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The rocky road to salvation - a newbie's start
compassman
Member Posts: 0 Arc User
Hello everyone!
I dinged level 50 last week on my fed tactical, and ever since I've busied myself with grinding Omega rep (looked like a nice place to start).
Out of all the gameplay styles, I've settled for a beam array cruiser. Now, I've read and documented myself concerning the A2B build, which makes use of 5 (five was it?) boffs you get from a repeateble assignment (I have the first one, 4 more to go I guess), spamming that skill (a2b) in order to cut in the cooldown on most boff abilities.
Aside from this, however, I have no idea how to equip my ship (or what ship to buy, for that matter). I'm flying a Mirror Universe Assault Cruiser, and using 7 mk XII very rare disruptors, I believe I'm doing decent DPS (boosted by three tac consoles bonusing this damage type). I think.
The issue isn't shooting things, it's when those things start shooting back. Since I've mostly been playing the borg space STFs (I'm not too keen on the ground combat portion of the game) I came to the realization that I could not kill the gates by myself (in Infected:The Conduit and the Kithomer Vortex). More exactly, I can't tank their damage - their shield drain takes half my shields away in the time it takes me to hit the Hazard emitters button (and shoots again before this skill is off cd) and the rest of the shields go down really fast.
Obviously, this must be caused by the fact that the rest of my ship is poorly equipped ( just the Jem'Hadar set, 2 pieces, and random assorted stuff).
What combination of sets is the best for an a2b beam boat? What should I start with (I already bought the Assimilated module console, and plan on buying the kinetic beam when that's available). Which ships make such good boats?
As a note, I actually started the game after being inspired by this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFlb-CNrVtY . And I instantly wanted one of those ships (a Galor-class cruiser). It looks so graceful and agile, makes you think of some smaller cetacean. And it tanks, in that video, a whole lot better than I do. Currently, if the borg have me in their sights, my only solution is to put out some defensive cooldowns, and run
.
I'm looking forward to some guidance.
I dinged level 50 last week on my fed tactical, and ever since I've busied myself with grinding Omega rep (looked like a nice place to start).
Out of all the gameplay styles, I've settled for a beam array cruiser. Now, I've read and documented myself concerning the A2B build, which makes use of 5 (five was it?) boffs you get from a repeateble assignment (I have the first one, 4 more to go I guess), spamming that skill (a2b) in order to cut in the cooldown on most boff abilities.
Aside from this, however, I have no idea how to equip my ship (or what ship to buy, for that matter). I'm flying a Mirror Universe Assault Cruiser, and using 7 mk XII very rare disruptors, I believe I'm doing decent DPS (boosted by three tac consoles bonusing this damage type). I think.
The issue isn't shooting things, it's when those things start shooting back. Since I've mostly been playing the borg space STFs (I'm not too keen on the ground combat portion of the game) I came to the realization that I could not kill the gates by myself (in Infected:The Conduit and the Kithomer Vortex). More exactly, I can't tank their damage - their shield drain takes half my shields away in the time it takes me to hit the Hazard emitters button (and shoots again before this skill is off cd) and the rest of the shields go down really fast.
Obviously, this must be caused by the fact that the rest of my ship is poorly equipped ( just the Jem'Hadar set, 2 pieces, and random assorted stuff).
What combination of sets is the best for an a2b beam boat? What should I start with (I already bought the Assimilated module console, and plan on buying the kinetic beam when that's available). Which ships make such good boats?
As a note, I actually started the game after being inspired by this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFlb-CNrVtY . And I instantly wanted one of those ships (a Galor-class cruiser). It looks so graceful and agile, makes you think of some smaller cetacean. And it tanks, in that video, a whole lot better than I do. Currently, if the borg have me in their sights, my only solution is to put out some defensive cooldowns, and run
.I'm looking forward to some guidance.
Post edited by compassman on
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Parts that grant bonus power are also very good. Aux to Batt grants a bigger boost at higher Aux power, so focus on that, but extra weapon power is also very useful. Look into the unique warp core from Sphere of Influence: it gives a boost to auxiliary power and also a (small) boost to shield power as well as a mini shield battery ability. Again, just a little something to tide you over.
