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Guest Blog: Special Task Forces
pwebranflakes
Member Posts: 7,741
Members from the STFRaiders have written a Guest Blog that prepares you for the Special Task Force missions in Star Trek Online.
Link to the Blog.
Link to the Blog.
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The.Grand.Nagus
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: NPW Forums
QFT!
Just dont bother with elite, not worth wasting your time with them :rolleyes:
Join the STFHelp channel
Vice Admiral Volmack ISS Thundermole
Brigadier General Jokag IKS Gorkan
Centurion Kares RRW Tomalak
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
I can see why people find STF's so frustrating for so many reasons, but I have to admit it really comes into its own if you have a team you formed and trained with to do it!
Once you get that ***Co-Ordination*** it's easy and fun. Then you can take on the crystalline entity that trully tests your teams skill!
Wether it's in your fleet or just freinds, FORM YOUR OWN STF TEAM and watch the rare items flow in
Episode Four - Head Of A Needle Episode Five: The Duality of Men Episode Six - Redemption Earned
Episode Seven - Shattered Universe Episode Eight - The Gepetto Condition Episode Nine - One Room, Two Officers
Episode Ten - Beyond The Farthest Star Episode Eleven - It's OK, It Won't Hurt Episode Twelve - A Protracted Officer
Episode Thirteen - Somewhen Episode Fourteen - The Boy Who Lived Episode Fifthteen - Empathy
*remember to change Fleet Escort to Patrol Escort (or whatever Geko said it was changing to in the future).
Original Join Date: January 30th, 2010
Also keep in mind that the functionality of the EPS power regulator has been changed a few months ago, it now explicitly does not affect weapon power levels, only power transfer rates when swapping base power settings. I've tested this extensively with the combat log parser, and am confident that it actually does work this way.
As to the science ship; the idea that different weapon types draw more power is simply a myth; I've run this setup myself with good success, same with the escort. Feel free to ask Branflakes here as well; he was a bit reticent about changing up his escort build to all DHC / Turrets, but I don't think he'll be going back anytime soon, it really does bump up your DPS. There's a reason that all of the game's top damage-dealing escort pilots in PvP use this setup; simply put, it works, and I'll out-DPS an escort with torps any day of the week. Also consider that with an all-cannon build, every one of your Bridge Officer powers affects every one of your weapons, resulting in improved efficiency and letting you put in more attack patterns which provide some nice global damage boosts. Again, I invite you to try it out for yourself; you'll find that the damage does go up when used properly.
And why is not Terradom in the list. Its a good story and i can understand all wants the MK XII Set, but for Terradom to find 5 men is not so easy. Please give Terradom a place in the PVE List.
Greetings
Jack
I also read over their Elite Tactical Reports thread and, like I said there:
I can't speak to the science ship part, as I don't have one, but I (reluctantly) took Nald's advice and switched to all cannons/turret build on my patrol escort (fleet escort) and have noticed a HUGE increase in DPS. The first week, I kept popping the nanite generators in ISE early because the DPS was so much higher! My build is very similar to the one posted and I LOVE it. I really advise giving it a try.
Directive 010
Example #1: If there are only two affective weapons to deal with STFs, why did Cryptic bother making an entire armory to select from? Everyone is going to create their own arsenal, which they will use to develop their own fighting style. No one solution is better than the other.
Example #2: Again, this is based upon someone's personal bias and preference. If you actually read the specs for the Assimilated Borg gear, they are one of the weakest ship components to exist. Why do you think Cryptic is selling the low tech for five Borg salvage each?
Majority of the stuff found in the article is based upon subjective interpretation. Making everyone believe there is only one affective way to win is being dishonest and misleading.
I vote to have this blog removed or edited, for it contains misleading information. Some of the stuff at the start of the article is useful, but the suggested specs and personal preference stuff is problematic.
Be creative. Find your own playing style.
Also, some solutions really are better than others; miniguns or hand phasers are pretty far down the list of effective STF weapons just as two examples, and you'd be hard-pressed to find seasoned stf runners using either.
