Hello everyone,
Based on a suggested build by istvaanshogaatsu in this thread:
http://sto-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?t=558851&page=8 , I went shopping and came up with this:
http://www.stoacademy.com/tools/skillplanner/?build=quantumtvaro_4674
The singularity core has the [AMP] modifier as well. Each quantum hits with 8766.3 kinetic damage (1031.3 dps). I had four quantums up front but replaced the last one with the Ferengi Missile Launcher to see if I could cycle the projectile DOFFs faster. It seems so far to be working well.
If anyone has constructive suggestions for improving this build, I am very interested to hear your comments. I don't seem to be doing as much damage as shown in the thread cited above, but I would love to figure out how to improve upon what I currently have available.
Thanks!
Comments
Sorry, but your build wont work out well, exept on infected, cause shooting 80% unshielded targets.
Especially in pvp you wont reach anything because of your quantum torpedos, i think im one of the few making a working quantum build, that unluckily dont works with the t`varo.
You say you deal 8766.3 Damage per shot, however you will get serious problems with shields.
A resilent shield array has a 5% bleedthrough, making your direct damage to hull 8766,3*0,05=438,315 Damage per shot. As you can clearly see you will never kill someone still having his shields like you could with plasma/Transphasic/Undine Photon.
However getting down shilds plays out as follow, because oft he 75% innertia resistent every shield has to kinetic damage: (8766,3-876,63)*0,25=1972,4175 damage to shields per shot.
As you will be fireing 1 Torp every 1.5 sek your Total dps falls down to: (1972,4175+438.315)/1,5=1607,155 total dps, a amount you that will never allow you to do anything decent.
I recommend highly to switch to transphasic as it is very cheap to start with.
I'm using this build for PVE. I have a hybrid transphasic/photon for PVP.
It works very well slamming shields. With a single facing down, the torpedoes do very good damage to enemy hulls. STFs are a lot of fun with the unshielded objects, and I'm getting first place quite a bit in CE.
Regardless, you're probably wasting your universal on science with a build like that. You'd probably get better mileage going Engineering(for EPtE, RSP, and Aux2Whatever) or Tactical(Double up on TT, Torp Spread, APO, DPB/High Yield).
Furthermore, if you're going to boost quantum damage that much, run some Mines with Dispersal Pattern Beta 3 - you're looking at 150k damage, easy, with a single DPB3. I was doing almost twice that against cubes with APA and APO active on my old Quantum Chel Grett.
Yes, it is an unusual choice to be sure. The T'Varo can be quite squishy, so to improve heals I'm using DOFFs that shorten the cooldown on team powers.
I have used a third tac in the universal BOFF slot in the past, but I notice a marked improvement using a sci with Tyken's Rift and Gravity Well. If it was a commander slot I would pop a Viral Matrix in there as well, but alas! Every ship has its limits.
Now, the mines using DPB3 sounds like an interesting improvement. I could (and probably should) promote one of my tacs that has it and give it a try to see how it works.
I still need to figure out how an eng would work with this setup. Thanks for your advice! After 200 views, I finally had an improvement suggestion that might boost damage.
I tried a different configuration for Deflector/Shields/Engines by swapping in the Romulan engines and AMACO deflector. There is a slight increase via attack patterns, but it's only around 100 damage points, so I decided that the extra power from the AMACO engines makes more sense with an [AMP] singularity core.
I took my ship to Ker'rat earlier today, and it performed much better than expected, so PVP is not precluded by a quantum build on the T'Varo.
Let's be honest here. Full on Kinetic builds aren't out of place in STO as you think there are.
Firstly, the single player missions and such are so mindnumbingly dull with the inept and weak NPCs, that you can outfit your ship with Lieutenant level common gear and wipe the floor with them. ANYTHING practically goes.
Secondly, what are the 3 most generally played space instances in STO? That answer should be obvious.
1. Omega Space STFs
2. Crystalline Entity
3. 8472 BZ
Omega STFs are easily, hands down, by a vast majority, the most played space multiplayer content in the game. Easily. Nothing, and I mean, NOTHING comes anywhere close. And Kinetic builds will rip apart many things there.