I'll assume you have a console to increase your turn rate. I just bought a Tachyokinetic Converter from the Lobi store with crystals from the event and it's pretty good, combines a decent turning bonus with a slight critical rate boost. Being able to quickly turn around and bring a fresh shield facing towards the enemy has saved me a few times. It seems to work better if you turn the stern towards the enemy instead of trying to chase them with the bow, and that can give an opportunity for a torpedo shot against an unshielded enemy.
Hazard Emitters heal your hull, not your shields. You want Science Team, Transfer Shield Strength, Emergency Power to Shields, or something like that. Transfer Shield Strength might be your best bet since it's supposed to heal more at high auxiliary power.
Maybe train an engineer in Emergency Power to Auxiliary. It's a quick way to get even more bang out of Aux2Bat. The Mirror Assault Cruiser has a Commander Engineer boff slot and a Lt. Commander Engineer, so you should fill up on healing skills (say, one Emergency Power to Shields, one Aux to Structural integrity) and look at Directed Energy Modulation to improve shield penetration for your beams.
But take all this with a grain of salt. It's coming from a casual player whose gear is basically mission rewards and a few crafted bits.
By the way, what career are you using? That will affect what kind of BOff abilities you should be looking at to supplement your own.
Also what space Doffs are you slotting?
If you are referring to Duty Officers (DOffs) required for a traditional Aux2Bat beam boat, you only need three purple Technicians with the Auxiliary to Battery cooldown-cutting ability. These can be obtained from the B'Tran cluster colony support missions. In fact, you literally can't use more than three; the other two will sit forlornly scratching at your bridge's door in hopes of gaining the attention of their fickle captain.
Here's my silly build: http://skillplanner.stoacademy.com/?build=kwizbuild_0
Please, flame...err, advise away.
I'm keeping my weapons power level at 100, and the rest...well, whatever is left.
I'm assuming that you'd like to be broadsiding targets with (7)or 8 beam arrays ?
If that is the case, then the Cutting Beam can be useful to add some kinetic damage to your beam platform.
as well,
The 360 AP Beam Array could serve as a nice rear weapon as well...being 360 degrees, AND enhanced by BeamOverload and Beam Fire at Will, makes it a unique and useful choice for a rear weapon.
*The Cutting Beam is not affected by BFaW or BO* but still useful to deal some kinetic damage.
Another rear weapon I'd suggest for an all beams build is the Romulan Experimental Beam Array. As it has 2 nice procs (Damage Resistance Debuff a la Disruptors and a plasma burn dmg to shields over time)
and the ROM EXP Beam Array "DOES NOT" incure a penalty for mixing weapon power types.
If you load the RomHyperPlasma torp and PointZero Console, the ROM EXP Beam will grant a skill called HyperFlux Beam Shot (similar to BO with similar Damage numbers)
Still...even without the ZP console and HyperTorp, its still a great choice for a rear beam on an all beams build.
Just a few weapon suggestions.
Also, what ship should I look forward to next?
I also only run with weap power set to as high as it'll go, and putting the rest of the power to the shields. as for boff abilities: for tact: 1 tact team at least (i only ran 1, 3 is worthless), for sci: hazard emmitters and polarize hull (what ever order doesn't seem to matter terribly).
My mirror AC is slow and suborn as an embedded brick, but she has achieved a balance of DPS and HP, while allowing to inflict her fullest DPS in two wide broadsides.
This is a WWII battleship style build. So just go out there, tank, and pump shells into everything until your out of ammo!
http://skillplanner.stoacademy.com/?build=mirrorassault_1552
Please remember that some of these items such as the borg deflector, engine, maco shield, and cutting beam come from the omega rep. I've listed the lowest versions to make it easier to get them. In the short term, I believe this is where you should head. Item wise, you can swap out weapons for whatever you want, but I believe this will give the biggest bang for the cheapest buck.
