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Problems I'm Dealing With...With a Little Help From My Friends
azurescarab
Member Posts: 18 Arc User
"Hello, I'm Azure Scarab."
I came here today to ask the forum's help regarding a couple of major projects I've got going shipwise for my setups in the future.
First, to get it out of the way: I'm an Engineering Captain on the Science Vessel. I found the Eng abilities (like RSF) to be useful for survival when it comes to Science.
Now, my problem. I know that Science Vessels aren't supposed to be the damage dealers, but I go into Fleet Actions and feel like I'm doing squat while all the rest are kicking evil very hard in the face. So, here's some help I need from all of you out there - I want to increase the DPS on my ship.
And yes, I know, Science Vesta. I've heard it all before. If I really want to, I'll go that route. But for now, I want to stick with what I've got, and see if I can't boost myself up a bit. To that end, here's what I have.
Ship: USS Colbert - RSV, Polaris-class
Fore Weapons: Tet BArray, Mk XI [Acc]x2 / QuanTorp Mk XI [Acc] / Polaron DBB Mk XI [Acc] [Dmg]x2
Aft: Tet BArray, Mk XI [Acc] / PhTorp Mk XI [Acc] / Polaron Turret Mk XI [Acc]x2
Impulse: Hyper Mk XI [Spd] [Turn]
Warp Core: H-Inject Mk X [SEP] [S->W]
Deflector: Positron Mk XI [SIF] [SubD]
Shield Array: Resilient Mk XI [Pla] [Reg] [Tet]
E-Consoles: RCS Accel Mk XI Blue / ECeramic Armor Mk XI Blue
S-Consoles: EmitArray Mk XI Blue / SE Amp Mk XI Green / GravGen Mk XI Blue / Probes Mk XI Blue
T-Consoles: 0pt Quant Mk XI Blue / TPG Mk XI Green / PPM Mk XI Blue
To round it off, BOffs:
Commander Level Science
JS1/HE2/GW1/VM3
Lt Cmdr Level Science
ST1/TSSt2/TrB3
Lt Level Engineer
ET1/EPtS2
Lt Level Tac
HYT1/FW2
En Level Tac
TT1
A couple of notes regarding this setup: when I sat down to make this ship, I made it with two goals in mind. One was to be effective against Tholians - Nukara is the first Rep TF I'm working with, and I intend to max it out before I move to another one. The second goal is to chew up and spit out Borg. Those goals haven't really changed, keep them in mind when you make recommendations.
Guys, take note - any advice you can give me here will help me down the line. My eventual goal for my flagship is the Fleet Science Vessel Retrofit, which will have space for all of the above, plus one more E-Console. It's gonna take a while, though...
My other question is on Tac Ships. I've got a Mirror Universe Patrol Escort that I picked up from a fleet friend that didn't need it. I don't have the stats on me now, but I should soon enough. I'm focusing on plasma b/c of the proc, but I may be switching over to phasers (you can help judge me on that). I can tell you that in the beam categories, my escort is loaded for bear with 3 Plasma BArrays, and 2 Plas DBBs. I am planning on switching out part of this loadout for DHCs. Any particular recommendations you guys can make for equipment on a Tac Ship? (One thing I do remember is I stuck it with a Covariant Array with [Cap] and [Reg]x2).
I came here today to ask the forum's help regarding a couple of major projects I've got going shipwise for my setups in the future.
First, to get it out of the way: I'm an Engineering Captain on the Science Vessel. I found the Eng abilities (like RSF) to be useful for survival when it comes to Science.
Now, my problem. I know that Science Vessels aren't supposed to be the damage dealers, but I go into Fleet Actions and feel like I'm doing squat while all the rest are kicking evil very hard in the face. So, here's some help I need from all of you out there - I want to increase the DPS on my ship.
And yes, I know, Science Vesta. I've heard it all before. If I really want to, I'll go that route. But for now, I want to stick with what I've got, and see if I can't boost myself up a bit. To that end, here's what I have.
