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direwolf016
Member Posts: 196 Arc User
in The Shipyard
Here's my current build (+MkXIV Railgun and +MkXII Reinforced Armaments): http://skillplanner.stoacademy.com/5bfb73b58a59bc423d76f2b505481eb1
DPS doesn't, at all, appear to be an issue, nor does maneuverability; what's at issue is durability. As far as skills, I didn't think I needed to put too much into shields since I have the Valdore console, but is that recommended? What should I sacrifice for either shield skill if it is recommended?
I like the Sol Defense set, since it has a little extra resistance that most of the others don't offer, and the repair nanites are definitely handy; but are there better sets that might be recommended? I tried the Iconian set, for instance, and got my but whipped by comparison. I have a MkXIV set of Aegis, but that doesn't seem as durable. Any suggestions?
Last question is regarding Plasmonic Leech: is it worth keeping equipped over another Neutronium or either the Martok or the Reiterative capacitor? Is the boost to shields and engines (6-7pts each) enough to justify it's retention, or is extra hull/resistance more important right now? I suppose this would carryover to when I finally get my Fleet Mogai.
I'm doing fine enough in Normal PVE, but it seems like I have to pay more attention to hull maintenance than I do for my KDF Duvqu', so I'm sure I'm doing something wrong, here...
DPS doesn't, at all, appear to be an issue, nor does maneuverability; what's at issue is durability. As far as skills, I didn't think I needed to put too much into shields since I have the Valdore console, but is that recommended? What should I sacrifice for either shield skill if it is recommended?
I like the Sol Defense set, since it has a little extra resistance that most of the others don't offer, and the repair nanites are definitely handy; but are there better sets that might be recommended? I tried the Iconian set, for instance, and got my but whipped by comparison. I have a MkXIV set of Aegis, but that doesn't seem as durable. Any suggestions?
Last question is regarding Plasmonic Leech: is it worth keeping equipped over another Neutronium or either the Martok or the Reiterative capacitor? Is the boost to shields and engines (6-7pts each) enough to justify it's retention, or is extra hull/resistance more important right now? I suppose this would carryover to when I finally get my Fleet Mogai.
I'm doing fine enough in Normal PVE, but it seems like I have to pay more attention to hull maintenance than I do for my KDF Duvqu', so I'm sure I'm doing something wrong, here...
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As for your gear. I would move on of the Universal Consoles from the science slot and put it in the engineering slot. I would then go to the Exchange and by a very rare or ultra rare Exotic Particle Field Exciter Mk XII (or higher). It boosts exotic damage, but that is not important for you. It also increases your shield capacity by 20%, and when you heal your shields you get +10 weapon power for 15 seconds. An ultra rare version will have a modifier which makes it an even more effective console see link below for the various types of modifiers available. You can only have one of these consoles equipped.
https://sto.gamepedia.com/Console_-_Science_-_Exotic_Particle_Field_Exciter
For tactical and engineering characters I typically purchase the one with [Resall] which is basically the same as Neutronium Alloy, but these can be expensive; currently starting at 27 million EC on the Exchange. However [ShHP] increases shield capacity and is a much more affordable 2.2 million EC.
There is also the Conductive RCS Accelerator. Pretty much just a normal RCS Accelerator with and added mod (ultra rare version). When you heal your hull you get +10% shield resistance and +20% turn rate for 15 seconds. Again, I typically would get this console with [Resall]... unless the Exotic Particle Field Exciter has it. Damage resistance has diminishing returns the more damage resistance consoles you use. Conductive RCS Accelerators with the [Resall] mod are even more expensive; there is a Mk XII [Resall] currently listed for 39 million EC. This is because most people would prefer a more "sciency" mod for the Exotic Particle Field Excite and more engineering mod for the Conductive RCS Accelerator. Again, you can only have one of this mods.
https://sto.gamepedia.com/Console_-_Engineering_-_Conductive_RCS_Accelerator
Regardless of whatever ship my characters commands (even raiders) they all use both of these console whatever their modifiers may be.
