I've been wanting to build myself a decent Federation escort and construct it to function in a similar way as to how it did in the series. My Federation escorts of choice are the Prometheus and the Akira and as you may well know they both used Phaser beams in the series so naturally I would like to build them in that way (after all this is a Star Trek game) but I know there is some controversy to using beam equipped escorts and I'd like to hear or rather "read" some builds and see If I can build my Federation escort as it was in the series without it being useless ingame.
Note that I want it to be a PVE build, I don't do PVP
Thanks
I totally have a Beam Escort. I currently am enjoying a Fleet Patrol Escort Refit all beams. No projectiles, no skills slotted to boost projectiles. I average about 11k-15k in an elite Conduit using and Aux2Bat build and Beam Fire at Will and I'm having a really good time!
I totally have a Beam Escort. I currently am enjoying a Fleet Patrol Escort Refit all beams. No projectiles, no skills slotted to boost projectiles. I average about 11k-15k in an elite Conduit using and Aux2Bat build and Beam Fire at Will and I'm having a really good time!
turned my mirror mogai into a beamer..running 4 disruptor beams and 2 disruptor + tractor mines using spread 3 beta when i need 9 tractor beams to hold something or multiple somethings in place....then Faw 2 or 3 when it calls for it.....with the valdore console its pretty fun, though its not a survivalist by far its still good at shield tanking when needed
No they don't work very good in PVP or PVE, for beams a cruiser can do the job better. It doesn't do focused burst damage the way DHC escorts can, and its pressure damage is weaker then DPS beam cruisers due to 1 less weapon and less engineering skills. It has less time on target then DPS cruisers since they need to speed tank, and less overcap since they normally run EPTS and EPTE instead of EPTS and EPTW, and usually aren't running a2b either.
Please reconsider using beams on an escort, it is a waste of time and not fair to your team, and is very boring for your opponents to face in PVP and wastes their time also.
No they don't work very good in PVP or PVE, for beams a cruiser can do the job better. It doesn't do focused burst damage the way DHC escorts can, and its pressure damage is weaker then DPS beam cruisers due to 1 less weapon and less engineering skills. It has less time on target then DPS cruisers since they need to speed tank, and less overcap since they normally run EPTS and EPTE instead of EPTS and EPTW, and usually aren't running a2b either.
Please reconsider using beams on an escort, it is a waste of time and not fair to your team, and is very boring for your opponents to face in PVP and wastes their time also.
The goal with a beamscort should be to maintain pressure in one place. Speed tanking on a beamscort shouldn't be the goal, but rather staying in contact and within the least damaging firing arc your foe has. Against a beam cruiser, the escort should simply stay aft so as to avoid the broadside while maintaining their own. Against a DHC escort, a beamscort should never disengage or run away but rather go straight at the opponent... you might end up aft if they don't react, you might simply end up circling each other in a 7 beams vs 3 turrets furball. In which case you win. A beamscort can manage their opponent's firing arcs and shield facings better than most anything else.
A beamscort can work, but it won't work if it's flown like a DHC Escort or a Cruiser. Pay attention, manage firing arcs and shield facings, and it can be effective; don't do so and it won't be.
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.
The goal with a beamscort should be to maintain pressure in one place. Speed tanking on a beamscort shouldn't be the goal, but rather staying in contact and within the least damaging firing arc your foe has. Against a beam cruiser, the escort should simply stay aft so as to avoid the broadside while maintaining their own. Against a DHC escort, a beamscort should never disengage or run away but rather go straight at the opponent... you might end up aft if they don't react, you might simply end up circling each other in a 7 beams vs 3 turrets furball. In which case you win. A beamscort can manage their opponent's firing arcs and shield facings better than most anything else.
A beamscort can work, but it won't work if it's flown like a DHC Escort or a Cruiser. Pay attention, manage firing arcs and shield facings, and it can be effective; don't do so and it won't be.
Well said although these days you can practically tank quite effectively in an escort with the right set of abilities and armor consoles even against Elite Borg.
Although I don't know about the Undine since I haven't had a chance to try out the new STFs I'm in the middle of exam season and I have 22 exams to do so I haven't played for the past month or so but when they're finished I'll be sure start building by new Beam Escort.
