How to spec your Escort for DPS in STF's

xgorillapx

Input and corrective criticism is welcome. Please keep in mind, I gain nothing from this. I simply spent a good amount of time to write up what I've learned and experienced to help players who are not as experienced. When commenting, please show some maturity, common courtesy and human decency. While subject line may state DPS, it is not being used in the strict sense of the term using statistical data to the nearest decimal. It is a good way to get the most overall damage out of your escort.

After 3 years of playing as a tac in an escort, trying every energy weapon type, torpedo type, and multiple builds, the following is what I've learned. Please don't follow-up with "well in PvP...". There are always variables in PvP and that is not what this setup is for. This is geared towards STF's. This specific build is also for a patrol escort and Armitage Heavy Escort Carrier. (Patrol Escort builds can be adapter to Jem'Hadar bug ships as well, as their boff layouts are identical) Other builds will be slightly different, but mostly the same. I understand everyone has their own opinions, please feel free to express them, but also be mindful that some things in this game haven't been scientifically proven, just theorized about.

Before I start this guide, I will show you how I have setup my skill tree. I'm sure some people will nit-pick at it, as everyone's is slightly different, but this is a guide as to what I've found works. This also gives you a guide as to what you should and should not put points into as an escort. I will only give pointers on 2 points, as the rest is preference for the most part... Click the link below to see a recommended setup for the patrol escort. (which can be adapted to other escorts) The skill points setup is included.

http://www.stoacademy.com/tools/skillplanner/index.php?build=GorillaPPatrolEscort_2596

A couple pointers in regards to the skill tree...

Tac's should put VERY little points into Science. The only skills worth putting points into in this area is "Starship Shield Emitters" and "Starship Shield Systems". These give significant bonuses to shields. "Intertial Dampeners" and "Power Insulators" have useful bonuses, but not nearly to the extent of the first two mentioned. I wouldn't recommend putting more than 3 points into either of these.

Make sure to look at how the points put into an ability effect the bonus. The first 3 points you put into a skill, give you +15 each, second 3 give you +10 each, and the last 3 give you +5 each. In some cases, you are best off only putting 3 or 6 points into a skill, as rather than putting an additional +15 (5x3) into a skill with 3 points, you could put +45 into another, by selecting the first 3 points in that skill. This is shown when adding points, so you can see.

I will give you a full breakdown on this. Starting with energy types...

Energy Weapon Type

Weapons - PvP is always debatable, but the only weapon types that are effective in STF's are Antiproton, Plasma and Disruptor. All weapons are created equal and only differ in their respective proc. The phaser, tetryon and polaron procs are much less useful in STF's.

The AntiProton weapon type has been the energy weapon type of choice for escorts for some time now. The Ancient Obelisk Technology Set bonus gives +10% AntiProton damage. The 2-piece set also doesn't interfere with any other sets as it includes the 360 beam array and warp core.

The Anti-Borg weapons are very useful as they have a [Borg] modifier that gives a 7.5% chance to do 1000 radiation damage to borg NPC's.

Phaser - shuts down random subsystems, but against the Borg, it only seems to last for 1 second, so by the time you realize it, it's done. Not long enough to take advantage of it.

Tetryon - Tetryon's are great for other PvE. They strip shields, but most of the inanimate objects you are trying to destroy in STF's, don't have shields, so the proc is useless. Also, once you do take down a ships shields (typically fairly quickly in STF's), then what? No more proc.

Polaron - Some people say they're useful in PvP, but in STF's they're nearly useless. Polaron's drain power levels from subsystems, but most objects in STF's don't have subsystems to drain. While the ships you come across do have subsystems to drain, there's no indicator of what it's draining, and to what extent. I have never noticed anything to indicate that it was ever successful.

AntiProton - Give bonus critical damage. This works on everything and increases damage.

Plasma - Damage over time, plasma fire. This works on everything and increases damage.

Disruptor - Damage DeBuff. This reduces the targets damage resistance by 10%.

Elachi Crescent - 2.5% chance to ignore 100% of a target's shields, and 50% of target's damage resistance (maximum once per 5 seconds).

Romulan Plasma - Damage Debuff and Plasma Fire DoT. (Combines both Plasma and Disruptor procs)

Piercing Tetryon - to target: 2.5% Chance for 50% of attack to ignore enemy shields

Caustic Plasma - Damage over time, plasma fire (Burn does more damage than regular plasma, but only burns half as long)

Nanite Disruptors - Nanite Disruptors have a 2.5% chance to cause -5 all Damage Resistance and increase Shield Bleedthrough by 2% for 15 sec

Refracting Tetryon - Refracting Tetryon weapons have a 2.5% chance to cause extra damage shields, as well as a 2.5% chance to do additional damage to the next nearest enemy ship.

Voth AntiProton - Voth Antiproton Weapons have a 25% Change on Critical Hit to reduce an enemy's Damage Output by 9.1% for 10 seconds.

All tactical escorts should be using quantum torpedoes. This isn't really up for debate, especially if you are using torp spread, which I would recommend. There is one exception to this. If you are using the Romulan Hyper-Plasma torpedo or Omega Torpedo. These should be used once available, especially given the set bonuses they provide.

Ship Warp Cores

Below is some basic information on warp cores.

Field stability - defensive- bonus to shields

Overcharged - Science - Bonus to Auxiliary

Hyper Injection - Bonus to engines

1st bonus
Rep - Subsystem repair bonus
EPS - EPS bonus
Coi - Drive coil bonus
Eff - Warp Core efficient bonus
SEP - Starship Engine Performance bonus
BAT - Batteries bonus

2nd bonus [X->Y]
Gives percentage of power from subsystem X to subsystem Y.
For example [W->A] would give 7.5% of your weapons power to Auxiliary. This would be useful for a DPS Sci character.

3rd bonus (on very rare warp cores)
CAP (ECAP, ACAP, WCAP, SCAP)
Gives a battery capacitor.
This will restart an offline subsystem and give +15 power to that subsystem for 10 sec.
For example. [ECAP], when activated will bring online engines if they are offline and give them a 10sec power bonus of +15.

4th Bonus (sector space bonuses)
Trans, SSS, SST, SSR,

Trans - 50% cooldown on Transwarp.
SSS - 0.1+ bonus slipstream bonus.
SST - 20% slipstream turnrate bonus.
SSR - 100% slipstream cooldown reduction.

For an escort, you would be looking for a "Field Stabilizing" warp core for the shield bonus. (engines and aux are less useful)
The ideal setup would be
Field Stabilizing Warp Core [Eff][W->S][WCap or SCap][insert subspace preference]

Weapons

The Dual-Cannon vs. Dual Heavy Cannon idea has been pretty heavily debated thus far. I finally found some evidence of one being better than the other. It appears that everything including proc rates are the same between DC's and DHC's. What it comes down to, is that it appears the +10% CrtD bonus to DHC's outweighs their additional +20% power drain. See link below.

http://deepspacealliance.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/game-mechanics-revealed-dual-cannons-vs.html

Front - 3x DHC's. (DHC's drain more power but have a CritD bonus that more than compensates.)
1x Quantum Torpedo

Rear - 3x Turrets (You can add a kinetic cutting beam OR (not and) the Obelisk 360 beam array. The beam array should only be used if it is required to get the 2-pc bonus to Antiproton damage and you are using Antiproton weapons.)

