3, the difference between beams and cannons? (i'm assuming beams are energy and cannon are projectile)?
Both are energy. Beams do lesser damage but have wider firing arcs. There's a balance between how often you can bring your weapons to bear on a target and the damage per round of shots. Slow turning ships (cruisers) favor beams while escorts usually favor cannons.
1. I have heard mention that with protons there are special Bridge officer skills and/or Duty officer skill that can help with damage?
Protons? Not familiar with any BOffs/DOffs that enhance proton damage. Plasma however... There are Romulan/Reman BOffs that increase plasma damage. There's also the vetran BOff which can add marginal damage, but no new vetrans can be brought into the game.
**EDIT: I may be mistaken on this. Just checked the STO wiki and can't find any traits that increase plasma damage.
In general, Beam weapons do less damage compared to Cannons, however, they have a wider firing arc which means on ship that have relatively low turn rates Beam weapons are better due to the wider firing arcs.
Note: Single cannon are less powerful than Beam Arrays
Boff Beam Abilities:
Beam Overload (BO)
Fire At Wiil (FAW)
Boff Cannon Abilities:
Cannon Rapid Fire (CRF or RF)
Scatter Volley (SV)
=============================================
My Engineering Fed toon basically flies cruiser so I naturally use beam weapons since they have turn rates below 10. My Tactical KDF toon flies Bird of Preys (BoPs) so choosing DHC is a no brainer especially since the turn rate is above 20.
My recently created Science Romulan toon posses an issue though since so far I have been flying ships with turn rate between 10 and 20. I have been trying out different mixes of DHC, DBB, Single Cannon and Beam Arrays, but I haven't found any combination that I like using yet.
The T5 Ha'nom Guardian Warbird is the first "real science" ship. Since it has a turn rate of 10 I will likely just put beam arrays on it. However, I have only recently reached level 20 so it is still some time away. Until then I suppose that I will just figure out a "temporary solution" for weapon load outs.
Note: Single cannon are less powerful than Beam Arrays
Damage per Volley is less, Damager per Second is more since cannons fire a little more often than beams (so their procs can also fire off a smidgen little more often). More importantly, if you're going to use heavy cannons with BOff abilities (CRF,CSV) those abilities also benefit the single cannons. Given a build using heavy cannons, my personal preference would still be single cannons over beam arrays.
Im new and trying to design a decent Romulan Tactic build using either polaron, anti proton or plasma and have a few questions?
1. I have heard mention that with protons there are special Bridge officer skills and/or Duty officer skill that can help with damage?
First "Proton" is going to be difficult to make a complete build out of because I believe there is only 2 weapons currently that use "Proton" as the base damage type, that being the cannon fitted to the "Dyson Science Destroyer" and the Experimental Protonic Array available through the Dyson Reputation ... However, all other Dyson Reputation weapons (from the Dyson Rep "Store") are a "Hybrid" type that uses "Polaron" as the base damage with a secondary "Proc" of Proton damage (direct to hull damage on a critical hit)
** Note: the "Plasma Weapon Specialist" trait available to Romulan BoFF's is a "Ground" trait, that has no effect whatsoever on space weapons.
There are no BoFF or DoFF abilities that enhance "Proton" damage directly AFAIK.
2. I read the Polaron have the Jem Hadar set, and the plasma set is from Romulan missions, but do Anti proton have any sets?
As mentioned, the 'Obelisk" space set enhances Anti-Proton damage. Otherwise, the Jem-H set available through normal mission play will enhance Polaron Damage, so this set is also useful for enhancing the 'normal' weapons available through the Dyson Rep Store, as they are also a 'base' Polaron Damage.
The Dyson Reputation has a Space Set which includes the above mention Experimental Beam that enhances "Proton" damage, and there are damage consoles available through the Dyson Rep that enhance Proton damage + One other damage type (though less than a normal 'tac' console') so these will also help increase the damage of the 'fused' cannon on the DSD. and may be an option if you get the 'Proton + Polaron' versions.
The Romulan Reputation has a Space Set that will boost Plasma Damage, though it is NOT available through any missions, so you have to "grind" for it.
3, the difference between beams and cannons? (i'm assuming beams are energy and cannon are projectile)?
all advice appreciated :-)
Beams and cannons are both considered "Energy Weapons" ... So the main difference is that beams are generally considered a "pressure" damage weapon, where as cannons are considered a "burst" damage weapon ...
As a very general rule, beams are usually used on slower ships, as beams have a wider firing "arc" to be able to do continuous damage, where as cannons are normally used on faster, more maneuverable ships like escorts, as they have a narrow firing 'arc' but the ship is able to move to keep the enemy within that 'kill zone'
** Note: the "Plasma Weapon Specialist" trait available to Romulan BoFF's is a "Ground" trait, that has no effect whatsoever on space weapons.
I knew I had seen bonus plasma damage on Rommie BOffs. It being a ground trait and all explains why I couldn't see it on my quick check on the wiki as I was looking at space traits. Not that Romulan BOffs are a ever bad thing anyways as Romulan Operative is a pretty darn good trait to have on a crew member.
As mentioned, the 'Obelisk" space set enhances Anti-Proton damage.
