I am also in a Tactical Retrofit and thinking about going to a fleet escort. I love my Defiant, but it does seem a little squishy when I'm the only one with much DPS. Does the Ensign Engineering slot make that much of a difference?
It can certainly help (i.e. run 2x EPtS1 for general shield boosting with 1x RSP1, thanks for the full shield heal spheres!).
As far as your AE - look for Zahalu's dual-torp thread if you're looking at slotting three proj doffs. Also, imo get rid of Tac Beam - you definitely need to make sure you have Polarize Hull in one of those slots since you've gotten rid of APO, and that leaves you with HE and TSS. If you still want a utility sci, one of the control abilities will be a good deal more useful vs Borg hull sponges than Tac Beam - your non-torps will do well enough in shield stripping.
It can certainly help (i.e. run 2x EPtS1 for general shield boosting with 1x RSP1, thanks for the full shield heal spheres!).
As far as your AE - look for Zahalu's dual-torp thread if you're looking at slotting three proj doffs. Also, imo get rid of Tac Beam - you definitely need to make sure you have Polarize Hull in one of those slots since you've gotten rid of APO, and that leaves you with HE and TSS. If you still want a utility sci, one of the control abilities will be a good deal more useful vs Borg hull sponges than Tac Beam - your non-torps will do well enough in shield stripping.
My Lt Sci has Polarize Hull and HE. I don't use TSS, but I do have two tactical teams and rotate shield frequency. I kinda wondered about having Tac Beam. At the beginning of the thread it was suggested to use tractor beam. But I don't need a holding ability as I can do damage fast enough that it's not an issue. But, if I've got 2 launchers, TSIII and 3 PWO with Tac Beam I can do alot of damage in the first volley (at least that's the theory.)
edited to add: I took a quick look at Zahalu's thread. Should the tac consoles be selected based on bow weapons? For example I've been running 3 DHCs with 1 Quantum Torpedo with 4 AP consoles. If I've got two torpedo consoles should I have two torpedo consoles as well?
Devices: Subspace Field Modulator, Aux Batteries
Bridge Officer Skills (MVAM Escort) -
Commander Tactical: Tactical Team 1, BA Target Shields 2, BA Target Weapons 3, Attack pattern Beta 3
Lt. Tactical: Fire at Will I OR Tactical Team, Attack pattern Beta 1
Lt. Commander Science: Hazard Emitters 1, Syphon Energy 1, Tyken's Rift 2
Lt. Engineering: Emergency Power to Shields 1, Reverse Shield Polarity 1 (OR Emergency Power to Shields 2)
Ensign Tactical: Torpedo Spread 1
Tricks: Use your energy drains to debuff big targets into having no weapon or sheild power. Aside from that rotate attack pattern betas along with sensor scan to nearly double (yes double) your teams damage output. Also, while you lack gravity well hitting a swarm of enemies with a torp spread plus a tyken rift will immobilize them for a good long time and likely strip their shields. With high skills attack pattern beta 3 and sensor scan will remove 100 resistance from the target literally doubling your team's dps against an unshielded (thanks to drains) target. Granted you cannot keep them locked down indefinitely but you do keep their power levels low enough the team should survive and their shields should offer little resistance.
Devices: Subspace Field Modulator, Deuterium Surplus
Engineering Consoles: 2x Neutronium Alloy, 1x Monotonium Alloy
Science Consoles: 1x Field Generator, Borg
Tactical Consoles: 4x Energy Weapon
2x Aegis Set
Maco Shield
Commander Tactical: Tactical Team 1, Cannon Scatter Volley 1, Attack pattern Omega 1, Attack pattern Delta 3
Lt. Commander Tactical: Tactical Team 1, Cannon Scatter Volley 1, Attack pattern Omega 1
Lt. Science: Polarize Hull 1, Hazard Emitters 2
Lt. Engineering: Emergency Power to Shields 1, Reverse Shield Polarity 1
Ensign Engineering: Emergency Power to Shields 1
Tricks: Rotate your omega attack pattern to keep your defense stat high. Use your captain abilities to allow you to survive. Strangely enough as long as I stay above 20 movement I never have issues using this build other than when Donatra hits me with torp spread in elite and brace for impact is on cool down, or gates when I don't go to their blind spot and they pop FAW...which is soon to be fixed anyway. Having nearly double the defense stat of a cruiser while still having nearly as much resistance on your shield makes you the best tank in my opinion. Just beware the tractor beam!
The possible problem, using purple DOFF's, if torpedoes fire sequentially, you may have so many torpedoes coming out the front that adding 1 or 2 more launchers will not increase the number of torpedos going downrange. If that is the case, all you are doing is losing cannon DPS by adding more launchers. The only way to test would involve first getting those purple DOFFs, and then adding launchers and see what the numbers are. You might also have to change tactics or other loadout, such as the original dual cannon plus dual beam idea.
It has the advantage of having never been tried...
Torps fire sequentially, and in practice it is wasteful to have more than 2 launchers.
It's rather simple to observe really. Pack 4 photon torp launchers (you need less doff procs to bring several of them to 1 second reload and certainly no purple doffs, greens/whites will do). You will observe the sequential firing both in the initial (non-)volley and after sustained fire.
Additionally, the above observation was made with 2 green and 1 white torp doff. With 3 purples one might have to test if you can even bring 2 launchers into wasting time territory.
I am playing this game since a week or 3 / 4 now
as a tactical officer using an advanced escort.
Mostly doing space STF elites and occasionally an episode of that questline.
I got the gear done, 3x DHC MK XII antiproton, 1 quantum torpedo MK XII front and on the back
of my ship 3x antiproton turrets MK XII.
Got the Tactical Consoles done and atm still working on my engineering and science consoles.
Using the Borg set atm (3 pieces) untill I get my Borg console so I can pick up the Maco shield.
I need help with the following:
I have trouble picking the best suitable space skills.
I maxed out all my Space Skills in Tactical Sytems. (Except for Starship Stealth and Threat Control I ignored those 2)
Now all I need to know is what are the best to pick in Engineering Systems and Science and Operation Systems as a tac officer.
I am still learning in this game but if I could have some help on which space skills to pick in Engineering and S and Op systems I would be happy
First of all thanks to the OP and any/all who gave them input to put the guide on the first page together. I have used it and have seen a noticeable increase in my damage output and effectiveness! I know the builds are meant for STFs but I've been using them in regular pve (fleet actions and finishing up the episodes) and they're awesome
Now as the title suggests, is it feasible to use the Defiant - R instead of the Fleet Escort in the beam boat build (making any adjustments for BOff layouts of course). I just like the cloak, turn ratio, and look of the Defiant - R too much to not use it :P
Torps fire sequentially, and in practice it is wasteful to have more than 2 launchers.
