What is the best build setup for the tac bortasqu for a tactical captain?
I need some advice because I keep dying too quickly....
Without knowing what you are using I can explain a little bit how you are dieing so much/why it being used has died off like most flavor of the month ships do.
First thing is a lot of people try to use all 3 consoles which for being in a ship pack the KDF got so hosed because it takes 3 out of 10 console slots to use the 3 out of 3 set for it. So what newer players end up doing is sacrificing engineering. Basically though for an all around setup you could try the Ablative, Tetraburnium, Neutronium for a flat resistance against most weapon types to not have to keep switching around for engineering consoles. The other option is putting all neutroniums for a flat resistance vs kinetic and all energy types. One of my personal favorites is 1 neutronium and then for disruptors/phasers= diburnium, plasma/tetryon = Electroceramic, and then polaron/antiproton = parametallic engineering consoles if you want high damage resistance in one of those to maximize damage resistance when you know everything shooting at you is going to be using the same thing like pve npcs.
In most cases though when it comes to this ship people may just use one of the set consoles, none at all, or just pick something more worthwhile. I hate to biased when it comes to this ship but i rarely ever use it since its just not something I would ever recommend to another player unless they change how it functions especially since the set effects are so crappy and off the bat they gave feds an ungodly amount of counters against it.
You have to do silly things to it in order to make it work.
Tinker with your build until you find something that makes you laugh every time you take it into battle, and then you'll know you've done it right.
Not knowing you're building for I can't give you any other advise than that. But if you plan to take it into PvP, The only way to survive is to kill the other guy first.
With five Tac consoles and that disruptor autocannon, the Bortasqu hits like a runaway train. The problem it also handles like a runaway train.
One BOff skill you MUST have on this (or really on any cruiser or battlecruiser) is Auxiliary to Inertial Dampeners (Aux2Damp or AtD for short.) Using that plus Evasive Maneuvers and attack patterns (and occasionally pulling the throttle to full reverse) will go a long way to helping keep your target in your fore arc.
...Oh, baby, you know, I've really got to leave you / Oh, I can hear it callin 'me / I said don't you hear it callin' me the way it used to do?...
- Anne Bredon
I'm building for heavy DPS. Generally I don't PVP. I do a lot of STF's and other reputation missions as well as dailies for dilithium.
Also, from what I've seen the autocannon seems pretty useless, but correct me if I'm wrong.
No such thing as useless. Nearly useless things exist in this game, but most anything can have a usage.
Consider the Bortasqu to be a giant siege weapon, designed around taking out a huge, sitting target. It's not fast, it's not agile, but it can hit, HARD. The Autocannon as such, is the 'trebuchet' of it, so to speak.
When properly buffed by consoles, added crit chance from various sources, and then super-buffed by a tac (if applicable), it can rip off up to half of a Borg gate or Tac cube's life in moments. Very very slow to 'reload' true, and it's all one big ole' blaze of glory, but it can be a truly tremendous blaze indeed.
I remain empathetic to the concerns of my community, but do me a favor and lay off the god damn name calling and petty remarks. It will get you nowhere.
I must admit, respect points to Trendy for laying down the law like that.
I'm building for heavy DPS. Generally I don't PVP. I do a lot of STF's and other reputation missions as well as dailies for dilithium.
For PvE I use a hybrid DHC/Torpedo build. I drop the whole Bortasqu console set in my engineering slots (mostly for the extra tactical buff from the set bonus, but the subspace snare and the HoH'sus BoP are pretty handy when fighting packs of frigate NPCs.) With the Zero-Point Energy Conduit in the other eng space and the Rule 62 console in the sci slot. I find the Bortasqu is tough enough to soak damage from any NPC without console upgrades - unless I'm doing eSTFs - then the subspace snare and the Bop goes out for electroceramic hull plating and monotanium. Depending on my torpedo/cannon balance I'll either load all disruptor coils (I use mk XI blues because I'm stingy with EC - but not real money, weirdly) or split 3 DICs and 2 of whatever torp/mine class I'm using.
