Ok, so, last night I decided to try out PvP for the first time. I used my tac fed in the Blockade Escort. I pugged a Fed Arena mission and won without dying. Then I went to Fed v KDF arena.
There was a BoP player flying a Hegh'Ta (fleet?). I can't remember his name, he constantly cloaked, so he was hard to track. At least twice, while I was gunning at a cruiser or carrier, he came from behind, began firing, and after I hit all of my defensive buffs (Tac Team, Transfer shield strength, EP2S, PH, Aux2Struct, Brace for impact, and the devidian space console), he destroyed me in 3 seconds. Even with all of those buffs, all of my shields were gone and my hull dropped to zero.
I'm not saying BoPs are OP. They're not. When starting with a KDF engineer, I couldn't stand the low hull/shields. (though I may try again with a Tac KDF officer). My question is, what did he/she have, and how was he/she able to kill me with all of my buffs active?
The only tac buff that is useful for tanking is Tactical Team.
All Birds of Prey are granted the ability to battle cloak, that is to cloak under fire unlike the regular cloak from the defiant which can only cloak when not in combat. This gives the bop a tactical advantage, however it is seriously offset by the low shields and low hull, as well as the missing console and weapon slot of Bops.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC] Aytanhi of TSI, TSI fleet founder and leader OrganizedPVP channel Admin Feel free to ask me about PVP or starship strategies. "No, I am not Borg!" /channel_join OrganizedPVP If you are interested in learning PVP, looking for a team, or a private match
Ok, so, last night I decided to try out PvP for the first time. I used my tac fed in the Blockade Escort. I pugged a Fed Arena mission and won without dying. Then I went to Fed v KDF arena.
There was a BoP player flying a Hegh'Ta (fleet?). I can't remember his name, he constantly cloaked, so he was hard to track. At least twice, while I was gunning at a cruiser or carrier, he came from behind, began firing, and after I hit all of my defensive buffs (Tac Team, Transfer shield strength, EP2S, PH, Aux2Struct, Brace for impact, and the devidian space console), he destroyed me in 3 seconds. Even with all of those buffs, all of my shields were gone and my hull dropped to zero.
I'm not saying BoPs are OP. They're not. When starting with a KDF engineer, I couldn't stand the low hull/shields. (though I may try again with a Tac KDF officer). My question is, what did he/she have, and how was he/she able to kill me with all of my buffs active?
If you don't hit Tac Team quickly enough, you're gonna get mauled. The effect of Tac Team doesn't seem to have an effect on weapons already fired unless it takes the shot 2-3 seconds to hit you (torpedos and cannons from more than 5km away). Most skilled BoP pilots will decloak within 5km and fire as soon as the decloak allows. That's why ambush tactics are still relevant, it's sorta hard to defend against them when the ambusher hits hard and fast. It's possible to goof it and move too slow, giving the target time to raise tac team and buffs. . .by that time, the window of opportunity is gone.
Oh, and heaven help you if your Tac Teams and RSPs are on cooldown.
My PvP toon is Krov, of The House of Snoo. Beware of my Hegh'ta of doom.
If you don't hit Tac Team quickly enough, you're gonna get mauled. The effect of Tac Team doesn't seem to have an effect on weapons already fired unless it takes the shot 2-3 seconds to hit you (torpedos and cannons from more than 5km away). Most skilled BoP pilots will decloak within 5km and fire as soon as the decloak allows. That's why ambush tactics are still relevant, it's sorta hard to defend against them when the ambusher hits hard and fast. It's possible to goof it and move too slow, giving the target time to raise tac team and buffs. . .by that time, the window of opportunity is gone.
Oh, and heaven help you if your Tac Teams and RSPs are on cooldown.
Oh, tac team worked alright. By the time I exploded, all of my shields went to my aft facing, and it was still in the red.
The only tac buff that is useful for tanking is Tactical Team.
All Birds of Prey are granted the ability to battle cloak, that is to cloak under fire unlike the regular cloak from the defiant which can only cloak when not in combat. This gives the bop a tactical advantage, however it is seriously offset by the low shields and low hull, as well as the missing console and weapon slot of Bops.
did you look at all I had listed? all of my defensive BoFF abilities, brace, subspace field modulator?