It's rather simple to observe really. Pack 4 photon torp launchers (you need less doff procs to bring several of them to 1 second reload and certainly no purple doffs, greens/whites will do). You will observe the sequential firing both in the initial (non-)volley and after sustained fire.
Additionally, the above observation was made with 2 green and 1 white torp doff. With 3 purples one might have to test if you can even bring 2 launchers into wasting time territory.
I am doing elite runs with a combat parser running throughout. So far it looks like having 2 torpedo launchers with 3 Purple PWOs is a waste. I will know more tonight, probably tomorrow. I am testing a couple of different configs.
edited to add: I am using a combat parser that is giving me raw average DPS numbers. Is there a way I can tell what spike damage is- other than mousing over the toolbar?
First of all thanks to the OP and any/all who gave them input to put the guide on the first page together. I have used it and have seen a noticeable increase in my damage output and effectiveness! I know the builds are meant for STFs but I've been using them in regular pve (fleet actions and finishing up the episodes) and they're awesome
Now as the title suggests, is it feasible to use the Defiant - R instead of the Fleet Escort in the beam boat build (making any adjustments for BOff layouts of course). I just like the cloak, turn ratio, and look of the Defiant - R too much to not use it :P
Thanks much!
I've tried an all beam boat with the Tactical Escort Retrofit on Infected Elite. It was pretty underwhelming. Took much longer than my other build to take a target down.
It has been suggested that the role be a supporting position. I agree with that.
If you were using it for PvP, it's actually not that bad. It takes longer, but against someone who's decent at PvP, it can work. I've been told by a PvP vet, however, that it won't work all that well against someone who knows how to keep their shields up.
Thanks Shook-Yang for your reply! I was kind of thinking along the same lines as it would be ok, but cannons would still be better. This was just something I was thinking of playing around with :P
Thanks Shook-Yang for your reply! I was kind of thinking along the same lines as it would be ok, but cannons would still be better. This was just something I was thinking of playing around with :P
It's certainly fun for a 1 on 1 battle. I have yet to try it in a bigger PvP match.
Either way, I didn't really care for the all beam boat in an elite STF run.
I am doing elite runs with a combat parser running throughout. So far it looks like having 2 torpedo launchers with 3 Purple PWOs is a waste. I will know more tonight, probably tomorrow. I am testing a couple of different configs.
edited to add: I am using a combat parser that is giving me raw average DPS numbers. Is there a way I can tell what spike damage is- other than mousing over the toolbar?
The question is, are you seeing your numbers staying the same? If you are, it means that the purple DOFF's are working, your torpedo DPS is up, and of course your cannon DPS is down since you have one less. If your DPS is staying the same, that means this is a "success", it may be that your torpedo DPS has indeed gone up enough to match the fact that your cannon DPS has gone down.
The only surefire way to tell if this increases torpedo DPS only by having 3 purple DOFF's and going from one to two torpedo launchers would be to remove all but the one or two torpedo launchers and test it under controlled, repeatable conditions. A possible way I have thought to do this, there is a player created series of missions, made by "The Grand Nagus" (just search under name nagus) called "Station Supply". These have optional space combat (you can just fly around the enemies). The first group is 3 frigates, the second, one cruiser, the last, one battleship, all in predictable spots waiting for you to attack. The idea is first, to find the version (there are perhaps 6 different versions with 6 different kinds of enemy) which is not the Romulan battleship, which tends toward sudden and unpredictable moves at you and which uses high yield plasma torps. You want one of the slow and steady battleships that just sits there and lets you beat on it. You choose the battleship (between the second and third station) because it will last longer, and you will probably want elite mode, also so it will last longer. The you go at that sucker at long range, preferable the same range each time, so that it's maneuvers will not skew the test (and so its weapons won't kill you, it could be a long fight). Now you equip 3 purple DOFFs and just one torpedo launcher and no other weapons, and fire away for a while. Then, later, repeat with two torpedo launchers, and if that resulted in double the DPS, 3, or even 4. You are looking for the point at which adding another launcher does not increase DPS. That will be the point where your purple DOFFs have increased firing rate so much that adding another launcher does not result in more torpedoes coming out the front end. It may be that going from one to two launchers does not double torpedo DPS but does result in more DPS, that would mean that the maximum fire rate is somewhere between 1 and 2. Alternately, I suppose, adding another launcher might always increase DPS, even up to 4 launchers, which would mean that our understanding of how they fire needs to change. Basically, if we have one torpedo launcher, and we then try again with two and see double the DPS, we then try with 3 to see if we have triple, etc, wherever we do not see a multiple of the single launchers DPS is where we have reached maximum firing rate.
Now that we know how to maximize firing rate for torpedoes, we will know how many launchers to bring. If, say, it is more than one but less then two (where in the above test adding a second launcher increases DPS but does not double it), then we ask, does adding the second launcher result in overall significantly lower DPS due to not having a cannon? If DPS breaks even, if losing one cannon is matched by gaining more torpedo DPS, then we can go with one launcher versus cannon friendly targets, and two versus torpedo friendly targets, like gates and the like (stuff without shields). We would thus change our loadout depending on the expected targets. Thus, while in some STF's our DPS will only go up some due to having 3 purple DOFFs, DPS might go up even more in torpedo friendly STF's using two launchers.
Idea, with two torpedo launchers, you have one less cannon sucking power, in theory, you could then switch to regular dual cannons on one or both cannon spots since you have more power to work with. This could result in more shield stripping power to make up for less shield stripping power of torpedoes. It can also result in more DPS from such things as directed energy modulation, which really needs fast shooting cannons to work. It might also help tachyon beam to drain shields faster, I think (not necessarily better, but faster).
The good news, with 3 purple DOFf's. you have increased your torpedo DPS with one launcher, so at least some DPS is gained for sure.
The numbers I'm seeing are not the same. So far, adding a second torpedo launcher does not appear to be better than a third Dual Heavy Cannon. They way I'm doing it isn't all that exact. The parser that I'm using just gives time elapsed and total damage. I do all three space STFs on elite and then average the numbers. All it gives me is raw DPS. What I'd like to know is what the spike damage is, how often its' criting, how much it's criting for. The best way would probably be to find a way to be able to fire on a target ship at a fixed distance.