Ship: USS Colbert - RSV, Polaris-class
Fore Weapons: Tet BArray, Mk XI [Acc]x2 / QuanTorp Mk XI [Acc] / Polaron DBB Mk XI [Acc] [Dmg]x2
Aft: Tet BArray, Mk XI [Acc] / PhTorp Mk XI [Acc] / Polaron Turret Mk XI [Acc]x2
Impulse: Hyper Mk XI [Spd] [Turn]
Warp Core: H-Inject Mk X [SEP] [S->W]
Deflector: Positron Mk XI [SIF] [SubD]
Shield Array: Resilient Mk XI [Pla] [Reg] [Tet]
E-Consoles: RCS Accel Mk XI Blue / ECeramic Armor Mk XI Blue
S-Consoles: EmitArray Mk XI Blue / SE Amp Mk XI Green / GravGen Mk XI Blue / Probes Mk XI Blue
T-Consoles: 0pt Quant Mk XI Blue / TPG Mk XI Green / PPM Mk XI Blue
To round it off, BOffs:
Commander Level Science
JS1/HE2/GW1/VM3
Lt Cmdr Level Science
ST1/TSSt2/TrB3
Lt Level Engineer
ET1/EPtS2
Lt Level Tac
HYT1/FW2
En Level Tac
TT1
A couple of notes regarding this setup: when I sat down to make this ship, I made it with two goals in mind. One was to be effective against Tholians - Nukara is the first Rep TF I'm working with, and I intend to max it out before I move to another one. The second goal is to chew up and spit out Borg. Those goals haven't really changed, keep them in mind when you make recommendations.
Guys, take note - any advice you can give me here will help me down the line. My eventual goal for my flagship is the Fleet Science Vessel Retrofit, which will have space for all of the above, plus one more E-Console. It's gonna take a while, though...
My other question is on Tac Ships. I've got a Mirror Universe Patrol Escort that I picked up from a fleet friend that didn't need it. I don't have the stats on me now, but I should soon enough. I'm focusing on plasma b/c of the proc, but I may be switching over to phasers (you can help judge me on that). I can tell you that in the beam categories, my escort is loaded for bear with 3 Plasma BArrays, and 2 Plas DBBs. I am planning on switching out part of this loadout for DHCs. Any particular recommendations you guys can make for equipment on a Tac Ship? (One thing I do remember is I stuck it with a Covariant Array with [Cap] and [Reg]x2).
Post edited by azurescarab on
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What ship can help you draw the most from an engineer captain ? You can check this thread to make up your own mind, because options are really diverse.
If you're not too much into PvP, you might want to consider the "tanking destroyer" approach, in order to keep agro easily in this age of high-powered escorts. For a Federation captain, that would lead you towards the Jem'Hadar Heavy Escort Carrier. Even the S'Golth is durable enough in the hands of an engineer to be considered as a good part-time tank ; at least all the engineers I know have a great time on a S'Golth, even though they miss a Lt-Cmd engineer on the bridge.
If you're a PvP player, you should consider a cruiser, so that Extend Shield 3 is available to you. There are several good options there too.
Have fun !
My first suggestion would be to go with one energy weapon type. For your Tac consoles, go with two boosting energy type, and one boosting Torpdeo if you want to help both. That will help add to the damage you're doing, instead of two weaker energy types, you'll have one stronger beam type.
Also, drop the turret in the back for a beam array. Also, maybe consider swapping out the Photon in the back for another Quantum at least, or do away with it for another beam array.
I would suggest limiting your weapon types to whatever consoles you have boosting them, to avoid wasting any potential there. Tetryon and Polaron are the two cheapest, so that will help. You're better off picking one or the other. If you go with Polaron, I would suggest getting the Jem'Hadar space set, as it will boost Polaron damage by 7%, and if you use the whole thing, you get an additional ability that will help you detect cloaked ships.
As to your Tac Boffs, TT1 is good. FW2, is that Fire at Will 2?
If it is, swap it with High Yield. THY2 adds a little more damage to your Torp volley that way, it may spit out one or two more.
Hope this helps on the tactical end. I'm a Tac captain, and have been spending a lot of time on here recently trying to get better at being a Tac Captain myself.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
My name is Rage, and I too support a revised Galaxy family.