Please keep in mind that DHC's do only SLIGHTLY more damage than DC's and this is because the CrtD bonus slightly outweighs the 20% power drain. So if you are leveling up, just trying something out or are low on energy credits, going with DC's will not make a noticeable difference. However the 10% CrtD bonus can make a bit of a difference for those with high CrtH chances.
There are multiple myths and people who believe (DHC's iz 10X better than DC's becuz DHC's iz moar! DC's Suck!). Unfortunately the vast majority of people who have not educated themselves on the topic and have never used DC's will swear by this.
Some will say that DC's drain 2x as much power because they fire 2x as much. This is not true.
Some will say that DC's give you a 2x higher proc rate because they fire 2x as much. This is not true.
Some will say that DC's will throw off your firing cycles due to the cannon global cooldown. (This was an old bug that was patched)

The energy drain as well as the proc rate is based on firing cycle. While the DC fires 2x more per cycle, it doesn't give it any advantage or disadvantage. It is essentially cosmetic.

I will explain this, as there is there is an "inexperienced population" who insists on putting a beam array in the rear, "so I can do more damage when I turn", or to a lesser extent, a dual beam bank in front. Fine for non-escorts, but not for Tac's in an escort.

Escorts are so agile; they should almost always be facing the enemy. Especially in STF's, most of the time, you should be nearly stationary, squared-up to the target and blasting at it. This requires little to no turning. For the times you may be in the occasional dogfight, learn to use reverse properly, and you will have to turn very rarely.

TURRETS ARE THE ONLY WEAPON THAT YOU CAN MOUNT IN THE REAR THAT WILL FIRE FORWARD. ANY OTHER WEAPON WILL BE GETTING YOU NO DAMAGE WHILE YOU'RE FACING FORWARD, AS YOU SHOULD BE 90% OF THE TIME. (There are now two exceptions. Those being the Kinetic Cutting Beam and the 360 AntiProton Beam Array form the Obelisk set.) Rapid fire and scatter volley effect turrets as well as cannons, so they can contribute greatly to your overall damage. Also, since these are constantly firing, they are always giving you a chance for a proc.

There are positives and negatives to using the cutting beam and AntyiProton 360 beam. (pros and cons below)
+ This is a 360 degree kinetic damage weapon that will do increased hull damage vs an energy weapon.
+ This is part of a set and will contibute towards a useful bonus.
- This is not a cannon and does not benefit from your rapid fire or scatter volley attacks (or any weapons modifier for that matter as it is not effected by beam bonuses either such as fire at will or target subsystems.)
(Following 2 only apply to Kinetic Cutting Beam)
- This is a kinetic weapon and does not have any known proc as an energy weapon would
- Being a kinetic weapon, it does little damage to shields.

So there are two situations in which this weapon loses extreme value.
1 - If you don't have any other pieces of the set.(you receive no bonuses from the item)
2 - You rely heavily on cannons and their modifiers such as rapid fire and scatter volley. (this benefits from neither)
3 - The AntiProton 360 beam is really only useful if you're using it for the 2-piece bonus and are using antiproton weapons.


This specific setup is for a patrol escort (formerly known as the fleet escort), recommended unless you have an armitage, Jem Attack Ship, or Andorian Escort. Some others prefer to give up some survivability for some added weapon power and maneuverability in the Defiant Retrofit)

Patrol Escort

Option 1 for simple damage throwing...
Cmdr Tac - Tactical Team I, Attack Pattern Beta I, Torpedo Spread III, Scatter Volley III
Lt. Cmdr Tac - High Yield I, Attack Pattern Delta, Rapid Fire II
Lt. Engineer - Engineering Team I, Reverse Shield Polarity I
Ensign Engineer - Emergency Power to Shields I
Lt. Science - Science Team I, Hazard Emitters II

Option II for higher DPS as a group (requires constant activating of Attack Patterns as they become available. Everyone benefits from the damage debuff on the target from Attack Pattern Beta.)

Cmdr Tac - Tactical Team I, Attack Pattern Beta I, Torpedo Spread III, Attack Pattern Beta III
Lt. Cmdr Tac - High Yield I, Rapid Fire I, Scatter Volley II
Lt. Engineer - Engineering Team I, Reverse Shield Polarity I
Ensign Engineer - Emergency Power to Shields I
Lt. Science - Science Team I, Hazard Emitters II

Heavy Escort Carrier - Armitage

Cmdr Tac - Tactical Team I, Attack Pattern Beta I, Torpedo Spread III, Scatter Volley III
Lt. Tac - High Yield I, Rapid Fire I
Ens. Tac - Torp Spread I (Tac Team I if you don't have Conn Officer w/ Tac Team Cooldown/Buff)
Lt. Cmdr Engineer - Emergency Power to Shields I, Engineering Team II, Reverse Shield Polarity II
Lt. Science - Polarize Hull I, Hazard Emitters II


Armitage - Attack Pattern Setup
Cmdr Tac - Tactical Team I, Scatter Volley I, Torpedo Spread III, Attack Pattern Beta III
Lt. Tac - High Yield I, Rapid Fire I
Ens. Tac - Torp Spread I (Tac Team I if you don't have Conn Officer w/ Tac Team Cooldown/Buff)
Lt. Cmdr Engineer - Emergency Power to Shields I, Engineering Team II, Reverse Shield Polarity II
Lt. Science - Polarize Hull I, Hazard Emitters II


A few of these skills are absolute musts for STF's. Tac Team and Hazard Emitters have multiple purposes.

Tactical Team I - This removes the Borg beam-ins that put all of your abilities on cool down and kill your crew. (when you screen flashes red). This also balances your shields to where you are taking damage, and gives you a damage buff.

Polarize Hull - This will free you from the deadly Borg tractor beam as well as give a defense buff.

Hazard Emitters - This puts out plasma fire on your hull, this stops the shield neutralizer (when your ship pulses yellow, and your shields go down to nothing), this gives a large hull heal over time. This hull heal can also be given to other teammates, including the "Kang".

Consoles. There is a little bit of preference here, but after 2 years, I think I finally got this down... Obviously you want the highest level of each console... Two things that are a must for STF's are the Electroceramic Hull Plating and Neutronium Alloy Hull Plating. (I previously preferred Electroceramic and Monotanium for an equal defense against plasma and kinetic damage, but I've noticed the borg typically don't do as much kinetic damage as they do plasma damage. This in turn, gives 3/4 plasma defense and 1/4 Kinetic defense. (When going against photon or quantum torpedoes, it may be best to go with heavier kinetic damage. Perhaps 2 neutronium consoles.)

Rare mk XI Electroceramic Hull Plating gives +35 Plasma damage resistance.

Rare mk XI Monotanium Hull Armor - +35 Kinetic damage resistance.

Rare mk XI Neutronium Alloy - +17.5 Kinetic damage resistance & +17.5 All Energy damage resistance.

The only two types of damage you will receive in STF's (space and ground!) are plasma and kinetic. Kinetic is from grenades and torpedoes. Plasma is from their energy weapons. You don't need any other armor; you don't need something that gives s small bonus to 4 types of energy weapons. You only need those two consoles. (or like I said, 2x Neutronium consoles for the same bonuses, but they tend to be more expensive). If you have access to the fleet neutronium consoles (With bonuses to HullHP or RCS, then go with those. I recommend HullHP unless you're in a dreadnought/slow moving ship, then RCS would come in handy.

consoles

Tac Consoles - 3x Energy Type Consoles, (1x torpedo type console for Torp Spread III).
i.e. 3x Antiproton mag regulators, 1x Zero Point Quantum Chamber

Engineer Consoles - Monotanium Hull Armor, Electroceramic Hull Plating, (3rd optional. Put here if you have a unique console. i.e. Theta radiation console. Possible Neutronium Hull plating, field emitter, SIF generator, something to help shields)

Science consoles- The Shield Refrequencer consoles are available easily from doing some of the Dyson reputation system. The most valuable are going to be the ShHP and ShReg which boosts shield cap/shield regen. This goes alongside the shield refrequencer ability as well as giving a bonus to your exotic particle damage. This will benefit Sci characters more, but some people like to run an escort with a Lt Cmdr Sci slot for some sciencey nastiness, like the Temporal Destroyer.
Field Generator, Borg Universal Console
Dyson Shield Refrequencer

Devices - Red Matter capacitor, Subspace Field Modulator (or consumable torpedo platform, Peregrine fighters, or scorpion fighters

Bridge Officers.

