Trying to Maximize Beamboat With Available Resources

calamar017

For a long time, I've commanded various types of cruisers as an engineering captain. My current ship is a fleet Galaxy-X T6 (the Yamato-class variant)....I'm trying to get more DPS out of what I've got, because I'm pretty sure I am not utilizing my current resources effectively (all equipment listed is of XIV rank):

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CURRENT GEAR LOADOUT:

Weapons: 4 Epic Phaser Beam Arrays (Bow)
3 Epic Phaser Beam Arrays (Aft)
1 Very Rare Kinetic Cutting Beam (Aft)
1 Forward-Firing Phaser Lance

Deflector: 1 Very Rare Iconian Resistance Deflector Array

Impulse: 1 Very Rare Adapted MACO Combat Impulse Engines

Warp Core: 1 Ultra Rare Elite Fleet Plasma-Integrated Warp Core [AMP] [EFF] [S->W] [SSR] [WCAP]

Shield: 1 Ultra Rare Adapted MACO Covariant Shield Array


CONSOLES:

Engineering:
Ultra Rare Universal Assimilated Module
Epic Universal Supplemental Subsystems
Epic Universal Sustained Radiant Field
Very Rare Universal Hydrodynamics Compensator
Epic Universal Cloaking Device

Science:

Epic Science Plasma Generator Weapon Signature Nullifier [+Emit]
Epic Universal Plasmonic Leech

Tactical:

Three Epic Tactical Vulnerability Locators
Epic Tactical Vulnerability Exploiter

Hangar:

Elite Type 10 Shuttles
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As far as gear goes, I am pretty respectably geared, although I welcome suggestions on how to improve my current setup. What I am most concerned about, however, are the other aspects....bridge crew skills, captain skills and traits, and DOFFs.

Whenever I engage targets, I tend to hit the following sequence of buttons:

TacTeam 1, Attack Pattern Beta 1, Emergency Power to Weapons 2, Aux to Bat 2, Directed Energy Modulation Three, Fire At Will 3.

I then fly around in circles firing at all targets in rapid sequence, occasionally turning to face a target when the phaser lance is on cooldown.

My captain's skill set has NO points in flow capacitors, which is why I'm respeccing because that hampers the effectiveness of the plasmonic leech. I know in basic terms that I need to be maximizing the power level in my weapons system, so I've generally picked traits that boost power levels.]

Beyond that, though, I need guidance. I need to know which traits are most effective for me. I need to know what skills are best for me, and whether I need to max those skills out completely or drop points into other things. I need to know what to look for for DOFFs, and whether the skills my bridge officers are using are most productive.

calamar017

Also, it should be noted that I currently hold the Intelligence Officer specialization, and that the skills I've been picking from that specialization have been universally space skills, I've not invested in ground at all.

lilchibiclari

Your gear looks good except that you would probably do better with Yellowstone/Danube runabouts insteas of type-10s since the runabouts have Tractor Beams that they use to hold enemies in place and are moderately more durable. Also, you might look into replacing one of your aft beams with the crafted omnidirectional phaser beam.

calamar017

@Lilchi-

I could do that, yes. What about skill selections?

seaofsorrows

What mods are on your Epic Weapons? Those make a big difference in damage. You should be trying for a combination of DmG, CrtD, and Pen mods, those are the best ones. If your critical chance is on the lower side (less then 15-16%) then you should probably favor DmG as a Mod. If you look to replace your beams, the Elite Fleet Phaser Beam Array Mk XII [CrtD][Dmg]x3 are very nice beams. They come at UR quality mark 12 and aren't terribly expensive to upgrade to mark 14.

As for the rest of the build, I put together a rebuild which you can find here.

Since the goal is to up your damage, I did the Iconian Resistance 3 piece set which is currently the best set for damage. I kept your current core, you can also go with the Iconian Core if you wish. You would need to get the core to UR to get the AMP mod back and that can be expensive, probably best to just stick with the nice core you already have.