Secondly, Crystalline Entity is the second closest in most played multiplayer in STO. Kinetic builds work out excellent.
Thirdly, 8472 Battlezone. Yes, the bioships have shields. But you know what? How many players are out there blazing with energy weapons. Yeah. Moot point then. Kinetic builds are a rarity in STO with the most using energy weapons. A Kinetic build ship can feed off that and the synergy works great since you have so many people blazing away with their energy weapons. You WILL get that opening to land the massive hits. Matter of fact, you can say that with any multiplayer part of this game.
You can bust out the formulas and stuff and I will agree that the numbers do not lie. However, your formula fails to look at the big picture on what people are REALLY playing and what style most of them are fighting as.
OP, something else I want to add, especially since your build is not relying on Weapons Power and to further add onto someone's else's comment on throwing some Quantum Mines in there, as well as using that Universal as TAC.
Throwing in some Quantum Mines synergizes perfectly with your Quantum Torps, provided your Vulnerability Locator Consoles are Quantum Projectile specific and not generic Torpedo damage. Specialized consoles will boost both torpedo & mine if they are of the same dmg type.
You can run a high Aux Power build and still go with Universal LtCdr as TAC. For added fun, add the following:
- 1 Quantum Mine Launcher
- Nukara Web Mine Launcher
Cmdr TAC: TT1, DPB1, Favorite Torp Ability 3, APO3
Ens TAC: Whatever Torp ability you prefer at Ensign
Universal LtCdr (TAC): TT1, DPB1, Favorite Torp Ability 3
You will have multiple copies of your favorite torp ability and mine dispersal ability. You will not rely on DOFFs / A2B to get those DPB, TT, and TS/HYT abilities to you sooner. You can use the DOFF space for other things, and use APO+APA to surge damage or to alternate between the two.
The Quantum Mine Launcher will be more readily available for general use. The Nukara Web Mine Launcher works extremely well on high Aux Power. No projectile / mine related console boosts its dmg.
I've experimented with this on a Steamrunner but I was focused on Photons instead, and I preferred HYT instead of TS. It works out extremely well, and the multiple copies of Torp abilities and Dispersal Patterns is a welcome thing, and I'm not utilizing any DOFFs to make those said abilities available sooner. Nukara Web Mine Launcher has a longer CD than many Mine Launchers out there, but that's why your Quantum Mine will be the general workhorse between the two.
You've convinced me. Between yours and Szerontzur's excellent advice, I will be shopping for an appropriate set of quantum mines this evening. I'll retrieve my Nukara mines from the reputation system, and then I'll make a short trip to the trainer to apply some new skills. I'll report back to the group after I test the new setup.
Thanks guys!
Don't get crazy and get Fleet Quantum Mines. I'm sure you could pick up Very Rare, Mk XI / XII off the exchange with far better mod selection and at a cheaper price. Quantums haven't been "in" for a long time so they should be fairly cheap on the exchange. Esp the Mine Launcher versions.
So, I tried Khitomer Vortex elite, CE elite, and then a short trip to Ker'rat to test things out. CE was a third place finish. Khitomer was a slower finish than normal but okay. Ker'rat was a complete mess. I ended up returning to my previous build with the slight change from HYT1 to TT1, so now I'm running a dual TT1 and seeing a faster cycle. Plus, I'm still using a VR Conn DOFF, and it seems to proc quite a bit in reducing cooldown.
It may still work very well if I follow the instructions to the letter, but one of the reasons I added a sci instead of a third tac was for decent crowd control. I am hooked at this point on the universal slot being a sci, so to change it is going to be like quitting a bad habit. I had hoped that I would see some improvement, and maybe it's my lack of ability or failure to try exactly what was suggested, but it didn't happen. I'm going to stick pretty close to original until I'm willing to try again.
So, the build is now updated on STO Academy. Since I'm big on praise, if you like the build and are a member of the site, feel free to give it a medal if you like the build.
Oh yeah...I checked the kinetic damage from the tool tip while in orbit over New Romulus after clicking all of the available damage increasing powers in quick succession. The kinetic damage per hit was around 17,095 points. I'll probably check this again and get more exact figures for dps and kinetic damage in the near future.