There are some bridge officer traits that give a bonus to your ship. These are..."Efficient".
"Leadership".
"Pirate".
"Subterfuge".
Space Warfare Specialist
Romulan Operative
Infiltrator
Basic Space Warfare Specialist

The "efficient" ability can be found on the Borg Engineer, or from some Saurians and Letheans. On the exchange, these Boffs can be VERY pricy. However do keep these traits in nid when you are able to select your cross-faction bridge officers.

The "leadership" trait is available on all human bridge officers.

The "Pirate" trait is available on all Nausicaan bridge officers.

The Subterfuge, Space Warfare Specialist, Romulan Operative and Infiltrator traits are available on Reman and Romulan Bridge Officers. Keep a lookout for these abilities.

The "Pirate" trait, gives a +1.5% damage bonus and +150 Stealth bonus in space. (This was originally a ground trait until the introduction of Legacy of Romulus)

The EFFICIENT trait, gives a bonus to your ships power when at lower levels.

The LEADERSHIP trait, gives a bonus to your ship hull and subsystem repair rate.

The "Subterfuge" trait, gives a bonus to your stealth, defense and de-cloaking damage.

The Space Warfare Specialist trait, gives a bonus to Starship Maneuvers, Starship Targeting Systems,
Starship Energy Weapon Specialization, Projectile Weapon Specialization

The Romulan Operative trait, gives a bonus to Critical Chance, Critical Severity, Power Recharge Speed and Cloaking Cooldown

The Infiltrator trait, gives a bonus to Defense, De-Cloak Ambush damage and Stealth Strength while cloaked.

The Basic Space Warfare Specialist trait has multiple bonuses.

When creating a new character, you can select the ability "Efficient Captain" if you decide to create an alien. This has the same effect as 2x efficient Boffs.
SHIP SET
Fed Characters should use the MACO set. The Omega Force set may give SLIGHTLY more DPS, but you sacrifice considerable survivability. Klingon characters should use the "Honor Guard" set. The Honor Guard appears to be the best available in the game. I recommend the Engines and shields, then use a good positron deflector dish. (The "Honor Guard" deflector seems to be a bit more science oriented.)

At some point, everyone starts doing STF's and doesn't have any STF gear because their reputation is not high enough.

While working towards that, you should use an Aegis set. If you can't get an AEGIS set purchased or crafted, you may be able to use the Jem'Hadar ship set, as it is a good set. You may even be better off with regular gear, if done properly. This is explained below...


Escorts should use a...

"positron" deflector as they give large bonuses to defenses. Specifically Shield, shield healing and hull strength. If possible, get the highest level positron deflector dish you can get, with an extra bonus to "shield emitters, shield systems, and structural integrity. These improve your shield cap, shield regen rate, and hull strength.
(You will see these bonuses if you go into orbit (not sector space) and take off your deflector dish then put on a Positron deflector dish with bonuses to [SIF] and [SHDs]. You will see a noticeable increase in hull hitpoints and shield capacity.
Note: As of 4/12/13 the "stl" modifier is giving a large bonus to shield systems. It is worth using for the time being.

Combat Engines. The Jem'Hadar and Breen sets both have excellent combat engines. The Efficient Impulse Engines are useful as well. Combat engines are efficient at lower energy levels. Escorts should have their power levels high in weapons and shields, not engines and auxiliary, this means you should be using combat engines.

Shields - You will want a shield, covariant or possibly resilient.
You will want something with [pla] defense bonus and cap or regen bonuses. Something like
Covariant Shield [CAP]x2 [pla] or [pla] regx2
Resilient shield [CAP] [pla] [reg]

Duty Officers

Duty Officers can be EXTREMELY useful to you. Obviously, the more rare the doff, the higher the skill. doffs. I am only going into space skills in this thread...

Projectile Officer - Chance to reduce cool down on torpedos.

Energy Weapon Officer (reinforcement pack) - Chance to reduce cooldown on Repid Fire and Scatter Volley.
Energy Weapon Officer (special) - 3.75% chance: +20 shield power for 10 sec. when firing energy weapons.

Nurse (reinforcement pack) - Increase crew heal rate by 100%+ when below 75% crew.

Conn Officer - Reduced cooldown on Tactical Team/ bonus to attack patterns.
Conn Officer - Reeuced cooldown on Attack patterns (Beta, Delta and Omega)


Space Warfare Specialist - +10% damage to borg (or tholians/undine based on the type you get)

Maintenance Engineer - Reduced cooldown on Engineering Team
Maintenance Engineer 2 - Improves shield and hull healing abilities upon use of Emergency Power to Aux.

Development Lab Scientist - Reduced cooldown for Science Team

Space Warfare Specialist - (Increase damage by 10% to (insert enemy faction here)

Obviously this build is for a Patrol Escort (Used to be called Fleet escort), but any other escort build should be similar. I have just given you the knowledge that took me 2 years to acquire. If you want to be able to do major damage and have some survivability, take this information and apply it.

Below are two builds for the Patrol Escort (can be adapter to other escorts as well).

This first build is for someone who is a veteran and has been around for a couple years, has their MACO gear and has started the reputation assignments.

Patrol Escort - Advanced Setup


This second build is for people who are somewhat new and are just starting STF's and don't have all of the reputation bonuses and gear from it. This is for someone who is just getting to where they can start STF's. This will keep you alive and allow you to do STF's without getting obliterated until you can get your assimilated or MACO gear. All items can be had from missions, or fairly inexpensively from the exchange.

Patrol Escort - Beginner Setup
T'Varo Light Warbird Retrofit - Beginner Setup

The following builds are builds that I've created to share for other people to check out.

Chel'Grett Tac STF Build
Defiant STF Build (Tactical Escort Retrofit)
Advanced Escort STF Buiid
Temporal Destroyer (Mobius) STF Build
Kumari Tactical Escort STF Build
Chimera Tactical Build

Tholian Orb Weaver Sci Build - Tac Oriented (Be sure to read build notes)

Tal Shiar Adapted Destroyer - Tac Oriented (Be sure to read build notes)

Jem'Hadar Dreadnought Beam Build STF - Tac Oriented (Be sure to read build notes)

Jem'Hadar Heavy Escort Carrier STF - Tac Oriented (Be sure to read build notes)
Jem'Hadar Attack Ship STF - Attack/longevity
Wells Class Science Vessel - Damage Oriented (Be sure to read notes)
Obelisk Carrier for advanced players
There are also a number of advanced/elite fleet items that are useful. I have added these at the end, as not everyone has access to them.

The Elite armor has a Nanite Health Monitor built in that will help to heal the user when their health gets low (like the Nanite Health Monitor skill).
The Elite shields have a Adapt bonus that helps to adapt to certain energy types.

The Embassy consoles with -Th (Negative Threat Generation) and +Pla (Bonus plasma damage are huge for people who are not using plasma weapons (recommended for Disruptor/Elachi Disruptor/AntiProton/Voth AntiProton). These will give the plasma proc to these weapons as well as their typical console ability. The negative threat generation is important for escorts as it helps to reduce being targeted while doing large amounts of damage

The Romulan Bridge Officers are useful for their Subterfuge bonus.