On some STFs like the one with the gate (I can't remember what that one's called - they blur together at this point) I use two quantum torpedo launchers forward for optimal long-range damage. My general PvE build has torpedoes fore and aft, mines to clear my baffles, 2x DHCs, 1 SC, and 2x turrets, (I use polarized disruptors because I pulled a lot of them out of Temporal lockboxes while hunting for DOffs.) I alternate my torpedoes depending on what I'm hunting. Heavily-shielded targets get rapid-fire transphasics and sometimes the Breen cluster; sometimes I use Omega and/or Rom Hyper-plasma, but I find Quantums work well on pretty much anything. I usually use the KHG set unless I'm using transphasics - then I go with Breen Sub-Zero.
As for BOff layouts - it's a toolbox. You use the best tools for the job at hand. As I said above though, I never go anywhere without Aux2Damp. And 90% of the time I leave the same tac BOff in my LCdr uni station with TT1, CSV1, APO1.
BTW all this is on an Eng. captain with no space traits and no BOffs with any space traits. (Gen. Ssharki is distrustful of telepaths so he allows no Letheans on his bridge.) Your results will vary.
...Oh, baby, you know, I've really got to leave you / Oh, I can hear it callin 'me / I said don't you hear it callin' me the way it used to do?...
- Anne Bredon
Right now I am running the mkxi honor guard but eventually I'm gonna shell out for a mark xii set. Which one is the best for survivability.
For survivability probably the best combo is the KHG engines and shields with the Adapted KHG deflector.
I don't have any Adapted KHG gear yet but my fed alt has started using the MACO equivalent of that combo (Adapted engines and shield, MACO deflector) in STFs and even at Mk XI its very solid.
...Oh, baby, you know, I've really got to leave you / Oh, I can hear it callin 'me / I said don't you hear it callin' me the way it used to do?...
- Anne Bredon
There are some great points above for this bundle of ships. I personally prefer the 5 Tac variant. The only useful item that comes with the ships / bundle is the Disruptor Autocannon.
This ship isn't that popular in PVP, though we do see it time to time. And making a Decloaking Alpha Strike with that big cannon is devastating. With the sluggish turn rate, it takes alot of preparation before the fight to even set this ship up right. RCS consoles and the BOFF skills mentioned in earlier replies in this thread. It also takes patience, it's an art form almost in setting this monstrous beast up for a proper decloaking strike.
I use the TAC Bortasqu' on one of my kdf tacs... Despite its looks it is one of the most fragile KDF cruisers. Personally I have stopped trying to tank with it and just use it like a REALLY heavy escort. Works better that way, at least for PvE.
The main problem is turning so I use all of these.
Devices:
Large Engine Battery <-- drops in STFs
Deuterium Burn <-- farm them in Alhena
Impulse Burst Console <-- Sometimes you need to run like hell
Autocannon Console
Boff Powers:
Emergency Power to Engine 1 and Auxiliary Power to Inertial Dampers 1
DEM3 <-- For the Alpha, not only it increases the damage of ALL your guns, it also lowers drain by a massive amount thanks to the doff below
AOP1
DOFFS:
Con Officer (the one that lowers the evasive maneuvers cooldown) Marion Frances Dulmur
Try to practice using all of these to move around and bring your weapons to bear. Alphas from cloak are pure murder with this ship, as long as you can actually aim your guns. And if everything goes wrong, do not hesitate to run and heal. If you want to play a tanking cruiser any other KDF BC will do a MUCH better job. However none of them come close to the DPS of this ship... or the awesome good looks and palatial bridge.
3 Fleet DHCs, Romulan Hyper Plasma torpedo front, 3 Fleet turrets and borg cutting beam rear, all weapons disruptors.
Why disruptors? I thinkt he disruptor coil consoles buff the autocannon. I only use that console.
I got the old Mark XI Borg set for it, and it Can tank...just not as good as a Fleet Excelsior.
With a tactical captain, Attack pattern Alpha, tactical fleet, and go down fighting plus emergency power to weapons can really give the Autocannon a heavy kick, especially if its followed by rapid fire cannons and high yield romulan torpedoes.
Consoles (I Use the Science variant for sensor analysis, it buffs damage)
ENG : 1 electroceramic, 1 ablative, Autocannon console, Borg assimilated console.
