Nothing against your very detailed list, but you'll find I'm a stubborn person. :P I've basically settled on what I posted before.
Eng slots (console and boff) are no prob, those I have nailed down, weapons as well (since I fly it the escort way - how else to cast many sci powers, heh? - turrets, dual beam banks and one torp). As for the set, I've always found the combination 2 borg 2 else (shield and deflector) to be most useful (although 3 borg, shield of choice can also work), I'll chose the most fitting to the powers I'll use.
As for the Tac boff, as I wrote, either a nice combo BFAW and TS or THY and AP Beta. Maybe even BFAW and AP Beta might work or, if TT reveals to really be indispensable, TT and AP Beta. But the last two kinda waste the shield draining I'm expecting to still achieve. (Also I'm willing not to use TT to potentially make place for ST.)
Now the biggest unknown, sci abilities.
- I should keep one GW (rank 1 seems to work fine, even without any consoles), 1 HE (any rank) is always useful, I guess 1 TSS should also stay.
- Now if I want to continue drain shields (btw the only sci skill I specced somewhat into, back then), I should also keep a Tachyon beam.
- A polarize hull might also come in handy.
That's 5, meaning I got 3 empty sci slots (2 of them possibly Lt. Comm or higher).
- I hear Viral matrix ain't too useful, and I already disable well with subsystem targeting.
- Tyken's Rift... ehm, not sure if another power drain helps, also, would it pull any meaningful numbers without console support?
- Photonic Shockwave. I've seen this advised a lot. Bonus damage to my weapons is welcome, also kinetic works nice against not (anymore) shielded opponents. But isn't it only useful at very close range? If not (too small range), then this might be worth supporting with a console and doffs.
- Tractor beam (and TB Repulsor), well, those can be useful. If I find nothing better, TB should have a place. Not sure about the repulsor, though, it can easily TRIBBLE targeting positions of the entire team, giving advantage to the enemy.
- Ehm, that's about it, can't think of any other sci abilities...
Now if there's still someone I haven't discouraged... What do you think are the 3 sci abilities (orange) I should add to my chosen 5 (also maybe what rank of them)? And which of the Tac combos (red) I should stick with?
Oh, and getting consoles shouldn't be a problem. As for the different doffs, I should have enough purples of all necessary specialisations. Now who'll dare advising within my stubbornly set boundaries? Oh, I know, sorry...:o
If you know you are going against unshielded targets like all the probes in Cure, using 2x torpedo spreads will dish out tonnes of damage.
IMHO, the best general combination would be FAW and Spread.
The best thing might just be to train the skills and see for yourself what you like rather than theory craft. I may not need tactical team, but someone else might. Or maybe you specced into attack patterns which would make Beta more appealing.
Viral Matrix is useful in pvp, but if you want to shut down subsystems in pve, Tykens Rift (with flow capacitors) shut down everything. A Tykens III with minimal flow capacitors can shut down the engines on NPCs and drop their shields entirely.
If all you want to do is slow enemies down, a grav well 1 is good enough.
Like you were saying, shockwave has a limited range, 3k. Its not terrible, but you do have to be close. In an intrepid you can do it pretty easily. You dont need to face them, just make sure your ship is on the side of the open shield facing.
Repulsors is iffy. Specced into max particle generators the damage can get over 10k per pulse. If you are using it for crowd control. I think grav well is much better. Repulsors in pve is more of a "rewind" button. Just make sure that probes or bops or raptors dont get close in the first place. In pvp its use to isolate individuals away from their healer friends.
I like using two tractor beams. Tractors do 3 things.
1. Slow down: This allows you to maneuver around the target to get to weak shield facings. Its good CC in general.
2. Because of the slower speed, the target has a lower defence rating which allows you to crit more.
3. Using purple tractor doffs, you can drain their shields. For me, this effectively gives me +480 dps. Ive only got 3 points in flow caps.
Ok, very nice. Thanks, I will now take the combinations to Tribble to test them in practice, as hyprodimus suggested. I'll test taking Photonic shockwave, Tyken's rift and one Tractor beam. I hope Tyken won't mess with GW and Tachyon beam's CD.
As for the tac, I do in fact have a couple points in APs. I guess I'll have to test all the combinations and by parsing logs, determine which might work the best.
