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Do I have to use macros to make an Aux2Batt build work?
unangbangkay
Member Posts: 10 Arc User
I've been learning to fly more cruisers and battlecruisers, since I'm interested in picking up an Avenger, but since many top-end builds seem to revolve around managing Aux2Batt, and recommend using macros to bind everything to the spacebar, I wonder just how much of this is necessary to make it work well.
For TL;DR types, here are my main questions:
1. Do I need to use macros to make an Aux2Batt build work?
2. Do I need to have 2 copies of Aux2Batt or can I get by with just 1?
3. If I don't have or can't afford the Marion doff (can we please call him "Agent Dulmer"?), should I bother with having DEM3 in my build?
4. Is an Avenger better/more fun as a beam array boat, Dual-beam boat, or cannon boat?
5. Is Aceton Beam any good?
Right now I've got a Regent (non-Fleet), Ambassador (non-Fleet), and an Odyssey Star Cruiser (the one that's in the Fleet store and gifted by the special event. I have 3 purple technicians, DEM3 (I'm an Engi captain), and access to most of the rep gear (except nukara rep). I have no plans to be competitive in PVP.
If possible I'd like to avoid getting a Fleet ship (though if I pick up any fleet ship it'll be a Fleet Avenger). I currently prefer the Ambassador because of the LtC Science slot, though I also like the Oddy since I get more Tac options out of its universal LtC. I find the regent a bit squishy, but folks here seem to say it's the best FAW DPS boat, so I dunno lol.
Here is my current, non-Aux2batt Ambassador build:
Eng Captain:
Fore: Romulan Plasma Mk XII BA, Experimental Romulan BA, Plasma DBB (Romulan eventually), Omega Torpedo
Aft: Romulan Plasma Mk XII BAx2, Kinetic cutting Beam, Rom hyper torpedo (or Wide-Angle Quantum Torpedo or Plasma BA)
Gear: Borg 3-piece set (MACO/Omega available) Mk XI, Purple Hyper Injection Warp Core Mk XI [SEP] [E->S] [ACap] [SSR]
Boffs (in order of power rank):
Tac LT: Tactical Team (or Beam FAW), Attack Pattern Beta
Tac EN: Beam Overload
Sci LTC: Hazard Emitters, Transfer Shield Strength, Gravity Well
Eng CDR: Emergency Power Shields, Aux to SIF, Emer. Pow. Weapons III, Eject Warp Plasma III (or DEM III)
Eng LT: Emer. Pow. Shields, Reverse Shield Polarity
Consoles:
Eng: Tachyokinetic Converter, Borg console, Zero-point console, Armor console (or RCS, or gimmick console like Team Fortress, Grapple, etc.)
Sci: 2x Field Generators Mk XI blue
Tac: Plasma Infusers
Doffs:
Blue Beam Ability Recharge
Purple Aftershock Gravity Well
Blue Tac Team Recharge
Blue Emergency Power power boost
Blue Evasive Maneuvers recharge (or Emergency Power recharge)
Devices:
Subspace Modulator, Engine Battery (replace with Deuterium Surplus), Aux Battery, Weapons Battery
This build is essentially the same on the Odyssey, except ditching the LT ENG and putting in the following:
Sci EN: Tractor Beam or Polarize Hull
Uni LTC (Tac): Tac Team, Beam FAW, APB
On the Regent it's:
Tac LTC: BO (or Tac Team), BFAW (or APB or BO), TSIII/HYIII/FAWIII
Tac EN: Tac Team (or BFAWI)
Uni LT (Sci): HE, TSS
Any advice welcome!
For TL;DR types, here are my main questions:
1. Do I need to use macros to make an Aux2Batt build work?
2. Do I need to have 2 copies of Aux2Batt or can I get by with just 1?
3. If I don't have or can't afford the Marion doff (can we please call him "Agent Dulmer"?), should I bother with having DEM3 in my build?
4. Is an Avenger better/more fun as a beam array boat, Dual-beam boat, or cannon boat?
5. Is Aceton Beam any good?
Right now I've got a Regent (non-Fleet), Ambassador (non-Fleet), and an Odyssey Star Cruiser (the one that's in the Fleet store and gifted by the special event. I have 3 purple technicians, DEM3 (I'm an Engi captain), and access to most of the rep gear (except nukara rep). I have no plans to be competitive in PVP.
If possible I'd like to avoid getting a Fleet ship (though if I pick up any fleet ship it'll be a Fleet Avenger). I currently prefer the Ambassador because of the LtC Science slot, though I also like the Oddy since I get more Tac options out of its universal LtC. I find the regent a bit squishy, but folks here seem to say it's the best FAW DPS boat, so I dunno lol.
