About Torpedos

kaeaja · October 2012

So I have a question. What is everyones favorite torpedo and why?

Secondly, anyone know why the Chroniton Torps and Transphasic Torps do not do any more damage then they currently do?

tenkari · October 2012

well, transphasic torps do more damage when shields are up than other torps, and chroniton torps have a chance to slow ships down for a while which means less defense and thus a higher chance to hit them for more damage.

those are the main reasons these two torps dont do more damage than say quantum torps.

I use transphasics mostly. though on my mobius destroyer I use Chronitons since i got the 3 piece temporal set.

dalnar83 · October 2012

I like double photons, I'm classic and I like pew pew pew.

mimey2 · October 2012

Your second question first: Chronitons and Transphasics do less damage because of their effects. Transphasics because of their heavier shield penetration, and Chronitons because they can slow enemies down. In turn, Photons recharge more quickly, and deal decent damage, while Quantums deal heavier damage and recharge a little more slowly.

And to answer your question: Tricobalts.

Sure you can shoot them down, but boy can they hurt.

azurianstar · October 2012

My favorite projectile is the Tricobalt.

Nothing like BIG explosions.

stark2k · October 2012

azurianstar wrote: »

My favorite projectile is the Tricobalt.

Nothing like BIG explosions.

I find it more of a niche thing. I just don't like the extreme cool down that comes with it.

I use to like the Plasma torpedo that once created a Mega Torp, but they nerfed it to hell, and besides most folks have 20% defense against Plasma due to Borg STFs etc...

All in all I stick with what has proven to me as the most effective, Quantum Torpedoes, which I view are the best in the game. The other Torps are "need specific," which requires specialty gameplay tactics (Nothing wrong with that).

However; if you want more punch as you hammer down on an opponent, go with Quantums. They pack a huge punch with a decent cool down - You can fire on a consistent basis.

pottsey5g · October 2012

I really like the hvy Plasma torps but truth be told they are not very good.

carl103 · October 2012

Fully specced plasma torps are terrifying. My Science iship is hitting for a base 4.2K or so, and the burn is another 1.75K over 10 seconds. And thats before sensor scan buffs it. Bearing in mind i can with doffs pull a nearly maxed RoF and i cna pull upto 5 stacks of burns on target. With sensor scan in effect i can be burning the hull for around 1.16K.

@Stark2k: Plasma torps deal kenetic damage except for the burn which bypasses sheilds anyway, so the STF sheilds have no effect on them.

kaeaja · October 2012

carl103 wrote: »

Fully specced plasma torps are terrifying. My Science iship is hitting for a base 4.2K or so, and the burn is another 1.75K over 10 seconds. And thats before sensor scan buffs it. Bearing in mind i can with doffs pull a nearly maxed RoF and i cna pull upto 5 stacks of burns on target. With sensor scan in effect i can be burning the hull for around 1.16K.

@Stark2k: Plasma torps deal kenetic damage except for the burn which bypasses sheilds anyway, so the STF sheilds have no effect on them.

What the heck does "RoF" mean?

jexsamx · October 2012

Well, there are two pretty straightforward choices:

Quantum is your bread and butter torpedo. High spike, decent firing rate.
Photon is comparable in terms of DPS, if I recall correctly, and has a higher RoF (rate of fire), so it's not a bad idea either.

Basically, if you're like most players and want to include spike damage for use on bare hull, you'll want one of these. Simple, effective, no tricks, just point and shoot.

Then there's all the others, which are more niche things that, depending on your style and spec, may be more useful to you.

Plasma torpedos. They're a poor man's Tricobalt, basically. Hard hitting, but the high yield projectile is targetable and it's relatively easy for it to get destroyed and you get no damage out of it.
Transphasics are good if you don't care about dropping shields. They were tested a couple of months back and their metrics are solid, meaning they function as intended and deliver the damage they were meant to deliver verus other torpedos on bare hull. But they're fairly weak on bare hull, not very good for spike. These are probably the least liked torpedoes in the game, if I had to guess.
Chroniton Torpedoes have fair damage and a long cooldown. Their advantage, though, is they have a 33% chance of heavily slowing down whatever they hit, making them easier targets. This is great when combined with, say, Torpedo Spread. Higher grade High Yields like 2 or 3 with Chronitons are okay, almost guaranteeing you'll slow your target, but Spread is just better.
Tricobalts are BIG damage, BIG cooldown, and BIG risk, but the payoff is excellent. They take practice to master, but in the hands of a seasoned player, they are far and away the most brutal torpedo in the game.

