As far as I'm concerned the Fleet Saber is one of the most criminally underrated ships in the game. Beats out the Fleet Patrol and only falls behind the Bug when it comes to non-specialized, bread-and-butter Fedscorts. Its pivot is beautiful, it feels like handling a cannon on wheels.
Kinda sucks that it had such a PR problem due to the incorrect shield mod/hull info text.
So I had a thought the other day while playing around with my Vesta. I wondered how effective a shield-stripping build would be if it used Aux cannons to supplement its damage.
The results are pretty astounding. I've been able to take the shields clean off of pretty much anything (as long as RSP isn't up), even if it has ally support in the form of Extend or TSS. More importantly, I can do it while contributing a good bit of sustained damage from the Aux cannons. Torpedoes may be better for spike damage in this kind of build, but with the cannons I can focus my doffs on buffing Tractor Beam, Tachyon Beam and CPB instead of needing them to reduce torpedo cooldowns, and those doff powers are really quite helpful.
The best part about all this? I tested it on a character with mostly terrible gear and no budget. An Eng captain, even--and I didn't even use a LtCom Tac, like I originally wanted to!
This is the build I ran. Things I would change for a more ideal build are in italics.
I've thrown this against premade teams, pugs, 1v1s, everything I coudl think of and its performed superbly even with a less than ideal setup. I've even found that, with my Eng captain and the LtCom engi boff, I can act as a secondary healer when my shield drain skills are on cooldown.
The playstyle is reminiscent of old Guild Wars "balanced spike" builds, where each player on the team would have a particular role during the course of the fight and would, on command, switch duties for a brief moment to spike down the designated target of opportunity. In this case, normal duties would be healing and doing whatever damage I could, and when the opportunity for a spike arises I pop tractor beam, Tachyon beam and CRF, saving CPB for when the target uses shield regen skills. Usually, if my team coordinates with me, this results in a quick kill even against otherwise tough targets.
cool, glad, and a little terrified, to see shield striping working on sci ships. the higher version of TB, the more the doff will drain too FYI. with the EPSx doff, you want 1 or 2 different variants of it for more chanced for the doff to proc for you. to shields and to aux would fit this ship well i bet. consider the omega 2 part for tet glider, and a 5th flow cap console.
OMG, another Saber Pilot!!!! I am not alone after all.
I was thinking of replacing Attack Pattern Beta with Beam Overload 2 and get a Dual Beam Bank up front. It's frustrating almost killing an opponent with 4 DHC's, then not being able to deal the finishing blow.
That's why I have the aft beam array. After the CFR volley, turn and deliver the BO3 burst. And even when still not killed, after moving out and turning back in front: CSV is up to do another volley.
I just dont want my cannon power reduced with 25%....
And, maybe a HY torp on the back is little more "spikey" but I tend to leave it as it is right now because it would cost another respec....
I may switch to CRF2/APO3 as it seems to give more DPS. It sould be possible to time these together, since they would both share 30 sec cooldown. CSV1 would then be up together with APD1.
No replacement of BO2 for APD because I need APD to reduce APO. And I already have the energy weapons specialist which has 50% chance to reduce BO/FAW.
I've been bouncing around the idea of a shield stripping build. This build is entirely in my head, I don't have the rep or equipment for all of it yet so can't tell you how effective it would be since I haven't touched Shield stripping since season 5.
Deflector: Omega
Engines: Omega
Shields: MACO or those sexy Fleet Elite Resilients with Res mods (haven't looked at the store to see the mods)
Eng Consoles: Zero Point, Borg, Tachyokinetic Sci Consoles: 4 Flow Cap (you can get the Romulan Embassy consoles for more plasma love or those hull/shield heals) Tac Consoles: 3 Plasma Energy weapon consoles (alternatively, if the cannons and turrets are just for the Glider procs you could for for the Plasma Torp consoles to make big Omega Torp Booms)
Doffs:
1 x Gravimetric (Purple: 20% chance for 1000/sec rad dot on CPB), 2 x Damage Control Engineers, 1 x Tractor Beam shield drain Doff, 1 Tachyon Beam Turn Debuff (does anyone know if these actually work now?)
I haven't looked at drains, but does anyone know if Tractor Beam 3 with tachyon beam 2 would be more effective? Tachyon, has the 10k range, but is limited to the forward arc. TB has the 360 arc but 5k range, but can be fire and forgot and good for setting up targets for other people.
Basically you've got broadside and forward shield pressure with Tet Glider. TB and CPB are 360 degree, 5KM shield drains and tachyon beam for the forward arc. I imagine you could whittle someone down on the broadside with Tet Glider. Turn to the forward arc and snag them with TB, hit them with Tachyon Beam, then time a HY Omega torp with CPB. I don't think it will be a death by plasma build, but the plasma is just for added annoyance.
Join Date: Sep 2009
[23:35] Horta deals 1738411 (1538303) Toxic Damage to Centurion Engineer with Corrosive Acid.
i'd say the only thing its missing is the rom torp aft, just so you can get the rom set 3 part beam attack. every 2 minutes is a great unclearable hull debuff, and a nasty DOT. so strip their shields and slash their hull defense, sounds like a good combo to me.