My Commander Tac has Cannon Scatter Volley III and Torpedo Spread III. I started with 2 torpedo launchers, two dual heavy cannons, 3 turrets and my Lt Commander Tac trained in Torpedo Spread II and four cannon consoles. Then I tried it with Cannon Scatter Volley 1. Of those two CSV1 gave me more overall dps. So I tried taking out one of the cannon consoles and replacing it with a torpedo console. That actually made the DPS worse. I wondered, and I may have asked, if it would be better to have two torpedo consoles with two torpedo launchers. I didn't find an answer and haven't tried it
So far the highest overall DPS comes from 1 Torpedo Launcher, 1 Quantum Torpedo console, with cannon scatter volley 1.
Tonight I'm going to try it without the PWOs to see what happens.
The numbers I'm seeing are not the same. So far, adding a second torpedo launcher does not appear to be better than a third Dual Heavy Cannon. They way I'm doing it isn't all that exact. The parser that I'm using just gives time elapsed and total damage. I do all three space STFs on elite and then average the numbers. All it gives me is raw DPS. What I'd like to know is what the spike damage is, how often its' criting, how much it's criting for. The best way would probably be to find a way to be able to fire on a target ship at a fixed distance.
My Commander Tac has Cannon Scatter Volley III and Torpedo Spread III. I started with 2 torpedo launchers, two dual heavy cannons, 3 turrets and my Lt Commander Tac trained in Torpedo Spread II and four cannon consoles. Then I tried it with Cannon Scatter Volley 1. Of those two CSV1 gave me more overall dps. So I tried taking out one of the cannon consoles and replacing it with a torpedo console. That actually made the DPS worse. I wondered, and I may have asked, if it would be better to have two torpedo consoles with two torpedo launchers. I didn't find an answer and haven't tried it
So far the highest overall DPS comes from 1 Torpedo Launcher, 1 Quantum Torpedo console, with cannon scatter volley 1.
Tonight I'm going to try it without the PWOs to see what happens.
Would be nice to report the overall DPS numbers over the trhee runs if you could, so maybe we can get an idea of how things are changing. Alsdo, 4 cannon consols, no torp consol might be why you got low DPS with two torpedo launchers. The original guy tried two launchers and two consols and had a little over 4k DPS reported, however, he had an odd setup with a ragular dual cannon and a dual beam up front.
Eventiually, you will have all the gear you need for all tests, like two launchers with two torpedo consols etc.
Very interested in, with one launcher and 3 officers how your DPS changes without the officers.
Would be nice to report the overall DPS numbers over the trhee runs if you could, so maybe we can get an idea of how things are changing. Alsdo, 4 cannon consols, no torp consol might be why you got low DPS with two torpedo launchers. The original guy tried two launchers and two consols and had a little over 4k DPS reported, however, he had an odd setup with a ragular dual cannon and a dual beam up front.
Eventiually, you will have all the gear you need for all tests, like two launchers with two torpedo consols etc.
Very interested in, with one launcher and 3 officers how your DPS changes without the officers.
I may actually try 2 torps w/ 2 consoles and see what happens.
From what I understand, to get the three purple DOFFs to proc at the start, you are supposes to need something that fires multiple torpedoes, like TS or spread. especially at the start of the fight. it can be hard to get a really good 3 version of such, however, it is now possible to get spread 3 from the 2800 series that gives a bridge officer, you can do it once, us him to train one of your officers, then do it again and either keep that guy or use him to train another officer, and thus have two copies of spread 3. If you don't have any 3 version of something already you might ttry this. A current build using this involves beta 3, spread by two copies of CSV1, followed by two copies of spread 3 (and most just use one launcher). You might try this with one launcher and one module, and two launchers and two modules, IF getting spread 3 does not overwrite some other 3 power you need to keep, otherwise, you might try just one spread 3 and say a 2 or 1 just to see what happens.
Also, you should be alble to notice when you have the 3 purple officers on space duty that your torpedo icon lights up more often saying it is ready to fire again, which should tell you that the officers at least are working. That way, you will know how to get them working and whether you even need to use a multi torpedo power to start it off.
From what I understand, to get the three purple DOFFs to proc at the start, you are supposes to need something that fires multiple torpedoes, like TS or spread. especially at the start of the fight. it can be hard to get a really good 3 version of such, however, it is now possible to get spread 3 from the 2800 series that gives a bridge officer, you can do it once, us him to train one of your officers, then do it again and either keep that guy or use him to train another officer, and thus have two copies of spread 3. If you don't have any 3 version of something already you might ttry this. A current build using this involves beta 3, spread by two copies of CSV1, followed by two copies of spread 3 (and most just use one launcher). You might try this with one launcher and one module, and two launchers and two modules, IF getting spread 3 does not overwrite some other 3 power you need to keep, otherwise, you might try just one spread 3 and say a 2 or 1 just to see what happens.
Also, you should be alble to notice when you have the 3 purple officers on space duty that your torpedo icon lights up more often saying it is ready to fire again, which should tell you that the officers at least are working. That way, you will know how to get them working and whether you even need to use a multi torpedo power to start it off.
My Commander Tac has CSV3 and TS3 (from the the 2800 series). I haven't made any changes to my Commander Tac. The changes in BOFF abilities is coming from my Lt Commander Tac. I have noticed how fast the cd timer on torps is. But, I wasn't paying attention to it before the DOFFs were there. So I'm not sure how much of an effect they're having yet. All of this is in an AE with Tac Beam in the Sci Ens slot.
One path to better DPS may be the Defiant-R with its' Tac Ens slot. That would enable the rolling TS ability you're suggesting. Once I finish with the AE I may switch over to my defiant-R and see how that tunrs out.
I wish I read this thread before I started making my escort build. The main problem I had was using plasma and probably my console choices. I think being a Sci Officer using a Defiant-R isn't helping matters either. I'm at work so I can't remember the full names. I can tank a tac cube only on normal for so long, but I don't understand why my escort takes all the fire while there are two other beam boats not even being touched.
Tetryon DHC XI Borg
Quantum XI Very Rare Crafted
Tetryon Turret XI Borg
Full Omega Set
Engineering Consoles
XI Ablative Hull Armor
Borg Assimilated
Gravion (sp?) Pulse Console
Science Console
I cant remember the name but it's the one that increases the Shield Emitters
Cloaking Device
Tactical
Tetyron Damage XI rare X3
Quantum Damage XI rare
BOFFs
Tactical Slot 1
Tac Team 1
THY2
CRF2
APO3
Tactical Slot 2
Torp Spread 1
CRF1
THY3
Tactical Slot 3
Tac Team 1
Engineering Slot
Emergency Power to Shields 1
Reverse Shield Polarity 1
I can tank a tac cube only on normal for so long, but I don't understand why my escort takes all the fire while there are two other beam boats not even being touched.
