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Marauder Patrol Cruiser...Take 1
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Member, NoReporting Posts: 178,019 Arc User
Okay, so it is a departure from the sleek, shark-shaped Klingon vessels we all know intimately (very intimately...since we have not had a lot of choices up til now...)
I went ahead and bought the Marauder from the C-Store. I did this for two reasons -- first, even though I had the free token and could get it that way for my Engineer, I wanted to support Cryptic. Secondly, since I have three Klingon characters, buying it from the C-Store makes the vessel available to all three without using the token, so I am able to save it for later.
I took the Marauder out for a spin. For my test run, I ramped the difficulty up to Elite, and went into Defari space to do the two dailies (four missions total, all space-oriented).
Here was my layout:
Weaponry
Forward: 3 Antiproton Beam Arrays, 1 Quantum Torp launcher
Rear: Same
Officer skills:
Tac: BO1, Torp High Yield 2
Sci: Sci Team 1, Hazard Emitters 1, TSS2
Eng: Reverse Shield Polarity 1, Auxilliary to Structural 2, Emer. Power to Shields 1, Aux Power to Inertial Dampeners 1, Eject Warp Plasma 3, Emergency Power to Aux 1, Engineering Team 3.
Ship equipment (shields, consoles, etc)
Covariant Mk X purples -- Cap x3
Blue engines - Turn x2
Consoles: Tac: AP Mk XI (x2), Sci: Induction Stab Mk X, Biofunction Monitor Mk XI, Eng: RCS Mk XI x2, Field Generator Mk XI, Neutronium Alloy Mk XI
With this setup, I can achieve over 14K in shielding, my hull is 50,700, my defense bonus (at full speed) is 56.2%, my resistances are over 22% without any powers activated, my turn rate 14.7 (20 with Aux power to inertial dampeners activated) and inertia at full speed is 30. It should be noted that I have Rank 9 in all lower tiers of Cruiser, as well.
As you can gather by my weapons layout and bridge officer powers, my core tactics are long broadsides with quick turns to deliver a HYT 2 volley every now and then. The Plasma is to pin my opponent as well as take care of any pesky mines that he or she might spawn..oh...and at level three it does significant damage as well (as much as 1,000 per tick).
So...as I was saying, I took the ship into Defari space on Elite. I lucked out on my very first Outpost Assistance mission -- Desna spawned. What an opportunity for a test - a capital Breen ship on solo at elite setting.
I did all of the other enemy ships first -- no deaths, then I battled the Desna. It was a tough opponent, but eventually I did defeat it, once again witih no deaths. The lowest my hull dropped during the encounter was around 20% -- but that was because I was not paying attention and was pounding the keyboard with battle rage.
A word about the interceptors -- now that they are a clickable ability, this turns the Marauder into a type of light, supplemental carrrier/cruiser. I like them -- and the fighters were actually worth using. They don't do as much damage as normal fighters...but their special abilities definitely made a difference in the fight. I think that the 3 minute cooldown on the bay is also appropriate. One thing I did notice about the interceptors though...once the fight is over, they do not hang around -- they tend to despawn. This also makes sense.
In any case, to make a long story short, the Marauder passed the PvE test with flying colors. It performed as well as any of my previous Klingon ships, and in fact had a slight edge in some areas. Turn radius (as noted above) was actually not bad -- with Evasive Manuevers activated, I could do pretty tight turns when ejecting warp plasma. Once again -- I achieved this turn radius by having all of the lower tiers of cruiser at rank 9, and the two RCS Mk XI consoles.
Now...it was time to venture into PvP. This was more difficult to do because I think everyone had the same idea. I got into the queu...and there were like close to 30 Klingons in line, and no Feds. Sigh. It was going to take a while...but eventually the opportunity came -- a Capture and Hold.
