You can rotate 3 attack patterns, two APO and one APB. I find that gives me a balance between DPS and tankiness. APO3 + CRF1 would give 55% extra damage vs 50% for CRF3 assuming the percentages are additive, so the damage is still good. More if multiplicative. APO also lasts 15s, but has a 60s cooldown. APO is an excellent buff still, negates tractor beams, gives you armour, defense, turn rate speed and extra damage.
What does CRF3 + APO1 give you?
The nice thing about APB and APD, is that it's a debuff, meaning it benefits your team. Everyone can take advantage of the debuff. Overall, that generally means more damage than what you could dish out yourself.
I use APD, so I have to alpha strike with APO to get aggro before I can use APD.
If you were really a very team focused player, APB 3 is definitely amazing.
The difficulty for me in giving up APO 3 is that I'm not always grouped with people I know, so I stick with APO 3 because it covers so many areas that I need it to cover and even APB 1 is going to give decent bang for buck with regards to force multiplication (and only costs a Lt Slot).
If you could take APO 2 in the Lt Comm slot, that would be a very very different story - but being forced to drop from APO 3 to APO 1, just by moving from Comm to Lt Comm makes it pretty unattractive to do.
If I played with the same team all of the time, and could count on outside heals and support - I would most likely grab APB 3 instead.
i find getting above the cube and burying my nose in the top of it is effective in stfs, the cube cant hit u with its torps and u can heal urself from the beam damage easily, only thing is save ur evasive maneuvers for when that sucker blows cuz the warp core will one shot u if ur not quick enough
Well, after running AP-Beta3 last night with CSV1+2, I'm conviced that AP-Beta3 is a must-have for elite STF's. APB3 increased damage output for the entire team when used on single targets big (gates, cubes) or clustered swarms.
This guide was a staple of my original Escort build. So i def give kudos for this awesome guide as it really does help. HOWEVER upon experimenting and changing things around, ive discovered the pure power and effectiveness of a beam boat. I was reluctant at first since i used ot laugh at other beam boats not realizing their potential. but with my setup now im dropping 90% of players in PvP in less then 1 minute. i only die 1-2x in STF Elites and the biggie..im averaging 2800 dmg PER BEAM and i Easlily Crit over 35k with BO3 and often..im 2x as effective in STF's and in PvP im averaging 520k dmg per game as opposed to 250-280k Dmg with my prior build (which followed this guide to a T)
3x AP DHC
1x Q Torp
3x AP Turret
Torp Spread 3
Torp Spread 2
Rapid FIre 3
HYT3
Tact Team 1 X2
Scatter Volley
2x Zero Point mk 11 Rare
2x Ap Mags MK 11 Rare
Power Insulator mk 11 rare
Flow Cap mk 11 rare
Assimilated Console
Monotanium plating mk 11 rare
Electroceramic plating mk 11 rare
Full Aegis/Maco mk 11
BUT now in my new build:
7x Phased Polaron Beam Array
Omega 3
2x Beam Overload 3
2x Tact Team 2
2x Fire At Will
2xEPTS 1
Photonic Officer
Boarding Party
Tractor Beam
3x EPS Flow Regs Mk 12 Rare or swap one for a hull plating
Assimilted Console
Flow Cap mk 11 rare
4x Polaron Phase mods mk 12 rare
For all out assualt i run:
3x Eps flowa
Omega Def/Shield
Retro Borg Engines/console
if i need extra survive-ability i run:
Retro Borg Engines/Def/Console
Maco shield
The ability u get with 2 peices of retro borg is irreplacable and is a must have IMO. to get quick and efficient with a beam boat it takes a little practice/ basically you want to focus on the tray not the combat. and with the right duty officer setup you can pop off a BO3 every 12-15 secs critting over 35k+
3x EPS Flows keep wep power at 125% a weapon battery rarely needed but keep on you. boarding party is great to counter healers/tanks in PVP and help with tact cubes as well.
EPS Flow regulators are supposed to let you recover weapon power after beam overloads and full impulse. Does it let you recover energy faster from upgraded weapon attacks like FAW, CRF, and CSV?
EPS Flow regulators are supposed to let you recover weapon power after beam overloads and full impulse. Does it let you recover energy faster from upgraded weapon attacks like FAW, CRF, and CSV?
Power Drain from multiple weapons firing simultaneously is currently not intended to be mitigated by any gear or skill setup. The drain is not a gradual reduction of your available power, but instead an instant reduction in your available power. The moment a weapon is done cycling, your energy level pops back up to where it belongs instead of continuing to drain the longer you fire.