TOIVA, Toi Vaxx, Toia Vix, Toveg, T'vritha, To Vrax: Bring in the Allegiance class. Toi'Va, Ti'vath, Toivia, Ty'Vris, Tia Vex, Toi'Virth: Add Tier 6 KDF Carrier and Raider. Tae'Va, T'Vaya, To'Var, Tevra, T'Vira, To'Vrak: Give us Asylums for Romulans.
Nothing against your very detailed list, but you'll find I'm a stubborn person. :P I've basically settled on what I posted before.
Yeah, I just try and make a helpful comment about the usefulness of TT and my ship-builder reflex kicks in. :P Of the stuff you highlighted though, I'll my 2 cents on tractor beam. Its immensely useful even on level 1, and its not like your Intrepid is short on sci ensigns.
Yeah, I just try and make a helpful comment about the usefulness of TT and my ship-builder reflex kicks in. :P Of the stuff you highlighted though, I'll my 2 cents on tractor beam. Its immensely useful even on level 1, and its not like your Intrepid is short on sci ensigns.
Understand that. And yes, plenty science ensigns around here. I feel like it might be a little power very useful in many different situations. An unsung hero, but I'll see.
I love my PSW3. Kinetic damage is king in most STFs. I've got my PSW cd to 24 seconds and should have it to 15 after some doff investment.
Unfortunately you kind of have to pick. Shield consoles, flow capacitors (drain), graviton generators (hold), or particle generators (damage).
I say 1 shield cap and the rest particle generators. PSW3 will see big juicy numbers and TBR damage will go up.
You've got 1 PSW with 24s CD, or is it combining 2 copies of it? If only one, it's better than I thought.
TOIVA, Toi Vaxx, Toia Vix, Toveg, T'vritha, To Vrax: Bring in the Allegiance class. Toi'Va, Ti'vath, Toivia, Ty'Vris, Tia Vex, Toi'Virth: Add Tier 6 KDF Carrier and Raider. Tae'Va, T'Vaya, To'Var, Tevra, T'Vira, To'Vrak: Give us Asylums for Romulans.
I'm not too familiar w/the ship since I mainly spend my time w/KDF toons.
That said I'd focus on CC (crowd control), and direct hull damage. Try, FAW&DBB, APB & GW3, tb/tbr, and Omega 3 part set. Also, I can't think of the ship's Boff layout off the top of my head, but you should be able to use Aux2Damp & Tech Doffs w/GW doffs. This will speed up the cooldown of GW3. You will need to be careful on how you cycle aux2damp since it drains Aux (basically use aux2damp AFTER you've cycled you CC/heals).
APB is countered by TT, but Borg don't use TT. Aux2Damp will not only reduce GW3 cooldown, but all others also including FAW & APB. Omega set has extra shield damage built in and the 3 part includes hull debuff to torps if you choose to add them. You could swap in TBR/TB if needed for more CC.
If you use TBR after aux2damp you won't lose damage, but repel. This may be helpful after you've got a group in a GW and want more hull damage w/o shooting them off.
Honestly, Sci or Tac captains would be better for this since they have additional debuff/damage buff options.
Edit: I mentioned aux2damp many times, I meant Aux2Battery.
[Zone] Dack@****: cowards can't take a fed 1 on 1 crinckley cowards Hahahaha you smell like flowers
Random Quote from Kerrat
"Sumlobus@****: your mums eat Iced Targ Poo"
C&H Fed banter
So, after some testing, I pretty much completed my build (I'll only play with some consoles, maybe doffs). I dropped PSW, either I'm just unable to use it properly, or it doesn't have enough skill support in my case. It just isn't worth a Lt. Comm. slot (and 2 purple photonic doffs I used with it). Tractor beam was a nice surprise, with help of the right doff, it's basically a 360 degree Tachyon beam.
So, in the end, thank you all for all the help.
And btw p2wsucks, didn't you mistake Aux2Dampeners with Tactical initiative (or how the tac career ability is named) or Photonic officer, these two reduce cooldowns. Aux2Dampeners is a speed and kinetic resistance buff. And btw I have no place for it.
TOIVA, Toi Vaxx, Toia Vix, Toveg, T'vritha, To Vrax: Bring in the Allegiance class. Toi'Va, Ti'vath, Toivia, Ty'Vris, Tia Vex, Toi'Virth: Add Tier 6 KDF Carrier and Raider. Tae'Va, T'Vaya, To'Var, Tevra, T'Vira, To'Vrak: Give us Asylums for Romulans.