Also, as nobody has mentioned yet, I have re-written the bridge officer powers almost completely. No more torpedo or overload powers. This is mainly due to using 2 TacTeam1's, so adding in FAW2 with DEM3 and Aux2bat x2 should have more then enough firepower for you. The shielding boff skills are all simple training skills except EPTS3, you'll need an engineer to train your boff for that.
All in all it's a pretty cheap build, but it's solid and you can take quite a beating with it.
[Unrepentant] Lapo@overlapo: the problem with space STF
is that you can't properly teabag your defeated opponent
Unrepentant: Home of the Rainbow Warrior and the Rainbow Brigade.
I'm pretty happy with it as my Endgame, mostly because I can't afford the $25 for the Vesta...
As for Doffs, if you fly over to the B'Tran cluster (map-south of the Borg sector), you can run a series of Doff Assignments to get yourself some Blue (or better) Technicians. They'll be the best thing for you and won't cost you any more than normal Doff assignments...
Also, check out hilbertguide.com for the keybinding...
CM
I take it that with the setup indicated by daiouvegeta2 I'll be able to dish the same amount of damage, and be able to survive better. Currently, surviving is the biggest issue, if those borg start looking at me (anything bigger than a cube is a realy problem, because they can drain shields faster than I can repair) I'm screwed.
I've already got 100k dilithium. I believe I'll have enough time these holidays to grind some more, potentially reaching 200k . In the long run, I think I'll have enough to buy a c-store vessel, and I'm trying to find out which is the best.
My ultimate goal remains the Galor Cruiser, but I have yet to find out how to generate this amount of income. I'll figure that out by myself at some point.
Yes, better survivability and firepower. There are 2 things I'd change about daiouvegeta2's build. First, I don't agree on his choice of warpcore. The one you want is the Obelisk one you get for free from running the Worf "Sphere of Influence" mission. You need to run that twice to get both the warpcore and the antiproton array that daiou already has in your build. Those 2 together will give you +10% antiproton damage. Second change I'd make is to remove Hazard Emitters 1 from your sci officer and replace it with Polarize Hull 1 (you'll still have HE2 for hull heals and clearing plasma fires). PH1 will allow you to escape from Borg tractor beams, something you're going to be dealing with all the time if you're running STFs constantly. Getting snared by the Borg with no way to escape is generally the same as hitting self-destruct.
Also you should always have an EPtShields active which you'll only need one of with A2B and Auxiliary to Structural's still good if you only have one A2B. I'll try posting my oddy build but <___< >___> shhhh don't want my mediocre build being stolen! XD but it tanks pretty good even with only 1 Eng slot also keybinds are very important i use the 3-rowed skill tray with 1-9 on top then Shift1-9 in middle and on the bottom Ctrl1-9 with best abilities on 1-5s and balance shields on E. Balance shields is very important since pretty much all shield heals are on each facing so if one's full you lose some of the heal.
Here's my Oddy:
http://skillplanner.stoacademy.com/?build=bzksaptacoddy_0
I didn't provide the obe warp core simply because it's an aux based warp core, which while good for healing, in a cruiser he was asking for firepower and survival (A2b saps your aux regardless anyways so its moot). 10% AP damage is good, adding 7.5%(?) of your weapon power number to your shield power is better. But it's a matter of personal taste I guess.
I listed 2 HEs because he has a problem with shield neutralizers, having 2 HEs will help that a lot. The Mirror Assault already turns like a tractor on a F1 raceway, getting snared in a tractor beam is not that big of a deal, especially with FAW2 being your mainstay firepower anyways. Again, personal tastes. I go with 6 points in inertial dampeners and evasive to get out tractor beams myself, saves me a boff power I can use elsewhere.
If you want a C-Store cruiser that has a good mix of damage power and high survival, the ACR(Assault Cruiser Refit) is the best one to go with. Great tactical capability while keeping with the high eng boff slots to keep you alive, with a LT universal you can swap out at any time.
[Unrepentant] Lapo@overlapo: the problem with space STF
is that you can't properly teabag your defeated opponent
Unrepentant: Home of the Rainbow Warrior and the Rainbow Brigade.