PvP help and suggestion plz!!!

osirisraa

I been playing very hard for about a year to get the set up listed below and am now ready to jump into PvP. I'm noticing that it seems like I'm a total newb and have really been getting my butt handed to me in PvP. I normally crit with this set up commonly for 8 k to 12 k damage but in PvP it seems if I'm lucking to crit for 800 and 1200 damage. I seem to have trouble just getting past a shield facing (with a dps escort build no less) when players seem to cut thro my 2 very rare shield gens mk xii and my elite fleet shield like there not even there... Whats going on? and what am I doing wrong? I have noticed that i'm laggy in battles because of my internet any suggestions would be greatly appreciated



Captain: Tactical Flying a Tier 4 Fleet Advanced Escort

Gear

Fore Guns: Ad Fleet DHC mk xii [acc]x2 [dmg]x2 {X4}
Defector: ?
Engine: Elite fleet mk xii [spd] x1 [turn]x2 {pwr}
Shield: Elite fleet adaptive covariant mk xii capx2 res Adapt
rear: Ad fleet turrts mk xii [acc]x2 [dmg]x2 {X2} Cutting Beam
Engineering consoles: Tachyokinetic converter assimilated module
Science: Field Gen MK xii very rare X2 Zero point Energy conduit
Tactical: Phaser Relay mk xii very rare X5

Boff abilitys

APO3, CRF2, CSV1, and TT1
CRF1, TT1
TT1
EPtS1 EPtW2
TSS2 HE1 PO2

Skills
Starship Attack Patterns = MAX
Starship weapons training = MAX
Driver coil = MAX
Starship Hull repair = MAX
Starship Shield Emitters = MAX
Starship Energy Weapons = MAX
Structural Integrity = MAX
Ship Warp Cor effciency = MAX
Ship Shield Systems = MAX
Maneuvare= MAX
Targeting = MAX
Impules thrusters = MAX
Warp Core Poetential = MAX
Engine Performance = MAX
Hull plating = MAX
Shield Performance = MAX
Energy Weapon Specaialzation = MAX
Starshp Weapon Performance = MAX
power insultors = 1
Elector plama = 3

2 shield doffs
3 beta delta omega recharge.

osirisraa

anyone?...

shockwave85

Well, unlike most of the people who come through here asking a similar question, your build actually looks pretty OK. You're probably not getting responses because there's nothing obviously wrong about it. It might help to visualize better if you could reproduce it on the STO Academy Skill Planner though.

I'd ask down in the PvP forums. It's got its share of wild arguments about obscure minutia, it is the Internet afterall. But, that's where you will find the game's most seasoned players lurking about. There's also a general new to PvP/ship build thread you can consult:

http://sto-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?t=427091

havam

your build has an essential weakness. You have only 50% uptime of your eptx skills. Any seasoned pilot will just wait for your shields resists to go on cd and indeed melt them like butter. Either use two copies of epts, or switch bfi doffs for DMg control doffs. ( you can make a pupils one from the replicator after reaching t4 in engineering)

I would switch either crf1 or csv1 for apd/b. just to make better use of you attack pattern doffs.

Overall the build is still solid, assuming that you want to stay all cannon. But toros or BO might be something to consider for better bursts.

Best thing to do: join organizedpvp chat channel in game and ask around. The build only gets you so far. To provide you with better feedback one would need to see you in action to get a sense of piloting, timing, etc.

I prefer resilient fleet shields, but many use covariant. Do you redistribute your shields? How? Manually, space bar bind ...

bitemepwe

Too much TT. Try to take one of your TT1 and change it to something useful you can double up on like a torpedo power or some such.

fonz71

as the other fellows mentioned, your build does look pretty solid other than the lack of ep2s rotation. u could try 2 copies of that instead.

also, timing is very important. knowing when to pop your alpha and when to use your resists is crucial. one thing that may help you are key binds, specifically binding your distribute shields to your space bar or some such.

here is a guide for that... http://hilbertguide.com/

one other thing i might suggest is the fleet patrol escort, in my opinion it is one of the toughest and easy ships to get.

beyond that, practice makes you better!! keep it up!

have fun kill bad guys

looking again, i would change your sci to he1 and tss2, also it looks as though you have 3 cannon abilities, when 2 is all that is needed, try an attack pattern beta. crf is preferred for pvp over scatter imho

borgresearcher

power insulators 1 ? your ship will explode easely against a drain build
you should have at least 6 on inertial dampers and 6 on power insulators, thats why tacs loose against sci's, come here whining and cause sci's nerf

redricky

You have no tractor beam. Make this one change before you do anything else: watch your targets for holes in their APO/PH rotation, then tractor them and unload your alpha.