Tovia, regardless of what you run on your Intrepid, if you're having fun with it that is all that really matters. Being Optimal in recreation at the cost of not using a ship you love is, as Spock would say, not logical.
Tovia, regardless of what you run on your Intrepid, if you're having fun with it that is all that really matters. Being Optimal in recreation at the cost of not using a ship you love is, as Spock would say, not logical.
Just had to post : If taking an Intrepid on an eng toon is not fun, I don't see what else is. If I wanted to make this ship my primary means of play, I would at least find a way to respec accordingly. But since I don't intend to leave cruisers, I'm just trying to find a way to use some cool science abilities without being completely useless in a fight. And I simply couldn't resist having my own "Voyager".
Btw, if I end up liking science ships, I might get the Luna/Sol, that I believe is overall better (and doesn't look that bad either).
TOIVA, Toi Vaxx, Toia Vix, Toveg, T'vritha, To Vrax: Bring in the Allegiance class. Toi'Va, Ti'vath, Toivia, Ty'Vris, Tia Vex, Toi'Virth: Add Tier 6 KDF Carrier and Raider. Tae'Va, T'Vaya, To'Var, Tevra, T'Vira, To'Vrak: Give us Asylums for Romulans.
The Luna is a nice ship. It's my primary ship. Despite getting other ships here and there, I always find myself switching back to my Luna. The Extra tactical console and ensign boff slot help make up damage a bit, and it's also nice and zippy.
Obviously, without your skills boosting science abilities, you won;t be the best in a science ship, but you won't be useless. it's more about having the right boff abilities than it is about their magnitude.
My Primary tac boff has TT1 and TS II. I use the extra ensign slot to add FAW I for added multi-target damage. Engineering is EPtS and A2SIF for a modest heal on myself and others that recharges quickly. Low level sci powers are heals, TSS II, Polarize Hull (for breaking tractor beams in STFS) and a pair of Hazard Emitter. Right now my high levels are Gravity well for bunching up and stalling targets, Tykens Rift for disabling cubes, and charged particle burst for knocking out shields. Of course, I also have high flow generatos and back my science abilities up with tetryon weapons and am trying out the 2 set Omega Force gear (was Aegis before; very nice survivability.) With an intrepid you lose a high level sci but gain an ensign, so id recommend sticking with grav well and tykens rift.
I won't claim to have the best setup, but it works for my playstyle. I do fairly well on elite STFs to the point I have have half of the nanite generators down on the right side in KASE before my team makes it over to me, and even without the best dps, I can keep probes from getting away. What works for you is probably different, so keep experimenting.
As for the comment on Aux2Damp, that's wrong. Aux2Damp only increases inertial dampeners briefly and raises your turn rate. I think he might have meant Aux2Batt. There's a doff (Technician) that causes that skill to reduce cooldowns on other bridge officers, but since Aux2Batt drops you auxillary power for the duration, I would be careful using it as you need to rely on your science abilities, most of which are based off that aux level.
I take my Intrepid-R into elite STF's.
It's fun. Plus, don't count sci ships out so easily. I've often seen optionals and even the mission objective be saved, single-handedly, by sci ships with good use of crowd control.
Consoles: (Toss in the Borg and/or Ablative Gen. consoles wherever you like)
Eng: EPS/Neut/Neut
Sci: Particle/Particle/Particle/F.Gen
Tac: Energy x2 (currently using polaron)
It doesn't pretend to be a tank or an escort. It's contribution to the team comes from it's crowd control and heals (running med-hi aux).
Plus, PSW3 is a solid right-hook of damage/knockback/stun with particle generators maxed (and a couple consoles).
All that being said, I think fleet actions are more it's place.
My Recon with a similar setup works better in STF's.
It's me, Chrome. [Join Date: May 2009]
"Oh, I may be captain by rank... but I never wanted to be anything else but an engineer." ~Montgomery Scott~
Is the Luna the Recon Science Vessel? That's what I have too, if it is.
I play it more aggressively though. Charge right up to a group of spheres, hit Feedback Pulse 3 and Brace for Impact w/2 purple shield distribution Doffs. Shield drains, antiproton sweep... although I'm starting to miss my crowd control abilities. I got HE3 and TachBeam3... maybe I'll get GW1... GW3 just didn't 'do it for me'.
I have been thinking about going AoE sci for a while now.
