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Commander traits and power levels

SystemSystem Member, NoReporting Posts: 178,019 Arc User
edited February 2010 in The Academy
I've restarted the game three times now, every time I learn something new that I wish I had done before and thus a new character is created. I've had one Tac and one Sci, and I'm doing a new Tac as I am not happy with the first and it is probably faster than to wait for the respec. And I really don't mind doing it all again.

But, I've heard that Commander level Engineering skills give bonus to designated ship power system. Like Starship Energy Weapon Efficiency will give bonus to weapons power. Is this really true? In the Tac RA I already have I had some unspent points and added them to this skill but I have not seen any extra weapons power at all. Personally, I though that it just enhanced the abilities like Emergency Power to Weapons, Aceton Field and so on and that only Starship Warp Core Training added to your power level.

In layman terms, is this right?

I must say, that the short descriptions of the skills themselves leaves a lot to be wanted some times though.
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  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Kthang wrote:
    I've restarted the game three times now, every time I learn something new that I wish I had done before and thus a new character is created. I've had one Tac and one Sci, and I'm doing a new Tac as I am not happy with the first and it is probably faster than to wait for the respec. And I really don't mind doing it all again.

    But, I've heard that Commander level Engineering skills give bonus to designated ship power system. Like Starship Energy Weapon Efficiency will give bonus to weapons power. Is this really true? In the Tac RA I already have I had some unspent points and added them to this skill but I have not seen any extra weapons power at all. Personally, I though that it just enhanced the abilities like Emergency Power to Weapons, Aceton Field and so on and that only Starship Warp Core Training added to your power level.

    In layman terms, is this right?

    I must say, that the short descriptions of the skills themselves leaves a lot to be wanted some times though.

    If you want a comprehensive look at Ship's Power take at the guide linked in my .sig.

    But to answer you question in a nutshell, there are a number of skills and traits which can affect power level by giving bonuses. The related sets are Starr Ship Warp Core Training and the related Warp Core Theorist Trait. And the next tier of skills are the Subsystem Efficiency Skills. And the the Efficient trait the Captain and Bridge Officers can have.

    These skills give power setting bonuses but not in the way you would think. They only give bonuses at lower power settings (i.e. allocated power <60). The lower the power the larger the bonus. For example at Warp Core Training, Rank 9. You can get a power setting bonus of +4 at power setting 25, and +2 at power setting 50. With Warp Core Theorist those bonuses become +7 and +3 respectively.

    And to emphasis the point, subsystem at 60+ don't get any Warp Core or Efficiency Bonuses. But don't fret, The Captain level and higher Performance skills give a power setting bonus. They give a straight bonus of +1 / Rank of the skill regardless of power level. Just like a Engineering Console. (Which is why they are Captain and Admiral level skills).

    There are also devices and skills which can temporarily increase power levels as well: Batteries, Red Matter Capacitor, Emergency Power to <subsystem>. But there are limits at the high end which limit how much power you can put into a subsystem. The upper limit is 125. It doesn't how much more you pump into it, you won't get any benefict from it.

    Using you as an example in an Escort ship. Escorts have a power setting bonus of +10 to Weapons. And I'll assume you run at in attack mode most of the time (100/50/25/25). That means your Weapons Subsystem is at 110. At that level you will get no Warp Core or Efficiency bonus as it's more then 60. In a battle, you hit activate the Red Matter Capacitor it give +25 power to all Subsystem, So you weapons get 110 + 25 power. But since the upper limit is 125, 125 is all that you get. You don't benefit from the extra 10 power.

    To continue with the example, you finally make it into the Read Admiral levels giving you access to Star Ship Weapon Performance skill. You pump skill point into it to get to Rank 9. That will get you +9 power setting bonus to Weapons. So you Fleet Escort Weaposns are now running at 100 +10 +9 == 119. That leaves you only +6 more you could push you weapons.

    The bottom line is that for Subsystems you are going to be running at high power most or all of the time, Efficiency Skills will be of very limited use.For subsystems that you will be running at 100 all or most of the time, the Emergency Power To... BO sills don't benefit you much at all either. The Subsystem Performance skills, you will always get get benefit from regardless of the power allocation levels. For subsystems that won't be running at high power levels. Warp Core and Efficiency skills will benefit you.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Ok, check to see if I have understood this :)

    Let's say I fly Science ship, but for some reason I want to go all weapons, 100/50/25/25 + Sci ship bonus. In that combination, I don't bother with Commander level skills in weapon power because I am already over 60. But since I do want to have some AUX power in the science ship I should train Commander level Starship Auxiliary Systems Efficiency which should give me a nice bonus since it is set at base 25 (does it give 52% of 25, and end up around 38 btw?) I might want to train Commander level Starship Shield Efficiency, but since that is at 50 the return might not be worth it.

    But, when I hit Captain and train Starship Shield Performance, it will give a total of +9 at max level to Shield power (?). Likewise, when I hit Admiral and train Starship Weapon Systems Performance it will give me a total +9 to weapons power (but never exceeding 125) for max trained skill.

    If I have understood this correctly, and what I said more or less is a repeat of what you said, I have finally understood it :)
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    I do believe you do understand. And since I'm now home, I can give you some numbers. The Efficiency Bonuses from Rank 1-9 range from +1 to +8 at at 25, +1 to +4 at 50. When you add in Borg Captin the ranges are +1 to +9 at 25 and +1 to +5 at 50. And with Borg Captain and BO, the ranges at +3 to +10 at 25 and +2 to +5 at 50.


    And finally an example of that you can have at Admiral levels. My RA5 in her Science ship have the following power in all the various modes. I have Rank 9 in all of the skills except for Starship Auxilary Performance. This also includes the Efficient Impulse Engine and a +4.5 Shield Console and my Borg Baptin and Borg BO Efficient bonuses as well.

    Attack - 114/78/52/57
    Defense - 64/119/52/57
    Speed - 57/61/109/73
    Balanced - 73/78/58/73

    I wish I could hve afforded the point for the Aux Performance. But one can't have everything. But in any case flying my Reconnaissance Science ship is almost like flying an Escort. It's insanely agile for a ship as big as it's suppose to be.
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