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Captain's Log: I am a nub!
kimmym
Member Posts: 1,317 Arc User
I never liked Romulans, and I never will. I can never forgive them for the relative lack of content I experience while I wait for the hoopla to die down.
So... I went and did something I never thought I would. I started PvPing.
But... I'm not very good at this apparently. I do well enough until I run into somebody who knows what their doing, then I quickly find myself overwhelmed. I suppose that is to be expected because of the learning curve, but I think I'm reaching the end of what I can accomplish without some help.
I seem to do fine in group PvP. I try to cross heal (as much as my sci-scort can) and I try to disable the group target. Things feel like I'm at least in the right realm.
Things go to hell 1v1. My health just drops and drops, and I try to keep it up but down it goes.
I'm not sure how much of it is my gear... which is less then optimal. I mostly PvE and spent all my reserves on a Temporal Destroyer, so re-gearing isn't much an option at the moment, tho I do plan on saving up for some gear now.
This is what I've currently been running. It is a bit of an extension from how I was running my Fleet Advanced Escort. The FAE was excellent at flying like a BoP, zooming in and dropping some burst and disables down on the group target and getting out fast. Somehow it isn't translating quite as well into a full escort.
1dbb, 3 dhc
borg 2 set
MACO shields
KCB, turret, Omega torp
sheild battery, subspace modulator
fleet neutronim + hull heal, fleet rcs + all resist
borg console, field generator, fleet +threat shield emitter +shield heal proc, black hole console
4x antiproton console
TT1, CRF1, CRF2, APO:3
BO1, BO2
EP2S1
HE1, Tractor Beam 2, VM1
TSS1, SS1
Doffs:
+ sheild power on use of energy weapons
2xReduce recharge on EP2*
Chance to double proc VM
Reduce targets damage with Sensor Scan
Again, I'm absolutely devastating in a group situation. The problem arise when I have to fend for myself. Am I just expecting too much from a sci? Am I doing it right? Any help at all would be appreciated. I am a PvEr usually and PvP plays quite differently.
So... I went and did something I never thought I would. I started PvPing.
But... I'm not very good at this apparently. I do well enough until I run into somebody who knows what their doing, then I quickly find myself overwhelmed. I suppose that is to be expected because of the learning curve, but I think I'm reaching the end of what I can accomplish without some help.
I seem to do fine in group PvP. I try to cross heal (as much as my sci-scort can) and I try to disable the group target. Things feel like I'm at least in the right realm.
Things go to hell 1v1. My health just drops and drops, and I try to keep it up but down it goes.
I'm not sure how much of it is my gear... which is less then optimal. I mostly PvE and spent all my reserves on a Temporal Destroyer, so re-gearing isn't much an option at the moment, tho I do plan on saving up for some gear now.
This is what I've currently been running. It is a bit of an extension from how I was running my Fleet Advanced Escort. The FAE was excellent at flying like a BoP, zooming in and dropping some burst and disables down on the group target and getting out fast. Somehow it isn't translating quite as well into a full escort.
1dbb, 3 dhc
borg 2 set
MACO shields
KCB, turret, Omega torp
sheild battery, subspace modulator
fleet neutronim + hull heal, fleet rcs + all resist
borg console, field generator, fleet +threat shield emitter +shield heal proc, black hole console
4x antiproton console
TT1, CRF1, CRF2, APO:3
BO1, BO2
EP2S1
HE1, Tractor Beam 2, VM1
TSS1, SS1
Doffs:
+ sheild power on use of energy weapons
2xReduce recharge on EP2*
Chance to double proc VM
Reduce targets damage with Sensor Scan
Again, I'm absolutely devastating in a group situation. The problem arise when I have to fend for myself. Am I just expecting too much from a sci? Am I doing it right? Any help at all would be appreciated. I am a PvEr usually and PvP plays quite differently.
I once again match my character. Behold the power of PINK!
Fleet Admiral Space Orphidian Possiblities Wizard
Fleet Admiral Space Orphidian Possiblities Wizard
Post edited by kimmym on
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Comments
You're build looks ok, but in pvp you really need full uptime on shield resistance, so either 2 copies of EPtS or damage control doffs or something else. Fleet shields help too, although MACO is still great and most of my toons still use it.
I recommend either PvP boot camp, or join organized pvp channel and the Tyler Durden channel and join some premades. Most pvp'ers are great help, at least that's my experience.
