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Need some guidance on building 1st ever Torp Boat
ccarmichael07
Member Posts: 755 Arc User
I have a Level 52 Romulan with a T5-U T'Varo, and I'm looking to build a torp boat. I've never done it before, so I guess I'm looking for "The Complete Idiot's Guide to T'Varo Torp Boats."
A few precursors:
- For RP purposes, I'd like to stay with Plasma over other projectile packages.
- This is for casual PvE, so I don't need super min max effectiveness.
- I haven't built any reputations up yet, so in recommending gear, for the time being please only recommend readily accessible equipment, be it from mission replays or whatever. The rep stuff will come in time.
Thanks!
A few precursors:
- For RP purposes, I'd like to stay with Plasma over other projectile packages.
- This is for casual PvE, so I don't need super min max effectiveness.
- I haven't built any reputations up yet, so in recommending gear, for the time being please only recommend readily accessible equipment, be it from mission replays or whatever. The rep stuff will come in time.
Thanks!
"You shoot him, I shoot you, I leave both your bodies here and go out for a late night snack.
I'm thinking maybe pancakes." ~ John Casey
Post edited by ccarmichael07 on
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Comments
The cheapest torp boats to build are probably Transphasic boats - grab the torps and 2-set from the Breen story missions and you're good to go.
Quantum boats are relatively cheap to build at the moment, but they're probably one of the hardest to succeed with as well.
Photon builds are probably the second-most expensive, but they have a lot of good set support and bonuses. It can be relatively cheap to get basic functionality out of one(a pair of photons on the front with a pair of alternating torp spreads), but it will take some time to completely gear up to its potential.
Back to the topic at hand, it's sounding like you'll probably want to do a Gravity-Well bomber with High Yield Plasma torpedos. You'll want to, obviously, run kinetic plasma consoles and particle generators in your science slots.
With a full torpedo build, you won't be running power to weapons and dumping it into Aux instead. This will boost your Gravity Wells( and damage if you slot the Auxiliary Power Configuration -> Offense Reputation Trait from the Nukara rep).
The first torpedo you should be investing in is the crafted Particle-Emission Plasma torpedo.
Thanks for the reply.
I'm curious, what is your personal recommendation for torp damage type? I'm looking to go all torps/mines, so that narrows it to plasma and transphasic, so between the two, which do you feel is a better option?
"You shoot him, I shoot you, I leave both your bodies here and go out for a late night snack.
I'm thinking maybe pancakes." ~ John Casey
If you want to run mines? Transphasics; hands down. The Breen 2-set boosts all transphasic projectiles and the cluster torps are, technically, mines(so they're not effected by KHG/AMACO 2-set torpedo-only boost). I'd suggest using the Breen Deflector and Engines(with a better shield of your choice) unless you want to go hard-core into science(Deflectors are vital equipment for that).
Plasma torps are something you DON'T want to use at close/mine range. High Yield Plasma Torps do AoE splash damage that will hit you as well if you're close enough.. meaning you'll be eating those heavy burns too.
For pure torpedo builds, I'd say Plasma and Photons are probably the best performers. Plasma has a very different playstyle that requires a bit more patience and situational awareness, but it can hit like a truck and completely melt anything that does survive. Photons are fairly mindless/spammable with a lot of good synergy(gearwise and very easy to do a hybrid energy weapon build with them).
Transphasic builds are easy with excellent spike potential, but they lag behind other projectile types against high-hull/unshielded targets. The only thing that really shines about Quantum builds right now is the Neutronic Torpedo(Torp Spread 3 with it is stupidly powerful).. although I imagine Quantum Mines + Dispersal Pattern Beta 3 is still pretty deadly(I used to use them to spike elite cubes for 200k+ damage in the pre-Legacy of Romulus days).
Now it's time to test some stuff.
"You shoot him, I shoot you, I leave both your bodies here and go out for a late night snack.
I'm thinking maybe pancakes." ~ John Casey
I suggest searching "A Guide to Torpedo Boats" using your favorite search engine and start by reading that forum post.
You have a few different routes. If cost is a concern you can start by running torpedo builds using low cost and free items. This would mean using regular plasma torpedoes since you not do have access to reputation items. You can also use torpedoes that drop or mission rewards also. If you have reputation items you can incorporate them in your build; regardless, it is a good goal to work towards.
I suggest using consistent/pressure damage torpedoes (plasma, photons, quantums, 8-6 sec cool down rate torpedoes) along with spike damage torpedoes (Hargh'peng, Tricobalts, a Cluster torpedo (Breen, a mine delivery system), etc). Some people run Transphasic torpedo builds using all Transphasics (from a Breen mission: Cold Case?) and the free Breen spaceset (There is also a Borg Adaptive Transphasic Torpedo from a mission). I have found running only pressure or spike damage torpedoes leads to long fights, low damage, cool down mechanics issues, or long cool downs. Think fore: pressure torpedoes and aft: spike damage torpedoes. Once you decide on your torpedoes mix the positions to best suite your play style. I swap a burst and consistent pressure torpedo positions on most of my torpedo builds.
Think of shields as you build. How will you deal with them? Will your damage bypass them or overcoming them. Can you boost damage to overcome them, and if not then they will have to be bypassed via the torpedo damage or perhaps you BOFF abilities. Using plasma helps answer this question as it applies a DoT. Other torpedoes use radiation or bypass shields. Some torpedoes (regular photons and quantums) are best used against bare hulls and do not apply DoT's without a special trait. Unless you can spike their damage to large amounts most of the damage is absorbed by shields and you end up in long fights with another ship. At this point, unless you can reliably remove an opponents shields, use the Plesh Brek (and even then I'd suggest a mix of torpedoes), or if you are running a specific mission against unshielded targets do not use regular photons or quantum torpedoes as shields will absorb most of their damage. Some people run one of two mines aft, there is a current thread on mine launchers in the Academy now.
Also think of structures. Often times shield bypassing torpedoes do not perform as well as basic hull-cracking torpedoes (photon, quantum, Tricobalts) against unshielded structures.
Think about what you will do with your energy settings if Weapons power is no longer your priority.
Some people use a mix of torpedoes and energy weapons on a projectile build, I do not. The idea is that the energy weapons are there to use subsystem targeting for Sci's or to proc an energy type ability. Weapons power is a second, third, or fourth priority. Some run torpedo boats so that they can max out some other power.
I'd suggest using 2 or 3 Projectile doffs, depending on what projectiles you use, that have a % to proc a reduce on torpedo cool downs. I use 3 VR doffs.