This drain is specifically in place to encourage players to try various weapon load-outs, instead of always running into combat with nothing but beams/turrets a-blazing. In other words, more weapons firing simultaneously is not always a good thing in STO, and this is by-design. It is possible, in fact, that firing 8 beams at the same time may do -less- damage than firing 4-6, simply due to available power levels.
If you find your Weapon Power dipping too low in combat, you might try swapping an energy weapon out for a projectile.
Seems like allot of cannon scatter volley and torpedo spread powers
Would it be better to have one cannon scatter volley and torp spread combined with one Cannon Rapid Fire and High yield for those one on one kills and Dps?
This is a great thread. Some of you guys have really put some serious time and effort into doing the math. I have done my own exhaustive scientific study and determined the MACO shields are best for me based on the simple evidence that I die less. I fly a fleet escort with 4 MKXII antiproton dual heavies and 3 MKXI antiproton turrets which makes every enemy in the same zip code decide that I'm the one who needs to die first. Needless to say, I'm usually taking fire from multiple sources. The Omega and Borg retro shields drop way too fast. Regenerative rate doesn't seem to help much when you're being pounded by multiple targets, your shields are deader than Elvis and your pitifully thin hull is disappearing faster than your 401k. I also seem to get more bang for my Boff buck with a higher rated shield strength. By the time enemies have punched through the MACO my Boff skills have recharged and I'm good for another round. If I get to the point when my Boffs can't keep my shields inflated then I know I'm in over my head and I hit the evasive maneuvers button and get the hell out of there.
All I wanted to say is thank you very much for your build advice, and while I get some "heat" from my fleet for sticking with this build instead of switching to the one they use, I must say it has worked really well. Before this my build was absolute TRIBBLE, and now I find myself soloing cubes on elite without dying!
My Build:
Tactical Escort Retrofit (almost all weapons are now Mk XII Borg thanks to this build, but were XI Borg before):
x3 Phaser DHC, x1 Quantum torps
x3 Phaser Turrets
2/3 "Traditional" Borg set peices
XI MACO shield
x1 Eelectroceramic*, x1 EPS, x1 Neutronium
x1 Field Gen, x1 Borg Console
x3 Phaser Relay, x1 Zero-Point Quantum console**
*Swapped out with cloak for PvP
**I now usually run the theta vents for STFs and Ker'rat instead of this console
Boff setup is same but with THY and CRF instead of TS and CSV as they're pretty useful for both PvP and PvE. Besides I don't really care for spread abilities save FAW.
This build works well on my Hegh'tah and Quin as well.
Thanks for the replies earlier. Something I still don't get ... is it worth using 3 proejctile weapons doffs if you are only using a single quantum torpedo? It's my understanding that the proc activates upon the firing of each torpedo, which is why it is supposedly better with multiple torpedoes and byusing photon torpedoes, so is there any benefit to using 1 or more PWOs with only one quantum?
Thanks for the replies earlier. Something I still don't get ... is it worth using 3 proejctile weapons doffs if you are only using a single quantum torpedo? It's my understanding that the proc activates upon the firing of each torpedo, which is why it is supposedly better with multiple torpedoes and byusing photon torpedoes, so is there any benefit to using 1 or more PWOs with only one quantum?
There is no advantage at all to using PWOs with only one launcher. I spend a couple of weeks testing different combos after I bought the borg PWO. The best combo I found was 3 PWOs with 2 launchers.
There is no advantage at all to using PWOs with only one launcher. I spend a couple of weeks testing different combos after I bought the borg PWO. The best combo I found was 3 PWOs with 2 launchers.
I find a great advantage in having instant torpedos, personally. I run two purple PWO with only a single launcher, and more times than not, the cooldown on that launcher doesn't exist. I can throw out HY, and have another torp following a second later. Or I can fire standard torps at the rate of one every one or two seconds. Better than half the time, I'm not waiting on a launcher cooldown at all.
Of course, I'm playing as a Tac, and there's not many doffs that appeal to me to put on active space duty, either. There's plenty more that would whet my appetite were I an Engi or Sci player. I might fore go any PWO on a single launcher in that case.
I find a great advantage in having instant torpedos, personally. I run two purple PWO with only a single launcher, and more times than not, the cooldown on that launcher doesn't exist. I can throw out HY, and have another torp following a second later. Or I can fire standard torps at the rate of one every one or two seconds. Better than half the time, I'm not waiting on a launcher cooldown at all.
