For the Beam Build, using Beta 3 IS better because of Fire at Will. Although using Omega 1 might be a good idea to get your ship out of sticky situations when need be. Also switched out to Fire at Will 3, I find I was using it MUCH more often than Overload, so might as well use a lower-level Overload and even moved Tactical Team up for a slight all-around damage gain.
I also added a notation about the MACO shields now being the best STF shields in the game.
And one more thing, I'm finding its more useful to swap out my EPS console for my Grappler/Etc. bonus consoles instead of the Biofunction. Biofunction seems to be keeping me alive MUCH longer, I think more testing is required with the Biofunction to show its usefulness.
For the Beam Build, using Beta 3 IS better because of Fire at Will. Although using Omega 1 might be a good idea to get your ship out of sticky situations when need be. Also switched out to Fire at Will 3, I find I was using it MUCH more often than Overload, so might as well use a lower-level Overload and even moved Tactical Team up for a slight all-around damage gain.
I also added a notation about the MACO shields now being the best STF shields in the game.
And one more thing, I'm finding its more useful to swap out my EPS console for my Grappler/Etc. bonus consoles instead of the Biofunction. Biofunction seems to be keeping me alive MUCH longer, I think more testing is required with the Biofunction to show its usefulness.
biofunction is crucial in a defiant, more so than any other ship. with only 50 crew, keeping them alive (brace for impact) and regenerating crew lost (biofunction monitor) is one of the most crucial elements of survival.
i have used the MACO mk xi shields with the aegis engines/deflector. with the bonus, shield power and engine power setting from both the engine and the deflector, this would almost seem to be the best set for an escort. i dont have math to back it up, but id be interested what everyone else would think.
ive also tweeked my build a little bit since my first post-
tac skills: TT1, BO 1 and 3, CRF 1 and 2, THY 1, APO 3, APB 1
eng skills: EPtS 1 and 2
sci skills: HE 1, ST 2
to me, i dont see much of a use in TT1 other than clearing assimilated ship- its better than another torp skill, but i dont see the shield facing help that its supposed to do. i just dont.
i also use ST 2 because when my shields get low, i hit ST followed by whichever EPtS is up- with 2, it gives a nice resist plus my shields are almost back to full. with 1, the resist is smaller but the shields are still almost all the way up. even though i lose out on the shield resist from TSS 2, TO ME, ST 2 makes more of a difference- I will have to try TSS 2 out some more to be sure though, but the few times ive used it i dont like it nor see it to be as effective as ST 2.
Ive also started using 3DHC and 1DBB up front and 2 turrets and a torp rear- that seems to be a tad bit better in terms of firing rate and a tad more DPS- its easy to go flying head first into a probe and as you pass, dropping a salvo of torps into bare hull. turn, rinse and repeat.
to me, i dont see much of a use in TT1 other than clearing assimilated ship- its better than another torp skill, but i dont see the shield facing help that its supposed to do. i just dont.
When ONE of your shield facings is down to almost 0, and the rest are full, hit Tactical Team. That shield facing that is going down or dropping will refill instantly and if that side keeps taking fire, TT transfers even more power to that side to compensate.
Also, check your weapon damage before and after using tactical team. Notice it goes up. It gives a damage boost as well, so running it constantly with two versions of it WILL increase your DPS along with keeping your shields routed to keep you alive.
When ONE of your shield facings is down to almost 0, and the rest are full, hit Tactical Team. That shield facing that is going down or dropping will refill instantly and if that side keeps taking fire, TT transfers even more power to that side to compensate.
Also, check your weapon damage before and after using tactical team. Notice it goes up. It gives a damage boost as well, so running it constantly with two versions of it WILL increase your DPS along with keeping your shields routed to keep you alive.
thats probably why i dont see the increase of shield that much- i also have the key bind that distributes shields every time i fire my weapons- it probably does help, i just miss it.
and im not saying it doesnt add DPS, ive just never noticed that much of a difference. i still take things down really fast so i cant see the difference in DPS output except in the numbers- on my screen they still go boom really quick lol.
thats probably why i dont see the increase of shield that much- i also have the key bind that distributes shields every time i fire my weapons- it probably does help, i just miss it.
and im not saying it doesnt add DPS, ive just never noticed that much of a difference. i still take things down really fast so i cant see the difference in DPS output except in the numbers- on my screen they still go boom really quick lol.