As far as I'm concerned the Fleet Saber is one of the most criminally underrated ships in the game. Beats out the Fleet Patrol and only falls behind the Bug when it comes to non-specialized, bread-and-butter Fedscorts. Its pivot is beautiful, it feels like handling a cannon on wheels.
Kinda sucks that it had such a PR problem due to the incorrect shield mod/hull info text.
Tried one out last night on my non-bug driving tac toon. After a disastrous debut against DDIS and some of his klingon brethren; it did very very well in subsequent matches. Held its own vs a 4 man Panda squad (I had good pug mates for sure). I am very impressed with this ship and in my personal opinion, it is the best option for a cut rate JHAS substitute (with the Steamy very close).
Deflector: KHG [Breen, if you're poor]
Engine: Hyper Impulse
Shield: KHG [Breen, if you're poor]
Eng Consoles: 1 RCS, 2 Neutronium (seriously, they're Eng consoles, put what you prefer here)
Sci Consoles: 3 Particle Generators
Tac Consoles: 4 Transphasic Compressor Consoles
COM Tac: Tactical Team / Torpedo Spread 2 / Dispersal Pattern: Beta 2 / Attack Pattern: Omega 3
LTC Sci: Hazard Emitters 1 / Transfer Shield Strength 2 / Tractor Beam Repulsors 2
LT Tac: Tactical Team / Torpedo High Yield 2 (double spreads or double high-yields acceptable)
LT Eng: Emergency Power to Engines 1 / Emergency Power to Shields 2
ENS Sci: Polarize Hull 1
DOffs: 2 Blue Projectile Weapons Officers, 3 Blue Damage Control Engineers.
Tactics: Kill people's hulls. Their shields won't help them. If you're fighting someone light on hull heals keep the pressure on, make sure you get them to burn resistances before spiking. Uh, if you leave a Tac/Escort at sub-20% hull and don't go straight for the kill you can and will be hoisted by your own petard. If you really, really, really need to boogie, AP:O+EPtE+Evasives+Max Engine power will give you about 5 seconds at 228 impulse speed. Overall the ship is very fast, but a bit sluggish to turn. Hit and run and don't be afraid to get into a poking duel, your torps don't lose any damage over distance. W/ Breen set on here I have about 4400 damage per torp unbuffed. Full buff (GDF at 100% health) the torps are doing about 9900 damage when fired without THY/TS.
Might add more later.
If you feel Keel'el's effect is well designed, please, for your own safety, be very careful around shallow pools of water.
Why are the Hyper/Omega Aft instead of Fore? I kept killing myself...lol. Seriously, all those Plasma DoTs would inevitably crit against me - when you're eating 1200-1800+ a sec...doesn't take long to die when somebody else is shooting at you as well...meh. HE won't cover it - just spam too much for HE to deal with it.
As far as I'm concerned the Fleet Saber is one of the most criminally underrated ships in the game. Beats out the Fleet Patrol and only falls behind the Bug when it comes to non-specialized, bread-and-butter Fedscorts. Its pivot is beautiful, it feels like handling a cannon on wheels.
Kinda sucks that it had such a PR problem due to the incorrect shield mod/hull info text.
Pardon the impending noob question, but what does the Fleet Saber do that much better than the Fleet Patrol? I don't see where it's got a clearly defined advantage over the Patrol. (I don't have both ships so I can't go apples-to-apples myself, but looking at their stats they look neck and neck.)
Thanks for your time.
=================
I'm sure your DPS is great, but as Kahless said, "a petaQ with high system mastery is still a petaQ." (Well, he should have said it...!)
Pardon the impending noob question, but what does the Fleet Saber do that much better than the Fleet Patrol? I don't see where it's got a clearly defined advantage over the Patrol. (I don't have both ships so I can't go apples-to-apples myself, but looking at their stats they look neck and neck.)
Thanks for your time.
Immediate difference is turn rate and inertia. I agree, on paper it doesn't look like much of a difference. I have both and the FER just "feels" better to me. I also freely admit that it is just that, a feeling, and others may feel differently. Keeping the FER a hidden gem would be fine with me
I like to use my FPE in pve, it rocks. The most likely explanation for my feeling is that my main is a bug driver and the FER provides a very similar feel while flying. Regardless, the FPE is also a fine fine vessel!
Immediate difference is turn rate and inertia. I agree, on paper it doesn't look like much of a difference. I have both and the FER just "feels" better to me. I also freely admit that it is just that, a feeling, and others may feel differently. Keeping the FER a hidden gem would be fine with me
I like to use my FPE in pve, it rocks. The most likely explanation for my feeling is that my main is a bug driver and the FER provides a very similar feel while flying. Regardless, the FPE is also a fine fine vessel!
That all sounds perfectly cromulent, thanks for taking the time. Small point of curiosity, if you buy the FER, does it come with the Gladius skin, or does that require the purchase of the lower-tier Refit? I find the G to be the best-looking ship of the class.
Have a good one!