Your weapons, as has been said, you really want to stick to a single damage type so that you can stack consoles for bigger boosts. I really like polaron on science ships, and the Jem'Hadar set is icing on the cake. Secondly, you really need to select your weapons to create a kill zone, a place where you can bring most or all your firepower to bear at once. With a fast ship like an RSV, thats easy to do in the fore arc using a mix of dual-beam-banks and aft-mounted turrets. Alternately you can put a pair of torpedoes on the front, add some projectile weapons officers, and become a rapid-fire torpedo boat, but you still want to keep at least one beam for subsystem targeting. Or you can simply put 6 beam arrays and broadside your target, but on a science ship you can run into energy problems doing that (though as an engineer, you can partially mitigate that drain, so it IS an option).
Your BOFF layout actually is pretty good, no WTF skills, just a few tweaks based on personal preferences. I'd drop the Jam Sensors for Polarize Hull for example. Also Viral Matrix doesn't do much in PVE play (too many targets with too many HP to bother with a momentary annoyance), so you may want to instead use Energy Siphon 3 or Tractor Beam Repulsors 3. Forewarning about TBR though: its a great skill and can kick huge amounts of butt when used carefully, but if you use it in team missions without thinking about where you're pushing a target too, you can really TRIBBLE up your teammates attack runs and cause as many problems as you solve. Used with good situational awareness, its a godsend, but that awareness is key.
If you haven't started yet, working on the colonization doffing chains in the exploration clusters is a good thing to chip away at in your spare time. When completed, these chains can reward you free purple-quality DOFFs, and for a science ship that can include a Tractor Beam Officer (adds shield drain to your tractor), a Gravimetric Scientist (your Gravity Well spawns more Gravity Wells), and a Projectile Weapons Officer (rapid-fire torpedoes), and can save you tens of millions of EC for doffs. Highly worth doing.
On your escort, 3 DHCs front, 3 turrets aft (again, think about your kill zone), then either a torpedo with spread or a DBB with Overload in that 4th slot. Yes there are fancier loadouts and people with beam-loaded escorts, but at this stage something simple and straightforward as you get used to the differences of escort combat, then start experimenting.
Good luck out there!
...but the internet ate my post and now I've no time to redo the proper answer.
Good thing most of my points have been covered above. I'll do the rest of my post later.
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Support the "Armored Unicorn" vehicle initiative today!
Thanks for Harajuku. Now let's get a real "Magical Girl" costume!
@Reginmala: Some stuff for you.
Note - I was considering prior to this swapping out JS for PH on the Science Boff. Having JS past...well, Commander level just doesn't make sense to me anymore. It only works on one target, making it useless against multiple ships, if the single target is big enough that you're running into a need to use JS a lot, you're doing something wrong...I'll go and flip the abilities soon.
Okay. Question time.
1: I noted what you said about VM, and it's uselessness in PvE. My other BOff has as his Com ability CPB III. I was considering just swapping them in the stations, so then my Sci Boff layout would be:
ST I / TSS II / TrB III / CPB III
PH I / HE II / GW I
Thoughts?
2: What's your take on BArrays vs DBB + Turret? From where I stand, it seems like a BArray boat with a couple qtorps would be the way to go - BArrays let you do broadside, IE max damage from two sides of your ship, as opposed to DBB + Turret which means you're only hitting with all guns in the forward quarter arc. Matter of fact, anything outside the front quarter is turret-only.
3: What's your take on Cannons? I was considering loading up with Cannons and BArray/Turrets in back.
4: Here's the big one. You and others have noted Polaron weapons as a good, solid choice. But I'm working up with the Nukara SF, which rewards Tetryon weapons. Matter of fact, I was considering going for both Nukara sets - NAM and NST - to help out my ship. What argument would you make for Polaron in face of the Nukara stuff, or for another proc, for that matter?
Everyone is so inured with more personal pew pew, they forget that you can't dps when you're dead.
Engineers are probably the best character class in the game, so well done there.
As far as suggestions go:
Focus on a single damage type for your energy weapons.
Polaron is good(as it's pretty inexpensive right now), so you'll want to stack the polaron consoles in your tactical slots.
Shield are life
Science Ships don't have the hull strength to withstand much punishment without their shields, so you'll want at least a couple of abilities to reinforce your shield strength/regeneration. Also, I've found that Regenerative Shields can be handy if you can buy a few seconds of not getting hit.
You have lots of science abilities, use them
Being able to clear debuffs is very imporant, learn what ability clears which debuff. This will go a long way to ensuring your durability and your ability to deal damage.