Because DHCs (and the corresponding boff abilities) are really *that* good.
but I don't understand why my escort takes all the fire while there are two other beam boats not even being touched.
The AI attacks whoever they perceive as the biggest threat.
One strategy you could do, is to fly outside of the firing range of the cubes and tactical cubes (10km +). Chances are, it's going to chase after you (slowly) and not fire on anyone. This is pretty much free hits for the rest of your team. But, you need to keep watch as to who the Borg is targeting (you see the Borg information at the top, to the lower right of it shows you who it's attacking). Once the target is changed, fly in and attack again until it changes target back to you.
I see lots of people use resistance consoles, and those make sense obviously.
What about plasma distribution manifold consoles (+wep power)?
My thinking is that my hull is my absolute last line of defense. With my defense rating and shields handling most of my ships defensive needs, using the PDM consoles let me focus even more on damage. This makes it easier to hit 125 weapons power, allowing for me to increase shield or engine power.
Am I wrong in this thinking? This is what I use now, and I can still survive a tac cube generally long enough to get out of range and lose aggro, but I am very susceptible to the super-torpedoes, those I can usually survive on my Engineer's Oddy ship.
Note- I'm a tactical captain in a Defiant Retrofit, with the usual gear, borg 3/4, MACO Mk XII shields, AP DHCx3, quantum x1, AP turret x3, all blue Mk XI consoles. BOFF defensive abilities are TSS1, HE2 and a single EPTS2, so I am pretty light on healing skills. Might even change the TSS1 to something else as well. I am usually pretty good at using brace for impact if my shields drop, for what thats worth.
... focus even more on damage ... I can still survive a tac cube generally long enough to get out of range and lose aggro ...
So if you're running from the tac cube once it notices you, how exactly are you focusing on damage?
I'd personally pack a resist mod over a +3.x weapons power console, then use positioning to stay out of the arcs of much of the tac cube's damage (ian easy method is to hug the top as well as possible). You'll get more benefit out of Go Down Fighting that way too, since you will be able to hang on in hull damage a bit longer
+3.x weapons power isn't all that much extra, compared to what you give up for that slot in return (turn rate, power transfer rate, resists, etc.) - in fact, disregarding my earlier point and specifically considering what you're talking about doing, using an EPS Flow Regulator to boost your speed at switching power levels would likely be more beneficial.
II can tank a tac cube only on normal for so long, but I don't understand why my escort takes all the fire while there are two other beam boats not even being touched.
You wouldn't happen to have a bunch of skill points wasted in 'Starship Threat Control' would you?
My second guess would be the Borg are seeing you as more of a threat then the beam boats so they are going after you first. This may be especially true if the beam boats are using Rainbow/Technicolor beams or if a cannon boat was shooting Skittles.
You wouldn't happen to have a bunch of skill points wasted in 'Starship Threat Control' would you?
My second guess would be the Borg are seeing you as more of a threat then the beam boats so they are going after you first. This may be especially true if the beam boats are using Rainbow/Technicolor beams or if a cannon boat was shooting Skittles.
Nah, I was told not to take threat control when I started out on the game. Still...a silly sci officer in an escort shouldnt be the biggest threat around.
These guys speak the truth, it's all about the THREAT CONTROL, I started doing ELITE runs with my Fleet and was constantly dying, I did a RESPEC and adjusted my treat control down, and it's no longer an issue! I
So if you're running from the tac cube once it notices you, how exactly are you focusing on damage?
I'd personally pack a resist mod over a +3.x weapons power console, then use positioning to stay out of the arcs of much of the tac cube's damage (ian easy method is to hug the top as well as possible). You'll get more benefit out of Go Down Fighting that way too, since you will be able to hang on in hull damage a bit longer
+3.x weapons power isn't all that much extra, compared to what you give up for that slot in return (turn rate, power transfer rate, resists, etc.) - in fact, disregarding my earlier point and specifically considering what you're talking about doing, using an EPS Flow Regulator to boost your speed at switching power levels would likely be more beneficial.
Good points, I'll switch some of my consoles to some resists and an EPS regulator, and see if i like it better.
My thinking is that my hull is my absolute last line of defense. With my defense rating and shields handling most of my ships defensive needs, using the PDM consoles let me focus even more on damage. This makes it easier to hit 125 weapons power, allowing for me to increase shield or engine power.
Am I wrong in this thinking? This is what I use now, and I can still survive a tac cube generally long enough to get out of range and lose aggro, but I am very susceptible to the super-torpedoes, those I can usually survive on my Engineer's Oddy ship.
What is your current power setting? You can only adjust your power level in 5 point increments. That is to say, you can only go from 100 to 95, and not 91 or something like that. So, even if that console gave you 4, you are either going to have 129 (a waste, since 125 is the hard cap) or you're going to have 124 (not too much of a difference).
Nah, I was told not to take threat control when I started out on the game. Still...a silly sci officer in an escort shouldnt be the biggest threat around.
That's irrelevant. You're in an escort and you're using DHCs, and probably boff skills that boost your cannon damage.
That's all the Borg needs to consider you the bigger threat.
These guys speak the truth, it's all about the THREAT CONTROL, I started doing ELITE runs with my Fleet and was constantly dying, I did a RESPEC and adjusted my treat control down, and it's no longer an issue! I
TAC Captain in a DEF-R
Hmm...are you saying you don't get any agro at all now? Are you sure you respec'ed your character correctly or have the right load out?
A properly built escort will pretty much guarantee agro as soon as it starts firing on something. That's what the escort is for; high DPS, which makes you the bigger threat.
I have 0 points in Threat Control, and yet I get agro'ed all the time.
Hmm...are you saying you don't get any agro at all now? Are you sure you respec'ed your character correctly or have the right load out?
A properly built escort will pretty much guarantee agro as soon as it starts firing on something. That's what the escort is for; high DPS, which makes you the bigger threat.
I have 0 points in Threat Control, and yet I get agro'ed all the time.