=================
I'm sure your DPS is great, but as Kahless said, "a petaQ with high system mastery is still a petaQ." (Well, he should have said it...!)
the costume doesn't come with it, it should considering the price and what you get for it.
the fleet escort basically has the movement stat of the defiant, wile also having a more useful ENS station. though its shield mod seems low, these sub tier 5 based fleet ships come with an extra chunk of shield HP that isn't mentioned anywhere. so with lower capacity shields, they tend to have higher capacity with them then say a tier 5 based fleet ship.
personally, i think it should have had a LTC eng, like the nova had a LTC tac, so i could have an escort with an LTC eng that wasn't a fat stupid carrier.
I love the Fleet Saber. It is one of the better Escorts to drive. Same maneuverability as the Defiant, the Boff Layout of the Patrol Escort, and the Console Layout of the Fleet Patrol Escort. It is the escort that got me to go try out Escorts again.
Really? huh.. I guess I've had a different experience. I have one (had one? *shrug*) and if i used deuterius surplus or even a regular battery, it maneuvered so fast that, as far as I can remember, was very difficult to drive. Akin to driving a b.o.p.. Maybe my memory deceives me...
Well when going full tilt with a battery, of course it would be more difficult to maneuver
I think, as as saber fan, for these kind of ships (thus that means manouverable speedy escorts) one should really consider speed, turn rate and enertia. especially enertia. I rather have -10% hull and +10 inertia. makes a lot of difference. Think escort wise, the effect of inertia is unerrated. Hence, why do the best escorts use speed tanking...
Hey, guys. I need some build advice and feedback for my torp boat Wells class. It's run on a Sci toon, and aims for general debuffing, with a side of CC.
Shields/Deflector/Engines:
MACO Mk XII
Weapons
Fore: Omega Torp, 2xPlasma Torp Launcher Mk XI [Acc][CrtD][CrtH]
Aft: Cutting Beam, Romulan Plasma Torp Launcher, Polarised Disruptor Beam Array (Gonna swap it for the Rom Experimental later)
Consoles:
Eng: Tippler Cylinder, ZPE, Borg
Sci: Tachyokinetic, 3xParticle Gen
Tac: 3xPlasma torp damage
Now, the main problem I currently have is getting my hull pounded by transphasics. As such, I'm considering swapping RSP for AtS. Any other suggestions are welcome, including getting a different ship for the Sci/Sci debuff role.
Hey, guys. I need some build advice and feedback for my torp boat Wells class. It's run on a Sci toon, and aims for general debuffing, with a side of CC.
Weapons
Fore: Omega Torp, 2xPlasma Torp Launcher Mk XI [Acc][CrtD][CrtH]
Aft: Cutting Beam, Romulan Plasma Torp Launcher, Polarised Disruptor Beam Array (Gonna swap it for the Rom Experimental later)
Consoles:
Eng: Tippler Cylinder, ZPE, Borg
Sci: Tachyokinetic, 3xParticle Gen
Tac: 3xPlasma torp damage
Now, the main problem I currently have is getting my hull pounded by transphasics. As such, I'm considering swapping RSP for AtS. Any other suggestions are welcome, including getting a different ship for the Sci/Sci debuff role.
Swapping RSP for Aux2SIF isn't a bad idea. I prefer it in a team setting, though I am more likely to use RSP while PUGging.
The other suggestion I might add is doubling down on your EPtS and dropping the EPtA, more resists.
With the DOFFs, well 1 SDO isn't really doing too much for you. At least not reliably. I would throw a 2nd Systems Engineer in there.
Otherwise, it's a fairly solid build. Especially if you happen to have some team support.
Well after extensive tests, defeats, victories, and turning people into scrap metal, I feel confident enough to post my finished Escort build.
First a bit of history about me: I originally hated Escorts due to my mental block of being unable to handle the extreme speeds I would be going, and I always sucked in one because of that, so I originally went to be a Tac Cruiser Pilot. The Fleet Excelsior was my baby, but then I decided on a whim (it's how many of my decision begin) to seriously try them out.
I looked through the lists and picked out one that many people don't even consider: a Saber (I'm the kind of guy that dares to be different). I know it has a bad rep due to the perceived notion of weak shields, but I like the looks of it. I purchased the Escort Retrofit and the Tier 2 Escort Refit to get the Gladius skin and kitted it out as a typical 4 DHC 3 Turret Escort. The first USS Xiphos was born.
After getting a feel for the ship, I decided to get serious with Escorts and purchased the Fleet Version of the Saber and it is now my Fed Tac Officer's ship.
My build for it was borrowed from many sources: this thread, a bit of a chat with Mavairo, and suggestions from OPVP. It was seriously tested against friends, fellow PVP'ers, and even NPCS. It has evolved into my favorite ship of all time.
Front: 3 Dual Heavy Cannons, 1 Dual Beam Bank (I chose Phaser, but any weapon will work.)