Back in the day......when the Steamrunner was new I ran a all phased polaron beam outfit, twin DBB up front with arrays elsewhere and jemmy space set, that coupled with high flow caps, plasleach. APO, APB the thing ran circles around the enemy, stun, suck, disable the thing rocked.
Still got it sat in dry dock my have to get it out........
Where ever you go, there you are.......
Join The Space Invaders,..... Federation and KDF fleets.
No they don't work very good in PVP or PVE, for beams a cruiser can do the job better. It doesn't do focused burst damage the way DHC escorts can, and its pressure damage is weaker then DPS beam cruisers due to 1 less weapon and less engineering skills. It has less time on target then DPS cruisers since they need to speed tank, and less overcap since they normally run EPTS and EPTE instead of EPTS and EPTW, and usually aren't running a2b either.
Please reconsider using beams on an escort, it is a waste of time and not fair to your team, and is very boring for your opponents to face in PVP and wastes their time also.
Absolutely wrong. Beams not only added 50% more DPS in PvE, they actually allow me to damage fast moving targets in PvP. With beams, I can take on Bug ships and hit them with constant pressure damage, then spike with a torp spread. When I used to run DHCs I was never able to compete with Bugs due to turn rate.
Sure, my DHCs do more concentrated damage, but what good are they if my opponent is barely in the forward arc? Anyway, if I'm not facing someone who is faster I'm facing a tank that I could never hope to bring down alone... wait for the shot call, apply spike damage, repeat. When everyone is shooting the same target beams are fine.
The FPER, which I run, does run EPtW and A2B with Marion. Another advantage of beams is that you can destroy the annoying stuff. Hangar pet spam, mines and destructible projectiles are all irrelevant. Better against decloak alphas too; I only need to bring broadside facing instead of forward. It's the best of all worlds.
No they don't work very good in PVP or PVE, for beams a cruiser can do the job better. It doesn't do focused burst damage the way DHC escorts can, and its pressure damage is weaker then DPS beam cruisers due to 1 less weapon and less engineering skills. It has less time on target then DPS cruisers since they need to speed tank, and less overcap since they normally run EPTS and EPTE instead of EPTS and EPTW, and usually aren't running a2b either.
Please reconsider using beams on an escort, it is a waste of time and not fair to your team, and is very boring for your opponents to face in PVP and wastes their time also.
In the case of PvE, this has not been my experience. I run an all beams Fleet Patrol Escort Refit, and it out performs my Fleet Avenger by roughly 2k to 3K dps. The builds are as close to the same as I could make them. My Escort takes on far less damage thus it's survivability is less demanding. My BeamScort can solo Borg Cubes in an elite Conduit with less effort then my Fleet Avenger.
I have pretty much retired my All Beams Fleet Avenger because my All Beams Fleet Patrol Escort Refit is simply better and more fun.
While a Beam Escort may not work well in standard escort types, they do work very well in Destroyers with A2B set-ups, especially the Nicor and (Fleet) Patrol Escort Refit.
1) They handle carrier pet spam very well
2) They can bypass shields with DEM + Dulmer
3) They are able to run tac, sci, and engineering teams to mitigate Subnuc's, FoMM's, plasma DoT's, scramble sensors, another other duration based hoser abilities.
4) They are immune to corkscrew-evasion tactics
5) They apply constant pressure damage against shields and hull, making burst alpha alpha strikes less of a requirement
Of course, such set-ups are not easy to obtain and gear up ... we're talking serous money pit
While a Beam Escort may not work well in standard escort types, they do work very well in Destroyers with A2B set-ups, especially the Nicor and (Fleet) Patrol Escort Refit.
1) They handle carrier pet spam very well
2) They can bypass shields with DEM + Dulmer
3) They are able to run tac, sci, and engineering teams to mitigate Subnuc's, FoMM's, plasma DoT's, scramble sensors, another other duration based hoser abilities.
