Chimera Heavy Destroyer Build

vulcanmonk

Greetings Starfleet Shipwrights,

I am a Science Captain, flying a Chimera Heavy Destroyer, and I am trying to improve my build. This is what I'm currently using:

GEAR:

Fore
Fleet Advanced Dual Heavy Phaser Cannon MkXII (Dmg)x3 (acc) x3
Fleet Advanced Photon Torpedos MkXII (Dmg)x3 (acc) x1
Aft
Fleet Advanced Phaser Turret MkXII (Dmg)x3 (acc) x3

Deflector
MACO Adapted Mk XII
Impulse
MACO Adapted Mk XII
Shields
MACO Adapted Mk XII

Engineering Consoles
Neutronium Alloy Mk XII x3
Science Consoles
Field Generator MK XII x2
Tactical Consoles
Universal Dynamic Tactical, Phaser Relay Mk XII x3

BOFFS:
Lt Cmd Uni (tac)
Torpedo Spread I
Attack Pattern Beta I
Cannon Rapid Fire II

Ensign Uni (sci)
Hazard Emitters I

Cmd (tac)
Tactical Team I
Attack Pattern Beta I
Torpedo Overload III
Cannon Rapid Fire III

Lt (eng)
Em Power to Shields I
Em Power to Shields II

Lt (sci)
Hazard Emitters I
Sci Team II

DOFFS :
Developmental Lab Scientist (very Rare) X2
Projectile weapons Officer (very rare) x2
Space warfare specialist for STFs or Conn Officer

I would appreciate any feedback. Thanks!

toneyboy

Hello Vulcanmonk !

Your build looks solid, except on a small detail. From lots of parsing in my chimera, i've found that you gain more than you loose by putting that Universal console (dynamic targetting) into either sci or eng slot (i prefer removing a shield cap console over the neutronium one), and then adding another phaser relay console in tac.

Another good move would be to put your torp in the back in lieu of a turret, and add another dual heavy in the front.

You would also get more crits (and more DPS) by swapping one of those neutronium alloy for the Adapted Borg Module (universal).


Hope this helps, and good hunting !

corbinwolf

toneyboy wrote: »

Hello Vulcanmonk !

Your build looks solid, except on a small detail. From lots of parsing in my chimera, i've found that you gain more than you loose by putting that Universal console (dynamic targetting) into either sci or eng slot (i prefer removing a shield cap console over the neutronium one), and then adding another phaser relay console in tac.

Another good move would be to put your torp in the back in lieu of a turret, and add another dual heavy in the front.

You would also get more crits (and more DPS) by swapping one of those neutronium alloy for the Adapted Borg Module (universal).


Hope this helps, and good hunting !

I second this... how do the two of you like your chimera? Is it on par, say with a Temporal Destroyer? With all the goodies Cryptic is bringing us in May I am thinking of going lifer once its on sale again and like the idea of the Chimera personally. Thanks.:)

quintaris

I did some PVP with my fleet in a Chimera and found it to be very squishy...we even had a discussion afterwards wondering why it was so squishy.

Switching to a Fleet Defiant worked much better, with the same equipment.

I'm in a temporal destroyer right now, but haven't had a chance to test it out with my fleeties yet.

wildweasal

quintaris wrote: »

I did some PVP with my fleet in a Chimera and found it to be very squishy...we even had a discussion afterwards wondering why it was so squishy.

Switching to a Fleet Defiant worked much better, with the same equipment.

I'm in a temporal destroyer right now, but haven't had a chance to test it out with my fleeties yet.

I have one as well but I don't find it that squishy but then im a eng and that uni I stuff with a eng I do a ton les damage but I livea lot lot longer

thegreendragoon1

I greatly enjoy my chimera on my engineer. I tend to build it more defensivly than others. The key to the chimera is its versatility. It can be built very differently. I personally build with Cmd. Tac, Lt.Cmd. Sci, Lt. Sci, Lt. Eng, Ens. Eng. The transformation console also offers a nice boost to shields or weapons accuracy.

vulcanmonk

Thanks for the feedback!