The Neutronium Consoles with bonus hull regeneration are nice to have. The Mk XI's give +20 resistance against all energy types and all kinetic damage as well as bonus hull regen.

There are also consoles that give bonus CrtD or CrtH along with damage bonuses (i.e. Antiproton, quantum, cannons, torps, etc.)

quiscustodiet

Since you claim authority status, let's examine the claims:

xgorillapx wrote: »

Weapons - PvP is always debateable, but the only weapon types that are effective in STF's are AntiProton, Plasma and Disruptor. All weapons are created equal except the procs. The phaser, tetryon and polaron procs are of little to no use in STF's.

Disruptor - Damage DeBuff. This reduces the targets damage resistance by 10%. While this might not seem too impressive on it's own, it can stack. It also works on everything.

- Energy types don't matter that much.
- That said, Disruptors and Antiproton are indeed the usually recommended types.
- -10% damage resistance is impressive on its own.
- To my knowledge, no, it doesn't stack. If it did, I'd re-switch from Antiprotons to Disruptors in a heartbeat because, once again, -10% damage resistance is damn impressive.

All tactical escorts should be using quantum torpedos. This isn't really up for debate, especially if you are using torp spread, which you should be.

You can use them if you want, but personally I won't, because both maths and parses show Torpedoes (of any kind) to lessen performance on Escorts.
Even if they didn't, Photons would be preferable.

Front - 3x dual and/or dual-heavy cannons. (DPS on these is same - personal preference)

It's not a personal preference: DHCs have higher Crit Severity (native +10%), DCs have lower Energy Drain... and get double the contribution [Borg] procs.
Quick maths seem to actually favour DCs in STFs, because of the [Borg] procs, even in the first, energy-drain-free slot.
That said, I still use DHCs personally, I'm reluctant to switch without parsed evidence to confirm my quick maths.

This specific setup is for a fleet escort. (recommended unless you have an armitage)

I certainly wouldn't recommend picking the Hermes over the Prometheus post-Field Gen update.

The only two types of damage you will receive in STF's (space and ground!) are plasma and kinetic.

Not exactly accurate. Tac Cubes have an Antiproton beam as well.
The Antiproton damage is nominal compared to the Plasma/Kinetic, though.

Tac Consoles - 3x Energy Type Consoles, 1x torpedo type console.
i.e. 3x Antiproton mag regulators, 1x Zero Point Quantum Chamber

Not very efficient to use a Console slot to boost a single Weapon out of 7, especially when said Weapon is pretty weak.

It really makes no logical sense to mix them up: either your Torpedo Launcher outperforms your 3 DHCs+3 Turrets and you should use 4 Quantum Chambers or it doesn't and you should use 4 Induction Coils/Mag Regulators/Phaser Relays/Pulse Generators/iforgotthenameofthepolaronone.

Science consoles- Field Generator, Borg Universal Console

2 Field Gens and the Borg Module in Eng will give more survivability.

Devices - Red Matter capacitor, Subspace Field Modulator (or torpedo platform)

The Red Matter Capacitor is hardly availlable to newbies...

There are only two bridge officer traits that give a bonus to your ship at all. These are "Efficient" and "Leadership".

The "efficient" ability can be found on the Borg Engineer, or from some Saurians and Letheans. On the exchange, these Boffs can be VERY pricy.

The "leadership" trait is available on all human bridge officers.

True in theory. In practice, Leadership doesn't work (bugged).

"positron" deflector as they give large bonuses to defenses. i.e. shields and hull. If possible, get the highest level positron deflector dish you can get, with an extra bonus to "shield emitters, shield systems, and structural integrity. These improve your shield strength, regen rate, and hull strength.

Correct.

Combat Engines. The Jem'Hadar and Breen sets both have excellent combat engines. Combat engines are effficient at lower energy levels. Escorts should have their power levels high in weapons and shields, not engines and auxiliary, this means you should be using combat engines.

In theory. In practice:

1. Hyper-Impulse>Impulse>Combat-Impulse, on pretty much any Ship.
The cut-off point at which Hyper-Impulse are best is very low: 48 Engine Power, and of course any time you switch profiles or use Full Impulse, the Hyper vastly outperform the rest. So, unless you haven't specced at all into Engines (in which case you'll likely crawl over the map while the rest of the team clears it), Hyper are best.
Sadly, there are only 2 Set Hypers: Omega and Aegis.

2. Engines are quite frankly the dump slot: you use whatever Engines you need to achieve the Set effect you want as the differences are much less pronounced here than in the Shields or Deflector slots.

Shields - You will want a shield, covariant or possibly resilient. The Jem'Hadar shield may be a good way to go as it has a 10% defense bonus to allw eapon types, kinetic resistance, and crew disable resistance. If you don't have this, You will want something with [pla] defense bonus and cap or regen. Something like
MK XI Covariant Shield [CAP]x2 [pla]

The Shields in bold will outperfom the Jem Shields, the only reason to use any Jem piece on a 'scort is the +7.6% Polaron Damage.

Projectile Officer 2x - Chance to reduce cooldown on torpedos.

Once again, you're devoting quite a lot of ressources to try to make a poor Weapon viable: 3 BOFF abilities, 1 Console, 2 DOFFs and presumably a lot of Skill Points as well.
Huge opportunity cost.

Energy Weapon Officer 2x(reinforcement pack doff) - Cooldown for cannon special fire abilities such as rapid fire and scatter volley.

Won't really help as they don't go lower than the System cooldown.

Medic (reinforcement pack doff) - Increase crew heal rate by 100%+ when below 75% crew.

Crew barely matters.


Actually useful DOFFs:
- Shield Distribution something. Being able to regenerate Shields with BFI greatly extends your survivability when your Recasts are down.
- Damage Control Engineers. You're running a single copy of EPtS, that's viable but only with Damage Control Engineers.
- Warp Core Engineer. Helps with survivability and movement speed.
- Conn Officer (TT variant). You're running a single copy of Tac Team, once again that's viable but a Conn Officer is highly recommended in that case.

marctraiderz

Simple fact, and counts for both PVP and STF:

4x DHC, 3x Turret,

2x Rapid fire.

Voila. The base of a highest DPS escort, both in PVP and PVE(STF)

What more is there to say?

quiscustodiet

Yeah, guess there was a more concise way to put it.

But are you sure about the 4 DHCs outperforming 4 DCs in STFs? I'm really not sure either way, so anything you can deliver would be nice.

clintsat

Listen to MT. 4x DHC and 3x Turrets with the your rapid fires will make you a beast.

xgorillapx

As I stated before, I will say the dual vs dual heavy cannons personal preference, until I see any data showing otherwise.
Everyone will have their opinions. All I could do is write up a detailed guide as to what I have found works, and learned over time. While some people may pick things apart due to heresay and personal preference, this will help a vast majority of new players in escorts. Especially those who are struggling with STF's.

mandrake45

There's some stuff in the OP I don't agree with but then I've never specced escorts for absolute DPS in STFs.

I have one pol boat with a dbb and tss:3. This does a pretty good job of keeping shields down on big nasties. I also pack APB:3 with APO:1 for tractors rather than polarize. It's a sciscort, DPS is of course nothing like a tacscort's DPS but it's enjoyable to fly, which is ultimately what's important.

As to MT's comment about 4HDCs, I believe it is indeed the case that against normal targets, they'll give the highest overall DPS. STFs of course have some fairly hefty unshielded targets along with shielded targets with massive hull figures (Gates and Tac Cubes I'm looking at you). Given that, I'm experimenting with a twin torp, two proj officer build as well.

