Classification
What classifies a ship as a torpedo starship? Why would I build one? What role would it serve? In answering thiese question, I will reference the
original guide to show what has changed and why it has changed, both in definition and tactics. By no means should my opinions be a hard and fast rule, as what works for some may not work for others. Instead, take them as suggestions from those of us who have "been there & done that". For example, if I had followed that guide to the letter, I would not use a Defiant as a torpedo ship, as the guide stated that it would not be a good torpedo starship. I have encountered some very imaginative minds who have designed some unique, yet well-performing ship builds, so don't be afraid to experiment after being informed of the mechanics and synergies. If you have any insight to share, by all means, share it.
Referencing the original guide (where the author used "strong" and "weak" to describe the builds), I will throw in my own thoughts on what a "strong" and "weak" torpedo build is. A ship that uses torpedoes to suppliment its damage capabilities, but does not use torpedoes as one of its main attacks is not a torpedo ship. It just has projectile(s). A ship that utilizes energy, torpedoes, and Sci/Engineering abilities in equal ratios with respect to damage output is a very special snowflake. A ship that has 40% or more damage dealt via torpedoes (and torpedo abilities/triggers), WITH torpedoes being the leading source of damage for that ship, can be classified as a Torpedo Starship (EX: 40% torpedoes, 30% energy, 30% Sci/Eng/Temporal damaging abilities).
Why build one? For fun, of course! You can deliver spike damage to big targets, augment Science/Temporal abilities with specialty torpedoes, or blanket an area with a spread of destruction and secondary effects. With the release of Season 13 and the Great Balance Pass of 2017, torpedo builds will see a resurgence in both popularity and performance for EPG-based Sci-Torp builds (looking at you, Gravimetric torpedo) in runs like Korfez & CCA. Those who are using a Sci-Torp hybrid focusing on EPG will see very large gains via fixes and improvements to Gravimetric Photon Torpedo, and the Particle Emission Plasma Torpedo. Those who play a Siege Ship will enjoy the Targetable Torpedo flight speed increase, so long as you have Torpedo Pre-Fire Sequence slotted. The lockout changes will hamper performance in short ISA runs, HSE runs when facing the Boss targets, and in PvP Alpha Bombardments (no more massive spike damage for a weapon meant to do spike damage).
What role do they serve? Torpedo builds can deliver a massive volley of torps (via Concentrate Firepower), or a short burst of extremely high damage to unshielded targets. If you are facing shielded targets, the Neutronic and Quantum Phase torpedoes will eliminate shields so long as you have enough DrainX to support the weapon procs. In a team scenario, you take out the biggest target, and leave the small stuff to the FaW boats. You can also serve supplemental roles, depending on your loadout; from shield stripper, to debuffer, to straight-up Nukes-Xpress, the only limitations are your own skill, and outdated game mechanics.. which you can overcome with even more skill and the right loadout!
Comments
This section will be lighter on written text, as most of the work I have completed via Reddit posts and video guides. More will be added here based on user feedback and Q&A.
My Federation Build Guides are there for you to look at. They serve two purposes:
1. To show a build history and evolution (corrections to mistakes, or building off of a mistake to make a viable thematic build).
2. To serve as a template for future builds.
The attached image shows my rationale for the first iteration of my torpedo boat, the "Fleet Defiant - Kinetic Heavy Fire Support". The logic is sound, but the actual execution in game had some mechanics issues that were dealt with in future builds.
@e30Ernest is the expert on Sci-Torp builds, and should be consulted first if you are dedicating your ship builds to Sci-Torp. His Starter Sci-Torp build will get you going as you work on your Reputations and build your resources for future builds and upgrades. I would add the Particle Emission Plasma Torpedo to his build, as not only is it cheap, but extremely powerful and useful vs Normal level difficulty NPC's.
The video series will give you an audio-visual record of mechanics, builds, and in-game performance.
The first episode of the guide: [previewyoutube=http://youtu.be/MurTwR_xWhw;rightthumb][/previewyoutube]
With Season 13, not much has changed in the core mechanics, and most builds will continue to function as-is, but with some adjustments. The major highlights are:
1. Gravimetric Photon Torpedo procs a Gravimetric Rift for each eligible target in Torpedo Spread (TS). Rift damage now properly scales with EPG, and Rift pull now properly scales with ControlX.