SCI : Field Generator, Shield emitter amplifier (may switch them out for -threat consoles)
TAC: 3 Disruptor inductio coil, 1 Ambiplasma envelope
Let us wear Swimsuits on Foundry maps or bridges please! I would pay zen for that.
First, the Bortasqu is one of the games ultimate hull tanks. Shields are nice, but it excels at hull tanking. In PvE, my Bortasqu (which is now retired) only ever carried one shield heal and that was RSP.
Second, build for sustained DPS, not burst. That means beam arrays and beam skills. Avoid torp skills and opt for a torpedo that uses no boff skill, if you carry a torp at all (I rarely did).
For set advice on that ship, run both borg sets.
Sticking to this should net around 5 million total zone dmg at the end of an STF with zero deaths.
In PvP, this build will always put you at the top of your teams math points.
Above all else, keep it simple. It is a slow moving ship. Don't try to build it like a raptor. Turn the ships limitations into it's strengths.
You know Cryptic has Jumped the Proverbial Shark when they introduced Tractor Pulling to Star Trek Online!
For survivability probably the best combo is the KHG engines and shields with the Adapted KHG deflector.
I don't have any Adapted KHG gear yet but my fed alt has started using the MACO equivalent of that combo (Adapted engines and shield, MACO deflector) in STFs and even at Mk XI its very solid.
I rather like Adapted KHG shields on my Fleet Tor'Kaht (A smaller, faster Bortas for the most part), paired with a Positron Deflector (which the MACO Deflector is a variant of) and KHG engines for the efficiency bonuses to shields engines and weapon. I can tank quite a bit with this combo, typically more than KHG shields, KHG engines and Positron deflector. The shield's proc of giving more power is quite nice, as more shield power buffs regen and resistance of shields. Plus, less bleedthrough=more hull left over when shields are finally breached. For PvE and STFs this works quite well.
I find the Bortie better suited for Engineering classes.
With beam arrays not really doing a good job of applying pressure damage Ive used a mix of (2) BO1s or a BO/BFaw to do decent damage. Even a beam and turret build using DEM with BO find the Bortasqu lacking.
All cannon builds can work very well but the beastys slow turn hampers such greatly. Itll be like flying a big tough raptor that gets to alpha strike once every few minutes.
Right now I have 5 Induction coils in the tac slots for disruptor damage. In the sci slot I have the obvious max shield booster. What I am really stuck on is the engine consoles and boff abilities. In my engy slots right now I have the assimilated universal, 2 neutroniums and an RCS that helps make the horrendous turnrate slightly less horrendous. I have considered dropping the RCS for the autocannon.
As for Boff abilities I have absolutely no idea what to put. I have heard about running multiple copies of tac team, emergency power to shields and cannon rapid fire.
Also, I have never been good on Doffs and don't know what to use.
P.S. In case anyone was wondering I am running 3 Polarized Disruptor DHC and the Omega Torp front and 3 Disruptor turrets and the Cutting Beam in the Rear.
Comments
Without knowing what you are using I can explain a little bit how you are dieing so much/why it being used has died off like most flavor of the month ships do.
First thing is a lot of people try to use all 3 consoles which for being in a ship pack the KDF got so hosed because it takes 3 out of 10 console slots to use the 3 out of 3 set for it. So what newer players end up doing is sacrificing engineering. Basically though for an all around setup you could try the Ablative, Tetraburnium, Neutronium for a flat resistance against most weapon types to not have to keep switching around for engineering consoles. The other option is putting all neutroniums for a flat resistance vs kinetic and all energy types. One of my personal favorites is 1 neutronium and then for disruptors/phasers= diburnium, plasma/tetryon = Electroceramic, and then polaron/antiproton = parametallic engineering consoles if you want high damage resistance in one of those to maximize damage resistance when you know everything shooting at you is going to be using the same thing like pve npcs.
In most cases though when it comes to this ship people may just use one of the set consoles, none at all, or just pick something more worthwhile. I hate to biased when it comes to this ship but i rarely ever use it since its just not something I would ever recommend to another player unless they change how it functions especially since the set effects are so crappy and off the bat they gave feds an ungodly amount of counters against it.
You have to do silly things to it in order to make it work.