The 'manual' redistribution is a lot slower than Tac Team, (Although it works, don't get me wrong, Even with Tac Team, I still redistribute regularly). Also, Tac Team reinforces the shield taking damage, as opposed to lowering the full one to make the others better.
biofunction is crucial in a defiant, more so than any other ship. with only 50 crew, keeping them alive (brace for impact) and regenerating crew lost (biofunction monitor) is one of the most crucial elements of survival.
Really?
In my experience at least, it's not hull regen that determines my survivability, it's keeping my shields up. Most of the times I seem to die it's due to a cheap 1-shot from a Tac cube or similar. I don't think having Biofunction monitor would help much in that case? Otherwise I can pop HE2 often enough between/during battles that I heal up enough hull.
In my experience at least, it's not hull regen that determines my survivability, it's keeping my shields up. Most of the times I seem to die it's due to a cheap 1-shot from a Tac cube or similar. I don't think having Biofunction monitor would help much in that case? Otherwise I can pop HE2 often enough between/during battles that I heal up enough hull.
When your crew drops to near zero, your shields drop faster.
Ok i got a question when you look at the mk xi very rare weapons which is actually better to use the borg ones or the non borg ones, now i know the borg one have the radiation or what ever it is but its just a chance damage compaired to the none borg one which have a bit higher dps , and that is a constant every time you fire damage.
biofunction is crucial in a defiant, more so than any other ship. with only 50 crew, keeping them alive (brace for impact) and regenerating crew lost (biofunction monitor) is one of the most crucial elements of survival.
to me, i dont see much of a use in TT1 other than clearing assimilated ship- its better than another torp skill, but i dont see the shield facing help that its supposed to do. i just dont.
I couldn't agree any less with these two statements. If you're getting that low on crew your already in trouble that it's not going to matter much. As for TT; always running with one up greatly increases survivability(due to the extremely fast regen rate and automation) and provides a pretty decent boost to DPS without having to do much(since you can bind TT to your main key). If you honestly think TT is nothing good but cleaning boarding parties then you are way off base mate.
Biofunction is definitely crucial, with it i rarely see my crew drop below 50 even during tough battles when my shields are going down. I've also definitely noticed that it does help my hull rate. As for TT1 it is a godsend. It will regen a shield facing (usually my forward one) almost instantly. The redistribute shielding is too slow and has a slight cool down. This can make all the difference in battle.
One thing to remember about the different builds is movement. You get a defense bonus when you move. The faster you move, the bigger the bonus. At full combat speed, my MVAE gains a +70% defense bonus. That's rather significant.
If you're getting that low on crew your already in trouble that it's not going to matter much.
The Biofunction pretty much keeps you from loosing your crew on an Escort when combined with skills like tac team that clean out boarding parties.
The relevancy of the Crew is still questionable of course, but there is for sure a difference between having ZERO crew and a full compliment in terms of survivability.
Fleet Escort
Tactical Consoles: 3x of the Energy Weapon type you are using (Ex. Phaser Relay, Plasma Infuser, etc.), 1x Zero Point Quantum Chamber
Hi, I'm a fairly new player to the game - although I've played a lot of MMOs with the ultimate goal of playing at Endgame, whatever that might be. This thread has been an excellent source of information.
I'm not yet running STFs on elite, but I've begun a process of gearing my ship for this purpose.
I'm currently using 3x AP Mag Regulators with 3x Crafted MK XI AP DHCs & 3x Crafted MK XI AP Turrets.
However I wonder if this is actually worth it, due to diminishing returns.
Is there enough benefit from the third tactical console to justify its presence in the load out?
Or is the diminishing returns on the third AP mag console strong enough that a second Zero Point Chamber would become a better option?
The 'manual' redistribution is a lot slower than Tac Team, (Although it works, don't get me wrong, Even with Tac Team, I still redistribute regularly). Also, Tac Team reinforces the shield taking damage, as opposed to lowering the full one to make the others better.
well the key bind isnt really "manual" distribution. everytime i fire my weapons, my shields are redistributed, so rather than hitting arrow keys all the time based on which shield is getting hit most, my shields are always evenly distributed.