Of course, I'm playing as a Tac, and there's not many doffs that appeal to me to put on active space duty, either. There's plenty more that would whet my appetite were I an Engi or Sci player. I might fore go any PWO on a single launcher in that case.
I didn't notice much of a difference at all with only one launcher. With two launchers I fire a torpedo just under once a second or I fire a spread and fire another torp 1 second later. I'm an engineer and I don't know of any other space DOFFs I'd want on active duty.
The All Cannon build deffinatly has it's merits but it seems inconsistant. It just doesn't feel right in STF's.
I had some regular dual cannons but I must have sold them somewhere along the way. I was going to try all regular dual cannons rather than heavy or maybe 2 regular and 2 heavy and see if that helps.
Not that I'm aware of. As far as I know Mk XII weapons are only [Borg].
Non-borg Mk XII weapons exist, just look at the exchange.
Shook-Yang was specifically asking about Anti-proton MK XII DHC's, and while I haven't seen any myself I'd be willing to bet that's because they get snapped up pretty quick.
There was an awesome set of MK XII disruptor DHCs on the exchange a couple of weeks back, but by the time I'd decided to go for them (I'm running borg anti-proton right now, so it would mean getting new everything) they'd been snatched up. sigh
Non-borg Mk XII weapons exist, just look at the exchange.
Shook-Yang was specifically asking about Anti-proton MK XII DHC's, and while I haven't seen any myself I'd be willing to bet that's because they get snapped up pretty quick.
There was an awesome set of MK XII disruptor DHCs on the exchange a couple of weeks back, but by the time I'd decided to go for them (I'm running borg anti-proton right now, so it would mean getting new everything) they'd been snatched up. sigh
I don't even look anymore, I just press pass. Do Mk XII weapons drop in Elite STFs? Now that I think about it I thought I remember something about Mk XII weapons in STFs or lock boxes.
The other weapon types are most certainly available. (although turrets do seem heavily weighted towards disruptors)
I do occasionally see MK XII drops in STFs (theres usually one MK XII console in the optional loot, often blue) but I think they're just part of the random loot table now (although very rare, obviously.) I don't know for certain (as I've got all mine from the exchange) but I think Ker'rat farming is favoured for getting the drops.
Comments
The nice thing about APB and APD, is that it's a debuff, meaning it benefits your team. Everyone can take advantage of the debuff. Overall, that generally means more damage than what you could dish out yourself.
I use APD, so I have to alpha strike with APO to get aggro before I can use APD.
If you were really a very team focused player, APB 3 is definitely amazing.
The difficulty for me in giving up APO 3 is that I'm not always grouped with people I know, so I stick with APO 3 because it covers so many areas that I need it to cover and even APB 1 is going to give decent bang for buck with regards to force multiplication (and only costs a Lt Slot).
If you could take APO 2 in the Lt Comm slot, that would be a very very different story - but being forced to drop from APO 3 to APO 1, just by moving from Comm to Lt Comm makes it pretty unattractive to do.
If I played with the same team all of the time, and could count on outside heals and support - I would most likely grab APB 3 instead.
3x AP DHC
1x Q Torp
3x AP Turret
Torp Spread 3
Torp Spread 2
Rapid FIre 3
HYT3
Tact Team 1 X2
Scatter Volley
2x Zero Point mk 11 Rare
2x Ap Mags MK 11 Rare
Power Insulator mk 11 rare
Flow Cap mk 11 rare
Assimilated Console
Monotanium plating mk 11 rare
Electroceramic plating mk 11 rare
Full Aegis/Maco mk 11
BUT now in my new build:
7x Phased Polaron Beam Array
Omega 3
2x Beam Overload 3
2x Tact Team 2
2x Fire At Will
2xEPTS 1
Photonic Officer
Boarding Party
Tractor Beam
3x EPS Flow Regs Mk 12 Rare or swap one for a hull plating
Assimilted Console
Flow Cap mk 11 rare
4x Polaron Phase mods mk 12 rare
For all out assualt i run:
3x Eps flowa
Omega Def/Shield
Retro Borg Engines/console
if i need extra survive-ability i run:
Retro Borg Engines/Def/Console
Maco shield
The ability u get with 2 peices of retro borg is irreplacable and is a must have IMO. to get quick and efficient with a beam boat it takes a little practice/ basically you want to focus on the tray not the combat. and with the right duty officer setup you can pop off a BO3 every 12-15 secs critting over 35k+
3x EPS Flows keep wep power at 125% a weapon battery rarely needed but keep on you. boarding party is great to counter healers/tanks in PVP and help with tact cubes as well.