I got into the game after it had started, so that probably affected my end stats somewhat...but it was a Klingon Win (1200 to 0). I placed towards the middle of the pack on damage done (around 250K or so), and I think second in healing. My stats probably would have been higher, but the Klingon side was not grouped this time around (that might be because I came into the game after it started). One important note...on our side was one of the new Gorn Science ships. Personally, I like how it looks, and the pilot really knew what he was doing. The repair platforms serviced the entire Klingon fleet and were a small but welcome boost to hull heals.
Now...for looks. Okay...it is not what we are used to, but to be honest...it sort of grows on you after a while.
Okay...I have said a lot of positive things about the Marauder so far -- and that is essentially my position on the ship -- as it is now, I like it, and I think it is a valuable addition to the Klingon Defense Force. I really only have one criticism: Give us at least a few options to customize the vessel in ship design. Right now there are no options -- you can't even change colors or paint your hull. I hope that this is something that will be fixed in the near future. I know that others have also stated that it would be nice to have Orion bridge layouts and ship interiors as well -- I agree, but this is not necessarily a priority for me, but it definitely would be nice.
In closing...comments are welcome concerning the layout shown, above...this layout has worked for me so far, and it seems viable..but I am always open to suggestions.
I went ahead and bought the Marauder from the C-Store. I did this for two reasons -- first, even though I had the free token and could get it that way for my Engineer, I wanted to support Cryptic. Secondly, since I have three Klingon characters, buying it from the C-Store makes the vessel available to all three without using the token, so I am able to save it for later.
I took the Marauder out for a spin. For my test run, I ramped the difficulty up to Elite, and went into Defari space to do the two dailies (four missions total, all space-oriented).
Here was my layout:
Weaponry
Forward: 3 Antiproton Beam Arrays, 1 Quantum Torp launcher
Rear: Same
Officer skills:
Tac: BO1, Torp High Yield 2
Sci: Sci Team 1, Hazard Emitters 1, TSS2
Eng: Reverse Shield Polarity 1, Auxilliary to Structural 2, Emer. Power to Shields 1, Aux Power to Inertial Dampeners 1, Eject Warp Plasma 3, Emergency Power to Aux 1, Engineering Team 3.
Ship equipment (shields, consoles, etc)
Covariant Mk X purples -- Cap x3
Blue engines - Turn x2
Consoles: Tac: AP Mk XI (x2), Sci: Induction Stab Mk X, Biofunction Monitor Mk XI, Eng: RCS Mk XI x2, Field Generator Mk XI, Neutronium Alloy Mk XI
With this setup, I can achieve over 14K in shielding, my hull is 50,700, my defense bonus (at full speed) is 56.2%, my resistances are over 22% without any powers activated, my turn rate 14.7 (20 with Aux power to inertial dampeners activated) and inertia at full speed is 30. It should be noted that I have Rank 9 in all lower tiers of Cruiser, as well.
As you can gather by my weapons layout and bridge officer powers, my core tactics are long broadsides with quick turns to deliver a HYT 2 volley every now and then. The Plasma is to pin my opponent as well as take care of any pesky mines that he or she might spawn..oh...and at level three it does significant damage as well (as much as 1,000 per tick).
So...as I was saying, I took the ship into Defari space on Elite. I lucked out on my very first Outpost Assistance mission -- Desna spawned. What an opportunity for a test - a capital Breen ship on solo at elite setting.
I did all of the other enemy ships first -- no deaths, then I battled the Desna. It was a tough opponent, but eventually I did defeat it, once again witih no deaths. The lowest my hull dropped during the encounter was around 20% -- but that was because I was not paying attention and was pounding the keyboard with battle rage.
A word about the interceptors -- now that they are a clickable ability, this turns the Marauder into a type of light, supplemental carrrier/cruiser. I like them -- and the fighters were actually worth using. They don't do as much damage as normal fighters...but their special abilities definitely made a difference in the fight. I think that the 3 minute cooldown on the bay is also appropriate. One thing I did notice about the interceptors though...once the fight is over, they do not hang around -- they tend to despawn. This also makes sense.