Ok, so, last night I decided to try out PvP for the first time. I used my tac fed in the Blockade Escort. I pugged a Fed Arena mission and won without dying. Then I went to Fed v KDF arena.
There was a BoP player flying a Hegh'Ta (fleet?). I can't remember his name, he constantly cloaked, so he was hard to track. At least twice, while I was gunning at a cruiser or carrier, he came from behind, began firing, and after I hit all of my defensive buffs (Tac Team, Transfer shield strength, EP2S, PH, Aux2Struct, Brace for impact, and the devidian space console), he destroyed me in 3 seconds. Even with all of those buffs, all of my shields were gone and my hull dropped to zero.
I'm not saying BoPs are OP. They're not. When starting with a KDF engineer, I couldn't stand the low hull/shields. (though I may try again with a Tac KDF officer). My question is, what did he/she have, and how was he/she able to kill me with all of my buffs active?
What does your skill spec look like, what power levels were you running.
whip one up on stoacademy.com of your current spec.
(STO academy having issues, just ignore the ground stuff. the space stuff is all correct)
Weapons:
Fore: x2 Mk XII Antiproton Dual Heavy Cannons (the craftable stuff), x1 Mk XI Antiproton Dual Heavy Cannons (the borg one), x1 Mk X Quantum torp (borg)
I'm interested if there is anything wrong with my build, but I'm even more interested in what skills/abilities could possibly take down all of my shield strength, after Tac Team, and kill me after all of my defensive buffs.
did you look at all I had listed? all of my defensive BoFF abilities, brace, subspace field modulator?
srry, double post.
Lol, you edited your original post. It is different from when I read it. ^Read other players' answers above.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC] Aytanhi of TSI, TSI fleet founder and leader OrganizedPVP channel Admin Feel free to ask me about PVP or starship strategies. "No, I am not Borg!" /channel_join OrganizedPVP If you are interested in learning PVP, looking for a team, or a private match
Hard saying not knowing. The things you say happened shouldn't have happened even if your equipment was fairly dire. As in plain old commons sort of dire.
You mention that you used 7 buffs after the attack started. In my limited experience that takes about 7 seconds. That's a long long time. In any case it is certain that you're missing something. That is why you are here.
Get Fraps and start using it. Go over the combats afterwards. You will see that things aren't always as they seem.
Tac buffs rarely grant resists. That was a good one. Omega and Delta say "Hi". You're such a kidder.
Most of your defensive buffs are aux based, if you run low aux they won't be as effective. You discribe only having kinetic resist consoles in your lows this is a problem as well. When your firing at fat ships like cruisers/carriers odds are your are slowed down lowering your defensive rating by a ton. Don't ever stop moving, toggle forward and reverse if you need to. You don't mention what if any doffs you're using, but you should look into shield distribution and hazzard doffs to boost your survivability. Chain EPTS it should never be down for most builds.
You don't mention what he used, you could look @ combat log to see what weapons/abilities caused you damage. You also may have been hit w/an SNB which would have stipped all of your buffs and is why it's important to not buff all @ 1x unless you really need to.
Tet glider spec'd would strip your shields fast. You don't have any SP invested in shield/movement/power level debuff resists, those would also hurt you. If your aux dropped to zero most of your defensive buffs would have been useless if you could trigger them at all. If the attacker was using phasers your shields could have been downed by them.
If the attacker used DEM and you only had Kinetic resist consoles you'd only have your SP investments to resists his energy weapon damage type.
Lastly, there are times there's just bad UI lag at a bad time. This isn't often for me, but i use minimum visual settings.
[Zone] Dack@****: cowards can't take a fed 1 on 1 crinckley cowards Hahahaha you smell like flowers
Random Quote from Kerrat
"Sumlobus@****: your mums eat Iced Targ Poo"
C&H Fed banter
(STO academy having issues, just ignore the ground stuff. the space stuff is all correct)
Weapons:
Fore: x2 Mk XII Antiproton Dual Heavy Cannons (the craftable stuff), x1 Mk XI Antiproton Dual Heavy Cannons (the borg one), x1 Mk X Quantum torp (borg)
I'm interested if there is anything wrong with my build, but I'm even more interested in what skills/abilities could possibly take down all of my shield strength, after Tac Team, and kill me after all of my defensive buffs.
Okay, there's several things I notice with the build that dramatically reduces your survivability and lethality.