Recon Sci Vessel, USS Ultima
Fore: 3x Quantum Torpedo Mk XII AntiBorg
Aft: 3x Polaron Turret Mk XII AntiBorg
Jem Hadar space set
Eng: 2x SIF Generator Mk XII Blue
Sci: 4x Field Generator Mk XI Blue
Tac: 3x ZPQC Mk XII Green
Weapons Battery
Engine Battery
Deuterium Surplus
Three Purple Projectile Weapon Doffs
Two Purple Shield Distribution Doffs
I have both TT and both EPtS keybound to spacebar, always on, and FBP3 & BfI keybound together for when I start to get shot at.
Maybe some things are a little excessive, I know (looks at field gens). Although, I've done the math with those torps, and three quantum with three pwdoffs is the highest DPS you can get from torps.
Flying T4 ships in normal STFs isn't that much of a problem, at least the c-store ones, if your equip is just fine.
The normal ones have 10skills (missing on lt.com skill and one ensign skill) and the c-store ones only miss the lt.com skill. They also have a little bit less hull, but even that is doable, if you just keep your shields up.
Elite STF are something different there, but for normal STF? Who cares...
You've got 1 PSW with 24s CD, or is it combining 2 copies of it? If only one, it's better than I thought.
Only 1 copy. I think it can be slammed down to 15 seconds. It's not Aux2Damp it's Aux2Batt.
4x Particle Generators on my Kar'fi, which also pump TBR. TBR before Tac buffs is 1100 per tic. Can't recall PSW3 but I think it's going to be over 20k after I respec for it. You have to put it on hull, treat it like an AoE torp.
_______________ CommanderDonatra@Capt.Sisko: ahhh is it supposed to do that? Norvo Tigan@dontdrunkimshoot: hell ya, maybe
Just swinging by to say that I'm slowly getting my Intrepid to work.
I've started playing with energy presets (as in, changing them a lot, really lot), and guess what, my DPS jumped by 500.
I'm now keeping specific powers for specific enemies.
All in all, I'd say playing a sci ship is much harder than any other ship, but very rewarding when you get into it. Also, I love the tractor beam officer doff (pity I can only slot one).
Oh, and the Luna/Sol (yes, the reconnaisance one) is sure nice, I've actually been using it on tribble as a testbed for the proposed builds. Maybe I'll get it on holodeck later, when I want to see another ship on my screen. (But curiously, I'll miss even the small sci ensign on it.)
TOIVA, Toi Vaxx, Toia Vix, Toveg, T'vritha, To Vrax: Bring in the Allegiance class. Toi'Va, Ti'vath, Toivia, Ty'Vris, Tia Vex, Toi'Virth: Add Tier 6 KDF Carrier and Raider. Tae'Va, T'Vaya, To'Var, Tevra, T'Vira, To'Vrak: Give us Asylums for Romulans.
And btw p2wsucks, didn't you mistake Aux2Dampeners with Tactical initiative (or how the tac career ability is named) or Photonic officer, these two reduce cooldowns. Aux2Dampeners is a speed and kinetic resistance buff. And btw I have no place for it.
Actually I meant Aux2Battery w/Tech Doffs. Sorry about confusion from the mistake. You wouldn't need a 2nd EPTS w/it as far as fitting it in a build.
Edit: For more details
Edit: Here's a more details Boff/Doff layout
Eng Lt: EPTS1,Aux2Batt
Tac Lt: FAW1, APB
Sci En: PH
Sci Lt Cmdr: HE3, TSS2, TB
Sci Cmdr: GW3, TBR2, ES, Sci Team
W/3 Purple Tech Doffs for -30% cooldown
1 Purp Grav Doff for extra GWs
1 Purp Shield Dist Doff or Hazz Doff if defensive, or Ware Core Doff for power
Keep in mind GW and TBR share damage boost from Partical Generators.
[Zone] Dack@****: cowards can't take a fed 1 on 1 crinckley cowards Hahahaha you smell like flowers
Random Quote from Kerrat
"Sumlobus@****: your mums eat Iced Targ Poo"
C&H Fed banter
Is the Luna the Recon Science Vessel? That's what I have too, if it is.
I play it more aggressively though. Charge right up to a group of spheres, hit Feedback Pulse 3 and Brace for Impact w/2 purple shield distribution Doffs. Shield drains, antiproton sweep... although I'm starting to miss my crowd control abilities. I got HE3 and TachBeam3... maybe I'll get GW1... GW3 just didn't 'do it for me'.
