Need help with Escort

nikephorus

I'm relatively new to STO and was looking for a little feedback on my ship. Here's what I have so far.

Weapons
Fore
1 Quantum Torpedo Launcher Mk XII [Borg]
3x Phaser Dual Heavy Cannons MK XII [Borg]
Aft
3x Phaser Turrets MK XI [Borg]

Been using the borg weapons since they are cheap and easily attainable via stfs. I've been looking at the fleet weapons are those worth while and if so which mod should I get?

Equipment
M.A.C.O Deflector MK XI
Assimilated Subtranswarp Engines
M.A.C.O. Deflector MK XI

I have the entire M.A.C.O., Omega, and Borg sets i decide to try and mix and match to get two set bonuses. Is there a better arrangement for equipment?

Consoles
Eng: Multi-Vector Assault Module, Neutronium Alloy MK XI
Sci: Assmilated Module, 2x Field Generators MK XI
Tac: 4x Phaser Relay

Bridge Officers
Cmd Tac: Tactical Team I, Attack Patten Beta I, Torpedo Spread III, Cannon Rapid Fire III
Lt Tac: Tactical Team I, Cannon Scatter Volley I
En Tac: Torpedo Spread I
Lt Eng: Emergency Power to Shield I, Reverse Shield Polarity I
Lt Cmd Sci: Polarize Hull I, Hazard Emitters II, Transfer Shield Strength III

Duty Officers
? I dunno really I've been swapping them a lot and not really seeing any benefit. Which ones should I use?

Finally, I was thinking of re-allocating my skill points what would be the optimal build for a tac officer using an escort vessel?

Any and all suggestions are appreciated.

cotp0maurafey

I struggled with the Advanced Heavy Escort for a while, finally gave up, and just fly a Mirror Star Cruiser: 4xQuantum Torps Fore, 4xDisruptor Turrets Aft. This config does more damage then 8 Antiproton or 8 Tachyon, or 6 Beam arrays and 2xTorps; has fat shields, resistance, regen, large crew. I rarely die in any eSTF with it, and do more damage then any Beam Setup I've tried.

Turrets fire full power all the time, so good damage, and torp just rip targets up, using Torp Spread and Torp High Yield I skills.

If you could get Tachyon Beam, Heavy Graviton Beam, and Target Shield Subsystems, you have a good chance to bring down the targets shields, and do a lot of hull damage.

Keep trying new setups though, you will find combos of weapons and abilities that you will like.

Tractor Beam is a must, a weapon, a space control factor. Repulsor is handy also, though would rather have a Gravity Well to stop targets, just can't fit it on the Advanced Escort.

Good Luck!

baudl

excellent and sturdy build.
for a new player definately the right thing to start off...

but just a little experiance i had, after years of using a similar build.
Once you get more experianced and learn to avoid most dmg, you can switch the EPtS1 to a EPtW1...if you feel confident enough, but keep the BOFF, you might wanna switch to him again, depending on the situation.
Same goes with polarize hull...since it shares a CD with Hazard emitters, it is not that much of a use actually. I prefer something more offensive and CC at the same time. Tractor beam repulsor for instance, or a tractor beam for PVP.
to evade tractor beams yourself get a AP:Omega...omega one is sufficent.
scrap torpedo spread 3 for it.

against BORG i would reccomend photon torpedos...the higher firerate combined with the proc make them deal a little more dmg than quantums, but only against borg.

personally i prefer 3 borg and maco shields, but since you use many shield heals it is absolutely a good choice to use that maco deflector.

the skillpoints i use are something like this. Do not mind the ship and the engi...i skill all my captains nearly the same. The threat controle is obviously not necessary for you, so i suggest 6 points in particle generators for more science ability dmg if you use grav well, TBR. Or inertial dampeners.


PS: plz ignore the comment right above mine, that makes no sense if he failed to make his MVAE work and now to give advice on starcruiser builds...which i find very stf specific, to not say he failed there too.
(target shield subsystems on a cruiser that only has turrets and torpedos???)

decker03

baudl wrote: »

Once you get more experianced and learn to avoid most dmg, you can switch the EPtS1 to a EPtW1...if you feel confident enough, but keep the BOFF, you might wanna switch to him again, depending on the situation.
Same goes with polarize hull...since it shares a CD with Hazard emitters, it is not that much of a use actually. I prefer something more offensive and CC at the same time. Tractor beam repulsor for instance, or a tractor beam for PVP.
to evade tractor beams yourself get a AP:Omega...omega one is sufficent.
scrap torpedo spread 3 for it.

Well, after todays patch running PH and HE at the same time is possible, which will turn Advanced and Multi-Vector Advanced Escorts in even more tanky monsters than they already were.

For EPtW, well, why not. NPCs aren't that hard to deal with, so 1 EPtS will probably be enough. Just don't do this in PvP, there won't be any healing cruisers in PuGs any longer. Not that there were many...

Edit: Oh and get rid of your RSP, it won't do you any good any longer. It probably will get you killed more often, when interferring with the new shared cooldown with EPtS.

baudl

yeah, new patchnotes...decker is right. might use now a aux to sif 1 instead of RSP. but still thinking about it.

cotp0maurafey

Though healing cruisers are not in abundance, many of the Hull Heals I use can be used on other players, and I always check the character roster in PUGs and heal other people before me. If they are taking damage, they are the target of the moment, as I am not, the longer I keep them alive, the longer I don't become a target...while my Quantum Torps pound away.
I carry Extend Shields I and it works very well for other players, would like to replace it with something dual use, but haven't found for shield heals. Any suggestions?

nikephorus

Thanks for all the advice guys. Much appreciated!

Kind of stinks about reverse shield polarity I quite enjoyed that skill...oh well easy come easy go I guess. I'm now using two copies of Emergency Power to Shields since I really don't know what else to put in there. I'd rather have a survival skill since I seem to constantly get curb stomped in elite stf's. Which was the main reason for this thread actually. In normal stf's I never die or even really come close to dieing. In elite it's an entirely different story. I get hit by the borg shield drain and then get easily picked off by whatever is flying by at the time or if I manage to escape and patch myself up as soon as I dive in again it's the same story shields get drained almost immediately and I'm a duck. It's a little frustrating.

Anyway [/wine] I'm now using 3 damage control officers to try and reduce the recharge on my Emergency Power to Shields. What other two duty officers should I use? Also, no one touched the fleet weapons question? Good? Bad?

baudl

my opinion on fleet weapons: For STFs forget them.
For other stuff, the turrets are good and the torpedo tubes...
If you have atleast MK XII [acc]x2 cannons front, stick with those. If you only have the borg, then maybe you can get some with the [acc] mod.
But frankly...they are too expensive to change, relative to the benefit you would get. If you do 90% STFs when you play (like me) it doesn't pay out. And i'm still waiting and saving for the elite versions anyway...but i guess those will suck hard.

jacenjacen24

You dont need 2 torp spreads. I would swap one out for high yield.

I like to do the torps abilities with the cannons. So i use canon rapid with high yield. And scatter villey with spreas. This usually gives me the best shot at makin sure shields are down when torp hits.

The rest of the build really good. Just keep workin for those mark 12's.

For doffs i use the cannon abilities and torp cool down doffs. And i have a boff cooldonw doff. I do notice a difference.

This just popped in my head. If ur worried about shields maybe try moving ur mvae console to the tact spot. You lose some dmg but you can then get another field generator.