4) They are immune to corkscrew-evasion tactics
5) They apply constant pressure damage against shields and hull, making burst alpha alpha strikes less of a requirement
Of course, such set-ups are not easy to obtain and gear up ... we're talking serous money pit
After my exams are over I'll have two and a half months to grind out all the gear I'll be needing so resources aren't going to be much of a problem quite frankly.
Update: And shortly after posting this, I ran into an absolutely OP beam-scort Nicor in Ker'rat. Nastiest beam boat I've ever encountered - even worse than Hek'lar's Galor! Owned me HARD 1v1 twice in a row in my DHC/DBB build - stripped my shields bare while grabbing me repeatedly with TB3 to keep me from targeting him. My only solution - and the way that I subsequently beat him 8 out of 10 times over Cracked - was to...you guessed it...trot out my own beam-scort configuration. Oh the irony!
Beam-scorts are for lazy PvPers who don't want to master the art of escort-piloting.
Note: I'm saying this as a former cruiser and beam-scort proponent with a long history of out-dueling "spikey escorts" by using pressure damage from BFAW, DEM, etc. In fact, I cut my PvP teeth flying first a Fleet Excelsior and later a Fleet Patrol Escort (original version) with nothing but Acc x3 Polarons and a KCB. But while I was able to spread lots of damage around, I could rarely finish anyone off - especially in match-play scenarios.
Even after I ground-out the EC for a Hirogen Hunter - a ship with the engineering space to run my preferred A2B/A2D hybrid combo - I still found the play style unsatisfying. It was a great build for 1v1s vs. bug ships (turn rate becomes a non-factor), but otherwise it felt like a squishier, less potent version of my cruiser. Yes, I was harder to hit, but I couldn't capitalize due to a lack of offensive punch.
Bottom Line: It wasn't until I bit the bullet and forced myself to master the classic DHC/DBB "spikey escort" style that I finally became somewhat "effective" in PvP. Now, instead of being the player who spams everything and kills nothing, I'm the one who swoops in and finishes targets off with a nicely timed/buffed BO3 shot.
Update: And shortly after posting this, I ran into an absolutely OP beam-scort Nicor in Ker'rat. Nastiest beam boat I've ever encountered - even worse than Hek'lar's Galor! Owned me HARD 1v1 twice in a row in my DHC/DBB build - stripped my shields bare while grabbing me repeatedly with TB3 to keep me from targeting him. My only solution - and the way that I subsequently beat him 8 out of 10 times over Cracked - was to...you guessed it...trot out my own beam-scort configuration. Oh the irony!
Beam-scorts are for lazy PvPers who don't want to master the art of escort-piloting.
...<SNIP>...
I went with fluidic AP beams on my Nicor mainly to portray Voyager's Species-8472 Bio-ship as closely as possible, but the ship turned out much better than anticipated. The fluidic beams constantly knocked faster opponents out of top speed in addition to bypassing shields without DEM, making the latter much worse when DEM was present. It was also easy to swap in a T3 sci hoser-ability as needed -- GW1, FSB1, or whatever worked best against the present target.
I went with fluidic AP beams on my Nicor mainly to portray Voyager's Species-8472 Bio-ship as closely as possible, but the ship turned out much better than anticipated. The fluidic beams constantly knocked faster opponents out of top speed in addition to bypassing shields without DEM, making the latter much worse when DEM was present. It was also easy to swap in a T3 sci hoser-ability as needed -- GW1, FSB1, or whatever worked best against the present target.
Guessing by your profile picture I'm guessing you have a Jem'Hadar Attack ship; Does a Beam Boat set up work well for it?
Too bad considering it used a Beam weapon in the series..
I have mine setup for two forward single beams, the dominion dual cannons from the FE, one quantum up front, with two quantum's in the back and a single beam in the back on an engineer character and it does about 5500-6000 DPS so yes you can use beams on an escort and make it work.
NERF CANNONS - THEY NEED A 50% NERF
CRUISERS NEED A 206% HULL BUFF
I have mine setup for two forward single beams, the dominion dual cannons from the FE, one quantum up front, with two quantum's in the back and a single beam in the back on an engineer character and it does about 5500-6000 DPS so yes you can use beams on an escort and make it work.