Aft: 3 Turrets (Again Phasers, and many would be curious on the lone aft Beam, the answer will come)
Deflector: Aegis
Engine: Aegis
Shields: Maco MK XI
Items: Aux Batteries, Subspace Field Modulator
Consoles:
Engineering: 2 RCS Accelerators, Zero Point console, Assimilated Console
Science: 2 Field Generators MK XI
Tac: 4 energy damage consoles (my case, phaser)
This is not your typical 4 DHC, 3 Turret Build. I thank Drunk for the strategy he suggests: do what Escorts do best, Speed Tank until you have GDF nice and buffed (50% is a good cutoff point) then buffed yourself up, activate RSP, and destroy your enemy with one powerful Alpha. Timed right, this build can destroy just about anything, from the smallest escort to the largest cruiser.
For gaps in APO, rely on APD, TSS, HE, and RSP to keep this little ship alive.
This build could work on more than just the Fleet Saber. A Patrol or Fleet Patrol Escort can use this build, the Somraw, Fleet Somraw, Fleet Qin, or Mirror Qin can use the build as well, and they can be even more lethal due to their cloaks. Other escorts either don't have the required Engineering Slots or don't have the required Tactical Slots.
I will post my skill layout in a later post.
Edit: Due to Drunk's Suggestions, I retooled the USS Xiphos and replaced one DHC with a Dual Beam Bank and replaced the array with a Turret. Then Drunk was kind enough to help me test it out. Simply put, the Dual Beam Bank, even with BO2, outdamages my previous build. I made the changes to reflect this.
As Drunk put it, 4 DHC's are not viable in Season 7 due to ridiculous shield healing. You need what I consider a shield cracker to open a hole in your opponents defenses and destroy their hull quickly. Some people choose 3 DHC's and a Torpedo for that job, I chose to not invest points in Torpedo skills and went with pure energy.
Edit 2: Replaced Borg with Aegis 2 Piece. Will be tinkering with the idea of MACO Shield and Deflector with Aegis Engines.
When you're using double AP DOffs I recommend playing cautiously. They're a powerful tool but you should resist the urge to hit APO/D just because they're off cooldown.
oh here's my thread, a sticky now. it kinda seems like when threads get stickied its a slow death, they don't get noticed like unstikied threads, at least by me. i just have to keep it going, me never updating it does a good job killing it. on almost all my builds, i plan on updating them next, theres a few changes i would make on almost all of them. at some point.
oh here's my thread, a sticky now. it kinda seems like when threads get stickied its a slow death, they don't get noticed like unstikied threads, at least by me. i just have to keep it going, me never updating it does a good job killing it. on almost all my builds, i plan on updating them next, theres a few changes i would make on almost all of them. at some point.
It's your thread, if you want it unstickied at any point just send us a PM!
today i did something with the thread! massive updates, id post links to the ones i changed, but i just realized i made changes to every single one of mine. so go check them out in the table of contents!
so, the ktinga is smaller then most escorts, smaller then most BOPS even. but its just slightly ahead of the vorcha as far as movement? oh well, its more then enough. as always, AtB and tech doffs transform this from a ship that cant have very good up time on its tactical skills to a slower esocrt that deals damage a bit more creatively then just with tac station powers.
tetryon glider, this buffed with a ton of flow cap and with tet weapons will give someone even with 99 to insulators serious shield trouble, and some one with minimal insulators total shield removal in short order. thus, the torps instead of a dual beam. a HY1 with any of those torps will do more damage then a DBB BO1 will, and i don't need an EPS console with it. i like the omega torp here, good 20k+ hits are easy to get with it. photons with their fireing rate and no projectile doffs do ok too when you got someone who is weak to glider's effect. and of course quatums for best if your lucky spike.
on average, you deal damage to shields with your CRF1 like an escort would with APO3 and CRF2 running. to targets with no insulators,they have no shields in 10 seconds. and DEM3 tac buffed does impressive damage as well behind shields. it all adds up to escort replacing damage dealing, in a MUCH more sturdy package.
wile not comically removing people's shields, and when an escort is agroing all over you, you want to wait for well timed tractor beam+ APA, CRF, THY and DEM alphas. if your put in a position were you can somewhat safely get your GDF buffed up wile waiting for the right TT less and APO less moment, all the better. it doesn't mater if its a bug your fighting, if timed right you can 1 shot anything and everything, and i have with this build. its all about the tanking its capable of vs a normal escort. it can take the heat, and bring the pain. the massive turn rate disadvantage and the 0 turn consoles in this build are not an issue, you just needs a window and a TB.
this build, on that anniversary kdf ship thats comeing if it has a LTC tac, will just make this even more painful. cant wait to see how it turns out! THY2 and CRF2, or maybe CRF1 and THY3. glider doesn't care how hard your energy weapon hits after all, that might be a better combo. it might not have 3 sci consoles though, so we will just have to see how it shakes out.