Get ready to hate Romulans even more. :P
First, your instincts at cross-healing are good.
1v1 is a mixed bag, the game is really not well designed for 1v1 scenarios although in general a Sci/Escort should usually defeat a Tac/Escort if pilot skill is equal.
Don't worry about your 1v1 results, it's very twitch oriented and its not something most people will excel at right away.
Luckily PvP is a team game, and can be very fun as a team game.
A few points:
1) The omega torpedo is pretty bad, and generally not worth it at all even for the 3 piece bonus. As much as they look weak, a second turret will in fact add damage. The people who tell you 1 turret is useless are the same one's who will lose their marbles at a 5th tac console. :rolleyes:
2) Consider swapping to Aux batteries. Aux batteries will power your HE, or your TB making them much more effective when you need them.
3) I assume you are using Adv Fleet Antiprotons. If you are not, then you should be. Either that, or switch to ACCx3 weapons of some kind, even if you have to settle for MK XI Purps instead of MK XII due to price.
I think you have too much Sci for what an Escort is generally designed to do.
I know you are a Sci captain, but if you really want to bring a lot of Sci powers look to a Sci ship and play a full on healer, controller or a hybrid. (Wells is an excellent Healer/Controller hybrid, no ship is better in that dept).
I'd say that 2 copies of TT is more important than 2 copies of CRF.
You don't need to be shooting someone literally all of the time, you just need to shoot them when the majority of your best buffs/debuffs are available. For you, that's SNB, Sensor Scan and Attack Pattern Omega.
Drop the Sci Lt. Turn it into a Eng Lt. Grab a second copy of EPTS and grab RSP.
The reason why you are being killed in duels is most likely your opponents exploiting the very long gaps in your EPTS & Tac Team coverage, with no RSP to save you and no aux battery to power your hazards.
The shield power doff is interesting, but if you really want to be a damage dealer in a ship like the mobius the best doffs you could slot would be 2x Attack Pattern DOFFs. (Search Very Rare, Conn, "Zemok" - he is not cheap).
I'd recommend evaluating whether you truly want to be a Sci captain in an escort before you male the leap and invest 40 to 50 million to buy 2 attack pattern doffs first however.
If you grab a second copy of EPTS, then you can skip the DMG Control engineers (reduce EPTx CD).
The VM and Sensor Scan DOFF are decent.
I highly recommend joining bootcamp, organizedpvp and tyler_durden.
Learn from the best players, have an open mind and be willing to try and test new ideas and builds but don't let anyone make up your mind for you.
Get your EC wallet ready, PvP is expensive. :P
I would say that if you're flying a sci-scort, you couldn't have chosen a better ship. But I do not fly this kind of setup, so please take everything I say with the proverbial grain of salt.
Regarding the gear, I probably wouldn't use that Omega Torpedo. They're slow and all you need is one Photonic Shockwave or Gravity Well to neutralize it. Plus, there is the everpresent shield resistance to kinetic damage thing. I would replace it with another turret. I've never used the Kinetic Cutting Beam, so I can't comment on that.
Consoles - The black hole thing is kinda meh. I would replace it with another Shield Emitter. Plasmonic Leech would also be a good replacement, but you're using MACO shield and these two things do not get along very well (or rather, at all). The rest seems to be fine.
BOFFs - And here lies the problem in keeping alive, I think. You're flying an escort, but you have assigned too many stations to a science role - filling them with disables. I would keep that Lt. Cmdr. Sci, switch the Lt. Uni. to engineering and fill it with whatever EPt* suits your taste (probably EPtS, although I wouldn't dismiss EPtE) along with some heal, possibly RSP.
In the Lt. Cmdr. Sci slot I would use TSS2 instead of TB2 and keep that VM1.
I don't know what Warp Core you're using, but I would assume that you have full energy to weapons. W->X would be a natural modifier to use, depending on the system you want to buff.