[1]Hazard Emitters clear direct damage effects from the ship. This includes the Borg Shield Neutralizer and all plasma fire effects
[2]Science Team clears placate effects
[3]Engineering team repairs hull and clears disable effects like Subsystem targeting and Viral Matrix
[4]Tactical Team auto-balances shields and clears boarding actions like assimilate ship or boarding party
[5]Transfer Shield Strength is incredibly powerful for recovering shield strength, probably more so than Emergency Power to Shields.
[6]Tractor Beams for fun and profit.
Tractors with a good DOff are very useful for taking down the shields of an enemy ship. Also good for holding a weakened shield facing for your torpedos to hit.
Mine(s) are better than yours.
I've found that science ships are quite agile. You might try using some plasma mines with the LT Dispersal Pattern Beta. It deploys 7 mines and 7 stacks of plasma fire starts to hurt after a couple seconds.
There is more, but this post is already pretty long. Also consider, if you want to continue the Engineer in a Science ship path, of picking up an Atrox Carrier. It's a really good ship that gives you a lot of powerful abilities, the only thing that could make it better is if there was easy access to a frigate class to launch from it, but even the fighters that are available can be very potent.
*Edit*
I forgot to mention that as an engineer you have access to a trait that increases ALL your power settings when you use ANY Emergency Power abilities. So consider using Emergency Power to Weapons instead of Shields for improved damage output and bolstering everything else also. Along this same vein, equip a Warp Core Engineer DOff as they do basically the same thing and they can stack.
For the time being, perhaps go with Polaron and the Jem'Hadar set until you get to T5 Nukara rep. Then, do what you have to to get a full set of Nukara Tetryon weapons and the related gear you prefer. That way you don't waste resources and time on less than optimal gear. That stuff ain't gonna be cheap.
Only thing now is to decide what way you're gonna go, beam arrays, or cannons and turrets.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
My name is Rage, and I too support a revised Galaxy family.
Not a huge CPB fan either. You gotta get close, it does a nice little zap, but then what? Your weapons do more damage but you're out of position to use them well, and you just burned a Commander-level power on what amounts to annoying your target. Its great for TRIBBLE up cloakers, but for Borg and Tholians its kinda wasted. Really for endgame PVE work, the choices in that slot are Energy Siphon, Tractor Beam Repulsors, or Gravity Well. The remaining powers have their uses in purpose-optimized builds (tuned Viral Matrix can f*** people up in PVP for example), but for a general purpose feeling-it-out build, I'd really recommend one of those three.
Honestly with the RSV's speed, front arc works fine. My first character, first build, I went for BAs and Torps (sticking to canon) and struggled with single targets. Someone helped me out and I switched to 3 DBBs and 3 turrets, and while that didn't make me the DPS queen by any measure, I could do enough DPS in ESTFs from weapons alone to meaningfully contribute even before throwing my sci stuff into the mix.
I did try the 6 BA thing on a later character, and its looked cool, but without some kind of extra to help combat all that drain (Eng captain powers can't be on all the time), it ends up with lots of flash without much actual bite. You can make it work, but its not really a good fit with the RSV's layout.
Not a fan. You could, run cannons and turrets and a single cannon skill, but I'd rather have DBBs (so you can use your subsystem targeting), and then be able to combo FAW1 plus APB1 on a cluster of enemies as your Gravity Well bunches them up, boosting both your damage and making them a wonderfully convenient target for your escort buddy with Scatter Volley.
Polarons at your current place, nothing too fancy just like green-11 quality with a single [acc] mod, tac consoles of around the +22% level, plus the Jem'Hadar set (I can't overstate how good that set is as transitional early-endgame gear). Right now, you build something thats cheap and effective to get you going, as really the rep-grind stuff is more about smart tactics and knowing your ship than 5% more accuracy or 50 points more damage, and really 95% of this game you can stomp pretty effectively with just white-10 equipment once you know it. The fancy stuff is icing on the cake that you install as you go, transitioning from Sufficiently Effective to Outright Nasty. You want a Ferrari some day, but first you learn to drive on a Honda.
