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Which weapon types should i be grinding for?

SystemSystem Member, NoReporting Posts: 178,019 Arc User
Ok i'm sort of confused about something and it's probably because i haven't searched the forums long enough to answer these questions about weapon types.

I noticed that the energy and projectile weapon types are as follows:

Energy Weapons:

Beam Weapons….Disruptor…Plasma….Antiproton
Cannon…Phaser….Tetryon….Polaron

Projectile Weapons:

Mines…Photon…Plasma…Chroniton
Torpedo…Quantum…Transphasic…Tricobalt


Question #1: When it comes to beam weapons, if i am using a federation tactical officer and using an escort type ship, which energy weapon is the best type for me to obtain and skill up for and why?

Question #2: When it comes to projectile weapons, if i am using a federation tactical officer and using an escort type ship, which projectile weapon is the best type for me to obtain and skill up for and why?

Question#3: Despite whatever's the best projectile weapon is the best i do want to play around with quantums for a bit. Anybody have an idea on where i can find some quantums? I tried using the exchange but i'm finding everything BUT quantums. When i go to K-7, i'm finding nothing but photons and mines. How/where can i get quantums other than on accident when/if i get lucky picking up some quantums from salvage?

Any help on this would be great.:cool:
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2011
    Well, for a complex set of questions its best to give a complex answer.

    This guide should help.

    http://theenginescannaetakeit.wordpress.com/articles-3/starship-weapons-overview/
    Some of the info there is a tad out of date. So don't take it all for gospel (like the info on cannon firing rates) still its one of the best sources of info on weapons out there.

    The short version is much easier. I wouldn't worry to much about damage type to much until i'm close to maxing out at Admiral.

    The weapons are the same with only the proc being the difference. So a Phaser Beam Array with have exactly the same DPS as a Disruptor Beam Array of equal level. And while the procs can vary wildly they only have a 2.5% chance of going off. So they really arnt something that can be counted on to decide the battle.

    For energy weapons the procs are

    Phasers 2.5% chance to disable a random subsystem for 5 seconds.
    Disruptors 2.5% chance to lower damage resistance by 10% for 15 seconds.
    Plasma 2.5% chance to apply a fire damage over time effect on the targets hull.
    Tetryon 2.5% chance to reduce all shield facings by -160
    Polaron 2.5% chance to reduce all power levels by -25
    Anit-proton has no proc, but has a larger base crit chance and crit serverity.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2011
    awesome, thanks for the link and your short answer as well. that was very helpful. :D

    Now that i know which torpedos specifically to look forward to, does anybody know where i can find quantum torpedos at?
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2011
    well nevermind about trying to find quantums. a guy i helped out in an open instance just up and gave me some quantums when i offered to buy some from him. woot!

    on top of that, i just discovered that the deck above the shipyard in the Sol station sells quantums a plenty. :D
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2011
    For PvE the weapon procs don't happen often enough to be worth relying upon, so you might as well spec for the lowest skillpoint weapons which are phasers or disruptors.

    For PvP, most players will be using armor that resists against phasers and disruptors for the reason above so probably best to go with plasma or tetryon as few people use them and their skillpoint cost isn't as high as polaron or anti-proton.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2011
    Quantum are considered the most common choice for torps.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2011
    SeanNewBoy wrote: »
    Quantum are considered the most common choice for torps.

    There are good reasons for this:

    Photons may do more dps but only if you're facing the target for a long period of time. If you're in a cruiser or science ship, you'll probably be broadsiding most of the time as you can't turn fast enough to keep a forward or rear arc on the target constantly. If you're in an escort, you need speed to stay alive as you can't heal well and your hull is extremely thin. Sitting still and lobbing torpedoes will get more hits on you. You should be using attack runs on a target where you head in, fire, then come around for another pass.

    Transphasic torpedoes don't do nearly enough damage to hull to be worthwhile and are only useful on targets with their shields up. They also have a long cooldown time. Your energy weapons will always do a good job at ripping shields down anyway.

    Chroniton torpedoes also have weak damage and this is multiplied by a long cooldown time. They do slow down a target, but that means they're not as useful for direct damage. There are plenty of other powers like tractor beam, beam: target engines, and gravity well to slow a target for you.

    Plasma torpedoes are an interesting choice but only if you use them with the high yield power. This makes you fire a single slow moving torpedo that will hit for massive damage, but it can be shot down, making it potentially useless. NPCs will often regularly shoot down a high yield plasma torp. The standard torps are also weaker than photons or quantums.

