What if EPS manifold efficiency gave a set of buffs that are tied to the power levels are at when the ability is activated, which would give a sliding scale of potency based on the power levels you can achieve thru gear (sounds quite engineering like to me.). Things like your weapon power level might give a sliding boost to slotted weapon's rate of fire, maybe shield power might give a boost to resistances or hardness, and so forth for each of the power levels.
It sounds interesting indeed. Increased power levels and efficiency are one of the few advantages engineers have over other species after all.
Maybe things like Power siphon and other consoles and warp cores that add power level-related benefits could also be made something exclusive to the engineer career?
I know I'm swimming against the current of majority opinion here, but I don't see the problem as Engineering captains. I see the problem as being that Engineering BOFF powers are well-nigh worthless for actually doing DPS, in a game that has become a total DPS-fest.
Even with EPG at 250, SIC and Endothermic are downright worthless. So pumping EPG to 400 isn't going to make them show-stoppers.
I know I'm swimming against the current of majority opinion here, but I don't see the problem as Engineering captains. I see the problem as being that Engineering BOFF powers are well-nigh worthless for actually doing DPS, in a game that has become a total DPS-fest.
Even with EPG at 250, SIC and Endothermic are downright worthless. So pumping EPG to 400 isn't going to make them show-stoppers.
I would agree (and have certainly argued before) that the strong DPS focus is the actual problem, but I've given up hope that this will change. So, given that, I think it would be fair if engineers got some attention and better offensive stuff as well.
I know I'm swimming against the current of majority opinion here, but I don't see the problem as Engineering captains. I see the problem as being that Engineering BOFF powers are well-nigh worthless for actually doing DPS, in a game that has become a total DPS-fest.
Even with EPG at 250, SIC and Endothermic are downright worthless. So pumping EPG to 400 isn't going to make them show-stoppers.
I would agree (and have certainly argued before) that the strong DPS focus is the actual problem, but I've given up hope that this will change. So, given that, I think it would be fair if engineers got some attention and better offensive stuff as well.
I'm just hoping for buffs to the defensive traits/abilities that come with being an engineer. My favorite toon is in fact my favorite because he's an engineer. After all, isn't the point of choosing engineering so you can be more defensive? Engineering Fleet, Nadion Inversion, EPS Power Transfer, Rotate Shield Frequency, and Miracle Worker are all defensive because that's what engineering is supposed to be: more defensive. Tactical captain abilities are all offensive because that's what tactical is supposed to be. Same goes for science, which is all about debuffing and causing all sorts of craziness (with a little defense mixed in, with Science Fleet and Scattering Field). I just don't want to see engineering turned more offensive at the cost of reducing the already average to sub-par innate defensive abilities that engineers come with. I want to see the defensive engineering abilities buffed so their worth is increased, but I don't want to see engineering pushed away from what it's about into what another class already does. That's just my piece of mind on the subject. I'm guessing I'm in the minority here.
I know I'm swimming against the current of majority opinion here, but I don't see the problem as Engineering captains. I see the problem as being that Engineering BOFF powers are well-nigh worthless for actually doing DPS, in a game that has become a total DPS-fest.
Even with EPG at 250, SIC and Endothermic are downright worthless. So pumping EPG to 400 isn't going to make them show-stoppers.
I would agree (and have certainly argued before) that the strong DPS focus is the actual problem, but I've given up hope that this will change. So, given that, I think it would be fair if engineers got some attention and better offensive stuff as well.
I'm just hoping for buffs to the defensive traits/abilities that come with being an engineer. My favorite toon is in fact my favorite because he's an engineer. After all, isn't the point of choosing engineering so you can be more defensive? Engineering Fleet, Nadion Inversion, EPS Power Transfer, Rotate Shield Frequency, and Miracle Worker are all defensive because that's what engineering is supposed to be: more defensive. Tactical captain abilities are all offensive because that's what tactical is supposed to be. Same goes for science, which is all about debuffing and causing all sorts of craziness (with a little defense mixed in, with Science Fleet and Scattering Field). I just don't want to see engineering turned more offensive at the cost of reducing the already average to sub-par innate defensive abilities that engineers come with. I want to see the defensive engineering abilities buffed so their worth is increased, but I don't want to see engineering pushed away from what it's about into what another class already does. That's just my piece of mind on the subject. I'm guessing I'm in the minority here.