You have no ranks in Electro Plasma, which means your shield power bonus from emergency power to shields is taking a significant hit. The next is you have no ranks in power insulators, so things like Target shields, or even shield drain attacks have the ability to really cripple your ship.
You have ranks in weapon performance, which are by the way completely unnecessary for Escorts in pvp.
You also have no ranks in threat control which can give your hull more resistance.
Also, when you move at slow speeds your defense rating goes into the toilet, which makes you excellent bait for Beam Overload 3s to crit and crit very strongly. It is not uncommon for even BO2 to smack a low defense target for 20,000 + 3 can reach safely up to 40K+ if the target is not moving very quickly.
Also of importance is EPTS2 vs 1. 2 gives you not only more shield power to work with, but also a higher bonus resistance by a pretty substantial amount. EPTS2 is pretty much mission critical to stop overloads 2 and 3 from ripping right on through.
Boff Skills, I would strongly recommend changing APO3 out for Cannon Rapid Fire 3 or Cannon Scatter volley 3.
Ditch High Yield 3, and move it down to HY2. Move an attack pattern omega 1 in it's place. I would ditch your CRF1 for the HY2.
Also as much as possible, keep moving. If you stop or come close to stopping you're going to get in trouble very quickly. Especially without an EPTS2 to help save you.
Yeah, not sure if he used any kinetic weapons. Seemed to be AP or phaser. With the chaos going on, I'm not sure what weapons he used. Just that they did massive damage in short order.
...Everytime I use stoacademy, it and the game don't agree well.
APO3 is so I can actually resist tractors. My understanding is APO1 is very limited. Very limited, to the point that it only works against one tractor for a few seconds, then stops (right in the middle of the tractor!). Aux2Struct I've used mainly as either boosted resist while shields are down, or as a small heal when shields are low. Bad idea? And why no CRF?
Also, nothing in Threat control=I don't have the biggest X painted on my hull in stfs
So, two more questions:
1) Respecing the FIRST time was a waste of time and energy then? I hope I did at least a little better than maxing all of my tac skills and going from there this time around.
2) So, for PvP, I can either go Space or Ground and must put max points in only one? I was hoping for the build I used to do better in both space and ground. Must I choose one and only one?
As a general question, if slowing to turn=bad, is reversing+Evasive pretty much the only way to bring all weapons to bear on an enemy?
...Everytime I use stoacademy, it and the game don't agree well.
APO3 is so I can actually resist tractors. My understanding is APO1 is very limited. Very limited, to the point that it only works against one tractor for a few seconds, then stops (right in the middle of the tractor!). Aux2Struct I've used mainly as either boosted resist while shields are down, or as a small heal when shields are low. Bad idea? And why no CRF?
Also, nothing in Threat control=I don't have the biggest X painted on my hull in stfs
So, two more questions:
1) Respecing the FIRST time was a waste of time and energy then? I hope I did at least a little better than maxing all of my tac skills and going from there this time around.
2) So, for PvP, I can either go Space or Ground and must put max points in only one? I was hoping for the build I used to do better in both space and ground. Must I choose one and only one?
As a general question, if slowing to turn=bad, is reversing+Evasive pretty much the only way to bring all weapons to bear on an enemy?
STOacademy has been somewhat buggy as of late. I think the guys running the site must be learning from cryptic devs as to make a stable and workable client. It's usually pretty bullet proof. When I get a bugged thing, I usually just refresh the screen, or close it out and start fresh again.
APO3 has no stronger resist to tractor spam than APO1. You are also eating an arm and a leg's worth of DPS having it instead of 1. APO1 is every bit as effective as APO3 both have the 15 second duration, that conveys movement debuff immunity. (well sorta * )
To me, 9/10 times if I need Two hull heals on any escort things have already gone bad enough that I deserve to get whacked. Well 3 hull heals if you count the borg proc. RSP, or EPTS2 are much better options. Aux to Inertial Dampeners also works pretty well there as well as it gives you stun, repel immunity with a very good movement and turn rate boost when you crank with an aux battery. As well as a very strong kinetic damage resist.
I would run CRF3, APO1, THY2, TT
Torp spread 3, CSV1, TT this gives you options and very strong burst damage. It also gives you every bit as much tractor, repel, and speed boost as what you
had before, with a much harder punch to put through people's faces.
