Fleet assault cruiser- 10k DPS or bust!

valrobertson93

Please help me get there guys!

http://skillplanner.stoacademy.com/?build=challenger_5525

I have a Fleet Assault Cruiser with which I aspire to achieve 10,000 damage per second while running a parser in ISE. As it stands now, I can normally do between 7,000 and 7,500 dps in ISE. My personal best is 8,400, but I've only cracked 8k in ISE the one time and I consider it to be a fluke. My goal is to consistently run 10k DPS in ISE with essentially the same setup as I have now; I just want to see if it is possible to tweak it to make this happen.

As you can see from my build below, I'm using Elachi beam arrays x7 with a wide angle quantum torpedo. I was running a KCB, but when I tried a third beam array I noticed a roughly 800 dps increase from spamming FAW, so I nixed the KCB. I would REALLY like to maintain that combination of weapons on this ship. I really enjoy the aesthetic that it creates. I don't care for the plasma weapons, though I suspect that I'd already be well over 10k dps if I were already running them. As previously stated, I'm trying to optimize what I consider to be the ideal loadout, I'm not totally DPS obsessed.

When you look at my build, you'll see two 22.5 and two 24% disruptor consoles. I'm waiting for my fleet to unlock the Vulnerability Locators. As for reputation consoles, the Assimilated Module is all I've unlocked so far. Once I unlock others, I intend to get them.

For DOFFs, I'm running three green technicians and two purple torpedo recharge.

I'm also running Attack Pattern Alpha 3, but for some reason it didn't give me the option to select it in the builder.

Thanks for any help you guys may be able to give me.

EDIT- please consider the skill tree as well. I suspect I might be losing some potential with my skills loadout.

dahminus

Build won't load for me.

Attack pattern alpha is a captain skill. Not boff. I'll give ya a build when I see what you got...after I'm through with you, it'll be 20k or bust

Edit: I am getting proxy errors

dahminus

Alright. Your biggest issues with the build are the torpedo...lack of universal consoles and that's pretty much it...for more dps, use attack pattern beta 2 and bfaw2

You need to upgrade your doffs to 2 blues and green tech. Plus you need to grab marion.

To be perfectly honest. You will do 10k dps with that build after bfaw crit gets fixed.

To boost your dps as is, need to position quickly and move to your next target faster. Emergency power to engines would be a good idea for you. Make sure time utilize your aux2bat as best you can...bfaw/beta should always be at global, full power to weapons, rest to engines.

Good luck, have fun

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valrobertson93

Thanks for the feedback, guys.

I know the torp is hurting me, but I just can't bring myself to get rid of it for the sake of immersion. I'd like to see 10k with it, even if it means I'm sacrificing 15k without it.

I updated my skill tree, please have a look and tell me if this would be worth actually doing in-game. I pulled points largely from the torp skills to help elsewhere.

Thanks!

Rob

http://skillplanner.stoacademy.com/?build=challenger_5525

EDIT- I forgot to update it in the builder, but I did switch to BFAW 2 and APB as recommended. Haven't tried it yet, is BFAW 2 really noticeably better than BFAW 1?

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reginamala78

Part of it is just flying aggressively enough too. Did a cheapie-phaser GalX recently just to try and make a point, and my piloting style made a bigger difference than anything; 5-6k when just playing casual and messing around, 12k when pushing it (not as fun to fly though, and wrecks the mission anyways). And since you're using a FACR you should be able to break 10k even without throwing money at it.

fraghul2000

I updated my skill tree, please have a look and tell me if this would be worth actually doing in-game. I pulled points largely from the torp skills to help elsewhere.

While it won't magically put your DPS over the top, another small step would be if if you were to replace some of your engineering consoles with universals. Romulan & Tholian reputation consoles, Plasmonic Leech, Tachyokinetic converter or Bioneural Infusion Circuits if you have Lobi to spare. Three armour consoles always seems to be a bit much in PvE, especially when you're running an aux2bat build.

valrobertson93

Thanks for the feedback guys! It's really working!

I just did a parse run in ISE and got a new personal best, 8,501, with the BFAW2 and TS1. It was a fairly slow pug group at that. I was first, number two had 8200 and the other three didn't break 3000. With a good group I imagine I might have done a bit better.

I've taken to heart the flying harder suggestion, that does seem to help as well. I'm gonna update my skills tonight and see how much that helps. I'm getting close, I think it might be mainly pilot issues at this point!

Oh, btw, I'm gonna get the rep consoles when I can. They're not unlocked yet!

jadz3

My Suggestion as having been one of the first people in game to have really used Aux2Bat to full effect: Drop the Elachi Beams. DROP THEM NOW! Get Plasma, Antiproton, or even NORMAL Fleet Disruptors. Elachi beams have a nasty habit of locking themselves out with that annoying 5 second lockout on disruptor procs. This also hurts your team members use disruptors as well as it prevents their disruptors from lowering the resist on a target.
Also with Plasma, you have access to boosting their damage through the Romulan Singularity Harness 2 set bonus(console and Experimental beam array) as well as the embassy consoles that boost plasma damage. Also since you are using the Experimental Plasma Beam Array.... that's one less weapon draining power but doing same damage as a normal beam array.