Here is my current, non-Aux2batt Ambassador build:
Eng Captain:
Fore: Romulan Plasma Mk XII BA, Experimental Romulan BA, Plasma DBB (Romulan eventually), Omega Torpedo
Aft: Romulan Plasma Mk XII BAx2, Kinetic cutting Beam, Rom hyper torpedo (or Wide-Angle Quantum Torpedo or Plasma BA)
Gear: Borg 3-piece set (MACO/Omega available) Mk XI, Purple Hyper Injection Warp Core Mk XI [SEP] [E->S] [ACap] [SSR]
Boffs (in order of power rank):
Tac LT: Tactical Team (or Beam FAW), Attack Pattern Beta
Tac EN: Beam Overload
Sci LTC: Hazard Emitters, Transfer Shield Strength, Gravity Well
Eng CDR: Emergency Power Shields, Aux to SIF, Emer. Pow. Weapons III, Eject Warp Plasma III (or DEM III)
Eng LT: Emer. Pow. Shields, Reverse Shield Polarity
Consoles:
Eng: Tachyokinetic Converter, Borg console, Zero-point console, Armor console (or RCS, or gimmick console like Team Fortress, Grapple, etc.)
Sci: 2x Field Generators Mk XI blue
Tac: Plasma Infusers
Doffs:
Blue Beam Ability Recharge
Purple Aftershock Gravity Well
Blue Tac Team Recharge
Blue Emergency Power power boost
Blue Evasive Maneuvers recharge (or Emergency Power recharge)
Devices:
Subspace Modulator, Engine Battery (replace with Deuterium Surplus), Aux Battery, Weapons Battery
This build is essentially the same on the Odyssey, except ditching the LT ENG and putting in the following:
Sci EN: Tractor Beam or Polarize Hull
Uni LTC (Tac): Tac Team, Beam FAW, APB
On the Regent it's:
Tac LTC: BO (or Tac Team), BFAW (or APB or BO), TSIII/HYIII/FAWIII
Tac EN: Tac Team (or BFAWI)
Uni LT (Sci): HE, TSS
Any advice welcome!
Post edited by unangbangkay on
0
Comments
+1 nothing like going warp core critical because you need 5 seconds to get a button to work and are dead in 3.
1. You don't but it makes life easier. It doesn't have to be a full macro, just the ingame binding commands can work. The Spacebar Keybind is so simple and useful I run it on any ship.
2. This is a great explanation of the differences.
3. Personally I don't find him worth the cost. With the 2pc Borg secondary set (Console and cutting beam) there will be a nice reduction on power drain that will keep your weapons firing at high power. DEM3 is still great if you PVP, with the Omega Weapon AMP, Tetryon Glider and Plasma Embassy Consoles you can take out very weakened targets though their RSP.
4. I ran mine as a beam boat, a cannon boat is also good . I don't think Dual-beams (with turrets) is a good set up; only use DBB to augment cannons.
5. No. There are far better things to put in those engi slots like AuxtoSIF, or TSS or DEM or RSP even EWP; basically anything. Aceton Beam only reduces the firepower of one target and has a long cool down.
Does this mean DEM3 isn't so good in PVE, where few things have particularly strong shields? Based on the description DEM3 doesn't seem to do much to increase raw damage output on unshielded targets (though I assume having Marion would have an effect due to having high weapon power for more of the firing cycle).
i'm pretty sure DEM adds some dmg regardless, it shouldn't, but i think it does.
the thing is also, that beams somehow profit from very, very high weapon power well beyond the cap of 125.
last i read about it, that is working as intended...except it only works for beams.
The shield penetration pulse sounds like it would work better with cannons than with beams, so maybe it's worth using in that fashion.
1. No, but it's a lot of button-mashing without a keybind.
2. Ideally, yes. With blue/purple technicians, two copies of A2B allow you to activate the ability (and proc the doffs) every ten seconds.
3. DEM3 can be a decent damage bonus by itself, but I'd prefer RSP3 for more survivability. I also use EPtW3 a lot.
4. I use beam arrays fore and aft on the Avenger. I'll be honest, I haven't tried it any other way. Personal record with the Fleet Avenger and a tac captain is 19k.
5. Sadly not.
1) A Keybind does help, but it's not particularly necessary to make the build work. In fact in some cases (A2B with offensive aux-dependent sci powers, for example) it's best not to have A2B on a bind anyway, since it gives you greater control over activation.
2) You can get by with just a single copy, so long as you run 3 purple techs. That's a 30% cd reduction every 27s, which will put your shorter cooldowns very close to global, and your longer ones at global. It really depends how heavily you rely on the w/s/e boost, and whether you're bothered enough about shaving the extra few seconds off short cds, to run 2 copies.
3) Whether you take DEM3 without Marion depends on whether you feel it adds more to your build than another cmd eng ability. By itself it's decent, but really not a game-changer either way.
4) Dual beams or cannons are always more fun than arrays, though in terms of output there's not that much in it to say definitively which is the "best" loadout to use. I run my Sci's Avenger with DBBs and it kicks out a lot of damage, and the combo of FAW + TS makes very short work of ship groups in eSTFs.