I agree with you on a lot of what you are saying. Though issue becomes why would you choose a engineer over a science, or tactical career most of all if the boon of being a engineer (the improved defensive power of your career) is negated by the lack of content that needs such a focus. If there was more content that actually made having a more defensive focus to your career more appealing as well as worthwhile, than I could see improving the defensive capabilities of the engineering career further as than it would have a edge in that content. An so with the dps-focus of the game as of late, as well as the ability to get defensive abilities that are basically all you need to be as effective as a engineer, makes engineering as a career lackluster compared to tactical an even science that just have better options that align better with the current content focus. To me engineering is abit over saturated with defensive based abilities, and maybe would be helped if it gained some support abilities into the mix.
Though what if Engineering started to have something of a unique factor to it in which you could gain a bonus effect on some of the abilities if you used another ability before it. Like the idea of if you used acton beam on a target an then used warp-plasma within a certain period of time after it, than the target affected by acton beam would actually begin to leave a trail or plasma behind it instead (maybe applying the acton beam effect on those in the trail.) Ort making extend shield more of a toggle that you place on a target, and then it applies either a portion or all of the healing you do to your shields to the target's shield also, as than it would make it feel like you extended your shield to them.
That's true, and it is a problem. Why choose to be an engineer when most of the game focuses on dps, something science and tactical do better than engineering? I guess I have sort of a unique perspective since I'm a PvP healer and I need all the defensive abilities I can get to help keep me and my surrounding allies alive. Yup, I said PvP and a build that isn't supposed to do any damage but focuses all on defense. This is probably a foreign concept to most players in this game because a healer is not needed in PvE which is why I still do PvP. We all know how imbalanced PvP is, and that most people just ignore it. This probably makes my argument invalid to most people because while we need more defensive stuff in PvP (such as shield penetration mitigation), you don't in PvE which the majority of the players of this game focus on. So I don't expect to make any real change since it would be stupid to buff an entire class for a minority when the majority of players wouldn't really benefit.
So... just checking. We're not talking about the Engineer-Only space traits in the Sphere Builder Lockbox? Because Nadion Bypass and EPS Overload are kinda exactly what some people are asking for: more DPS tied to the Captain profession-specific abilities engineers get. And I'd say the Engineers got the best of the bargain (though the Science ability upgrades were fun).
There are trade-offs to using them, but things have to be a LOT more broken than they are now for "Nope, no trade-off. I just want to be strictly better at zero cost" sounds like anything but the worst Player-side grumbling to a Dev...
Back in the day when power levels were still an issue, I used to do STF's with my then-fleet and we had a tactic which actually employed all the abilities. Our Sci-weenie would throw out a GW to bunch the enemies up, our Tac-weenie in his Escort would setup for a run with CSV, and when he called it over TeamSpeak, I would hit him with EPS Power Transfter III.
It was a fairly classical routine, we all played our part, and it worked well. The Sci-guy and Engie were actually expected to heal, and taking down Donatra at the end was a moderately-lengthy fight.
But power creep has negated the necessity of heals, and rendered the Engie virtually irrelevant. Now it's all about MOAR DPS!!!!, and while my Sci toon can handle that, (holy hell, can she ever), the Engineer has been reduced to the status of a spacebar-spamming FAWeenie.
However, to be fair, this happens with all MMOs as they grow old. The power creep, the blurring of the lines which once defined the classes, and the marginalisation of the support classes are all typical of an aging MMO.
If there are posts here that do not appeal to you, or opinions you disagree with, the best way to deal with that is to resist the urge to add comments. Instead, engage with the content you like! Don't feed the trolls!
So... just checking. We're not talking about the Engineer-Only space traits in the Sphere Builder Lockbox? Because Nadion Bypass and EPS Overload are kinda exactly what some people are asking for: more DPS tied to the Captain profession-specific abilities engineers get. And I'd say the Engineers got the best of the bargain (though the Science ability upgrades were fun).
