Yes, the Fleet Escort, and even the Advanced escort to a degree, are equal to the MVAE and the Defiant Refit.
The MVAE and Defiant have the benefit of extra console abilities, and the MVAE has the higher science skill at the expensive of a higher tactical skill, but all in all all 4 currently purchasable Escorts are even enough to where one doesn't dominate over the other in PVE situations.
In PVP however, the Defiants cloak is invaluable.
The Jem'hadar Attack Ship is the only other Escort option for feds, and its not really an option unless you already have one from the winter event... Its pretty darn good, but I've yet to be able to try one to confirm.
to OP: thank you for this thread, it helped me immensely. So much has changed since launch, and I was frankly bewildered.
Question though: what are your thoughts about Plasma-Disruptor dual heavy cannons? As a legacy from my launch tac/escort, I'm still running disruptors (thanks to the consoles), and Mk XI plasma-disruptor DHC are about 20% more DPS than Borg Mk XI disruptor DHCs.
So I lose the 7.5% proc of 1k radiation damage to Borg, but gain a plasma proc and roughly 20% dps on my cannons.
I don't have a Jemmy, but with the recent console changes, I have to wonder if it is now nerfed a bit. Big advantage it had was the extra engineering console slots. Now that some of the shield buff consoles are science, I wonder if the ship is still as good as it was when first released.
to OP: thank you for this thread, it helped me immensely. So much has changed since launch, and I was frankly bewildered.
Question though: what are your thoughts about Plasma-Disruptor dual heavy cannons? As a legacy from my launch tac/escort, I'm still running disruptors (thanks to the consoles), and Mk XI plasma-disruptor DHC are about 20% more DPS than Borg Mk XI disruptor DHCs.
So I lose the 7.5% proc of 1k radiation damage to Borg, but gain a plasma proc and roughly 20% dps on my cannons.
Thoughts?
I'm testing the Plasma-Disruptor dual heavies right now. They seem pretty good, although I'm not nothing a huge difference between them and the MK XII anti-Borg phaser DHC's I was running.
I think against non-borg they do make more of a difference though, so its worth replaying Past Imperfect 3 times to get them anyway.
I'm testing the Plasma-Disruptor dual heavies right now. They seem pretty good, although I'm not nothing a huge difference between them and the MK XII anti-Borg phaser DHC's I was running.
I think against non-borg they do make more of a difference though, so its worth replaying Past Imperfect 3 times to get them anyway.
I switched to using the Plasma-Disruptor dual heavies on my KDF GARUMBA (vs Mark XI EDC purchased Disruptor dual heavies) with the OP Fleet escort build and they work so well that I'm about to do 3 runs of Past Imperfect so my FED toon can have a set to use.
I'm testing the Plasma-Disruptor dual heavies right now. They seem pretty good, although I'm not nothing a huge difference between them and the MK XII anti-Borg phaser DHC's I was running.
I think against non-borg they do make more of a difference though, so its worth replaying Past Imperfect 3 times to get them anyway.
I did exactly that myself. I've only at Mk XI for my weapons so far, so the P-D DHC seem to be quite the upgrade, especially in non-STF content.
And Kosta, thanks to you and this thread I literally have not done a Fleet Action yet where I wasn't in first place. Heck, joined one halfway through last night and still took top honors.
I'm testing the Plasma-Disruptor dual heavies right now. They seem pretty good, although I'm not nothing a huge difference between them and the MK XII anti-Borg phaser DHC's I was running.
I think against non-borg they do make more of a difference though, so its worth replaying Past Imperfect 3 times to get them anyway.
Yes BUT those are XII Very Rares and you had to save up and pay for those vs. XI rares that you get for free. That is why they are better imho.
They the time you run one STF, you could get a Plasma-Disruptor item.
My advice to people is park outside the mission for the Plasma-Disruptor, run an STF, run the mission, run an STF, run a mission... Till you get your sets of Cannons and Beams. In two hours of game time, you can run 3 stfs and get 3 Plasma-Disruptors.
The Jem'hadar Attack Ship is the only other Escort option for feds, and its not really an option unless you already have one from the winter event... Its pretty darn good, but I've yet to be able to try one to confirm.
I can confirm it.
It's got more hull than, I think all of the Escorts available to Feds, and can have the same BOFF layout due to universal stations (I run Lt Eng & Sci Eng in each).
It has a better turn rate then even the defiant, and better inertia IIRC (70).
I havent maxxed out all the possible Hull HP bonuses, but I currently have nearly 44K hull and in the area of 9.5 shields (MACO shield, Borg Deflector) but I only have 6 Ranks in Shield Performance and Shield Systems.
