What's with all of the Fed Rainbows? (PVP and PVE)

benovide

I'm seeing a growing number of players going to 4 and 5 different energy types in PVP, and in PVE (eSTFs) why has this suddenly taken flight?

Are there any particular new coming items that make this more advantageous than running a single, focused energy type?

Compared to yesterday, I was lucky to count maybe 5-7 players rolling full rainbows.

Today, I've tallied 54 players, (I have a tally sheet so I can see which energy types are the most prevelant when I go into PVP to work towards future modifications to my builds) just today, and only today, all of them Escort Players. Who ran 1 plasma cannon, 1 phased tetryon, 1 phaser, 1 phased polaron for the front 4 cannons.

With 1 Anti-proton Beam array, 1 disruptor beam array, 1 kenetic cutting beam.

What has happened today to create such a surge in rainbows, most of them I've seen are usually 3 or 4 energy types, the rest are upwards of 7 different energy types.

And it's only Fed Escorts doing this.

snoggymack22

benovide wrote: »

IWhat has happened today to create such a surge in rainbows

It rained. And then the sun came out.

A link for further reference.

benovide

snoggymack22 wrote: »

It rained. And then the sun came out.

A link for further reference.

I literally chuckled reading this.

But on a serious note, why are so many fed escort players going to rainbow builds?

wildweasal

I see them raising the penalty for using weapon types it used to be and still is 10 I can see em moving it to 40 that was the original idea behind the penalty in the first place tye need to update it is all

benovide

wildweasal wrote: »

I see them raising the penalty for using weapon types it used to be and still is 10 I can see em moving it to 40 that was the original idea behind the penalty in the first place tye need to update it is all

So is the uproar of the rainbow escorts for the Procs? I know they get a -10, But using so many energy types that -10 would easily be made up in procs. The real killer to the DPS is the lack of Tac Consoles to buff any one specific energy type to the max.

Overall, it doesn't make sense why so many are suddenly switching to rainbow builds.

sander233

a) Because People Are Idiots

b) for the lulz

c) Because they're newbies and don't know better

d) All of the Above

disposeableh3r0

They recently has a nafu with the bridges, so the trolls are now out and about.

aleaic

Actually (I guess,) my own cruiser is technically a rainbow boat, though it has Borg STF AP Beam arrays (buffed with a plasma console,) a Romulan Experimental Array, and a Kinetic cutting beam array, with a Romulan plasma torp and console to get the special beam attack out of the Romulan array. Course my setup takes advantage of the lack of power drain from the Experimental and Kinetic arrays, and the AP arrays are plasma infused, so I guess mine would be a focused rainbow build. Antiproton heartburn build, I call it.

Technically a rainbow build would only be benefited by the base beam attack dps potential, but getting any help from procs would more than likely not happen. It's not like having a rainbow setup is completely useless, just unlikely to get much proc support out of it all. Lets just say it is, what it is. (You say the word, I have a family here.)

I do wonder what beam array setup would benefit most, from embassy console plasma infusion. Phaser for knocking out systems, and getting plasma procs? Disruptor for resistance debuffs and plasma ect ect? Gets fun for 'infused' rainbows. Moreso with all the hybrid weapon types out there. Plasma infused phased tetryon sounds cute. (Maybe.) But that's off on another topic. I myself would steer clear of rainbows, unless you just flat out dont have the weapon suites available, for whatever possible reason.

menelaos85

Cool those Cruiser.

disposeableh3r0

aleaic wrote: »

Actually (I guess,) my own cruiser is technically a rainbow boat, though it has Borg STF AP Beam arrays (buffed with a plasma console,) a Romulan Experimental Array, and a Kinetic cutting beam array, with a Romulan plasma torp and console to get the special beam attack out of the Romulan array. Course my setup takes advantage of the lack of power drain from the Experimental and Kinetic arrays, and the AP arrays are plasma infused, so I guess mine would be a focused rainbow build. Antiproton heartburn build, I call it.

Technically a rainbow build would only be benefited by the base beam attack dps potential, but getting any help from procs would more than likely not happen. It's not like having a rainbow setup is completely useless, just unlikely to get much proc support out of it all. Lets just say it is, what it is. (You say the word, I have a family here.)

I do wonder what beam array setup would benefit most, from embassy console plasma infusion. Phaser for knocking out systems, and getting plasma procs? Disruptor for resistance debuffs and plasma ect ect? Gets fun for 'infused' rainbows. Moreso with all the hybrid weapon types out there. Plasma infused phased tetryon sounds cute. (Maybe.) But that's off on another topic. I myself would steer clear of rainbows, unless you just flat out dont have the weapon suites available, for whatever possible reason.

If you were going fo procs it would make more sence to start with the hybrid weapons.