I really like the Chimera; yes it can be a bit squishy as one poster wrote, and it doesn't have the power of the Andorian Kumari, but overall I like the package it offers, respectable firepower, and well rounded defensive abilities.

So based on comments and some experimentation I decided to make this a full cannon build, the reason being, 1) it seems to allows maximum DPS benefit from consoles and 2) this new build will be a bit 'tank-ier' with a new BOFF layout. This is what I'm using now...

GEAR:
Fore Weapons
Fleet Advanced Dual Heavy Phaser Cannon MkXII (Dmg)x3 (acc) (4)

Aft Weapons
Fleet Advanced Phaser Turret MkXII (Dmg)x3 (acc) (3)

Deflector MACO Adapted Mk XII
Impulse MACO Adapted Mk XII
Shields MACO Adapted Mk XII

Engineering Consoles
Neutronium Alloy Mk XII (Very Rare) (2)
Universal Dynamic Tactical
Science Consoles
Field Generator MK XII (very Rare) (2)
Tactical Consoles
Phaser Relay Mk XII (Very Rare) (4)

BOFFS:
Lt Cmd Uni(sci) -
Hazard Emitters I
Hazard EMitters II
Science Team III

Ensign Uni (sci) -
Polarize Hull I

Cmd (tac) -
Tactical Team I
Attack Pattern Beta I
Cannon Rapid Fire II
Cannon Rapid Fire III

Lt (eng) -
Emergency Power to Weapons I
Emergency Power to weapons II

Lt (sci) -
Transfer Shield Strength I
Transfer Shield Strength II


DOFFS :
Developmental Lab Scientist (2)
Conn Officer (2)
Spare warfare specialist for STFs

Planned updates. Waiting on our fleet weapons with acc x2. Also need to open more boxes to get the energy weapons officers who lower recharges on cannon abilities. Anybody using those Energy Weapons DOFFS?

corbinwolf

vulcanmonk wrote: »

Thanks for the feedback!

I really like the Chimera; yes it can be a bit squishy as one poster wrote, and it doesn't have the power of the Andorian Kumari, but overall I like the package it offers, respectable firepower, and well rounded defensive abilities.

GEAR:
Fore Weapons
Fleet Advanced Dual Heavy Phaser Cannon MkXII (Dmg)x3 (acc) x4

Aft Weapons
Fleet Advanced Phaser Turret MkXII (Dmg)x3 (acc) x3

Planned updates. Waiting on our fleet weapons with acc x2. Also need to open more boxes to get the energy weapons officers who lower recharges on cannon abilities. Anybody using those Energy Weapons DOFFS?

Thanks to everyone for their opinion of this ship. Have been thinking about for a while now as really, as much as I enjoy the Mobius and the Breen ship, Ive wanted something more in the feeling of a Fed cruiser/escort so this obviously fits the bill.

One thing I am confused about though, you say that you have:

Fleet Advanced Dual Heavy Phaser Cannon MkXII (Dmg)x3 (acc) x4 & Fleet Advanced Phaser Turret MkXII (Dmg)x3 (acc) x3 yet you state you are waiting for fleet weapons with acc X2?! Why would you downgrade in ACC?!? Also, I wasn't aware that you could get fleet weapons with ACC x 4 and 4?

Sorry if I am not understanding something here. Either way, looks like a fun build. Well done!

lan451

It's the way he wrote it that looks off. What he means is that he currently has 4 Fleet Advanced Dual Heavy Phaser Cannon MkXII (Dmg)x3 (acc) up front and 3 Fleet Advanced Phaser Turret MkXII (Dmg)x3 (acc) in the back. They don't have dmgx3 AND accx4. He's waiting for the new fleet weapons that have accx2 on it.

vulcanmonk

Hi bugspatteredjack,

Yes as Lan451 said it's a formatting issue. I will edit. I think you'll be happy with the Chimera, many others have said that it is not worth to get the lifetime only for this ship, but I did, and I'm happy with it. The 500 zen a month is also nice

thegreendragoon1

That's an interesting build. Since you're a science captain, I'm curious what playstyle it's meant to support.