I couldn't agree any less with these two statements. If you're getting that low on crew your already in trouble that it's not going to matter much. As for TT; always running with one up greatly increases survivability(due to the extremely fast regen rate and automation) and provides a pretty decent boost to DPS without having to do much(since you can bind TT to your main key). If you honestly think TT is nothing good but cleaning boarding parties then you are way off base mate.
quick question- do you fly a defiant? if not, then its understandable you wouldnt think how the biofunction monitor helps. defiants have ONLY 50 crew, so you are handicapped from the start. if a cruiser or MVAM or fleet escort or intrepid were down to 50 crew, i could see it being too late. but thats the STARTING crew number for the defiant. every other ship has at least 150 (fleet escort) or higher, so the need for a biofunction monitor is less than it is on the defiant. with 50 crew, outside of keeping your shields up, your top priority is to keep your crew alive and regen the ones that arent- that way when your shields inevitably go down, your crew can work to repair the subsequent hull damage faster. less crew = slower damage repair. thats a known fact.
as for TT, you may think im way off base, but that is your own opinion. as i said before, i dont see much of a difference. im sure the difference is there in the numbers, but when im flying around destroying cubes, i dont look at numbers- i go off of what my eyes tell me. sure, it helps- but when i can destroy a probe in 2 seconds as opposed to 1.5 seconds, does that half of a second really make much of a difference? in the long run, sure it helps with DPS- but so do weapons batteries.
and, as ive said before, its a personal preference of mine. i use ST because for my build it works better for me than does TSS. and because i use ST, im not going to run 2 copies of TT. too many cooldowns in the way. on top of that, my build is geared towards doing 1 thing, and doing that 1 thing extremely well- killing 1 single target at a time. with BO 3/1, CRF 2/1, APB 1 and APO 3 along with THY 1 and, when its up, TT1, i can kill just about anything before i need to worry about my shields and such. you can argue tactics with my on STF as much as you want and how in your eyes im probably doing it all wrong, but in all honesty, thats your opinion. within my fleet premades and in the pugs i do, no one else *****es that im not using the "perfect build" because i get it done, and i get it done extremely well. and in the end, thats all that matters.
edit: just looked at numbers for TSS 2/ST 2. TSS 2 with my normal aux power ( 41/25) i get 601/facing shield + 171/facing for 15 seconds. over the life (along with EPtS 2 up concurrently) equals 5052 to each shield facing- the problem is that before the 171 over 15 seconds is added it only gives 2487/facing once. ST 2 on the other hand, gives 4714/facing one time up front. the other difference is, obviously, the 11% reduction to shield damage for 15 seconds with TSS 2. added to the 24% reduction with EPtS 2, its a nice reduction in shield damage. my only question is it worth it in the long run- whats to say that over those 15 seconds im supposed to get more shield strength from TSS 2 i dont get pounded down by a cube/sphere? that then renders the restore and damage reduction over time to be a moot point because youll be dead. for me, at least, id rather take the huge chunk of shield repair up front with a slightly smaller damage reduction in order to survive long enough to bug out and get fully repaired.
Hi, I'm a fairly new player to the game - although I've played a lot of MMOs with the ultimate goal of playing at Endgame, whatever that might be. This thread has been an excellent source of information.
I'm not yet running STFs on elite, but I've begun a process of gearing my ship for this purpose.
I'm currently using 3x AP Mag Regulators with 3x Crafted MK XI AP DHCs & 3x Crafted MK XI AP Turrets.
However I wonder if this is actually worth it, due to diminishing returns.
Is there enough benefit from the third tactical console to justify its presence in the load out?
Or is the diminishing returns on the third AP mag console strong enough that a second Zero Point Chamber would become a better option?
If you were running two forward torpedo launchers, I'd say to run two Zero Point chambers.
But considering how infrequently torpedoes fire, and how frequently the cannons are firing, even a small gain is worth it for the cannons.
I hate to break the news, but if you are running a Defiant, you are there to do DPS. Biofunction monitors ONLY help with hull repair rate, something that a) your science officer/engineer officer teammates should be watching over and b) should never ever ever take a slot over your cloak/assimilated console.
50 crew, or 0 crew, your hull repair rate is negligible, and really if you are losing hull, toss yourself a HE.
