What's the verdict on new Imp/Def/Shd sets?

jplatimer

Since S7, and the changes to the Borg and other sets, what are people's opinions on the best sets? Is mixing sets worth it any more? Which set is the best for Sci tanking? Which set is the best for Tacticals? AEGIS set back in style? MACO/OMEGA where its at? Something else? What does everyone think? Thoughts and opinions appreciated.

starboardnacelle

In my experience, the full Borg set has become the go-to for Science tanking. With one blue Mark XI Field Generator, I only lost ~2,000 capacity with the Mark XI regenerative compared to the Mark XII M.A.C.O. resilient. The regenerative bonuses help to offset the loss.

captainpetey001

How about for escorts? I'm flying the Fleet escort and would very much like to know if there's a combo of kits that would work best for my shields & hull.

jbmaverick

I know a fair few people are recommending at the very least using the old Aegis engines on escorts, to further improve their evasiveness (and because they're Hyper-Impulse, which are generally more useful to end-game ships that likely have above-average engine power), and can be paired with the Aegis deflector for even more of a bonus.

Shields, as always, are still a subject of debate, all 3 STF shields taken alone are still fairly strong against the Borg due to high plasma resistances (MACO tending to have the highest preference, followed by KHG), although Fleet Covariants with ResB may actually be slightly tougher if you don't mind losing the additional benefits. When not fighting the Borg, the MACO shield is still fairly tough due to built-in resistances to everything, but can probably be easily overshadowed by a Fleet Covariant with a matching resistance to your current enemy's energy type, although you have to measure out the utility of the extra power levels that can come with the MACO against the extra HP on the Fleet shield. The Borg shield, being a Regenerative type, has very low shield HP and will tend to fall quickly under focused firepower. As such, it's not recommended for tanking, where you need high effective HP to deal with incoming damage, but may have potential use on utility ships that only occassionaly receive fire, and may have some use on escorts IF a proper tank is available.

For set bonuses, most still seem to feel that the MACO set bonuses are underwhelming, although the shield is obviously still highly used and the deflector is decent for tanking, the KHG set bonuses are pretty good to very good depending on what you're using (torpedo builds are popular with this set), and Omega can still be pretty useful on an escort to add some extra damage, although the overall set isn't very strong for tanking. The Aegis Reactive Shielding set bonus still only applies to hull, for whatever reason, and isn't as highly regarded, and the shield itself is largely outclassed now, although the 2-piece defense bonus is nice. The Borg set, now that it can't be paired with an actually useful shield, probably won't see as much use on larger ships that need the extra HP to help offset their lack of other defensive options, but may still have some utility on escorts that can run if things go bad, and hopefully the heals will have activated and will allow the escort to return to battle more quickly. The Borg set tends to lack offensively though, so that may work against it being used on escorts.

The above is personal opinion combined with some observations from lurking around the forums, and in no way reflects the opinions of the community as a whole, nor does it reflect any actual research and number crunching on the part of the poster. :-P

bitemepwe

Some KDF Tactical players seem to like Aegis Deflector and Engines with the KHG shields or do KHG deflector and shields with Aegis engines for the bonus defense buff.

With a toon speced in elusive trait with Aegis bonus you could push close to 90 off the base 70 escorrs get I would guess.

xantris

captainpetey001 wrote: »

How about for escorts? I'm flying the Fleet escort and would very much like to know if there's a combo of kits that would work best for my shields & hull.

Omega engine and deflector(for tet glider) with a KHG//maco shield

futurepastnow

Good news! They've saved the Aegis set, sort of. They saved it by destroying it.

My fleet just unlocked Science IV and I discovered that Elite Fleet space shields have the [Adapt] mod just like the ground shields... and just like the 3-piece Aegis set.

Which means you can use a very strong Mk XII shield with the Aegis engine and deflector and still have the 3-piece bonus without the entire set. The only thing you lose is the visual attached to the Aegis shield.

bitemepwe

futurepastnow wrote: »

Good news! They've saved the Aegis set, sort of. They saved it by destroying it.

My fleet just unlocked Science IV and I discovered that Elite Fleet space shields have the [Adapt] mod just like the ground shields... and just like the 3-piece Aegis set.

Which means you can use a very strong Mk XII shield with the Aegis engine and deflector and still have the 3-piece bonus without the entire set. The only thing you lose is the visual attached to the Aegis shield.

Excellent!! I wonder if thats their "plan", to make the existing sets less needed by slowly introducing items with thier own unique or useful abilities?

havam

I m having a blast with the full KHG set atm.

diogene0

On my kdf chars, i'm using a full KHG build on most of them (except my sci, full borg set), with a torp, since the 3rd set power is now really useful.

On my feds (sci/carrier and eng), full maco for now, but i'm still looking for better opportunities. I'd use an omega 2 parts + a maco shield if i had a fed tac though.

towani

So, for a Fed Tact, seems like no one set is really superior atm. Also seems like the best pieces are still from Maco / Omega. Borg 2nd. Maybe Aegis. Then no love for the Jem Hadar or Reman sets? They're still TRIBBLE?

jniebaum

On my Fed I'm running 2/3 of the MACO mk XII, one of the MACO mk X (engine), my KDF is currently rocking the Breen Set on a carrier, and I downgraded from the Borg Set of Mk XI.

shockwave85

My escorts feel the least squishy running the full Borg set, mostly due to the set bonuses. I used to run the Borg Def/Eng/Cons with MACO shield setup, but since that's out I've been playing with the different full sets to see what's viable there. Full MACO XI isn't cutting it, I was popping left and right in my Fleet Defiant running eSTF the other day. Full Borg seems better thanks to the heal focused set bonuses making up for the escorts' lack of room for hull healing Eng. and Sci. powers. I may actually go back to Borg Def and Eng with MACO shield despite losing the shield regeneration. I'd still have the Borg hull regen, plus the passive resists and higher capacity of the MACO shield (of which I have a XII).

lordmalak1

xantris wrote: »

Omega engine and deflector(for tet glider) with a KHG//maco shield

Ya, this. The glider sure helps ripping galors apart faster than the full borg set but I sure miss the weaker (but more resilient) borg shield when running the KHG shield. A 5th efficient BOFF may help but I think dumping the ens/tac for an engie may be the answer- mirror Qin IS in the bank.

diogene0

towani wrote: »

So, for a Fed Tact, seems like no one set is really superior atm.

Remember that you'll unlock the adapted maco set in a couple of months too. It's basically the KHG one for Feds. It's a good set but it's not tac-oriented, it's rather a multipurpose set you can use as a valid option for a tac, but don't expect somehting outstanding. The omega 3 parts could aslo be an interesting option, especially in pvp.

towani wrote: »

Then no love for the Jem Hadar or Reman sets? They're still TRIBBLE?

Actually, it's worse than TRIBBLE. It's not even worth the time you spend grinding it, especially for the Reman one. It's been buffed for season 7 but the buff is ridiculous. :P They are in no way endgame sets.