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rhyusss
Member Posts: 27 Arc User
Hi all. I've been away from the game for a while now and only really stop back in for the Christmas special event. I see that things have changed a great deal and I went out and started to do the Delta Rising missions. I can say, things are pretty hard and my difficulty setting is just normal. I've been getting my butt handed to me by the Vaadwaur, especially that one attack where they randomly target spots all over your area for explosive attacks. Seems the only thing that I've found that works is speeding up and using either Brace for Impact or Evasive Maneuvers to survive just one of those attacks.
What I'd like to know, and I know this is always a personal choice, but I know there are ideal settings and ships and components to look out for and get. What I'd like to know, is what would be the best choice(s) for a Fed Tactical player. I have access to the Breen Raider and Carrier, the Obelisk Carrier, a couple of Mirror Universe ships (Escort and Science) for special ships and I currently have the T5 Defiant ship. I do have enough Zen (around 3000) to get one ship from the store. I am in a fleet and I do have access to fleet ships, however, my fleet is very inactive, so, asking for help on this from them is just about as bad as asking me these questions. I want to get the ship I will use from now on (at least until a better ship comes along) and upgrade it (however that is done) so I don't have to start one, then stop it because that ship isn't good, and do rinse and repeat for a few other ships.
As for weapons, I use 3 Dual Heavy Cannons (Tetyron) and one torpedo launcher in the front and a turret (Tetyron) and torpedo launcher in back (I'm currently using the Raider). I don't know if those are the best choices or worst or just mediocre choices, but, I know there is probably a few good weapon choices out there that is ideal.
As for the other components (tact/eng/sci) consoles, engines, shields, etc, what is a good combination for the rest?
Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.
As for Bridge Officers, guess I'll go ask about them in another section.
What I'd like to know, and I know this is always a personal choice, but I know there are ideal settings and ships and components to look out for and get. What I'd like to know, is what would be the best choice(s) for a Fed Tactical player. I have access to the Breen Raider and Carrier, the Obelisk Carrier, a couple of Mirror Universe ships (Escort and Science) for special ships and I currently have the T5 Defiant ship. I do have enough Zen (around 3000) to get one ship from the store. I am in a fleet and I do have access to fleet ships, however, my fleet is very inactive, so, asking for help on this from them is just about as bad as asking me these questions. I want to get the ship I will use from now on (at least until a better ship comes along) and upgrade it (however that is done) so I don't have to start one, then stop it because that ship isn't good, and do rinse and repeat for a few other ships.
As for weapons, I use 3 Dual Heavy Cannons (Tetyron) and one torpedo launcher in the front and a turret (Tetyron) and torpedo launcher in back (I'm currently using the Raider). I don't know if those are the best choices or worst or just mediocre choices, but, I know there is probably a few good weapon choices out there that is ideal.
As for the other components (tact/eng/sci) consoles, engines, shields, etc, what is a good combination for the rest?
Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.
As for Bridge Officers, guess I'll go ask about them in another section.
Post edited by rhyusss on
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Of the ships you listed, I'd personally go with probably the Breen Raider or maybe your Defiant. Various Fleet or Set gear is all nice depending on your build, but personally I found the freebie Solanae set to actually be a good fit since it gives you hyper-impulse engines (to let you get the speed up without using up a slot on EPTE), a Resilient shield with innate ResistAll, and a decent deflector that also added a hull heal set bonus. Alternately if you're set on buying a new ship, the Phantom is basically the Defiant on steroids and it comes with a ridiculously good trait on top.
It is one of the best ships available in-game, and its exclusive Starship Mastery Trait, Reciprocity, is potent enough that any half-decent build will likely see the cooldowns of all your Tac and Intel skills reach Global CD, allowing you to not have to double-up on skills or be as reliant on A2B builds. Other features, if you haven't already checked it out, is a Phaser lance (boosted by Phaser consoles) that is instant-firing and allows instant use of one Intel Debuff, a built-in cloak like someone mentioned, Intel Debuff skills (functions similarily to Sensor Analysis + Subsystem targeting, except in one package), and full access to Intel boff skills (OsS2 and SS2/3 being the primary combo).
Otherwise, you can get by upgrading the Defiant to T5U or T5FU (if you own the Fleet version) and upgrading your gear to Mk XII Very Rare or better.
What is A2B?
The fleet akira is quite good, I used mine a bit before DR. Its biggest problem is that the ensign tactical officer is wasted if you do an all cannon build. If you mix your weapon types (3 energy weapons and a torp or 3 DHCs and a DBB) then you can use the tac ensign with a skill for the different weapon. If you use beams then you can equip an extra beam skill to give you 2 of one and 1 of the other (2 BFAWs and 1 BO or vice versa).
*The fleet akira also gains a 5th tac console if you upgrade it T5-U. I didn't do this though, I opted to upgrade my andorian charal instead because it also gained a 5th tac console (5 forward weapons + 5 tac consoles).
Just be aware that unless you're really good with cannon builds, you might find it easier to use Dual Beam Banks for the following reason, which is to not ever slow down while in combat. The Phantom does have a little less Hull than an upgraded Defiant, the only "weakness" the ship has.
Weaponwise for a Phantom, you'd want to start looking into collecting CrtDx2 or x3 weapons, as SS usually makes each hit a critical one at the expense of firing rate. OSS allows you to break the normal power limit cap of 125 points for a short time, allowing for even more damage (if you pop a weapon battery after using OsS). It's only setback is that it randomly brings down one Subsystem, but that can quickly be negated with the right Boff ability.
Actually A2B you can quite effectively run with just one copy of it, despite the prevailing norm. The global cooldown for many boff powers is 2/3 the normal CD time (like attack patterns or EPTx skills), and a single A2B activation takes off 30% per 28-second cycle leaving a gap of ~1.5 seconds (which can be covered with the bio-neural gel pack if you really want). Then, instead of having to carry EPS Regulators to recover energy between the dual A2B cycles and carefully manage things while giving up an Amp proc, you instead alternate between running with your Aux at 75 for heals and 4 Amp procs for ~20 seconds, then getting a full-Aux energy dump for the other 10 and trade away one of those Amps for around +30 overcap. Its less complicated than a dual A2B to use, only takes a single Lt slot, gets everything to Close Enough to globals that only the most obsessive of minmaxers will notice any difference (particularly if you add on Reciprocity and/or Tactical Initiative), and is a hell of a lot easier and cheaper to obtain than a Zemok setup. It makes for a very nice middle ground with most of the advantages and a lot fewer of the drawbacks.
They added a sorta-fourth bridge officer type, Tactical, Engineering, Science, and now Intelligence. Intel has its own set of powers available to it, some of which are gimmicky but a couple are really powerful. However rather than giving ships dedicated Intelligence boff slots, they have hybrid slots such as Intelligence/Tactical. In that slot you can either just throw in your regular Tac boff and just use Tac skills, or you can obtain a Tactical/Intellgence boff (the boffs are hybrid as well) and train them in either Tac or Intel skills. All of the new T6 ships have at least an Intel Lt slot, while the Intelligence-specific ship classes (Eclipse, Phantom, Scryer for Fed, Qib for Klingon, Faeht for Romulan) have an Intel Commander as well (along with enhanced sensors and cloaking), giving them access to the best powers. The Intel boffs are a pain to obtain however, since you can only normally purchase White-quality ones, and if you want anything better you have to either buy them with Lobi or the full Delta Rising bundle (I think those are the only options unless I'm forgetting one).
And to add, Specializations is a new feature Cryptic added to allow for future "levels", except instead of going past 60, you just earn Specialization points you can spend on your preferred Specializations. Cryptic ensured that you will be able to fully complete each and every Spec tree if you grind out the points for it.
Do be aware that Respec Tokens DO NOT WORK on Specialization Points, due to the fact that you can fully fill out all available specializations if you grind out all available points (currently, about 40-50 points total; I'm not paying attention to the available options). Plan ahead and choose wisely. You can save them if you're paranoid about the next Specialization being better/more interesting.
Currently, we only have 1 Primary Specialization, Intel (Ground and Space), and 2 secondary ones, Commando (Ground) and Pilot (Space). You can only ever have 1 Primary and 1 Secondary Specialization active. For everyone, that's just the Intel primary, and most keep the Pilot Secondary Specialization active.
It's also another means to allow Cryptic to produce new ships themed to each Primary Specialization, as the Intel series are, or new ships with limited ability to use Intel skills such as the Guardian and Pathfinder, without completely obsoleting the older T5 ships (provided they're upgraded to T5U or T5FU), to varying degrees (for Feds, T6 ships generally are the endgame DPS-wise, though Science ships in the T5U/T5FU range can still compete with T6 Sci ships).
All new ships are T6 with Intel capability at this time, and will be until Cryptic releases the next Specialization.
For most damage-oriented ships, the favored Intel skills are:
Override Subsystems - OsS/OSS - Allows you to break the power cap of 125 for a short period of time followed by a random Subsystem shutdown. The benefits far outweigh the negatives, moreso if you have a Plasmonic Leech or use the Maco Shield and batteries to help boost power levels. Level 2 and 3 versions are generally preferred when possible.
Surgical Strikes - SS - Powers up your weapons' Accuracy and Crit rates at the expense of fewer shots. For beam weapons, this is effectively multiple Beam Overloads in a volley, with how most of them will Crit. For cannons, the closest equivalent to a Cannon Overload. Like OSS, level 2 or 3 is preferred.
Intel Team - IT? - A sort of minor stealth-like buff. I don't use it personally, so I can't comment on it. I also see IT usually standing in more for Ionic Turbulence.
Ionic Turbulence - IT? - Causes a space turbulence that nerfs speed and resistance to anything within its AoE, with a chance of spoiling their aim some by having them "do the wave". Situational, and not a true hold, but potent in its own right as the resistance debuff does stack with Attack Pattern Beta via FaW/CSV, allowing for more overall damage (before including additional debuffs from weapon procs). Becomes devastating when used by Gravity Well capable ships for the hold element.
Electromagnetic Pulse Probe - EMPP? - Sends an EM Pulse along a linear path towards the location the target was at, while periodically emitting a pulse that will temporarily disable any enemy ships within a short radius. Once it reaches its destination, it will explode in a violent burst that deals kinetic damage and disables any foes caught in the blast. Another situational ability, but effective all the same. Moreso on a ship with Gravity Well Capabilities (Gravity Well + Ionic Turbulence + EM Pulse).
The rest are generally not worthwhile or even more situational. Kinetic Magnet used to be ok, but they nerfed it to hell.
Both can be filled to the max with tac abilities, intel abilities, any weapon type of your choice and turned into highly effective killing machines with little effort.
Phantom is excellent for fast moving alpha strike decloaking attack runs utilizing cannon abilities, phaser lance, gather intel an your choice of intel tricks to boot.
The Eclipse can be turned into a super-crit hitting monster when using beam weapons with surgical strikes & override safeties.
Also - once the T6 Fleet ships come out (probably this year I'd imagine) both of these ships will be very high end. 11 consoles, 13 boff slots, increased hull and shield HPs, interchangeable starship mastery traits. All adds up to some very powerful ships.
the bombard skill (blue balls of death) can be avoided as you said by either evasive, being fast in general (high engine power and a good engine, build for speed, many people do this and can outrun torps with it!), the new specialization skill "rock and roll" also can avoid them. It has a long cooldown and MOST vaaud groups only have 1 ship that can fire it; you should not need to constantly be avoiding this attack.
also, they have tricobalt mines: shoot them or avoid them.
also, they have a destructible torp, shoot it down (or gw, TBR, etc will kill it --- or your own cloaked mines will kill them, there are literally dozens of ways to kill destructible projectiles in this game).
Once you counter these abilities, the vauud are just like any other enemy, though a little tougher.
It is unfortunate but cannon escorts are really a bit difficult to play (you can do it, but its more challenging***) currently ... you risk getting close with less time to handle the above attacks, or you sit back and lose damage from distance, both options stink. The "standard" escort setup atm seems to be 4 DBB, Omni beam, crafted beam, kinetic beam all in AP. You *might* consider a torp up front, in which case the crafted plasma is good, as are many of the old ones from rep or unique mission rewards etc... pick your fav. You could of course use an assault "cruiser" as well, avenger or benthan or something like that, or better still if you can afford one of the MANY FED t6 ships.
***
Cannons keep falling behind beams every patch. They added a crafting trait (level 15 crafting) to beams that adds damage --- the cannon trait does not add damage. They added the Omni beam, which is awesome -- the wide arc cannon is about worthless in PVE. The beams can get overload for free, which X8 beams procs a lot of free overloads for megacrits while the cannon one procs one cycle of rapid fire and is weaker (IMHO, and I tested both a lot). They added a specialization for going full speed = more damage done, which benefits circling the target for broadsides (easy to do, major dps increase) and is unpossible to use in an escort (even with tricks to teleport behind the target, you still just about need to use a white mk II engine to sustain damage on a hard target (cube, bosslet, boss, etc) due to the arc of beams vs cannons. This on top of the already weaker cannon issues (must be at point blank range which is difficult agasint many bosses and bosslets due to mechanics) and new attacks (vaaudwar) etc. Bottom line: cannons are usable but you need to be on top of your game now, more than ever to even get close do beam dps -- you can't out dps beams on aoe, but you can on bosses and bosslets if you are *good* at it.
Join The Space Invaders,..... Federation and KDF fleets.
Ah, where do I get this? I did not have an email about it in game, nor did I see in any emails out of game.
This isn't true. I was in a fight, with several NPC allies and I saw at least three ships in one group pull off this attack. Luckily, most of them were not aimed at me, but in the general area of the NPCs. I know it was done multiple times because I saw one go off at the corner of my screen on one of the NPCs and then one happened right when I was moving out of the area. I believe there was another one a few seconds later after I turned around to get a line on my target.