Comments
Kinda sucks that it had such a PR problem due to the incorrect shield mod/hull info text.
vids and guides and stuff
[9:52] [Zone #11] Neal@trapper1532: im a omega force shadow oprative and a maoc elite camander and here i am taking water samples
The results are pretty astounding. I've been able to take the shields clean off of pretty much anything (as long as RSP isn't up), even if it has ally support in the form of Extend or TSS. More importantly, I can do it while contributing a good bit of sustained damage from the Aux cannons. Torpedoes may be better for spike damage in this kind of build, but with the cannons I can focus my doffs on buffing Tractor Beam, Tachyon Beam and CPB instead of needing them to reduce torpedo cooldowns, and those doff powers are really quite helpful.
The best part about all this? I tested it on a character with mostly terrible gear and no budget. An Eng captain, even--and I didn't even use a LtCom Tac, like I originally wanted to!
This is the build I ran. Things I would change for a more ideal build are in italics.
Eng Captain (Sci or Tac)
Vesta Class
Fore: 3x Aux DHC
Aft: 1x Phaser Beam Array Mk XII, 1x Transphasic Mines Mk XI (Purple), 1x Transphasic Cluster Torpedo
Deflector: MACO Mk XII (Omega Mk XII)
Engine: Borg Mk XI (Omega Mk XII)
Shield: MACO Mk XII (Omega Mk XII)
Eng Consoles: 1x Neutronium Mk XI (Green) (Tachyokinetic), 1x Borg
Sci Consoles: 4x Flow Capacitor Mk XI (Blue), 1x Quantum Phaser
Tac Consoles: 3x Phaser Relay Mk XI (Green)
Comm. Sci: CPB 3, Tach Beam 3, HE 2, TSS 1
LtCom. Uni: (Eng) EPtS 3, Aux2SIF 1, EPtA 1 ((Tac) APO 1, CRF 1, TT 1)
Lt. Eng: RSP 1, ET 1 (RSP 1, EPtS 1)
Lt. Tac: CRF 1, TT 1 (DPB 1, TT 1)
Ens. Uni: (Sci) Tractor Beam 1
Doffs: 1x CPB DoT (Purple), 1x Tach beam turnrate (Blue), 1x Tractor shield drain (Blue), 2x EP Recharge (Blue)
Hangar: Delta Flyers
I've thrown this against premade teams, pugs, 1v1s, everything I coudl think of and its performed superbly even with a less than ideal setup. I've even found that, with my Eng captain and the LtCom engi boff, I can act as a secondary healer when my shield drain skills are on cooldown.
The playstyle is reminiscent of old Guild Wars "balanced spike" builds, where each player on the team would have a particular role during the course of the fight and would, on command, switch duties for a brief moment to spike down the designated target of opportunity. In this case, normal duties would be healing and doing whatever damage I could, and when the opportunity for a spike arises I pop tractor beam, Tachyon beam and CRF, saving CPB for when the target uses shield regen skills. Usually, if my team coordinates with me, this results in a quick kill even against otherwise tough targets.
That's why I have the aft beam array. After the CFR volley, turn and deliver the BO3 burst. And even when still not killed, after moving out and turning back in front: CSV is up to do another volley.
I just dont want my cannon power reduced with 25%....
And, maybe a HY torp on the back is little more "spikey" but I tend to leave it as it is right now because it would cost another respec....
I may switch to CRF2/APO3 as it seems to give more DPS. It sould be possible to time these together, since they would both share 30 sec cooldown. CSV1 would then be up together with APD1.
No replacement of BO2 for APD because I need APD to reduce APO. And I already have the energy weapons specialist which has 50% chance to reduce BO/FAW.
@rudiefix Feds: Rudiefix / Thron / Opa
@rudiefix KDFs: Lill / Xifeidur / Dehr / Ugly
@rudiefix Roms (KDF alligned): Chicita
Ship: Wells Temporal Timeship
Fore: 2x Plasma Single Cannons, 1 Omega Torp
Aft: 1 Experimental Romulan Beam array, 1 Cutting Beam, 1 Plasma Turret
Deflector: Omega
Engines: Omega
Shields: MACO or those sexy Fleet Elite Resilients with Res mods (haven't looked at the store to see the mods)
Eng Consoles: Zero Point, Borg, Tachyokinetic
Sci Consoles: 4 Flow Cap (you can get the Romulan Embassy consoles for more plasma love or those hull/shield heals)
Tac Consoles: 3 Plasma Energy weapon consoles (alternatively, if the cannons and turrets are just for the Glider procs you could for for the Plasma Torp consoles to make big Omega Torp Booms)
Cmd Sci: CPB3, Tachyon Beam 3, TSS2, HE1
Lt Sci: TB2, ST1
LtC Uni: EPTA1/EPTW1, Extend 1/RSP1, EWP1
Ens Eng: EPTS1
Lt Uni: TT1/THY1, APD1/CRF1
Alternatively:
LtC Uni: TT1, APD1/HYT2, CRF2
Lt Uni: EPTS1, Extend1/RSP1
Ens Eng: EPTA1/EPTW1
Doffs:
1 x Gravimetric (Purple: 20% chance for 1000/sec rad dot on CPB), 2 x Damage Control Engineers, 1 x Tractor Beam shield drain Doff, 1 Tachyon Beam Turn Debuff (does anyone know if these actually work now?)