If you went polaron you could have, The standard polaron proc, the phaser proc from the hybrids, a tetryon proc from the reward for "Boldly they rode", and the plasma proc from the embassy console. If your klingon you can add plasmonic leech to that list. And they would all work off phase modulators.

losobal

Personally, I think its because people are bored. Yes, you can win with UBER build designs, whee so can everyone else. But going all rainbow brite and still winning? That's an accomplishment.

smokeybacon90

Increasing numbers of new players, and decreasing numbers of veterans willing to help them out.

asimosa

My mighty JHAS, the USS July 4th, brings cheer and merriment to every fleet action and STF I attend, mounted with one of every cannon type, a bank of chroniton torpedoes, and an array of fireworks set to a repeating macro, spraying a rainbow of colors and death in every direction. Constantly.

That said, if you aren't intentionally TRIBBLE around you should never, ever equip a ship like this. But I am, so I do.

farseeridranel

I don't understand why it drives people mad, if other players use different kinds of weapons. Why do you even care? Even if a single type of energy gives more dps, why does everybody have to have optimized setups? What if I just like to have different colors? As if there were not ways to compensate. And most of all, do you really think people start playing this game with perfect equipment and know how?

anazonda

Well

1: Rainbows are pretty..

2: I find it very creepy that you take a game so serious that you need to stalk 50 people and their use of gear.

fudgeoflife

That's because many feds are noobs. They think their rainbow builds do AS MUCH or MORE damage than normal ones. They are too noobish to find their way onto a Klingon char, so most Klingons are not noobs.

Im a fed and I use a normal build and I get really confused on how people could ever think rainbow builds are good...

originpi

wildweasal wrote: »

I see them raising the penalty for using weapon types it used to be and still is 10 I can see em moving it to 40 that was the original idea behind the penalty in the first place tye need to update it is all

...

benovide wrote: »

So is the uproar of the rainbow escorts for the Procs? I know they get a -10, But using so many energy types that -10 would easily be made up in procs. The real killer to the DPS is the lack of Tac Consoles to buff any one specific energy type to the max.

Overall, it doesn't make sense why so many are suddenly switching to rainbow builds.

...

How rampant is this misconception? The -10 weapon power when firing other weapons has nothing to do with energy/weapon type. "Other weapons" means any other gun regardless of energy or weapon type. That is why you can fire 8 identical beam arrays, and still see a power drain (of up to -70 weapon power, because when the first one fires you're not "firing other weapons")


The only downside (and it really is a big one) to multiple energy types is not being able to boost all your weapons with one type of tactical console.

Now, as for the rainbows, you have to keep in mind that there are a lot of different weapons with the same damage type now: for example, many people run Quad Phaser cannons on the Kumari with the blue phasers. There are at least 3 different colours of disruptors (Purple, green and yellow), etc.

Also, many people use the Kinetic Cutting Beam in addition to other energy weapons, which splashes in some cherry red (and makes weapon power management much easier).

smokeybacon90

originpi wrote: »

How rampant is this misconception? The -10 weapon power when firing other weapons has nothing to do with energy/weapon type.

This gem has been around for a while. I earned a few ignores in ESD zone trying to explain to people how horribly mistaken they were.

asimosa

originpi wrote: »

Now, as for the rainbows, you have to keep in mind that there are a lot of different weapons with the same damage type now: for example, many people run Quad Phaser cannons on the Kumari with the blue phasers. There are at least 3 different colours of disruptors (Purple, green and yellow), etc.

Also, many people use the Kinetic Cutting Beam in addition to other energy weapons, which splashes in some cherry red (and makes weapon power management much easier).

Yeah, things like the cutting beam or the experimental romulan beam (which drains no power, so is fine even on non-plasma setups) can make an otherwise single-type build look colorful. Same thing with andorian/regular phasers and son on. It can make for a lot of false positives if you're just eyeballing random ships.

starblade7

farseeridranel wrote: »

I don't understand why it drives people mad, if other players use different kinds of weapons. Why do you even care? Even if a single type of energy gives more dps, why does everybody have to have optimized setups? What if I just like to have different colors? As if there were not ways to compensate. And most of all, do you really think people start playing this game with perfect equipment and know how?

It's not a big deal in most PvE situations, but it makes the ship utterly useless in PvP. However, it is most infuriating in STFs - particularly Elite variants - which have time-limited optional objectives. If every ship is pulling its weight and providing the best DPS possible, then the mission is simply easier to complete by virtue of the enemies exploding faster. Ships which are providing relatively sub-optimal DPS, and are not compensating for it with other factors (eg. crowd control, team heals/support), are not likely to be helping the team's efficiency.

While naturally not all new players will understand with what's wrong with a rainbow build immediately, if you're taking part in an elite STF, then it is fair to expect that you know what you're doing.

sollvax

To beat optionalised single weapon type builds in pvp ??

actually in general use a combination is Usually better if you don't know what you will be fighting

farseeridranel

Yes, I see the point myself, but I can't understand the anger towards rainbow users. It is still a game at the end.

sollvax

I confess to using two energy types on several of my ships (usually Tet and Disruptor) Kdf side

lsloan31

farseeridranel wrote: »

Yes, I see the point myself, but I can't understand the anger towards rainbow users. It is still a game at the end.