Here are a few observations. Take with a grain of salt.

1. I've personally found two copies of Transfer Shield Strength to be almost useless as the shared cooldown is only about 5 seconds shorter than the regular cooldown.
2. Two copies of EP2W will definitely help boost you're firepower, but not having EP2S will cause you to take a hit in survivability. Most run with 2 copies of EP2S so that they can keep its shield resist buff up 100%.
3. If you're using two copies of HE for max debuff removal, fine, but if you're using it for hull healing, may I recommend using the Lt. Eng. slot for a copy of Aux 2 Structural Integrity which is a reasonable hull heal with a much shorter cooldown.
4. If your goal is to run Tac Team as much as possible, you'll find Sci Team will just get in the way.
5. I personally like to take advantage of some of the science control power which come in handy for things like STFs. Plus if a ship can't move, it looses it's defensive bonus. I personally run with a copy of Tractor Beam and Gravity well. This'll depend more on personal playstyle.
6. Might want to swap one of those CRF for a CSV so you have an AOE option. There are some
7. Only a minor suggestion, but you may want to consider APO as it includes both a turn/speed boost (which results in a defensive boost) and removes movement debuffs.
8. I personally prefer using the Borg deflector and engines. Nicer buffs and a innate hull heal.

Here's my build for anyone who's interested. Keep in mind that I made intentional choices with certain aspects to support my playstyle. (As strange as it's sounds, beams work better for me.)

http://skillplanner.stoacademy.com/?build=pendragon_0

corbinwolf

vulcanmonk wrote: »

Hi bugspatteredjack,

Yes as Lan451 said it's a formatting issue. I will edit. I think you'll be happy with the Chimera, many others have said that it is not worth to get the lifetime only for this ship, but I did, and I'm happy with it. The 500 zen a month is also nice

Oops, my bad! Thanks for the clarification.... brain TRIBBLE on my part! :rolleyes:

Thanks again... looking forward to this ship now!

commanderkassy

Which is better?

[Dam]x3 [Acc]

Or

[Dam]x2 [Acc]x2

I'm leaning towards the latter. My Chimera is a beam boat and the couple times I have missed my utterly devastating BO3 has made me weep sad little tears.

thegreendragoon1

commanderkassy wrote: »

Which is better?

[Dam]x3 [Acc]

Or

[Dam]x2 [Acc]x2

I'm leaning towards the latter. My Chimera is a beam boat and the couple times I have missed my utterly devastating BO3 has made me weep sad little tears.

Accuracy is a big deal when dealing with targets with a high defensive value. (faster NPC ships, targetable torpedos, other players) If your accuracy is greater than your targets defensive value, the excess is converted into critical severity. (a few sources I found claim both CritH and CritS, but others claim only the latter.)

If you're dealing with a slow moving NPC, such as a Borg Cube, you may get more overall bang for your buck with the straight up Damage modifier. However if your shot misses all the damage modifiers in the world won't help it.

commanderkassy

That was my suspicion, thank you.

The Chimera makes a very interesting beam boat. In regenerative mode I'm actually very tanky, and even with beams, I'm doing a pretty serious amount of damage. I have zero points in Starship Threat Control, and I still steal aggro from well equipped escorts intermittently.

I like that the Heavy Destroyer is a sort of not-a-cruiser. Very interesting ship.

Looking forward to a fleet Chimera ..

thegreendragoon1

I've found it to be very effective in more chaotic situations such as Fleet actions. (Have my Starbase 21 trophy in my crew lounge. ) I've also found that tactical mode makes the Chimera more effective at shooting down high defense value objects such as Borg plasma energy bolts.

krilldarn

I have given my Chimera a different approach. I am a Sci Captain....... My ship is the U.S.S. Lernaean Hydra (one of Chimeras children, the other well known one being Cerberus).