I suppose it doesn't really matter considering I don't even have a Jem'Haddar attack ship. :rolleyes:
I have been thinking about changing up my Nicor for a bit. I currently run using my Spiral Wave Disruptors on it and 1 KCB. Its fun as hell. I wouldn't mind a more forward directed attack since the ship is so easy to fly. I already use the Undine tactical console. the Nicor does 70 more DPS with it equipped compared to another locator.
I have been thinking about getting 3 elite fleet disruptor DBB, and 1 Undine torp. I just do not know what I want in the back besides the KCB.
3 Undine Turrets maybe?
Any ideas?
I use to do 100K DPS, but then I took an arrow to the knee.
Your Ramming Speed III deals 242658 (243540) Kinetic Damage (Critical) to you.
Beam Arrays and/or mines; don't mix turrets and DBBs. Dual Beam Banks are one of the mold-breaking exceptions where you'll do more damage with less overlapping weapons competing for energy.
I have been thinking about changing up my Nicor for a bit. I currently run using my Spiral Wave Disruptors on it and 1 KCB. Its fun as hell. I wouldn't mind a more forward directed attack since the ship is so easy to fly. I already use the Undine tactical console. the Nicor does 70 more DPS with it equipped compared to another locator.
I have been thinking about getting 3 elite fleet disruptor DBB, and 1 Undine torp. I just do not know what I want in the back besides the KCB.
3 Undine Turrets maybe?
Any ideas?
The Nicor's Fluidic focus console is AP-based, so any other energy type gimps its damage output.
Damage is around 14k-16k DPS in ISE, and the build sports multiple shield-bypassing damage mechanics. With the Enhanced Bio-Molecular torpedo getting a HTY3 damage buff in tomorrow's patch, this set-up will only get better
Damage is around 14k-16k DPS in ISE, and the build sports multiple shield-bypassing damage mechanics. With the Enhanced Bio-Molecular torpedo getting a HTY3 damage buff in tomorrow's patch, this set-up will only get better
I have done 26K with my Nicor, damage isn't a worry in its current set up. Guess I am just getting bored with the A2B FAW builds.
I use to do 100K DPS, but then I took an arrow to the knee.
Your Ramming Speed III deals 242658 (243540) Kinetic Damage (Critical) to you.
I have done 26K with my Nicor, damage isn't a worry in its current set up. Guess I am just getting bored with the A2B FAW builds.
Beam Boats with KCB will usually out-DPS other builds in ISE, but such setups have no knock-out spike damage to finish off enemy players quickly. It works well for ISE, but that's about it.
I previously ran my Nicor with 7 beams + KCB, but I could barely stay awake through an Undine Battle Zone run since there was literally no conscious effort required. All I did was tap the fire button all night, nodding off frequently in the process. That's when I knew I had to find a more challenging set-up. It sounds like you're starting to get there too...
That's bc beam boats have to be flown differently in PvP. Waiting until someone has used their RSP before you go APA and sometimes in a crowd it's better to NOT use BFAW as you want to keep pressure on a single target.
I've parsed pressure spikes up to 115k dps on my beam boat. Granted it's abnormally high but 80k dps for 10 seconds is 800k raw damage. Say target is able to get 75 damage resist to shield and hull it's still 200k hitting him.
In addition to standard PVP beam tactics, I've had good results using shield-bypassing damage instead of the old "brute force" techniques. DEM + Omega Graviton Amp + Omega Kinetic Sheering = dead target, even with all of their shields over 70%.
Beam Boats with KCB will usually out-DPS other builds in ISE, but such setups have no knock-out spike damage to finish off enemy players quickly. It works well for ISE, but that's about it.
I previously ran my Nicor with 7 beams + KCB, but I could barely stay awake through an Undine Battle Zone run since there was literally no conscious effort required. All I did was tap the fire button all night, nodding off frequently in the process. That's when I knew I had to find a more challenging set-up. It sounds like you're starting to get there too...
Yeah I am, I just utterly hate the 45 degree firing arcs, 90 is about my comfort limit, and well single cannons are absolutely useless at the moment. I think Singles would be a perfect mix if they some how fixed em. Say give them beam damage drop off compared to the cannon damage drop off but keep their current DMG numbers.