This.

People time and again throw hate at people using rainbow builds because they think mixing energy types is useless - which it is for pure maximising your damage output but are you really going to s****** at a cruiser with purple Mk XII beam banks of all the colours that also uses DEDM consoles in all its tactical slots? Thought not, because that person will still pump out more damage in whatever mission you happen to be in than someone with all one energy type and energy specific consoles who has no idea what they're doing.

Unless you're out to max your DPS to its fullest potential its really not an issue worth worrying about since:

A) You're sitting tidy in your one energy ship, pumping out more damage and not caring since you're the best; or
You realise this is a game, people can run what they want and still get decent damage if they know what they're doing and enjoy the pretty colours.

sollvax

Frankly I use tac consoles to boost Torpedo attacks anyway

tpalelena

lsloan31 wrote: »

This.

People time and again throw hate at people using rainbow builds because they think mixing energy types is useless - which it is for pure maximising your damage output but are you really going to s****** at a cruiser with purple Mk XII beam banks of all the colours that also uses DEDM consoles in all its tactical slots? Thought not, because that person will still pump out more damage in whatever mission you happen to be in than someone with all one energy type and energy specific consoles who has no idea what they're doing.

Unless you're out to max your DPS to its fullest potential its really not an issue worth worrying about since:

A) You're sitting tidy in your one energy ship, pumping out more damage and not caring since you're the best; or
You realise this is a game, people can run what they want and still get decent damage if they know what they're doing and enjoy the pretty colours.

Except ANY person with purple mk XII weapons of the same energy type, and matching energy type consoles, provided all the other items are the same.

Rainbow all you want in normal STFs, I can pretty much solo those, but the elites? Keep the rainbows out.
Note : Andorian/fed phasers, chroniton beam/Antiprotons, Romulan plasma/plasma, spiral waves/disruptors and Kinetic cutting beam do NOT count as rainbows.

nicha0

The hate on rainbows isn't because of rainbows being so inefficient they are useless (they do about 10% less damage) its because people using them don't understand the most basic of game mechanics. They don't set up defense or offenses properly, their dps is 1/5th or less of other players, but it isn't a result of the rainbow, its just lack of understanding that the rainbow represents.

burstorion

The rise of rainbow loadouts in pvp, I think, is down to misguidingly trying to bypass the elite fleet shields bonuses - as you can get 20% resistance to any energy in a few shots on your shield plus have three energy type resists of 15% built in for a total of 35% resist to one of those three energy types, I feel some are simply trying to cover all the bases by fielding rainbows - if you use six different energy types, at least three will do 80% of its standard damage

Unfortunately, its not a subtle nor practical technique as 'multi' consoles are so poor and to do above average damage in pvp requires multiple tactical consoles to be stacked



In pve...I have no explanation - (weapon) proc boats are pretty useless, sci ships are best off with torp builds to maximise aux so there is little benefit but to look like a laser light show at a Daft Punk concert

sollvax

if you can't complete elite with mk X white weapons stick to normals regardless of gear

nikephorus

I have both a Cruiser and Escort with rainbow beams, and cannons/turrets respectively. I did it mainly because I was bored and I had a lot of weapons laying around collecting dust. Sad thing is that my combat logs show i still out-damage the majority of peeps in ESTFS lol (can still manage 6-7k). I don't really mind rainbow boats in PVE provided they are using universal consoles in their tac slots. PvP is another story entirely. You need to maximize your damage and obviously you aren't doing that with multiple energy types.

redricky

benovide wrote: »

I'm seeing a growing number of players going to 4 and 5 different energy types in PVP, and in PVE (eSTFs) why has this suddenly taken flight?

Are there any particular new coming items that make this more advantageous than running a single, focused energy type?

Compared to yesterday, I was lucky to count maybe 5-7 players rolling full rainbows.

Today, I've tallied 54 players, (I have a tally sheet so I can see which energy types are the most prevelant when I go into PVP to work towards future modifications to my builds) just today, and only today, all of them Escort Players. Who ran 1 plasma cannon, 1 phased tetryon, 1 phaser, 1 phased polaron for the front 4 cannons.

With 1 Anti-proton Beam array, 1 disruptor beam array, 1 kenetic cutting beam.

What has happened today to create such a surge in rainbows, most of them I've seen are usually 3 or 4 energy types, the rest are upwards of 7 different energy types.

And it's only Fed Escorts doing this.

Funny, when I see a your bort with quads and DHCs up front and beam arrays in the back, I wonder how you can be so silly. Don't get all uppity and leet because you figured out it's better to stick with one energy type. You clearly showed that you don't have a perfect understanding because you're buying into the -10 misconception 4 posts later.

Come down off your high horse until you L2P a little more, son.