Threat Control is not a mandatory thing, but it helps. Every lil bit helps. As far as not drawing aggro goes, you are an Escort, chances are you should be drawing the hate anyway if you are built correctly and utilizing buffs at the right times.
Yeah, contrary to what Jman and Captain Moron believe, if you try to go halfsies for pvp. You are going to Suck. It cuts your options way way down to try and run both. For example if you tried to add ground in, you'd probably have to ditch your torps, for example and switch to an overload setup. And that's just for starters on the kinds of sacrifices you would have to make. the new skill tree really did not change pvp that much in the regard of go all in or go home.
I have lolground toons for when I get the rare itch to play ground pvp. Because frankly you can't run both and have a high end toon. Not even really a mediocre before you're done.
Not the only way, Reverse and turn is part of the staple, as is knowing when to slow down. Here's some good dog fight videos to give you an idea. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsVHBORsFEc Broken vs Neosomatic
Here's a build I use often w/a Tac BoP I have. I wouldn't worry so much about the boff layout, but it's an idea starter for SP Investment.
[Zone] Dack@****: cowards can't take a fed 1 on 1 crinckley cowards Hahahaha you smell like flowers
Random Quote from Kerrat
"Sumlobus@****: your mums eat Iced Targ Poo"
C&H Fed banter
It's Husanak's escort thread, IMO the best and most complete ecord thread ever created. Take your time and read the whole thing, slow and easy. It covers a lot of tricks, such as how to improve defense, weapon configurations, attack techniques, etc. I guarantee you won't be dissapointed. Also, remember one thing: escorts are BY FAR the hardest ship to pilot efficiently. So don't expect to be the best in 2 days. Pvp is so different than stfs, just because, as you know, you deal with intelligent people. Well, some of them intelligent at least, lol. It is very important also what lamid (p2winsucks) said about doffs.also, you'll see lots of carrier spam...
You need the right doffs on your ship, ideally you need 2 purple energy doffs (the new ones that reduce cool down for cannon, each with 50% chance) those are golden and fortunately, sort of saying, they are much cheaper on fed side than for kdf ("only 20 mil ec for one, maybe less, klings I think are 60-80 mil ec). Very expensive but, lol, think you'll chain crf 3 continuously... Also, 2 shield distrib doffs (purple) to get a shield heal when using bfi). The left one I would use is an evasive purple doff, lowers recharge of evasives by 5 or 10 secs, I forget. Also, if the crf doffs are too expensive, you may use some tac team doff, to run only one tac team boff rather than 2.
Not lastly, practice practice and again practice. You get face rolled, no problem. Ask the opponent how he did it. Most of them will have fair play and let u know. But really, read the thread I linked you, it has very valuable info.
As a note, I would go for all energy front (either 4 dhc, either 3 dhc and dbl beam for a bo. Get some cronitrons, mines or torps on back (use torp spread if you choose torp). You can go with a beam in back for target engine or bo, to surprise your followers. Cronitrons slow, bo rips the hull. Test multiple configurations and choose what fits you best. And also, ask questions and learn from mistakes. Don't ever quit improving and learning!
[edit] its not a bad idea to run 2x apo1 AND pol hull, especially when playing fvf. You'll see a million pets with tractors, and then another half of the team with tractor beams. Try to get the maco shield and have deuterium surplus from Alhena mission handy for an extra evasive on demand. Tetryon glider is also pretty awesome.
Hear! Sons of Kahless
Hear! Daughters too.
The blood of battle washes clean.
The Warrior brave and true.
We fight, we love, and then we kill...
Fraps. Record some PVP. Then go over it later. Frame by Frame. You will find that things just aren't always as they seem, and certainly not as you remember them. It was revealing for me anyway. This is the reason that coaches use film. It is a great tool.
"Cryptic Studio’s Jack Emmert (2010): Microtransactions are the biggest bunch of nonsense. I like paying one fee and not worrying about it – like my cellphone. The world’s biggest MMO isn’t item based, even though the black market item GDP is bigger than Russia … microtransactions make me want to die.”
My question is, what did he/she have, and how was he/she able to kill me with all of my buffs active?
