At the captain rank I moved on to fighting Cardassians as my main foe. Now the first time I encountered them I was looking forward to the cake walk and they kicked my TRIBBLE. Finally I beat one. So does anyone have tips on how to beat these ships. It's the photonic Fleet thats the problem.
The last time I beat the ship I got at max range opened fire with max power to weapons and put the ship in reverse. I blew a hole in his shields and then put a round of Quantum Torpedos through it and theh the fleet appeared but they were too far away to do much and another wave or Torpedos and it was dead.
Normally they appear and i fight them and I start to get the upper hand they summon the fleet of 3 ships and the sheids of the orginal ship is full and they have 4 ships pounding me and I can't hurt the batleship with fulkl shields and 4 ships pounding me and if I kill the photonoic ships first then they respawn before I do much damage and I am goona die after that long.
What weapons and tactics should I use to defeat thse damn ships. As I am not good at dog fighting in my Galaxy Class Cruiser that turns like a brick.
Well, don't bother fighting the photonic ships, if you thought that was any kind of idea. If you can damage the Keldon's Aux sustems, it weakens them, but only before they get summoned. Try and broadside one of his shields, then hold him in place with a tractor beam. Pump up yer own Aux to turn as fast as you can, maybe drop yer speed down and hit Evasive Maneuvers or Attack Pattern Alpha, then hit him with a high yield torpeado and phaser bank combo. Also, if you got it, eject Warp Plasma if yer close enough. And Aceton Field is invaluable as well. Also, disabling works wonders, so send out a boarding party to mess with it's subsystems in general.
I know it's tempting to use dual phaser banks on the galaxy, but don't, if you are. That thing can't turn fast enough to keep faster moving ships in the dual bank's targeting arc. A good loadout is fore and aft torpeado launchers, then everything else beams. Try and find a good balance for yer weapon energy, because firing all those beams at once in a broadside can drain power real quick.
Use your batteries liberally, too. A well-timed shield or engine battery can be life saving for cruisers.
That's about all the info I can give ya without knowing what your actual equipment list is. If you don't have one, make sure you got a Combat Impulse Engine!
Can't really give you much help myself as I've only faced them with an escort so far (in which case the fleet is up for barely 3 seconds before the battleship blows) and my highest experience with cruisers is the heavy cruiser (4 nacelle thingy). generally though I've noticed the fleet won't spawn till the Keldon is at about 20-30% hull, If you can somehow manage to keep a torp tube lined up with an exposed shield face one high yeild 2 (1 might work) should be enough to finish the job depending on your torps of course. Failing that a beam overload could possibly do the trick.
First thing, ignore the photonic fleet. It's a waste of time and power.
Secondly ..this is only one way to do it ... Im sure there are others and probably better.
It helps to have the following Boff skills also ..
Engineer with Engineering Team 3 and Emergency Power to Shields and Reverse Shield Polarity
Engineer with Emergency Power to Weapons 1 and Directed Energy Modulation
Science with Science Team 1 and Scamble Sensors
Tactical with High Yield Torpedos 1 at least and any other Offensive powers.
You own Rotate Shields ability
Also, have at least one torpedo launcher forward and one rear and it helps to have shield regen consoles and shiled setting boosts and hull resistances.
Chances are you will not be able to destroy the ship on approach ... there will be manuevering. Don't try to outmanuever them. Usually you just won't be able to outmanuever much of anything.
On approach use Emergency Power to Weapons AND Directed Energy Modulation and ready your High Yield Torpedos. The goal on approach is to do as much damage as possible ..so fire the torps at the last second even if you dont get shileds down. You want the enemy to have to balance shields or reinforce the facing shield. It's a fight of attrition.
He's probably not going to be destroyed on approach. Your goal is to keep one side, any side to him as much as possible and Broadside fire continuously .. Do not waste any time where you are not firing .. continuous fire is going to help you ruin his shileds. He's going to be hurting you .. use Rotate Shields, Emergency Power to shields, Science team 1 as often as possible and throw in Engineering team when you hull takes 60% or more damage.
Wear him down and always ready High yield torpedos when its available. Torpedo him every chance he gives you front or rear.. that doesnt matter. When the Photonic Fleet appears this is a good time to use Reverse shield polarity and Rotate Shield Frequency together. BUT, ignore them and keep firing at the main ship. Also, if you have scramble sensors ... HIT them with it after the Rotate Shield Polarity wears off ... will give you more time to keep you shields balanced well.
If you fight defensivly and continuosly use your Defensive skills that buff your damage resistance you WILL wear him down and eventually destroy him as he wont have the ability to keep his shileds in good shape.
Thats about the best I can tell you. Remember to keep a broadside on him .. 4-5 phaser banks over time is a lot of punch.
I also didn't have a problem due to using the viral matrix skill then when that runs out hit with sensor jammer. whilst its out of play hit it with every you got. Obviously i play as a science officer but i sure you get some of the low level versions of those powers to use.
Feedback pulse combine with direct beam modulation (not sure if that's what the title is. It cuts through shields) skill will deal a good blow to your foe.