I haven't looked at drains, but does anyone know if Tractor Beam 3 with tachyon beam 2 would be more effective? Tachyon, has the 10k range, but is limited to the forward arc. TB has the 360 arc but 5k range, but can be fire and forgot and good for setting up targets for other people.
Basically you've got broadside and forward shield pressure with Tet Glider. TB and CPB are 360 degree, 5KM shield drains and tachyon beam for the forward arc. I imagine you could whittle someone down on the broadside with Tet Glider. Turn to the forward arc and snag them with TB, hit them with Tachyon Beam, then time a HY Omega torp with CPB. I don't think it will be a death by plasma build, but the plasma is just for added annoyance.
[23:35] Horta deals 1738411 (1538303) Toxic Damage to Centurion Engineer with Corrosive Acid.
Tried one out last night on my non-bug driving tac toon. After a disastrous debut against DDIS and some of his klingon brethren; it did very very well in subsequent matches. Held its own vs a 4 man Panda squad (I had good pug mates for sure). I am very impressed with this ship and in my personal opinion, it is the best option for a cut rate JHAS substitute (with the Steamy very close).
Captain: Tactical
Role: Hull-hit Specialist
Front Weapons: 3 Rapid Reload Transphasic Torpedo Launchers, 1 Breen Cluster Torpedo Launcher
Rear Weapons: 1 Rapid Reload Transphasic Torpedo Launcher, 1 Breen Cluster Torpedo Launcher, 2 Transphasic Mine Launcher [CrtH]x3
Deflector: KHG [Breen, if you're poor]
Engine: Hyper Impulse
Shield: KHG [Breen, if you're poor]
Eng Consoles: 1 RCS, 2 Neutronium (seriously, they're Eng consoles, put what you prefer here)
Sci Consoles: 3 Particle Generators
Tac Consoles: 4 Transphasic Compressor Consoles
COM Tac: Tactical Team / Torpedo Spread 2 / Dispersal Pattern: Beta 2 / Attack Pattern: Omega 3
LTC Sci: Hazard Emitters 1 / Transfer Shield Strength 2 / Tractor Beam Repulsors 2
LT Tac: Tactical Team / Torpedo High Yield 2 (double spreads or double high-yields acceptable)
LT Eng: Emergency Power to Engines 1 / Emergency Power to Shields 2
ENS Sci: Polarize Hull 1
DOffs: 2 Blue Projectile Weapons Officers, 3 Blue Damage Control Engineers.
Tactics: Kill people's hulls. Their shields won't help them. If you're fighting someone light on hull heals keep the pressure on, make sure you get them to burn resistances before spiking. Uh, if you leave a Tac/Escort at sub-20% hull and don't go straight for the kill you can and will be hoisted by your own petard. If you really, really, really need to boogie, AP:O+EPtE+Evasives+Max Engine power will give you about 5 seconds at 228 impulse speed. Overall the ship is very fast, but a bit sluggish to turn. Hit and run and don't be afraid to get into a poking duel, your torps don't lose any damage over distance. W/ Breen set on here I have about 4400 damage per torp unbuffed. Full buff (GDF at 100% health) the torps are doing about 9900 damage when fired without THY/TS.
Might add more later.
Tell me what you think about the following differences:
Weapons
Fore: Cutting Beam, 2x Rapid Trans, Breen Cluster
Aft: Trans Mine, Hyper Torp, Omega Torp, Cluster
Consoles
Eng: Neut, RCS, Borg
Sci: 0Point, PDS, Breen
Tac: 2x Trans, 2x Ambis
DOFFs: 3x PWO(Torp), SDO(BFI), GS(GW)
TT1, TS2, APO1, DPB3
TT1, THY2
EPtS1, AtS1
TSS1, HE2, GW1
PH1
With the following passives...
Romulan: +3% Crit, PlacOnCritProc
Omega: +30 Weapon, KineticProc
Or the differences between the above and the following:
Changing APO1 to DPA2 and DPB3 to APO3.
Switching the Trans mines for Chron mines.
Dropping a Compressor for a Variable.
And then there's this one based on the first one:
Fore: Cutting Beam, 2x Plasma Torp, Breen Cluster
Aft: Plasma Mine, Hyper, Omega, Breen Cluster
Tac Consoles: 2x Ambis, Trans, Variable
Why are the Hyper/Omega Aft instead of Fore? I kept killing myself...lol. Seriously, all those Plasma DoTs would inevitably crit against me - when you're eating 1200-1800+ a sec...doesn't take long to die when somebody else is shooting at you as well...meh. HE won't cover it - just spam too much for HE to deal with it.
Pardon the impending noob question, but what does the Fleet Saber do that much better than the Fleet Patrol? I don't see where it's got a clearly defined advantage over the Patrol. (I don't have both ships so I can't go apples-to-apples myself, but looking at their stats they look neck and neck.)
Thanks for your time.
I'm sure your DPS is great, but as Kahless said, "a petaQ with high system mastery is still a petaQ." (Well, he should have said it...!)