Thanks coldnapalm, as well. You're right in that would be a complete rework, and something I'm not at all familiar with. Do you have what you've described loaded on STOA? If not, am I correct skill-wise that you're recommending taking all points away from Hull Restoration and Damage Control, and redistribute them to DrainX and ControlX? Do you also put them into Control Amplification or Drain Infection, or would you put the odd point back in something like Shield Hardness or either capacities? As far as projectile training, the increased speed to target-able projectiles seems to make them a bit more manageable, and I've had a lot of success using the Rom Rep torps--would taking away points from that skill effect the DOT from them, or just the initial kinetic damage?
Which trait would you sacrifice for the rep trait that replenishes health through outgoing damage? Am I correct in thinking it's best to replace the current health regen trait I have with it?
Would ES pretty much replace Plasmonic Leech, or is it best to keep Leech in my layout? It sounds like, too, that you'd remove the Ablative Armour console? Or are you saying that the Zero Point console is interchangeable with Temporal Disentanglement console?
Also, so far...I have Intel as my primary and Pilot as my secondary (for space)--I've considered Strategist as secondary, as well, but I'm not familiar with how threat generation works..
Thanks to both of you, so far.
Even if I don't go the Sci/high aux route, and go more towards the second overall route of sticking with Eng, would you still replace one of the Infusers with Zero Point, anyway? It seems (on the surface) like I'd be left exposed if I dropped the Neutronium for it instead. On that note, as well, is it better to replace the Martok console with Plasmonic? Which proc would you recommend for the conductive RCS?
I like the idea of adding the Intel spec to my Eng--especially since he has Sup Rom Op and Rom Subterfuge--but I have the flexibility with the Hierarchy officer since his traits are just as strong in a different route, so I don't feel limited in that way. My only concern is that I'm not as familiar with Science, but am definitely willing to learn.
In a nutshell, either major route requires:
--Solanae Space set--I'm also using the Preeminent Core from the Draanur mission since it's bonuses are pretty tanky, but I still have the Iconian core as well
--Zero Point console as replacement of weakest Plasma Infuser
--Plasmonic to replace Martok console?
--Taking the seven skill points away from HR (two), DC (three), and PE (two) and adding them to CtrlX (two), DrainX (two), and DM (two)?
--Replacing the Nanite trait with SIF trait
In addition, Sci route requires:
--Remaining skill point into Control Amp
--Switch Regroup with AHoD traits
--Using Hierarchy officer in Uni/LtCdr slot with SSV1, ES1, GW1
--Change Eng to EPtA1, AtD1, EPW3
Or Eng route:
--Remaining skill point into DM
--Adding Intel Spec to current Eng in uni slot
--Operate with OSS1, AtB1, OSS3 in uni
--EPtE1, AtB1, and EPtW3 in Eng
Do I have that basically correct? I'm also a bit confused about the conductive RCS...I have one, currently, and it gives a boost to Eng--should I look for a more specific proc in the Exchange?
I do have AHoD as an available trait to use; your earlier suggestion about getting DT1 is not available--the PS4's Exchange has mostly DT3s, with only one DT1 for about 8mil.
I took your advice and adjusted it slightly, trying out: TT1/APB1/CSV2/CSV3 and KW1/APB1. I might try the torpedo trait and power combo you mentioned earlier in place of KW1, too, to see which flows better.
This is pretty fun; thank you for your help so far.
I think, as far as skills, the +2.25 defense gained from DM3 isn't quite as poignant as the Control Amplification, so choosing the latter will make it less likely that I'll have to respec if one route works less than the other.
I'm working on getting the Zero Point--I'm also very close to getting the Fleet Mogai which should help greatly.
Do you agree with my thinking that Subsystem Repair is a better choice for this build we're talking about than Maximum Hull Capacity (which is about a 3% boost to HullCap)?
http://skillplanner.stoacademy.com/5bfb73b58a59bc423d76f2b505481eb1
(only items missing are the new Preeminent Singularity Core, the House Martok Defensive Configuration, and Reinforced Armaments)
I excluded the Leech--I might reintroduce it in the Fleet Mogai; I've got the Zero Point, but I'm no sure the 20pt boost to EPS is that much of a jump, in comparison with the 20pt drop in Plasma Damage, but correct me if I'm wrong there...)