5) Never used it, but everything I've read and been told points it to being quite lackluster.
1: Not really, but basic keybinds make life much easier. They are fairly easy to set up too. Guide to do so is here, and a basic keybind file can be downloaded here. Yes, they're both PvP things (which you said you weren't interested in), but they are good at explaining it all. Not only that, the second link has a link to a program that you can use to make keybinds however you want.
2: Running 3 purple technicians you can get by with 1 copy of A2B, but it depends how desperate you are to get all of your BOff abilities at Global CD. I run 2 copies, but then I only have 1 purple and 2 blues.
3: I would say not personally. If you can get Agent Dulmar, DEM3 is nice, but if not then something like RSP3 or even Extend Shields can be good. Remember, as an engineering captain you have Nadion Inversion, which is more or less the captain's version of Agent Dulmar.
4: Your mileage may vary on this one. Without committing wholly to turn rate with your Engineering consoles then DHCs may not be for you. Luckily I have a good fleet, so I can get the good toys to play with. However, a fleetmate swears by his Beam Array build, but he is a tac captain, and APA adds a good chunk of damage. However, as an aside, I rarely have problems with blowing up in E-STFs and the like due to the usual captain abilities.
5: Sadly not...
And, for everyone to laugh at, here's my Avenger build:
Link
N.B. The deflector and engine are left vacant as STO Academy doesn't seem to have the Nukara space set as an item set. But, suffice to say the Avenger's fitted with the Nukara Mk XII engines and the Nukara Mk XII deflector. They may not be ideal, but I like them.
Tim
Edit: Re-read your OP, and obviously you can swap APO in my version for APB, and EPtE for EPtW. I have them both because I do PvP every now and then, and I am rubbish at flying a ship.
Aceton beam is TRIBBLE as an offensive power. It's good as a situational defensive power, though, as it reduces the target's energy weapons damage by up to 75% for 30 seconds (depending on what level you use). It's great for hitting a elite tac cube/gate with, or one of the unimatrix ships. It can actually save a bad pug by reducing the incoming damage to noob-managable levels. Having a boff trained in aceton beam III and swapping him in the rotation when the need arises is a good idea.
The Nukara set (with MACO shields) is actually a great combo for an Engi in a Cruiser. The larger shield emitters figures and greater shield capacity complement Engi powers like Rotate Shields and the shield regen abilities you have selected.
Does the Nukara set at Mk XII outclass the Mk XI STF sets (MACO, Omega, Borg)?
I'm wondering whether "maining" the Nukara set is worthwhile once I hit T5, since right now it's far easier for me to farm up Nukara marks and appropriate resources than it is to upgrade all my Mk XI STF gear (obtained before the introduction of Rep systems).
I tried testing a full Nukara/Refracting Tetryon set on Tribble (thank goodness for the "everything is free" test vendor!) and I liked it, but I lack the wherewithal to judge the hard numbers for performance. Any advice is welcome.
I'm going to consult using the numbers from the MKXII sets for both from stowiki just because it is easier, obviously the MKXI set will be a little bit worse- but not by much.
Well the two deflectors are about equal in performance but they enhance systems a little differently. The MACO deflector is more balanced, while the Nukara one is weighted for shield tanking. The MACO deflector will help with high power usage (like from firing chained fire at wills on cruiser), while the Nukara will prevent power and shield drains.
The Engines are quite a bit different the Nukara engines are overall better, the Nukara is faster and better turning and gives a bonus to shield power levels but the MACO will turn better if your engines are disabled (or the ship is stopped) and will be faster in sector space.
The Shields a very different in terms of capabilities and quality. The MACO is better; they have higher capacity and regen, reduce all energy damage, and increase your power levels. The Nukara reduces Tetryon damage and reflect some damage back but the raw shield HP and regen is less. Now if you run Plasmonic Leech, don't run the MACO shield since its power bonus overrides the Leech, in such a case it would probably be better to use a shield like the Fleet Adaptive Resilient shields or the Borg Regenerative Shields (Nukara + Borg shield would give a flat +10 bonus to shield power levels with variable bonus at low power levels).
The set bonuses vary quite a bit, the MACO 2pc bonus is better if you have high power usage in weapons due to the added power regen. The Nukara 3pc is better if you run Tetryon weapons and are Tier 5 Nukara since Tetryon consoles added damage to those abilities and they damage both shields and hull (in such a case I recommend using a minimum the 2 PC Nukara Appropriated Munitions Set for the bonus to Tetryon Damage). The MACO Heavy Graviton Beam isn't very good even with the Buff in got in LoR.
If you run a ship with Beams the Nukara Particle Converter is great, it is basically another [acc] on your weapons and gives +5 shield power. The Nukara mines are also very powerful; that is the 2pc set I would use if you want the tetryon bonus.