Tinker with your build until you find something that makes you laugh every time you take it into battle, and then you'll know you've done it right.
Not knowing you're building for I can't give you any other advise than that. But if you plan to take it into PvP, The only way to survive is to kill the other guy first.
With five Tac consoles and that disruptor autocannon, the Bortasqu hits like a runaway train. The problem it also handles like a runaway train.
One BOff skill you MUST have on this (or really on any cruiser or battlecruiser) is Auxiliary to Inertial Dampeners (Aux2Damp or AtD for short.) Using that plus Evasive Maneuvers and attack patterns (and occasionally pulling the throttle to full reverse) will go a long way to helping keep your target in your fore arc.
...Oh, baby, you know, I've really got to leave you / Oh, I can hear it callin 'me / I said don't you hear it callin' me the way it used to do?...
- Anne Bredon
Also, from what I've seen the autocannon seems pretty useless, but correct me if I'm wrong.
No such thing as useless. Nearly useless things exist in this game, but most anything can have a usage.
Consider the Bortasqu to be a giant siege weapon, designed around taking out a huge, sitting target. It's not fast, it's not agile, but it can hit, HARD. The Autocannon as such, is the 'trebuchet' of it, so to speak.
When properly buffed by consoles, added crit chance from various sources, and then super-buffed by a tac (if applicable), it can rip off up to half of a Borg gate or Tac cube's life in moments. Very very slow to 'reload' true, and it's all one big ole' blaze of glory, but it can be a truly tremendous blaze indeed.
For PvE I use a hybrid DHC/Torpedo build. I drop the whole Bortasqu console set in my engineering slots (mostly for the extra tactical buff from the set bonus, but the subspace snare and the HoH'sus BoP are pretty handy when fighting packs of frigate NPCs.) With the Zero-Point Energy Conduit in the other eng space and the Rule 62 console in the sci slot. I find the Bortasqu is tough enough to soak damage from any NPC without console upgrades - unless I'm doing eSTFs - then the subspace snare and the Bop goes out for electroceramic hull plating and monotanium. Depending on my torpedo/cannon balance I'll either load all disruptor coils (I use mk XI blues because I'm stingy with EC - but not real money, weirdly) or split 3 DICs and 2 of whatever torp/mine class I'm using.
On some STFs like the one with the gate (I can't remember what that one's called - they blur together at this point) I use two quantum torpedo launchers forward for optimal long-range damage. My general PvE build has torpedoes fore and aft, mines to clear my baffles, 2x DHCs, 1 SC, and 2x turrets, (I use polarized disruptors because I pulled a lot of them out of Temporal lockboxes while hunting for DOffs.) I alternate my torpedoes depending on what I'm hunting. Heavily-shielded targets get rapid-fire transphasics and sometimes the Breen cluster; sometimes I use Omega and/or Rom Hyper-plasma, but I find Quantums work well on pretty much anything. I usually use the KHG set unless I'm using transphasics - then I go with Breen Sub-Zero.
As for BOff layouts - it's a toolbox. You use the best tools for the job at hand. As I said above though, I never go anywhere without Aux2Damp. And 90% of the time I leave the same tac BOff in my LCdr uni station with TT1, CSV1, APO1.
BTW all this is on an Eng. captain with no space traits and no BOffs with any space traits. (Gen. Ssharki is distrustful of telepaths so he allows no Letheans on his bridge.) Your results will vary.
...Oh, baby, you know, I've really got to leave you / Oh, I can hear it callin 'me / I said don't you hear it callin' me the way it used to do?...
- Anne Bredon
For survivability probably the best combo is the KHG engines and shields with the Adapted KHG deflector.
I don't have any Adapted KHG gear yet but my fed alt has started using the MACO equivalent of that combo (Adapted engines and shield, MACO deflector) in STFs and even at Mk XI its very solid.
...Oh, baby, you know, I've really got to leave you / Oh, I can hear it callin 'me / I said don't you hear it callin' me the way it used to do?...
- Anne Bredon
This ship isn't that popular in PVP, though we do see it time to time. And making a Decloaking Alpha Strike with that big cannon is devastating. With the sluggish turn rate, it takes alot of preparation before the fight to even set this ship up right. RCS consoles and the BOFF skills mentioned in earlier replies in this thread. It also takes patience, it's an art form almost in setting this monstrous beast up for a proper decloaking strike.