I made some changes to your consoles as well, this is of course, just a suggestion but it will give you a bit of a boost. The 2 Embassy Consoles will gives you more chance for plasma explosions. They're both +Flow which will strengthen the leech console and help with your power. The EPS Engineering console will help you get power from the leech into your subsystems faster and will boost DPS as well. For Tactical Consoles, I went with 4 locators, if you want to leave the 1 exploiter, that's fine.. but with engineers I prefer to try and raise the crit chance since they don't have the crit boosting skills that tactical officers have.

Bridge Officer Skills - This is a pretty standard BoFF layout. It gives you 2 copies of FAW for maximum up time, gives you 2 Directed Energy Modulations which also help with damage. Using Damage Control Engineers (more on that later) you can cycle Emergency Power to Weapons and Shields keeping constant uptime on those giving you large offensive and defensive boosts. Hazard Emitters and Science Team both do cleanse and give you healing for your hull and shields.

If you click on the Skills Tab, I filled that out based on how I personally run an Engineer. I have done a lot of work over the last couple years and found this to be the most efficient setup for me. It focuses on dealing damage while keeping high power levels and maximizing shield strength. On the ground, I use Shield Generator, Turrets and Mines.

I filled out the Traits as best I could, I'm not sure what you have access too. The 'Beam Barrage' trait is unlocked after achieving level 15 in the RnD School Beams, so you may not have that. Take a look over that and let me know if you have any questions. I forgot you were an engineer and didn't include EPS Manifold Efficiency, I would definitely grab that.

I listed the Duty Officers in the Notes section. The Doff for engineering team is personal taste, I like to keep this skill up as much as possible, but you can swap that out for something else if you wish. The Damage Control DoFFs reduce cooldown on Emergency Power to Weapons and Shields. Use these abilities as soon as they are available, you should have 1 active at all times. The Warp Core Engineer has a chance to give your power levels a huge spike anytime you use an Emergency Power. Works great with the Damage Control doffs.

For power settings, I run the full offensive scheme (All power to weapons.) Between the skills and the leech, you should be able to keep all your power settings high, especially if you're an engineer.

For weapon cycle, I like to apply my Emergency Powers, then my Attack Patterns and Energy Modulation, then hit fire at will. This should do a good job of melting everything around you.

Hopefully, that answers a few of your questions, please let me know if anything needs clarification.

darleath

First of all, Phasers were suboptimal in DPS, I use AP with my engineer's beamboat for the extra 20% crit severity, but I also have a plasma beamboat (with my sci) and a Disruptor DBeam scimitar (tactical KDF rommie). You will never reach the DPS output of a scimitar with a beamboat, but let's have a look.

A pure intelligence ship is more important than a ship with a seat for a beamboat. While the Arbiter is quite good for a tac captain with DBeams, the Surgical Strikes 3 skill for the Intel commander is very good. Sure, it shares CD with FAW, but depending on your setup, you either go for an Aux2Bat build or a Surgical/Faw one. I prefer the Aux2Bat because the Intel Cruiser's trait is +7.5% to resistances and defense for 15 seconds (stacks 3 times, for about 22.5% total) and I spam the Aux2Bat skill every 10-13 seconds, also ignoring my Aux power for energy increase in the other 3 subsystems, giving me a flat 9.9% extra damage. This requires at least 2 purple quality technicians, but you can get one by raising your Doff Engineering reputation to lv 4 (there is one there), doing the B'Tran colonization chain, and covering the third Technician with a blue one (remember to use the ones that reduce the CD of your Boff skills after using Aux2Bat).

Improved Pedal to the Metal is another "must have" trait for a beamboat: as long as your throttle is at 100% you will earn stacks of +1% to all damage or +2% if you have 30 points in Pilot Specialization (up to 10 stacks). Being a Beamboat, you should be making orbits unless fighting something like planet killers. And you should take out the Cloaking console: it only adds damage to the initial barrage, and frankly... You could sit there the Nukara reputation console (for extra +hit, which converts into critical severity when you surpass your target's defense) or the Romulan reputation console (for extra +2% crit and energy).

