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Phantom problems
tilarium1979
Member Posts: 567 Arc User
So went and moved my assault captain from her Armitage to a Phantom and I've noticed one thing very very easy to see. It's very soft. Granted I'm using the same gear that I used on the Armitage (for the most part, none upgraded yet) but the Jem'Hadar shields are ripped apart quickly and and the hull takes a beating. I've managed to keep it in check with my BOff abilities and having had the ship destroyed but I know if I start going into STFs and other queue missions like that I'm going to be the weak link in the group. As someone that often outlasts the other teammates and in the case of the CE, scores the #1 spot 75% of the time, being the weak link is unacceptable. With the MU event starting tomorrow, I'm looking to the community for help and getting back to where I used to be. Or, is this normal for the Phantom because it is in fact a soft but resilient ship?
Post edited by tilarium1979 on
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My Phantom is far from invincible, but she's still pretty resilient, and Hecate tops that up with very strong dodge rates (due to my having the Evasive, Pattern Recognition traits and the Aegis impulse engines). Key to having more maneuvering room for me is using a mix of dual beams/beam arrays on top of fore/aft photon torpedoes to chip at my enemies however I maneuver - and deliver stronger damage 5km+ out/to the sides if need be.
As far as powers go, I rely on EPtW1 and EPtE1, then Aux2Dampeners and Engineering Team 3... and supplement that with Hazard Emitters 1 and Science Team 2. I've also the Pilot specialization skill that allows everytime I trigger my Attack Pattern Omega 3 to kick in a nice amount of temporary HP.
In the interrim of getting the Delta set's shields, I'm using Borg shields. Those are hardly what I'd call very strong - but I've relied on them for the sustainability the set grants, and it's not wasted since the mix of Plasmonic Leech, EPtW/E and Override Subsystem Safeties 2 allows me to keep all my power levels 90+ - that helps with shield hardness and regen (the latter of which the Borg shields do well).
I also rely on my speed: usually, my Phantom moves around at 50 impulse speed... and if I kick in other powers I can go upwards to 160ish without even using Full Impulse or Evasive Maneuvers (top non-full impulse speed is 380). One detriment of that high mobility is that it makes using cannons efficiently next to impossible, but using dual beams and beam arrays allows me placement advantage other BFaW/TS3 boats don't have - as in, sticking to weaker shield sides ALWAYS and pouring down firepower where it hurts. And, if I do bite off more than I can chew, I can evade. I can evade and get clear very well - and then swiftly restore myself before jumping back in.
I usually outdamage Avengers and Moghs; I don't die like they might; and as long as there's no Scimitar around, I usually top damage charts in Crystaline Catastrophe. Besides, if being #2 means that I can be faster, nimbler, die less (or not at all), have strong supportive abilities, outstanding evasive capabilities and not be a one-trick pony... I'm pretty comfortable with that.
The phantom should be near the same as any fleet escort.. but vs a Fleet T5U they would have the advantage but not by much.
One thing I would suggest is going up the pilot tree... It has some defensive skills as well as health reinforcement.
You cant do the stop and just pew pew in most of the new content as a escort.. keep your speed up and you should be fine.
How would this increase survivability?
With beam arrays, you can travel parallel to the target. You can circle the target to keep speed up which boosts defense. If you begin taking too much damage, you can turn away from the target. It's much faster to move out of range to heal up from moving at speed, parallel to the target when compared to starting up from a full stop, taking time to get up to speed, turning and getting out of range.
Beam array damage doesn't drop off much at range like cannons do, so circling a target from 9k to make it easy to get out of range to heal up is easy to manage. With cannons, you want to be up close to get the DPS, but you have a longer distance to travel to get out of range to heal up if necessary.
Flying full impulse and attacking is harder even more so in a fast ship to start. However once you get your head out of DPS and go to SPIKE its easier. You have to make attack runs and hit hard as a brick when you do. Even if you fly way past your target and turn for another run, your spike damage is still more than most do in beam boats and you should be able to do hull damage before shields get restored.
Tips
Keybind whatever you can. I keybind double TT, double BO, double CRF to my space bar. This leaves me able to click targets and not worry about cycling powers, and leaves me with much less clicky click to do on the space tray.
Fly farther past them than you think before turning. Even if you get turned around you need time to unload.
Swap targets a lot. I mean when there are 4 targets, come at them and target from one to the next spiking each and dont worry about the kill. Some will vape others wont. Drop their shield, hit as hard as you can and move to next. Your allies will love you. Most beam boats cant spike a hole in the shields unless they are better than avg. Taking down shield facing for your allies torps can really help.
Target one at a time, CSV is good but not at full impulse, stick with CRF/BO