Sorry im writing this right before i go into work
Nothing does.
Here's what we have from Borticus.
Thread link.
If that's the case, then running 3x EPS Flow Regulators seems a bit over-kill given beam ability coooldown times.
It might be helpful with BO, that I have never tested and I'm not sure Borticus was covering that specific power.
His post details the drain from multiple weapons fire like 8 beams for example, or in the Escort case 3~4 DHCs and 3 Turrets.
BO might be in a different situation, although I don't think I would personally use 3x Flow Regulators to compensate for it.
Would it be better to have one cannon scatter volley and torp spread combined with one Cannon Rapid Fire and High yield for those one on one kills and Dps?
4 x AP-Borg in the front.
3 x AP-Borg Turrets in the rear.
4 XII Blue AP Regs
(I'll craft from here to eternity and never get a purple from Childrens Toys. LOL)
CTS TT1 APBI SCV2 CRF3
LtCTS TT1 APD1 APO1
http://home.comcast.net/~amicus/Skill%20Point%20Effects.htm
My Build:
Tactical Escort Retrofit (almost all weapons are now Mk XII Borg thanks to this build, but were XI Borg before):
x3 Phaser DHC, x1 Quantum torps
x3 Phaser Turrets
2/3 "Traditional" Borg set peices
XI MACO shield
x1 Eelectroceramic*, x1 EPS, x1 Neutronium
x1 Field Gen, x1 Borg Console
x3 Phaser Relay, x1 Zero-Point Quantum console**
*Swapped out with cloak for PvP
**I now usually run the theta vents for STFs and Ker'rat instead of this console
Boff setup is same but with THY and CRF instead of TS and CSV as they're pretty useful for both PvP and PvE. Besides I don't really care for spread abilities save FAW.
This build works well on my Hegh'tah and Quin as well.
There is no advantage at all to using PWOs with only one launcher. I spend a couple of weeks testing different combos after I bought the borg PWO. The best combo I found was 3 PWOs with 2 launchers.
New release notes, 5/3/12
Players may no longer queue for STFs if they are in shuttles or other small craft.
That's fantastic!
But the problem is it may take away from some of our bad STF stories in the Bad STF Story thread... :eek:
I find a great advantage in having instant torpedos, personally. I run two purple PWO with only a single launcher, and more times than not, the cooldown on that launcher doesn't exist. I can throw out HY, and have another torp following a second later. Or I can fire standard torps at the rate of one every one or two seconds. Better than half the time, I'm not waiting on a launcher cooldown at all.
Of course, I'm playing as a Tac, and there's not many doffs that appeal to me to put on active space duty, either. There's plenty more that would whet my appetite were I an Engi or Sci player. I might fore go any PWO on a single launcher in that case.
I didn't notice much of a difference at all with only one launcher. With two launchers I fire a torpedo just under once a second or I fire a spread and fire another torp 1 second later. I'm an engineer and I don't know of any other space DOFFs I'd want on active duty.
Crafting or loot drops
The All Cannon build deffinatly has it's merits but it seems inconsistant. It just doesn't feel right in STF's.
I had some regular dual cannons but I must have sold them somewhere along the way. I was going to try all regular dual cannons rather than heavy or maybe 2 regular and 2 heavy and see if that helps.
For the moment I'll put a torp back on there.
Decisions decisions decisions.
I have yet to see any on the exchange. The only ones I see are MK XI.
I've been looking, haven't seen anything in Antiproton XII Purple except consoles.
Not that I'm aware of. As far as I know Mk XII weapons are only [Borg].
Non-borg Mk XII weapons exist, just look at the exchange.
Shook-Yang was specifically asking about Anti-proton MK XII DHC's, and while I haven't seen any myself I'd be willing to bet that's because they get snapped up pretty quick.
There was an awesome set of MK XII disruptor DHCs on the exchange a couple of weeks back, but by the time I'd decided to go for them (I'm running borg anti-proton right now, so it would mean getting new everything) they'd been snatched up. sigh
I don't even look anymore, I just press pass. Do Mk XII weapons drop in Elite STFs? Now that I think about it I thought I remember something about Mk XII weapons in STFs or lock boxes.
I do occasionally see MK XII drops in STFs (theres usually one MK XII console in the optional loot, often blue) but I think they're just part of the random loot table now (although very rare, obviously.) I don't know for certain (as I've got all mine from the exchange) but I think Ker'rat farming is favoured for getting the drops.