The important bit to note there, since you mentioned trying to make a Romulan Tactical, is that this set is comprised of a 360 degree Antiproton Beam Array and a Warp Core; there is no Singularity Core version, which means using a lock box or Lobi ship (or maybe the Obelisk from your Fleet) if you really want that set bonus. For more information on the available Item Sets... click the words
There is also a handy resource available in the form of the STO Academy Skillplanner, which not only lets you tinker with what you'd want to use but also lets you see some of the builds others have come up with using "Build Search" right above the "Career" dropdown... or again, click the words :P
With each passing day I wonder if I stepped into an alternate reality. The Cubs win the world series. Donald Trump is President. Britain leaves the EU. STO gets a dedicated PvP season. Engineers are "out of control" in STO.
Comments
Both are energy. Beams do lesser damage but have wider firing arcs. There's a balance between how often you can bring your weapons to bear on a target and the damage per round of shots. Slow turning ships (cruisers) favor beams while escorts usually favor cannons.
Protons? Not familiar with any BOffs/DOffs that enhance proton damage. Plasma however... There are Romulan/Reman BOffs that increase plasma damage. There's also the vetran BOff which can add marginal damage, but no new vetrans can be brought into the game.
**EDIT: I may be mistaken on this. Just checked the STO wiki and can't find any traits that increase plasma damage.
Beam Arrays = 250 degree firing arc
Dual Beam Banks (DBB) = 90 degree firing arc
Single Cannons= 180 degree firing arc
Dual Heavy Cannons (DHC)= 45 degree firing arc - Most Damage
Turrets = 360 degree firing arc - Least Damage
Note: Single cannon are less powerful than Beam Arrays
Boff Beam Abilities:
Beam Overload (BO)
Fire At Wiil (FAW)
Boff Cannon Abilities:
Cannon Rapid Fire (CRF or RF)
Scatter Volley (SV)
=============================================
My Engineering Fed toon basically flies cruiser so I naturally use beam weapons since they have turn rates below 10. My Tactical KDF toon flies Bird of Preys (BoPs) so choosing DHC is a no brainer especially since the turn rate is above 20.
My recently created Science Romulan toon posses an issue though since so far I have been flying ships with turn rate between 10 and 20. I have been trying out different mixes of DHC, DBB, Single Cannon and Beam Arrays, but I haven't found any combination that I like using yet.
The T5 Ha'nom Guardian Warbird is the first "real science" ship. Since it has a turn rate of 10 I will likely just put beam arrays on it. However, I have only recently reached level 20 so it is still some time away. Until then I suppose that I will just figure out a "temporary solution" for weapon load outs.
First "Proton" is going to be difficult to make a complete build out of because I believe there is only 2 weapons currently that use "Proton" as the base damage type, that being the cannon fitted to the "Dyson Science Destroyer" and the Experimental Protonic Array available through the Dyson Reputation ... However, all other Dyson Reputation weapons (from the Dyson Rep "Store") are a "Hybrid" type that uses "Polaron" as the base damage with a secondary "Proc" of Proton damage (direct to hull damage on a critical hit)
** Note: the "Plasma Weapon Specialist" trait available to Romulan BoFF's is a "Ground" trait, that has no effect whatsoever on space weapons.
There are no BoFF or DoFF abilities that enhance "Proton" damage directly AFAIK.
As mentioned, the 'Obelisk" space set enhances Anti-Proton damage. Otherwise, the Jem-H set available through normal mission play will enhance Polaron Damage, so this set is also useful for enhancing the 'normal' weapons available through the Dyson Rep Store, as they are also a 'base' Polaron Damage.
The Dyson Reputation has a Space Set which includes the above mention Experimental Beam that enhances "Proton" damage, and there are damage consoles available through the Dyson Rep that enhance Proton damage + One other damage type (though less than a normal 'tac' console') so these will also help increase the damage of the 'fused' cannon on the DSD. and may be an option if you get the 'Proton + Polaron' versions.
The Romulan Reputation has a Space Set that will boost Plasma Damage, though it is NOT available through any missions, so you have to "grind" for it.
Beams and cannons are both considered "Energy Weapons" ... So the main difference is that beams are generally considered a "pressure" damage weapon, where as cannons are considered a "burst" damage weapon ...
As a very general rule, beams are usually used on slower ships, as beams have a wider firing "arc" to be able to do continuous damage, where as cannons are normally used on faster, more maneuverable ships like escorts, as they have a narrow firing 'arc' but the ship is able to move to keep the enemy within that 'kill zone'
I knew I had seen bonus plasma damage on Rommie BOffs. It being a ground trait and all explains why I couldn't see it on my quick check on the wiki as I was looking at space traits. Not that Romulan BOffs are a ever bad thing anyways as Romulan Operative is a pretty darn good trait to have on a crew member.
The important bit to note there, since you mentioned trying to make a Romulan Tactical, is that this set is comprised of a 360 degree Antiproton Beam Array and a Warp Core; there is no Singularity Core version, which means using a lock box or Lobi ship (or maybe the Obelisk from your Fleet) if you really want that set bonus. For more information on the available Item Sets... click the words
There is also a handy resource available in the form of the STO Academy Skillplanner, which not only lets you tinker with what you'd want to use but also lets you see some of the builds others have come up with using "Build Search" right above the "Career" dropdown... or again, click the words :P