I use the Iconian Shields because of the "no more than 1 sec offline" and the 15% reduction to all damage, and the Undine deflector and engines: those two give me +10% defense, improve my attack skills, and give me extra inertia. My cruiser can dance effortless!!

Another VERY VERY important skill you need is Override Subsytem Safeties 3 (LTCom Intel), because of the peak it gives and the offline malus is only 2 secs. Couple that with the spam of Emergency to Weapons and the only "problem" is to lose your engines for two seconds... which won't make you lose your Pedal to the Metal stacks: your throttle is 100%, and you will have Maneuvering Thrusters, keeping at least half your speed with its defense.

I can tell you this works to an extent, I get constantly parsed on about 21-24k DPS and my defense is around 155% constantly, with peaks, and I can reach 205% or so with Lone Wolf. I go for Pilot as primary because the extra DPS Intel offers over it is just the flanking... and I prefer to be in the middle of the action, so Wingmen covers for it nicely if I'm using FAW or Surgical.

My boff loadout is:

Universal Ensign: Science Team 1
LTCom Tactical: Tactical team 1, Beta 1, Focused Assault (if Surgical, if not surgical, then FAW)
Com Eng/Intel: Emergency to Shields 1, Aux2Bat 1, Override SubSafe 3, Surgical Strikes 3 (if Surgical, if not then Directed Energy Modulation 3)
LT com Eng: Engineering Team 1, Aux2bat 1, Emergency to Weapons 3
LT Sci/Intel: Polarize Hull 1, Electromagnetic Pulse Probe 1 (or Ionic Turbulence 1 if I want to help more the team DPS)

The polarize hull is needed because tractor beams are quite powerfull against a "fragile speedster" build (because it negates my defense from speed), and having as much energy as you can is great for this. The Plasmonic Leech console is pure gold, by the way!

seaofsorrows

AP does do slightly higher DPS then other energy types, but none are 'sub optimal.' The difference in damage between energy types is minimal at best. AP is the best for Min/Maxing but for people that aren't interested in every last percentage point, Energy Type is not an issue. The important part is the mods.

The advice I offered is specific to the ship and gear the OP asked about which is why I didn't touch on intelligence skills.

Polarize hull is a great skill. If you have reciprocity or something to help with tactical cooldown then feel free to swap out the BFAW 1 in the Universal for Polarize Hull. If you wish to keep maximum up time on Fire At Will then leave it as is. You can escape Tractor Beams with the Evasive maneuvers ability. You can use your 5th Doff Slot to reduce cool down on Evasive if you wish.

I agree on the Cloak console, personally I would get rid of it. I left it in because I assume the OP likes having it. If it's not that important to you, then I would swap it for something else. I would recommend Bio-Neural Gel Packs from the Delta Rep for the cooldown bonus on BoFF skills. That or the Romulan Zero Point for the extra critical chance.

nikephorus

I'd stick with phasers on the dreadnought to buff lance damage. I agree with @seaofsorrows The damage difference between energy types at epic mark 14 is negligible. The mods on said weapons matter more then anything else.

alex284

What's your DPS?

Your build is already pretty decent (anything I would say has been covered above by others). So are you looking to push a record or just beat advanced content? If your goal is the latter, you should already be there.

calamar017

I have no idea what my DPS is. I do not have a meter to measure it. That being said, the information people are sharing here is, to quote a famous actor, fascinating.

tempus64

Some good information presented here already. One of the things I didn't see was what BOFFs you currently have.

For your Tac seats, you should get 2 Rare Romulan Tacs from a T2 embasy. They have SRO so you'll get a nice increase in CritH with those.

For science, you should use the Hierarchy BOFF from, I think, the Alliances mission. He has the Pirate trait for an increase in damage. I think he also has the Efficient trait which will help a tiny amount with power.

As a fed, you can also get a Nausican from completing DOFF Tier 4 in Diplomacy. That BOFF will also have the Pirate trait.