As a Tac/Escort captain, most of what's been stated is good info. One other thing I'd like to throw in is that if you're doing all that and still getting the stuffing pounded out of you, it's probably a good idea to seperate and run (if you can manage it.) What I will generally do is hit Evasive Manuevers and Ramming Speed until I'm out of firing range but still in identification range (more than 10KM, less than 16KM). The Photonic Fleet will eventually despawn and what hull damage you've already done should be there and will take a bit to regenrerate, so you will have a brief window to get yourself back in shape. Once you're ready head back in...It should only take a few good bursts to poke a hole in the shields and, if you've done enough damage, one high yield salvo should finish it off. And if it does spring a photonic fleet on you again, this time you'll be in better shape to handle it.
Also, if you have the skill, Scramble Sensors (SCI BO skill) is pretty effective and a lot of fun to watch. Toss that in, let it go off, and watch the Photonic Fleet do the work for you.
Keldons are the ones that use photonic fleet (three galors). First time i was dead meat. Then I started to observe and adapt. I must say I haven't faced Keldon with a cruiser so far, but I did with escort and science ships. Science is a little bit like cruiser ... my tactic was to simply get one of it's shields down, tractor him, then hurt him a bit and when he was 2/3 hull still in tractor beam ... HYTI or II or III. If I got to tango with him, I usually had to use every support ability (engi / sci team, rsp) to keep my *behind* alive. Tho VM is just evil too :P
In terms of escort nothing extra that i can add besides quote.
Can't really give you much help myself as I've only faced them with an escort so far (in which case the fleet is up for barely 3 seconds before the battleship blows)
Or it just blows up before it gets out any galors at all
HYT II and in case of escort HYT III is just plain deadly on hull.
Ignore the photonic fleet and kill the Keldon that summoned them. Keep your shields up with any of the various options. Use Scramble Sensors and watch the Keldon and his fleet shoot each other while you kill the Keldon.
I like to drop a Viral Matrix II, along with a Tachy beam, torpedo spread, and rapid fire turret while it's down, rinse and repeat. I stay with the VM2 over a VM3 because of the shorter cooldown. If I'm in a hurry, I summon a photonic fleet while the VM is floating towards it, which I can usually take a Kelso down in around a minute.
Normally they appear and i fight them and I start to get the upper hand they summon the fleet of 3 ships and the sheids of the orginal ship is full and they have 4 ships pounding me and I can't hurt the batleship with fulkl shields and 4 ships pounding me and if I kill the photonoic ships first then they respawn before I do much damage and I am goona die after that long.
Dont bother with the phontonic fleet. Just keep shooting the BB.
Keep your distance. If you get too close to the photonic fleet they are devastating. Stay at 7-10K and they cant hurt you as bad. IF you cant down the BB at that range, just wait. After a few minutes the photonic fleet will disappear and you can close in for the kill.
As an engineer in a science ship i just start off with a viral matrix and sit it down for 28 seconds for me to beat on it. it is generally under 50% hull at the highest by the time it wakes back up and can summon its fleet and then i just scramble sensors and tractor it to keep that broken shield facing me and continue to pound on it until it is dead.
The easiest solution I have come up with is to charge in, pound on the Keldon until it is forced to summons its phontonic escort Galor's. Then you hit sprint and move out of 10KM range. After about 5 seconds the Phontonic Galors vanish and the skill for them is on cool down, which is plenty of time to polish off the Keldon.
on a side note: they spawn the fleet as soon as they are able and below 70% hull, not 30% as someone posted before...
i only use my shield stuff, as i said before, when they appear. the aceton field and jam sensors are in use from the beginning, but then i use them in nearly all of the non frigate battles.
Gonna have to see if Scramble Sensors will work on Photonic fleets... the idea of the Cardies summoning the instruments of their own destruction has it's appeal...
I run a science ship with science team II & III, Park my ship at max range and just go to work with dual beam banks whilst rerouting power to frontal shield, by the time it gets near the front shields are down but isn't really hurt too much. Blast it back with photonic shockwave for a bit of damage to the hull and distance and keep firing. I don't really have anything fancy in the damage department as I'm running mostly repair/shield heal support skills, but turtling gets there slowly
Keep focusing the Keldon down, when it dies the photonic Galors go away.
For a cruiser I guess just stay in and keep blasting the Keldon, maybe use some boff skills for your shields.
When I went through there on my Escort I could tear through a Keldon like tissue paper, the photonics were up for less than 5 seconds usually.
For a Sci I guess just try to keep the Keldon locked down with VM and SN and blast away.
Torps and burst damage are your friend against Cardassian ships, they have a lot more shields/hull than a typical ship of their class (which isn't too far off cannon, Cardassian ships typically carried a lot of hull armor mainly to compensate for relatively weak shields). True way ships are also a little off from the standard NPC ship classes from the other powers, for the true way JH attack ships are the frigates, Galors are like an escort with no cannons but extra shields/hull, Keldons are a standard cruiser with near battleship shields/hull and the photonics (they dont hit as hard as a real battleship), JH Battleships serve as the true battleships for the true way but aren't any tougher than a keldon (they hit slightly harder and have subnuke)
Gonna have to see if Scramble Sensors will work on Photonic fleets... the idea of the Cardies summoning the instruments of their own destruction has it's appeal...