My personal preference is Quantum, just because it's so practical and user-friendly.

sumghai · October 2012

I use Quantums as my general-purpose and a Tricobalt at the front as my smackdown torps

digimatl · October 2012

I Like Photons, have two of them in the front and 3 BOFFs for improved Recharge Time...they just go pew pew pew pew

and make kind of up for the low front-dps of beam arrays on cruisers.

Aft i use either Photons or something more Heavy, depending on what i plan to do.

tpalelena · October 2012

I got a lot of alts, and I use a different type of torpedo on each.

However I think quantums are the best, because of the reasons people already said here.

lianthelia · October 2012

I love plasma torpedos! I love them very much, I loved them in sfc/2/op as well even though they are much different than sto. I still hold hopes some day they will make changes to the stf shields so maybe they get rid of the plasma resistance.

Still kinda upsets me that they killed a whole damage type in pvp just to give us some resistance against the borg.

jslyn · October 2012

I tend to use Transphasic Torpedoes because I am lazy and don't feel like timing my shots. :P

carl103 · October 2012

What the heck does "RoF" mean?

Rate of Fire.

Well, there are two pretty straightforward choices:

Quantum is your bread and butter torpedo. High spike, decent firing rate.
Photon is comparable in terms of DPS, if I recall correctly, and has a higher RoF (rate of fire), so it's not a bad idea either.

Basically, if you're like most players and want to include spike damage for use on bare hull, you'll want one of these. Simple, effective, no tricks, just point and shoot.

Then there's all the others, which are more niche things that, depending on your style and spec, may be more useful to you.

Plasma torpedos. They're a poor man's Tricobalt, basically. Hard hitting, but the high yield projectile is targetable and it's relatively easy for it to get destroyed and you get no damage out of it.
Transphasics are good if you don't care about dropping shields. They were tested a couple of months back and their metrics are solid, meaning they function as intended and deliver the damage they were meant to deliver verus other torpedos on bare hull. But they're fairly weak on bare hull, not very good for spike. These are probably the least liked torpedoes in the game, if I had to guess.
Chroniton Torpedoes have fair damage and a long cooldown. Their advantage, though, is they have a 33% chance of heavily slowing down whatever they hit, making them easier targets. This is great when combined with, say, Torpedo Spread. Higher grade High Yields like 2 or 3 with Chronitons are okay, almost guaranteeing you'll slow your target, but Spread is just better.
Tricobalts are BIG damage, BIG cooldown, and BIG risk, but the payoff is excellent. They take practice to master, but in the hands of a seasoned player, they are far and away the most brutal torpedo in the game.

1. Photon is notcablly better DPS actually, but due to global cooldowns more than 3 is a waste and with projectile doffs even that isn't great.

2. Plasma are a long way from a poor mans tricobolt. First and foremost the projectile is only destructibale when you use THY. Any other time it's a basic torpedo. It's the 3rd most damaging torpedo in the game but benefits more from projectile doffs on torp boats, onyl quatum has better base dps there. It's hull burn is nasty, and due to how THY works is only marginally weaker than a tricobolt wit THY, whilst having a much shorter CD.

3. Transphasics suck, end of story. Yes they have great sheild penetration, bu unless our in PvP where peole have the HE to purge the burn a plasma torps stacking burn effect is far supiriour.

4. Tricobolts suck on anything but a torp boat, unless you have the doffs and a lot of other torp tubes needed to bring the CD down you get better DPS out of nearly anything else, and plasma torps being able to be used every THY Cd can get better total dmage just from THY usage.

@Lianthelia: As i've allready statd. STF SHIELDS DO ABSOLUTLY NOTHING vs PLASMA TORPEDOES. They're kenetic damage for everything but the burn. SO the plasma resist has no efect becuase the brn bypasses the sheilds, and the damage that is applied to the sheilds is not a type the STF sheilds protect against.

pottsey5g · October 2012

carl103 wrote: »

Rate of Fire.

1. Photon is notcablly better DPS actually, but due to global cooldowns more than 3 is a waste and with projectile doffs even that isn't great.