I loved playing with singles on my Galor, but when I got serious about DPS I dropped em.
I use to do 100K DPS, but then I took an arrow to the knee.
Your Ramming Speed III deals 242658 (243540) Kinetic Damage (Critical) to you.
Comments
I totally have a Beam Escort. I currently am enjoying a Fleet Patrol Escort Refit all beams. No projectiles, no skills slotted to boost projectiles. I average about 11k-15k in an elite Conduit using and Aux2Bat build and Beam Fire at Will and I'm having a really good time!
^^ great guide, PVE beamscorts are plenty good fun!!
Please reconsider using beams on an escort, it is a waste of time and not fair to your team, and is very boring for your opponents to face in PVP and wastes their time also.
The goal with a beamscort should be to maintain pressure in one place. Speed tanking on a beamscort shouldn't be the goal, but rather staying in contact and within the least damaging firing arc your foe has. Against a beam cruiser, the escort should simply stay aft so as to avoid the broadside while maintaining their own. Against a DHC escort, a beamscort should never disengage or run away but rather go straight at the opponent... you might end up aft if they don't react, you might simply end up circling each other in a 7 beams vs 3 turrets furball. In which case you win. A beamscort can manage their opponent's firing arcs and shield facings better than most anything else.
A beamscort can work, but it won't work if it's flown like a DHC Escort or a Cruiser. Pay attention, manage firing arcs and shield facings, and it can be effective; don't do so and it won't be.
Indeed it is.
Huzzah for Beam Escorts that are actually canon to the series!
Well said although these days you can practically tank quite effectively in an escort with the right set of abilities and armor consoles even against Elite Borg.
Although I don't know about the Undine since I haven't had a chance to try out the new STFs I'm in the middle of exam season and I have 22 exams to do so I haven't played for the past month or so but when they're finished I'll be sure start building by new Beam Escort.
Still got it sat in dry dock my have to get it out........
Join The Space Invaders,..... Federation and KDF fleets.
Absolutely wrong. Beams not only added 50% more DPS in PvE, they actually allow me to damage fast moving targets in PvP. With beams, I can take on Bug ships and hit them with constant pressure damage, then spike with a torp spread. When I used to run DHCs I was never able to compete with Bugs due to turn rate.
Sure, my DHCs do more concentrated damage, but what good are they if my opponent is barely in the forward arc? Anyway, if I'm not facing someone who is faster I'm facing a tank that I could never hope to bring down alone... wait for the shot call, apply spike damage, repeat. When everyone is shooting the same target beams are fine.
The FPER, which I run, does run EPtW and A2B with Marion. Another advantage of beams is that you can destroy the annoying stuff. Hangar pet spam, mines and destructible projectiles are all irrelevant. Better against decloak alphas too; I only need to bring broadside facing instead of forward. It's the best of all worlds.
In the case of PvE, this has not been my experience. I run an all beams Fleet Patrol Escort Refit, and it out performs my Fleet Avenger by roughly 2k to 3K dps. The builds are as close to the same as I could make them. My Escort takes on far less damage thus it's survivability is less demanding. My BeamScort can solo Borg Cubes in an elite Conduit with less effort then my Fleet Avenger.
I have pretty much retired my All Beams Fleet Avenger because my All Beams Fleet Patrol Escort Refit is simply better and more fun.
1) They handle carrier pet spam very well
2) They can bypass shields with DEM + Dulmer
3) They are able to run tac, sci, and engineering teams to mitigate Subnuc's, FoMM's, plasma DoT's, scramble sensors, another other duration based hoser abilities.
4) They are immune to corkscrew-evasion tactics
5) They apply constant pressure damage against shields and hull, making burst alpha alpha strikes less of a requirement
Of course, such set-ups are not easy to obtain and gear up ... we're talking serous money pit
Beam-scorts are for lazy PvPers who don't want to master the art of escort-piloting.