As to actual figures re DHCs and DCs, I've logged myself running both and DHCs do indeed come out slighly ahead, even with the [borg] proc. Given that I was testing pols and dis, neither of which proc for extra damage like plas does, that may not hold true for plas cannons.

odyssey47

xgorillapx wrote: »

As I stated before, I will say the dual vs dual heavy cannons personal preference, until I see any data showing otherwise.
Everyone will have their opinions. All I could do is write up a detailed guide as to what I have found works, and learned over time. While some people may pick things apart due to heresay and personal preference, this will help a vast majority of new players in escorts. Especially those who are struggling with STF's.

There is plenty of math on the forums that shows DHC as being superior. Also, what works in PVP will be overkill in PVE. No sense in running two builds. Having said that, I think scatter volley is more useful in PVE, with rapid fire being more useful in PVP. If you're on guard duty in Cure or probe duty in KA, you can do your job twice as fast with CSV vs CRF.

maelwy5

Agreed. 4x DHC (well, actually 2x DHC, and 2x DC due to the activation time glitches) is best for shooting at shields. There's no argument possible there really, unless you want to sacrifice Sustained damage for Spike Damage via taking a DBB for Beam Overload.

However the same is not the case for shooting at hull, and particularly the hull of Borg NPCs. You're gimping your achievable sustained DPS by not having any Kinetic damage on STFs , where the majority of what you'll be shooting at will be unshielded. This is especially true for Borg NPCs since the [Borg] proc has a 100% activation chance on torp shots.

Now you can argue that damage tweaking for PvE is "overkill", and I'd agree with you, but I find a good deal of fun in achieving maximum overkill...

For an Escort, three Turrets in the rear are a given, as are at least two DHCs in the front.

The problem comes with the next two fore slots - for shield damage, the optimum setup is 2x DCs (soon to be 1x DC and 1x Quad Cannon, given the buffs currently on Tribble). For Hull damage, the optimum setup is 2x Photons or 2x Quantums, depending on your DOFF setup and whether you want to have higher sustained damage (Photons are usually better over time) or burst damage (Quantums are always better when combined with abilities like Torp Spread). If you have room for up to 2 [Purple] Projectile Weapon DOFFs, Photons are slightly better DPS over time than Quantums. If you have room for 3 or more Projectile DOFFs, Photons start to hit the global cooldown time of one-shot-every-2-seconds and Quantums begin to edge them out.

Whether or not you believe that it's worth carrying around a few spare Torpedo Launchers and DOFFs for PVE is another matter. Generally the only people who care about maximising damage to this level are PVPers, and most are fond of sticking with their PVP build for PVE.

Console slotting is theoretically actually quite simple. All you need to do is add up the raw base damage achievable by [2x DHCs and 3x Turrets], and the raw base damage acheivable by your Torpedo Launchers, then compare the two. In my own testing (base values of MkXII STF [Borg] equipment, before buffs/consoles/abilities): two Photon launchers plus two DOFFs can achieve 147 shots over 5 minutes, which comes out at an average of 1983.52 DPS. If you're using Quantums rather than Photons, their contribution will be slightly smaller on sustained DPS, but greater when using BOFF abilities. So it's a bit of a wash. Two DHCs and 3 Turrets under optimum energy cycling conditions comes out at 2071.7 DPS. (Note: Adding another two DHCs - even assuming no further drop in DPS due to activation lag or lower average weapons power - would only bring this up to 3217.9, compared to 4055.22 with the Torps). Since the DPS granted from (Torps) and (Energy) is basically equal in this example, the simple thing to do would be to split the Tac Consoles 50-50.

Math, for those that can stomach it, is below:

Photon hits per shot = 4048 (including 1000 [Borg])
Photons over 300 secs = 147
DPS achievable before Abilties = 595056/300 = 1983.52 DPS

Assume optimum firing sequence for 3x Turrets= -8 Power
Assume optimum firing sequence for 2x DHCs = -12 Power

= Assume sitting at ~105 power on average
This is a damage multiplier of 2.1 (1.0 being @ 50 Weapon Power)

Over the same time period, each DHC would do:
300*2.1*261=164430 (plus 25*300=7500 average additional [Borg] damage) = 171930 total or 573.1 DPS
And each Turret would do:
300*2.1*135=85050 (plus 25*300=7500 average additional [Borg] damage) = 92550 total or 308.5 DPS
So 3x Turrets and 2x DHC = 621510 total over 300 secs or 2071.7 DPS

Adding a 3rd and 4th DHC, even discounting the firing sequence glitches and extra weapon power drain negatively affecting things, would only bring you up to 3217.9 DPS total, compared to a total of 4055.22 DPS with the Torp Launchers. Basically, by taking the Torp Launchers instead of two DHCs you're looking at at least 26% extra damage.


In practice though, you'll probably be running Cannon Boosting BOFF abilities which would drive the contribution from your energy weapons up slightly. Example: +40% (additional base damage) for CRF2 or +20% (additional base damage) for CSV2... so I'd err a little more on the side of Energy Consoles, along the lines of one Torp Console for every two Energy. Naturally, you'll always always always want to save your Commander level Tac BOFF slot for Attack Pattern Beta III. It's the most effective offensive power it's possible for you to bring into an STF.

(And of course, all that said, the highest achievable damage output for a single player on STFs is possible not on an Escort, but on a Kar'fi Carrier...)

maelwy5

maelwy5 wrote: »

Adding a 3rd and 4th DHC, even discounting the firing sequence glitches and extra weapon power drain negatively affecting things, would only bring you up to 3217.9 DPS total, compared to a total of 4055.22 DPS with the Torp Launchers. Basically, by taking the Torp Launchers instead of two DHCs you're looking at at least 26% extra damage.

Forgot to add: the above ignores distance to target.

Sitting toe-to-toe with whatever you're shooting at is not always practical on STFs. Torpedos won't care if you're 0.001Km or 10Km away from your foe; they'll do the same DPS regardless. The same is most definitely NOT true for energy weapons in general, and cannons/turrets in particular, since there is a major dropoff in damage over distance.

If you're "sniping" at something dangerous like a gateway, or chasing halfway across the map after Probes/BoP, then Torpedos start to pull ahead even more in terms of their damage contribution (still assuming, of course, that you're mostly firing on hull rather than on shields... this is not always the case!!)

mrspidey2

I love how the abbreviated thread title is How to spec your escort for DP .

marctraiderz

quiscustodiet wrote: »

Yeah, guess there was a more concise way to put it.

But are you sure about the 4 DHCs outperforming 4 DCs in STFs? I'm really not sure either way, so anything you can deliver would be nice.

4x DHC versus 4x DC is theoretically not much difference (except for the +10 severity difference)

Practically however, DHC's perform much better. Why? Not sure. Perhaps because of the difference in Cycles? in Drain? The way the drain works on both?

Or does it have to do with the Arc and the time it requires for all the bolts to fire? Or does ith ave to do with the burst just being better and has more punch to it?

xgorillapx wrote: »

As I stated before, I will say the dual vs dual heavy cannons personal preference, until I see any data showing otherwise.
Everyone will have their opinions. All I could do is write up a detailed guide as to what I have found works, and learned over time. While some people may pick things apart due to heresay and personal preference, this will help a vast majority of new players in escorts. Especially those who are struggling with STF's.

I did some testing recently and it shows (Including crits) that DHC's did more damage overall. Logically. The diffeerence my log testing shows was about exactly that small +10 difference give or take a few.

But, that was against a stationary target. For me, it practical sense, the DHC's hit way and way harder.