I MAY be able to clear up some of your confusion. A BoP, or escort, can deliver enough DPS to melt the defences of any ship not prepared for it. Here is how to avoid this from happening:
Cruiser: A cruiser can usually shake off the damage with some boff abilities. (also see escort for defence)
Sciship: Sabotage your opponents way of dealing damage to you. TBR, SS, VM etc.
Escort: Bonus defence!!! Move, and move fast! Whenever taking fire, keep full speed and a reasonable amount of power to engines.
I assume you were flying an escort, and if you were sitting and firing at a cruiser, you may have had low (or negative) defence value. By going from standing still to full impulse, you would have reduced the incoming damage by 80%(!!!).
Throw in any ability you like, if you're in an escort and not moving, you WILL melt!
I MAY be able to clear up some of your confusion. A BoP, or escort, can deliver enough DPS to melt the defences of any ship not prepared for it. Here is how to avoid this from happening:
Cruiser: A cruiser can usually shake off the damage with some boff abilities. (also see escort for defence)
Sciship: Sabotage your opponents way of dealing damage to you. TBR, SS, VM etc.
Escort: Bonus defence!!! Move, and move fast! Whenever taking fire, keep full speed and a reasonable amount of power to engines.
I assume you were flying an escort, and if you were sitting and firing at a cruiser, you may have had low (or negative) defence value. By going from standing still to full impulse, you would have reduced the incoming damage by 80%(!!!).
Throw in any ability you like, if you're in an escort and not moving, you WILL melt!
I know some gawk at the idea, but if I'm not moving and staying on a cruiser I like to cycle epts and rock my escort /w my fingers on APO1 and/or evasives. tact team is always the first to hit, of course.
I'll flip CRF and APO, so I have APO1 and CRF3. I'll keep my skills for now, however. I will change them later, but I still want to do ground STFs (for MACO ground gear and the Borg boff). I'm also going to get Aux batteries and Aux to Inertial Dampeners.
I thank you for the videos, but I learned less on when to do reverse turn as opposed to normal, and more that I need MUCH more practice
My only complaint with the thread mentioned is that there is nothing for vs Carriers. I brought CSV and Torp Spread specifically to be able to take out Carrier pets while hitting the carrier itself (looking at you armitage). Without those, I feel like it would be even more difficult taking on a carrier (especially since I'd have to finish it before it finished me, and it can tank better).
Yeah, the only thing I don't like about the Blockade Escort is that I feel like I need HE, TSS, and PH, but I only have room for two. I'm thinking of either getting the Fleet Patrol, Fleet Tactical, or Advanced (Fleet?) Escort in order to have enough Sci slots for all three.
One last thing. If I get another character slot, I'm going to get a Tac and fly a BoP. What would be some good builds for that? And how would I be able to kill a fed who has used TT and the buffs listed at the beginning of the thread in less than 5 seconds?
Comments
The only tac buff that is useful for tanking is Tactical Team.
All Birds of Prey are granted the ability to battle cloak, that is to cloak under fire unlike the regular cloak from the defiant which can only cloak when not in combat. This gives the bop a tactical advantage, however it is seriously offset by the low shields and low hull, as well as the missing console and weapon slot of Bops.
Aytanhi of TSI, TSI fleet founder and leader OrganizedPVP channel Admin
Feel free to ask me about PVP or starship strategies. "No, I am not Borg!"
/channel_join OrganizedPVP If you are interested in learning PVP, looking for a team, or a private match
If you don't hit Tac Team quickly enough, you're gonna get mauled. The effect of Tac Team doesn't seem to have an effect on weapons already fired unless it takes the shot 2-3 seconds to hit you (torpedos and cannons from more than 5km away). Most skilled BoP pilots will decloak within 5km and fire as soon as the decloak allows. That's why ambush tactics are still relevant, it's sorta hard to defend against them when the ambusher hits hard and fast. It's possible to goof it and move too slow, giving the target time to raise tac team and buffs. . .by that time, the window of opportunity is gone.
Oh, and heaven help you if your Tac Teams and RSPs are on cooldown.
Oh, tac team worked alright. By the time I exploded, all of my shields went to my aft facing, and it was still in the red.
Formerly Traven158
did you look at all I had listed? all of my defensive BoFF abilities, brace, subspace field modulator?
srry, double post.
Formerly Traven158
What does your skill spec look like, what power levels were you running.
whip one up on stoacademy.com of your current spec.
