Krenim Boffs: Viable Strategy for Sci Captain's Seeking CD Reduction?

rck01

I'm thinking of grabbing 2-3 Krenim Boffs to help reduce the CD on critical Sci powers that have no Doff for that purpose (e.g. TBR, FBP). From what I've read they can help in this manner by speeding up the CD timer (as opposed to simply cutting its countdown target value) and that by stacking 3 of them you can cut some CDs as much as 30% - which would be huge in PvP where Sci power downtime is a major weakness for me at the moment.

However, these Boffs represent a huge Dil/FC sink, and I'm also reluctant to drop my SROs (all my Boffs are currently Blue or Purple with the SRO passive) since it will cut into my Critical Chance and Severity stats.

So my questions are:

1. Do the Krenim Boffs work as I think they do (in practical terms)? And assuming I slot three of them, will I be able to keep skills like TBR and FBP at or near 100% uptime (with two copies of each - e.g. FBP2/3 both slotted)?

2. In practical terms, will a Particle Generator-focused build (currently maxed at 438 skill level) lose much by switching from SROs to Krenims in terms of damage output? How much are those SROs really contributing to my damage, anyway? I run zero Tac Boffs and just lob torps while spamming FBP/TBR/GW, etc. And aren't all Particle-based attacks supposed to auto-Crit at that skill level (combined with Particle Manipulator trait)? Really, what am I losing by going away from SROs in this instance?

I'd love to find a way to make my most annoying/effective Sci Boff skills more available, and I'm reluctant to start swapping out gear since I've got my Solonae Deflector to UR (+50 Particle Generators) and my Secondary Deflector to EPIC quality (+25 with the [PrtG] and [PE] mods).

Thoughts? Are Krenim Boffs worth the grind?

RCK

seriousdave

From what I've heard they do work though it's not as big as you'd expect.

Found some formula on how it supposedly works.
(time) x (1/ [1.1 one boff (.9090), 1.2 two boffs(.8333), 1.3 three boffs(.7692)])

So according to this TBR goes from 40 secs to about 30,7... with 3 boffs (480k fc & 120k dil)

While the CD reduction is noticeable with 3 boffs so is the pricetag. Also slotting 3 sci boffs may not be optimal for your overall build so ultimately your CD for TBR would be 33,3... seconds with 2 boffs which is still steep.

rck01

Thanks for the response. Yeah, it seems like an awfully steep pricetag for a modest gain - though in PvP it might close the gap a bit between FBP 2/3 cycles.

Any thoughts on the tradeoff from dropping SROs in favor of Krenim boffs? As I mentioned, I'm all-in on Particle skills. With Particle Manipulator and 438 skill level I'm pushing 50% CrtH/42.8% CrtD on those , and swapping out the SROs for Klinks or other non-Romulans doesn't seem to have any effect - at least according to the Particle Manipulator Trait description while I'm in space.

Are those SRO passives stacking on top of the Particle Manipulator CrtH/CrtD specs? Or are they only applied to damage dealt from weapons like beams or torps?

Lots of googling has yielded little clarity on this issue. How DO I maximize Particle/Exotic damage? And are the SROs even relevant to a build like mine: All TBR/GW/FBP w/some torps that are mostly for show since I have no Tac consoles or Boffs?

RCK

seriousdave

Since SRO's bonuses are applied to your global CrtD & CrtH they also count for your sci skills (I thinkg at least) though I doubt they would be as useful for non-pew-pew builds.
Hard to say since I'm no expert on hardcore sci builds. Though I'd say until you have like 2 or 3 krenim boffs stick with SRO since it is better than pretty much every other boff trait except maybe pirate depending on your build.

There's a thread all about sci builds, chances are someone knows the answers there.
http://www.arcgames.com/en/forums/startrekonline#/discussion/1204182/the-science-ship-build-thread/p1

odinforever20000

rck01 wrote: »

Thanks for the response. Yeah, it seems like an awfully steep pricetag for a modest gain - though in PvP it might close the gap a bit between FBP 2/3 cycles.

Any thoughts on the tradeoff from dropping SROs in favor of Krenim boffs? As I mentioned, I'm all-in on Particle skills. With Particle Manipulator and 438 skill level I'm pushing 50% CrtH/42.8% CrtD on those , and swapping out the SROs for Klinks or other non-Romulans doesn't seem to have any effect - at least according to the Particle Manipulator Trait description while I'm in space.

Are those SRO passives stacking on top of the Particle Manipulator CrtH/CrtD specs? Or are they only applied to damage dealt from weapons like beams or torps?

Lots of googling has yielded little clarity on this issue. How DO I maximize Particle/Exotic damage? And are the SROs even relevant to a build like mine: All TBR/GW/FBP w/some torps that are mostly for show since I have no Tac consoles or Boffs?

RCK

LOL Hey Jacob! So...Just the Krenim Boffs alone will only grant you a 20% reduction on abilities. For FBP thats 51 seconds instead of 60 for 1 ability...Add the dyson deflector and theres another 10%, only costing ya 20 Prtg if you had an UR Solane deflector(Less than a 5% reduction in your FBP).