Biofunction = the worse console for defiant. Period.
I hate to break the news, but if you are running a Defiant, you are there to do DPS. Biofunction monitors ONLY help with hull repair rate, something that a) your science officer/engineer officer teammates should be watching over and b) should never ever ever take a slot over your cloak/assimilated console.
50 crew, or 0 crew, your hull repair rate is negligible, and really if you are losing hull, toss yourself a HE.
Biofunction = the worse console for defiant. Period.
I'm in this field as well. Maybe I'm missing something about crew, but many people only care about the hull regen rate of the system. In a defiant, in a group situation, your hull repair should be coming /mainly/ from someone else. If you're really relying on that repair from your crew then your in much deeper trouble then bio is going to help you, imho.
I'm in this field as well. Maybe I'm missing something about crew, but many people only care about the hull regen rate of the system. In a defiant, in a group situation, your hull repair should be coming /mainly/ from someone else. If you're really relying on that repair from your crew then your in much deeper trouble then bio is going to help you, imho.
I've never gotten a heal from a teammate ever in an elite STF. And there is a difference without bio-function monitor and without especially in a Defiant. With i never lose a single crew member and my hull is more robust. Without i can drop to almost no crew and my hull is more squishy. That's just how it feels when i'm playing.
Your hull is more robust? Dude, all crew does is increase your natural hull repair rate. How you feel != how something actually works.
Worst console for a defiant, period. Don't proliferate the idea further please.
If you want a DPS setup, Throw some monotanium alloy in your eng slots (which, actually WILL make your hull more "robust"), put your assimilate console + cloak in your sci slots, and 4x your weapon type in tac consoles.
I've never gotten a heal from a teammate ever in an elite STF. And there is a difference without bio-function monitor and without especially in a Defiant. With i never lose a single crew member and my hull is more robust. Without i can drop to almost no crew and my hull is more squishy. That's just how it feels when i'm playing.
I think your grossly over estimating the value of crew.
I think your grossly over estimating the value of crew.
Other than the fact that the game specifically states that crew indirectly help hull repair rate, not really. That's just my observation with doing the same Elite STFs a hundred times with the console and without the console.
A couple nights ago, I switched out my cannons, and I now run the following:
Advanced Escort (Prometheus class)
Fore:
1x Dual Heavy Cannons, 1x Dual Beam Bank, 1x Beam Array, 1x Quantum Torpedo
Aft:
2x Beam Arrays, 1x Quantum Torpedo
In my Engineering slots, I use an armor plating, that gives +24 to Phaser, Disruptor, Plasma, and Tetryon (I think that's the fourth), and a +35% Shield Capacity.
My Science slots, the Multi-Vector console, the Assimilated console, and the one with +18 Emitters (For my shield heals).
For my Boff slots, I keep High yield 1 and 3, Torpedo Spread 1, Beam Overload 2, Rapid Fire 2 (I'll edit when I see my other skills, I can't remember at the moment).
Using the older cannon build, I would sit out at 7 - 8 km, and just pound at the enemies. I was doing about 300 damage per hit (Average, of course).
Using this build, I get up close and personal, and I am averaging about 700 - 1000 damage per hit. Major increase. I like this build a lot.
Fore:
1x Dual Heavy Cannons, 1x Dual Beam Bank, 1x Beam Array, 1x Quantum Torpedo
Aft:
2x Beam Arrays, 1x Quantum Torpedo
Wow. Those are some really screwed up firing arcs...
The fore Quantum + DBB and Cannon would indicate that you should be facing your target, but there are no turrets in the back, so that's out. And the 3 beam arrays would indicate a broadsides approach, but then the DBB and quantums are useless. And having both a fore and aft torp means that one of them is pretty much always useless. And then there is the issue of mixing cannons and beams, making your BO skills sub-optimal.
Really, I'm not sure that I could some up with a worse weapon configuration for an escort if I was purposefully trying to do so.
Wow. Those are some really screwed up firing arcs...
The fore Quantum + DBB and Cannon would indicate that you should be facing your target, but there are no turrets in the back, so that's out. And the 3 beam arrays would indicate a broadsides approach, but then the DBB and quantums are useless. And having both a fore and aft torp means that one of them is pretty much always useless. And then there is the issue of mixing cannons and beams, making your BO skills sub-optimal.