I'm also looking at replacing the singularity core with another. The one I have boosts weapon power, which does not help much because 1) I'm only using torpedoes, and 2) even when the capacitor is activated, weapon power does not reach the 75 point threshold to improve the damage output from an [AMP] core. Again, suggestions are welcome.
Thanks for reading!
Agreed. I have a Fed tac that is set up for that. but I hardly play him anymore. The T'Varo got me hooked on playing a Rom tac. This ship is just too awesome (my opinion).
I noticed that I rarely if ever use the subspace field modulator for anything, so I temporarily replaced it with scorpion fighters until I figure out what else I'd like to activate in combat. The only other item I'm considering right now is aux batteries, if only for the boost in sci powers. Weapon batteries won't boost my power enough to help with [AMP] damage, so I'm not considering them.
As I was looking for another singularity core today, I noticed that every core with [OLoad] also has a weapon capacitor. Now, I like [AMP] and I like [OLoad], but the lack of any other type of capacitor really seems limiting to a torpedo boat build. I can only assume this design choice was to prevent some sort of power creep. Perhaps X2 will introduce some new cores that provide better combinations to improve my build. Time will tell.
In the meantime, I'm being careful not to use my singularity charge unless I'm in deep trouble. The bonus critical severity is really sweet!
I'm currently testing the Enhanced Plasma Manifold with my ship build. Although it may seem antithetical, I have temporarily removed a vulnerability console to see how the EPM performs. It's quite a power boost when used with the Red Matter Capacitor!
Edit: Yes, It was worth removing the tac console. The boost to sci abilities and healing more than makes up for the slightly lower damage output with the torpedoes. I highly recommend using it.
For a short time I tried the Kinetic Cutting Beam to see if the two-piece bonus was of any use to my build. It turns out that the 2.5% chance of dealing slightly extra damage is not of much value on this torpedo boat.
My next experiment will depend on my desire to open lock boxes. I'm considering the purchase of Bioneural Infusion Circuits, but I will have to decide which non-tactical console to remove from the build. When X2 finally arrives, I hope that Tier 5 improvements include an additional one (or two!) console slot(s). I think the reader can use imagination to visualize the advantage of not giving up the benefits of all of the consoles in such a build.
For those of you who have read this thread so far, I hope you are enjoying the updates. Again, I am happy to accept suggestions to improve any aspect of my build. Thank you!
My forum posts are starting to take on a blog-like status. Since it appears a sufficient number of people are still gazing at this thread from time to time, I don't see any reason to discontinue sharing my latest discoveries. With that being said, let me tell you about my latest adventure.
After today's maintenance, I noticed a curious development that many players are now aware of from simply viewing their loadouts. Yes! It appears that very rare consoles got a bit of a boost after the update. My Vulnerability Locator consoles are now showing +1.9% critical chance and +37.5% damage. This has now changed the base damage to my torpedoes to 9,138.3 (1,075.1 dps) per the tooltip. As any good captain who sees an improvement in numbers, I took the R.R.W. Qanik into Crystalline Cataclysm to examine this unexpected surprise against a known quantity.
The results were fantastic! The new damage output gave me a first place finish, and coupled with the shield trait available from completing Counter Command Tier 5 Reputation earlier this week, I had little difficulty in keeping my ship healed. I have yet to try Borg STFs, but I'm sure I will see a similar outcome. I am quite pleased with this gift.
In addition to this discovery, the announcement regarding T5U ships and the addition of another console slot is increasing my anticipation for X2. While many players are debating the merits of the Zen costs for certain ships, I am planning my strategy to acquire the set of Bioneural Infusion Circuits I mentioned in the previous post. What is not clear to me is what type of console slot this addition will be. The Fleet T'Varo has four tactical, three engineering, and three science slots. Where will this new slot be located, or will it be a stand-alone universal slot of some sort? Personally, I think two slots would have been better - perhaps as a 4,4,4 - imagine! It's probably best to be satisfied with one, however. Any improvement is quite welcomed by me.
So, that's my report for the moment. Hopefully readers still find this subject interesting, and I will continue to report any news as it becomes available. Thanks for reading!