2. Plasma are a long way from a poor mans tricobolt. First and foremost the projectile is only destructibale when you use THY. Any other time it's a basic torpedo. It's the 3rd most damaging torpedo in the game but benefits more from projectile doffs on torp boats, onyl quatum has better base dps there. It's hull burn is nasty, and due to how THY works is only marginally weaker than a tricobolt wit THY, whilst having a much shorter CD.

3. Transphasics suck, end of story. Yes they have great sheild penetration, bu unless our in PvP where peole have the HE to purge the burn a plasma torps stacking burn effect is far supiriour.

4. Tricobolts suck on anything but a torp boat, unless you have the doffs and a lot of other torp tubes needed to bring the CD down you get better DPS out of nearly anything else, and plasma torps being able to be used every THY Cd can get better total dmage just from THY usage.

@Lianthelia: As i've allready statd. STF SHIELDS DO ABSOLUTLY NOTHING vs PLASMA TORPEDOES. They're kenetic damage for everything but the burn. SO the plasma resist has no efect becuase the brn bypasses the sheilds, and the damage that is applied to the sheilds is not a type the STF sheilds protect against.

I was always told Those STF shields lowered the burn Plasma DPS and phtons with doffs are lower DPS then Quantum with doffs.

talien · October 2012

I only have one character that uses boff torp skills, and for that one I use Photons because of the higher fire rate, and being on an Escort I can easily keep them on target.

For my other 4 characters I use the Hargh'Peng torp, spike damage isn't as good as a Tricobalt but the effect is nice and it fires faster. Only downside is it's unaffected by boff torpedo skills but I don't use them anyway for the most part so it works fine.

drudgy · October 2012

I'll use different ones depending on my ships, but I'll use Quantums and Tricobalts mostly. Quantums are just evil with High Yield as are the Tricobalts. I do use Photon's on a few of my captains as well.

lordmalak1 · October 2012

I only use torps on one toon- my engie. He uses Quantums to supplement his AP cannons, and uses Tricobalt to one-shot the BoP in the 'Salvage dispute' mission. Ya, HY3 is EVIL with quantums.

carl103 · October 2012

I was always told Those STF shields lowered the burn Plasma DPS and phtons with doffs are lower DPS then Quantum with doffs.

I mentioned the doffs you know and AFAIk that sheild effect only reduces damage to sheilds. the burn bypasses sheilds so...

I only use torps on one toon- my engie. He uses Quantums to supplement his AP cannons, and uses Tricobalt to one-shot the BoP in the 'Salvage dispute' mission. Ya, HY3 is EVIL with quantums.

Try my favirote science trick on my orb weaver at the start of the 15 man. Start cycling THY3 and THY2 before the enemies come in so both are active when they arrive. Drop a Grav well on the big ship then drop both torpedoes on them, (plasma), ushually i get a third off as i pull out.

Those HY Plasma torps do AoE so everything in the group gets hit for 14-16K Kenetic per torp. More if it crits, (i like to hit the main target with assimillaited TB to help this TBH), and the best bit. If it crits on the main target, it crits on everything. Seeing a Torp crit for 40K, (more if an obliging tac has hit his Tac Fleet and APB'd everything), is nice, seeing such a 2-3 round volly vaporise all but the one big ship. Absolutly pricless.

Now if idiots would get it through their heads that TBR is not cruise control for cool, *sigh*.

ebeneezergoode · October 2012

It depends on the ship I'm flying, for escorts, I get the best mileage from quantums, but there's little that can beat the sheer joy of straight-up Tric-bombing somebody in Ker'rat.

lordmalak1 · October 2012

carl103 wrote: »

I mentioned the doffs you know and AFAIk that sheild effect only reduces damage to sheilds. the burn bypasses sheilds so...

Try my favirote science trick on my orb weaver at the start of the 15 man. Start cycling THY3 and THY2 before the enemies come in so both are active when they arrive. Drop a Grav well on the big ship then drop both torpedoes on them, (plasma), ushually i get a third off as i pull out.

Those HY Plasma torps do AoE so everything in the group gets hit for 14-16K Kenetic per torp. More if it crits, (i like to hit the main target with assimillaited TB to help this TBH), and the best bit. If it crits on the main target, it crits on everything. Seeing a Torp crit for 40K, (more if an obliging tac has hit his Tac Fleet and APB'd everything), is nice, seeing such a 2-3 round volly vaporise all but the one big ship. Absolutly pricless.