PS: The strength of the Borg gear doesn't lie in the stats, but in the shield and hull healing procs.
Mine Trap Supporter
If you run 100 weapon power, or even more, than you can afford all those weapons and still gain DPS.
Only very specialized builds (typically Science Vessels and maybe some Carriers) have a good "excuse" for not running 100 weapon power. IMO it's a bit of a design problem that weapon power is so important in this game, but things are as they are.
Preference or not, it's pretty efficient, and 90% of the players who know what they're doing in STFs will run with 3 parts of the borg set. And there is no interest in being creative in STFs, Bord never adapt, they will always be the same.
Of course there are many possibilities, but this one is straightforward, and works. It's definitely not a pvp setup, but no one said it could ever be.
I can confirm for the science part, and to some extent, to the tactical one. It's a good build. It's not perfect but no build is, and it will work well.
God, lvl 60 CW. 17k.
Do you really believe that game designers are infallible*? Some things are better than others, not because the Devs absolutely intended to be so, but because that's just how it works out if you take into account a lot of factors that the Devs didn't have in mind.
Keep also in mind that the STFs are specifically against the Borg. The Borg have specific traits that other races do not have, like the ability to assimilate to weapons and the like. Even if all these weapons were balanced absent of any specific enemy configuration, they cannot be balanced under each specific situation.
The Assimilated Gear is the fastest to get from the STF ones. It also has two perks no other set has:
1) It has a 4th item and thus 3 powers.
2) The first two set powers are good heals. No other set offers this.
So even if Deflectors, Shields and Impulse engines may not be up to your standards on, the powers they grant are very good, possibly better than anything the other sets have to offer.
But don't ignore the experience of all the other people around you when you try to find your style and your ideal build.
*) And actually, some game designers do _intentionally_ make certain game elements better than others even though they have identical cost (e.g. same price, level etc.). This is their attempt to reward "system mastery", e.g. players that have figured out how the game works and learned which abilities are good or bad. Personally, I dislike this kind of design, but it happens.
Why 3 Borg pieces (Usually Deflector, Engine, and Console)? It is as Mustrum "I always put something hilariously awesome here" Ridcully pointed out, they have very powerful heals.
The Borg auto-hull heal is very powerful, and on quite a reasonable recharge for being roughly equivalent to Hazard Emitters 2's healing and fully automated to boot. When you lose a shield facing, you don't just get a second shield bubble which, by the way, exists entirely separate of your own shield, you also get an automatic Hazard scrub to go with it.
All in all, it's like having your very own fully-automated Mini-Miracle Worker. If you have a ship with a really powerful shield modifier and are running really high in Shield Power, the Borg Shield is pretty great, too, and lets you shoe-horn a Tractor Beam into a ship that might not otherwise be able to use one without significant opportunity cost (say, something like an Assault Cruiser, Gal-R, or Gal-X).
Oh, I know. I have done hundreds of stf's and with a good team they are most definitely fun, so much so I do not do pugs any more.
Just a waste to go through the extra annoyance of being one shotted and then not getting anything towards the MK12 stuff.
Not much of an incentive for me to do them any more since I have all the MK11 sets including enough tech, edc's and salvage for many more if needed, yet cannot get MK12 :rolleyes:
Nope, it's still alive and kicking TRIBBLE!!!
http://scfleet.enjin.com/
That said, regardless of what you choose to use on any given stf, you really do need to carry a pulsewave and a sniper, one for cure, one for infected.
As to the Borg set, I believe general concensus is still that MACO/HG shields + 3 piece borg are remarkable effective in STFs.
Join the STFHelp channel
They made an armoury so that there are different weapons for different situations. The situations are you in when playing ground STFs mean that most of the time most people want a pulsewave and a sniper, (or 2 pulsewaves or occasionally 2 snipers). Simply put, pulsewaves clear the groups of borg fastest, and the snipers deal the most damage in one shot from that distance for pulling elite drones or against becky.
Take a poll of people that regularly run the elite grounds and you will find many of them use those two weapons.
