Defiant Weapons Systems?

bubbafloyd

What are the best weapons systems to have on a defiant? Right now I invested heavily in 4 dual heavy plasma cannons up front, with one torpedo launcher and mine launcher in the rear.

The cannons have a line of sight issue which requires them to be lined up at a certain level with the enemy ship. If the cannons are not lined up correctly then they won?t fire. This has caused me to get my butt kicked a number of times since taking control of the defiant.

Should I mix in a dual plasma beam bank, or a plasma torpedo? Or should I drop the plasma weapons and go with another type?

The reason why I?m using plasma is because I have some rather nice tactical plasma consoles.

nccmark

I only count six weapons. Is this a Captain level Defiant, or Vice Admiral level Defiant? I'll assume you were asking about the VA level ship and answer that way.

My suggested loadout:
*All turrets in the back,
**all DHCs up front, OR, **3 DHCs and one torpedo.

Tactical consoles: All for the energy type you are using (in this case plasma), OR, most for the energy type and just one for the torpedo type you chose.
Science consoles: one for hull repair and one for shield repair
Engineering consoles: Two armors for the energy type you want protection from (i.e. plasma protection from Borg and all of the new Romulan toons), that Assimilated Console that you better well have by now, and the Cloaking Device you are carrying.

The mine launcher is rubbish for an escort...you want to always face your opponent (except for quick maneuvers) and therefore the turrets would always help...the mines will only help sometimes, and then the effect is much less than a good turret.

When I say turret, that includes the Borg Kinetic Cutting Beam that you can get through the Omega Reputation system if you have one.

Whatever weapons that you use, get either good Mk XII fleet weapons or good MK XII Accx2/3 weapons from the exchange, if you can afford either.

Mk XI weapons are cheaper on exchange and therefore more accessible, but have a lesser punch than the Mk XII. But choose those if you must. Plasmas are crazy expensive now that all of the new Romulans get bonus damage from using them.

pwetacodeath

Depending on your play style, I'd drop one of your Front DHC's and put in a Torpedo (your choosing). For the Rear, most go with a 3 Turret setup, or a 2 Turret, mine set up.

You'll also want to make sure you have Tactical Team 1 & 2, on your BOFF's. Try to keep your self facing the target at all times, or as much as possible. Thats where the Tac Team will come in.

Just my thoughts, as I'm sure others will post their Ideas as well. Pick and choose, and play around with different ideas until you find a build that is more to your play style and liking.

bubbafloyd

Sweet thanks for the advice. I have a captain level defiant and will try with this ship to remain forward facing at all times. Right now I have tact team I, Tact team II, cannon spread II, torpedo overload or whatever on the back (shoots out 5 torpedoes when I'm retreating).

I think my main issue is that the enemy destroys my front shield, thus causing me to take evasive maneuvers, then they hit me with tractor mines and I'm screwed. I have the polarize hull science boff but it does little against the tractor mines the romulans use.

I will need to play around more with the defiant to get the hang of it, and will drop the mines. I'm also used to using an Ambassador cruiser with Plasma DBB's and Plasma torpedoes.

bubbafloyd

How about doing 2 DHC plasmas and 2 plasma torps up front... with 2 plasma turrets in the back

Or should I just go all cannons up front in those 4 slots, and all turrets in the back

ferthanna

One thing I found with my defiant was that if you drop you speed to half or quarter impulse during a fight it is much easier to stay facing your opponent because you turn much more quickly. You absolutely need the tactical team functions on your Boffs.

Good luck.

bluegrassgeek

bubbafloyd wrote: »

How about doing 2 DHC plasmas and 2 plasma torps up front... with 2 plasma turrets in the back

Or should I just go all cannons up front in those 4 slots, and all turrets in the back

Two torpedoes is not very efficient, because firing one puts the other on a (shorter) cooldown. Plus, torpedoes generally do pitiful damage to shields, meaning there's no point using them while the target's facing shield is up. That's time you could be doing damage with a set of cannons, instead. So, either all cannons, or cannons plus one torpedo launcher.

Rear should be all turrets.

Edit: My personal favorite tactic, when approaching multiple targets, is to pop Cannon: Scatter Volley III and start firing. After a few seconds, once you've closed distance, some of your targets will have their shields down and others are low. Then, hit Torpedo: Spread III and watch the fireworks.

nccmark

Great distraction from my actual workday!:

1) The problem with a full-stopped escort is the lower defense values; in other words, enemy shots hit you more often. Get the ship moving just a little and defense goes up...move a lot and defense jumps a lot. Find a mix you can live with.
2) Play with your settings for auto target and auto fire. Set up at least one turet to auto fire, and charge the auto target setting to include mines. That one turret should, in theory, pick mines first so that you go free. I've never done that, so my "theory" could be wrong. It's worth messing around. Try one of the easier "engage enemy" red spots in sector space, like the Gorn; they use mines but are easy to defeat so it'll give you time to mess around. You might even find a friend to do a private PvP session with you and have them throw mines at you so you can react. I don't suppose you have repulsor skill or something else to throw at all of the mines at once to minimize them or take them out? Or even drop a disposable disruptor or torpedo platform.
3) You'll grow out of the Captain level Defiant soon enough; I don't think mines pose too much danger to me as VA level, so the worry probably goes away for you soon.

tancrediiv

1 mine like a tricobalt on the back buffed with Disbursal Pattern Beta is a great way to bomb a target for good spike damage.

One advantage to 3 DHCs front and a torp, 2 turrets and a mine rear is good energy management. Your weapons power will refresh much faster for higher sustained DPS. The torp then spikes on bare hull.

Never take Tac Team 2. Two copies of TT 1 is all that is needed. With the right doffs on active, you may not even need two TTs.