Now if idiots would get it through their heads that TBR is not cruise control for cool, *sigh*.

I pop HY3 about 15k from target, so just as the shared cooldown timer for spread reaches zero I'm just coming into range- then FIRE hy,followed immediately by spread, then a single. By the time I pass over the target@ full speed I've dropped 10 torps on him from my single tube- all the while lighting him up with 4 DHC AP's. Works about the same for multiple targets.

thlaylierah · October 2012

I use the "Time Torpedoes" from the Lobi Store on the back of my Time Ship.

They do more damage than Tricobalts and seem to have a "sprint" mode before they slow down.

I fire at point blank or as close to that as possible after an attack run.

It's fun to watch them "Knock a ship about."

mimey2 · October 2012

ebeneezergoode wrote: »

It depends on the ship I'm flying, for escorts, I get the best mileage from quantums, but there's little that can beat the sheer joy of straight-up Tric-bombing somebody in Ker'rat.

I know how you feel there. It never truly gets old doing that.

momaw · October 2012

A word from the "PVP Is Silly And Having Everybody Fly Escorts Is Boring" Coalition:

Photon torpedoes. The reload time matches up perfectly with active projectile officers. If a photon launcher gets the cooldown reduction it will fire again after only 2 seconds, allowing you to think of your photon tubes as a "super-heavy single cannon". I like flying cruisers with photon torpedoes on the front, sliding up to a target and just pounding it into submission. They add solid DPS to your ship without consuming any weapon power and even going into a fully defensive stance will keep your photon tubes spitting at full damage.

One photon tube will definitely benefit from projectile officers...I'd say your total torpedo launches are about doubled on average. Two photon tubes is the best "deal". With the doubled chances to make your projectile officers work, two tubes will trigger maybe 75% of the time making chains of 3 and 4 torpedoes commonplace. Three tubes is an improvement but less of an improvement than going from one to two. You're wandering into specialized build territory. And four is a pure waste: the built-in rate of fire limiter will start getting in your way.

badname834854 · October 2012

jexsamx wrote: »

Well, there are two pretty straightforward choices:
Quantum is your bread and butter torpedo. High spike, decent firing rate.

Photon is comparable in terms of DPS, if I recall correctly, and has a higher RoF (rate of fire), so it's not a bad idea either.

Basically, if you're like most players and want to include spike damage for use on bare hull, you'll want one of these. Simple, effective, no tricks, just point and shoot.

Then there's all the others, which are more niche things that, depending on your style and spec, may be more useful to you.
Plasma torpedos. They're a poor man's Tricobalt, basically. Hard hitting, but the high yield projectile is targetable and it's relatively easy for it to get destroyed and you get no damage out of it.

Transphasics are good if you don't care about dropping shields. They were tested a couple of months back and their metrics are solid, meaning they function as intended and deliver the damage they were meant to deliver verus other torpedos on bare hull. But they're fairly weak on bare hull, not very good for spike. These are probably the least liked torpedoes in the game, if I had to guess.

Chroniton Torpedoes have fair damage and a long cooldown. Their advantage, though, is they have a 33% chance of heavily slowing down whatever they hit, making them easier targets. This is great when combined with, say, Torpedo Spread. Higher grade High Yields like 2 or 3 with Chronitons are okay, almost guaranteeing you'll slow your target, but Spread is just better.

Tricobalts are BIG damage, BIG cooldown, and BIG risk, but the payoff is excellent. They take practice to master, but in the hands of a seasoned player, they are far and away the most brutal torpedo in the game.

My personal preference is Quantum, just because it's so practical and user-friendly.

....AAAAAAAND we're forgetting one of the best torps in the game; the Hargh'Peng.

[*] Hargh'Peng has decent Recharge rate, has a VERY fast time-to-target, does great damage, has a radiation DoT AND has a secondary explosion. The caveat is it is not effected by T:S or T:HY. However, its damage can be increased by the generic torpedo console, the Warhead Yield Chamber.

Since I'm here, I might as well pipe in about 2 newer Types of torps, They are Lockbox/Lobi items, so take it with a grain of salt:

[*]Tholian Thermonic Torp - It comes with the Recluse Carrier and I think the Tholian Orb Weaver as well - In any case, it will mount on any ship that can mount torpedoes. It does low damage but gives you a %15 chance to drain 15 power from both Weapons and Engines of your target. It also has a built in [ACC] modifier with bonus 20% accuracy. IMHO, this is a ridiculously underpowered torp and has limited usage except for power drain builds.