2. Quantum Phase High Yield (HY) proc now properly drains the main target's shields.
3. Omega Kinetic Shearing (OKS) now does 10% of torpedo damage over 6 seconds, down from 40% over 6 seconds.
4. Targetable Torpedoes now fly slightly faster, but ONLY with Torpedo Pre-Fire Sequence active.
5. You cannot have two torpedo BOff abilities active at the same time. There is a lockout period between TS and HY activation, preventing a player from chambering a TS after activating a HY. This is a severe nerf to Alpha Strike tactics. The April 25, 2017 patch notes quote:
"The Bridge Officer Abilities Torpedo High Yield and Torpedo Spread can no longer be activated while the player has a Torpedo High Yield or Spread available to fire, or if the player has fired a torpedo as a High Yield or Spread within the last 5 seconds."
Fleet Defiant Kinetic Heavy Fire Support | Fleet Manticore Kinetic Strike Ship | Tactical Command Kinetic Siege Refit | Fleet Defiant Quantum Phase Escort | Fleet Valiant Kinetic Heavy Fire Support
Turning the Galaxy-X into a Torpedo Dreadnought & torpedo tutorial, with written torpedo guide.
"A good weapon and a great strategy will win you many battles." - Marshall
I knew using Kinetics would be playing the game on hard mode, but what I didn't realize was how bad the deck is stacked against Kinetics.
The other problem was the plasma balls being blown up before hitting the target. Like above this has not been 100% fixed but is much better now. With the new faster flight speed added with Master of the Mines for 33% resistance, Prototype Plasma for increased Defence and more flight speed & Phasic Artillery from Temporal Operative for an extra 8.8k hitpoints the Targetable Torpedoes do not blow up anywhere near as much as they used to.
Last week I flew two variations. One was the Rom Hyper Torpedo which due to the above changes has gone back to putting out a constant stream of torpedo balls. Mixed in with Con Firepower it works again. The other version was Advanced Piezo-Photon Torpedo, Emissions, Omega & Temporal Defence to put out a constant stream of high damage balls.
I wouldn’t recommend this for breaking DPS records but for those that are happy in the 50k to 100k DPS range this setup can make a nice change. If you are in a 100k+ DPS groups you will find your own DPS plummets as everything dies before the balls do anything.
Have you seen the Advanced Piezo-Photon Torpedo? I overlooked it as first but with Concentrate Firepower High Yields it does 10k Electric damage in a 5km blast. To enemy’s in 5km it will drain shields and lower hardness by 20%. It’s a great mix with Neutronic and Quantum Phase for a DrainX build.
Could I clarify this? I thought there was a patch that boosted the base speed of Targetable Torpedoes since the last guide. So without Pre-Fire Sequence active Targetable Torpedoes are faster than before making them more viable. This also means the speed boost from Torpedo Pre-Fire Sequence better as its now 33% from a larger base number.
I haven't had a chance to test Piezo, so thanks for the contribution to this. The assumption that the HY firing mode guarantees the proc (which would be consistent with most special torps and their HY variants). If this is the case, then it will be added to the guide.
Please feel free to critique. While it is still a work in progress (I'm collecting all my notes and posts first, and then clarifying them), a different perspective would help me better phrase things to reach a much wider audience.
I'll get to the rest, but I wanted to say thanks!
Fleet Defiant Kinetic Heavy Fire Support | Fleet Manticore Kinetic Strike Ship | Tactical Command Kinetic Siege Refit | Fleet Defiant Quantum Phase Escort | Fleet Valiant Kinetic Heavy Fire Support
Turning the Galaxy-X into a Torpedo Dreadnought & torpedo tutorial, with written torpedo guide.
"A good weapon and a great strategy will win you many battles." - Marshall
I knew using Kinetics would be playing the game on hard mode, but what I didn't realize was how bad the deck is stacked against Kinetics.
Since this was posted Subspace warheads have been fixed. It’s not cheap to get but if you have access to Subspace warhead trait combined with Concentrate Firepower then I found Rom Hyper Plasma torpedoes with high EPG outperform Gravimetric and Particle Emission Plasma.