Now, the flip side is that you only have APO. You want only 2 AP doffs but drop the CRF1 for APD1. Pair APD with PH. Activating APD will reduce APO's cd. This will give you a smaller window of vulnerability to TB as you cycle APO and APD+PH.

Photonic Officer is complete ****. It's a relic piece of code from before the days when cooldowns get so regularly smashed. The worst part about it is that when it expires the extra time gets added back on to the abilities.

There's lots of other good choices, I look at that LtC Sci slot as something that rotates based on what's going on in the match.

havam

redricky wrote: »

You have no tractor beam. Make this one change before you do anything else: watch your targets for holes in their APO/PH rotation, then tractor them and unload your alpha.

Now, the flip side is that you only have APO. You want only 2 AP doffs but drop the CRF1 for APD1. Pair APD with PH. Activating APD will reduce APO's cd. This will give you a smaller window of vulnerability to TB as you cycle APO and APD+PH.

Photonic Officer is complete ****. It's a relic piece of code from before the days when cooldowns get so regularly smashed. The worst part about it is that when it expires the extra time gets added back on to the abilities.

There's lots of other good choices, I look at that LtC Sci slot as something that rotates based on what's going on in the match.

I thought they changed PO1 and 2 when they changed the gcd on sci powers??

I wasn't going to comment on it straight away, and yes some of the OP skills could use some cleaning up. MAX isn't always the best, and some of the higher tier MAX skills like armore and plating are pretty useless.

lordmalak1

No armour at all, and a covariant shield without an emitter amp ? What warp core are you using, and what are you power levels set at ?

You've got a massive shield with a slow recharge and one shield buff. From what I see your going to have problems keeping that shield config charged, and when it goes down there's nothing to protect the hull.

From this rookies POV, I see a bit too much put into offense and not enough defense.

dontdrunkimshoot

iv got a large post for this ship in my help thread, linked in my sig

osirisraa

havam wrote: »

your build has an essential weakness. You have only 50% uptime of your eptx skills. Any seasoned pilot will just wait for your shields resists to go on cd and indeed melt them like butter. Either use two copies of epts, or switch bfi doffs for DMg control doffs. ( you can make a pupils one from the replicator after reaching t4 in engineering)

I would switch either crf1 or csv1 for apd/b. just to make better use of you attack pattern doffs.

Overall the build is still solid, assuming that you want to stay all cannon. But toros or BO might be something to consider for better bursts.

Best thing to do: join organizedpvp chat channel in game and ask around. The build only gets you so far. To provide you with better feedback one would need to see you in action to get a sense of piloting, timing, etc.

I prefer resilient fleet shields, but many use covariant. Do you redistribute your shields? How? Manually, space bar bind ...

I redistribue shields thro key bind... I'll switch the csv1 for apb, why resilient and covaiant fleet shields?

osirisraa

fonz71 wrote: »

as the other fellows mentioned, your build does look pretty solid other than the lack of ep2s rotation. u could try 2 copies of that instead.

also, timing is very important. knowing when to pop your alpha and when to use your resists is crucial. one thing that may help you are key binds, specifically binding your distribute shields to your space bar or some such.

here is a guide for that... http://hilbertguide.com/

one other thing i might suggest is the fleet patrol escort, in my opinion it is one of the toughest and easy ships to get.

beyond that, practice makes you better!! keep it up!

have fun kill bad guys

looking again, i would change your sci to he1 and tss2, also it looks as though you have 3 cannon abilities, when 2 is all that is needed, try an attack pattern beta. crf is preferred for pvp over scatter imho

thanks for the help I do use key binds and I'll look at two copys of Eps2 and he1 and tss2

rudiefix1

osirisraa wrote: »