[*]Temporal Disruption Device - This is part of the Temporal Warfare set available in the Lobi store. It is a recockulosly slow moving projectile that does massive damage and 100% chance to slow a target. Think of it as a Chroniton/Tricobalt hybrid. In fact, if you use a HY version of it, it can make the grav-well thingy that Tricobalts make. They suffer from the same mis-fire bugs that plague the Tricobalt Torps and the Breen Cluster Mine torp. Right now , their damage can only be bumped by the Warhead Yield Chamber tac console or a TCD Subspace Tac console [This is a bug, as it is supposed to be chroniton. Devs are aware, and a fix should be in an upcoming patch). This torp is handy in environments where mob control is paramount (read: STFS)

Just thought I'd add my $.02

lordfuzun · October 2012

badname834854 wrote: »

[*]Tholian Thermonic Torp - It comes with the Recluse Carrier and I think the Tholian Orb Weaver as well - In any case, it will mount on any ship that can mount torpedoes. It does low damage but gives you a %15 chance to drain 15 power from both Weapons and Engines of your target. It also has a built in [ACC] modifier with bonus 20% accuracy. IMHO, this is a ridiculously underpowered torp and has limited usage except for power drain builds.

Do not underestimate the Thermonic Torpdeo. It's Energy draining potential when using Torpedo skills is amazing. With HY3, yes it's targetable Plasma HYT type, but it's a 100% chance for 52 Weapon and Engine Power dragin for 12 seconds. I don't know what the TS values are but they are decent in themselves.

momaw · October 2012

lordfuzun wrote: »

Do not underestimate the Thermonic Torpdeo. It's Energy draining potential when using Torpedo skills is amazing. With HY3, yes it's targetable Plasma HYT type, but it's a 100% chance for 52 Weapon and Engine Power dragin for 12 seconds. I don't know what the TS values are but they are decent in themselves.

I was gonna say. On my Recluse build I slotted two copies of Torpedo:High Yield, and chaining those things together you can basically shut down an enemy completely. You can launch a disruption torpedo every 15 seconds and the drain lasts 12 seconds. It even has a blast radius, too! You know on Cure when you start getting wings of 3 Raptors? Target the lead raptor with a disruption torpedo, and you'll bring the whole group grinding to a halt due to the area-effect power drain.

Thermionic is kind of a specialty weapon, but if you need what it offers, it's VERY good.

carl103 · October 2012

I pop HY3 about 15k from target, so just as the shared cooldown timer for spread reaches zero I'm just coming into range- then FIRE hy,followed immediately by spread, then a single. By the time I pass over the target@ full speed I've dropped 10 torps on him from my single tube- all the while lighting him up with 4 DHC AP's. Works about the same for multiple targets.

Actually it's nowhere near 10. You've got 1 normal, equivelent of 3 from THY, and Spread depending on vershionn will be somwhere around 1 more. So 5 tops. That said CSV and a mass of cannons will easilly outstrip my maximum of 11.5, (Plasma THY 3 is 4 torps worth, THY2 is 3.5), Plasma torps. A lot of people don't realise none of the torp abilities that fire severla torps do a full torp of damage per torp fired.

blackmarch0 · October 2012

tenkari wrote: »

well, transphasic torps do more damage when shields are up than other torps, and chroniton torps have a chance to slow ships down for a while which means less defense and thus a higher chance to hit them for more damage.

those are the main reasons these two torps dont do more damage than say quantum torps.

I use transphasics mostly. though on my mobius destroyer I use Chronitons since i got the 3 piece temporal set.

Plasma. make em rot inside their shiny shields.
If im not using boff skills, my second choice is photons because of their fire rate
trics for when i'm wanting to do something diferent

this works really well with the armitage- 3 plasma torps up front (I usually have a harp in the 4th slot), 2 plasm amines in back and 1 turret.
Boff skills: mine dispersal 3&2, torpedo spread 3 and 2, tac team x2.

other boff skills that i use are mostly defensive; science team 2, eng team1, SIF3, EpS2.

max your shield energy, and then rest into aux, and use a rare peregrines hangar.

About Torpedos

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