This is coming from an Engineer, flying a non fleet ACR, doing over 10k DPS, WITHOUT any ACC/Crit overflow on Fire at Will...which btw would be a ton as I'm technically sitting with ACCx5 beam arrays with traits and consoles plus I have all the crit boosting consoles as well. I fully expect 15-20k from my ship when/if they ever fix the FaW not critting TRIBBLE.

PS: Tractor Beam Mines work wonders as they negate any defense bonus your target is getting by moving and keeps those pesky Borg from spinning around turning that shield facing you're pounding away from you and forcing you to move. Borg don't even really shoot at the mines either except the occasional Fire at Will hitting them.

valrobertson93

jadz3 wrote: »

My Suggestion as having been one of the first people in game to have really used Aux2Bat to full effect: Drop the Elachi Beams. DROP THEM NOW! Get Plasma, Antiproton, or even NORMAL Fleet Disruptors. Elachi beams have a nasty habit of locking themselves out with that annoying 5 second lockout on disruptor procs. This also hurts your team members use disruptors as well as it prevents their disruptors from lowering the resist on a target.
Also with Plasma, you have access to boosting their damage through the Romulan Singularity Harness 2 set bonus(console and Experimental beam array) as well as the embassy consoles that boost plasma damage. Also since you are using the Experimental Plasma Beam Array.... that's one less weapon draining power but doing same damage as a normal beam array.

This is coming from an Engineer, flying a non fleet ACR, doing over 10k DPS, WITHOUT any ACC/Crit overflow on Fire at Will...which btw would be a ton as I'm technically sitting with ACCx5 beam arrays with traits and consoles plus I have all the crit boosting consoles as well. I fully expect 15-20k from my ship when/if they ever fix the FaW not critting TRIBBLE.

PS: Tractor Beam Mines work wonders as they negate any defense bonus your target is getting by moving and keeps those pesky Borg from spinning around turning that shield facing you're pounding away from you and forcing you to move. Borg don't even really shoot at the mines either except the occasional Fire at Will hitting them.

I appreciate the advice!

I've considered doing plasma, but my main goal is to maximize what I have now. 85% of my play is single player or random pugging, so my ability to use weapons that I like matters to me. I know plasma is king and AP queen for DPS, but I'm not wild about the cyan or Kool Aide red. I like having something a bit different.

As for Elachi disruptors, they only affect other Elachi disruptors. Their proc doesn't interfere with any non-Elachi disruptors in any way, shape or form. I don't have the post at my fingertips, but this was confirmed by a developer. If they killed the team's procs, I wouldn't be using them.

Do tractor mines count as a weapon or as a device?

tucana66

robthefourth wrote: »

Do tractor mines count as a weapon or as a device?

Answer: Weapon slot.

rodentmaster

I've run my Oddy in a similar boff orientation, though with an LT as sci, and I'm running my ABC in a similar manner with the same gear and setup. I break 10k easily most times. It's breaking through my own performance walls that's hard!

You should be able to get more out of it than 8K. I suspect you'll notice a nice boost if/when FAW crit is fixed, but even without it you should break 10k with the proper setup.

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playhard88

kinectic cutting beam, zero-point module, nukara particle console. Those 3 will help a lot, plasmonic leech with flow caps at 9 is also a good idea.

About boff skills, try this with the eng boffs:

epts1, a2b 1, eptw3, dem3
et 1, a2b 1

Eng team is really good for a2b builds (Since u can't use a2sif), and the jump to eptw3 is a good buff.

The skill tree is bad imo, why? tier5 energy skills at 3 max, 6 or 9 is a waste of points, Starship Maneuvers at 6-9, Starship Hull Repair at 9, Starship Shield Emitters at 9, Starship Projectile Weapons at 9, etc... but the main mistake is having Starship Weapon Performance at 9

rodentmaster

What power settings do you use for A2Bat, edalgo? Do you run max aux, and rely on the power boost plus EPTs, or do you use minimal aux and boost the weapons/shields to max with the surplus then rely on EPTs to boost that more?

Basically, are you relying on A2Bat for the power and the boff skills cooldown helps, or are you relying on A2Bat for the cooldown effect and the minor boost of power doesn't change much?

valrobertson93

playhard88 wrote: »

kinectic cutting beam, zero-point module, nukara particle console. Those 3 will help a lot, plasmonic leech with flow caps at 9 is also a good idea.

About boff skills, try this with the eng boffs:

epts1, a2b 1, eptw3, dem3
et 1, a2b 1

Eng team is really good for a2b builds (Since u can't use a2sif), and the jump to eptw3 is a good buff.

The skill tree is bad imo, why? tier5 energy skills at 3 max, 6 or 9 is a waste of points, Starship Maneuvers at 6-9, Starship Hull Repair at 9, Starship Shield Emitters at 9, Starship Projectile Weapons at 9, etc... but the main mistake is having Starship Weapon Performance at 9

Tried the KCB, I picked up about 1000 dps in ISE when I went with the seventh beam array.

