Never use them. Well, perhaps two or three times in a three year STO game career. I have them on all my ships. Engine and shield, it is for ohh,... Sh..t! situations (BTW, I play almost only on normal).
I see them as the spare wheel in my car. You don't want to go without one, but you also don't want to use it. It is not like, look here is a very dirty road, let's rush through, perhaps I can use my spare wheel. In a career of more than thirty years of driving I have changed wheels perhaps three or four times. Batteries gona win from the spare wheel.
Still, I think batteries are a very dumb feature, not 24th century at all. You can swap your energy around as you like, but when it is put into a battery, it can only be used in one system. Is it the pack, the socket? By this method perhaps each ship should have its own battery, each faction for sure. Ever been in the US with an European power plug and vice versa?
I'll be honest I don't use battries much at all now... but starting out they were a great crutch... and I do use them in PvP more then in PvE.
So they have their uses.... but in my mind I see them more useful in PvP or when I'm trying to boost my dps output for a parse (just to totally ruin the parse and TRIBBLE the TRIBBLE whose trying to say that the parse is all... nothing better then hearing some guy cry because a sci/sci beat him out).
Batteries alone have little use imho. However combined with an Exocomp Doff and a Quartermaster(space) doff they can be nice little boosts.
Back then, when aux to batteries with 3 tech doffs was the be all end all for cruisers,aux batteries were nice to boost hazard emitters or transfer shield strenght.
the Exocomp added as ensor boost wich was nice against cloaked ships in pvp but nowadays this is not so usefull anymore.
That said, weapon and shield-batteries plus exocomp can help to some extend because with the doff
weapons batteries ad 10% damage and shield batteries give a small shield-heal plus a nice damage resistance buff. And engine batteries add some inertial dampener.
The quartermaster doff reduces batterie cooldown. Blue cuts the cooldown from 2 minutes to about 1 minute and 20 seconds. Those Doffs go for about a million ec.
Purples reduce the cooldown from 2 minutes to just 1. But they are very expensive considering their limited use.
If you add 3 points into batteries you can nearly double their uptime.
That said i use both doffs on one of my cruisers combined with weapons and shield batteries.
Helped to boost damage from time to time and to increase damage resistance.
What else to do with those slots.
Teambatteries or Combined batteries with both doffs and 3 points into batterie is quite a nice boost considering the relative ease of obtaining the ingrediances.
However team and combined batteries get expensive if you use them alot.
Im wondering if this also works with the red matter capacitor as it adds 25 power to all systems. And as all systems get a batterie-like boost it should get the added benefits of the exocomp for all of them.
But im not certain about that. Cant test it myself as i dont have the rmc.
Having the red matter capacitor kinda spoiled me with batteries(special item from collectors edition), but being an engineer with one of the personal traits I get a boost to all energy from any battery and it even works with emergency power to subsystem ability.
Vendor fodder. Never used them. Always thought they were a stupid idea. When did you ever see anybody in any Star Trek show sticking batteries into their ships? A tired, old, MMO trope that should never have been in the game to begin with.
Actually there were times in the TOS shows where all they had was battery power to run on for a time. Not quite how they're used in STO but batteries are in trek lore for ships.
When you use the Exocomp, and your weapon battery gives you +10% damage, it's worth it.
Weapon batteries *already* give you extra weps power dmg, even sans the Exocomp doff!
Also, batteries repair their respective disabled subsystems. Tholian throwing your weps power offline? Plop a weps power battery, and Bob's your uncle! (Or use 2-piece Nukara, but I digress)
Also, you're forgetting the EPS Manifold Efficiency Trait! (boosting all your power levels when you use a battery; only for Engineers, of course).
Just came out of Full Impulse, and don't have an EPtW handy?! Well, you know the drill.
Tl;dr: I use a lot of batteries, especially weps power ones.
So, basically it is only good for min/max 'rs. You can kill stuff faster.