There are trade-offs to using them, but things have to be a LOT more broken than they are now for "Nope, no trade-off. I just want to be strictly better at zero cost" sounds like anything but the worst Player-side grumbling to a Dev...
EPS overload is underwhelming assuming that I'm reading it correctly. It grants you a bonus based on your highest power level, which is always weapons power. And that bonus? 2% bonus crit chance. Not exactly worth taking up a trait slot, even on an alt that's starved for traits.
Nadion Bypass, on the other hand, seems to be a good option. The bonus 15% damage from the trait may end up being worth it.
When you see "TRIBBLE" in my posts, it's because I manually typed "TRIBBLE" and censored myself.
I actually enjoy playing Eng most, my main is an Engine, I will have to check out these abilities from the Sphere Lock box folks have mentioned.
I really feel Science & Eng captains can do good in any ship, but for the most part only enjoy playing a Tactical in a Malem, Kor, Scryer, or Pilot Ship.
Thanks for the Advanced Light Cruiser, Allied Escort Bundles, Jem-Hadar Light Battlecruiser, and Mek'leth
New Content Wishlist
T6 updates for the Kamarag & Vor'Cha
Heavy Cruiser & a Movie Era Style AoY Utility Cruiser
Interestingly, Nadion bypass is showing 16.66% damage bonus for me in tool tips. I think that's probably cat 2 (which would be kinda awesome) since its to everything and not just energy weapons, but I'm not sure.
EPS Overload is~
(weapons highest) 2% crit
(shields highest) -20% weapon power cost
(engines highest) +20% armor penetration - potentially strong but hard to access
(aux highest) +20% crit severity.
The aux bonus seems well chosen for science ships running exotic black magic/high Aux. Chain that up with probability manipulation and much face will be wrecked. The other two seem pretty improbable unless your into the lost art of stance dancing.
I think the question is less how effective/competitive engineers are with the right set up compared to the other two careers, and more how well they measure up to the other two careers base-line, which they feel a bit lacking since most content in the game does not need the amount of endurance a engineer brings. In the end all three of the careers should be equally appealing an viable base-line, with content that actually their focus gives them an advantage on over the other two. Though I think if we saw managing power level abit more needed, and that the other non-weapon power sub systems gave bonuses that felt more appealing we might see engineers more appealing, as the fact of their focus on also power-management would be quite appealing.
Interestingly, Nadion bypass is showing 16.66% damage bonus for me in tool tips. I think that's probably cat 2 (which would be kinda awesome) since its to everything and not just energy weapons, but I'm not sure.
EPS Overload is~
(weapons highest) 2% crit
(shields highest) -20% weapon power cost
(engines highest) +20% armor penetration - potentially strong but hard to access
(aux highest) +20% crit severity.
The aux bonus seems well chosen for science ships running exotic black magic/high Aux. Chain that up with probability manipulation and much face will be wrecked. The other two seem pretty improbable unless your into the lost art of stance dancing.
So, I got curious and went looking for these traits, because I thought they might actually be useful. One is nearly 5 million EC and the other is over 15 million.
Ok, full stop. If 15 million Ec mudcoin is something to balk at, you don't get to play "the performance game". Because there isn't a Captain-based buff ANYWHERE that's got more kick than just leveling up your weapons.
Those "broken universal consoles" and the trait to end all traits -- Inspiring leadership -- used to cost EIGHTY million and up. That was outside of players' casual grasp but five million? Even fifteen? If you aren't making that much money just playing this captain you're trying to tune up, you're doing it wrong. Where IS your money going then? Because Ec falls like rain.
I'm sorry. I thought we were talking about the game that IS, and not some fantasy about advancement stopping the second you hit level 60 and have a full array of purple XII's...
15 million EC isn't anything to balk out, but it's not something I'd shell out for something that current out of the latest lockbox. Not for a space trait, anyway. 5 million is a little more palatable, but still a little pricey for being not as rare. Together that's 20 million EC. I could get a plasmonic leech and a gambling device, which there aren't near as many of on the market, for that price and still have ec left over.