Also were you moving at the time or not.
(STO academy having issues, just ignore the ground stuff. the space stuff is all correct)
Weapons:
Fore: x2 Mk XII Antiproton Dual Heavy Cannons (the craftable stuff), x1 Mk XI Antiproton Dual Heavy Cannons (the borg one), x1 Mk X Quantum torp (borg)
Aft, x3 Antiproton Turrets (borg)
Deflector: Borg
Shield: Reman Mk XI
Engine: Borg
Consoles:
Eng: x1 Field Emitter (blue), x2 Monatonium Alloy (blue) (the resist projectile thing)
Sci: Borg, x1 Emitter Array
Tac: x4 Antiproton (2 green, 2 white)
Abilities: as shown
I was moving, albeit slowly for better turning.
I'm interested if there is anything wrong with my build, but I'm even more interested in what skills/abilities could possibly take down all of my shield strength, after Tac Team, and kill me after all of my defensive buffs.
Formerly Traven158
Lol, you edited your original post. It is different from when I read it. ^Read other players' answers above.
Aytanhi of TSI, TSI fleet founder and leader OrganizedPVP channel Admin
Feel free to ask me about PVP or starship strategies. "No, I am not Borg!"
/channel_join OrganizedPVP If you are interested in learning PVP, looking for a team, or a private match
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwioA-jUgPA&feature=plcp
That may help. It may not.
You mention that you used 7 buffs after the attack started. In my limited experience that takes about 7 seconds. That's a long long time. In any case it is certain that you're missing something. That is why you are here.
Get Fraps and start using it. Go over the combats afterwards. You will see that things aren't always as they seem.
Tac buffs rarely grant resists. That was a good one. Omega and Delta say "Hi". You're such a kidder.
You don't mention what he used, you could look @ combat log to see what weapons/abilities caused you damage. You also may have been hit w/an SNB which would have stipped all of your buffs and is why it's important to not buff all @ 1x unless you really need to.
Tet glider spec'd would strip your shields fast. You don't have any SP invested in shield/movement/power level debuff resists, those would also hurt you. If your aux dropped to zero most of your defensive buffs would have been useless if you could trigger them at all. If the attacker was using phasers your shields could have been downed by them.
If the attacker used DEM and you only had Kinetic resist consoles you'd only have your SP investments to resists his energy weapon damage type.
Lastly, there are times there's just bad UI lag at a bad time. This isn't often for me, but i use minimum visual settings.
Random Quote from Kerrat
"Sumlobus@****: your mums eat Iced Targ Poo"
C&H Fed banter
Okay, there's several things I notice with the build that dramatically reduces your survivability and lethality.
You have no ranks in Electro Plasma, which means your shield power bonus from emergency power to shields is taking a significant hit. The next is you have no ranks in power insulators, so things like Target shields, or even shield drain attacks have the ability to really cripple your ship.
You have ranks in weapon performance, which are by the way completely unnecessary for Escorts in pvp.
You also have no ranks in threat control which can give your hull more resistance.
Also, when you move at slow speeds your defense rating goes into the toilet, which makes you excellent bait for Beam Overload 3s to crit and crit very strongly. It is not uncommon for even BO2 to smack a low defense target for 20,000 + 3 can reach safely up to 40K+ if the target is not moving very quickly.
http://www.stoacademy.com/tools/skillplanner/index.php?build=ghostyhelpline1_0 Try this. It's a quick spec, but it will be more than servicable.
Also of importance is EPTS2 vs 1. 2 gives you not only more shield power to work with, but also a higher bonus resistance by a pretty substantial amount. EPTS2 is pretty much mission critical to stop overloads 2 and 3 from ripping right on through.
Boff Skills, I would strongly recommend changing APO3 out for Cannon Rapid Fire 3 or Cannon Scatter volley 3.
Ditch High Yield 3, and move it down to HY2. Move an attack pattern omega 1 in it's place. I would ditch your CRF1 for the HY2.
Also as much as possible, keep moving. If you stop or come close to stopping you're going to get in trouble very quickly. Especially without an EPTS2 to help save you.
Saw the vid awhile ago. Learned much from it.
The 7 buffs took 3 sec. I've been practicing speed in STFs and general PvE. It was 3 sec later that I exploded.
