atrox build critique

x1ann0x

With a lot of trials and errors so far, I came up with this build in about a week.

Consoles:
Eng: monotitanium, ablative, theta radiation vents
Sci: biofunction monitor, subspace jumper, assimilated module, field generator
Tac: 2xChroniton Flux regulator mkXII purples

BOffs:
Tac: Torpedo Spread 1, Spread 2
Eng: EPtS1, EPtS2, Aux2S
Sci: polarize hull 1, tractor repulsors 1, tractor beam 3, grav well 3
Sci: transfer shield strength 1 and 2, hazard emitters 3

equips:
currently MACO mk X, will get Adapted MACO once I can make it.
fore: 2xchroniton torpedoes mk XII crthx2 dmg, polarized tetryon DBB mk XI
aft: bio-neural warhead, polarized tetryon beam mk XI, chroniton mine mk XII crthx2 dmg

I mostly do STFs. Usually I cc probes coming out of gateways or whatever needs cc, and provide some additional dps. I want to be as useful as I can, so any constructive criticism is welcome.
Also, since I want to be of use on elite STFs, I'd like to know if my current equipment and build is sufficiently good or not. I just don't want to be dead weight on those.

mandoknight89

Personally, I don't like chroniton torpedoes. The slow is nice, but nothing slows an enemy quite like being dead, and chroniton torps aren't good for that compared to most of the other types.

fraghul2000

Some things that come to mind:

- you're using a lot of skills and weapons which require movement and manoeuvrability to be effective (e.g. Theta Radiation, Mines) which the Atrox doesn't have a lot of.

- you're using a lot of weapons and skills which are pointing in different directions. With such a slow-turner as the Atrox, it might become hard to point your guns and skills into the direction you want them to point to. It might be better to use a setup which either has it's loadout pointed towards the front of the ships or the broadside.

- mines are rather ineffective when not being used in combination with a Pattern-skill.

- the way Crew is currently working, Bio-function monitors are pretty much worthless. You recover Crew at a rate between 1-2/second, which means improving it by a percentage doesn't really have any effect, especially if you have a huge crew like the Atrox.

- try to look at some Sci-consoles which support your science Boff skills. That would be Graviton Generators for Tractor Beam and Repulsors or Particle Generators for Grav Well.


also two more general tips on carriers, which a lot of people don't seem to know:

- Aux power improves the cooldown rate of your hangar pets
- You tac consoles also improve the damage of your pets. Tet consoles improve Stalkers, Plasma Scorpions, Phaser Peregrines etc...

shurato2099

Just to chime in on some things that others have mentioned:

- The Atrox turns very slowly and you have a number of items in your loadout that rely heavily on your facing (torpedoes, mines, gravity well, the DBB, etc). This honestly looks like a loadout for a smaller, more nimble vessel.

- You may want to consider your primary tactics and build around that. Your build appears to be very front loaded with an emphasis on controls so I would suspect that you typically get into position and hold with your nose pointed at more-or-less stationary targets? If that's the case then your aft weapons probably don't get much of a workout. On the other hand if your intent is to unload controls on approach, pass and then unload your mine and the bio-torp as you leave then you've got a blind spot to the sides forward, no overlap with your beams and no way to effectively drop enemy shields for the bio-torp to do its best damage.

- If you're using Tractor Beam Repulsors for damage you want to minimize the push effect by dropping your Aux power on demand, for which Aux2S is decent, Aux2Bat is better. You may also want to consider switching that and your Tractor Beam3 around.

x1ann0x

*throws theta radiation out the window* I agree with that one, doesn't work well for me. Might be good for my fleet deep space science vessel.

mandoknight89 wrote: »

Personally, I don't like chroniton torpedoes. The slow is nice, but nothing slows an enemy quite like being dead, and chroniton torps aren't good for that compared to most of the other types.

Actually, the slow can be useful together with the grav wells, since grav well's pull is by no means good, and this will at least make it harder for them to go out. Also, with no reliable means to drop enemy shields fast, I need to keep firing on them, or to go for transphasics, I suppose.
As far as broadsiding the atrox, I don't believe I'd do this better than a cruiser. 8 > 6 as far as weapon slots go, and I already have a broadsiding cruiser for my engi. I don't see how a sci will do better at it. I want to focus on one thing, and actually be able to do it properly.

shurato2099 wrote: »

- The Atrox turns very slowly and you have a number of items in your loadout that rely heavily on your facing (torpedoes, mines, gravity well, the DBB, etc). This honestly looks like a loadout for a smaller, more nimble vessel.

Never had much of an issue with this on STFs, things there don't tend to move at more than 0.1 km/h. Due to this speed, I can mostly sit in one spot and shoot stuff. If I need to turn, there's evasive maneuvers and subspace jump as well. Also, since torpedoes don't do less damage over higher distances, or at least that's what I think, I can sit behind, which makes my firing angle decent.
Also, there's a blind spot between the 90 arc on the DBB and torpedoes and the beams, but just going to 1/4 speed and slightly turning left or right gets things into the firing range of the torpedoes.
The mines serve a couple of purposes for me. They aren't a source of dps, but they can be rather efficient at intercepting random high yield plasma torpedoes fired by borg.

Edit: and thanks for the replies so far. ^_^

resoundingenvoy

I'm with fraghul2000, ditch the bio-function monitor. +300% of almost zero is still almost zero. If your worried about crew monotanium, neutronium, or a emergency force field may serve you better.

Also, you may or may not want to look into a Aegis set. It's not a great deal to look at, but once the resistance stacks five times your going to be getting a constant 30-40% resistance to a damage type. Which consider the pounding the big blue bullseye takes, adds up quickly.

Edit: In addition to the +5% static defense, and +5% defense for not standing still.

Edit2: Something else that's only marginally helpful, but noticeable is Mask Energy Signature. Not normally worth a second look, but again the Atrox is a big blue bullseye. Sometimes not being the first thing seen can make a difference.

x1ann0x

The bio-function monitor prevents your crew from going missing, as odd as that sounds. To test, I got half of my crew missing by looking at a borg cube, once battle ended I equipped one of those, and crew appeared out of thin air. They were still disabled, but not missing. As for the emergency force fields, it has less of an effect to crew loss than the bio-function monitor.
Once I get to omega rank 5, I'll be making the Adapted MACO set, which provides a 25% boost to torpedo damage (awesome since I'm mostly relying on those for damage), and the crew recovery rate is equivalent to having the monitor. Aegis is awesome as well for the defense, which is low for me because I tend to keep my speed low.
Not sure what kind of effect Mask energy signatures on NPCs has, but for players, I'm easily detected at about 10km by a sci in a wells with no extra stealth detection consoles. It used to be awesome before with the covert trait, since I could run right next to people with my engi, and they'd never know.
Some other fun stuff. No amount of graviton generators makes the gravity wells' pull not be useless. Just 3 ranks of inertial dampeners, and you won't ever notice it. As for NPCs, it may prevent them from advancing, a GW DOff is absolutely required if you're going to use this skill.
For power levels, I run at 100 aux, about 60 shields (forgot exact amount, but it was 100 with the EPtS on), rest into weapons. This gives me about 20s recharge time on the hangars, with a green flight deck officer boosting those, for lack of a better one.