiers should be avoided? (Meaning that I should just Salvage the Cannon if a certain modifier pops up).
"We do not do this thing because it is permitted. We do it because we have to. We do it because we are compelled." - Rorschach
~~~~~
Those mods cannot be re-engineered, they are permanent. Any of the other mods can be re-engineered. Personally, the only mods I use on Cannons are Pen, DmG and CrtD but I tend to build for the highest damage possible.
Actually, Rapid is not a bad modifier at all, it puts all of your cannons into rapid fire mode when it procs which can be handy when your ship is a bit light on Tac seating since it can trigger when the boff skill is in cooldown.
Arc can also be handy on a heavy cruiser, especially that standard Federation T5 one you are building on, if you do not plan to stuff the engineering slots with multiple RCS accelerators along with mounting a high turn rate impulse drive to keep one of those wallowing hippos on target with cannons. That turn problem is why so many cruisers end up as beam boats, and why some of the worst turning ones like the Vo'Quv often end up with the "Galactica" style build and mount all turrets and omnis.
Snare is definitely situational, it is handy in some scenarios and in control boats (though temporal reputation weapons are generally better for that), but it does not add anything to parsed DPS and is difficult to take advantage of which makes it unpopular.
The general purpose king of mods is Pen of course. It is the easiest to take advantage of, especially if you have good tac seating and whatnot to keep the rate of fire up, but whether you want to craft a dozen or so weapons for each one that comes out with Pen or just go with a mix of procs is a matter of personal preference. Also, a magenta quality weapon with one of those other mods is no worse off than a blue of the same type and level if you want to ignore the non-re-engineerable mod.
My list of mods is based on nothing but my personal preference. While those mods you listed do have some use, as a general rule none of their situational benefits out perform the constant benefit of one of the mods I listed.
Again though, this nothing but my personal preference which is based purely on damage dealing potential. Other users preferences will vary.
According to the Skill Planner that seaofsorrows whipped up for my Captain (and in case I didn't thank you earlier for doing this, seaofsorrows, thank you so much), my Primary Specialization is Intelligence, but it doesn't indicate which of the Skills to take in the Intelligence Tree, so I'll ask:
Flank Protection I OR Hide Weakness I
"We do not do this thing because it is permitted. We do it because we have to. We do it because we are compelled." - Rorschach
~~~~~
Unless you really like doing admiralty (personally I don't) perhaps an argument could be made to do even less in Intel and to work on Strategist Tier 1 left to get to Tier 2 Attrition Warfare 1 and 2 done as soon as possible to assist with cool downs in combination with threatening stance.
Everybody has their own system but short answer is Intel Tier 1 right seems to help firm things up in space quite nicely for me at least.
Fore Weapons
Deflector: (Rare) Positron Deflector Array Mk XII [CdrD] [Shd Heal]
Impulse: (Rare) Combat Impulse Engines Mk XII [Spd] [Turn]
Warp Core: (Uncommon) Deuterium-Stabilized Warp Core Mk XII [Sep] [SST]
Shields: (Rare) Resilient Shield Array Mk XII [Cap] x2
Aft Weapons
Engineering Consoles
Science Consoles
Tactical Consoles
Devices are empty . . . What would be some good choices to fill these 4 slots with?
"We do not do this thing because it is permitted. We do it because we have to. We do it because we are compelled." - Rorschach
~~~~~
It's the Assault Cruiser chosen at Level 40.
"We do not do this thing because it is permitted. We do it because we have to. We do it because we are compelled." - Rorschach
~~~~~
Off the top of my head, getting Cannons into a narrow 45 degree arc on a target might be difficult with one RCS Console on a heavy hull ship, maybe a second would be better to increase those tough turns. It will never turn like a Defiant, but you might get it turning something like a Light Cruiser.
What do you guys think? Cannon ships are not my bailiwick.
Gen5,
How are you fixed for Tech Upgrades? If you have very few, please use them wisely. Remember that using them also cost Dil.
https://sto.gamepedia.com/Gear_Upgrade_System
And the ones you can craft use the most Dil. Just check your Dil before you start boosting Gear.