I don't have a Jemmy, but with the recent console changes, I have to wonder if it is now nerfed a bit. Big advantage it had was the extra engineering console slots. Now that some of the shield buff consoles are science, I wonder if the ship is still as good as it was when first released.
I run the Field Gen in the 1 Sci slot, the Borg Console & 3x Hull Resistance Consoles in Engineering.
I rely on EPS skill for my powerflow need.
Even if it had 2 Sci Slots like the Fleet Escort, the only thing that would happen is moving the Borg Console out of Eng and back into Sci.
It's got more hull than, I think all of the Escorts available to Feds, and can have the same BOFF layout due to universal stations (I run Lt Eng & Sci Eng in each).
It has a better turn rate then even the defiant, and better inertia IIRC (70).
I havent maxxed out all the possible Hull HP bonuses, but I currently have nearly 44K hull and in the area of 9.5 shields (MACO shield, Borg Deflector) but I only have 6 Ranks in Shield Performance and Shield Systems.
When the 3-piece Jem'hadar set finally is complete, I'm curious how effective that buff stripping skill will be for the bug...
I'm going to try it out, but it's unlikely I would switch for STFs from AP [Borg] DHCs or MACO/Borg set.
The buff comes from the Shield/Engine/Emitter set, so you can still have a full loadout of [Borg] weapons. Though if you don't already have Polarons, it might not be worth it.
On a standard 3xDHC + 1 top + turrets in the back escort, has anyone done the math for 3 X energy weapon console + 1 x torp console vs 4 x energy weapon consoles?
The buff comes from the Shield/Engine/Emitter set, so you can still have a full loadout of [Borg] weapons. Though if you don't already have Polarons, it might not be worth it.
Sorry should have been clearer, I'm running AP DHCs & Turrets atm - and I just don't think the damage from the set + Polarons is going to be worth it.
I'll probably try it out with some cheap polarons just to test it though.
Thanks a lot for answering my questions, its good to hear that the Fleet escort is competitive, as it saves me having to spend cash on c store points and I actually prefer the Fleet Escort models!
Sorry if this is a bit off topic, but when a new player hits lvl 50 and is looking to get geared up, what should I be doing? Is it a case of buying some semi-decent equipment from the Galactic Market and then running STF? Just a few general guidelines would be good, then I can read more on the STO wiki.
Thanks a lot for answering my questions, its good to hear that the Fleet escort is competitive, as it saves me having to spend cash on c store points and I actually prefer the Fleet Escort models!
Sorry if this is a bit off topic, but when a new player hits lvl 50 and is looking to get geared up, what should I be doing? Is it a case of buying some semi-decent equipment from the Galactic Market and then running STF? Just a few general guidelines would be good, then I can read more on the STO wiki.
My advice (to anyone first stepping into STFs - vets obviously have their own strats) is to do one of the following options, or a combination of them depending on your resources.
1) Buy from the exchange; there are a lot of good bits to be had on the exchange at VA level - it's actually easier to get solid deals on VA stuff (depending heavily on what you're buying) than it is to get it on lower end stuff. This is because most VA gear comes from sources that never go to market: Crafted Gear, STF Gear & FE mission rewards.
2) Craft: If you're rolling in Dilithium, the Aegis set and Purple weapons loadout is a solid option. You can also buy ship weapons from the NPC vendors using dilithium.
3) Scroll through FE mish rewards and re-run missions for the gear at max level: choice items such as the Paratrinic Shield Array & the Borg Console - the best way to do this is to hail the first NPC in the Klingon series and scroll down to the rewards then, DO NOT close that window, simply hail the next mission in the series and the rewards will display in the window already open (saves you scrolling time, in what is a fairly tedious process)
4) Take your chances and just start running STFs, on Normal. Ultimately MK XI gear is really not far off in terms of stats from the MK XII stuff. The MK XII stuff exists for the hardcore gamers, those with "nothing else to do at 50", obsessed completion, etc. If you already gave have the Borg console, you are 10 STF missions away from having a three piece bonus from the Borg Engine & Borg Deflector.
Before you step into Elite play, I would highly recommend you are running one of the space gear sets at MK XI as a set, or mix/match with the Borg bits as well as a full load out of Anti-[Borg] weapons. And then all of the trimmings, like +damage consoles, etc.
I'm using the plasma-disruptor combo on my MVAE as well, as it seems to have a much higher base DPS than the anti proton set I get from the DS9 vendor.
My base DPS is - 1,424 with four 26% Disruptor damage tactical consoles
That raises to 3.860 with alpha attack, omega attack, rapid fire, tac team 1, emergency power to weapons 2, go down fighting 3 and fire on my mark 3
So it's quite a powerful setup
I also have 3 anti borg X/XI disruptor turrets in the back
I used a combat parser and it showed 2700 DPS with 3 AP [Borg] DHC Mk XII. I just picked up one of the plasma disruptor combos. Just looking by the description the [borg] should have higher DPS. But, I'm gonna get a set of the combos and consoles and see what happens.
