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Request Engineer skills build

vaklovaklo Member Posts: 74 Arc User
edited May 2014 in The Academy
Please recommend a skill build for a Federation engineer. My goal is mostly PVE. I'd like to ultimately DPS like I see cruisers do in PUGS for Borg space dailies, but remain sturdy. Right now I am getting the tar kicked out of me in a mission for my level (23) going for the Enterprise C. I have more skills to choose which might make the difference. I am trying it at Advanced difficulty which I've done competently with my Tactical captain.

Thanks.
Post edited by vaklo on

Comments

  • paxdawnpaxdawn Member Posts: 767 Arc User
    edited May 2014
    Engineer and dps cannot go hand in hand.

    Although an engineer toon can reach 10k dps or more on a budget ship, which is more than enough on Infected PuGs/ Borg space elites PUG.

    A2B BFAW ships with at least 3 tac consoles is the most popular for this.
  • bughunter357bughunter357 Member Posts: 588 Arc User
    edited May 2014
    vaklo wrote: »
    Please recommend a skill build for a Federation engineer. My goal is mostly PVE. I'd like to ultimately DPS like I see cruisers do in PUGS for Borg space dailies, but remain sturdy. Right now I am getting the tar kicked out of me in a mission for my level (23) going for the Enterprise C. I have more skills to choose which might make the difference. I am trying it at Advanced difficulty which I've done competently with my Tactical captain.

    Thanks.

    this is a helpful site for skill builds, not sure if this was what you were asking for but you might look into this just as a option.

    Just go into the search builds and see if there is something that might be useful to you.
  • razar2380razar2380 Member Posts: 1,187 Arc User
    edited May 2014
    I am not able to get online to double check, so I did this from memory. This is pretty much what my engineers are running:
    http://skillplanner.stoacademy.com/?build=razarfedeng_0

    I went with a heavy tanking, and high DPS build for myself. I have to sacrifice the ability to increase exotic damages with the Science skills, however I seldom ever use them.

    At an early level, I suggest that you just focus on shield and hull buffing skills, then fill in the others as you go.

    This build is also designed to give the batteries a boost, increase the energy transfer rate of subsystem power, use torps if you want, and have high speed. It works great with beams and cannon builds. If you want a torp focused ship, then you can move a few skills around to do that.

    I really started this to help tank in escorts, then modified it for high DPS also. As an engineer, you will not get the same spike damage as tactical officers, however it has allowed me to get over 12k before while using A2B.

    I do recommend using Antiproton weapons. Before season 9, this build was bugged, and you could do more DPS with other energy types. However, the launch of season 9 fixed, and the Antiproton are doing more DPS now because of their crit damage.

    Please keep in mind that this is a build that works best for me, and my play style. That doesn't mean that it will work for you. Sometimes it takes a little tweaking, and playing around with different build suggestions to get one that fits you and your play style. I do hope this build helps you with setting up yours.
    Leader of Elite Guardian Academy.Would you like to learn how to run a fleet? Would you like to know how to do ship builds (true budget as well as high end)?The join the Academy today!
  • vaklovaklo Member Posts: 74 Arc User
    edited May 2014
    paxdawn wrote: »
    Engineer and dps cannot go hand in hand.

    Although an engineer toon can reach 10k dps or more on a budget ship, which is more than enough on Infected PuGs/ Borg space elites PUG.

    A2B BFAW ships with at least 3 tac consoles is the most popular for this.

    I've heard something about A2B builds but I don't know what they are. Can you elaborate? Also what is BFAW?