An alternative EPG build is to skip Gravimetric and Particle Emission Plasma (PEP) as they are to slow via Concentrate Firepower. Have Neutronic and Delphic or your favourite fast travelling torpedo and have Concentrate Firepower spam High yield shots. It’s viable on less ships then the Gravimetric style EPG torpedo builds but each High Yield creates an EPG boosted subspace tear that moves and does AoE damage. I do this to turn my Carrier and Cruiser into a EPG hybrid boat so I get the benefits of EPG torpedoes with the high spike damage of the Quantum.
It tends to work as you enter combat but its very unreliable for extended combat.
The problem with PS4, is we can’t turn on or off auto fire when it comes to Torpedos. There is no way (that I’m aware of) to select individual torpedos to fire certain modes on only. Now if you think about it, if you can’t let’s say, fire your 3,4 and 5 torpedo under High Yield (which is what you might want to do, as your first 2 torps might of already stripped the targets shields), then how exactly did the developers envision us piloting a torp boat effectively??
I just got a Ship with Command seating and I can’t even use it, for what is easily executed on PC. Very confused here. Any help appreciated.
I'll see about getting some Console players to comment on this. I have zero experience in Console.
Fleet Defiant Kinetic Heavy Fire Support | Fleet Manticore Kinetic Strike Ship | Tactical Command Kinetic Siege Refit | Fleet Defiant Quantum Phase Escort | Fleet Valiant Kinetic Heavy Fire Support
Turning the Galaxy-X into a Torpedo Dreadnought & torpedo tutorial, with written torpedo guide.
"A good weapon and a great strategy will win you many battles." - Marshall
I knew using Kinetics would be playing the game on hard mode, but what I didn't realize was how bad the deck is stacked against Kinetics.
Agreed. It does beg the question as to why this isn't baseline to torps. Furthermore, why do torps have to be limited to only one launcher firing at any one point in time? I could see this as *possibly* being an issue when the game was first released, but now?
Fleet Defiant Kinetic Heavy Fire Support | Fleet Manticore Kinetic Strike Ship | Tactical Command Kinetic Siege Refit | Fleet Defiant Quantum Phase Escort | Fleet Valiant Kinetic Heavy Fire Support
Turning the Galaxy-X into a Torpedo Dreadnought & torpedo tutorial, with written torpedo guide.
"A good weapon and a great strategy will win you many battles." - Marshall
I knew using Kinetics would be playing the game on hard mode, but what I didn't realize was how bad the deck is stacked against Kinetics.
Fleet Defiant Kinetic Heavy Fire Support | Fleet Manticore Kinetic Strike Ship | Tactical Command Kinetic Siege Refit | Fleet Defiant Quantum Phase Escort | Fleet Valiant Kinetic Heavy Fire Support
Turning the Galaxy-X into a Torpedo Dreadnought & torpedo tutorial, with written torpedo guide.
"A good weapon and a great strategy will win you many battles." - Marshall
I knew using Kinetics would be playing the game on hard mode, but what I didn't realize was how bad the deck is stacked against Kinetics.
Builds, Concepts, and Mechanics (Pt 2)
To excel as a torpedo Captain, you have to understand our biggest adversary; shields.
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles." - Sun Tsu
A detailed discussion on shield mechanics and resistances will help you understand not only what you are up against, but how you can overcome them.
Discuss shield bleedthrough mechanics
Shields ignore 75% of torpedo damage
Reference shield weakening
DrainX, Quantum Phase, Neutronic, & Pizeo torps.
HY = High Yield | TS = Torpedo Spread
The importance of subsystem drain & Neutronic:
**"Neutronic HY is so nasty because you have the radiation damage (per torp) hitting shields FIRST, the subsystem power drain (per torp) weakening shields, and the high kinetic damage per torp hitting the remainder of whatever shields are left before punching through hull." ** - This is true in both TS & HY, but ONLY for TS vs the main target. Both Neutronic and Quantum Phase have been nerfed (imho, unjustly so) so that their procs do not affect secondary targets in a TS. You get 'plain' Quantums firing to all other targets in that TS. #Sad. Also of note (as of last testing), Neutronic TS does not properly apply the subsystem drain debuff. This has been an issue since the release of the torpedo, and has been reported numerous times. The HY debuff stacks properly for the reported 6 seconds.
If you have DrainX sources, you will want to use Neutronic (Quantum), Piezo (Photon) and Quantum Phase (Quantum).
