Ionic Turbulance vs Destabalizing Resonance Beam

eradicator84

What benefits your DPS better overall do you thin, Ionic Turbulance or Destabalising Resonance Beam?

Ionic has an instant AoE debuff, slows targets but applies no actual damage of itself, can be fired in any direction. 1 min CD
Destabalising Resonance Beam, builds up to its max debuff over 10secs, have to keep deflector on target, applies AoE damage. 2 min(?) CD

Thoughts?

reginamala78

Why would you even compare them really? DRB is for killing things, but you have to have the piloting skill to stay on target and enough partigens and aux power to make it count or else you're wasting the slot. Ionic is a tool for supplementing other things, much easier to use but not something you can do much with by itself. Apples to oranges comparison really, and more comes down to what the rest of your build is.

fatman592

It's pretty much build dependent. DBBs, DHCs, and some torp builds that tend to park and shoot or fly in a straight line wants the beam. Anything that moves constantly wants Ionic.

Though I would not pick either.

odinforever20000

fatman592 wrote: »

It's pretty much build dependent. DBBs, DHCs, and some torp builds that tend to park and shoot or fly in a straight line wants the beam. Anything that moves constantly wants Ionic.

Though I would not pick either.

I move constantly and perfer the Destabilized beam.It gets stronger as time on target continues as well due to the damage resistance debuff.Add in Structural Integrity Collapse and you have the equivalent to the Ionic turbulence resistance debuff in a second or 2.

eradicator84

reginamala78 wrote: »

Why would you even compare them really? DRB is for killing things, but you have to have the piloting skill to stay on target and enough partigens and aux power to make it count or else you're wasting the slot. Ionic is a tool for supplementing other things, much easier to use but not something you can do much with by itself. Apples to oranges comparison really, and more comes down to what the rest of your build is.

I was comparing them as I tend to fly cruisers that have a sci focus, so usually have only 2 tac slots which have to have tac team and FAW. As such I've no tac skill that debuffs resistances like what attack patterns do.

These two skills are a possibility for me and are interesting because of the debuffs. That's why the comparison.

fatman592 wrote: »

Though I would not pick either.

What would you use in their place and why?

odinforever20000 wrote: »

I move constantly and perfer the Destabilized beam.It gets stronger as time on target continues as well due to the damage resistance debuff.Add in Structural Integrity Collapse and you have the equivalent to the Ionic turbulence resistance debuff in a second or 2.

I was thinking about that. Ionic I applies -25 resist instantly, where as DRB at all ranks is -5/sec, so need to hold on target for 5 sec to reach Ionic I debuff, and 7 for Ionic II.
I guess if you can constantly keep the beam on target, DRB seems to be the better choice because of the extra damage it applies along with the debuff.

fatman592

eradicator84 wrote: »

What would you use in their place and why?

It depends on what ship you're using, the type of build you run, and your playstyle. I use the Fleet Dauntless, with a beamscort - partgen hybrid sci dps build. For me, Override Subsystems 2, Gravity Well 3, and Tractor Beam Repulsors 2. I occasionally use Feedback Pulse or Energy Siphon, though I have needed some resistance so I started using Polarize Hull.

But if you already are running a partgen build with OSS, GW and TBR, yet need some filler there are plenty of things you could throw in. But then if you need filler, you're probably running a sci ship with a Cmdr and Lt.Cmdr sci seats. So really you're already gimped.

eradicator84

See the Sheshar build link in my signature. That's primarily the build I was debating for these two powers.

Being a tanky player I don't like OSS due to the random system that gets shut down on expiration. Ionic and DRB seemed the next best choices to consider.

lordsteve1

For a high partigen build I've found DRB to be quite lethal.

Well at least it is on my Pathfinder. Throw out GW3 then hit them with DRB whilst they are all clumped up together. Once it get going and hits the upper limits of its damage it can really chew through NPC's, especially when they are all stuck in one place like in a grav well.

You already got access to GW on that Sheeshar build so it should work reasonably well. Keeping the beam on targets that are stuck in a grav well is easy and the damage will easily hit anything stuck in that well too. So you're basically able to hit them with 2 AOE attacks at once, and both in a confined area.

I used to use Ionic Turbulence too but I've now swapped that for EptA on the Eng/Intel slot for more power to my sci abilities. I see you could have access to both on that build if you dropped the TBR?

eradicator84

From my parsing, TBR2 (which is doffed to pull) does more dps and overall damage output than what GW1 achieves for me, plus I use it to snag enemies into warp plasma, so wont be dropping TBR.

I could drop feedback pulse and equip both DRB and Ionic, but I do like feedback pulse as a tank. Guess I'll just play with it more and try some combos.

I have found though that hitting a bunch of enemies with GW and Ionic at the same time and using TBR and warp plasma as a 4x AoE attack is pretty powerful.

pwstolemyname

The downside to TBR is the target limit. Its certainly going to do superior damage to a gravity well against fewer targets. But as your enemy count rises TBR hits a damage cap, whilst gravity well keeps multiplying damage.

Now combining multiple AoE hazards with multiple enemies is the real ticket to fun and silly huge parsing spikes. Of course its efficiency is content dependant but that's the case with any sci build.

Hear is the formula for science silly source:

Gravity well 3 + Ionic Turbulance 1 + Destabalizing Resonance Beam 2 + Torpedo Spread 3 (with Gravimetric or Plasma emission torpedo's)

Plasma emission torpedo clouds and gravimetric torpedo rifts, like gravity well have a limitless number of targets. Torpedo Spread will normally spread those AoE hazards around so that they may as well just be DoTs on single targets. However if all the torpedo's from your spread detonate at the centre of a gravity well, containing all your enemies....