Edit: As far as where the EC went: upgrades. Lots and lots of upgrades. LOL But yeah, you're right. 20 million EC isn't that hard to get. I'm just not convinced those traits are actually worth that much.
15 million EC indeed isn't all that much, and even more casual players can collect that amount of EC in a reasonable time.
Besides, I assume that the price of this trait will come down as soon as it gets added to the Infinity box and its contents. Even things like Inspirational Leader and Helmsman have become much cheaper since it was released.
Ultimately, I think that captain abilities only have so much potential though. These abilities have a much longer cooldown than Boff abilities after all and there are also less options available to diminish their cooldowns.
Nadion Bypass was sitting around 3-5 million for a good long while. Naturally after discussing it here, a bunch of people went out and bought it which pushed the price way up. 15 Million still isn't too bad though. Remember the days of 300 Million EC Inspirational Leader?
When you see "TRIBBLE" in my posts, it's because I manually typed "TRIBBLE" and censored myself.
Yeah. I also remember when getting dilithium was like pulling teeth. I don't see a lot of builds out there actually using Helmsman and Inspirational Leader anymore. So, if you bought it for that much and it no longer has a place in your build, was it actually worth the cost.
That being said, y'all have convinced me. Or curiosity has gotten the better of me. Either way you'll have it. I should have enough points from Arc quests to buy a captain retrain token within the next week or so. I intend to buy both of these traits, retrain my Engineer back to an Engineering spec, complete with ultimate, and see how these two traits do.
Interestingly, Nadion bypass is showing 16.66% damage bonus for me in tool tips. I think that's probably cat 2 (which would be kinda awesome) since its to everything and not just energy weapons, but I'm not sure.
EPS Overload is~
(weapons highest) 2% crit
(shields highest) -20% weapon power cost
(engines highest) +20% armor penetration - potentially strong but hard to access
(aux highest) +20% crit severity.
The aux bonus seems well chosen for science ships running exotic black magic/high Aux. Chain that up with probability manipulation and much face will be wrecked. The other two seem pretty improbable unless your into the lost art of stance dancing.
So, I got curious and went looking for these traits, because I thought they might actually be useful. One is nearly 5 million EC and the other is over 15 million.
They're not that useful. :P
point made. They're rare enough and desirable enough to run in the ranges of some of the more broken universal consoles like Fed/Leech.
Leech is pretty inexpensive right now. If you've got a particular character with a build you want to improve, it's almost at the level of "budget build" status to get a leech.
You could spend a few weeks doing JUST ISA and selling the crafting boxes on the exchange and fund a leech.
I intend to buy both of these traits, retrain my Engineer back to an Engineering spec, complete with ultimate, and see how these two traits do.
I have a character, used to be my main, who has the ENG ultimate. He's a tank. Runs a T6 Fleet Guardian. Pilot Primary, Strategist Secondary. Topped out at, uh, 45k DPS in ISA PUGs. But was an amazing tank (which he was built to be). Spent most of my resources last year getting him kitted out with stuff. I never got the Bioneural Infusion Circuits, and never got the Feedback Pulse trait (missed that particular free ship while away from the game), but those were really the only two pieces that were needed to finish the build.
What I learned is:
1- that an ENG, running 25 points in the ENG tree ... can take a beatdown.
2- holding aggro wasn't hard even with ships doing twice my DPS.
3- It's when ships started to go toward 3 times my DPS that aggro got tougher to hold
4- Proximity Aggro is often overlooked in build advice threads, but the reasons I went pilot primary are for the boosts that help me maintain point blank range, and eat damage from stuff like warp core breaches with no actual damage, because proximity aggro is a really powerful factor in holding threat
5- Threat tools have little or nothing to do with ENG as a skill tree, but the heals, hull, and power settings increases help when you do maintain threat.
I mean my ship consistently held over 90% of the atks coming in, parse after parse after parse. And I really didn't take much damage at all.