If you have EPG sources, you will want to use Gravimetric and Particle Emission Plasma (PEP).
For hard hitting kinetic damage, you want Neutronic (HY), Enhanced Bio-Molecular Photon (EBM) (HY), Gravimetric (HY), TriCobalt, Delphic (HY), and Temporal Displacement Device. When the target is below 40% health, the Terran Task Force Photon Torpedo (especially under HY1 crits) does competitive damage.
For debuffing your targets by lowering the target(s) hull resistance, the following torpedoes can be used: Delphic (Lobi), Resonant Transphasic (mission reward), Disrupting Photon (Romulan only mission reward), Corrosive Plasma (Lobi), Naussican Energy (mission reward).
You can have a mix of torps that can compliment each other, especially with the BOff ability, Concentrate Firepower. Ex: Two shield-drain torps + one heavy kinetic torp vs weakly shielded targets | Debuffing torps + one heavy kinetic torp vs unshielded targets/structures.
Transphasics are OK for Normal difficulty, but vs most Advanced and any Elite STF's, they don't have the punch needed to deal with hull bloat. They're great for leveling, though.
Unlike most energy weapons, the Rep/Special Reward torps are usually far and away better than crafted torps (with a few noteworthy exceptions). Learning how to make them work with each other, as well as boosting them, is integral to being an effective torpedo starship captain.
Fleet Defiant Kinetic Heavy Fire Support | Fleet Manticore Kinetic Strike Ship | Tactical Command Kinetic Siege Refit | Fleet Defiant Quantum Phase Escort | Fleet Valiant Kinetic Heavy Fire Support
Turning the Galaxy-X into a Torpedo Dreadnought & torpedo tutorial, with written torpedo guide.
"A good weapon and a great strategy will win you many battles." - Marshall
I knew using Kinetics would be playing the game on hard mode, but what I didn't realize was how bad the deck is stacked against Kinetics.
https://www.reddit.com/r/odenknight_sto/comments/8ok7pd/star_trek_online_space_torpedo_build_guide_wip/
Fleet Defiant Kinetic Heavy Fire Support | Fleet Manticore Kinetic Strike Ship | Tactical Command Kinetic Siege Refit | Fleet Defiant Quantum Phase Escort | Fleet Valiant Kinetic Heavy Fire Support
Turning the Galaxy-X into a Torpedo Dreadnought & torpedo tutorial, with written torpedo guide.
"A good weapon and a great strategy will win you many battles." - Marshall
I knew using Kinetics would be playing the game on hard mode, but what I didn't realize was how bad the deck is stacked against Kinetics.
I'm looking at my Reddit builds and not observing any gaps in gear for the ships. If you see any, can you specifically point to them, please?
As to your ship choice and build...
If you are going for PvE, you'll have choices to make:
1. Enhanced Battle Cloak (EBC). You can cloak, stay cloaked when preparing to fire your torpedoes/mines), and briefly decloak if you fire torpedoes ONLY. You will automatically recloak so long as you do not continuously fire torpedoes. With mine deployments, you do not decloak. This is excellent for Alpha Striking and various hit & run tactics.
2. Siege Ship: Any cruiser with 4+ fore weapons and the Bridge Officer Command ability called 'Concentrate Firepower' (CF), will allow you to place yourself at a location, fire torpedoes, apply CF, and fire a stream of High Yield One (HY1) at your target. Massive destruction with the right torps.
3. Any ship with maneuverability and CF will work like a cannon build; pick your targets early, fire torps, apply CF to big targets prior to torpedo impact, and then fire everything at everything left alive. Win.
Work on the following reps ASAP:
Terran
Omega (2pc gear)
Counter Command/8472 (Undine one)
Delta (move under Terran if working on a Quantum Build)
Competetive (See Delta)
Dyson (move under Counter Command if working on Photon or EPG build)
Do any of the Featured Episodes/Story missions that reward torps, or provide gear that will help. "Sunrise" contains the Quantum Phase torpedo (and other pieces that you should get). The Naussican torpedo, 2 Transphasics, and some other supplemental gear can also be had from these FE's. Do them until you get your 'final' build together. Buy/make a crafted Particle Emission Plasma Torpedo and spam it with Torpedo Spread (TS). That's both a quality of life improvement, and decent damage for Normal STF's.