DC on the other hand, should give you more benefit with Tet glider, my test also showed the drain increased by using them. Other things to consider is, weapon procs proc more with Dual cannons because of their 1 second shorter Cycle. But will it really be noticable in practical sense? nah.

Also even with the higher Tet glider drain, the DHC were way more beneficial. Perhaps it might have to do with that DC's need more data processing because of the more bolts/hitrecords? My internet connection is not of the best quality and the switch for me to Dual cannons really, really dropped my total damage and burst significantly. Perhaps even this has any effect on the DC vs DHC story? I have a pretty good feeling both this, and the fact that DHC's just hit harder per shot is why they push tru shields much faster and often take a chunk of hull with it (This was a small pvp talk here)

Oh well, perhaps in STF's it really doesnt matter much, I would stick with 4x DHC because in the worst case (IN STF's versus NPC's) the difference is unnoticeable. But I'm pretty sure it wouldnt be worse then DC's.

adampdresch

For STF's I use the defiant retrofit, with 4 forward Disruptor DHC's, along with 3 Disruptor turrets in the back

Never saw the need for torpedoes, due to the reload time

I'd rather dish out regular damage and use the canon rapid fire, rather than torpedo spread 3

I know some people say don't mix/match energy types, but I often wonder how well a mix of disruptor and anti proton would work.

Two Disruptor DHC's and two Antiproton DHC's in the front?
And then three anti proton turrets in the back.

quiscustodiet

Not sure where your numbers come from, Maelwys.
Here's my math, I'll list everything for transparency's sake.

1. Assumptions/basic premises:
- No BOFF abilities used. This complicate matters, because BOFF abilities impact weapons in different ways, but it'd be a long process to include them.
- No Tac Consoles. Obvious reasons.
- [Borg] works on all STF targets. I'm not sure this is the case, tbh.
- Power drain works in a cycle, regenerate fully between cycles.
- Critrate=~15%. Because that's around where I usually parse at.
- Crit Severity=+95%. Base+spec+Antiprotons. 105% for DHCs (obv). 75% for Torps (obv).
- Shields don't exist. It's a silly assumption, but we have to go with it to try to justify Torps.

2. [Borg] contribution.
DHC: 1000*7.5%/1.5=+50 DPS.
DC/Turret: 1000*7.5%/.75=+100 DPS.
Photon: 1000/6.5=~+153.85 DPS.

3. Base DPS (50 Power):
[Borg] DHC Mk XII: 589 DPV, firing every 1.5s=~393 DPS. (DC, same DPS)
[Borg] Photon Mk XII: 3744 DPV, firing every 6.5s=576 DPS.
[Borg] Turret Mk XII: 152 DPV, firing every .75s=203 DPS.

4. Critmod.
I'm just using this mod to shorten the lines below:
DHC: .15*2.05+.85=1.1575
DC/Turret: .15*1.95+.85=1.1425
Photon: .15*1.75+.85=1.1125

5. Actual DPS:
Build 1: 4 DHCs, 3 Turrets:
DHC1: Fires at 125 Power, DPS=393*125*.02*1.1575+50=~1188
DHC2: Fires at 125 Power, DPS=393*125*.02*1.1575+50=~1188
DHC3: 113 Power, DPS=393*113*.02*1.1575+50=~1078
DHC4: 101 Power, DPS=393*101*.02*1.1575+50=~969
Turret1: 89 Power, DPS=203*89*.02*1.1425+100=~513
Turret2: 81 Power, DPS=203*81*.02*1.1425+100=~476
Turret3: 73 Power, DPS= 203*73*.02*1.1425+100=~439
Total=1188+1188+1078+969+513+476+439=5851 DPS.

Build 2: 3 DHCs, 1 Photon, 3 Turrets:
DHC1: Fires at 125 Power, DPS=393*125*.02*1.1575+50=~1188
DHC2: Fires at 125 Power, DPS=393*125*.02*1.1575+50=~1188
DHC3: 113 Power, DPS=393*113*.02*1.1575+50=~1078
Photon: DPS=576*1.1125+153.85=~795
Turret1: 101 Power, DPS=203*101*.02*1.1425+100=~568
Turret2: 93 Power, DPS=203*93*.02*1.1425+100=~531
Turret3: 85 Power, DPS=203*85*.02*1.1425+100=~494
Total=1188+1188+1078+795+568+531+494=5842 DPS.

Even making a series of assumptions favouring Torps and fitting something more efficient than the usual Torp used (Quantum), we get worse results.
Admittedly, it's very close, but focused Tac Consoles and BOFFs will widen that gap pretty fast.
Spreading your Consoles and BOFFs mean you drastically lower their efficiency, so as long as 4 Torps/3 Mines builds aren't viable (and they very much aren't), Torps are overall not an efficient choice on Escorts.

And if math isn't sufficient, I also have comparative parse numbers in ISE:
With 3DHCs/1 Quantum, I averaged 4k DPS.
With 4 DHCs, I average 6.5k DPS.
Obviously the BOFF setup was altered to match, but everything else kept constant.
(I can upload them if necessary)

Marctraiderz wrote:

DC on the other hand, should give you more benefit with Tet glider, my test also showed the drain increased by using them. Other things to consider is, weapon procs proc more with Dual cannons because of their 1 second shorter Cycle. But will it really be noticable in practical sense? nah.

Weapon procs, no. [Borg] procs, yes. As listed above, they get DHCs average +50 DPS from [Borg] procs, DCs average twice that.
That's why, at least on paper, 4 DCs seem better.

If they aren't in practice, then I suppose it's due to some quirkiness in Weapon Drain.
But parses would be nice, general impressions don't quite cut it.

Edit: silly me, "DPS per second".

xgorillapx

I have a defiant retrofit myself, and it was a good ship. My only problem with it, is that I thought having a 3rd tactical ensign slot, as a big waste. I thought getting some additional survivability out of Emergency Power to Shields I or Engineering Team I with the Fleet Escort was much more useful. Granted, survivability isn't the escorts main priority, but in this comparison, nothing is really being sacrificed. Maybe a 2nd Tac Team I ability?

So far with this post, the only real debate has been the DHC's vs. DC's. I'm sure everyone could nit-pick something based on personal preference, but if that's the only thing to be pointed out, I think this is a very good thread. Something like this has been needed, especially with the influx of new players since F2P. Against my better judgement, I've edited the original post to include links to screenshots of my skill points. I'm sure everyone will pick that apart since everyone has their own preferences, but this will give people a good idea of what to and what not to put points into.

maelwy5

quiscustodiet wrote: »

Not sure where your numbers come from, Maelwys.

Base DPS readout of the weapon in your inventory tab, as viewed by a character on a ground map (NOT in space).

This cuts out any ship-based modifiers or buffs, including crit severity and crit chance, as well as any damage contribution from skillpoints. It's basically the rawest "base" value I can find. The rated value in the tooltip should translate across to 50 Weapons power without any outside buffs (as that's "100% standard DPS")

The values I listed were estimating damage output over a period of 300 seconds, which was the duration over which Cygone counted the # of torpedos achievable with various combinations of DOFFs back on the old boards.

The table in full is here

[Note that there is indeed an error in my numbers above. Apologies. (and the Borg Proc should also be a little higher for the Turrets, that'll teach me to reply to threads on my lunchbreak using calculations done in "Notepad"...) I was using the wrong # of shots value for 2 Launchers + 2 DOFFs of "147 torpedos over 5 minutes" when it should have been closer to ~120 shots for 2 Purple DOFFs. Technically you can indeed launch ~147/148 Photons in five minutes, which is where you'll basically start to hit a 'hard cap' due to reload times, but that requires either more than two DOFFs or more than two launchers. Assuming 120 shots instead of 147 translates to an average unbuffed value of 1619.2 Torpedo DPS rather than the 1983.52 DPS value I listed above... this is still substantially higher than the DHC value, but not quite as pronounced a difference...]