Really, I'm not sure that I could some up with a worse weapon configuration for an escort if I was purposefully trying to do so.
It works for me, far more damage than I was doing with just cannons, and I can be in the fight, moving around, and shooting my target, no matter which direction I am facing.
That's why I run a torp for and aft. Dropping a turret for an aft torp while running can be an asset. o each their own though. If the build works for you, then that's all that really matters. There is a ton of great info in this thread.
Using the older cannon build, I would sit out at 7 - 8 km, and just pound at the enemies. I was doing about 300 damage per hit (Average, of course).
Using this build, I get up close and personal, and I am averaging about 700 - 1000 damage per hit. Major increase. I like this build a lot.
just one question. if you were using a cannon build. why would you be sitting at 7k-8k. cannons are their most effective when at 4k and closer, maybe even 5k. reason why beams are used at long range is cause the damage doesnt drop off as much as cannons do the further away from the target you are
just one question. if you were using a cannon build. why would you be sitting at 7k-8k. cannons are their most effective when at 4k and closer, maybe even 5k. reason why beams are used at long range is cause the damage doesnt drop off as much as cannons do the further away from the target you are
Because If I got in closer, I drew aggro and died. And when they moved, I'd have to move, and my cannons would be out of arc.
Because If I got in closer, I drew aggro and died. And when they moved, I'd have to move, and my cannons would be out of arc.
But if that was your problem wouldn't it be more logical to take a look at your defense instead of reducing your potential damage output and splitting it over non-overlapping firing arcs? It's usually not a problem to keep NPC ships in your front 45 with an escort.
Comments
For the Beam Build, using Beta 3 IS better because of Fire at Will. Although using Omega 1 might be a good idea to get your ship out of sticky situations when need be. Also switched out to Fire at Will 3, I find I was using it MUCH more often than Overload, so might as well use a lower-level Overload and even moved Tactical Team up for a slight all-around damage gain.
I also added a notation about the MACO shields now being the best STF shields in the game.
And one more thing, I'm finding its more useful to swap out my EPS console for my Grappler/Etc. bonus consoles instead of the Biofunction. Biofunction seems to be keeping me alive MUCH longer, I think more testing is required with the Biofunction to show its usefulness.
biofunction is crucial in a defiant, more so than any other ship. with only 50 crew, keeping them alive (brace for impact) and regenerating crew lost (biofunction monitor) is one of the most crucial elements of survival.
i have used the MACO mk xi shields with the aegis engines/deflector. with the bonus, shield power and engine power setting from both the engine and the deflector, this would almost seem to be the best set for an escort. i dont have math to back it up, but id be interested what everyone else would think.
ive also tweeked my build a little bit since my first post-
tac skills: TT1, BO 1 and 3, CRF 1 and 2, THY 1, APO 3, APB 1
eng skills: EPtS 1 and 2
sci skills: HE 1, ST 2
to me, i dont see much of a use in TT1 other than clearing assimilated ship- its better than another torp skill, but i dont see the shield facing help that its supposed to do. i just dont.
i also use ST 2 because when my shields get low, i hit ST followed by whichever EPtS is up- with 2, it gives a nice resist plus my shields are almost back to full. with 1, the resist is smaller but the shields are still almost all the way up. even though i lose out on the shield resist from TSS 2, TO ME, ST 2 makes more of a difference- I will have to try TSS 2 out some more to be sure though, but the few times ive used it i dont like it nor see it to be as effective as ST 2.
Ive also started using 3DHC and 1DBB up front and 2 turrets and a torp rear- that seems to be a tad bit better in terms of firing rate and a tad more DPS- its easy to go flying head first into a probe and as you pass, dropping a salvo of torps into bare hull. turn, rinse and repeat.
Also, check your weapon damage before and after using tactical team. Notice it goes up. It gives a damage boost as well, so running it constantly with two versions of it WILL increase your DPS along with keeping your shields routed to keep you alive.
thats probably why i dont see the increase of shield that much- i also have the key bind that distributes shields every time i fire my weapons- it probably does help, i just miss it.
and im not saying it doesnt add DPS, ive just never noticed that much of a difference. i still take things down really fast so i cant see the difference in DPS output except in the numbers- on my screen they still go boom really quick lol.