The main problem is turning so I use all of these.
Devices:
Large Engine Battery <-- drops in STFs
Deuterium Burn <-- farm them in Alhena
Gear:
Advanced Fleet Hyper Engine [Spd] [Turn]x3
Advanced Fleet Covariant Shield [cap]x3 [resb]
2x DHC, 2x Cannon, 4x Turrets, all disruptors
Impulse Burst Console <-- Sometimes you need to run like hell
Autocannon Console
Boff Powers:
Emergency Power to Engine 1 and Auxiliary Power to Inertial Dampers 1
DEM3 <-- For the Alpha, not only it increases the damage of ALL your guns, it also lowers drain by a massive amount thanks to the doff below
AOP1
DOFFS:
Con Officer (the one that lowers the evasive maneuvers cooldown)
Marion Frances Dulmur
Try to practice using all of these to move around and bring your weapons to bear. Alphas from cloak are pure murder with this ship, as long as you can actually aim your guns. And if everything goes wrong, do not hesitate to run and heal. If you want to play a tanking cruiser any other KDF BC will do a MUCH better job. However none of them come close to the DPS of this ship... or the awesome good looks and palatial bridge.
3 Fleet DHCs, Romulan Hyper Plasma torpedo front, 3 Fleet turrets and borg cutting beam rear, all weapons disruptors.
Why disruptors? I thinkt he disruptor coil consoles buff the autocannon. I only use that console.
I got the old Mark XI Borg set for it, and it Can tank...just not as good as a Fleet Excelsior.
With a tactical captain, Attack pattern Alpha, tactical fleet, and go down fighting plus emergency power to weapons can really give the Autocannon a heavy kick, especially if its followed by rapid fire cannons and high yield romulan torpedoes.
Consoles (I Use the Science variant for sensor analysis, it buffs damage)
ENG : 1 electroceramic, 1 ablative, Autocannon console, Borg assimilated console.
SCI : Field Generator, Shield emitter amplifier (may switch them out for -threat consoles)
TAC: 3 Disruptor inductio coil, 1 Ambiplasma envelope
Second, build for sustained DPS, not burst. That means beam arrays and beam skills. Avoid torp skills and opt for a torpedo that uses no boff skill, if you carry a torp at all (I rarely did).
For set advice on that ship, run both borg sets.
Sticking to this should net around 5 million total zone dmg at the end of an STF with zero deaths.
In PvP, this build will always put you at the top of your teams math points.
Above all else, keep it simple. It is a slow moving ship. Don't try to build it like a raptor. Turn the ships limitations into it's strengths.
I currently have that set equipped on my Tac Bortasqu. The turn rate is still sluggish as hell, and definitely didn't help me in PVP
If you're looking on ground, you're seeing the specs for small craft (shuttle/fighter).
I rather like Adapted KHG shields on my Fleet Tor'Kaht (A smaller, faster Bortas for the most part), paired with a Positron Deflector (which the MACO Deflector is a variant of) and KHG engines for the efficiency bonuses to shields engines and weapon. I can tank quite a bit with this combo, typically more than KHG shields, KHG engines and Positron deflector. The shield's proc of giving more power is quite nice, as more shield power buffs regen and resistance of shields. Plus, less bleedthrough=more hull left over when shields are finally breached. For PvE and STFs this works quite well.
With beam arrays not really doing a good job of applying pressure damage Ive used a mix of (2) BO1s or a BO/BFaw to do decent damage. Even a beam and turret build using DEM with BO find the Bortasqu lacking.
All cannon builds can work very well but the beastys slow turn hampers such greatly. Itll be like flying a big tough raptor that gets to alpha strike once every few minutes.
R.I.P
As for Boff abilities I have absolutely no idea what to put. I have heard about running multiple copies of tac team, emergency power to shields and cannon rapid fire.
Also, I have never been good on Doffs and don't know what to use.
P.S. In case anyone was wondering I am running 3 Polarized Disruptor DHC and the Omega Torp front and 3 Disruptor turrets and the Cutting Beam in the Rear.