Note: I'm saying this as a former cruiser and beam-scort proponent with a long history of out-dueling "spikey escorts" by using pressure damage from BFAW, DEM, etc. In fact, I cut my PvP teeth flying first a Fleet Excelsior and later a Fleet Patrol Escort (original version) with nothing but Acc x3 Polarons and a KCB. But while I was able to spread lots of damage around, I could rarely finish anyone off - especially in match-play scenarios.
Even after I ground-out the EC for a Hirogen Hunter - a ship with the engineering space to run my preferred A2B/A2D hybrid combo - I still found the play style unsatisfying. It was a great build for 1v1s vs. bug ships (turn rate becomes a non-factor), but otherwise it felt like a squishier, less potent version of my cruiser. Yes, I was harder to hit, but I couldn't capitalize due to a lack of offensive punch.
Bottom Line: It wasn't until I bit the bullet and forced myself to master the classic DHC/DBB "spikey escort" style that I finally became somewhat "effective" in PvP. Now, instead of being the player who spams everything and kills nothing, I'm the one who swoops in and finishes targets off with a nicely timed/buffed BO3 shot.
One shot, one kill. Quite satisfying...
RCK
I went with fluidic AP beams on my Nicor mainly to portray Voyager's Species-8472 Bio-ship as closely as possible, but the ship turned out much better than anticipated. The fluidic beams constantly knocked faster opponents out of top speed in addition to bypassing shields without DEM, making the latter much worse when DEM was present. It was also easy to swap in a T3 sci hoser-ability as needed -- GW1, FSB1, or whatever worked best against the present target.
Guessing by your profile picture I'm guessing you have a Jem'Hadar Attack ship; Does a Beam Boat set up work well for it?
I can't say that I've spec'd the JHAS for beams yet... Its superior turn rate favored a 4-DHC set-up.
I have mine setup for two forward single beams, the dominion dual cannons from the FE, one quantum up front, with two quantum's in the back and a single beam in the back on an engineer character and it does about 5500-6000 DPS so yes you can use beams on an escort and make it work.
CRUISERS NEED A 206% HULL BUFF
But thank you for the input anyway.
The point being you can do just about whatever you want especially beams on escorts and they will work well.
CRUISERS NEED A 206% HULL BUFF
I have been thinking about getting 3 elite fleet disruptor DBB, and 1 Undine torp. I just do not know what I want in the back besides the KCB.
3 Undine Turrets maybe?
Any ideas?
Your Ramming Speed III deals 242658 (243540) Kinetic Damage (Critical) to you.
The Nicor's Fluidic focus console is AP-based, so any other energy type gimps its damage output.
Here is my present Nicor set-up:
http://www.stoacademy.com/tools/skillplanner/?build=sharnicor001_0
Damage is around 14k-16k DPS in ISE, and the build sports multiple shield-bypassing damage mechanics. With the Enhanced Bio-Molecular torpedo getting a HTY3 damage buff in tomorrow's patch, this set-up will only get better
I have done 26K with my Nicor, damage isn't a worry in its current set up. Guess I am just getting bored with the A2B FAW builds.
Your Ramming Speed III deals 242658 (243540) Kinetic Damage (Critical) to you.
Beam Boats with KCB will usually out-DPS other builds in ISE, but such setups have no knock-out spike damage to finish off enemy players quickly. It works well for ISE, but that's about it.
I previously ran my Nicor with 7 beams + KCB, but I could barely stay awake through an Undine Battle Zone run since there was literally no conscious effort required. All I did was tap the fire button all night, nodding off frequently in the process. That's when I knew I had to find a more challenging set-up. It sounds like you're starting to get there too...
In addition to standard PVP beam tactics, I've had good results using shield-bypassing damage instead of the old "brute force" techniques. DEM + Omega Graviton Amp + Omega Kinetic Sheering = dead target, even with all of their shields over 70%.
Yeah I am, I just utterly hate the 45 degree firing arcs, 90 is about my comfort limit, and well single cannons are absolutely useless at the moment. I think Singles would be a perfect mix if they some how fixed em. Say give them beam damage drop off compared to the cannon damage drop off but keep their current DMG numbers.
I loved playing with singles on my Galor, but when I got serious about DPS I dropped em.
Your Ramming Speed III deals 242658 (243540) Kinetic Damage (Critical) to you.