EDIT: Why do I have to be so slow at writing things?
my solution share the eng nerf w sci, make cannons useless for them too:) let the tacs have their dps i miss tacs.
ep2s1-rsp1-aux2sif2
he1-tss2
tt1-apd1 or beta1
tt1-rf1-rf2-apo3
ep2e1
2x attack pattern
2x damage control or 3 blue ones
1x warp core eng, preferably the one that clears all hazards on use of ep2x, but a regular one will suffice.
one thing that is very important is make sure you have your distribute shields bound to your space bar or another button near your movement keys. that one thing makes a big difference in survivability. if you are not familiar with binds, the hilbert guide is a good place to start.
i use a full borg set and find it to be very effective, but your set up is good as well. if you choose to try the full borg set, you might think about including the leach console. even without flow caps you get something like +8 to all subsystems while firing your weapons.
i've also found that with the borg set i don't need rsp and replace that with dem. as you know the full set also has that handy tractor beam that can slow those fast escorts down enuff to get your weapons\nuc ect, on them.
as has been mentioned timing is key. watch your targets buffs carefully and try to time your main attacks between their buffs and tac team.
anyway, i hope this helps you some. have fun kill bad guys!
postscript; those attack pattern doffs are very expensive, but i would recommend trying for them as you really need as much up time of omega as possible. but you can make do without them. being a sci the ss doff is real nice to have and so is the brace for impact doff as a replacement til you can get the ap doffs.
postscript supplemental: it's good to have a few extra sci boffs around so you could switch your uni stations around. for instance;
he1-tss2-vm1
ep2s1-rsp1
the beauty of that ship is the lt com uni station. i luv to fly the temp destroyer.
As great as PVPing alone is, if you'd like to hang out with some people from our fleet and a fair few others, you're more then welcome to come and hang out on TS with us! We have some pretty smart people that scamper around so think of us if you need anything
@Aquitaine985
Lag Industries STO PvP Fleet - Executive
A Sad Panda of Industrial calibre.
2010: This is Cryptic PvP. Please hold the line, your call is very important to us...
man they are fun.
here's how i'm flying mine....and don't laugh....its fun! but this is not a team build...strictly pugging...
first off gather up some rommie boffs from the embassy. the sci and engie ones give a boost to stealth....a big boost... so equipping 2 will put your stealth at like 400 or something...and if you spec into it...it will top out at 500....thats damn close to the defiant's cloak....with.....
wait for it....
MES.
thats right....mask energy signature.
like i said, don't laugh. here's why....
tt1, thy2, bo3, apo3
tt1, crf1
bo1
epts1, dem1
mes1, he2, tractor3
dbb, 2 dhc, torp, 3 turrets
get your old doff friend marion, 3 attack pattern doffs, and a space quartermaster.
aux batteries, engine batteries
run the get out of dodge impulse thingie.... and stack up on shield cap stuffs....and energy weapons consoles....and as many of those neutroniums with the turn rate buffs as you can get your hands on...
and then go healer hunting. aux battery on the way in... nuke scan and stack all those tac boff powers along with dem.... pew pew. and then get the f out.
OR!!!!!!
tank scort it out... but thats less lulz.
have fun kill bad guys
-thrusters on full-
As for 1v1. Just out turn your opponent.
With the new MES doff you can get +30/40/50 def for 25 sec after dropping MES. Also rom boff recharge affects it.
I'm actually not fully convinced I should be in an escort, but the only ship before I ever felt like was worth anything in was my MV. That is what originally drew me to the timeship. I could get away with no RSP most of the time in her so I thought I would be able to run heavier sci at the expense of my speed (I usually ran in beta vector) It works as amazingly well as I thought it would in team PvP where I have support and actually play the way I have been (Get in, heal the team, cripple the focused target, drop my burst, GTFO when they look at me and hope they are fool enough to chase me) But... I've had this sneaking suspicion all along that I was going to have to use my Uni Lt as a eng for RSP.
I have a ton ships at my disposal, but the only other one I found myself useful in PvP was my Vesta. The problem was the way I had set her up had no teeth. I could keep you in place all day long... but that was it. Made for some long, frustrating attempts where nobody got a kill, but nobody died either. Perhaps I should have stuck it out a bit longer and tried more team play that way but I got discouraged and just hopped back into my beta vector.
I could fly:
Mobius
Atrox - My current PvE favorite... tho she never did handle PvP well in my hands... no idea what I'm doing
Fleet Advanced
Fleet Defiant
Fleet Ambassador
Fleet Galaxy - Yeah well I own it didn't say I'd fly her lol
Galaxy-X
Odyssey pack
Vesta pack
Kumari pack
Chel Grett
Corvette
Nebula
D'Kyr
I'm open to flying any of them, particularly the carrier or a pure sci ship of some sort, but I was hoping for something I could 1v1 a little with. I do much prefer group PvP but it hurts when I'm just flying along in Kerrat trying to learn some and get smoked in a 1v1 every time.