EPS manifold trait works also without batteries. A must-have trait imo for an engineer.
huh? what's your point then? I'm by far not a min/maxer and I use batteries all the time. Other people have given great examples of using batteries. You don't even need to put points into the battery skill to get the benefits. They don't even take up console space.
The exocomp is free from the academy event. Pick one up next time the event is live.
You don't even need to put points into the battery skill to get the benefits.
Ideally, though, you'll want 5 points in batteries, so you'll get a 17 secs effect duration out of the EPS Manifold Efficiency Trait, making it slightly overlap the 15 secs cd of any EPtX chain you may have going.
I only ever use the RMC, and usually if I'm on a ship with OsS. Beyond that, I might use them on alts below level 20, either because they don't have PlasLeech or access to Energy Siphon 2.
Subsystems going down? Not if you have at least 6 points in Subsystem repairs, and for some Feds; human Boffs for their Subsystem and Hull healing Space Trait which further reduces Subsystem downtime (I need them more than I need a full set of Efficient Saurian Boffs). In addition, there's a number of sets or equipment that auto-clears some subsystem disables.
Additionally, it doesn't help when Warp Core Capacitors also trigger the CD on them (though most of them are almost as useless; just convenient since they're built-in rather than add-on).
On ships that have very limited tac stations, i use the weapons batteries to boost my DPS. It is a slight increase, not much because I don't have the Doffs to boost them. But i pick up more batteries when playing than I use, and I pop them every time they come off cool down.
Its not like it hurts anything to use them, and there isn't anything you can get in the game that is worth putting in those slots anyway. So, why not?
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Who in their right mind wouldnt take advantage of batteries ? What logic does that make ?
Do people actually go into pve queues with their device trays empty ? Really ?
..With that kind of reasoning, its no wonder people find advanced hard.
Who in their right mind wouldnt take advantage of batteries ? What logic does that make ?
Do people actually go into pve queues with their device trays empty ? Really ?
..With that kind of reasoning, its no wonder people find advanced hard.
I know I personally hate consumables in games, hate them, always have, always will. I hated potions in WoW, hate batteries in STO.
Give me an item that has infinitely repeatable uses on a cool down every time over consumables. I refuse to use them. If my DPS suffers, so be it, I don't care much about "Advanced" missions anyway.
I know I personally hate consumables in games, hate them, always have, always will. I hated potions in WoW, hate batteries in STO.
Give me an item that has infinitely repeatable uses on a cool down every time over consumables. I refuse to use them. If my DPS suffers, so be it, I don't care much about "Advanced" missions anyway.
Repeatable use batteries would be a huge improvement. Youre quite right on that.
Really don't see why it couldn't work that way.
Even bring them to crafting, where you could craft and upgrade, a mk XII Rechargeable Weapons pack.
Or Rechargeable Shield Batt. For example.
Would make them easier to use. And more enjoyable.
Who in their right mind wouldnt take advantage of batteries ? What logic does that make ?
Do people actually go into pve queues with their device trays empty ? Really ?
..With that kind of reasoning, its no wonder people find advanced hard.
What would I use them for? The benefits they bring are meaningless considering all the other abilities I already have.
They should just turn all universal consoles (at least those with clickable abilities) into devices, and give us more device slots.
Star Trek Online Advancement: You start with lowbie gear, you end with Lobi gear.
I can see the theoretical benefits of batteries for newer players without higher level ships and equipment but as others have said, their long cooldown is a serious flaw.
I prefer to use other things in my device slots like:
Repeatable use batteries would be a huge improvement. Youre quite right on that.
Really don't see why it couldn't work that way.
Even bring them to crafting, where you could craft and upgrade, a mk XII Rechargeable Weapons pack.
Or Rechargeable Shield Batt. For example.
Would make them easier to use. And more enjoyable.
Didn't at least shield ones exist at one point in time? Two years or so ago you could still find one or two on the exchange for the low-low price of 500 mil.
yep and you can stack 3 of them for +30%. Batteries are amazing and cheap.
It's base damage, unless I'm mistaken. Which mean, peanuts. Just like tac consoles. I don't exactly knows, but the amount of DPS you'll generate from such a small increase is likely in the 1-2%, and nowhere close to 30%.