The 'manual' redistribution is a lot slower than Tac Team, (Although it works, don't get me wrong, Even with Tac Team, I still redistribute regularly). Also, Tac Team reinforces the shield taking damage, as opposed to lowering the full one to make the others better.
Really?
In my experience at least, it's not hull regen that determines my survivability, it's keeping my shields up. Most of the times I seem to die it's due to a cheap 1-shot from a Tac cube or similar. I don't think having Biofunction monitor would help much in that case? Otherwise I can pop HE2 often enough between/during battles that I heal up enough hull.
I couldn't agree any less with these two statements. If you're getting that low on crew your already in trouble that it's not going to matter much. As for TT; always running with one up greatly increases survivability(due to the extremely fast regen rate and automation) and provides a pretty decent boost to DPS without having to do much(since you can bind TT to your main key). If you honestly think TT is nothing good but cleaning boarding parties then you are way off base mate.
The relevancy of the Crew is still questionable of course, but there is for sure a difference between having ZERO crew and a full compliment in terms of survivability.
Hi, I'm a fairly new player to the game - although I've played a lot of MMOs with the ultimate goal of playing at Endgame, whatever that might be. This thread has been an excellent source of information.
I'm not yet running STFs on elite, but I've begun a process of gearing my ship for this purpose.
I'm currently using 3x AP Mag Regulators with 3x Crafted MK XI AP DHCs & 3x Crafted MK XI AP Turrets.
However I wonder if this is actually worth it, due to diminishing returns.
Is there enough benefit from the third tactical console to justify its presence in the load out?
Or is the diminishing returns on the third AP mag console strong enough that a second Zero Point Chamber would become a better option?
well the key bind isnt really "manual" distribution. everytime i fire my weapons, my shields are redistributed, so rather than hitting arrow keys all the time based on which shield is getting hit most, my shields are always evenly distributed.
quick question- do you fly a defiant? if not, then its understandable you wouldnt think how the biofunction monitor helps. defiants have ONLY 50 crew, so you are handicapped from the start. if a cruiser or MVAM or fleet escort or intrepid were down to 50 crew, i could see it being too late. but thats the STARTING crew number for the defiant. every other ship has at least 150 (fleet escort) or higher, so the need for a biofunction monitor is less than it is on the defiant. with 50 crew, outside of keeping your shields up, your top priority is to keep your crew alive and regen the ones that arent- that way when your shields inevitably go down, your crew can work to repair the subsequent hull damage faster. less crew = slower damage repair. thats a known fact.
as for TT, you may think im way off base, but that is your own opinion. as i said before, i dont see much of a difference. im sure the difference is there in the numbers, but when im flying around destroying cubes, i dont look at numbers- i go off of what my eyes tell me. sure, it helps- but when i can destroy a probe in 2 seconds as opposed to 1.5 seconds, does that half of a second really make much of a difference? in the long run, sure it helps with DPS- but so do weapons batteries.
and, as ive said before, its a personal preference of mine. i use ST because for my build it works better for me than does TSS. and because i use ST, im not going to run 2 copies of TT. too many cooldowns in the way. on top of that, my build is geared towards doing 1 thing, and doing that 1 thing extremely well- killing 1 single target at a time. with BO 3/1, CRF 2/1, APB 1 and APO 3 along with THY 1 and, when its up, TT1, i can kill just about anything before i need to worry about my shields and such. you can argue tactics with my on STF as much as you want and how in your eyes im probably doing it all wrong, but in all honesty, thats your opinion. within my fleet premades and in the pugs i do, no one else *****es that im not using the "perfect build" because i get it done, and i get it done extremely well. and in the end, thats all that matters.
edit: just looked at numbers for TSS 2/ST 2. TSS 2 with my normal aux power ( 41/25) i get 601/facing shield + 171/facing for 15 seconds. over the life (along with EPtS 2 up concurrently) equals 5052 to each shield facing- the problem is that before the 171 over 15 seconds is added it only gives 2487/facing once. ST 2 on the other hand, gives 4714/facing one time up front. the other difference is, obviously, the 11% reduction to shield damage for 15 seconds with TSS 2. added to the 24% reduction with EPtS 2, its a nice reduction in shield damage. my only question is it worth it in the long run- whats to say that over those 15 seconds im supposed to get more shield strength from TSS 2 i dont get pounded down by a cube/sphere? that then renders the restore and damage reduction over time to be a moot point because youll be dead. for me, at least, id rather take the huge chunk of shield repair up front with a slightly smaller damage reduction in order to survive long enough to bug out and get fully repaired.