Yes I'm using fleet anti-proton [acc]x2 [dmg]x2. I have other energy types but I was using my anti-proton as I was eventually going to get the lobi set and would like to just slip into it.
It seems the overwhelming opinion is I need to give up the heavy sci and work in 2 tac teams+RSP in the short term, and long term go for attack pattern doffs. I do have a question about those, tho. To see how the timers worked out I loaded up apo1 and 3 to see what uptimes looked like, and I wasn't happy. Do the doffs give better coverage then running 2 copies? That was quite a gap and I was wondering if it wouldn't be better, at least for me in the short term, to drop the DBB (they are changing double tapping) and turn my tac lt to my second tac team and then APD? I could get just as much uptime. Or I could for now suffer with the lonely, long APO and just run with BO2. Either way, losing BO1 will give me room for a second tac team, so that leaves my CRF1 unacounted for. Is it ok to still have 2 or maybe turn it into the APD? Options, options...
I do need to get better at timings and understanding what all the tiny buff icons mean, but that will come with time I'm sure. Thanks for all the help. I will join those channels and see if I can follow along.
Fleet Admiral Space Orphidian Possiblities Wizard
I'm not going to lie, the life of a pure support focused ship in PUG-land is often thankless and tough.
On the other hand any halfway coordinated team will appreciate you and you will make friends quick (just ask Renimalt, pretty much everyone loves that guy :P).
So you'll need to decide if you want to set up as a full healer/controller (or hybrid, which is fine) and let the escorts on your team be the "teeth" you need - or - if you want to give up support, stay in an escort and be the teeth yourself with Sci's ability to SNB/Sensor Scan, buff the team.
You could also set up two ships & boff layouts for it too, I tend to make 2 separate characters for it and specialize them heavily - it's a greater time investment but the payout is better.
"GenSetEarlyOverrideFloat Hud_Statustargetoftarget_Space_Bufflist scale 1.5 $$ GenSetEarlyOverrideFloat Hud_Statustarget_Space_Bufflist scale 1.5 $$ GenSetEarlyOverrideFloat Hud_Statustargetfocused_Space_Bufflist scale 1.5"
Bind that to a key, spacebar is good, or something else you can tap easily and repeatedly (after you switch targets).
You can adjust the scale numbers, from 1.5 to 1.8 or 2.0 or 1.2, etc to see what works for you (scale 3.0 will be as large as your boff icons probably).
And on that point, I'm wondering if maybe I'm looking at an escort for pugging and cruising Kerrat, and a sci ship for more organized settings. Let me see if I can remember my Vesta setup.
3xAux cannon
borgx3
beam array, 2x chroniton torps
shield bat, red matter cap, subspace modulator
vesta console, fleet rcs +all resist
2xVesta console, leech, field generator
4xphaser console
HE1, TSS2, GW1, VM3
ST1
TT1, CRF1
EPTS1, RSP1, EWP
EPTW1, A2SIF1 <-- I'd like to turn that into Extend 1, but I'm chicken hehe
2x Damage Control Engineers
After shock gravity well
proc extra viral
Shield power on use of energy weapons
I felt pretty good at shutting people down, but again, no teeth. I didn't really give it many goes tho, and other then the sporadic fleet PvP that pops up from time to time my access to groups to learn has been limited. Admittedly much of that is personal shame at how poorly I feel like I'm doing but I have reached the end of what I can teach myself. I have to start actually sticking my nose into the community and be fodder for the jackals hehe. I'd like to take you up on your offers of playing at some time, it would be good to get some sort of assessment of if I'm in the right realm or if I just need to rethink everything from the ground up.
Thanks for that keybind! I'll have to check that out.
Edit: some explanations... even tho I think they are wrong. I have the beam in the back to take advantage of target sub systems, and using ep2w gives the aux cannons the % energy weapon bonus... so between the leech, ep2w I was using for damage anyway, targeting subsystems for "free" in terms of boff abilities, and the occasional red matter capacitor, that one lone beam doesn't do half bad...
Oh, and Yellowstones in the hangar, for sure!
And also, nothing fancy on the warp core front yet. We are close to unlocking the t3 mine ones and I'll invest then. some blue on my escort and a lame green one for aux on the vesta... soon!
Fleet Admiral Space Orphidian Possiblities Wizard