    Thanks.
  • captainpirkocaptainpirko Member Posts: 270 Arc User
    edited May 2014
    this has for a long time been my multivector's build. engineering captain in an escort is extremely powerful. you loose a tiny amount of DPS when you give up attack pattern alpha, fire on my mark, and the tactical initiative skill, however these can be overlooked and only loose maybe 2k DPS at most. with DPS numbers ranging from 9-20k DPS these days, this isnt really that big of a deal.
    http://www.stoacademy.com/tools/skillplanner/?build=elitenightfire_5923

    my escort sits at 12k DPS when sitting still and firing full AoEs. and with miracle worker i can still take a direct heavy plasma torpedo from a borg cube and keep fighting for a few more minutes (though usually i'm sitting 0KM away from the cube, and then dodge the torp, which just makes it explode point blank and hurt the cube for 20-30k)

    the amazing thing about engineers is that they make up for lower max DPS by staying alive a long time. when done right, this evens out quite nicely. tactical get their short burst of 15k DPS, then die, and i stay alive for several minutes keeping my 12k DPS.

    side note about my build: its slow. it takes all the elements of a cruiser and packs it into a escort with cannons. gravity well is there cause lawl science. when i do this build i can survive all of breach elite, even though tactical escorts with more hull and more engineering slots keep dieing to the bulwarks guarding the integrity nodes. its closer then i care to admit, but i rarely die.

    because of this drop in speed however, any parser will give misleading information. since it averages damage over the total time, it'll be taking into account the 2-3 minutes it takes you to get from point A to point B. so while you might do 12k DPS, because of the 3 minutes spent not shooting, it thinks you only do 7k dps. running the parser yourself allows you to check only the damage you are doing for your duration of fighting, and is much better then when your numbers are posted at the end of a match.

    dont let anyone tell you engineers cant DPS. i've been playing engie for 2 years, and have out DPSed 2 tacticals working together, and they were not at all fail tacticals.
    [SIGPIC]Timelords Fleet [/SIGPIC]
  • breadandcircusesbreadandcircuses Member Posts: 2,355 Arc User
    edited May 2014
    vaklo wrote: »
    I've heard something about A2B builds but I don't know what they are. Can you elaborate? Also what is BFAW?

    Thanks.

    A2B builds use Technicians and Aux to Battery to maintain most everything at the global cooldown rate. You usually end up with maxed Weapons, Shields, and Engines subsystems, but 0 Auxiliary subsystem power most of the time. This lets you get great mileage out of almost every power you have, but you need to pay attention to your power levels to make proper use out of any ability that runs off of Aux.

    BFAW (or just FAW) is shorthand for Beam: Fire at Will (some folks would assume it's "Fire at Wesley", but that's just their preconceptions). This is popular with A2B builds since it's the only sustained attack modifier power beams get... and half the point of A2B is the sheer amount of power you have active in your subsystems most of the time. By overcapping with beam arrays, you can make up for the atrocious drain they suffer from when firing all of them in a broadside. Plus, since your crew is firing for you, you can focus on the field of combat, your cooldowns, power levels, etc. Oh, and most ships capable of A2B builds are cruisers, and cruisers generally = beam arrays. The down side is that your crew is firing for you, meaning you can't choose targets without managing range to each nearby target and you can be a menace to yourself (Feedback Pulse) or others (Scramble Sensors) if you get caught at the wrong time. Usually not a problem in PvE, and not often a problem in PvP unless someone built to counter FAWkers using "suppression builds".

    Basically, use the site mentioned above and look for A2B, AtB, Aux2Batt, or check this thread for references about A2B and how it works. Well, technically the thread I linked covers more than just A2B, but it's useful.
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  • maelwy5maelwy5 Member Posts: 593 Arc User
    edited May 2014
    vaklo wrote: »
    Please recommend a skill build for a Federation engineer. My goal is mostly PVE. I'd like to ultimately DPS like I see cruisers do in PUGS for Borg space dailies, but remain sturdy. Right now I am getting the tar kicked out of me in a mission for my level (23) going for the Enterprise C. I have more skills to choose which might make the difference. I am trying it at Advanced difficulty which I've done competently with my Tactical captain.

    Thanks.

    Engineers in space sacrifice Damage for Survivability.

    This makes them (in general) best suited to flying Cruisers in a Tanking or a Support "Healboat" role.

    That said, they can also do quite well solo in an Escort build; because of their enhanced survivability letting them hang in the middle of a fight for longer without any external support.