But considering how infrequently torpedoes fire, and how frequently the cannons are firing, even a small gain is worth it for the cannons.
50 crew, or 0 crew, your hull repair rate is negligible, and really if you are losing hull, toss yourself a HE.
Biofunction = the worse console for defiant. Period.
I'm in this field as well. Maybe I'm missing something about crew, but many people only care about the hull regen rate of the system. In a defiant, in a group situation, your hull repair should be coming /mainly/ from someone else. If you're really relying on that repair from your crew then your in much deeper trouble then bio is going to help you, imho.
I've never gotten a heal from a teammate ever in an elite STF. And there is a difference without bio-function monitor and without especially in a Defiant. With i never lose a single crew member and my hull is more robust. Without i can drop to almost no crew and my hull is more squishy. That's just how it feels when i'm playing.
Worst console for a defiant, period. Don't proliferate the idea further please.
If you want a DPS setup, Throw some monotanium alloy in your eng slots (which, actually WILL make your hull more "robust"), put your assimilate console + cloak in your sci slots, and 4x your weapon type in tac consoles.
I think your grossly over estimating the value of crew.
Other than the fact that the game specifically states that crew indirectly help hull repair rate, not really. That's just my observation with doing the same Elite STFs a hundred times with the console and without the console.
A couple nights ago, I switched out my cannons, and I now run the following:
Advanced Escort (Prometheus class)
Fore:
1x Dual Heavy Cannons, 1x Dual Beam Bank, 1x Beam Array, 1x Quantum Torpedo
Aft:
2x Beam Arrays, 1x Quantum Torpedo
In my Engineering slots, I use an armor plating, that gives +24 to Phaser, Disruptor, Plasma, and Tetryon (I think that's the fourth), and a +35% Shield Capacity.
My Science slots, the Multi-Vector console, the Assimilated console, and the one with +18 Emitters (For my shield heals).
Tac Consoles: 2x Phaser damage, 2x Quantum damage.
For my Boff slots, I keep High yield 1 and 3, Torpedo Spread 1, Beam Overload 2, Rapid Fire 2 (I'll edit when I see my other skills, I can't remember at the moment).
Using the older cannon build, I would sit out at 7 - 8 km, and just pound at the enemies. I was doing about 300 damage per hit (Average, of course).
Using this build, I get up close and personal, and I am averaging about 700 - 1000 damage per hit. Major increase. I like this build a lot.
With that All-beam build, I saw between 1500-2000 per hit, with all 7 beams.
With the dual heavies and full cannon build, its even higher with huge criticals from the dual heavies.
Wow. Those are some really screwed up firing arcs...
The fore Quantum + DBB and Cannon would indicate that you should be facing your target, but there are no turrets in the back, so that's out. And the 3 beam arrays would indicate a broadsides approach, but then the DBB and quantums are useless. And having both a fore and aft torp means that one of them is pretty much always useless. And then there is the issue of mixing cannons and beams, making your BO skills sub-optimal.
Really, I'm not sure that I could some up with a worse weapon configuration for an escort if I was purposefully trying to do so.
It works for me, far more damage than I was doing with just cannons, and I can be in the fight, moving around, and shooting my target, no matter which direction I am facing.
That was my gut feeling, but thanks for the input.
Has anyone discovered the sweet spots, so to speak, for building around diminishing returns?
just one question. if you were using a cannon build. why would you be sitting at 7k-8k. cannons are their most effective when at 4k and closer, maybe even 5k. reason why beams are used at long range is cause the damage doesnt drop off as much as cannons do the further away from the target you are
Because If I got in closer, I drew aggro and died. And when they moved, I'd have to move, and my cannons would be out of arc.
But if that was your problem wouldn't it be more logical to take a look at your defense instead of reducing your potential damage output and splitting it over non-overlapping firing arcs? It's usually not a problem to keep NPC ships in your front 45 with an escort.