Well its true multiplication. And Multiplication is OP. That's why most damage buffs in the game are category one, to mitigate our ability to put the power of multiplication to work against those nefarious NPCs.

But this strategy avoids our usual constraints of addition. It hits the game mechanics right in the two spots where the devs neglected to limit us. The awesome effects of powerful negative damage resistance and a large number of shield penetrating damage over time effects that overcome their normally limited effect through shear numbers.

Oh, and if your worried about not getting enough ships in your well. You will be surprised by how little damage you actually lose when you drop some of your particle gens, and how big your gravity well can get when you start stacking Graviton gens. 20km from side to side is doable, though you will more likely want to stop at a very reasonable 15km or 16km.

lordsteve1

^ This post perfectly explains my thinking.

Grav well can be combined with other AOE effects like Torp Spread and DRB to seriously ramp up the potential damage to crazy numbers. Catching upwards of 10-20 NPC ships in one place can really give you some massive spike damage once you get a single ship having a core breach.
Whereas with TBR you are limited to a smaller number of targets and you've got to get close enough to "grab" them.

For me the combination of GW3 & DRB2 is pretty much perfect as you can stay at max range and still be just as effective, allowing your beam to build up to maximum power whilst not worrying about losing your arc of fire or getting shot at too much.
Plus the added travel time for your torps actually helps here because it give precious seconds for shields to drop or for the enemy's abilities like EPtE to expire, meaning your enemy targets are seriously bogged down by the time they get hit.
Dropping in Ionic Turbulence as well would ramp up the damage potential even higher.

All that overlapping damage can do a lot of damage to a lot of ships. And that's not even taking into account that in a team environment every other player is hammering into that grav well at the same time.

generator88

This thread is inspiring me to give DRB another try. Thanks.

eradicator84

pwstolemyname wrote: »

Oh, and if your worried about not getting enough ships in your well. You will be surprised by how little damage you actually lose when you drop some of your particle gens, and how big your gravity well can get when you start stacking Graviton gens. 20km from side to side is doable, though you will more likely want to stop at a very reasonable 15km or 16km.

How much gravitons rating does one need to pull from that far out (15km)? So I know where to aim. Could swap 1 or 2 part gens for gravitons I guess.

Good info though, ty.

EDIT: BTW does gravitons increase TBR range or just pull/push power?

e30ernest

I love DRB! Coupled with GW and PEPT, it's pretty lethal. I use it in the following vid:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZp5vCwrFWI

pwstolemyname

eradicator84 wrote: »

How much gravitons rating does one need to pull from that far out (15km)? So I know where to aim. Could swap 1 or 2 part gens for gravitons I guess.

Good info though, ty.

EDIT: BTW does gravitons increase TBR range or just pull/push power?

Sadly nothing effects the range of TBR. Your quite right. its push/pull strength only.

If your using a gravity well 3 then you will need 300 G.Gens for a 15km well (7.5km radius so be sure to pick the most central target in any group of enemies that's spaced out further then that)

Assuming 6 investments in the captain skill your diameter should be 8.55km before gear. With no investments it would be 6km.

Good ways to boost it other then graviton generator consoles:

Tachyokinetic converter and Assimilated module. These both boost graviton generators and your crit chance and crit severity. Loosing the base exotic damage boost from particle generators is no big deal as its fairly tiny, its loosing the extra crit chance and severity that hurts, so using these two consoles to boost your grav gens give some of it back, and as an extra the crit bonus from these isn't limited to just exotic damage.

Exotic particle field exciter Every self respecting science captain needs one of these any way. Why sell a kidney to get one with P.Gens when you need to squeeze on some G.Gens somewhere any way.

An important note. If you have the psychological warfare space trait. It dose not effect the range of gravity well. Only pull strength. Now this isn't a bad thing, if your well pulls harder, enemies will spend less time away from the damaging centre. Just don't think you can increase your gravity well range this way.

If your curious. Going all in on the G.Gens at the expense of all P.Gens will not stop you from being able to parse 20k+DPS in infected advanced with a fed science captain in a pug. P.Gens with Particle manipulator are fantastic, but don't be afraid to experiment with Mega-Well builds. G.Gens and P.Gens both have their place. Some content rewards an all in build with one or the other, but some content benefits more from a mix. Its all in the number and location of enemies.

greendragon527

What about Neutronic? I kind of like Quantums, studying to switch my Flow Cap build to a Partgen build, without having to drop the Quantums.

pwstolemyname

greendragon527 wrote: »

What about Neutronic? I kind of like Quantums, studying to switch my Flow Cap build to a Partgen build, without having to drop the Quantums.

Neutronic is a good torpedo and its AoE damage dose benefit from tightly packed enemies in large numbers, so it will work with a gravity well strategy. Against lower HP enemies it may be the superior choice as it may destroy them outright.

However against enemies that it can not destroy outright a gravimetric or plasma emission torpedo is a superior choice due to the many overlapping damage hazards they will apply.

greendragon527

pwstolemyname wrote: »

Neutronic is a good torpedo and its AoE damage dose benefit from tightly packed enemies in large numbers, so it will work with a gravity well strategy. Against lower HP enemies it may be the superior choice as it may destroy them outright.

However against enemies that it can not destroy outright a gravimetric or plasma emission torpedo is a superior choice due to the many overlapping damage hazards they will apply.

Noted, thanks!