As for the skill tree, I recognize that it's less than desirable. I posted a hypothetical updated tree later in the thread. Could you please be so kind as to explain why those things that are 6-9 are a waste to do so?

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ovinspace

KCB might not be parsing correctly, I had runs when the thing showed 20K total damage for the whole 10 mins or whatever, as the thing was firing and hitting that had to be wrong. I bet the tooltip on the KCB shows a higher dps than your beams.

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valrobertson93

ovinspace wrote: »

KCB might not be parsing correctly, I had runs when the thing showed 20K total damage for the whole 10 mins or whatever, as the thing was firing and hitting that had to be wrong. I bet the tooltip on the KCB shows a higher dps than your beams.

KCB does show higher. It only fires one beam with BFAW though. Instead of one beam at 2000 dpv, the extra beam array gives me two beams at 1600 dpv plus the DEM damage.

reginamala78

robthefourth wrote: »

KCB does show higher. It only fires one beam with BFAW though. Instead of one beam at 2000 dpv, the extra beam array gives me two beams at 1600 dpv plus the DEM damage.

But the KCB isn't about the damage it does. The KCB is about how it reduces your drain when the Omega Weapons Amplifier procs (which is quite often with 6-7 other beams FAWing away). The weapon itself does a little less damage, but then all your other weapons do more.

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valrobertson93

I looked up the Omega Weapons Amplifier. VERY interesting.

The main reason I pulled the KCB initially was because it seemed that running the second energy weapon type was draining my weapon power more than necessary. Once I dropped the KCB and went with the seventh beam, it seemed to rectify itself.

It says 2.5% proc for OWA in the wiki, in practical use, how often can I expect to see that?

Looks like I need to run some parsing tests on this. That OWA does seem too good to pass up!

valrobertson93

Ok, so let's pretend I ditch the torp. What would be a good skill to replace my TS1?

doffingcomrade

jadz3 wrote: »

Elachi beams have a nasty habit of locking themselves out with that annoying 5 second lockout on disruptor procs. This also hurts your team members use disruptors as well as it prevents their disruptors from lowering the resist on a target.

It is true that Elachi beams lock themselves out, but as far as I know, it is NOT true that Elachi beams prevent NORMAL disruptor procs. They only block OTHER Elachi procs.

They still suck, except for single DBB.

reginamala78

Bah keep it. Its the wide-angle so its adding to your broadside, and there are times outside of STFs where having a never-misses kinetic weapon is handy (CE, Voth, Gorn, Tholians). Besides, what kinda captain would you be if you couldn't order "Tactical, fire torpedoes, full spread" ?

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stofsk

robthefourth wrote: »

As for the skill tree, I recognize that it's less than desirable. I posted a hypothetical updated tree later in the thread. Could you please be so kind as to explain why those things that are 6-9 are a waste to do so?

BEFORE YOU RESPEC LOOK AT THIS: http://home.comcast.net/~amicus/Skill%20Point%20Effects.htm

That page should be stickied.

In general, you should only max the following skills: starship manoeuvres, targeting systems, hull repair, structural integrity, shield emitters and shield systems. In the case of the first two, your defence and accuracy are affected, and though expensive it's still worth maxing. For the others, they deal with heals and HP, for both hull and shields. And they're cheap, so maxing is worth it from a cost/benefit perspective. For almost every other skill, the benefits drop off after you pass 6 and go in the red. E.g. the difference between an Attack Pattern Beta 3 with 6 in Attack Patterns vs 9 is a grand total of -3 DR to the debuff on target. That's 3k skill points you could have put into anything else.

Granted, that's not a lot of skill points, so let's do another example then, this time of a high-tier skill, like one of the power performance skills. If you take it to 6, you get 8 points to that subsystem. If you take it to 9, that's only +2 more power. Considering that none of the power performance skills are cheap (two are 2.5k per point, the other two are 3k per point), you're better off keeping it at 6. For most skills even, you're better off at 6, yes even the damage ones, because the more skill points you can spread around the more well-rounded your character becomes. Note that this is less of an issue in the lower-tier skills, because it's comparatively cheaper to max them vs the high-tier skills.

Also,

reginamala78 wrote: »

Bah keep it. Its the wide-angle so its adding to your broadside, and there are times outside of STFs where having a never-misses kinetic weapon is handy (CE, Voth, Gorn, Tholians). Besides, what kinda captain would you be if you couldn't order "Tactical, fire torpedoes, full spread" ?

QFT

cardie47

If possible, you might consider:
Romulan Prototype Impulse Engines Mk XII to boost your Attack Patterns, especially APB2 every 15secs or so.
(+26.2 Starship Attack Patterns).

fraghul2000

Oh, btw, I'm gonna get the rep consoles when I can. They're not unlocked yet!

If you haven't unlocked them yet, it would mean that you're on a rather low tier in the rep-system, right?

Then you'd have a couple of small perks coming in that add to your dps as well. 3% crit from rom rep, graviton amps, weapon training from nukara, 10% crit sev and tactical advantage from dyson etc...

They don't add much (grav amps ~100 DPS for me on average), but all of them at once do account for a noticable improvement.