I have been thinking about going AoE sci for a while now.
Recon Sci Vessel, USS Ultima
Fore: 3x Quantum Torpedo Mk XII AntiBorg
Aft: 3x Polaron Turret Mk XII AntiBorg
Jem Hadar space set
Eng: 2x SIF Generator Mk XII Blue
Sci: 4x Field Generator Mk XI Blue
Tac: 3x ZPQC Mk XII Green
Weapons Battery
Engine Battery
Deuterium Surplus
Three Purple Projectile Weapon Doffs
Two Purple Shield Distribution Doffs
I have both TT and both EPtS keybound to spacebar, always on, and FBP3 & BfI keybound together for when I start to get shot at.
Maybe some things are a little excessive, I know (looks at field gens). Although, I've done the math with those torps, and three quantum with three pwdoffs is the highest DPS you can get from torps.
I suggest you do a quick search for Cygone's Nebula build; one of the latter posts did a whole workup of dps with various setups of beams and torps. What he found is that if you ran with two torps (I believe, with 2 projectile doffs photons were best) and a DBB, your dps would be better overall. Plus, a DBB gives you access to target subsystem abilities, which are invaluable to a science ship...especially one built as an off-tank torp boat. As for science abilities, having a grav doff with grav well 1 is very, very nice. It can proc several times, ensuring that any loss of dps on probes is made up for the fact that the lil' suckers can't move.
So really, I'd suggest taking out a tractor for grav well, a torp for a DBB, and a tact module for one pertaining to whatever dmg-type you toss in for the DBB. And I haven't really looked into it, but there is a new doff passive ability that does the grav well proc for tyken's rift. Perhaps it'd be worth looking into instead of grav well?
I suggest you do a quick search for Cygone's Nebula build; one of the latter posts did a whole workup of dps with various setups of beams and torps. What he found is that if you ran with two torps (I believe, with 2 projectile doffs photons were best) and a DBB, your dps would be better overall. Plus, a DBB gives you access to target subsystem abilities, which are invaluable to a science ship...especially one built as an off-tank torp boat. As for science abilities, having a grav doff with grav well 1 is very, very nice. It can proc several times, ensuring that any loss of dps on probes is made up for the fact that the lil' suckers can't move.
So really, I'd suggest taking out a tractor for grav well, a torp for a DBB, and a tact module for one pertaining to whatever dmg-type you toss in for the DBB. And I haven't really looked into it, but there is a new doff passive ability that does the grav well proc for tyken's rift. Perhaps it'd be worth looking into instead of grav well?
I've spent more time looking at Cygone's posts than he has, I'd bet. LOL
I'm not sure if I want to go all in on AoE CC type stuff, or go with the single target debuff type sci abilities. I change my Boff abilities on an almost daily basis lol. As much as I like Feedback Pulse 3, it seems like it doesnt do enough... not to mention that I have to be the one they're targeting to get it to fire at all. Sometimes I'm not and I don't use it, other times I'm firing tons of blue blasts for 6-800 hull dmg each to 6 different ships.
Gravimetric scientists are awesome however, I had a blue one for quite some time.
I would run this Mk XII 2x Acc CritD Disruptor DBB I just found... but I'm running high aux and shield power, no weapons. Weapon power setting is like 37/25 after the JemHadar set bonus + skill bonuses. This ship doesn't have the Eng stations to use all those nifty EPtRandom Subsystem that Cygone has listed, as I discovered a LONG time ago that EPtS needs to be active as often as possible.
Comments
If you know you are going against unshielded targets like all the probes in Cure, using 2x torpedo spreads will dish out tonnes of damage.
IMHO, the best general combination would be FAW and Spread.
The best thing might just be to train the skills and see for yourself what you like rather than theory craft. I may not need tactical team, but someone else might. Or maybe you specced into attack patterns which would make Beta more appealing.
Viral Matrix is useful in pvp, but if you want to shut down subsystems in pve, Tykens Rift (with flow capacitors) shut down everything. A Tykens III with minimal flow capacitors can shut down the engines on NPCs and drop their shields entirely.
If all you want to do is slow enemies down, a grav well 1 is good enough.
Like you were saying, shockwave has a limited range, 3k. Its not terrible, but you do have to be close. In an intrepid you can do it pretty easily. You dont need to face them, just make sure your ship is on the side of the open shield facing.