OH I get agro but not like I was getting, As for my build its 95% copy of whats covered in this thread
Forward Weapons: 3x Dual Heavy Cannons (same type), 1x Quantum Torpedo
Rear Weapons: 3x Turrets (same type as front cannons)
Engineering Consoles: EPS Console (Or Grappler OR Impulse Capacitance Cell), Neutronium Console, Electroceramic Hull Plating
Science Consoles: Science Consoles: Field Generator, Assimilated Module
Tactical Consoles: 3x of the Energy Weapon type you are using (Ex. Phaser Relay, Plasma Infuser, etc.), 1x Zero Point Quantum Chamber
Devices: Subspace Field Modulator (defensive buff, similar to Brace for Impact) plus one of the Following - Red Matter Capacitor, Rechargeable Shield Battery, Scorpion Fighters, or Shield batteries
Bridge Officer Skills -
Commander Tactical: Tactical Team 1, Torpedo Spread 2, Canon Scatter Volley 2, Attack pattern Omega 3 (Or Beta 3)
Lt. Commander Tactical: Tactical Team 1, Torpedo Spread 2, Cannon Scatter Volley 2
Lt. Science: Transfer Shield Strength 1, Hazard Emitters 2
Lt. Engineering: Emergency Power to Shields 1, Reverse Shield Polarity 1
Ensign Engineering: Emergency Power to Shields 1 (OR Emergency Power to Weapons 1)
I am Lvl 40, RA-LH flying a Gryphon/Hermes Fleet Escort...
Considering my 'budget' and the limited time I have to spend within game... and the fact that this is my LAST, free ship...
Taking note of a few items listed as suggested for Fleet Escorts; the Field Generator for example is rather quite an expensive piece of equipment...
What sort of advice could be offered as alternatives to such devices?
At present my Fleet Escort has the following...
FORE
x3 Dual Heavy Phaser Cannons
x1 Quantum Torp
AFT
x3 Phaser Turrets
Consoles:
ENG
x2 RCS +32% ( I .. 'like' .. surprising them with such a fast turn rate! )
x1 EPS Flow Regulator
SCI
x1 Emitter Array
TACT
x3 Phaser Relay
x1 Zero Point Quantum Chamber
My am working on tweaking my BoFF's at the moment, based on some advice I've read in both this thread as well as some others...
Also, following the advice from some others, in other Theads (some who have been posting in this thread!); I've dumped one of my fore Torp Launchers in favor of a 3rd Cannon; as well as dumping my Aft Torp Launcher in favor of a 3rd Turret... though I may also experiment with swapping one of my Cannons for a Beam...
But for now, I want to figure out what I can do for improvement with my Consoles.
As I said, I like having the RCS consoles, I just looove such a tight turn radius.
BUT; that was more useful in PvE when I was running with dual Torps; one Fore and one Aft, and flying in and pelting theheck outta PvE battleships with High Yield, then pulling a super fast 180 and spitting out another dozen from the aft launcher with Torp Spread! lol
However, I know that when it comes to PvP; I ought consider sacrificing at least one of that RCS consoles in favor of another; such as an Armor based console, but I am not sure which I would benefit the most from. Some of the more rare and harder to acquire ones would be out of the question; especially if they cost 1 - 2+ million, a piece, on the Exchange... . I spent my entire previous 10 levels (30 - 40) selling off all my loot and quest rewards on the Exchange just to save up enough EC to be able to outfit this Fleet Escort properly; I've dumped about 650K EC into it so far and loaded it all with Rare/Ultra Rare Mk XI gear, and at the moment I have about 500K left in the bank.
I also have about 200 cp, that I .. could .. swap for Dilithium on the D-Ex though it would only gave me about 50,000 dilithium, but I don't think that would get me any decent consoles! LOL Besides, I would rather save my CP for either, some future purchases on additional BoFF slots when I need them; or use it to acquire more dilithium when I DO, get up to the point where I can acquire a better ship.
Now if some Consoles rewarded from some of the future campaign runs (Borg, Breen, Undine) would be worth trying to aqcuire then I can go and try skipping through the rest of my Romulan campaign, and skip through some others to get there...
I am Lvl 40, RA-LH flying a Gryphon/Hermes Fleet Escort...
Considering my 'budget' and the limited time I have to spend within game... and the fact that this is my LAST, free ship...
Taking note of a few items listed as suggested for Fleet Escorts; the Field Generator for example is rather quite an expensive piece of equipment...
What sort of advice could be offered as alternatives to such devices?
At present my Fleet Escort has the following...
FORE
x3 Dual Heavy Phaser Cannons
x1 Quantum Torp
AFT
x3 Phaser Turrets
Consoles:
ENG
x2 RCS +32% ( I .. 'like' .. surprising them with such a fast turn rate! )
x1 EPS Flow Regulator
SCI
x1 Emitter Array
TACT
x3 Phaser Relay
x1 Zero Point Quantum Chamber
My am working on tweaking my BoFF's at the moment, based on some advice I've read in both this thread as well as some others...
Also, following the advice from some others, in other Theads (some who have been posting in this thread!); I've dumped one of my fore Torp Launchers in favor of a 3rd Cannon; as well as dumping my Aft Torp Launcher in favor of a 3rd Turret... though I may also experiment with swapping one of my Cannons for a Beam...
But for now, I want to figure out what I can do for improvement with my Consoles.
As I said, I like having the RCS consoles, I just looove such a tight turn radius.
BUT; that was more useful in PvE when I was running with dual Torps; one Fore and one Aft, and flying in and pelting theheck outta PvE battleships with High Yield, then pulling a super fast 180 and spitting out another dozen from the aft launcher with Torp Spread! lol
However, I know that when it comes to PvP; I ought consider sacrificing at least one of that RCS consoles in favor of another; such as an Armor based console, but I am not sure which I would benefit the most from. Some of the more rare and harder to acquire ones would be out of the question; especially if they cost 1 - 2+ million, a piece, on the Exchange... . I spent my entire previous 10 levels (30 - 40) selling off all my loot and quest rewards on the Exchange just to save up enough EC to be able to outfit this Fleet Escort properly; I've dumped about 650K EC into it so far and loaded it all with Rare/Ultra Rare Mk XI gear, and at the moment I have about 500K left in the bank.
I also have about 200 cp, that I .. could .. swap for Dilithium on the D-Ex though it would only gave me about 50,000 dilithium, but I don't think that would get me any decent consoles! LOL Besides, I would rather save my CP for either, some future purchases on additional BoFF slots when I need them; or use it to acquire more dilithium when I DO, get up to the point where I can acquire a better ship.
Now if some Consoles rewarded from some of the future campaign runs (Borg, Breen, Undine) would be worth trying to aqcuire then I can go and try skipping through the rest of my Romulan campaign, and skip through some others to get there...
Any suggestions?