A word on consoles:
1. why is nobody using 2x Field Emitter consoles?
2. why so many hull resist engineering consoles? In my experience, once the shields are down you're pretty much screwed and no amount of resist can help, unless it's 100% resist.
A word on consoles:
1. why is nobody using 2x Field Emitter consoles?
2. why so many hull resist engineering consoles? In my experience, once the shields are down you're pretty much screwed and no amount of resist can help, unless it's 100% resist.
1) You can no longer use 2x Field Generators.
2) Because you can get enough resists to hang on long enough to GTFO, fire off Reverse Shield Polarity or other emergency heals, get heals from other vessels, or similar (plus, think about what hanging on at 20% hull or so with full shields does for Go Down Fighting ^^). Besides, there's really not too much else useful that goes in there, aside from the Universal Consoles and an EPS mayhaps.
Enjoy them while they last, as they're getting fixed soon. Still, it's nice doing giant piles of DPS more than Mk 12 guns with a mission reward that doesn't rely on sacrifices to the RNG to get
Enjoy them while they last, as they're getting fixed soon. Still, it's nice doing giant piles of DPS more than Mk 12 guns with a mission reward that doesn't rely on sacrifices to the RNG to get
Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Darn that sucks, was it mentioned in some release notes somewhere?
Hmm, I see this on the 16th of Feb
Plasma-disruptor hybrid heavy dual cannons and beam arrays have been updated.
The cannons now inflict disruptor damage.
The Cannons can now proc the disruptor debuff.
The beams can now proc the plasma debuff.
Adjusted the accuracy and damage bonus.
Check tribble patch notes. Apparently our hybrid cannons had an invisible [Dmg]x10 modifier. Guess I will have to dump my salvages for some purple anti-borg cannons
I'll probably stick with disruptors anyway. I would hate all those EC spent on disruptor coils to be wasted (why oh why can't I craft them on Fed toon?).
Just to beat that dead horse a bit more. having anything on aft besides turrets is a waste, your *** won't be pointed at the enemty. And if it its, you're flying wrong.
And by the way, don't stay in reverse. You get a stacking power drain that way, which is a good way to lower dps/shield power.
And lastly my fave is antiproton atm. The [Borg] MK XII's are very nice for just overall ***-kickery.
Comments
The MVAE and Defiant have the benefit of extra console abilities, and the MVAE has the higher science skill at the expensive of a higher tactical skill, but all in all all 4 currently purchasable Escorts are even enough to where one doesn't dominate over the other in PVE situations.
In PVP however, the Defiants cloak is invaluable.
The Jem'hadar Attack Ship is the only other Escort option for feds, and its not really an option unless you already have one from the winter event... Its pretty darn good, but I've yet to be able to try one to confirm.
Question though: what are your thoughts about Plasma-Disruptor dual heavy cannons? As a legacy from my launch tac/escort, I'm still running disruptors (thanks to the consoles), and Mk XI plasma-disruptor DHC are about 20% more DPS than Borg Mk XI disruptor DHCs.
So I lose the 7.5% proc of 1k radiation damage to Borg, but gain a plasma proc and roughly 20% dps on my cannons.
Thoughts?
I think against non-borg they do make more of a difference though, so its worth replaying Past Imperfect 3 times to get them anyway.
I switched to using the Plasma-Disruptor dual heavies on my KDF GARUMBA (vs Mark XI EDC purchased Disruptor dual heavies) with the OP Fleet escort build and they work so well that I'm about to do 3 runs of Past Imperfect so my FED toon can have a set to use.
I did exactly that myself. I've only at Mk XI for my weapons so far, so the P-D DHC seem to be quite the upgrade, especially in non-STF content.
And Kosta, thanks to you and this thread I literally have not done a Fleet Action yet where I wasn't in first place. Heck, joined one halfway through last night and still took top honors.
Yes BUT those are XII Very Rares and you had to save up and pay for those vs. XI rares that you get for free. That is why they are better imho.
They the time you run one STF, you could get a Plasma-Disruptor item.
My advice to people is park outside the mission for the Plasma-Disruptor, run an STF, run the mission, run an STF, run a mission... Till you get your sets of Cannons and Beams. In two hours of game time, you can run 3 stfs and get 3 Plasma-Disruptors.
I can confirm it.
It's got more hull than, I think all of the Escorts available to Feds, and can have the same BOFF layout due to universal stations (I run Lt Eng & Sci Eng in each).
It has a better turn rate then even the defiant, and better inertia IIRC (70).