Repulsors is iffy. Specced into max particle generators the damage can get over 10k per pulse. If you are using it for crowd control. I think grav well is much better. Repulsors in pve is more of a "rewind" button. Just make sure that probes or bops or raptors dont get close in the first place. In pvp its use to isolate individuals away from their healer friends.
I like using two tractor beams. Tractors do 3 things.
1. Slow down: This allows you to maneuver around the target to get to weak shield facings. Its good CC in general.
2. Because of the slower speed, the target has a lower defence rating which allows you to crit more.
3. Using purple tractor doffs, you can drain their shields. For me, this effectively gives me +480 dps. Ive only got 3 points in flow caps.
As for the tac, I do in fact have a couple points in APs. I guess I'll have to test all the combinations and by parsing logs, determine which might work the best.
Toi'Va, Ti'vath, Toivia, Ty'Vris, Tia Vex, Toi'Virth: Add Tier 6 KDF Carrier and Raider.
Tae'Va, T'Vaya, To'Var, Tevra, T'Vira, To'Vrak: Give us Asylums for Romulans.
Don't make ARC mandatory! Keep it optional only!
Yeah, I just try and make a helpful comment about the usefulness of TT and my ship-builder reflex kicks in. :P Of the stuff you highlighted though, I'll my 2 cents on tractor beam. Its immensely useful even on level 1, and its not like your Intrepid is short on sci ensigns.
Unfortunately you kind of have to pick. Shield consoles, flow capacitors (drain), graviton generators (hold), or particle generators (damage).
I say 1 shield cap and the rest particle generators. PSW3 will see big juicy numbers and TBR damage will go up.
CommanderDonatra@Capt.Sisko: ahhh is it supposed to do that?
Norvo Tigan@dontdrunkimshoot: hell ya, maybe
Toi'Va, Ti'vath, Toivia, Ty'Vris, Tia Vex, Toi'Virth: Add Tier 6 KDF Carrier and Raider.
Tae'Va, T'Vaya, To'Var, Tevra, T'Vira, To'Vrak: Give us Asylums for Romulans.
Don't make ARC mandatory! Keep it optional only!
That said I'd focus on CC (crowd control), and direct hull damage. Try, FAW&DBB, APB & GW3, tb/tbr, and Omega 3 part set. Also, I can't think of the ship's Boff layout off the top of my head, but you should be able to use Aux2Damp & Tech Doffs w/GW doffs. This will speed up the cooldown of GW3. You will need to be careful on how you cycle aux2damp since it drains Aux (basically use aux2damp AFTER you've cycled you CC/heals).
APB is countered by TT, but Borg don't use TT. Aux2Damp will not only reduce GW3 cooldown, but all others also including FAW & APB. Omega set has extra shield damage built in and the 3 part includes hull debuff to torps if you choose to add them. You could swap in TBR/TB if needed for more CC.
If you use TBR after aux2damp you won't lose damage, but repel. This may be helpful after you've got a group in a GW and want more hull damage w/o shooting them off.
Honestly, Sci or Tac captains would be better for this since they have additional debuff/damage buff options.
Edit: I mentioned aux2damp many times, I meant Aux2Battery.
Random Quote from Kerrat
"Sumlobus@****: your mums eat Iced Targ Poo"
C&H Fed banter
So, in the end, thank you all for all the help.
And btw p2wsucks, didn't you mistake Aux2Dampeners with Tactical initiative (or how the tac career ability is named) or Photonic officer, these two reduce cooldowns. Aux2Dampeners is a speed and kinetic resistance buff. And btw I have no place for it.
Toi'Va, Ti'vath, Toivia, Ty'Vris, Tia Vex, Toi'Virth: Add Tier 6 KDF Carrier and Raider.
Tae'Va, T'Vaya, To'Var, Tevra, T'Vira, To'Vrak: Give us Asylums for Romulans.
Don't make ARC mandatory! Keep it optional only!
Btw, if I end up liking science ships, I might get the Luna/Sol, that I believe is overall better (and doesn't look that bad either).
Toi'Va, Ti'vath, Toivia, Ty'Vris, Tia Vex, Toi'Virth: Add Tier 6 KDF Carrier and Raider.
Tae'Va, T'Vaya, To'Var, Tevra, T'Vira, To'Vrak: Give us Asylums for Romulans.
Don't make ARC mandatory! Keep it optional only!
Obviously, without your skills boosting science abilities, you won;t be the best in a science ship, but you won't be useless. it's more about having the right boff abilities than it is about their magnitude.