But I never really flew it in coordinated teams that much. So it was built far more to PUG, and its damage potential I feel pretty much capped out, because flying in ISA created better positioning, which has a very big effect on your DPS, but with my investment in Pilot tree, and thus pedal to the medal, and point blank and proximity aggro, it was a lot to maintain and I had to keep moving at full throttle in a ship that wasn't the best choice for that.
So I come away from the skill tree revamp convinced that from the Development Team's perspective (and this is why the Eng needs to be improved threads may get crickets in terms of responses from the devs) the ENG tree does what they designed it to do. When you invest heavily into it, you do have the best Power System capability, you do soak damage really well because you have oodles of Hull Points from the tree.
Couple that with the ENG seats on many ships filling out key/essential BOFF powers that are defense related (as in TACs and SCIs that don't have access to something like RSP/E-Team/AtoSIF/EPtS would radically alter builds) ...
And ENG seems to be in a spot where the devs see it doing what they made it to do. But the players and the game itself have less use for being heavily invested in it.
That being said, I also think that a better, more effective build for tanking, even as an ENG captain, can be obtained by a more hybrid split between the skill tree categories.
And as for me?
Agents of Yesterday came out. I took my Science alt, and decked him out in a wicked fun T6 "Daedalus" EPG/Torp build and went bananas with that while taking my new 23c Tactical toon through all of the temporal recruit things and now that character is my new main since "Admiral Komack" fulfills all of my space barbie desires: TOS, TOS, TOS and TOS, running around in a T6 Temporal Light Cruiser, in TOS uniforms, with a TOS bridge, hanging in my fleet's new K-13 starbase jawn, and just pretending I am from the original series. It helps that he's a tactical officer in a really powerful ship, and I've dumped way more resources into him than all of my other toons combined, so his performance is much better. But he's also running temporal/strategist and has no real need to be full throttle and point blank range like my old tank did.
Anyways, I wish you luck with an ENG build that uses the ENG ultimate. I'm excited to see more people try it out.
I used to tank back when the borg STFs was the main endgame group content. All I do is PUG. What I'm really wanting to find out is how much of a boost those two traits actually are when utilizing an engineering-centered build. Sure, they're going to give you a small boost when running a science-heavy build. But why would anyone want to give them space in their build when tanking when there's already traits available to boost your DPS a lot more often?
Comments
Maybe things like Power siphon and other consoles and warp cores that add power level-related benefits could also be made something exclusive to the engineer career?
Even with EPG at 250, SIC and Endothermic are downright worthless. So pumping EPG to 400 isn't going to make them show-stoppers.
I would agree (and have certainly argued before) that the strong DPS focus is the actual problem, but I've given up hope that this will change. So, given that, I think it would be fair if engineers got some attention and better offensive stuff as well.
I'm just hoping for buffs to the defensive traits/abilities that come with being an engineer. My favorite toon is in fact my favorite because he's an engineer. After all, isn't the point of choosing engineering so you can be more defensive? Engineering Fleet, Nadion Inversion, EPS Power Transfer, Rotate Shield Frequency, and Miracle Worker are all defensive because that's what engineering is supposed to be: more defensive. Tactical captain abilities are all offensive because that's what tactical is supposed to be. Same goes for science, which is all about debuffing and causing all sorts of craziness (with a little defense mixed in, with Science Fleet and Scattering Field). I just don't want to see engineering turned more offensive at the cost of reducing the already average to sub-par innate defensive abilities that engineers come with. I want to see the defensive engineering abilities buffed so their worth is increased, but I don't want to see engineering pushed away from what it's about into what another class already does. That's just my piece of mind on the subject. I'm guessing I'm in the minority here.
I agree with you on a lot of what you are saying. Though issue becomes why would you choose a engineer over a science, or tactical career most of all if the boon of being a engineer (the improved defensive power of your career) is negated by the lack of content that needs such a focus. If there was more content that actually made having a more defensive focus to your career more appealing as well as worthwhile, than I could see improving the defensive capabilities of the engineering career further as than it would have a edge in that content. An so with the dps-focus of the game as of late, as well as the ability to get defensive abilities that are basically all you need to be as effective as a engineer, makes engineering as a career lackluster compared to tactical an even science that just have better options that align better with the current content focus. To me engineering is abit over saturated with defensive based abilities, and maybe would be helped if it gained some support abilities into the mix.