I havent maxxed out all the possible Hull HP bonuses, but I currently have nearly 44K hull and in the area of 9.5 shields (MACO shield, Borg Deflector) but I only have 6 Ranks in Shield Performance and Shield Systems.
I run the Field Gen in the 1 Sci slot, the Borg Console & 3x Hull Resistance Consoles in Engineering.
I rely on EPS skill for my powerflow need.
Even if it had 2 Sci Slots like the Fleet Escort, the only thing that would happen is moving the Borg Console out of Eng and back into Sci.
I'm going to try it out, but it's unlikely I would switch for STFs from AP [Borg] DHCs or MACO/Borg set.
STO Wiki says the same as you do, so it looks like I was mistaken on that. Thanks for the correction.
The buff comes from the Shield/Engine/Emitter set, so you can still have a full loadout of [Borg] weapons. Though if you don't already have Polarons, it might not be worth it.
Sorry should have been clearer, I'm running AP DHCs & Turrets atm - and I just don't think the damage from the set + Polarons is going to be worth it.
I'll probably try it out with some cheap polarons just to test it though.
Welp, they were fun while they lasted. Hopefully they will have some other hilarious breakage ...
Sorry if this is a bit off topic, but when a new player hits lvl 50 and is looking to get geared up, what should I be doing? Is it a case of buying some semi-decent equipment from the Galactic Market and then running STF? Just a few general guidelines would be good, then I can read more on the STO wiki.
*LINK* Not exactly my reaction, but close.
I had a feeling though, that they'd be nerfed. Oh well, take away more of my fun, will you...
My advice (to anyone first stepping into STFs - vets obviously have their own strats) is to do one of the following options, or a combination of them depending on your resources.
1) Buy from the exchange; there are a lot of good bits to be had on the exchange at VA level - it's actually easier to get solid deals on VA stuff (depending heavily on what you're buying) than it is to get it on lower end stuff. This is because most VA gear comes from sources that never go to market: Crafted Gear, STF Gear & FE mission rewards.
2) Craft: If you're rolling in Dilithium, the Aegis set and Purple weapons loadout is a solid option. You can also buy ship weapons from the NPC vendors using dilithium.
3) Scroll through FE mish rewards and re-run missions for the gear at max level: choice items such as the Paratrinic Shield Array & the Borg Console - the best way to do this is to hail the first NPC in the Klingon series and scroll down to the rewards then, DO NOT close that window, simply hail the next mission in the series and the rewards will display in the window already open (saves you scrolling time, in what is a fairly tedious process)
4) Take your chances and just start running STFs, on Normal. Ultimately MK XI gear is really not far off in terms of stats from the MK XII stuff. The MK XII stuff exists for the hardcore gamers, those with "nothing else to do at 50", obsessed completion, etc. If you already gave have the Borg console, you are 10 STF missions away from having a three piece bonus from the Borg Engine & Borg Deflector.
Before you step into Elite play, I would highly recommend you are running one of the space gear sets at MK XI as a set, or mix/match with the Borg bits as well as a full load out of Anti-[Borg] weapons. And then all of the trimmings, like +damage consoles, etc.
it was a lot to rite but very helpfull!!
My base DPS is - 1,424 with four 26% Disruptor damage tactical consoles
That raises to 3.860 with alpha attack, omega attack, rapid fire, tac team 1, emergency power to weapons 2, go down fighting 3 and fire on my mark 3
So it's quite a powerful setup
I also have 3 anti borg X/XI disruptor turrets in the back
1. why is nobody using 2x Field Emitter consoles?
2. why so many hull resist engineering consoles? In my experience, once the shields are down you're pretty much screwed and no amount of resist can help, unless it's 100% resist.
1) You can no longer use 2x Field Generators.
2) Because you can get enough resists to hang on long enough to GTFO, fire off Reverse Shield Polarity or other emergency heals, get heals from other vessels, or similar (plus, think about what hanging on at 20% hull or so with full shields does for Go Down Fighting ^^). Besides, there's really not too much else useful that goes in there, aside from the Universal Consoles and an EPS mayhaps.
Enjoy them while they last, as they're getting fixed soon. Still, it's nice doing giant piles of DPS more than Mk 12 guns with a mission reward that doesn't rely on sacrifices to the RNG to get
Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Darn that sucks, was it mentioned in some release notes somewhere?
Hmm, I see this on the 16th of Feb
I'll probably stick with disruptors anyway. I would hate all those EC spent on disruptor coils to be wasted (why oh why can't I craft them on Fed toon?).
And by the way, don't stay in reverse. You get a stacking power drain that way, which is a good way to lower dps/shield power.
And lastly my fave is antiproton atm. The [Borg] MK XII's are very nice for just overall ***-kickery.
I've heard don't stay still, but I've never heard don't stay in reverse. Where does that come from?