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Suggestion: heavy beam array.
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Member, NoReporting Posts: 178,019 Arc User
I think beam boats are lacking in weapon types compared with escorts. Right now we have:
Universal:
Beam array
Dual beam bank
Single cannon
Turret
Escorts only:
Dual cannons
Dual heavy cannons
So my idea is a heavy beam array for cruisers and science ships only. Double the damage of a standard beam array. Half the rate of fire, like dual heavies have compared to dual cannons so its DPS would be the exact same as a standard beam array. Energy cost of 15. 180 degree arc an can only be mounted in a forward weapon hardpoint, making it difficult to keep targets in the broadside arc wth stern arrays. I don't think this would make cruisers capable of burst damage on the level of escorts due to the tactical powers like beam overload being relatively weak for non-escorts, and it wouldn't have the 10% critical multiplier that dual heavies have either.
What do you guys think?
Universal:
Beam array
Dual beam bank
Single cannon
Turret
Escorts only:
Dual cannons
Dual heavy cannons
So my idea is a heavy beam array for cruisers and science ships only. Double the damage of a standard beam array. Half the rate of fire, like dual heavies have compared to dual cannons so its DPS would be the exact same as a standard beam array. Energy cost of 15. 180 degree arc an can only be mounted in a forward weapon hardpoint, making it difficult to keep targets in the broadside arc wth stern arrays. I don't think this would make cruisers capable of burst damage on the level of escorts due to the tactical powers like beam overload being relatively weak for non-escorts, and it wouldn't have the 10% critical multiplier that dual heavies have either.
What do you guys think?
Post edited by Unknown User on
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Cruisers are OP as it stand and Cannons have a huge disadvantage of being 90 degree firing cones. That is the balance already. Not to mention how horribly Escorts have been nerfed over STOs life. No need to be Escort hating.
Just use Beam Overload and you have your heavy beam array. Or get a Dreadnaught and use the Spinal Lance, which I'm sure qualifies as a heavy beam weapon.
So in closing, NO!!!!!
i think he means the same dps just slower, i'm not agreeing i simply dont think it's worth the dev time/
and btw dual cannons are 45 degree singlies are 180 degree, 90 is just torps and dual beam banks
I see you didn't read anything I wrote.
I want them to get a beam array with 180 degrees coverage that does double damage, half the rate of fire and a higher energy cost. At an energy cost of 14, firing four of them would drain weapon power by 45 points - that's almost the same drain as a single beam overload. And I said they'd be forward mounts like dual cannons, so you could only mount four of them.
So in closing, read before you post.
What I'm suggesting still wouldn't come close to an escort's burst damage.
If it makes STO more like in the shows, i am all for it, but i doubt that the devs will add something like this.
It would probably look not cartoonish enough for them.:D
Live long and prosper.
Not really. They don't lend themselves well to cruisers or sci ships due to turn rate. They're best used on escorts which can use beam overload 3. Hence I suggested a 180 degree arc.
no.
Live long and prosper.
No
Live long and prosper.
I guess rate of fire wont help alot with BO and FAW right ?
How do Fed players handle Klingon cruisers with their healing abilities and high turn rate which can also fit DHC's and use CRF2?
Sometimes I don't understand the lack of reason and overabundance of knee-jerk dismissal coming from some players.
Though I'm certainly not on board with Yreodred's incessant, pompous bleating for cruiser superiority. Of all the sacrifices that have to be made on the altar of gameplay, the balanced escort/cruiser/science vessel dynamic is the most sensible.
I dont think the suggestion is unbalancing.
There's no use flying a tank if you can't defend yourself, it's like having a target painted on your hull. A heavy beam array would do some good considering the lower hull points of escorts, as of now that's not a huge problem for tacs, just kill something before it kills you.
And a note to whoever mentioned the spinal lance, it's not that powerful. Only really useful once someone's shields are down.
How many escort type Starfleet ships have you seen?
How many Starfleet science ships have you seen?
And how many Starfleet Cruisers?
So tell me how many Starfleet Escort ships and how many Cruisers are on those pictures ?
http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/File:Federation_fleet_prepares_to_engage_Dominion_fleet.jpg
http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/File:Second_Fleet.jpg
http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/File:Dominion_and_Federation_fleets_meet.jpg
In contrast to some other players, i would like STO to be more true to what we saw in the shows.
Making energy weapons more diverse would be a step into the right direction IMHO.
I still don't think that Star Trek ships can be squeezed into a stone scissor and paper game mechanic, and still be true to the shows.
STO should be definitely more like a Star Trek simulator than a arcade game IMHO.
Live long and prosper.
Yes, I've seen all of them;
There's been 5 series, 3 with cruisers, 1 with a sci, 1 w/ and escort. Seeing as in the shows, most of the time it was a one ship show. It also appears that the ship types were segregated in the fleet actions. The cruisers in the center as a hammer with the smaller "escort" ships on the periphery. Since the defiant was the ship of the commander of the operation, she was the one escort in a ball of cruisers. So I believe the second question is more circumstantial in the absence of escort ships than logical.
Let me ask, in one era, how many ships were sci, and cruiser. Escorts were a new ship type in SF in TNG era, so its not really fair to compare sci/cruisers to escorts in the shows.
Since the stated purpose of the first escort (Defiant) was to be small, utilize few resources, and pack a huge punch, we weren't going to see very many in the few years after the Defiant was built and modfied to be badass. 30 years after Nemisis, I beleive its safe to assume the escorts would have proliferated, especially with the almost constant conflict since the Dominion War and a logical conclusion that being prepared is a good idea when faced with a galaxy full of unknowns.
Voyager was a light cruiser designed to be faster and more maneuverable than the galaxy actually, it's in the Voyager pilot.. The idea of Intrepid class ships as science vessels is a STO invention..
The Nova is to the Intrepid as the Nebula is to the Galaxy as the Oberth is to Constitution and/or Excelsior...
heh.. actually if you look at it this way, every major "show" cruiser has had a science vessel sister-ship..
But yeah, really only one on-screen escort... the Defiant..
Even the Prometheus is referred to as a cruiser on voyager..
That said, I could see a Heavy Beam Array having an inherent accuracy penalty against fighters, shuttles and smaller ships. You'd almost be giving beam users the choice between gearing against Capital ships or Small Ships.
That's a good idea. It would counter the OP'ness of such a weapon w/ FAW. Eating a carier, vs defending the fleet from the carrier's fighters.
In theory I like the idea, but:
I don't see why it makes sense for Cruisers and Sci vessels, but not for Escorts. There is, as near as I can tell, no reason for the restriction other than "Suck it escorts, you got cannons." Which is... ridiculous.*
Second, you have an upper limit of how many dual and dual heavy cannons you can get on-target at a time, 4x at most. You could have up to *8* heavy beam arrays on a target at once. Moreover you can use Emergency Power to Weapons and Attack Pattern Delta I (or Beta I if you prefer) to dish out ludicrous damage that way.
Likewise the idea doesn't account for Klingon ships at all, which leaves us with one of two options:
A) Klingons don't get heavy beam arrays. This is a bad idea.
=========
So... I like the basic concept (albeit it probably needs significant balancing - double damage/half fire rate could be very abusable with BFAW or Beam Overload.) - but I don't think it works exactly as described.
*I'll add that I distinctly dislike the cannon exclusivity Fed-side as well. It doesn't make much sense. And don't tell me "It's hard to keep a cruiser aimed at the enemy" - I've run a dual cannon carrier in PVE and made it work. Not saying it was optimal, but it was fun.