As we noted before, the Field Generator mk XI (rare) is about 11k+ dilitihium from the dilitium store. If you're doing your dailies, it shouldn't take that long to get that much dilitihium.
Also, you can always go back and play the missions you skipped. In the interest of saving time, skip everything until you get to the Assimilation mission.
Comments
It can certainly help (i.e. run 2x EPtS1 for general shield boosting with 1x RSP1, thanks for the full shield heal spheres!).
As far as your AE - look for Zahalu's dual-torp thread if you're looking at slotting three proj doffs. Also, imo get rid of Tac Beam - you definitely need to make sure you have Polarize Hull in one of those slots since you've gotten rid of APO, and that leaves you with HE and TSS. If you still want a utility sci, one of the control abilities will be a good deal more useful vs Borg hull sponges than Tac Beam - your non-torps will do well enough in shield stripping.
My Lt Sci has Polarize Hull and HE. I don't use TSS, but I do have two tactical teams and rotate shield frequency. I kinda wondered about having Tac Beam. At the beginning of the thread it was suggested to use tractor beam. But I don't need a holding ability as I can do damage fast enough that it's not an issue. But, if I've got 2 launchers, TSIII and 3 PWO with Tac Beam I can do alot of damage in the first volley (at least that's the theory.)
edited to add: I took a quick look at Zahalu's thread. Should the tac consoles be selected based on bow weapons? For example I've been running 3 DHCs with 1 Quantum Torpedo with 4 AP consoles. If I've got two torpedo consoles should I have two torpedo consoles as well?
Science Captain MVAE Support Build
Forward Weapons: 3x Polaron Beam Arrays, 1x Chrono Torpedo
Rear Weapons: 3x Polaron Beam Arrays
Engineering Consoles: 1x Neutronium Alloy, 1x Monotonium Alloy
Science Consoles: 1x Field Generator, 2x Flow Capacitors
Tactical Consoles: 3x Polaron, Borg
Devices: Subspace Field Modulator, Aux Batteries
Bridge Officer Skills (MVAM Escort) -
Commander Tactical: Tactical Team 1, BA Target Shields 2, BA Target Weapons 3, Attack pattern Beta 3
Lt. Tactical: Fire at Will I OR Tactical Team, Attack pattern Beta 1
Lt. Commander Science: Hazard Emitters 1, Syphon Energy 1, Tyken's Rift 2
Lt. Engineering: Emergency Power to Shields 1, Reverse Shield Polarity 1 (OR Emergency Power to Shields 2)
Ensign Tactical: Torpedo Spread 1
Tricks: Use your energy drains to debuff big targets into having no weapon or sheild power. Aside from that rotate attack pattern betas along with sensor scan to nearly double (yes double) your teams damage output. Also, while you lack gravity well hitting a swarm of enemies with a torp spread plus a tyken rift will immobilize them for a good long time and likely strip their shields. With high skills attack pattern beta 3 and sensor scan will remove 100 resistance from the target literally doubling your team's dps against an unshielded (thanks to drains) target. Granted you cannot keep them locked down indefinitely but you do keep their power levels low enough the team should survive and their shields should offer little resistance.
Engineering Captain Fleet Escort *Tank Build*
Forward Weapons: 2x Cannons, 1 Dual Heavy Cannon, 1x Quantium Torpedo
Rear Weapons: 3x Turrets
Devices: Subspace Field Modulator, Deuterium Surplus
Engineering Consoles: 2x Neutronium Alloy, 1x Monotonium Alloy
Science Consoles: 1x Field Generator, Borg
Tactical Consoles: 4x Energy Weapon
2x Aegis Set
Maco Shield
Commander Tactical: Tactical Team 1, Cannon Scatter Volley 1, Attack pattern Omega 1, Attack pattern Delta 3
Lt. Commander Tactical: Tactical Team 1, Cannon Scatter Volley 1, Attack pattern Omega 1
Lt. Science: Polarize Hull 1, Hazard Emitters 2
Lt. Engineering: Emergency Power to Shields 1, Reverse Shield Polarity 1
Ensign Engineering: Emergency Power to Shields 1
Tricks: Rotate your omega attack pattern to keep your defense stat high. Use your captain abilities to allow you to survive. Strangely enough as long as I stay above 20 movement I never have issues using this build other than when Donatra hits me with torp spread in elite and brace for impact is on cool down, or gates when I don't go to their blind spot and they pop FAW...which is soon to be fixed anyway. Having nearly double the defense stat of a cruiser while still having nearly as much resistance on your shield makes you the best tank in my opinion. Just beware the tractor beam!
Torps fire sequentially, and in practice it is wasteful to have more than 2 launchers.
It's rather simple to observe really. Pack 4 photon torp launchers (you need less doff procs to bring several of them to 1 second reload and certainly no purple doffs, greens/whites will do). You will observe the sequential firing both in the initial (non-)volley and after sustained fire.
Additionally, the above observation was made with 2 green and 1 white torp doff. With 3 purples one might have to test if you can even bring 2 launchers into wasting time territory.
With three Purple doffs there is a near continuous salvo of torps with one forward launcher. Depends on the rest of your build and skills too.
I've dropped the torps completely in favor of all cannons. It works better.
as a tactical officer using an advanced escort.
Mostly doing space STF elites and occasionally an episode of that questline.
I got the gear done, 3x DHC MK XII antiproton, 1 quantum torpedo MK XII front and on the back
of my ship 3x antiproton turrets MK XII.
Got the Tactical Consoles done and atm still working on my engineering and science consoles.
Using the Borg set atm (3 pieces) untill I get my Borg console so I can pick up the Maco shield.
I need help with the following:
I have trouble picking the best suitable space skills.
I maxed out all my Space Skills in Tactical Sytems. (Except for Starship Stealth and Threat Control I ignored those 2)
Now all I need to know is what are the best to pick in Engineering Systems and Science and Operation Systems as a tac officer.
I am still learning in this game but if I could have some help on which space skills to pick in Engineering and S and Op systems I would be happy
Thanks in advance.
Now as the title suggests, is it feasible to use the Defiant - R instead of the Fleet Escort in the beam boat build (making any adjustments for BOff layouts of course). I just like the cloak, turn ratio, and look of the Defiant - R too much to not use it :P
Thanks much!
I am doing elite runs with a combat parser running throughout. So far it looks like having 2 torpedo launchers with 3 Purple PWOs is a waste. I will know more tonight, probably tomorrow. I am testing a couple of different configs.
edited to add: I am using a combat parser that is giving me raw average DPS numbers. Is there a way I can tell what spike damage is- other than mousing over the toolbar?