    Tricobalt torpedoes are much like plasma torps, but they do a lot more damage and they are always fired like a high yield plasma torp. Meaning they travel slowly, are shootable, and they have a 30 second cooldown. The only two positive aspects about them that I can think of are that they do an extreme amount of damage and temporarily disable the target if you're lucky enough for them to hit bare hull(and luck will be the deciding factor), and you can't use torpedo powers with them, so you can free up tactical abilities for other things. But again, the fact that they are shootable makes them very "hit and miss" weapons.

    Mind you, all torpedoes described here aside from photons cost more skillpoints than quantums to train in, thus reducing their utility further.

    Quantums have the best blend of raw damage per hit, decent cooldown time, low skillpoint cost, and potentially devastating damage when used with high yield on an unshielded target. They don't require you to be facing the target all the time to reach their full potential like photons do, they cannot be shot down, and they reach a target faster than any other torp, even photons.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2011
    Excellent summary on torps, Forgotten-Nemesis.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2011
    There are good reasons for this:

    Photons may do more dps but only if you're facing the target for a long period of time. If you're in a cruiser or science ship, you'll probably be broadsiding most of the time as you can't turn fast enough to keep a forward or rear arc on the target constantly. If you're in an escort, you need speed to stay alive as you can't heal well and your hull is extremely thin. Sitting still and lobbing torpedoes will get more hits on you. You should be using attack runs on a target where you head in, fire, then come around for another pass.

    Transphasic torpedoes don't do nearly enough damage to hull to be worthwhile and are only useful on targets with their shields up. They also have a long cooldown time. Your energy weapons will always do a good job at ripping shields down anyway.

    Chroniton torpedoes also have weak damage and this is multiplied by a long cooldown time. They do slow down a target, but that means they're not as useful for direct damage. There are plenty of other powers like tractor beam, beam: target engines, and gravity well to slow a target for you.

    Plasma torpedoes are an interesting choice but only if you use them with the high yield power. This makes you fire a single slow moving torpedo that will hit for massive damage, but it can be shot down, making it potentially useless. NPCs will often regularly shoot down a high yield plasma torp. The standard torps are also weaker than photons or quantums.

    Transphasic torpedoes are much like plasma torps, but they do a lot more damage and they are always fired like a high yield plasma torp. Meaning they travel slowly, are shootable, and they have a 30 second cooldown. The only two positive aspects about them that I can think of are that they do an extreme amount of damage and temporarily disable the target if you're lucky enough for them to hit bare hull(and luck will be the deciding factor), and you can't use torpedo powers with them, so you can free up tactical abilities for other things. But again, the fact that they are shootable makes them very "hit and miss" weapons.

    Mind you, all torpedoes described here aside from photons cost more skillpoints than quantums to train in, thus reducing their utility further.

    Quantums have the best blend of raw damage per hit, decent cooldown time, low skillpoint cost, and potentially devastating damage when used with high yield on an unshielded target. They don't require you to be facing the target all the time to reach their full potential like photons do, they cannot be shot down, and they reach a target faster than any other torp, even photons.
    He means Tricobalt where I highlighted.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2011
    For PVE, I like the blue Mk IV Electro Plasma cannons on my Escort (173 DPS). I'm now Commander 6 and I've had them since LC 3 but they still take down shields faster than any other weapon, even the weapons I can research for my rank that have more DPS. They also do considerable damage to hull as well. I'd love to know where the Mk VI drop so I can get a better version of them for my Commander. From what I can see, I can't research anything like them lower than Mk VII for Captain.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2011
    He means Tricobalt where I highlighted.

    Whoops! Fixed.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2011
    Bolderine wrote:
    For PVE, I like the blue Mk IV Electro Plasma cannons on my Escort (173 DPS). I'm now Commander 6 and I've had them since LC 3 but they still take down shields faster than any other weapon, even the weapons I can research for my rank that have more DPS. They also do considerable damage to hull as well. I'd love to know where the Mk VI drop so I can get a better version of them for my Commander. From what I can see, I can't research anything like them lower than Mk VII for Captain.

    I strongly suggest you spec in tetryon cannons since they take down shields quite fast with their special proc.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2011
    I strongly suggest you spec in tetryon cannons since they take down shields quite fast with their special proc.
    Nice idea but "When" it procs it's good. Only a 2.5% chance of a proc so a higher DPS would actually be better because it's sustained. Besides, I can't use any researched Tetryon weapons until I rank to Captain.

    The ones I got were 173DPS and at a rank of LC3, that was better than any weapon available even though they were only Blues, in fact, they are better than even low end Commander rank weapons. Only the blue and purple MkVII Commander rank cannons have a better DPS.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2011
    For beam weapons it really doesnt matter trust me. But if you use canons dont use antiprotons, doesnt work well know with skills like rapid fire, they been nerft.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2011
    well cool, thanks for all the great info everybody and happy new year:D
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