Built my ship pretty much around that idea. I may not be able to instantly outgun the enemy, but if I can outlast them, then I can either run away to get help, or I can whittle them down with my weaponry until they're gone.
[1] I picked this up to specifically deal with Borg. Turns out it's great against Rommies, too, but HE is meant for added survival against Borg in my book.
[2] It also gives me a pretty good minor shield boost if I need it. Plus, a lot of guys out there have Subnucleonic Beam, and this clears it right up.
[3] Got it to keep the Subsystem Targets at bay, and the hull repair if offers doesn't hurt either.
[4] Haven't used this much yet so far. But that's because I'm not frontlining against Borg yet.
[5] I use TSS as an OH TRIBBLE button. Usually when EPtS is already engaged, SciTeam isn't enough, and Rotate Frequency is still on cooldown, and I need shields back pronto.
[6] I love it against the little ships. And yes, I've got the Doff that drains shields with TrB. Trying to get to a higher quality at the moment.
What Trait is that? That's the EPS Manifold, right? And yes, I have the WCEngineer Doff, as well.
Okay. Will probably go with TBR III, then. I have on my 'waiting' BOff list someone who can train one of my BOffs in TBR III. Not sure which I'd keep - CPB to deal with Rommies or VM to do PvP.
My setup would probably be 4 Energy & 2 Torpedo. Energy boats are okay, but then I'd want to pass on the torpedo skills for something else. If I did, though, I think I could pick an AP skill - but just at level 1. Beta or Delta, if I did.
Back to setup, though. 4 BAs? Or 2 DBB/2 Turrets?
Okay. Skip cannons unless they're Duals (and therefore Escort-capable). Got it.
Well...maybe I should explain a little more. I'm VAdm, but I did a lot of outside stuff to level up - things like Mirror Universe Invasions and other PvE actions to gain levels. I'm actually just at the start of the Romulan Mystery, meaning I have to get through that arc and the Cardassian Arc to get the Jem'Hadar stuff.
Nukara, on the other hand, I'm already Rep level 2, and busy working up to get to Rep level 3...
Change your advice at all?
Yes, it is. I'd really switch to double EPtS though, replacing your ET, continuous EPtS is a lot better than you expect it to be. Or you could go for EPtS and EPtW with three Damage Control Engineers to reduce cooldown, if they're high quality they come to like a 90% chance of keeping both at minimum, so that they're up continuously.
Yeah, the idea with all DBBs would be to get FAW1 and APB1, and definitely go for DBBs instead of BAs, BAs have too much drain and their arcs are wrong for sci abilities (if you're broadsiding you can't use half of your offensive abilities). Definitely don't use a rear torp, you should never have that in arc because it wastes too much energy damage, so it's a complete waste of a slot. I'm also not opposed to using single cannons, you do lose subsystem targeting, but I don't consider that a huge loss, and on DPS they probably come out about the same, with the cannons maybe a bit ahead, unless dropping the torp ability to go FAW1/APB1 ends up being a huge boost. You definitely shouldn't use single cannons on a ship that can use DHCs, however.
Nukara rep sets are expensive and really not all that great. Jem Mk XI is about on par, and just requires running a few episode missions, which is why it's suggested a lot. Basically it runs Exchange gear<Jem/Rom/Nukara/AEGIS stuff<Omega/Elite Fleet stuff, although Jem and AEGIS might deserve their own level just above the others, and the really big jump is the last one, the rest are minor. Since you can't get that, and Breen comes even later, make do with Exchange stuff, you can get Mk XII or XI pretty cheaply with whatever you want, I'd recommend a Positron deflector and a Resilient shield, engine whatever goes with your engine power level (I think it's something like Combat up to 45, regular up to 55, Hyper above that, and that is your final power level, not your power setting), just make sure that you don't pay more than double vendor price, because it's not worth it. I'd also disagree with the rest on energy type for the moment, it is true that plain Tetryon is the second weakest in the game for PvE (Phaser is probably still worse), but since you're planning to go for the Nukara Rep weapons it's probably not worthwhile to get consoles for something else. (Your best choices would be Disruptor for extra damage or Polaron for extra CC, but Disruptor is rather expensive, and the differences don't tend to be too big.)
Also, on abilities, make sure to get rid of Tractor Beam 3 as well as JS and VM. If you want a Tractor Beam 1 is as good as 3, and other stuff will benefit from that higher slot a lot more.