I felt naked without at least ET1; AtSI2 is pretty nice to have with a quick CD, and a boost comparable to a second armour; and I even though KLW1 is nerfed, a bit, I think I get a bit more from it that either torp boost, atm.
This feat might be small: I got through Crystaline Catastrophe Advanced without blowing up once, with the lowest in health I got being 45% (the majority of the event staying at no lower than 97%--an amazing improvement given that even in Normal I'd dip down regularly to 65%.
My next question is how well would this build work on my Duvqu' and Fleet Manticore...?
Is it worth respec'ing at this point to move the point out of Control Amplification (I'd hate to waste another token if I don't have to)? If so, should I move it to Hull Cap or Shield Hardness?
I've got the rest of the powers you're talking about, so I'll give that a whir today, see if it works in my case. I think my mindset with two EPtW's was to keep the Morrigu trait running as much as possible; but I see what you're saying as far as boosting all of the power levels. Is HY1 worth more than TT1 for this build? I was thinking the weapons' boost was helping in overall DPS, and keeping my shields balanced when the Valdore's console wasn't proc'ing.
I went away from CtrlAmp and added the point to ShHrd; I took the lone point from ProjWeTr and added it to HullCap; lastly, I took the point I had in Engine Subsystem and placed in Shield Subsystem. That's allowing me a little more toughness, but the SIF isn't replenishing my health as quick as it's depleting--if it weren't for the Ablative console, I'd die even quicker.
Is there something I'm missing?
Stat-wise, I'm sitting at bases of:
W - 125
S - 64
E - 56
A - 38
Acc - 32.35
CrCh - 13
CrSe - 85.5
Hull - 75675
ShMax - 7957
Def - 32.85
Regen - 45(hull)/368.2per6(shield)
KinRes - 36.1
PhRes - 32.1
DisRes - 32.1
PlRes - 32.1
TetRes - 32.1
PolRes - 31.2
ApRes - 32.1
Turn - 17.2
Spd - 37.4
EPS - 263.33
Do any of those figures seem low to you?
How high would you say the CritH should be?
I haven't yet added DOFFs to active, yet, so I'll see if I have any that can help (I've been raising my Progressions, and am close to done).
I don't have as much experience as the person helping you but do use your ship and have found it to be exceptionally tanky. This is probably because I'm taking a simpler more traditional route with less damage potential, but then again you can't do much damage when you're re-spawning so maybe I'm not far off.
I read through the thread and tried to take note of what you wanted to achieve. Then I took your last posted build and took away any points that imho weren't doing that much for you and ended up with this. Then I added them back and ended up with this.
There's more than enough room in the boff layout for an additional hull heal and a shield heal. If you just have HE1 as your only heal and want to use this build you really need some decent gear and piloting to back it up.
Just my 2 EC and no disrespect intended to the person helping you, he knows his stuff.
Survive first and then go higher end.
For me, the sto ship build world is roughly divided into two camps - casuals - and ... experts.
Now, casuals, in a T6, CAN underperform. But as a casual player you can make a simple energy weapon based (default Attack energy profile) T6 build by getting a tanky T6 ship, and slotting on a couple of tactical team & weapon boosts skills, emergency power to skills (and some engineering team for hull heals and DEM for the dps), and science can do some anti tractor and shield heal stuff.
Run missions and equip the ship with VR XII gear and sets you can earn from episodes and you will have a ship that can do *all* normal PvE content and contribute solidly in some advanced Queues. Throw in some very simple keybinds to trigger action bars with space-bar and "g", where space will auto trigger TT and any weapon buffing skills and G will trigger shield buffs, shield repairs and hull repairs in that order. You can basically face-roll this kind of ship and get ~20K dps and great survivability.
Now that you have achieved peak-casual you can move onto expert builds - builds that exceed 20k dps (in ISA) and can survive advanced and elite queues and episodes. Upgrade your gear to XIV Epic, spend EC buying weapons with perfect mods and so on.