Fleet Defiant Kinetic Heavy Fire Support | Fleet Manticore Kinetic Strike Ship | Tactical Command Kinetic Siege Refit | Fleet Defiant Quantum Phase Escort | Fleet Valiant Kinetic Heavy Fire Support
Turning the Galaxy-X into a Torpedo Dreadnought & torpedo tutorial, with written torpedo guide.
"A good weapon and a great strategy will win you many battles." - Marshall
I knew using Kinetics would be playing the game on hard mode, but what I didn't realize was how bad the deck is stacked against Kinetics.
I got them all, and then made multiple loadouts based off of the STF(s) I was doing.
The AMACO 2pc for most builds would typically be Engines and Shields, but get all 3 pieces, as you can mix and match based off of loadout.
If you're doing a Quantum build, and have the Quantum Phase and Neutronic torpedo, you'd want the Terran Deflector + Core for more DrainX if you're facing a lot of shielded targets. Your primary damage is still Kinetic, but this would help if there are a lot of shielded targets. If you are constantly bypassing shields (or targets shields are weak/non-existent), then use the Colony or Counter Command Deflector for more damage. Add the Competitive 3pc for more Quantum damage. Get the Delphic torpedo (Lobi) for hard Quantum & debuffing potential.
Max-1 chasing (biggest boom possible), use the Colony Deflector, AMACO Engine + Shield, and Core of choice (Butterfly core for BOff cd, Terran for subsystem power, Iconian vs Tholian or any weapon shutdown, Delta for Jump, etc).
Photon Torpedo build: EBM + Grav + Piezo + Disrupting Photon (Romulan) / Kelvin Photon. Single shot everything else but EBM (prioritize that for HYx). Set bonuses here are all about boosting Photon/torpedo/projectile damage.
EPG: Particle Emission Plasma + Gravimetric torpedo. Forget set bonuses or Kinetic bonuses. The break point to make their procs do significant damage would make other EPG damage sources much more viable for your build at that point.
Debuffer loadout: A not-so-popular style of play would be the Support Siege Ship. You use torps that debuff your target and do so-so to decent kinetic damage. Disrupting Photon (Romulan), Resonant Transphasic, Corrosive Plasma, Delphic (Quantum) torpedo, Martok Transphasic (3pc), etc will debuff your target upon impact. Typically want to use HYx, as the debuff lasts longer/stacks longer vs shingle shot or TSx.
You've got options. Pick what you want to go for and start going for it.
Fleet Defiant Kinetic Heavy Fire Support | Fleet Manticore Kinetic Strike Ship | Tactical Command Kinetic Siege Refit | Fleet Defiant Quantum Phase Escort | Fleet Valiant Kinetic Heavy Fire Support
Turning the Galaxy-X into a Torpedo Dreadnought & torpedo tutorial, with written torpedo guide.
"A good weapon and a great strategy will win you many battles." - Marshall
I knew using Kinetics would be playing the game on hard mode, but what I didn't realize was how bad the deck is stacked against Kinetics.
EPG matters for the Gravimetric torpedo but don't neglect control as it extends how long the rifts last which in turn boosts DPS.
Good point. I'll be sure to include this info when people ask about the role of CtrlX with this torp. I wonder if it has any affect on the PEP's cloud effect?
The 3pc would be nice *IF* it allows for the AMACO 2pc to be utilized as well. Sadly, it doesn't. If your focus is on torpedoes and mines, this set doesn't do them justice. Requiring more than 2 people to have the 3pc set before it becomes better than the AMACO for your torps & mines is harsh. The Deflector is nice if you're running a debuffer loadout (with or without DrainX), but if you're specializing in other areas, there are better options.
If it was designed with a similar mindset like what the Iconian set did for energy weapons (for both individual and team), then it would be a contender (if not superior) to the AMACO set.
The trepidation to boost all torpedoes in this game is still being felt a year later after Borticus made his statements about torps on the Priority1 interview.
Fleet Defiant Kinetic Heavy Fire Support | Fleet Manticore Kinetic Strike Ship | Tactical Command Kinetic Siege Refit | Fleet Defiant Quantum Phase Escort | Fleet Valiant Kinetic Heavy Fire Support
Turning the Galaxy-X into a Torpedo Dreadnought & torpedo tutorial, with written torpedo guide.