In any case, to make a long story short, the Marauder passed the PvE test with flying colors. It performed as well as any of my previous Klingon ships, and in fact had a slight edge in some areas. Turn radius (as noted above) was actually not bad -- with Evasive Manuevers activated, I could do pretty tight turns when ejecting warp plasma. Once again -- I achieved this turn radius by having all of the lower tiers of cruiser at rank 9, and the two RCS Mk XI consoles.
Now...it was time to venture into PvP. This was more difficult to do because I think everyone had the same idea. I got into the queu...and there were like close to 30 Klingons in line, and no Feds. Sigh. It was going to take a while...but eventually the opportunity came -- a Capture and Hold.
I got into the game after it had started, so that probably affected my end stats somewhat...but it was a Klingon Win (1200 to 0). I placed towards the middle of the pack on damage done (around 250K or so), and I think second in healing. My stats probably would have been higher, but the Klingon side was not grouped this time around (that might be because I came into the game after it started). One important note...on our side was one of the new Gorn Science ships. Personally, I like how it looks, and the pilot really knew what he was doing. The repair platforms serviced the entire Klingon fleet and were a small but welcome boost to hull heals.
Now...for looks. Okay...it is not what we are used to, but to be honest...it sort of grows on you after a while.
Okay...I have said a lot of positive things about the Marauder so far -- and that is essentially my position on the ship -- as it is now, I like it, and I think it is a valuable addition to the Klingon Defense Force. I really only have one criticism: Give us at least a few options to customize the vessel in ship design. Right now there are no options -- you can't even change colors or paint your hull. I hope that this is something that will be fixed in the near future. I know that others have also stated that it would be nice to have Orion bridge layouts and ship interiors as well -- I agree, but this is not necessarily a priority for me, but it definitely would be nice.
In closing...comments are welcome concerning the layout shown, above...this layout has worked for me so far, and it seems viable..but I am always open to suggestions.
Post edited by Unknown User on
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Comments
the final tier -- I specced to Patrol Cruiser at level 9 also.
It is a lot of points...but the benefit from each tier is additive. The same process is in place for each of our ships -- for instance, my Raptor pilot (Tac) has hull at 42,901 and shields at 11,600. He also has the Covariant purples (Mk X, Capx3), and the Mark XI console (Field Emitter) that boosts shields by 35%.
The flip side is that you are using points that could be used elsewhere...so it is a bit of a balancing act...but I have gotten to the point where I will automatically spec to max in all lower tiers of whatever vessel I am flying. The benefits to me outweigh the costs. Also, it makes it nearly impossible to be specced in two different ships at once to some degree...I suppose you could do it for maybe two cruiser-class vessels, etc...but the points needed would be very excessive.
Furthermore, you would be better served having a chroniton or tricobalt mine launcher in place of the after torpedo launcher given the necessity of keeping people in your broadside and off your TRIBBLE.
Finally there is no value in carrying a Bio function monitor as nothing in the game is currently connected to the crew function of the ships (it's there for show for the time being).
PvP will be an interesting place soon as it'll be the first time we see maps not filled with Klingon and Fed ships, but instead Gorn, Orion, Vulcan and Andorian ships. I for one cant wait
My observations:
- flying a marauder makes you the initial "tank" in PvP. Everyone cloaks up to the target, the carrier/support ship crawl across the map keeping back from the initial attack, and you end up being the initial target for the Fed team, specifically any escorts buzzing around like flies.
- the fighters, I have no idea what the hell they do/don't do. In PvE, they make somewhat effective decoys. I don't know whether speccing photon/mines (or anything else) will help? (the other stuff they do seems rather random). Still, they provide decent cover for a tricobalt or similar.
My Fed PUG couldn't scratch one, given all the cross-heals.
The whole build looks like a solo-queueing build to me, with some defense, some offense, and some healing. While A2ID hurts for a full-time healer, it's fine on a jack-of-all-trades cruiser. EPtA buffs A2ID significantly. Or as a team healer it would work with HE, TSS, and A2SIF -- that's the most you could use it for on a more dedicated healing build. (Though I would highly suggest to committing to either HE or TSS then using skills, consoles, and defletors to maximize the one you choose.)