My Primary tac boff has TT1 and TS II. I use the extra ensign slot to add FAW I for added multi-target damage. Engineering is EPtS and A2SIF for a modest heal on myself and others that recharges quickly. Low level sci powers are heals, TSS II, Polarize Hull (for breaking tractor beams in STFS) and a pair of Hazard Emitter. Right now my high levels are Gravity well for bunching up and stalling targets, Tykens Rift for disabling cubes, and charged particle burst for knocking out shields. Of course, I also have high flow generatos and back my science abilities up with tetryon weapons and am trying out the 2 set Omega Force gear (was Aegis before; very nice survivability.) With an intrepid you lose a high level sci but gain an ensign, so id recommend sticking with grav well and tykens rift.
I won't claim to have the best setup, but it works for my playstyle. I do fairly well on elite STFs to the point I have have half of the nanite generators down on the right side in KASE before my team makes it over to me, and even without the best dps, I can keep probes from getting away. What works for you is probably different, so keep experimenting.
As for the comment on Aux2Damp, that's wrong. Aux2Damp only increases inertial dampeners briefly and raises your turn rate. I think he might have meant Aux2Batt. There's a doff (Technician) that causes that skill to reduce cooldowns on other bridge officers, but since Aux2Batt drops you auxillary power for the duration, I would be careful using it as you need to rely on your science abilities, most of which are based off that aux level.
It's fun. Plus, don't count sci ships out so easily. I've often seen optionals and even the mission objective be saved, single-handedly, by sci ships with good use of crowd control.
The setup I currently have:
Weapons:
Fore: 2x DBB, 1xTorp
Aft: 3x Turrets
Stations:
Lt Tac: Tac1/Spread2
Lt Eng: EP2S1/EP2S2
Cmdr Sci: HE1/TBR1/GW1/PSW3
LtCmdr Sci: HE1/TSS2/TSS3
Lt Sci: PH1
Consoles: (Toss in the Borg and/or Ablative Gen. consoles wherever you like)
Eng: EPS/Neut/Neut
Sci: Particle/Particle/Particle/F.Gen
Tac: Energy x2 (currently using polaron)
It doesn't pretend to be a tank or an escort. It's contribution to the team comes from it's crowd control and heals (running med-hi aux).
Plus, PSW3 is a solid right-hook of damage/knockback/stun with particle generators maxed (and a couple consoles).
All that being said, I think fleet actions are more it's place.
My Recon with a similar setup works better in STF's.
It's me, Chrome. [Join Date: May 2009]
"Oh, I may be captain by rank... but I never wanted to be anything else but an engineer." ~Montgomery Scott~
I play it more aggressively though. Charge right up to a group of spheres, hit Feedback Pulse 3 and Brace for Impact w/2 purple shield distribution Doffs. Shield drains, antiproton sweep... although I'm starting to miss my crowd control abilities. I got HE3 and TachBeam3... maybe I'll get GW1... GW3 just didn't 'do it for me'.
I have been thinking about going AoE sci for a while now.
Recon Sci Vessel, USS Ultima
Fore: 3x Quantum Torpedo Mk XII AntiBorg
Aft: 3x Polaron Turret Mk XII AntiBorg
Jem Hadar space set
Eng: 2x SIF Generator Mk XII Blue
Sci: 4x Field Generator Mk XI Blue
Tac: 3x ZPQC Mk XII Green
Weapons Battery
Engine Battery
Deuterium Surplus
Three Purple Projectile Weapon Doffs
Two Purple Shield Distribution Doffs
Lt Tac: TT1, CRF1
Ens Tac: TT1
Lt Eng: EPtS1, EPtS2
LtC & Com Sci: HE2 & 3, Feedback Pulse 3, Energy Siphon 1, Tachyon Beam 3, 2x Tractor Beam 1
I have both TT and both EPtS keybound to spacebar, always on, and FBP3 & BfI keybound together for when I start to get shot at.
Maybe some things are a little excessive, I know (looks at field gens). Although, I've done the math with those torps, and three quantum with three pwdoffs is the highest DPS you can get from torps.
U.S.S. Ultima, NCC-100101-X, Fleet Recon Science Vessel
U.S.S. Demi, NCC-100101-Z, Peregrine Fighter
U.S.S. Spaceball 1, NCC-123456, Tuffli Class Freighter
Glorious Melee Combat
The normal ones have 10skills (missing on lt.com skill and one ensign skill) and the c-store ones only miss the lt.com skill. They also have a little bit less hull, but even that is doable, if you just keep your shields up.