I've noticed several torpboat builds posted on the forums that are featuring the Counter Command deflector with Adapted MACO/KHG engines and shields. I believe this trend illustrates how useful this setup can be for any type of torpboat. With that in mind, I was thinking of taking out my old transphasic gear and trying a build with the CC deflector + 2pc Breen Set to see what kind of improvement is available to those weapons. Coupled with the new numbers for the very rare tac consoles, transphasics might be a viable build yet again.
Incidentally, I watched the finale of ST:Voyager again this afternoon, and I forgot how much damage the writers had allowed the transphasic torpedoes to do against the Borg. That seems like an interesting direction for the Devs to pursue for the new storyline (if it isn't already finalized).
Hint: Allow a Mk XII-XIII-XIV upgrade of the Breen Set, Rapid Refire Torpedoes, and maybe the Breen Cluster Torpedoes! I'm sure via the R&D system that regular transphasics with awesome powers will become available as soon as the appropriate skills levels are unlocked by the players. One could even go canon by equipping an Intrepid class ship with a nice Borg-busting transphasic build. It might be a fun way to kick off X2!
Am I mistaken, or did Admiral Janeway acquire some sort of tachyokinetic converter from Korath in that episode? And I swore I heard something about a chronometric deflector in that episode, too.
Edit: Alas! Twas never meant to be! It looks like the increase in numbers on very rare consoles was a mistake by the devs and will be corrected in the near future to their previous levels. So, enjoy the extra damage while you can. In edition, I was correct about the ST:Voyager information about Korath.
See it here: http://sto.gamepedia.com/Temporal_Warfare_Set
No chronometric deflector, but one can always hope for the future.
Fore Weapons.
Experimental Proton Cannon - For Beam Overload 1
Breen Cluster toredp - For dmg through shields and burst dmg.
Grav Photon Torpedo - Grav wells torpedo spreads 3.
Undine Photon Torpedo - HYT2 attacks since its fast and untargetable single hit torpedo.
Aft Weapons.
Kenetic cutting beam - Constant 360 kenetic dmg.
Bio Photon torpedo acc x2 - Rear hyt/scatter.
Nakura web mines. - Used with dispersal beta 3.
Doffs are 2 purple torpedo projectile doffs, 3 BO shield bypass doffs, and 1 mine range increase doff. Use kenetic sheering trait.
BO1, HYT2, TS3, And DPB3, for tac skills, and main key sci skill is grav well 1. I fly full Aux/shield or full Aux/engine. I use the 2 piece Klingon HG set, 2 piece dyson arsenal, the new undine torpedo console, and the 2 piece tovaro consoles. With cloak and bonuses you can get around 9 tac consoles worth of dmg boost.
Extra consoles to use is lobi fering console that boosts torpedo/mine dmg. Tac consoles are your choice i use all photon torpedo ones.
Cloak, tac buff up, drop dispersal web mines on tac cube, retreat and turn, fire destabilized plasma torpedo, HYT2 undine torpedo, gravwell, breen cluster torpedo then decloak and fire bo1 before they hit. That combo will kill almost anything. It can cause up to 100% shield bypass, and the total dmg can be well over 400k dmg way more if rest of team stacks APB3.
Looks like you have a build that you like there! It's a testament to the versatility of the T'Varo IMO. Your build shares some similarities to a build from Dahminus that I saw in another thread. I suppose all of our builds are similar in some key components. Whether you use all energy, all kinetic, or a hybrid build, the T'Varo is really a great platform.
Switching over to the continuing saga of the R.R.W. Qanik, I took advantage of the Zen sale this weekend by trading a gift card to someone I know in exchange for a payment to a site that I use for monetary transactions. So now I'm sitting on a fair amount of Zen and looking forward to the possibility of a key sale sometime soon. I'd like to open 100 boxes and see what kind of goodies I can win. I'm going to unlock Ferengi boxes for the very slight chance of getting my hands on a D'Kora. At the very least, I should get at least 400 lobi for my trouble. Hopefully I get some other useful knick-knacks or valuable items that sell well on the Exchange.