    On the ground, Engineers have the potential to be VERY high in both survivability and damage output, due to a combination of Mines/Bombs, Weapon Malfunction, Quick Fix's damage buff, and a large variety of Fabrications and Shield Healing.

    - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

    A traditional build for cruisers would be to run two copies of Emergency Power to Shields and two copies of Tactical Team 1 for keeping your shields balanced and online; and a copy of Hazard Emitters for cleansing debuffs plus Engineering Team and/or Aux2SIF for Hull Healing. Science Team is also nice for "spike" shield healing if you can fit it in, as is Reverse Shield Polarity.

    The average Cruiser will be running Beams, and in PVE enemies typically come in groups... so for damaging tactical abilities it's usually down to Beam: Fire at Will. That said, Attack Pattern Beta and Torpedo Spread also have their merits. Technically you can also run two copies of Emergency Power to Weapons simultaneously with two copies of Emergency Power to Shields (this is generally referred to as a "Dragon" build)... but only the endgame cruisers have sufficient ability slots for that. Directed Energy Modulation is also quite decent at boosting your damage output against shielded targets (and has a very expensive Duty Officer that lets it partially negate energy weapons drain!)

    Aux2Bat builds are a bit more involved, and work by reducing the recharge of your abilities so that you achieve maximum uptime with only one copy of each ability (mainly this makes ships with fewer Tactical BOFF slots more effective). They require running with 1-2 copies of the "Auxiliary Power to Battery" skill, plus 2-3 rather expensive Purple 'Technician' Active Duty Officers. There's a bit of a trade off in terms of Aux power for recharge - any Aux-based Heals will generally be much less effective, especially if you use 2 copies of Aux2Bat... so you'll see Engineering Team used in place of Aux2SIF, etc.
    [ <<<--- @Maelwys --->>> ]
  • razar2380razar2380 Member Posts: 1,187 Arc User
    edited May 2014
    There is one important thing to keep in mind about the DOFFs for Aux2Bat. If you are not doing a PVP, or you are not doing it a lot, then you can just go with the green DOFFs and save a lot of EC. I have been running them for months now. I was going to swap them out for blue, or purples. However, the blue will shave only about 2 seconds off BOFF cool downs, and purple will shave about 3. That is all.

    If you want to try the A2B build to see how it works for you, without dumping a lot of EC, I recommend trying the green DOFFs first, then upgrade to the more expensive ones later, if you need to.

    Also, it is possible to setup an engineer to do high (not as high as a tactical) DPS. They have an ability that will reduce the drain on subsystems. This means that weapons can be at 125 almost constantly while firing weapons during that skill's up time. Also, if combined with Emergency Power to Weapons, it will increase the DPS by a pretty good amount.

    Miricale Worker will also provide good hull and shield heals if you need it. However, it is best to use as a last resort.

    If I run an A2B build, I prefer to use Reverse Shield Polarity 2, Emergency Power to Weapons 1, Engineering Team 1, and for my Lt. skills, I prefer to have A2B 1 there. There is no need to run a higher A2B than the first rank, unless you only have a Lt. Commander Engineering station, or the only other engineering station is an ensign.

    Then, on Science, I usually go with Hazard Emitters 1, and Science Team 2. If there is another station for science, I will go with something to replenish the shields. There is one thing to keep in mind though, Hazard Emitters will not do much in terms of healing when the A2B is used, and Aux power is low. I only use it to get rid of the hull burn when fighting the Borg. If not for that, I would have put Tractor Beam, or something else like that there.

    With this setup, I can tank for a long time, even in my Breen Raider I got from the winter event grind. Engineers can turn escorts into good tanking ships, while still dealing out really good damage, even without using A2B. My engineer can't do as much DPS as my Tactical captain in the Defiant, however I can stay in the fight longer, and that allows me to do more sustained DPS than my tactical captain, who would need to sometimes run, or die.

    There are so many options open to engineers, they are more versatile than a tactical captain.

    Good luck on your engineer.
    Leader of Elite Guardian Academy.Would you like to learn how to run a fleet? Would you like to know how to do ship builds (true budget as well as high end)?The join the Academy today!
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