Directive 010
Vice Admiral Volmack ISS Thundermole
Brigadier General Jokag IKS Gorkan
Centurion Kares RRW Tomalak
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
One thing with regards to the conventional wisdom:
Melee has changed dramatically as a result of the latest DOff expansion.
Three purple Security variant DOffs give you 75% added crit severity and 26% crit chance.
It's dramatic but melee needed it in large measure because survivability is low.
In general, considering Borg do not adapt to melee, I'd say a fast weapon is better than slow. I recommend a purple Damage x3 Falchion or Tegolar.
These have a built in charge that will have you pinballing around like Batman from the Arkham games and is great for crowd melee. Damage is normally a bad modifier (it adds a flat amount of damage) but I think it's ideal with a fast weapon. Accuracy isn't a big deal with melee. Fast weapons hit more. That means more dicerolls for a crit which means more crits on average and crits multiply off of damage. (Think about it this way: you have around a 50% total melee crit rate here as a Tac. However, every attack is random. Burst melee like a bat'leth is more prone to sampling error. One failure to crit affects you more. Whereas more attacks is less likely to penalize you for a failure to crit.) Also, use the sword attacks to change targets and for mobile enemies since it will automatically move you between targets. For stationary enemies or when an enemy is down, switch to palm strike for more damage. Save your drop kicks for exposed enemies.
Trial and error has shown me that you generally want to pick off Heavy and Elite drones from a distance. Once they are down, switch to melee if you have three Security variant DOffs. Most bosses are okay to melee except for Rebecca Simmons. (I will use a charge/thrust if she's at 1 HP or if I'm about to die but it's a suicide move and mainly for the lols.)
Melee is actually great as your back-up weapon (again, if you have the DOff support) but the survivability means you have no terrain protection and will pop a consumable almost every cooldown. But against non-Elites/Heavies, it's better than any ranged weapon for pure damage WITH the right DOff support and especially if you factor in lack of remods. (I find even instant remods don't time with weapon cooldowns well.)
SINCE you will pop a consumable every cooldown... I'd advise getting your three Security variant DOffs for the melee boost and using your two remaining ground slots for nurse DOffs. Since you will be popping hypos like candy, you can have up to three medics on you.
Frankly, I think all melee weapons could probably use a bonus HPPx2 modifier (ie. adrenal stimulator -- for swords, +HP for heavy melee weapons like lirpas and bat'leths) to deal with the costs associated (it's a fortune spent on hypos) but if EC is no object and you can get your hands on some Security variant DOffs, I'd strongly advise making your secondary weapon a sword.
On the whole, though, you will see a some DPS edge over most weapons if you have the relevant DOffs.
Why: they keep me busy, without feeling a chore. Yes, I give you that I only play a max number of 4 STFs per character, I have four characters, and only two of them are able to run elites.
STFs are alert, challenging in a good way, and provide room for socialization. Teamplay is a must, still I like to take some inexperienced fleet mates with me from time to time. Again, it is a matter of expectation. Doing this actually raises the stakes, and I am eager to find out, if we are able at all to achieve mission completion.
I like that I earn 1100 dilithium-run. I only run elite STFs. I find the ground ones a bit more challenging, and fun, but only by a bit.
I have accepted the fact that the tech drops are meant as bonus, and not a reward, fact that most people just do not get. This way, I am always happily surprised when I get a rare or prototype tech drop. Got three or four sets from a rough 250 STF runs on two characters, but even if I have not gotten, even elite STFs can be run with purple borg MKX gear, and these are obtainable through the many EDC one gets.
I can't wait to take my new Vo'Quv into STFs. (my new orion character is still 42) I even upgraded from silver to gold for the many extras it provides ... extra bank, inventory and boff slots. This way I could spend my hardly earned dilithium on other useful C store items like doff and character slots. Those 400 c points of the stipend are nice to have. I only wish, that STO was in a better shape when it came out, because I was turned down by the negative reviews. Now I can't have the veteran awards ... but well, one cannot have everything in life.
Good guide on STFs, and a much needed one.