Immediate difference is turn rate and inertia. I agree, on paper it doesn't look like much of a difference. I have both and the FER just "feels" better to me. I also freely admit that it is just that, a feeling, and others may feel differently. Keeping the FER a hidden gem would be fine with me
I like to use my FPE in pve, it rocks. The most likely explanation for my feeling is that my main is a bug driver and the FER provides a very similar feel while flying. Regardless, the FPE is also a fine fine vessel!
That all sounds perfectly cromulent, thanks for taking the time. Small point of curiosity, if you buy the FER, does it come with the Gladius skin, or does that require the purchase of the lower-tier Refit? I find the G to be the best-looking ship of the class.
Have a good one!
I'm sure your DPS is great, but as Kahless said, "a petaQ with high system mastery is still a petaQ." (Well, he should have said it...!)
the fleet escort basically has the movement stat of the defiant, wile also having a more useful ENS station. though its shield mod seems low, these sub tier 5 based fleet ships come with an extra chunk of shield HP that isn't mentioned anywhere. so with lower capacity shields, they tend to have higher capacity with them then say a tier 5 based fleet ship.
personally, i think it should have had a LTC eng, like the nova had a LTC tac, so i could have an escort with an LTC eng that wasn't a fat stupid carrier.
Plus the Gladius skin is just really damn cool.
@rudiefix Feds: Rudiefix / Thron / Opa
@rudiefix KDFs: Lill / Xifeidur / Dehr / Ugly
@rudiefix Roms (KDF alligned): Chicita
Shields/Deflector/Engines:
MACO Mk XII
Weapons
Fore: Omega Torp, 2xPlasma Torp Launcher Mk XI [Acc][CrtD][CrtH]
Aft: Cutting Beam, Romulan Plasma Torp Launcher, Polarised Disruptor Beam Array (Gonna swap it for the Rom Experimental later)
Consoles:
Eng: Tippler Cylinder, ZPE, Borg
Sci: Tachyokinetic, 3xParticle Gen
Tac: 3xPlasma torp damage
Doffs (all purple):
1xSDO, 2xPWO, 1xSystem Engineer (Additional VM), 1xGravimetric Sci
Boffs:
Cmdr Sci: TB1, TSS2, GW1, VM3
LtCmdr Uni (Eng): EPtS1, RSP1, EWP1
Lt Sci: ST1, HE2
Lt Uni (Tac): TT1, TS2
Ens Eng: EPtA1
Power settings:
25/60/55/60
Now, the main problem I currently have is getting my hull pounded by transphasics. As such, I'm considering swapping RSP for AtS. Any other suggestions are welcome, including getting a different ship for the Sci/Sci debuff role.
Edit: Ack, forgot to mention the MACO set.
Swapping RSP for Aux2SIF isn't a bad idea. I prefer it in a team setting, though I am more likely to use RSP while PUGging.
The other suggestion I might add is doubling down on your EPtS and dropping the EPtA, more resists.
With the DOFFs, well 1 SDO isn't really doing too much for you. At least not reliably. I would throw a 2nd Systems Engineer in there.
Otherwise, it's a fairly solid build. Especially if you happen to have some team support.
First a bit of history about me: I originally hated Escorts due to my mental block of being unable to handle the extreme speeds I would be going, and I always sucked in one because of that, so I originally went to be a Tac Cruiser Pilot. The Fleet Excelsior was my baby, but then I decided on a whim (it's how many of my decision begin) to seriously try them out.
I looked through the lists and picked out one that many people don't even consider: a Saber (I'm the kind of guy that dares to be different). I know it has a bad rep due to the perceived notion of weak shields, but I like the looks of it. I purchased the Escort Retrofit and the Tier 2 Escort Refit to get the Gladius skin and kitted it out as a typical 4 DHC 3 Turret Escort. The first USS Xiphos was born.
After getting a feel for the ship, I decided to get serious with Escorts and purchased the Fleet Version of the Saber and it is now my Fed Tac Officer's ship.
My build for it was borrowed from many sources: this thread, a bit of a chat with Mavairo, and suggestions from OPVP. It was seriously tested against friends, fellow PVP'ers, and even NPCS. It has evolved into my favorite ship of all time.
I present to you the specs for my Escort:
Name: USS Xiphos NCC-93189-A
Ship Class: Fleet Saber Retrofit
Role: Destroyer
Weapons:
Front: 3 Dual Heavy Cannons, 1 Dual Beam Bank (I chose Phaser, but any weapon will work.)