Humbly speaking, there are "better" sets that can be acquired with less effort. But if you really want the Nukara Sets, then go for it
It's not the best advice, but it's what I want to share
Part of the reason I think I can make Nukara work is because I deliberately engineered my ship equipment and personal skills for maximum survival - lots of Shield Performance, Hull Integrity, a Positron Deflector...
Jemhadar set till you get the rep for the borg rep gear
I worked romulan rep and got the hypertorp. love it. everything else is geared around the JH set. the JH set give the nice bump to the weapon type. I disagree with some of the others on the weapon setup, I would use DBB forward and beam arrays aft. I would not mess with mines I DO like the breen transphasic cluster launcher it gives a HUGE bang for the buck, so to speak
Well, "better" is relative and everyone has an opinion. Yet, the numbers don't lie. At the same time, you should determine what set you want for your playstyle.
Having said that, hands down MACO/Omega/Borg is at the high end because it is accessible to everyone if you are willing to pump in the work (and its A LOT of work and time. Elite Fleet is even better but requires you to be in an active Fleet at higher Tier completion. These are "better".
The Nukara Sets, on the other hand is relatively easy to acquire compared to the others above (even Romulan) because the Mark rewards are more generous relative to effort. Thus, it is easier to get, in my opinion.
Now then, other sets are acquired by either Mission Replay, Lobi (requiring Master Keys to purchase to open the Lockbox), or crafting. These Sets are simply easier to acquire than through Reputation.
For my part, I play by the "rule of cool" and Aegis fits the bill for me. Sure, there is "better" by the numbers, but I really like the Set and was quick and easy for me to get. It's the training-wheel Set but conventional standards and I'm OK with that. I prove my worth by how I play, not what gear I use.
SO - if you want Nukara and you have a playbook that makes the set shine and work for you, then go for it and enjoy it
Well, I sat down and took a look at the various Equipment sets. A few did strike me as being something I might want to look into, in terms of the Deflector/Engine/Shield Sets.
One thing I did want to start w/asking about, though. In talking to my own friends and just in general experience, Cov Shields have never really worked out for me. Is that just me, or are Covs generally best suited to a difference ship type than mine (I've had a Cov Shield mounted on my one Escort, and it's worked out pretty well for me), or something else? Just your opinion on it.
The Assimilated and MACO (Not Adapted MACO) sets seem to be pretty good - the former offers up some good set powers, and the latter seems to be the direction I was going in - good Resilient Shields, a deflector similar to Positrons in bonuses...and so on. So-so in terms of the bonus powers offered for equipping, though. And the real shame is that I can only have one of these sets active at any given time.
To be clear, the Nukara set offers similar things to MACO - Positron-like deflector, engines with good turning, Resilient Shields w/a 20% reduction in the type of energy used by the opponent (Plas for Borg, Tetry for Tholian).
There's just one issue. I'm looking at the stats for the sets on the STO wiki, and it seems the Nukara shields are vastly superior to the MACO shields...
Here, links to the three sets in question.
http://sto.gamepedia.com/Assimilated_Borg_Technology
http://sto.gamepedia.com/M.A.C.O._(Space)
http://sto.gamepedia.com/Nukara_Strikeforce_Technologies
What's your perspective?
One problem is that the stats in a shield array's item description are derived from at least the ship using the shield, if not the skills and consoles as well... all of which are complete unknowns in the wiki entry. If the MACO shield was mounted on an Escort and the Nukara shield on a Wells, then the Nukara shield will look much stronger regardless of their actual stats.
I will admit, though, that the MACO set (not Adapted MACO) does have my interest - it seems that if I were to go for something other than the Nukaran sets, that would be it. The main issue I have with MACO (and its counterparts) is that if you want the best stuff, then you need Borg Processors, which gives you 1 per Elite STF.
In other news, I was considering moving around my Tact BOff skills. A lot of the ships I've seen out there have made use of the Attack Patterns, while I'm just stuck with TTeam, HYT, and [email]F@W...to[/email] pose the question to the class, I've only got 2-3 levels in the Attack Patterns Skill...is it worth it to trade off for one? I was thinking APD, since you can use it to buff others...