Truth be told, I once forget to use the proper tac console for a new setup, and my DPS was rather unchanged when I swapped to the proper consoles. And we are talking about 4-5 tac consoles, which is several times more than 30%.
In fact, the overcap generated by the power boost is probably more noteworthy if you are using beam, than the damage boost.
In the end, it probably adds up, but taken individually, it's nothing.
You don't need to slot that to use it. You can use it from the inventory, and you can even add it to your tray just fine.
There are absolutely no reasons to slot it.
Wow, no wonder PVE types suck. I'd never hobble myself by refusing to use batteries.
Most PVEers don't have to full impulse back into the firefight from a respawn point. 14+ Respawns on a PVE map would be a really bad run, and the fight is never so tense that you can't spend a few seconds recovering. or just shoot unrecovered.
Star Trek Online Advancement: You start with lowbie gear, you end with Lobi gear.
TBH when I was first learning the game I didn't really understand the point of them because I didn't fully understand how the subsystem power mechanics worked yet. And even now I often forget that they're there. But I've started using them more and more for targeted boosts.
Examples:
Popping a weapon battery as soon as the Crystalline Entity does its pulse in order to get the deeps started again with a bang.
As a cruiser jockey, on Azure Rescue an engine battery as soon as the last ship in an area is freed helps (along with EM and EPtE) speed me along to the next waypoint without having to wait for red alert to end so that I can use full impulse. This is by far the most common battery for me to use, as doing this is useful in a wide variety of missions where you similarly have combat in bursts separated by travel time.
Using a shield battery as soon as a Borg finishes its shield drain in order to kickstart my defenses back up. Or any other time I'm really getting hammered and EPtS/RSP are on CD.
Using an aux... actually I never really use the things. XD
Fleet Admiral L'Yern - Screenshot and doffing addict
Eclipse Class Intel Cruiser U.S.S. Dioscuria NX-91121-A - Interactive Crew Roster
Comments
So they have their uses.... but in my mind I see them more useful in PvP or when I'm trying to boost my dps output for a parse (just to totally ruin the parse and TRIBBLE the TRIBBLE whose trying to say that the parse is all... nothing better then hearing some guy cry because a sci/sci beat him out).
Back then, when aux to batteries with 3 tech doffs was the be all end all for cruisers,aux batteries were nice to boost hazard emitters or transfer shield strenght.
the Exocomp added as ensor boost wich was nice against cloaked ships in pvp but nowadays this is not so usefull anymore.
That said, weapon and shield-batteries plus exocomp can help to some extend because with the doff
weapons batteries ad 10% damage and shield batteries give a small shield-heal plus a nice damage resistance buff. And engine batteries add some inertial dampener.
The quartermaster doff reduces batterie cooldown. Blue cuts the cooldown from 2 minutes to about 1 minute and 20 seconds. Those Doffs go for about a million ec.
Purples reduce the cooldown from 2 minutes to just 1. But they are very expensive considering their limited use.
If you add 3 points into batteries you can nearly double their uptime.
That said i use both doffs on one of my cruisers combined with weapons and shield batteries.
Helped to boost damage from time to time and to increase damage resistance.
What else to do with those slots.
Teambatteries or Combined batteries with both doffs and 3 points into batterie is quite a nice boost considering the relative ease of obtaining the ingrediances.
However team and combined batteries get expensive if you use them alot.
Im wondering if this also works with the red matter capacitor as it adds 25 power to all systems. And as all systems get a batterie-like boost it should get the added benefits of the exocomp for all of them.
But im not certain about that. Cant test it myself as i dont have the rmc.
yep and you can stack 3 of them for +30%. Batteries are amazing and cheap.
Actually there were times in the TOS shows where all they had was battery power to run on for a time. Not quite how they're used in STO but batteries are in trek lore for ships.
Weapon batteries *already* give you extra weps power dmg, even sans the Exocomp doff!