2. [Borg] contribution.
DHC: 1000*7.5%/1.5=+50 DPS.
DC/Turret: 1000*7.5%/.75=+100 DPS.
Photon: 1000/6.5=~+153.85 DPS.

I get the DHC and DC/Turret Proc values, because of the different activation cycles of DCs and DHCs/Turrets. But I'm not sure where you're pulling that Photon value from...?

It is my understanding that the [Borg] proc on Photons triggers on every shot (standard shots, not extra shots from abilities such as TS or HYT). You can therefore basically treat it as an extra 1000 damage per hit. As you add more Projectile Doffs, this will increase. At the global cooldown for projectiles (just short of one torp every two seconds), this will therefore correspond to just short of a free 500 damage per second.

firing every 6.5s=576 DPS.

Ah, now I get it. Disregard the above, it appears that your numbers use the base recharge time, which will make the DPS achievable by Projectile Weaponry a LOT worse than is possible with buffs and DOFFs. As I mentioned in my previous post, the trick is to combine the Launchers with Projectile DOFFs. I've found the "sweet spot" on my Guramba to be 2 Launchers plus 2 DOFFs.

If you use the standard recharge time for a Photon Torpedo Launcher (no DOFFs) you're indeed looking at one shot every 6.5 seconds, which translates into roughly 46 shots for each Photon launcher over a five minute period. However with Two Torpedo Launchers and 2x Purple Projectile DOFFs, that will rise to ~120 shots over the same time period: nearly a 50% increase on the original achievable number of shots for each launcher.

1 Photon, 3 Turrets

Frankly, I'm not surprised that one photon at base recharge isn't showing good results.

The trick with Projectile DOFFs is that if you have multiple torpedo tubes, each torpedo tube firing has a chance to trigger a cooldown reset on every other tube including itself. So these DOFFs work best with multiple launchers, and you can see this in Cygone's old testing results.

120 Torpedos per five minutes = one every 2.5 seconds instead of one every 6.5 seconds.

Try plugging that into your numbers (losing two DHCs for two launchers, which would also raise the average weapon energy levels a little) and see what difference it makes to a "standard" 4x DHC build. Admittedly though, this does require giving up two DOFF slots. And splitting the Console buffs will eat into achievable DPS unless you're using an "Honor Guard" set.

And, as-ever, I don't recommend this setup for anything other than STFs (and even then, STFs where you'll mainly be concentrating on shooting unshielded Borg Structures and ships with thin shields but masses of Hull points - in other words, "Elite" runs...)

The ranged dropoff damage aspect of Energy weapons compared to Torps is hard to link into the calculations, but in practice it should substantially favour torps in most cases. Whether it can effectively cancel out the reduced damage you'll be doing to shields is another story.

maelwy5

maelwy5 wrote: »

120 Torpedos per five minutes = one every 2.5 seconds instead of one every 6.5 seconds.

Try plugging that into your numbers (losing two DHCs for two launchers, which would also raise the average weapon energy levels a little) and see what difference it makes to a "standard" 4x DHC build.

Tried this myself when I got home and checked the maths...

120 shots over 300 seconds for two launchers is an average of 60 shots per launcher. That translates into an average of each launcher firing one shot every 5 seconds instead of the base value of once every 6.5 seconds.

Plugging this new value into your tables, and adjusting for less weapon power drain:

[DPS]
Photon Mk XII: 3744 DPV, firing every 5s=~749 DPS

[Borg] Contribution
Photon: 1000 damage/5 = 200 DPS

Build 3: 2 DHCs, 2 Photon, 3 Turrets:
DHC1: Fires at 125 Power, DPS=393*125*.02*1.1575+50=~1188
DHC2: Fires at 125 Power, DPS=393*125*.02*1.1575+50=~1188
Photon1: DPS=749*1.1125+200=~1033
Photon2: DPS=749*1.1125+200=~1033
Turret1: 113 Power, DPS=203*113*.02*1.1425+100=~624
Turret2: 105 Power, DPS=203*105*.02*1.1425+100=~587
Turret3: 97 Power, DPS=203*97*.02*1.1425+100=~550
Total=1188+1188+1033+1033+624+587+550=6203 DPS.

No Notepad this time, so I think that's right...? :P

At the extreme end, assuming you're somehow able to slot enough DOFFs to hit the magical 2 second "hard cap" with only 2 photon launchers (very unlikely, but theory is theory...) you'd be looking at 1291 DPS from each photon, for a total of 6719 DPS. But by then Quantums would be better anyway.

Naturally, this should be taken with a pinch of salt due to all the other possible variables...

thibash

When using an energy drain build with the Atrox, I noticed that with enough flow capacitors the polaron proc could actually bring probes to a standstill (yes, only by draining energy). So they are actually doing something, and if they can snare, they can also weaken shields, and thus overall, they can increase the damage on moving, shielded targets by a lot.

marctraiderz

xgorillapx wrote: »

I have a defiant retrofit myself, and it was a good ship. My only problem with it, is that I thought having a 3rd tactical ensign slot, as a big waste. I thought getting some additional survivability out of Emergency Power to Shields I or Engineering Team I with the Fleet Escort was much more useful. Granted, survivability isn't the escorts main priority, but in this comparison, nothing is really being sacrificed. Maybe a 2nd Tac Team I ability?

So far with this post, the only real debate has been the DHC's vs. DC's. I'm sure everyone could nitpick some thign based on personal preference, but if that's the only thing to be pointed out, I think this is a very good thread. Something like this has been needed, especially with the influx of new players since F2P. Against my better judgement, I've edited the original post to include links to screenshots of my skill points. I'm sure everyone will picj that apart since everyone has their own preferences, but this iwll give people a good idea of what to and what not to put points into.

Thats why the Defiant sucks for pure DPS. It comes from DHC's. And in that condition you only need Energy weapon spec, 4 energy consoles and 2 Rapid fires. Its the most efficient and highest damage escort available.

Funny isnt it? Cryptic doesnt know jack about their own system.


Yes, this means a defiant (excluding the cloak) is totally wasted on all those ensign stations. Better go mvam, fleet or better yet Jem hadar.

xgorillapx

thibash wrote: »

When using an energy drain build with the Atrox, I noticed that with enough flow capacitors the polaron proc could actually bring probes to a standstill (yes, only by draining energy). So they are actually doing something, and if they can snare, they can also weaken shields, and thus overall, they can increase the damage on moving, shielded targets by a lot.

Yes, this may be somewhat useful against the probes. However a very large amount of the time, you're firing against an inanimate object such as a gate, transformer or generator. These have no subsystems to drain power from. This is where the Polaron weapon type really loses its edge.

dwhornet

Since we have some smart people in this thread, which boff layout?


MVAE
TT1

---

TT1

---

HY:Torp ??STTTTTTAAAAAAHHHHLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!
AP:Beta 1

---

AP:Beta 1
CRF:2
CRF:3

or this

TT1

---

TT1

---

HY:Torp ??STTTTTTAAAAAAHHHHLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!
CRF:1

---

CRF:1
AP:Beta 2
AP:Beta 3


Ignoring the team benefit to make it easier, and maybe using AP- Delta instead of Beta.

Thanks!

maelwy5

dwhornet wrote: »

Since we have some smart people in this thread, which boff layout?