I been playing very hard for about a year to get the set up listed below and am now ready to jump into PvP. I'm noticing that it seems like I'm a total newb and have really been getting my butt handed to me in PvP. I normally crit with this set up commonly for 8 k to 12 k damage but in PvP it seems if I'm lucking to crit for 800 and 1200 damage. I seem to have trouble just getting past a shield facing (with a dps escort build no less) when players seem to cut thro my 2 very rare shield gens mk xii and my elite fleet shield like there not even there... Whats going on? and what am I doing wrong? I have noticed that i'm laggy in battles because of my internet any suggestions would be greatly appreciated



Captain: Tactical Flying a Tier 4 Fleet Advanced Escort

Gear

Fore Guns: Ad Fleet DHC mk xii [acc]x2 [dmg]x2 {X4}
Defector: Aegis
Engine: Aegis
Shield: Elite fleet adaptive covariant mk xii capx2 res Adapt
rear: Ad fleet turrts mk xii [acc]x2 [dmg]x2 {X2} Cutting Beam
Engineering consoles: assimilated module Neutronium alloy
Science: Tachyokinetic converter Field Gen MK xii very rare, Zero point Energy conduit
Tactical: Phaser Relay mk xii very rare X5

Boff abilitys

APO3, CRF2, APD1, and TT1
CRF1, TT1
BO1 or HY1 or TS1
EPtW1/E1 EPtS2
PH1 HE2 VM3

Skills
Starship Attack Patterns = MAX
Starship weapons training = MAX
Driver coil = MAX
Starship Hull repair = MAX
Starship Shield Emitters = MAX
Starship Energy Weapons = MAX
Structural Integrity = MAX
Ship Warp Cor effciency = 3
Ship Shield Systems = MAX
Maneuvare= MAX
Targeting = MAX
Impules thrusters = MAX
Warp Core Poetential = 6
Engine Performance = 3
Hull plating = 3
Thread control = 6
Shield Performance = 3
Energy Weapon Specaialzation = MAX
Starshp Weapon Performance = MAX
power insultors = 6
Elector plama = 6
Inertial dampeners = 6
subspace decompiler = 6 (because of VM1)

2 damage control engineers
2 beta delta omega recharge.
1 system engineer

I made the changes green.

Like some have already mentioned, you need to have (almost) full uptime of EptS. LT version gives 20% resists. The aegis set is good for escorts, because of the defensive setting. The engine is a hyper one, so good with your high speed/power. Your LTC sci is begging for viral matrix, hence the points in subspace decompiler.

Your 3rd TT is really obsolete. You can equip a beam overload. Even with a beam aray equiped on back it gives a nice punch. Other options is the omega torp with HY (which will give you also the omega weapons amplifier bonus or even the 3rd piece heal) or a quantum torp. If you want have some control, shoot chroniton torpedo spreads from your behind

osirisraa

redricky wrote: »

You have no tractor beam. Make this one change before you do anything else: watch your targets for holes in their APO/PH rotation, then tractor them and unload your alpha.

Now, the flip side is that you only have APO. You want only 2 AP doffs but drop the CRF1 for APD1. Pair APD with PH. Activating APD will reduce APO's cd. This will give you a smaller window of vulnerability to TB as you cycle APO and APD+PH.

Photonic Officer is complete ****. It's a relic piece of code from before the days when cooldowns get so regularly smashed. The worst part about it is that when it expires the extra time gets added back on to the abilities.

There's lots of other good choices, I look at that LtC Sci slot as something that rotates based on what's going on in the match.

What does PH mean?

rudiefix1

PH = polarize hull.

Aside to tractor beam immunity it gives great hull resist

maximus614

lordmalak1 wrote: »

No armour at all, and a covariant shield without an emitter amp ? What warp core are you using, and what are you power levels set at ?

You've got a massive shield with a slow recharge and one shield buff. From what I see your going to have problems keeping that shield config charged, and when it goes down there's nothing to protect the hull.

From this rookies POV, I see a bit too much put into offense and not enough defense.

I agree with this, as a tac i hate covariant shields, i use reselient, either elite fleet, or maco, i always have one armor alloy on, occasinally will run 2.