Though what if Engineering started to have something of a unique factor to it in which you could gain a bonus effect on some of the abilities if you used another ability before it. Like the idea of if you used acton beam on a target an then used warp-plasma within a certain period of time after it, than the target affected by acton beam would actually begin to leave a trail or plasma behind it instead (maybe applying the acton beam effect on those in the trail.) Ort making extend shield more of a toggle that you place on a target, and then it applies either a portion or all of the healing you do to your shields to the target's shield also, as than it would make it feel like you extended your shield to them.
That's true, and it is a problem. Why choose to be an engineer when most of the game focuses on dps, something science and tactical do better than engineering? I guess I have sort of a unique perspective since I'm a PvP healer and I need all the defensive abilities I can get to help keep me and my surrounding allies alive. Yup, I said PvP and a build that isn't supposed to do any damage but focuses all on defense. This is probably a foreign concept to most players in this game because a healer is not needed in PvE which is why I still do PvP. We all know how imbalanced PvP is, and that most people just ignore it. This probably makes my argument invalid to most people because while we need more defensive stuff in PvP (such as shield penetration mitigation), you don't in PvE which the majority of the players of this game focus on. So I don't expect to make any real change since it would be stupid to buff an entire class for a minority when the majority of players wouldn't really benefit.
There are trade-offs to using them, but things have to be a LOT more broken than they are now for "Nope, no trade-off. I just want to be strictly better at zero cost" sounds like anything but the worst Player-side grumbling to a Dev...
It was a fairly classical routine, we all played our part, and it worked well. The Sci-guy and Engie were actually expected to heal, and taking down Donatra at the end was a moderately-lengthy fight.
But power creep has negated the necessity of heals, and rendered the Engie virtually irrelevant. Now it's all about MOAR DPS!!!!, and while my Sci toon can handle that, (holy hell, can she ever), the Engineer has been reduced to the status of a spacebar-spamming FAWeenie.
However, to be fair, this happens with all MMOs as they grow old. The power creep, the blurring of the lines which once defined the classes, and the marginalisation of the support classes are all typical of an aging MMO.
Trust me on this one.
If there are posts here that do not appeal to you, or opinions you disagree with, the best way to deal with that is to resist the urge to add comments. Instead, engage with the content you like! Don't feed the trolls!
one word: "Oops!"
Nadion Bypass, on the other hand, seems to be a good option. The bonus 15% damage from the trait may end up being worth it.
I really feel Science & Eng captains can do good in any ship, but for the most part only enjoy playing a Tactical in a Malem, Kor, Scryer, or Pilot Ship.
EPS Overload is~
(weapons highest) 2% crit
(shields highest) -20% weapon power cost
(engines highest) +20% armor penetration - potentially strong but hard to access
(aux highest) +20% crit severity.
The aux bonus seems well chosen for science ships running exotic black magic/high Aux. Chain that up with probability manipulation and much face will be wrecked. The other two seem pretty improbable unless your into the lost art of stance dancing.
So, I got curious and went looking for these traits, because I thought they might actually be useful. One is nearly 5 million EC and the other is over 15 million.
They're not that useful. :P
Those "broken universal consoles" and the trait to end all traits -- Inspiring leadership -- used to cost EIGHTY million and up. That was outside of players' casual grasp but five million? Even fifteen? If you aren't making that much money just playing this captain you're trying to tune up, you're doing it wrong. Where IS your money going then? Because Ec falls like rain.
I'm sorry. I thought we were talking about the game that IS, and not some fantasy about advancement stopping the second you hit level 60 and have a full array of purple XII's...
Edit: As far as where the EC went: upgrades. Lots and lots of upgrades. LOL But yeah, you're right. 20 million EC isn't that hard to get. I'm just not convinced those traits are actually worth that much.