Comments
but as an engi myself i really had no problems with them.
i ignore the photonic fleet, since it dissapears if the original blows up.
got any shield skills? use them as the photonic stuff spawns.
I know it's tempting to use dual phaser banks on the galaxy, but don't, if you are. That thing can't turn fast enough to keep faster moving ships in the dual bank's targeting arc. A good loadout is fore and aft torpeado launchers, then everything else beams. Try and find a good balance for yer weapon energy, because firing all those beams at once in a broadside can drain power real quick.
Use your batteries liberally, too. A well-timed shield or engine battery can be life saving for cruisers.
That's about all the info I can give ya without knowing what your actual equipment list is. If you don't have one, make sure you got a Combat Impulse Engine!
Secondly ..this is only one way to do it ... Im sure there are others and probably better.
It helps to have the following Boff skills also ..
Engineer with Engineering Team 3 and Emergency Power to Shields and Reverse Shield Polarity
Engineer with Emergency Power to Weapons 1 and Directed Energy Modulation
Science with Science Team 1 and Scamble Sensors
Tactical with High Yield Torpedos 1 at least and any other Offensive powers.
You own Rotate Shields ability
Also, have at least one torpedo launcher forward and one rear and it helps to have shield regen consoles and shiled setting boosts and hull resistances.
Chances are you will not be able to destroy the ship on approach ... there will be manuevering. Don't try to outmanuever them. Usually you just won't be able to outmanuever much of anything.
On approach use Emergency Power to Weapons AND Directed Energy Modulation and ready your High Yield Torpedos. The goal on approach is to do as much damage as possible ..so fire the torps at the last second even if you dont get shileds down. You want the enemy to have to balance shields or reinforce the facing shield. It's a fight of attrition.
He's probably not going to be destroyed on approach. Your goal is to keep one side, any side to him as much as possible and Broadside fire continuously .. Do not waste any time where you are not firing .. continuous fire is going to help you ruin his shileds. He's going to be hurting you .. use Rotate Shields, Emergency Power to shields, Science team 1 as often as possible and throw in Engineering team when you hull takes 60% or more damage.
Wear him down and always ready High yield torpedos when its available. Torpedo him every chance he gives you front or rear.. that doesnt matter. When the Photonic Fleet appears this is a good time to use Reverse shield polarity and Rotate Shield Frequency together. BUT, ignore them and keep firing at the main ship. Also, if you have scramble sensors ... HIT them with it after the Rotate Shield Polarity wears off ... will give you more time to keep you shields balanced well.
If you fight defensivly and continuosly use your Defensive skills that buff your damage resistance you WILL wear him down and eventually destroy him as he wont have the ability to keep his shileds in good shape.
Thats about the best I can tell you. Remember to keep a broadside on him .. 4-5 phaser banks over time is a lot of punch.
Feedback pulse combine with direct beam modulation (not sure if that's what the title is. It cuts through shields) skill will deal a good blow to your foe.
Also, if you have the skill, Scramble Sensors (SCI BO skill) is pretty effective and a lot of fun to watch. Toss that in, let it go off, and watch the Photonic Fleet do the work for you.
In terms of escort nothing extra that i can add besides quote. Or it just blows up before it gets out any galors at all
HYT II and in case of escort HYT III is just plain deadly on hull.
Dont bother with the phontonic fleet. Just keep shooting the BB.
Keep your distance. If you get too close to the photonic fleet they are devastating. Stay at 7-10K and they cant hurt you as bad. IF you cant down the BB at that range, just wait. After a few minutes the photonic fleet will disappear and you can close in for the kill.
i only use my shield stuff, as i said before, when they appear. the aceton field and jam sensors are in use from the beginning, but then i use them in nearly all of the non frigate battles.
For a cruiser I guess just stay in and keep blasting the Keldon, maybe use some boff skills for your shields.
When I went through there on my Escort I could tear through a Keldon like tissue paper, the photonics were up for less than 5 seconds usually.
For a Sci I guess just try to keep the Keldon locked down with VM and SN and blast away.
Torps and burst damage are your friend against Cardassian ships, they have a lot more shields/hull than a typical ship of their class (which isn't too far off cannon, Cardassian ships typically carried a lot of hull armor mainly to compensate for relatively weak shields). True way ships are also a little off from the standard NPC ship classes from the other powers, for the true way JH attack ships are the frigates, Galors are like an escort with no cannons but extra shields/hull, Keldons are a standard cruiser with near battleship shields/hull and the photonics (they dont hit as hard as a real battleship), JH Battleships serve as the true battleships for the true way but aren't any tougher than a keldon (they hit slightly harder and have subnuke)
It does...and fun to watch.