You also have 2 high powered consoles that increase your already high shield cap with a covariant yet your a tac, you have not the boff abilities to continually heal such a large cap, how much is your cap? I have 1 sci slot on my escort, sometimes i dont even use a shield cap console, and if i do with my elite fleet shields im only at 9300 cap. What items do you use, if you dont have subspace field modulator, try using one, gives you damage resist and bonus defense. Also switch your alloys for what you know your fighting against, course pugging it in arena your wont be sure what energy weps are being used so neutronium is the safe bet. Although i noticed more peeps are using disruptors.

As for your damage output, ive had the same happen to me and i fly a bug, using all mark XII purple DHCs with at least accx2 or higher, 5 mark XII purple polaron tac consoles, tach converter, borg universal, plasmonic leech, one alloy, and either rom zero point or shield cap console in sci,,usually run 2 turrets and either tach mines, or tractor mines, and at times i have problems getting through shields, but as the others suggested its the timing that matters, you have to pop the alpha when their defense is on CD.

Sry to you whom i responded part of this was meant for the op.

maximus614

oh by the way as someone pointed out reselient has less bleedthrough on the hull as well as higher regen then covariant.

Personally i wouldnt use covariant unless i was in some massive tank/healer ship where i had the ability to heal 15k plus cap strength easily.

antoniosalieri

http://skillplanner.stoacademy.com/?build=advancedfeb_0

I think you would want something like that.

A few issues I see that are pretty common ones.

Firstly you have no spike at all. All cannons really don't work anymore. There is to much healing for that to be able to spike any half decent players down. Even poor ones in general can tank most all cannon attacks with just random procs from rep and consoles ect.

Another issue you have no armour at all. Its hard to get by with no armour at all. Due to all the shield healing Direct to hull attacks like DEM and TBR are popular. So you will likely want to drop down to one field gen and one Neutronium armour. Also remember to use brace for impact when ever you see TBR... or are getting shot at by some cruiser running DEM 3.

Now on to doffs... you have one Attack Pattern doff to many. You don't need 3... you want 2 and then 2 attack patterns. I would go Omega 3 + Delta 1... with 2 doffs this will be a perfect roll for you. You can run beta or delta 1... I would suggest you go with delta as you will gain the defense bonus on it no matter what. To use it properly be willing to cast it on teammates that are under fire. You will give them the resistance and you will also debuff there attackers which you can then attack Delta is the most "Escort" Style skill we have.

The shield doffs I would loose. They are a nice heal its true... but you will be much better off keeping your EPTS and EPTE up all the time. I also would switch out the EPTW for EPTE. I know the weapon bonus is tempting but in pvp you will be much better served with dmg being able to move faster then other people (or at the same speed as) and get better position. Run 2 Damage Control doffs. Blue ones are good enough honestly... they will give you a 30% chance to set your EPTX and global. By running 2 different system EPTx 2 Blue dmg control will again make for an almost perfect roll. You may end up with less then perfect uptime now and then but it won't happen often. You Can if you really want to ensure 100% uptime run a third dmg control.

The last doff slot though I would run the new Energy Weapon doff that has a chance to proc +20 shield power. With the amount of energy weapons you have you should be procing that +20 fairly consistanlty.

Lastly You will notice I only put one Rapid fire on the build. I know some people would say put a rapid fire 1 in instead of the overload 2... however I don't think that will help you much. I think you would be better off to opt for the spike... and use tac init to roll rapid fire 2 for as long as you can.

In PvP you are going to have to set your kills up. You want to spike with your overloads between peoples tac teams.... and you are going to want to learn how to watch and count their buffs. You can drop all the DPS you want but if your putting into people that have 60% shield resists up ect... it won't be very effective. However with some practice you will start noticing when its time to spike people... and when people have been Sci Fd by fellow players ect.

Hope it helps have fun.

havam

well OP i think you see a clear trend in the feedback, and you've been pointed to smoe very good resources. Potential build improvements have all been covered by now.

Boot Camp, or opvp are your friends. if you see a PvP BootCamp coach (its an in-game title) feel free to ask for a quick 1v1 for some advice. Check Opvp as well. many great escort pilots in there. There is more to PvP then just the gear (in most circumstances). All cannon doesn't have burst, once you understand that you can make your own decision if that is the style that you want to adopt or not.

Compared to Covariants, resilient combination of higher regen and 5% bleedthrough can be quite addictive once you've gotten used to it.

Fly with what you like, and don't be shy to ask for help.