So I am confused - you seem to have an expert build ship - but are struggling in normal content. So I'd suggest going back to basics first - get your ship working in peak performance using simple casual mode game theory (as outlined by @protoneus and others). Get a baseline for what you should expect - at a minimum - from an expert build that relies on specific DOFFs and skills to be used in carefully timed ways. And now, try out expert builds. But rebuild them or throw them the hell away if they can't outperform your casual build setup.
Cold, I realize that there are some indirect and clickie heals available but got the impression that if the OP is still blowing up then maybe it's time to get back to basics and perhaps the horse is being put before the cart here. This may be a simple build for you or me but because it involves more knowledge of timing and how to use things may not be optimal at this point, but might be something they want to work towards.
Also, the last spec posted has zero points in hull restoration, shield restoration, and shield capacity and excess points in at least six different areas, hence my "take away" view of sub-optimal points and "give back" version of those same points in a suggested spec that's a little more general.
imho the OP's spec is imbalanced if they ever wants to fly an event or other type of ship and is specialized to the point where they might as well go tac ultimate. But that would be another example of providing a race car to somebody with a learners license.
I apologize for being late to the party as your advice is sound, game knowledge is amazing and amount of time and detail you put in to help others admirable. I should have posted some vanilla alternatives when this thread first caught my eye.
Thanks for the advice; I realize that the builds I've been adjusting are no longer available as they were, so I'll just say that the original skill setup I had gave two each to HullRes and HullCap; had three in DamCtrl; and three in ProjExp. Since that point, I've adjusted based on @coldnapalm's advice to where it is now.
Item-wise, I was using the Sol Defence set with the Iconian Core--otherwise the same item setup.
Perhaps the problem with my use of @coldnapalm's suggested build is two-fold, at the moment: 1) the set's not upgraded, yet; and 2) the strengths of the build translate poorly to PS4/Xbox as powers are either activated via radial menus or via auto-activation triggered by certain conditions (ie, HP 75% or lower, or average shield HP 75% or lower, etc) making the use of specific powers somewhat clumsy or ill-timed by default.
On my layout, as it is now, I have for immediate manual activation: TT1 for the tactical power, EPtE1 for the engineering power, and HE1 for the science--the other two radials they have are for trait/career powers (such as EM and GDF) where I have EM as the immediate manual switch, and for ship/item-specific powers (such as singularity powers, cloaking, etc) where I have cloak as the immediate switch. Every other power is a matter of holding the effective menu open and rotating to that power as quickly as you can, or setting the auto-activate to whatever setting works best.
It's worth mentioning that I have virtually no problems on ground, at this point--all it took was maxing-out the Commando specialization and switching to that for ground content (along with upgrading everything to MkXIV).
@coldnapalm
So, in general, if I were to find cannons with CritH boosts, should that boost my overall CritH for the ship, or just that particular weapon? I might have been misunderstanding the mechanic this whole time. And I haven't even dabbled with crafting, yet; I'm going to have to if I want that Conductive RCS we've been talking about.
Anyway, point is...is there any relatively low-maintenance build, even if it's based loosely on this one, that I can run with until I can start getting the higher-end fleet equipment?
Update:
My Fleet leader had the very smart idea of asking the Armada to invite me to their Spire and pick up the Vulnerability consoles. I also picked up and Elite core. But still...the condescending poster above has a point: I'm a bit out of my league, atm, when it comes to this build. I'm a fast learner (I...think?), but the concepts that are being thrown out here are a bit of steep learning curve for me. I'll try out the new consoles tomorrow and fill you in on if they make a difference.
On this note I just want to add that APB can heal... but only when a Shield Distribution Officer with the "Attack Pattern Beta restores hull when firing" ability is placed on active duty. These Doffs will be rather expensive on the Exchange because they only come from the Delta Quadrant Duty Officer Packs. Correct, these Doffs can only obtained by purchasing the Delta Operations Pack (12,000 Zen???) they are bound to character when claimed.