I have two Romulan Mk XII beam banks on the front with the omega plasma launcher and to top the front off a dual heavy Mk XII (romulan) plasma cannon.

On the rear i have that Romulan Experimental Beam and the Kinetic cutting beam, backing this up is the Romulan hyper plasma torpedo launcher.

I benefit as well from the tier 5 NR abilities and have the Plasma hyperflux option for the rear beam.

Shield engine and deflector are borg assimilated Mk X (still working the rep system)

Warp core is Mk XI with [SSS} [SST]

In the engineering slots i have the borg assimilated module and the Romulan zero point conduits.

I have also fitted Mk XII plasma infuser, Mk XII Ambiplasma, Space Jumper, Isometric charge, Tachykintic convertor. I find this is an awesome combination for STF and PvE, useless in PvP.....

I have the boffs set so as I have torpedo spread I II III available as well as Beam overload III and cannon rapid fire I and III. I have assigned sequences of Boff activation using the record function on the G15 keyboard....

I an very lucky in that I have both the Wells and the Mobius.. I use the Mobius for PvP and use antiproton and similar console setup to above. Would love to put my Mobius head on against my Chimera.

axellightning

vulcanmonk wrote: »

Thanks for the feedback!

I really like the Chimera; yes it can be a bit squishy as one poster wrote, and it doesn't have the power of the Andorian Kumari, but overall I like the package it offers, respectable firepower, and well rounded defensive abilities.

So based on comments and some experimentation I decided to make this a full cannon build, the reason being, 1) it seems to allows maximum DPS benefit from consoles and 2) this new build will be a bit 'tank-ier' with a new BOFF layout. This is what I'm using now...

GEAR:
Fore Weapons
Fleet Advanced Dual Heavy Phaser Cannon MkXII (Dmg)x3 (acc) (4)

Aft Weapons
Fleet Advanced Phaser Turret MkXII (Dmg)x3 (acc) (3)

Deflector MACO Adapted Mk XII
Impulse MACO Adapted Mk XII
Shields MACO Adapted Mk XII

Engineering Consoles
Neutronium Alloy Mk XII (Very Rare) (2)
Universal Dynamic Tactical
Science Consoles
Field Generator MK XII (very Rare) (2)
Tactical Consoles
Phaser Relay Mk XII (Very Rare) (4)

BOFFS:
Lt Cmd Uni(sci) -
Hazard Emitters I
Hazard EMitters II
Science Team III

Ensign Uni (sci) -
Polarize Hull I

Cmd (tac) -
Tactical Team I
Attack Pattern Beta I
Cannon Rapid Fire II
Cannon Rapid Fire III

Lt (eng) -
Emergency Power to Weapons I
Emergency Power to weapons II

Lt (sci) -
Transfer Shield Strength I
Transfer Shield Strength II


DOFFS :
Developmental Lab Scientist (2)
Conn Officer (2)
Spare warfare specialist for STFs

Planned updates. Waiting on our fleet weapons with acc x2. Also need to open more boxes to get the energy weapons officers who lower recharges on cannon abilities. Anybody using those Energy Weapons DOFFS?

Very nice build! I went assimilated module instead of one of those Neutronium's, and Fleet Science console instead of a second field generator

Might be a stupid question, but I thought field generators didn't stack?

axellightning

bugspatteredjack wrote: »

I second this... how do the two of you like your chimera? Is it on par, say with a Temporal Destroyer? With all the goodies Cryptic is bringing us in May I am thinking of going lifer once its on sale again and like the idea of the Chimera personally. Thanks.:)

I wouldn't say it was QUITE on par with the Mobius, but if it gets a shield buff and a extra console It would definitely be :cool:

thegreendragoon1

It's a funny thing, but with most C-Store ships, I have found the special console some times nice but rarely necessary. However with the DTS console, is by far the most useful special console I've had. Not only do I often toggle in and out of tactical mode depending on the damage I'm taking, but the fact that it has two really nice powers rolled into it is awesome. Seriously hoping this ship gets fleet stats soon.