Of course, the minimum goal here in to acquire a set of Bioneural Infusion Circuits. I'm wondering about the possibility that a T6 Intrepid might be released with X2 which includes Bioneural Gel Packs as a device. That would be a cool addition to the panoply that is STO Universal Consoles.
One last question for everyone: The shield bypassing doffs that jtoney mentioned are items that I don't think I'm familiar with currently. Looks like I'll be searching for information, but if anyone has a link for them, would you please post a reply? Thanks!
You bring up a good point about photon torpedoes. I did consider switching the build over, but using the consoles for the photons requires me to remove gear which I find hard to do without, namely the two piece T'Varo consoles and one of the tac consoles. Whereas I don't have a problem with the tac console being removed (since I installed the EPM in a previous version), the ten percent projectile damage bonus of the T'Varo set is too sweet for me to lose. In addition, the ability to recharge the singularity charger and the giant beachball of death makes the set a lot of fun to use.
OTOH, the photon torpedo concept is probably a perfect build on a Fleet Escort. My Fed tactical captain is still working on the Counter Command reputation, but he soon will be able to acquire the deflector, so the build will probably be viable in the very near future. This might not be the best thread in which to post my results, but I can always start another elsewhere.
For now, I still plan to acquire my last console and wait to see how X2 improves my ship's performance. We still have a month-and-a-half to go, and I'm counting on a key sale in the future so I can get greedy with lockbox lotto! In the meantime, I'm waiting with the rest of you to see what the devs will reveal to us in the coming weeks about the new expansion.
I use the tachyokentic converter *crith and critd*, plasmonic leech *helps keep aux shields and engine power up when im not using my cloak* replace this with biocircuits/lobi projectile console if you have it, borg assimilated console for the crith/d, 2 piece t'varo consoles for the destabilized torpedo and the +10% projectile dmg. And I use the counter command console for photon/radation dmg replace with a 4th fleet console when you can.
Energy weapon doffs with 30% chance to bypass 30-35% shields for 4 sec with use of bo are what I was talking about. If all 3 proc you bypass 100% shields for 4 sec. I use fleet tac photon consoles with a mix of crith/d once you hit 20-25% crith go for d.
Okay, then that explains why I wasn't "aware" of the shield bypass doffs. I thought there was some sort of new doff for projectiles that granted shield bypass. Thank you for clarifying that before I went on crusade to the Exchange to look for my imaginary duty officers!
In other news, looks like I got some votes on STO Academy for my build. Yay! If you like my build, or just feel generous, please give it a medal if you happen by the site. Like I said before, I'm a sucker for praise. Thank you to those who gave medals! It's appreciated.
Lastly, despite the fact that my fleet is desperately sucking up whatever dilithium it can get to finally complete our T3 spire holding, I'm setting aside my own little pile to improve my gear once X2 hits. I'm not sure yet if we will be able to acquire Mk XIV gear from reputation stores or the starbase, or if they are going to be R&D items that need to be crafted. Needless to say, dilithium is going to be in high demand however the game makes them available.
As always, thanks for reading!
i was working on a mine layer build for the t'varo but it was so slow that i eventually gave up. i had 1 plasma, 1 transphasic and 1 photon i believe it was... i tried using all the same but the shared cooldowns were driving me up the wall. i had the same prob with the torps... how do you stop the torps from sharing cooldowns if they're all the same kind?
just in case i didn't make much sense up there (it is 2:30am where i'm from)... when multiples of the same torp or mine, one would fire and i'd be stuck waiting for the others to cool down some too even though they didn't fire.
thanks
For mines you want the trait "Hot pursuit" Torpedos you want "Intimidating Strikes". And use kenetic sheering. And try to stick to 1 type of torpedo/mine damage type.
JToney's advice is sound. I would get the traits he listed, assuming you want both torpedoes and mines. I'm not using mines right now, and the closest I ever get to them is usually the Breen Cluster Torpedo. I don't know if Hot Pursuit works with those, so if anyone reading knows, please feel free to post.