Also, Fraps?
Edit: After realizing that I rarely use my Scorpions, I'm thinking mightily of swapping that out for an Aux. Battery. Thanks for that video again.
Yeah, not sure if he used any kinetic weapons. Seemed to be AP or phaser. With the chaos going on, I'm not sure what weapons he used. Just that they did massive damage in short order.
btw, DEM? SNB?
...Everytime I use stoacademy, it and the game don't agree well.
APO3 is so I can actually resist tractors. My understanding is APO1 is very limited. Very limited, to the point that it only works against one tractor for a few seconds, then stops (right in the middle of the tractor!). Aux2Struct I've used mainly as either boosted resist while shields are down, or as a small heal when shields are low. Bad idea? And why no CRF?
Also, nothing in Threat control=I don't have the biggest X painted on my hull in stfs
So, two more questions:
1) Respecing the FIRST time was a waste of time and energy then? I hope I did at least a little better than maxing all of my tac skills and going from there this time around.
2) So, for PvP, I can either go Space or Ground and must put max points in only one? I was hoping for the build I used to do better in both space and ground. Must I choose one and only one?
As a general question, if slowing to turn=bad, is reversing+Evasive pretty much the only way to bring all weapons to bear on an enemy?
Formerly Traven158
STOacademy has been somewhat buggy as of late. I think the guys running the site must be learning from cryptic devs as to make a stable and workable client. It's usually pretty bullet proof. When I get a bugged thing, I usually just refresh the screen, or close it out and start fresh again.
APO3 has no stronger resist to tractor spam than APO1. You are also eating an arm and a leg's worth of DPS having it instead of 1. APO1 is every bit as effective as APO3 both have the 15 second duration, that conveys movement debuff immunity. (well sorta * )
To me, 9/10 times if I need Two hull heals on any escort things have already gone bad enough that I deserve to get whacked. Well 3 hull heals if you count the borg proc. RSP, or EPTS2 are much better options. Aux to Inertial Dampeners also works pretty well there as well as it gives you stun, repel immunity with a very good movement and turn rate boost when you crank with an aux battery. As well as a very strong kinetic damage resist.
I would run CRF3, APO1, THY2, TT
Torp spread 3, CSV1, TT this gives you options and very strong burst damage. It also gives you every bit as much tractor, repel, and speed boost as what you
had before, with a much harder punch to put through people's faces.
Threat Control is not a mandatory thing, but it helps. Every lil bit helps. As far as not drawing aggro goes, you are an Escort, chances are you should be drawing the hate anyway if you are built correctly and utilizing buffs at the right times.
Yeah, contrary to what Jman and Captain Moron believe, if you try to go halfsies for pvp. You are going to Suck. It cuts your options way way down to try and run both. For example if you tried to add ground in, you'd probably have to ditch your torps, for example and switch to an overload setup. And that's just for starters on the kinds of sacrifices you would have to make. the new skill tree really did not change pvp that much in the regard of go all in or go home.
I have lolground toons for when I get the rare itch to play ground pvp. Because frankly you can't run both and have a high end toon. Not even really a mediocre before you're done.
Not the only way, Reverse and turn is part of the staple, as is knowing when to slow down. Here's some good dog fight videos to give you an idea.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsVHBORsFEc Broken vs Neosomatic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CPuXgrLwoQ Mavairo vs Aquitaine985 (aka Reg)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46jUOcBA7hE Mav in general pvp.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-KfS3zOXuw Mav and Tripwire foolin around.
DEM = Directed Engergy Modulation, it adds direct hull damage to energy weapons
http://www.stoacademy.com/tools/skillplanner/index.php?build=mipolmeh_0
Here's a build I use often w/a Tac BoP I have. I wouldn't worry so much about the boff layout, but it's an idea starter for SP Investment.
Random Quote from Kerrat
"Sumlobus@****: your mums eat Iced Targ Poo"
C&H Fed banter
http://sto-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?t=255864
It's Husanak's escort thread, IMO the best and most complete ecord thread ever created. Take your time and read the whole thing, slow and easy. It covers a lot of tricks, such as how to improve defense, weapon configurations, attack techniques, etc. I guarantee you won't be dissapointed. Also, remember one thing: escorts are BY FAR the hardest ship to pilot efficiently. So don't expect to be the best in 2 days. Pvp is so different than stfs, just because, as you know, you deal with intelligent people. Well, some of them intelligent at least, lol. It is very important also what lamid (p2winsucks) said about doffs.also, you'll see lots of carrier spam...