Besides, I assume that the price of this trait will come down as soon as it gets added to the Infinity box and its contents. Even things like Inspirational Leader and Helmsman have become much cheaper since it was released.
Ultimately, I think that captain abilities only have so much potential though. These abilities have a much longer cooldown than Boff abilities after all and there are also less options available to diminish their cooldowns.
That being said, y'all have convinced me. Or curiosity has gotten the better of me. Either way you'll have it. I should have enough points from Arc quests to buy a captain retrain token within the next week or so. I intend to buy both of these traits, retrain my Engineer back to an Engineering spec, complete with ultimate, and see how these two traits do.
Leech is pretty inexpensive right now. If you've got a particular character with a build you want to improve, it's almost at the level of "budget build" status to get a leech.
You could spend a few weeks doing JUST ISA and selling the crafting boxes on the exchange and fund a leech.
I have a character, used to be my main, who has the ENG ultimate. He's a tank. Runs a T6 Fleet Guardian. Pilot Primary, Strategist Secondary. Topped out at, uh, 45k DPS in ISA PUGs. But was an amazing tank (which he was built to be). Spent most of my resources last year getting him kitted out with stuff. I never got the Bioneural Infusion Circuits, and never got the Feedback Pulse trait (missed that particular free ship while away from the game), but those were really the only two pieces that were needed to finish the build.
What I learned is:
1- that an ENG, running 25 points in the ENG tree ... can take a beatdown.
2- holding aggro wasn't hard even with ships doing twice my DPS.
3- It's when ships started to go toward 3 times my DPS that aggro got tougher to hold
4- Proximity Aggro is often overlooked in build advice threads, but the reasons I went pilot primary are for the boosts that help me maintain point blank range, and eat damage from stuff like warp core breaches with no actual damage, because proximity aggro is a really powerful factor in holding threat
5- Threat tools have little or nothing to do with ENG as a skill tree, but the heals, hull, and power settings increases help when you do maintain threat.
I mean my ship consistently held over 90% of the atks coming in, parse after parse after parse. And I really didn't take much damage at all.
But I never really flew it in coordinated teams that much. So it was built far more to PUG, and its damage potential I feel pretty much capped out, because flying in ISA created better positioning, which has a very big effect on your DPS, but with my investment in Pilot tree, and thus pedal to the medal, and point blank and proximity aggro, it was a lot to maintain and I had to keep moving at full throttle in a ship that wasn't the best choice for that.
So I come away from the skill tree revamp convinced that from the Development Team's perspective (and this is why the Eng needs to be improved threads may get crickets in terms of responses from the devs) the ENG tree does what they designed it to do. When you invest heavily into it, you do have the best Power System capability, you do soak damage really well because you have oodles of Hull Points from the tree.
Couple that with the ENG seats on many ships filling out key/essential BOFF powers that are defense related (as in TACs and SCIs that don't have access to something like RSP/E-Team/AtoSIF/EPtS would radically alter builds) ...
And ENG seems to be in a spot where the devs see it doing what they made it to do. But the players and the game itself have less use for being heavily invested in it.
That being said, I also think that a better, more effective build for tanking, even as an ENG captain, can be obtained by a more hybrid split between the skill tree categories.
And as for me?
Agents of Yesterday came out. I took my Science alt, and decked him out in a wicked fun T6 "Daedalus" EPG/Torp build and went bananas with that while taking my new 23c Tactical toon through all of the temporal recruit things and now that character is my new main since "Admiral Komack" fulfills all of my space barbie desires: TOS, TOS, TOS and TOS, running around in a T6 Temporal Light Cruiser, in TOS uniforms, with a TOS bridge, hanging in my fleet's new K-13 starbase jawn, and just pretending I am from the original series. It helps that he's a tactical officer in a really powerful ship, and I've dumped way more resources into him than all of my other toons combined, so his performance is much better. But he's also running temporal/strategist and has no real need to be full throttle and point blank range like my old tank did.
Anyways, I wish you luck with an ENG build that uses the ENG ultimate. I'm excited to see more people try it out.