Since I fly a 465 PrtG Romulan Caprimul (you've seen it) on my alt (12% CC and between 89% and 101% Cs,) I would say this:
If you want abilities faster you need to use Tac skills :P What Im about to suggest Im gonna do on my alt :P

My main too has serious Sci cool downs. Anything inside of 60 seconds is reduced to whatever the global is for that sci ability. To do this..You'll need All Hands On Deck (Vastam Command Warbird) and Torpedo Astrometic Synergy (Terran Rep). Both of these affect your sci cool-downs. AHOD is effective on any Tactical ability,and TAS works every time you hit a torpedo ability. Basically thats a 25% reduction RIGHT NOW for every torpedo ability and 10% off every 5 seconds you hit a tac ability.I also do run 2 Krenim Boff but..Im not sure they are nessisary and wont change out my SRO's on the Romulan toon.

In short..TBR is availible 15 seconds after the ability ends,FBP is every 30 seconds (tiz why I only run 1),E-siphon,Tykens are every 30 seconds...Basically you can save Tiff (If your using that set) or the Temporal Warp Core for emergencies only

I know you love your engineering abilities..but adding some Tacical will really speed up you cooldowns if ya got those abilities..You could change out your LT universal for a torpedo spread and Tactical Team...Just sayin.

What this wont do is eliminate that 15 seconds gap between FBP abilities..Its still there..But my way you only need 1 of those anyways.

rck01

Odin,

Good stuff! As we discussed in-game, I'm loathe to pour money into p2w TRIBBLE like the Vastam Trait. However, after some testing, I am finding the Torp Astro Symmetry is an awesome Trait - at least for PvE. Combined with Deflector Doffs and the 2 Krenim Sci Boffs, my GW3 is always at GCD, and my DRB drops from 2 mins to under 60 seconds the moment I activate a Torp skill. Then it gets another whack as I keep cycling HYT1 and TS2. Pretty much GCD (or close to it) across the board for my heaviest-hitting Sci powers.

Now the real question is PvP and how to replicate my engineering-heavy build with only a LtCmdr and Ens station. I normally run 2x EPtE1 in the Ens slots, 2x Aux2Damp (doff'd) in the Lt slots, and RSP2 in the LtCmdr slot (gotta refill those 23K shields - tough when I run with 81 shield power). I could maybe drop an Aux2Damp and use my now much more available PH to cover when the Doff'd resist boost expires after 23 seconds. I'll still be more vulnerable to spikes, as well as certain holds/disables, but having the rest of my Sci heals and cleanses (ST and HE - to supplement the WCE engineer's cleanse proc) more available might help to offset this. It means more "active defense" management than I'd like (I'm lazy and/or too old to keep on top of so many abilities in real-time), but it could work.

The big loss for me will be ET1. Some things just don't come off without ET1, and it's also my biggest single heal when heavily damaged. If I could run with just 1x EPtE1, I could slot ET1 in the Ens Eng station. But that'll mean a dramatic loss in sustained speed - and in today's PvP environment, speed is everything.

Looks like I'll be grinding for those Krenim Eng Boffs next so I can finally stop doubling-up on Eng powers!

RCK

odinforever20000

rck01 wrote: »

Odin,

Good stuff! As we discussed in-game, I'm loathe to pour money into p2w TRIBBLE like the Vastam Trait. However, after some testing, I am finding the Torp Astro Symmetry is an awesome Trait - at least for PvE. Combined with Deflector Doffs and the 2 Krenim Sci Boffs, my GW3 is always at GCD, and my DRB drops from 2 mins to under 60 seconds the moment I activate a Torp skill. Then it gets another whack as I keep cycling HYT1 and TS2. Pretty much GCD (or close to it) across the board for my heaviest-hitting Sci powers.

Now the real question is PvP and how to replicate my engineering-heavy build with only a LtCmdr and Ens station. I normally run 2x EPtE1 in the Ens slots, 2x Aux2Damp (doff'd) in the Lt slots, and RSP2 in the LtCmdr slot (gotta refill those 23K shields - tough when I run with 81 shield power). I could maybe drop an Aux2Damp and use my now much more available PH to cover when the Doff'd resist boost expires after 23 seconds. I'll still be more vulnerable to spikes, as well as certain holds/disables, but having the rest of my Sci heals and cleanses (ST and HE - to supplement the WCE engineer's cleanse proc) more available might help to offset this. It means more "active defense" management than I'd like (I'm lazy and/or too old to keep on top of so many abilities in real-time), but it could work.

The big loss for me will be ET1. Some things just don't come off without ET1, and it's also my biggest single heal when heavily damaged. If I could run with just 1x EPtE1, I could slot ET1 in the Ens Eng station. But that'll mean a dramatic loss in sustained speed - and in today's PvP environment, speed is everything.

Looks like I'll be grinding for those Krenim Eng Boffs next so I can finally stop doubling-up on Eng powers!

RCK

Again just like when we spoke in game..I wouldn't call the Vastam trait P2W..Before the Krenim Boffs and Terran rep it was only mildly useful on its own..

PVP..well that's gonna be another animal entirely.. I typically run an Non-Speed, drain/disable build in order to make the best use of DRB and Quantum Beam (Heavy Graviton Beam,Iso Charge, or other set single target ability). Granted..The guys we're trying to catch will still out run us in escorts with Pilot + Intel abilities. I dont run Eng Team.. Mostly because there are only 2 abilities to worry about and one is nerfed to hell (Viral Matrix) and the other Structural Integrity Collapse Kenetic/Physical debuff.

I would run Unstable warp bubble but I'm finding I like other things better to slow down the zippy ones (plus its kinda a long cooldown):P My biggest problem is immunites for certain players.