Try to get three VR (purple) Projectile Weapons Officers for your roster. You can find them on the exchange, buy them at a T3 embassy, or repeat the Khazan Cluster Support mission which awards a PWO on critical success. You can also use Law and Gul Tain since they are easily available via episodes and doff missions respectively. You want DOFFs that improve cooldown by 20%, so look at the trait before you buy. Lastly, double check the faction so you don't blow a lot of money on something you can't use (If you're Fed, buy Fed).
Trying to use as many of the same type of weapon as possible, excluding anything that has a cooldown time greater than ten seconds.
Hope that helps you refine the build. Thanks for posting!
Someone in this thread mentioned using the experimental proton weapon alongside beam overload shield-pen doffs. It should be noted this weapon won't actually proc those doffs, so go with a DBB or beam array.
So, the trickle of information concerning X2 is starting to flow a bit faster as of late. The arguments I've seen that suggest the Faeht is a worthy successor to the T'Varo are specious at best IMO. Most of the comments point out the age of the T'Varo's design, which in a game where players yearn for an end game version of the Constitution Class proves "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" is alive and well among the player base. The two ships are quite different, and as it stands right now I don't see an advantage of flying a Faeht over the T'Varo. The T'Varo, in particular the fleet version, has an excellent balance when it comes to BOFF and console layout. Faeht lacks in a couple of areas for me, such as a lack of a Universal BOFF slot and having five tactical console slots. It's more like a JHAS with poorer seating but an EBC. I wonder how many players will get the Faeht for that reason alone.
While that argument is probably going to be a new thread subject someday, this thread is about my passion to improve my ship and what I'm doing to get it there. So, let's get back to the fun!
I haven't seen any posts which reveal how the T5U ships are going to be upgraded if they aren't automatic. I would imagine that fleet modules or Zen would be involved somehow, but like everyone else I have to wait patiently for instructions from the powers that be. Since I've been saving my Zen, I'm thinking I should have enough to get the upgrades I consider absolutely essential. The problem is that I may have to cut back on the number of keys I wanted to buy for lockbox lotto. That's okay, because if I open 50 boxes I should be flush with Lobi for the Bioneural Infusion Circuits.
The stats for the T'Varo Retrofit have been posted, and the ship received an addition Sci Console slot. I'm hopeful that this will also be true for the fleet version. I think even the Deferi would find such a layout to fit the definition of balance.
As an aside, my alts are currently receiving a bit more attention as of late since I have been neglecting them in favor of my Romulan character. Unfortunately, they are somewhat fleet credit poor right now, so purchasing items such as an additional space DOFF slot while waiting for X2 and the new weapon grades appears wasteful. I guess the solution is to give them some EC to buy things for my fleet's starbase and improve their purchasing balances. I won't bother readers here with my attempts to upgrade these alts, but they are mentioned in this post because having additional resources (dilithium in particular) makes it much easier to get the gear one needs for an excellent build.
Finally, I have a scenario for the readers. What I want you to do is imagine a Fleet T'Varo that has a Universal Commander BOFF instead of a Universal Lieutenant Commander BOFF. So, 13 BOFF powers for the tray, seating which consists of Commander Tac, Commander Uni, Lieutenant Sci, Lieutenant Eng, and Ensign Tac. With me so far? Excellent! Now, add to that mix four Sci consoles, three Eng consoles, and four Tac consoles. Also consider that none of the BOFF seats on this particular T'Varo are hybridized to allow an Intelligence Officer to occupy them.
Now, let me pose a question or two to the readers. All other facts about the top-end T'Varo being considered as included in such a ship (such as EBC), do you think the ship described above is over or under powered compared to the new ships which will arrive with X2? Do you think it would be on par with the new ships? And finally, would such a ship appeal to you enough to buy it when X2 is released? I would really like to know why or why not, so if you have time and find my question compelling enough to answer, I would like to hear from you.
That's all for the moment. Thank you for reading, and I hope you are enjoying this thread.
Go to 4:00. Sometimes I feel like things really do happen when you say them out loud.
Edit: Later in the same video, I noticed that the Delta Alliance Reputation Tier 3 includes the ability to buy thoron-infused quantum projectile weapons. Now I'm really curious as to what will be available in Delta Rising. There are 32 days left to go before we can examine it in a full and finished form. The trick is to be patient and hold on to whatever purchasing power I have until then.