You need the right doffs on your ship, ideally you need 2 purple energy doffs (the new ones that reduce cool down for cannon, each with 50% chance) those are golden and fortunately, sort of saying, they are much cheaper on fed side than for kdf ("only 20 mil ec for one, maybe less, klings I think are 60-80 mil ec). Very expensive but, lol, think you'll chain crf 3 continuously... Also, 2 shield distrib doffs (purple) to get a shield heal when using bfi). The left one I would use is an evasive purple doff, lowers recharge of evasives by 5 or 10 secs, I forget. Also, if the crf doffs are too expensive, you may use some tac team doff, to run only one tac team boff rather than 2.
Not lastly, practice practice and again practice. You get face rolled, no problem. Ask the opponent how he did it. Most of them will have fair play and let u know. But really, read the thread I linked you, it has very valuable info.
As a note, I would go for all energy front (either 4 dhc, either 3 dhc and dbl beam for a bo. Get some cronitrons, mines or torps on back (use torp spread if you choose torp). You can go with a beam in back for target engine or bo, to surprise your followers. Cronitrons slow, bo rips the hull. Test multiple configurations and choose what fits you best. And also, ask questions and learn from mistakes. Don't ever quit improving and learning!
[edit] its not a bad idea to run 2x apo1 AND pol hull, especially when playing fvf. You'll see a million pets with tractors, and then another half of the team with tractor beams. Try to get the maco shield and have deuterium surplus from Alhena mission handy for an extra evasive on demand. Tetryon glider is also pretty awesome.
Hear! Daughters too.
The blood of battle washes clean.
The Warrior brave and true.
We fight, we love, and then we kill...
Fraps. Record some PVP. Then go over it later. Frame by Frame. You will find that things just aren't always as they seem, and certainly not as you remember them. It was revealing for me anyway. This is the reason that coaches use film. It is a great tool.
I MAY be able to clear up some of your confusion. A BoP, or escort, can deliver enough DPS to melt the defences of any ship not prepared for it. Here is how to avoid this from happening:
Cruiser: A cruiser can usually shake off the damage with some boff abilities. (also see escort for defence)
Sciship: Sabotage your opponents way of dealing damage to you. TBR, SS, VM etc.
Escort: Bonus defence!!! Move, and move fast! Whenever taking fire, keep full speed and a reasonable amount of power to engines.
I assume you were flying an escort, and if you were sitting and firing at a cruiser, you may have had low (or negative) defence value. By going from standing still to full impulse, you would have reduced the incoming damage by 80%(!!!).
Throw in any ability you like, if you're in an escort and not moving, you WILL melt!
I know some gawk at the idea, but if I'm not moving and staying on a cruiser I like to cycle epts and rock my escort /w my fingers on APO1 and/or evasives. tact team is always the first to hit, of course.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
I'll flip CRF and APO, so I have APO1 and CRF3. I'll keep my skills for now, however. I will change them later, but I still want to do ground STFs (for MACO ground gear and the Borg boff). I'm also going to get Aux batteries and Aux to Inertial Dampeners.
I thank you for the videos, but I learned less on when to do reverse turn as opposed to normal, and more that I need MUCH more practice
I tried to base my escort off of his thread and this one: http://sto-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?t=244532
My only complaint with the thread mentioned is that there is nothing for vs Carriers. I brought CSV and Torp Spread specifically to be able to take out Carrier pets while hitting the carrier itself (looking at you armitage). Without those, I feel like it would be even more difficult taking on a carrier (especially since I'd have to finish it before it finished me, and it can tank better).
Yeah, the only thing I don't like about the Blockade Escort is that I feel like I need HE, TSS, and PH, but I only have room for two. I'm thinking of either getting the Fleet Patrol, Fleet Tactical, or Advanced (Fleet?) Escort in order to have enough Sci slots for all three.
One last thing. If I get another character slot, I'm going to get a Tac and fly a BoP. What would be some good builds for that? And how would I be able to kill a fed who has used TT and the buffs listed at the beginning of the thread in less than 5 seconds?
Formerly Traven158