MVAE
TT1

---

TT1

---

HY:Torp ??STTTTTTAAAAAAHHHHLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!
AP:Beta 1

---

AP:Beta 1
CRF:2
CRF:3

or this

TT1

---

TT1

---

HY:Torp ??STTTTTTAAAAAAHHHHLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!
CRF:1

---

CRF:1
AP:Beta 2
AP:Beta 3


Ignoring the team benefit to make it easier, and maybe using AP- Delta instead of Beta.

Thanks!

For STFs? Or PVP? Or something else?

CRF3 is the biggest buff to your own DPS you can get. But AP:Beta3 is the biggest damage resistance debuff you can get. APB3 is generally better, except when your target can get rid of it (i.e. another player in PVP, just by using Tac Team).

I'm personally quite fond of this setup for PVE:
TT1/CRF1/APO1/APB3
TT1/CSV1
TS1

But you can get a little more out of it:
TT1/CRF1/APO1/APB3
THY1/CSV1
TS1
(this second one requires 2x Blue Conn Officer DOFFs for Tac Team cooldown reduction; or better yet, 3x Purple Technicians and a copy of Aux2Bat1 in an engineering BOFF slot in order to get the cooldowns of everything reduced...)

deusemperor

Question about glitch dhc timings:

Is the setup better to prevent this bug from happening by loading your fore weapons like this:
dhc torp dhc dc?

I figured since there was a shared cooldown with two dhcs you put something between them to fix it. Am I correct?

drasketo

I dont see how the position of the weapons in the slots is going to make any difference.

And, anyway, like quis already said, most of what the op said is complete TRIBBLE.

As for 4 DHCs and double rapid fire being the highest base damage, yeah, sure. It just has the tiny, teensy weensy side-effect of making you completely useless for doing anything other than sitting there pew-pewing at one target at a time.

xantris

For PvP and single target (rapid-fire/HY), I've found (4) DHCs w/ the appropriate tac consoles to be superior.

For PvE w/ AoE(Scatter/Spread), I not only routinely parse higher w/ a (3) DHC +Quantum build, but I notice an appreciable difference in the speed of killing packs of ships, which leads me to believe the extra damage isn't just superfluous damage being done to random targets.

It takes an investment that probably isn't very efficient. I have (2) piece Honor Guard, (3) purple projectile officers, and (2) Conn (tac variant) officers so that I can only run 1 TT, thus freeing up a ENS slot for an extra Torp Spread I. This way I have (2) cannon, (2) Torp, and (2) Attack Patterns rotating.

I hear that going w/ (2) Torps and (2) Quantum weapon consoles might grant better even better results with my setup, but it's not something I've tried yet.


The problem I have w/ all DHC ships is that they are dreadfully boring and have range and positioning issues that are partially rectified by Torpedos (larger attack radius, no fallout in damage at range). Also, Not only do you miss out on the cool graphics of TorpSpread3, and the satisfying explosions that go along w/ Torpedos... but your DOFFs choices are extremely lame. Everything ends up revolving around survivability as opposed to increasing damage. Even if you go for something like a Conn-Tac DOFF, you don't have the weapon variety to fully utilize your extra BO ability.

It may be inefficient and costly, but it's a more enjoyable playstyle. And ultimately, I have never noticed myself parsing behind a full DHC setup in STFs.

arcademaster

This thread is amazing, I only just discovered it.

So what was the concensus? 2 DHCs+ 2 Torpedos is winning out due to the borg proc and rotating projectile doff procs?

If that's the case, I wonder what consoles one should run with 3 tac consoles available (D'Kora - while it's technically a Cruiser it can mount cannons and since the targets in STFs are stationary I see no reason not to build her like an escort). If the main source of the damage increase is from the borg proc, it sounds to me as if the torp dps wouldn't increase that much with consoles and the slots might be better invested into energy consoles.

If you are running 3 DHCs + 1 Torpedo, the Doffs aren't worth it since they don't trigger the reloads as often?

Currently I'm also using a 3DHC + 1 Torpedo setup like xantris. I'm usually pugging and too often I end up having to clear probes or BoPs (while the Sci and Engi ships fire stubbornly on gateways...) and the second AoE attack from Torpedo Spread really saves the day. I can't imagine running a build with only cannon spread, I don't feel like I'd get swarms of probes or spheres down fast enough then.

xantris

arcademaster wrote: »

This thread is amazing, I only just discovered it.

So what was the concensus? 2 DHCs+ 2 Torpedos is winning out due to the borg proc and rotating projectile doff procs?


If that's the case, I wonder what consoles one should run with 3 tac consoles available (D'Kora - while it's technically a Cruiser it can mount cannons and since the targets in STFs are stationary I see no reason not to build her like an escort). If the main source of the damage increase is from the borg proc, it sounds to me as if the torp dps wouldn't increase that much with consoles and the slots might be better invested into energy consoles.

If you are running 3 DHCs + 1 Torpedo, the Doffs aren't worth it since they don't trigger the reloads as often?

Currently I'm also using a 3DHC + 1 Torpedo setup like xantris. I'm usually pugging and too often I end up having to clear probes or BoPs (while the Sci and Engi ships fire stubbornly on gateways...) and the second AoE attack from Torpedo Spread really saves the day. I can't imagine running a build with only cannon spread, I don't feel like I'd get swarms of probes or spheres down fast enough then.

The borg proc makes up such a small % of your damage it's mostly inconsequential. You're talking about like a 1-2% increase from using torps.

I recently switched up to a 2 DHC 2 Torpedo build (w/ 2 Quantum, 2 Disruptor consoles) and I'm routinely parsing higher by a few hundred DPS. I wouldn't say my killing power against ships has increased or declined much, but I've found that my killing power against structures (especially when I'm forced to sit 7-10k off) has increased noticeably because of the extra torps. You're correct in that the sheer volume of Torpedos increases by a massive amount by running multiple launchers w/ multiple Projectile Officers. In fact, plain unmodified Quantum Torpedos make up the vast majority of my damage now (around 22-25%). I'm not sure if it would be worthwhile however if your not running the 2pc Honor Guard set.

On a side note, purple MkXII Projectile consoles (30%) are significantly cheaper than the Energy variants... so thats nice.

lifeofmessiah

Okay, so I am curious as to the reasoning behind your Skill Point dispersion. Some of them, it is pretty obvious why. My main question is why not put any points into the Starship Attack Patterns?

arcademaster

xantris may I ask which parser you are using? (maybe per PM, not sure if the devs like external tools being discussed) I'd like to do some tests myself, seeing is always better than believing

Since I'm currently playing a FED toon I unfortunately don't have access to the Honor Guard set. I also use it on my Orion character, it's just very amazing all around.

So how many quantum damage consoles are you running with, all slots?

Thanks for replying.

dalnar83

I think that STFs are so easy, you can do well in any above average build tbh. For example if you have beam array over dual bank because you like the aestitics more wont matter much in the end.

Usually you fail optionals because someone has not a clue or ****ups, or has completely stupid builds, not because you do 990 dps instead of 1000.

What drives me crazy is those people who park and stop their ships in front of a cube and die to next torpedo hit. Did noone tell them, that if you speed is 0, you are sitting duck with negative defence and you roughly double to tripple the crits you eat from borgs ?

xantris

arcademaster wrote: »

xantris may I ask which parser you are using? (maybe per PM, not sure if the devs like external tools being discussed) I'd like to do some tests myself, seeing is always better than believing

Since I'm currently playing a FED toon I unfortunately don't have access to the Honor Guard set. I also use it on my Orion character, it's just very amazing all around.

So how many quantum damage consoles are you running with, all slots?

Thanks for replying.

STOIC, I can't get the java parser to work.

I run 2 Quantums