"A good weapon and a great strategy will win you many battles." - Marshall
I knew using Kinetics would be playing the game on hard mode, but what I didn't realize was how bad the deck is stacked against Kinetics.
be nice to see some of these torp build done up on the skill planner it would help me get a better picture of the torp builds.https://skillplanner.stoacademy.com/
Within the builds listing on Reddit, you will see a "Notes & Links" section. The SkillPlanner builds are linked there.
Some of the Defiant builds are set for "canon" (As Seen On TV) builds. They are denoted with a [STB] tag (Star Trek Battles. Ask @trizeo1 about what they do.).
The Megolith and Sisko builds can be applied to the Defiant with minor modifications, but will still yield impressive results in the hands of a capable pilot.
Fleet Defiant Kinetic Heavy Fire Support | Fleet Manticore Kinetic Strike Ship | Tactical Command Kinetic Siege Refit | Fleet Defiant Quantum Phase Escort | Fleet Valiant Kinetic Heavy Fire Support
Turning the Galaxy-X into a Torpedo Dreadnought & torpedo tutorial, with written torpedo guide.
"A good weapon and a great strategy will win you many battles." - Marshall
I knew using Kinetics would be playing the game on hard mode, but what I didn't realize was how bad the deck is stacked against Kinetics.
It's all good. I do it too.
Fleet Defiant Kinetic Heavy Fire Support | Fleet Manticore Kinetic Strike Ship | Tactical Command Kinetic Siege Refit | Fleet Defiant Quantum Phase Escort | Fleet Valiant Kinetic Heavy Fire Support
Turning the Galaxy-X into a Torpedo Dreadnought & torpedo tutorial, with written torpedo guide.
"A good weapon and a great strategy will win you many battles." - Marshall
I knew using Kinetics would be playing the game on hard mode, but what I didn't realize was how bad the deck is stacked against Kinetics.
Maybe this might help? I did a plasma test and then a quantum torpedo test, but not with an EBC ship. You can send the build to the Malem/T'varo if you wish, just no CF and more hit-n-run.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g233ftc0NvQ
Fleet Defiant Kinetic Heavy Fire Support | Fleet Manticore Kinetic Strike Ship | Tactical Command Kinetic Siege Refit | Fleet Defiant Quantum Phase Escort | Fleet Valiant Kinetic Heavy Fire Support
Turning the Galaxy-X into a Torpedo Dreadnought & torpedo tutorial, with written torpedo guide.
"A good weapon and a great strategy will win you many battles." - Marshall
I knew using Kinetics would be playing the game on hard mode, but what I didn't realize was how bad the deck is stacked against Kinetics.
With a Quantum Torp build, you can use the Colony Deflector or the Counter-Command Deflector. No need for any of the other CC gear. The 3pc Home set seems to be good, and will probably be a part of the new torpedo "meta" for most builds.
Fleet Defiant Kinetic Heavy Fire Support | Fleet Manticore Kinetic Strike Ship | Tactical Command Kinetic Siege Refit | Fleet Defiant Quantum Phase Escort | Fleet Valiant Kinetic Heavy Fire Support
Turning the Galaxy-X into a Torpedo Dreadnought & torpedo tutorial, with written torpedo guide.
"A good weapon and a great strategy will win you many battles." - Marshall
I knew using Kinetics would be playing the game on hard mode, but what I didn't realize was how bad the deck is stacked against Kinetics.
The Klingon version is the KHG (Klingon Honor Guard). https://sto.gamepedia.com/Klingon_Honor_Guard_(Space)
See if you're receiving the bonus Aux and the hull regen from the set.
Fleet Defiant Kinetic Heavy Fire Support | Fleet Manticore Kinetic Strike Ship | Tactical Command Kinetic Siege Refit | Fleet Defiant Quantum Phase Escort | Fleet Valiant Kinetic Heavy Fire Support
Turning the Galaxy-X into a Torpedo Dreadnought & torpedo tutorial, with written torpedo guide.
"A good weapon and a great strategy will win you many battles." - Marshall
I knew using Kinetics would be playing the game on hard mode, but what I didn't realize was how bad the deck is stacked against Kinetics.