Also, batteries repair their respective disabled subsystems. Tholian throwing your weps power offline? Plop a weps power battery, and Bob's your uncle! (Or use 2-piece Nukara, but I digress)
Also, you're forgetting the EPS Manifold Efficiency Trait! (boosting all your power levels when you use a battery; only for Engineers, of course).
Just came out of Full Impulse, and don't have an EPtW handy?! Well, you know the drill.
Tl;dr: I use a lot of batteries, especially weps power ones.
EPS manifold trait works also without batteries. A must-have trait imo for an engineer.
huh? what's your point then? I'm by far not a min/maxer and I use batteries all the time. Other people have given great examples of using batteries. You don't even need to put points into the battery skill to get the benefits. They don't even take up console space.
The exocomp is free from the academy event. Pick one up next time the event is live.
Ideally, though, you'll want 5 points in batteries, so you'll get a 17 secs effect duration out of the EPS Manifold Efficiency Trait, making it slightly overlap the 15 secs cd of any EPtX chain you may have going.
Subsystems going down? Not if you have at least 6 points in Subsystem repairs, and for some Feds; human Boffs for their Subsystem and Hull healing Space Trait which further reduces Subsystem downtime (I need them more than I need a full set of Efficient Saurian Boffs). In addition, there's a number of sets or equipment that auto-clears some subsystem disables.
Additionally, it doesn't help when Warp Core Capacitors also trigger the CD on them (though most of them are almost as useless; just convenient since they're built-in rather than add-on).
but no i never use the myself at high levels.
"It appears we have lost our sex appeal, captain."- Tuvok
Its not like it hurts anything to use them, and there isn't anything you can get in the game that is worth putting in those slots anyway. So, why not?
Do people actually go into pve queues with their device trays empty ? Really ?
..With that kind of reasoning, its no wonder people find advanced hard.
I know I personally hate consumables in games, hate them, always have, always will. I hated potions in WoW, hate batteries in STO.
Give me an item that has infinitely repeatable uses on a cool down every time over consumables. I refuse to use them. If my DPS suffers, so be it, I don't care much about "Advanced" missions anyway.
Repeatable use batteries would be a huge improvement. Youre quite right on that.
Really don't see why it couldn't work that way.
Even bring them to crafting, where you could craft and upgrade, a mk XII Rechargeable Weapons pack.
Or Rechargeable Shield Batt. For example.
Would make them easier to use. And more enjoyable.
They should just turn all universal consoles (at least those with clickable abilities) into devices, and give us more device slots.
I prefer to use other things in my device slots like:
http://sto.gamepedia.com/Prototype_Ablative_Jevonite_Hardpoints
http://sto.gamepedia.com/Deuterium_Surplus
http://sto.gamepedia.com/Subspace_Field_Modulator
Oh, and:
http://sto.gamepedia.com/Nimbus_Pirate_Distress_Call
If you know how to balance your ship's power levels, batteries seem to me to be an unnecessary waste of time.
Free Tibet!
Didn't at least shield ones exist at one point in time? Two years or so ago you could still find one or two on the exchange for the low-low price of 500 mil.
Truth be told, I once forget to use the proper tac console for a new setup, and my DPS was rather unchanged when I swapped to the proper consoles. And we are talking about 4-5 tac consoles, which is several times more than 30%.
In fact, the overcap generated by the power boost is probably more noteworthy if you are using beam, than the damage boost.
In the end, it probably adds up, but taken individually, it's nothing.
But then, it's more or less free.
You don't need to slot that to use it. You can use it from the inventory, and you can even add it to your tray just fine.
There are absolutely no reasons to slot it.
Most PVEers don't have to full impulse back into the firefight from a respawn point. 14+ Respawns on a PVE map would be a really bad run, and the fight is never so tense that you can't spend a few seconds recovering. or just shoot unrecovered.
Wish they would be 250 like everything else, then i might actually use them all the time.
Examples:
Eclipse Class Intel Cruiser U.S.S. Dioscuria NX-91121-A - Interactive Crew Roster