I will also point out that post-LoR the updated textures look awesome on my Chimera.

axellightning

thegreendragoon1 wrote: »

It's a funny thing, but with most C-Store ships, I have found the special console some times nice but rarely necessary. However with the DTS console, is by far the most useful special console I've had. Not only do I often toggle in and out of tactical mode depending on the damage I'm taking, but the fact that it has two really nice powers rolled into it is awesome. Seriously hoping this ship gets fleet stats soon.

I will also point out that post-LoR the updated textures look awesome on my Chimera.

Yeah the new textures are nice

corbinwolf

So I inevitably bought a lifetime subscription and of course picked this ship up. My build is fairly straight forward, though I am struggling with the boff powers. May follow suit with the OP's build as thus far I find the ship kinda squishy in comparison to my fleet assault cruiser or even the fleet excelsior.

That being said, however, its a great ship and I concur, the console that comes with it is great! Its probably one o the most useful consoles I have come across and the double powers are decent enough to make it feel worthwhile.

Overall a great ship that with some tweaking could bring good things to its player base. I have started a klink toon and will later try a rom toon with the inetnt of throwing them into their respective lifer ships. The klink version has battle cloak which I could see making the lifer ship quite a headache for enemies, especially in PVP.

axellightning

bugspatteredjack wrote: »

So I inevitably bought a lifetime subscription and of course picked this ship up. My build is fairly straight forward, though I am struggling with the boff powers. May follow suit with the OP's build as thus far I find the ship kinda squishy in comparison to my fleet assault cruiser or even the fleet excelsior.

That being said, however, its a great ship and I concur, the console that comes with it is great! Its probably one o the most useful consoles I have come across and the double powers are decent enough to make it feel worthwhile.

Overall a great ship that with some tweaking could bring good things to its player base. I have started a klink toon and will later try a rom toon with the inetnt of throwing them into their respective lifer ships. The klink version has battle cloak which I could see making the lifer ship quite a headache for enemies, especially in PVP.

You cant really go wrong with vulcanmonk's build. I have a similar build myself

coffeemike

I ran a phaser build, an Anti-Proton build, and a Romulan plasma build on this and she knows how to blow things up. Granted it was beam based... still she can be a monster.

tancrediiv

This looks like a great build. The only recommendation I have is drop one of the Hazard Emitters for Aux to Structural integrity Field or Sci Team or Eng Team. It will add a level of utility in healing you or your team, get rid of some debuffs, and doesn't share a CD with other copies of Haz Emitter.

You seem to be using this ship more like a big escort. Cool, it works. I am wondering if there is a build that might be more support and torpedo oriented. Pair it up in a team with a cruiser and three cannon escorts and it would be a winning team.

fonz71

i also found that ship a tad squishy as well, not really sure why as the specs are great.

i did like your second version better than the 1st. hope it works for you. if not i hope you find something that does.

as for me, i went a slightly different route by utilizing engineer boffs rather than sci.

my consoles are similar so i will only post my boff layout;


uni lt com;

ep2s1-rsp1-aux2sif2\ aux to sif has an xtremely low cd and good resist

uni en;

tt1\here i sometimes use he1 but then i use 2 doffs [con officers] to reduce cd on tt

com tac;

tt1-rf1-rf2-apo3\ i have found apo3 used with rf2 instead of 3 gives better burst damage.

lt eng;

ep2w1-ep2s2

lt sci;

he1-tss2


i hope u find some of this useful. it works well for me and my play style.

axellightning

fonz71 wrote: »

i also found that ship a tad squishy as well, not really sure why as the specs are great.

The ship really needs a 'Fleet' upgrade because its fallen behind a little now that there are fleet escorts.

What it does need is an extra console, standard shield buff, and a probably a shield mod buff. Get the standard shield up in the 5000s, and get the shield mod up to 0.99. The standards shield might not seem like a big deal, but every little helps. :rolleyes: