test content
What is the Arc Client?
Install Arc

Command ship assesment

wardcaliswardcalis Member Posts: 1,140 Arc User
When I first saw the new command ships I thought they were awesome, until I saw the boff seating. However, I was very presently surprised. I still wish there was a different seating arrangement and a 5/3 weapon load-out but I've managed to make my personal build work. Let me preface by saying I run a Shield Slammer build and with this new ship my damage has actually gone up. I do wish the Romulan command ships could use the Scimitar Drones. Roms have no access to any other Frigates and Fighters die way too easy for this ship to support them. Yellowstone's just don't cut it either.

As one might expect these ships are very team oriented. This IS NOT a ship for the traditional tactical captain. These ships are so good at support that they actually kinda suck at it. I know that sounds like a double negative but it's kinda true. A solo command ship with no team to support it and no team for it to properly support it will never reach it's full potential. This is what I mean. While it is an exceptional support ship, it must also be supported by the team in turn. It needs the team to provide things like heals and APB for it to reach the same level as a standard FT5-U or T6 ship. For it to fully live up to it's potential it does need to partner with a team.

The Sci variant of the ships will allow for the creation of a solid shield stripper build that supports the team with command powers, though being a healer is really out of the question with only 3-5 sci boff seats available to you. From what I've seen this is the best goal to shoot for, for the average player. It can be very potent in a team and do well on it's own.

The Eng variant is just plain bad in my opinion. There isn't anything that really gets much value out of that 2nd Eng Lt Cmdr slot. Aux2Bat will not be effective with this ship because you only have 4 tact Boff slots so after 2x tact team and 2x FAW you have no more boff seats for attack patterns. You could possibly do it, if someone else was using beta, but that would require a lot of teamwork. The ship also just doesn't have what it takes to be a tank, use the Samsar over this if you want to tank.

The Tact variant is very deceptive, most players will go for it although it isn't really the best even if you are prepared to supplement the lack of Tact Boff seats with CMDR Boff seating unless you have a crazy build like me. The 3-5 Tact seats just don't provide enough room to really make dps builds shine.

Supplementing the lack of X Boff seats with CMDR Boff seating is what all of these variants require to make them shine. The command ships are in a sense "Jacks-of-all-Trades, Masters of None" They don't have the capacity to really focus on ANY specialized fighting style, not even supporting your team. They are simply OK at most things and horrible at a couple. They don't excel in any particular area, unless you build a team around your ship.

If you begin the team creation with the command ship and it's abilities first then use it as a platform to extend the specializations of the other ships; specifically selecting abilities and weapons on them to be augmented by the command ship and to augment the command ship in turn. Then, then I can imagine it becoming the reason to fear team pvp. But a solo command ship with no team to support it and no team for it to properly support, it will never reach it's full potential. And there in lies the problem, unfortunately STO just doesn't have the players and the game-play challenges required to see many teams truly utilizing what these ships can do.

The brace for impact trait is rather bad in my opinion and I don't believe the Tachyon trait will be very much good either outside of certain niches. The sci/capt ability cool-down reduction trait is kind of OP if used properly.

The consoles are relatively solid except for the Tachyon pulse platform. It's effects are hardly noticeable on enemies. It just doesn't do enough. I think the 4peice bonus should also of increased it's power by 20%. As for the set powers. They are pretty awesome and practically necessary to have the 4pc bonus on this ship. It does so much to increase the ships capabilities on all fronts.

I have found 2 bugs related to the 4pc set.
1: the 2pc set bonus even though it should be an always active passive, it isn't. It flickers on and off rapidly.
2: the 4pc set bonus doesn't always create a 2nd defense platform. It is often really hard to tell because they stack up in the same occupying space but about 1 in 5 times it will only create 1 defense platform.

For anyone interested, below is a link to my build and an early parse in it with that build:
http://sto-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?t=1379011


Price wise, I do think they cost too much. The T5-U Scimitar will still destroy this hands down 1vs1 and it's bundle costs 5k zen
Post edited by wardcalis on

Comments

  • disposeableh3r0disposeableh3r0 Member Posts: 1,927 Arc User
    edited February 2015
    If you're using an A2B build why do you need 2 TT's and 2 FAW's?
    As a time traveller, Am I supposed to pack underwear or underwhen?

    Not everything you see on the internet is true - Abraham Lincoln

    Occidere populo et effercio confractus
  • oneratsonerats Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited February 2015
    Well.. this assessment was pretty good with regards to the engineering version. Of course, those are always so laughably bad they shouldn't even bother adding them to the game anyway. Science isn't much better really, as there are almost always better options than a "science" cruiser for science related builds.

    When it comes to the tactical version (at least from a federation perspective).. I'm not even sure what you're talking about here. It needs a team to support it? It supports the team? Unless you're using command boff powers (which you shouldn't, they're terrible) this ship has almost no real "support" power at all. Not that support is at all needed in this game. As for needing a team to support it.. beyond powering up it's team ability slightly faster in a team, I don't see any benefit. I don't require any healing from others, and I'm still wiping entire fleets off the map in a single volley whether a team is there or not.

    This ship more than has what it takes to shine. While it is true that it lacks a bit in tactical seating, most all federation cruisers do. My tac boffs run Tac Team, FAW 2, Omega 1 / HY 1 (for inspirational leader only), Beta 1. It's not perfect, but it's more than enough to sit around 40-50k in most runs and I've finished as high as 80k. The biggest advantage this ship has over other federation cruisers is that it is an 11 console ship possessing both 4 tactical and 3 science consoles. This is one more tactical console than the Eclipse currently has, and the science consoles give it the ability to run a comparatively large number of currently OP embassy plasma consoles. The hanger is also not to be overlooked, with elite scorpion pets I've gained as high as 10k dps from them alone. I hear the obelisk drones can do even better, though I don't have any at the moment. Finally, the team wide damage buff can be quite potent when used at the right moment - allowing an entire team to benefit from a few seconds of higher dps at the end of an ISA run.. longer if several command ships coordinate their usage.
  • fatman592fatman592 Member Posts: 1,207 Arc User
    edited February 2015
    I ran the Presidio just long enough to get mastery (my Dauntless is much improved with AHOD). It was another boring cruiser among a sea of boring cruisers. BFAW in lazy circles while over healing to build inspiration, rinse repeat.

    Beyond AHOD, the only reason to buy these ships is for looks.
  • darkjeffdarkjeff Member Posts: 2,590 Arc User
    edited February 2015
    5 Tac stations are sufficient for standard DPS loadouts?

    TT1/APB1/APO1
    FAW1/FAW2

    TT1/APB1/FAW3
    FAW1/APB1

    ...and so on. Just need 2 purple Conn DOffs, or suck it up without having Tac Team cycling.
Sign In or Register to comment.