It has been suggested that the role be a supporting position. I agree with that.
If you were using it for PvP, it's actually not that bad. It takes longer, but against someone who's decent at PvP, it can work. I've been told by a PvP vet, however, that it won't work all that well against someone who knows how to keep their shields up.
Either way, I didn't really care for the all beam boat in an elite STF run.
The question is, are you seeing your numbers staying the same? If you are, it means that the purple DOFF's are working, your torpedo DPS is up, and of course your cannon DPS is down since you have one less. If your DPS is staying the same, that means this is a "success", it may be that your torpedo DPS has indeed gone up enough to match the fact that your cannon DPS has gone down.
The only surefire way to tell if this increases torpedo DPS only by having 3 purple DOFF's and going from one to two torpedo launchers would be to remove all but the one or two torpedo launchers and test it under controlled, repeatable conditions. A possible way I have thought to do this, there is a player created series of missions, made by "The Grand Nagus" (just search under name nagus) called "Station Supply". These have optional space combat (you can just fly around the enemies). The first group is 3 frigates, the second, one cruiser, the last, one battleship, all in predictable spots waiting for you to attack. The idea is first, to find the version (there are perhaps 6 different versions with 6 different kinds of enemy) which is not the Romulan battleship, which tends toward sudden and unpredictable moves at you and which uses high yield plasma torps. You want one of the slow and steady battleships that just sits there and lets you beat on it. You choose the battleship (between the second and third station) because it will last longer, and you will probably want elite mode, also so it will last longer. The you go at that sucker at long range, preferable the same range each time, so that it's maneuvers will not skew the test (and so its weapons won't kill you, it could be a long fight). Now you equip 3 purple DOFFs and just one torpedo launcher and no other weapons, and fire away for a while. Then, later, repeat with two torpedo launchers, and if that resulted in double the DPS, 3, or even 4. You are looking for the point at which adding another launcher does not increase DPS. That will be the point where your purple DOFFs have increased firing rate so much that adding another launcher does not result in more torpedoes coming out the front end. It may be that going from one to two launchers does not double torpedo DPS but does result in more DPS, that would mean that the maximum fire rate is somewhere between 1 and 2. Alternately, I suppose, adding another launcher might always increase DPS, even up to 4 launchers, which would mean that our understanding of how they fire needs to change. Basically, if we have one torpedo launcher, and we then try again with two and see double the DPS, we then try with 3 to see if we have triple, etc, wherever we do not see a multiple of the single launchers DPS is where we have reached maximum firing rate.
Now that we know how to maximize firing rate for torpedoes, we will know how many launchers to bring. If, say, it is more than one but less then two (where in the above test adding a second launcher increases DPS but does not double it), then we ask, does adding the second launcher result in overall significantly lower DPS due to not having a cannon? If DPS breaks even, if losing one cannon is matched by gaining more torpedo DPS, then we can go with one launcher versus cannon friendly targets, and two versus torpedo friendly targets, like gates and the like (stuff without shields). We would thus change our loadout depending on the expected targets. Thus, while in some STF's our DPS will only go up some due to having 3 purple DOFFs, DPS might go up even more in torpedo friendly STF's using two launchers.
Idea, with two torpedo launchers, you have one less cannon sucking power, in theory, you could then switch to regular dual cannons on one or both cannon spots since you have more power to work with. This could result in more shield stripping power to make up for less shield stripping power of torpedoes. It can also result in more DPS from such things as directed energy modulation, which really needs fast shooting cannons to work. It might also help tachyon beam to drain shields faster, I think (not necessarily better, but faster).
The good news, with 3 purple DOFf's. you have increased your torpedo DPS with one launcher, so at least some DPS is gained for sure.
My Commander Tac has Cannon Scatter Volley III and Torpedo Spread III. I started with 2 torpedo launchers, two dual heavy cannons, 3 turrets and my Lt Commander Tac trained in Torpedo Spread II and four cannon consoles. Then I tried it with Cannon Scatter Volley 1. Of those two CSV1 gave me more overall dps. So I tried taking out one of the cannon consoles and replacing it with a torpedo console. That actually made the DPS worse. I wondered, and I may have asked, if it would be better to have two torpedo consoles with two torpedo launchers. I didn't find an answer and haven't tried it
So far the highest overall DPS comes from 1 Torpedo Launcher, 1 Quantum Torpedo console, with cannon scatter volley 1.
Tonight I'm going to try it without the PWOs to see what happens.
Would be nice to report the overall DPS numbers over the trhee runs if you could, so maybe we can get an idea of how things are changing. Alsdo, 4 cannon consols, no torp consol might be why you got low DPS with two torpedo launchers. The original guy tried two launchers and two consols and had a little over 4k DPS reported, however, he had an odd setup with a ragular dual cannon and a dual beam up front.
Eventiually, you will have all the gear you need for all tests, like two launchers with two torpedo consols etc.
Very interested in, with one launcher and 3 officers how your DPS changes without the officers.
So far (rounded to whole number):
2 torps w/TS21, 4 AP Cannon consoles- 3464
2 torps w/CSV2, 4 AP Cannon consoles- 3843
2 torps w/CSV2, 1 Quantum Torp console- 3114
1 torp w/CSV2, 1 Quantum Torp console- 4073
I may actually try 2 torps w/ 2 consoles and see what happens.
Also, you should be alble to notice when you have the 3 purple officers on space duty that your torpedo icon lights up more often saying it is ready to fire again, which should tell you that the officers at least are working. That way, you will know how to get them working and whether you even need to use a multi torpedo power to start it off.
My Commander Tac has CSV3 and TS3 (from the the 2800 series). I haven't made any changes to my Commander Tac. The changes in BOFF abilities is coming from my Lt Commander Tac. I have noticed how fast the cd timer on torps is. But, I wasn't paying attention to it before the DOFFs were there. So I'm not sure how much of an effect they're having yet. All of this is in an AE with Tac Beam in the Sci Ens slot.
One path to better DPS may be the Defiant-R with its' Tac Ens slot. That would enable the rolling TS ability you're suggesting. Once I finish with the AE I may switch over to my defiant-R and see how that tunrs out.