Elite STF are something different there, but for normal STF? Who cares...
Only 1 copy. I think it can be slammed down to 15 seconds. It's not Aux2Damp it's Aux2Batt.
4x Particle Generators on my Kar'fi, which also pump TBR. TBR before Tac buffs is 1100 per tic. Can't recall PSW3 but I think it's going to be over 20k after I respec for it. You have to put it on hull, treat it like an AoE torp.
CommanderDonatra@Capt.Sisko: ahhh is it supposed to do that?
Norvo Tigan@dontdrunkimshoot: hell ya, maybe
I've started playing with energy presets (as in, changing them a lot, really lot), and guess what, my DPS jumped by 500.
I'm now keeping specific powers for specific enemies.
All in all, I'd say playing a sci ship is much harder than any other ship, but very rewarding when you get into it.
Oh, and the Luna/Sol (yes, the reconnaisance one) is sure nice, I've actually been using it on tribble as a testbed for the proposed builds.
Toi'Va, Ti'vath, Toivia, Ty'Vris, Tia Vex, Toi'Virth: Add Tier 6 KDF Carrier and Raider.
Tae'Va, T'Vaya, To'Var, Tevra, T'Vira, To'Vrak: Give us Asylums for Romulans.
Don't make ARC mandatory! Keep it optional only!
Actually I meant Aux2Battery w/Tech Doffs. Sorry about confusion from the mistake. You wouldn't need a 2nd EPTS w/it as far as fitting it in a build.
Edit: For more details
Edit: Here's a more details Boff/Doff layout
Eng Lt: EPTS1,Aux2Batt
Tac Lt: FAW1, APB
Sci En: PH
Sci Lt Cmdr: HE3, TSS2, TB
Sci Cmdr: GW3, TBR2, ES, Sci Team
W/3 Purple Tech Doffs for -30% cooldown
1 Purp Grav Doff for extra GWs
1 Purp Shield Dist Doff or Hazz Doff if defensive, or Ware Core Doff for power
Keep in mind GW and TBR share damage boost from Partical Generators.
Random Quote from Kerrat
"Sumlobus@****: your mums eat Iced Targ Poo"
C&H Fed banter
I suggest you do a quick search for Cygone's Nebula build; one of the latter posts did a whole workup of dps with various setups of beams and torps. What he found is that if you ran with two torps (I believe, with 2 projectile doffs photons were best) and a DBB, your dps would be better overall. Plus, a DBB gives you access to target subsystem abilities, which are invaluable to a science ship...especially one built as an off-tank torp boat. As for science abilities, having a grav doff with grav well 1 is very, very nice. It can proc several times, ensuring that any loss of dps on probes is made up for the fact that the lil' suckers can't move.
So really, I'd suggest taking out a tractor for grav well, a torp for a DBB, and a tact module for one pertaining to whatever dmg-type you toss in for the DBB. And I haven't really looked into it, but there is a new doff passive ability that does the grav well proc for tyken's rift. Perhaps it'd be worth looking into instead of grav well?
I've spent more time looking at Cygone's posts than he has, I'd bet. LOL
I'm not sure if I want to go all in on AoE CC type stuff, or go with the single target debuff type sci abilities. I change my Boff abilities on an almost daily basis lol. As much as I like Feedback Pulse 3, it seems like it doesnt do enough... not to mention that I have to be the one they're targeting to get it to fire at all. Sometimes I'm not and I don't use it, other times I'm firing tons of blue blasts for 6-800 hull dmg each to 6 different ships.
Gravimetric scientists are awesome however, I had a blue one for quite some time.
I would run this Mk XII 2x Acc CritD Disruptor DBB I just found... but I'm running high aux and shield power, no weapons. Weapon power setting is like 37/25 after the JemHadar set bonus + skill bonuses. This ship doesn't have the Eng stations to use all those nifty EPtRandom Subsystem that Cygone has listed, as I discovered a LONG time ago that EPtS needs to be active as often as possible.
U.S.S. Ultima, NCC-100101-X, Fleet Recon Science Vessel
U.S.S. Demi, NCC-100101-Z, Peregrine Fighter
U.S.S. Spaceball 1, NCC-123456, Tuffli Class Freighter
Glorious Melee Combat