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BoP's and Support

theodrimtheodrim Member Posts: 0 Arc User
edited December 2012 in Klingon Discussion
Hi everyone, I'm relatively new to the game (been playing about a week now), just yesterday made a KDF engineer with the intent to build it as more of a defensive support character, on the ground (generators and turrets) and in space (buffs and heals). My Federation character is a science officer in an escort, and on her I focus on burst damage and offensive support, just for the sake of comparison and context.

My question is, are birds of prey a feasible platform for this style of play? Looking at the ships' consoles and boff slots, it seems battlecruisers would be much better-suited to the role; but on the other hand, the turn rates and speed of BoP's appeal to me as I would have the luxury of much faster reaction time as well as universal slots to fill as needed.
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Post edited by theodrim on

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  • edited December 2012
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  • travelingmastertravelingmaster Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited December 2012
    Yeah, if you want to build a defensive/healer type of ship, stick with cruisers. The BoPs are a jack-of-all-trades in everything except tanking. That's the one thing they don't do that well, not without sacrificing a lot of other abilities. Low hull + low shield modifier = bad at tanking.

    What BoPs do best right now is either hit-and-run DPS with the battlecloak, or being makeshift science ships for the KDF faction (gravity wells, scramble sensors, tractor beams, debuffers, etc).
    My PvP toon is Krov, of The House of Snoo. Beware of my Hegh'ta of doom.
  • jamesburtchelljamesburtchell Member Posts: 94 Arc User
    edited December 2012
    theodrim wrote: »
    Hi everyone, I'm relatively new to the game (been playing about a week now), just yesterday made a KDF engineer with the intent to build it as more of a defensive support character, on the ground (generators and turrets) and in space (buffs and heals). My Federation character is a science officer in an escort, and on her I focus on burst damage and offensive support, just for the sake of comparison and context.

    My question is, are birds of prey a feasible platform for this style of play? Looking at the ships' consoles and boff slots, it seems battlecruisers would be much better-suited to the role; but on the other hand, the turn rates and speed of BoP's appeal to me as I would have the luxury of much faster reaction time as well as universal slots to fill as needed.

    yeah stick to the cruiser i would say
    The Emperor isn't please with Cryptic apparent lack of progress for the Empire. Lord Vader is on his way
  • momawmomaw Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited December 2012
    Tanking and supporting are two different things. Tanking is the act of drawing fire, and being exceptionally resist to fire, so that other players with less ability to resist fire don't have to. Supporting is the act of giving heals and buffs to allies and applying debuffs to the enemy.

    BOPs are handicapped in terms of tanking potential because of their thin hull and weak shields, but for support there's no reason they can't be outstanding. Your AP Beta still debuffs just as much, your aux2sif still heals just as much, regardless of the durability of your ship. In that sense the BOP works fine as a support ship purely because you can cherry pick your bridge officers for exactly what you want to do. A companion shadow that follows team mates around, never drawing attention and injecting heals as needed is certainly doable.

    Though I question the notion of a dedicated supporter being an engineer because three of your end-game captain abilities (miracle worker, nadion inversion, rotate shield frequency) can't be used on other players. The engineer is selfish in that regard, and really does her best work when she is the focus of the enemy's attention i.e. tanking which we've already established the BOP isn't ideal for. Science is very much more the "support" class with scattering field and sensor scan *greatly* amplifying the performance of your team in either defense or offense respectively.
  • p2wsucksp2wsucks Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited December 2012
    You could try a near perma cloaked torp/mine b'rel.

    You won't do as much damage as a Tac or Sci since you have neither damage buffs nor target debuff captain abilities. But, debuff procs like cronts are always useful.

    You'll be a full aux which is nice for tossing some repairs around (don't use anything that'll keep you exposed).

    Honestly, not the best of ideas. But, I think it may be something you'd enjoy if support is your thing and you'll keep up w/those who hit and run better than those in cruisers or carriers.
    [Zone] Dack@****: cowards can't take a fed 1 on 1 crinckley cowards Hahahaha you smell like flowers
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  • travelingmastertravelingmaster Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited December 2012
    momaw wrote: »
    Tanking and supporting are two different things. Tanking is the act of drawing fire, and being exceptionally resist to fire, so that other players with less ability to resist fire don't have to. Supporting is the act of giving heals and buffs to allies and applying debuffs to the enemy.

    BOPs are handicapped in terms of tanking potential because of their thin hull and weak shields, but for support there's no reason they can't be outstanding. Your AP Beta still debuffs just as much, your aux2sif still heals just as much, regardless of the durability of your ship. In that sense the BOP works fine as a support ship purely because you can cherry pick your bridge officers for exactly what you want to do. A companion shadow that follows team mates around, never drawing attention and injecting heals as needed is certainly doable.

    Though I question the notion of a dedicated supporter being an engineer because three of your end-game captain abilities (miracle worker, nadion inversion, rotate shield frequency) can't be used on other players. The engineer is selfish in that regard, and really does her best work when she is the focus of the enemy's attention i.e. tanking which we've already established the BOP isn't ideal for. Science is very much more the "support" class with scattering field and sensor scan *greatly* amplifying the performance of your team in either defense or offense respectively.

    I've observed that it's best to be able to tank and support at the same time, because supporting via heals will draw aggro on NPCs, and supporting via sci-spamming AND heals in PvP will result in you likely being targeted, making some tanking (at least shield tanking) ability needed.

    Engineer in a sci ship with a good sci build should work out well enough, as long as he manages his abilities well.
    My PvP toon is Krov, of The House of Snoo. Beware of my Hegh'ta of doom.
  • theodrimtheodrim Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited December 2012
    Indeed, I'm painfully aware cruisers are more survivable, but "slow and steady" regretfully doesn't have nearly the appeal to me as a player that rapid, point response does. I'll elect to have a cruiser if I must (and, the vo'quv is still highly tempting since I love carriers), but I'd like to explore my options in terms of fast ships first.

    Though, with that said, I already figured on running as a torpedo boat to allow me to stay on the periphery, for hit-and-run attacks on targets of opportunity as they present themselves while throwing out what support to the team I can (and, to that end dedicating my high-rank slots to science and engineering officers with buff/heal powers). I'm definitely not looking to "tank", here, and the plan if I come under fire is to run for the hills until the situation's back under control.
    Somebody getting uppity about canon? No problem! Just take a deep breath, and repeat after me:

    Spock's Brain.
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