EPtA lasts long enough that you can cluster your Aux-based abilities into the time when it's up. You'll end up sometimes using A2SIF while EPtA is down, but you'll almost always be able to use TSS and HE with it.
This is a cruiser, so generally you can use a couple of different EPtX abilities without giving up a slot that could be used for something better. Not really.
The shared cooldown on EPtX abilities is 15 seconds. The cooldown and duration of individual EPtX abilities is 30 seconds. This means that you could use EPtS, wait 15 seconds and use EPtA, then after another 15 seconds use EPtS without interupting the EPtS chain. In fact, if you use two copies you can perfectly chain two different EPtX abilities as long as you can get the timing down.
Or if your timing is less than perfect, just use EPtA to give yourself TSS or HE to cover the gaps.
It's not hard to turn and keep people in the broadside, especially with A2ID. I'll sometimes let a BoP camp out in my six, but if they are the only one shooting me they aren't much of a threat there and it keeps them from helping focus on one of my team mates. But if I want to shake them I've been playing cruisers long enough that it's pretty easy.
An aft torpedo is good for killing blows. Most enemies fight hard to keep you from bringing your forward arc to bear, but will let you turn your back any time you like, even if they have an exposed shield facing. And with practice you can zig-zag a bit while broadsiding to bring both the front and rear torps to bear just long enough to fire as the cool down.
Besides, this build has EWP. If you really want someone off your TRIBBLE, nothing works better than slamming into reverse, popping evasive and a speed buff, and dropping warp plasma all over them. Then you can go for the double tap by switching to full speed forward. Do that to a player once or twice and they'll avoid being behind you.
This I agree with. It's best to focus your sci consoles on buffing either TSS or HE.
InkTomi basically nailed it. That is exactly what I use the cruiser for. Almost all (okay, all) of my PvP is with PuGs, so I never know what sort of team I will end up with. Having a Jack of all Trades build allows me the flexibility to serve in a number of roles.
Yes, a Tricobalt is something that is commonly used...I don't know why, but I just don't like them. Plus, as noted in InkTomi's analysis, often times my aft torpedo launcher comes in to play more often than my front. It is interesting in that Feds will avoid my front at all costs, but will try to stay in my "6"...I have destroyed several escorts that just got too close and took a HYT2 on the nose through a downed shield behind me.
In any case, very, very good advice regarding the biofunction monitor....I need to switch that out....
You know the saying about a jack of all trades; ok in all, strong in none. He would be much better served be making use of additional bridge officers and ready-made bars than trying to fit everything into one build.
I am well aware that it is a guessing game between ID and SIF being used, but the heat of battle can shift against you in a moments notice, and you do yourself no favors by utilizing conflicting skills which both play a critical role in the ship's performance. It is safer to pick one or the other, ID for when you're DPS strong in the build, SIF for when you're healer.
Yes it does buff SIF2 significantly, but again the ship is trying to do everything in one build, when it is better served by other skills such as EPtS 3, or a second copy of Eng Team 3, or even DEM 2 for added tank shredding
If you want to be a jack of all trades then bring additional BOs that you can change when you're out of combat to fit the battle that you're having to fight. If you try to fit it all into one build then you're really not helping your team all that much because you're not providing the additional punch, survival, or healing that the dedicated version would bring to the table...
...and with 2 copies of EPtS you can chain them indefinitely as they have have a 45 second cooldown, with a 15 second shared cooldown and 30 seconds of up time; if you're under fire then stack up TSS2 with the EPtS and support the troubled facing with manual routing and sci-team to maintain the tank if you're under focus fire; and if that doesn't help then hit RSF and you're defense capped for 30 seconds, and if all else fails then hit RSP.
EPtA is not valuable for a dps cruiser, and you weaken yourself with a broad build.
Fair enough, though hiding a tricobalt in your warp plasma is particularly evil