Aft: 3 Turrets (Again Phasers, and many would be curious on the lone aft Beam, the answer will come)
Deflector: Aegis
Engine: Aegis
Shields: Maco MK XI
Items: Aux Batteries, Subspace Field Modulator
Consoles:
Engineering: 2 RCS Accelerators, Zero Point console, Assimilated Console
Science: 2 Field Generators MK XI
Tac: 4 energy damage consoles (my case, phaser)
Stations:
Commander Tac: TT1, APD1, CRF2, APO3
LTC Tac: TT1, BO2, CRF2
Lieutenant Engineering: EPTS1, RSP1
Ensign Engineering: EPTW1
Lieutenant Science: TSS1, HE2
Doffs:
2 Conn Officers (Purple)- Reduces Attack Pattern Omega, Beta, and Delta Cooldown
3 Damage Control Engineers (2 Purple, 1 Green)- Reduce Emergancy Power to X cooldowns
Power Settings:
Weapons: 125/100
Shields: 44/25
Engines: 66/50
Aux: 44/25
This is not your typical 4 DHC, 3 Turret Build. I thank Drunk for the strategy he suggests: do what Escorts do best, Speed Tank until you have GDF nice and buffed (50% is a good cutoff point) then buffed yourself up, activate RSP, and destroy your enemy with one powerful Alpha. Timed right, this build can destroy just about anything, from the smallest escort to the largest cruiser.
For gaps in APO, rely on APD, TSS, HE, and RSP to keep this little ship alive.
This build could work on more than just the Fleet Saber. A Patrol or Fleet Patrol Escort can use this build, the Somraw, Fleet Somraw, Fleet Qin, or Mirror Qin can use the build as well, and they can be even more lethal due to their cloaks. Other escorts either don't have the required Engineering Slots or don't have the required Tactical Slots.
I will post my skill layout in a later post.
Edit: Due to Drunk's Suggestions, I retooled the USS Xiphos and replaced one DHC with a Dual Beam Bank and replaced the array with a Turret. Then Drunk was kind enough to help me test it out. Simply put, the Dual Beam Bank, even with BO2, outdamages my previous build. I made the changes to reflect this.
As Drunk put it, 4 DHC's are not viable in Season 7 due to ridiculous shield healing. You need what I consider a shield cracker to open a hole in your opponents defenses and destroy their hull quickly. Some people choose 3 DHC's and a Torpedo for that job, I chose to not invest points in Torpedo skills and went with pure energy.
Edit 2: Replaced Borg with Aegis 2 Piece. Will be tinkering with the idea of MACO Shield and Deflector with Aegis Engines.
http://www.stoacademy.com/tools/skillplanner/index.php?build=AzlanoEscort_0
I was only displaying space skills, I don't really care for ground, so you can place them anywhere you choose.
vids and guides and stuff
[9:52] [Zone #11] Neal@trapper1532: im a omega force shadow oprative and a maoc elite camander and here i am taking water samples
It's your thread, if you want it unstickied at any point just send us a PM!
its fine were it is, i will simply buck the trend!
go to the pvp section, you can see this thread displayed at the top, its pined there and doesn't need to be bumped to be displayed
-Spells
| Dues Ex Mechina |
Fleet Leader
so, the ktinga is smaller then most escorts, smaller then most BOPS even. but its just slightly ahead of the vorcha as far as movement? oh well, its more then enough. as always, AtB and tech doffs transform this from a ship that cant have very good up time on its tactical skills to a slower esocrt that deals damage a bit more creatively then just with tac station powers.
1 omega torp/photon/quantum, 3 tetryon DHCs, 3 tetryon turrets, 1 cuting beam
TT1, CRF1
THY1
EPtA1, AtB1, RSP2, DEM3
EPtS1, AtB1, ET3
TB1, HE2
my complete post buff AtB findings
equipment
omega deflector
omega engine
maco shiled
consoles
borg, temporal, leach, zero point
3 embassy flow cap consoles, hull/shield heal
3 tetryon energy damage
doffs
3 purple tech doffs, 2 BFI or 2 projectile
tetryon glider, this buffed with a ton of flow cap and with tet weapons will give someone even with 99 to insulators serious shield trouble, and some one with minimal insulators total shield removal in short order. thus, the torps instead of a dual beam. a HY1 with any of those torps will do more damage then a DBB BO1 will, and i don't need an EPS console with it. i like the omega torp here, good 20k+ hits are easy to get with it. photons with their fireing rate and no projectile doffs do ok too when you got someone who is weak to glider's effect. and of course quatums for best if your lucky spike.
on average, you deal damage to shields with your CRF1 like an escort would with APO3 and CRF2 running. to targets with no insulators,they have no shields in 10 seconds. and DEM3 tac buffed does impressive damage as well behind shields. it all adds up to escort replacing damage dealing, in a MUCH more sturdy package.
wile not comically removing people's shields, and when an escort is agroing all over you, you want to wait for well timed tractor beam+ APA, CRF, THY and DEM alphas. if your put in a position were you can somewhat safely get your GDF buffed up wile waiting for the right TT less and APO less moment, all the better. it doesn't mater if its a bug your fighting, if timed right you can 1 shot anything and everything, and i have with this build. its all about the tanking its capable of vs a normal escort. it can take the heat, and bring the pain. the massive turn rate disadvantage and the 0 turn consoles in this build are not an issue, you just needs a window and a TB.
this build, on that anniversary kdf ship thats comeing if it has a LTC tac, will just make this even more painful. cant wait to see how it turns out! THY2 and CRF2, or maybe CRF1 and THY3. glider doesn't care how hard your energy weapon hits after all, that might be a better combo. it might not have 3 sci consoles though, so we will just have to see how it shakes out.