Tetryon DHC XI Borg
Quantum XI Very Rare Crafted
Tetryon Turret XI Borg
Full Omega Set
Engineering Consoles
XI Ablative Hull Armor
Borg Assimilated
Gravion (sp?) Pulse Console
Science Console
I cant remember the name but it's the one that increases the Shield Emitters
Cloaking Device
Tactical
Tetyron Damage XI rare X3
Quantum Damage XI rare
BOFFs
Tactical Slot 1
Tac Team 1
THY2
CRF2
APO3
Tactical Slot 2
Torp Spread 1
CRF1
THY3
Tactical Slot 3
Tac Team 1
Engineering Slot
Emergency Power to Shields 1
Reverse Shield Polarity 1
Sci Slot
Hazard Emitters 1
Tractor Beam
Because DHCs (and the corresponding boff abilities) are really *that* good.
One strategy you could do, is to fly outside of the firing range of the cubes and tactical cubes (10km +). Chances are, it's going to chase after you (slowly) and not fire on anyone. This is pretty much free hits for the rest of your team. But, you need to keep watch as to who the Borg is targeting (you see the Borg information at the top, to the lower right of it shows you who it's attacking). Once the target is changed, fly in and attack again until it changes target back to you.
I see lots of people use resistance consoles, and those make sense obviously.
What about plasma distribution manifold consoles (+wep power)?
My thinking is that my hull is my absolute last line of defense. With my defense rating and shields handling most of my ships defensive needs, using the PDM consoles let me focus even more on damage. This makes it easier to hit 125 weapons power, allowing for me to increase shield or engine power.
Am I wrong in this thinking? This is what I use now, and I can still survive a tac cube generally long enough to get out of range and lose aggro, but I am very susceptible to the super-torpedoes, those I can usually survive on my Engineer's Oddy ship.
Note- I'm a tactical captain in a Defiant Retrofit, with the usual gear, borg 3/4, MACO Mk XII shields, AP DHCx3, quantum x1, AP turret x3, all blue Mk XI consoles. BOFF defensive abilities are TSS1, HE2 and a single EPTS2, so I am pretty light on healing skills. Might even change the TSS1 to something else as well. I am usually pretty good at using brace for impact if my shields drop, for what thats worth.
So if you're running from the tac cube once it notices you, how exactly are you focusing on damage?
I'd personally pack a resist mod over a +3.x weapons power console, then use positioning to stay out of the arcs of much of the tac cube's damage (ian easy method is to hug the top as well as possible). You'll get more benefit out of Go Down Fighting that way too, since you will be able to hang on in hull damage a bit longer
+3.x weapons power isn't all that much extra, compared to what you give up for that slot in return (turn rate, power transfer rate, resists, etc.) - in fact, disregarding my earlier point and specifically considering what you're talking about doing, using an EPS Flow Regulator to boost your speed at switching power levels would likely be more beneficial.
You wouldn't happen to have a bunch of skill points wasted in 'Starship Threat Control' would you?
My second guess would be the Borg are seeing you as more of a threat then the beam boats so they are going after you first. This may be especially true if the beam boats are using Rainbow/Technicolor beams or if a cannon boat was shooting Skittles.
Nah, I was told not to take threat control when I started out on the game. Still...a silly sci officer in an escort shouldnt be the biggest threat around.
TAC Captain in a DEF-R
Good points, I'll switch some of my consoles to some resists and an EPS regulator, and see if i like it better.
I wouldn't bother with the PDM.
That's irrelevant. You're in an escort and you're using DHCs, and probably boff skills that boost your cannon damage.
That's all the Borg needs to consider you the bigger threat.
Hmm...are you saying you don't get any agro at all now? Are you sure you respec'ed your character correctly or have the right load out?
A properly built escort will pretty much guarantee agro as soon as it starts firing on something. That's what the escort is for; high DPS, which makes you the bigger threat.
I have 0 points in Threat Control, and yet I get agro'ed all the time.
OH I get agro but not like I was getting, As for my build its 95% copy of whats covered in this thread
I am Lvl 40, RA-LH flying a Gryphon/Hermes Fleet Escort...
Considering my 'budget' and the limited time I have to spend within game... and the fact that this is my LAST, free ship...
Taking note of a few items listed as suggested for Fleet Escorts; the Field Generator for example is rather quite an expensive piece of equipment...
What sort of advice could be offered as alternatives to such devices?
At present my Fleet Escort has the following...
FORE
x3 Dual Heavy Phaser Cannons
x1 Quantum Torp
AFT
x3 Phaser Turrets
Consoles:
ENG
x2 RCS +32% ( I .. 'like' .. surprising them with such a fast turn rate! )
x1 EPS Flow Regulator
SCI
x1 Emitter Array
TACT
x3 Phaser Relay
x1 Zero Point Quantum Chamber
My am working on tweaking my BoFF's at the moment, based on some advice I've read in both this thread as well as some others...
Also, following the advice from some others, in other Theads (some who have been posting in this thread!); I've dumped one of my fore Torp Launchers in favor of a 3rd Cannon; as well as dumping my Aft Torp Launcher in favor of a 3rd Turret... though I may also experiment with swapping one of my Cannons for a Beam...
But for now, I want to figure out what I can do for improvement with my Consoles.
As I said, I like having the RCS consoles, I just looove such a tight turn radius.
BUT; that was more useful in PvE when I was running with dual Torps; one Fore and one Aft, and flying in and pelting theheck outta PvE battleships with High Yield, then pulling a super fast 180 and spitting out another dozen from the aft launcher with Torp Spread! lol
However, I know that when it comes to PvP; I ought consider sacrificing at least one of that RCS consoles in favor of another; such as an Armor based console, but I am not sure which I would benefit the most from. Some of the more rare and harder to acquire ones would be out of the question; especially if they cost 1 - 2+ million, a piece, on the Exchange... . I spent my entire previous 10 levels (30 - 40) selling off all my loot and quest rewards on the Exchange just to save up enough EC to be able to outfit this Fleet Escort properly; I've dumped about 650K EC into it so far and loaded it all with Rare/Ultra Rare Mk XI gear, and at the moment I have about 500K left in the bank.
I also have about 200 cp, that I .. could .. swap for Dilithium on the D-Ex though it would only gave me about 50,000 dilithium, but I don't think that would get me any decent consoles! LOL Besides, I would rather save my CP for either, some future purchases on additional BoFF slots when I need them; or use it to acquire more dilithium when I DO, get up to the point where I can acquire a better ship.
Now if some Consoles rewarded from some of the future campaign runs (Borg, Breen, Undine) would be worth trying to aqcuire then I can go and try skipping through the rest of my Romulan campaign, and skip through some others to get there...
Any suggestions?
Also, you can always go back and play the missions you skipped. In the interest of saving time, skip everything until you get to the Assimilation mission.