Oh my... The Vesta has been mothballed for performance issues (fine ship, I can just do better, and I try not to be a shameless min/maxer, but when I saw my Atrox did better for my playstyle, my Atrox it was =P Tho honestly I spend most of my time switching ships and builds and gear and running parses because for some inexplicable reason I am addicted to the math)
But I ran her similar to my Atrox... lets see if I can remember it. I fly an Aventine.
Lets start with my Atrox and mention the differences... that will be quicker I think.
Of course I don't use plasma on the vesta, I use phaser. I can do more damage with plasma, but I like my quantum focus phaser for burst. Hard to say how much of it is the fact that I have better plasma tac consoles and how much of it is abusing romulan plasma consoles + the romulan set peice + my plasma torps double dipping.
2xDHC, I was using crithx2 critd last, but since I've gotten some dmgx2 accx2 ones, I'd likely try them instead. And either the romulan torp, omega torp, or a quantum.
Omega set with maco shields, adapted maco (with or without standard maco shields, your choice) or even borg set, but I favor the first on the Vesta.
KCB, some crappy phaser beam array for TSS, which ever of the torps I didnt put on the front, or a quantum, or a turret if I'm in a place I know I can newb it up and sit still facing something.
for consoles I put 2x vesta ones in the eng slots, sci gets the remaining one, my assimulated module, and either 2x romulan particle generators, -threat +plasma proc, or replace one of them with a field generator, or move a universal down and load a neutronium, or both if you are going somewhere where losing the damage for the survial is a worthy tradeoff. Tac consoles get 4x phaser relays, naturally.
The boff layout is exactly the same, except in place of eng team 3 I get torp spread 1. It works out, the Vesta has a smaller hull so you don't notice the missing eng team so much. The Atrox takes a lot of heals to get full.
A torp boat works too, and that ends up very similar to my Atrox, but the Vesta whispers, "Put cannons on me, its smexy!"
Edit: I can make her do more damage then that, by going more heavily tac, but this is how I end up back in my Atrox. To match the DPS of the Atrox with her 2 hangar bays I have to spec more tac, but that takes away from my sci to do so. The Atrox brings both, so I bring the Atrox, unless I'm really not feeling like dealing with her turn rate that day.
Edit2: Oh, I also replace the attack pattern beta with cannon scatter volley, less scorps means less return on AP:B. Either is good, really, even on the Vesta, but CSV gives me a "poor mans point defense" taking out torps and such... coin toss or personal prefference... I have TBR to accomplish point defense if I need it, and intercept mode. That is how I do it in the Atrox.
I once again match my character. Behold the power of PINK!
Fleet Admiral Space Orphidian Possiblities Wizard
Oh my... The Vesta has been mothballed for performance issues (fine ship, I can just do better, and I try not to be a shameless min/maxer, but when I saw my Atrox did better for my playstyle, my Atrox it was =P Tho honestly I spend most of my time switching ships and builds and gear and running parses because for some inexplicable reason I am addicted to the math)
Yours certainly looks a lot more durable than mine lol!
Unfortunately in pursuit of 'max DPS/max Aux' my Vesta (the Sci one) has ended up without the reassurance of Alloys or MACO - it's not so bad since the Autonomous Regeneration Sequencer kicks in once I start taking damage but you have to know when to run away
It kind of forces you down a certain route in terms of gear but I like the play-style it brings with it - also, because of the high-power levels you can always put all that weapons power into shields which drops the DPS the rear weapons do but gets me:
W: 76/25 (!)
S: 86/60
E: 45/25
A: 125/90
Which is pretty fricking neat - especially if/when the Omega Weapons Amplifier triggers
Edit: Oh, I should note that whilst I do Elite STFs in this ship just fine, I wouldn't dream of PvP'ing in it - it sacrifices too much for DPS - my Tac's got a MVAE for PvP (although I mostly PvP KDF-side in my B'rel)
Now we are just basking in the glow of realizing that after all that vitriol, we weren't really angry at eachother, just that troll at the bottom of the first page scored a 11/10.
Group hug!
Edit: I, also, do not PvP, other then seriously gimped efforts in Ker'rat once in a blue moon.
I once again match my character. Behold the power of PINK!
Fleet Admiral Space Orphidian Possiblities Wizard
A lot of people avoid PvP. Cryptic had some metrics about it awhile back. It was used as their reason for not allocating any development time or resources to it. So I wouldn't feel too bad for avoiding it.
Yeah, STO has its own set of issues when it comes to PvP that are above and beyond the typical problems found in an MMO.
Personally, and if you have fun doing it more power to you, in an MMO I dislike PvP because of the lack of evenness. Inevitably one class is better then the other and one build is better then the other and one set of gear is better then the other... Personal skill is still a factor, but time invested, luck with drop rates, etc, play too much of a part for me to really get into it. These things are not a problem in games with less character development. If you choose something that doesn't perform, you just choose differently at the character select screen next time. In an MMO you are at the minimum talking months of work to level, re-rep, and re-gear, and then you have no guarantee the next patch wont break your new character.
In STO you have P2W on top of it. Not only do I have to have chosen the right character at the start, then progressed the correct path, and gotten lucky with the right drops, I now have to spend money to keep up with the arms race. All in an environment where the laws of physics change weekly.
No thanks. I enjoy competetive play in its place, even tho I'm not a strong PvPer even then. I spent so much time in Xwing vs Tie Fighter if I could have it back I might go get a P.H.D.... I really enjoy co-operative play tho, which is a major aspect of what keeps me working on MMO games.
I once again match my character. Behold the power of PINK!
Fleet Admiral Space Orphidian Possiblities Wizard
but it is so get over it its not that serious really its not and with them working on the romulan thing yeah that bug report is like spitting in the wind but then again its not a bug so ...
I won't post my full build (I might put it on the skills planner at some point though) but right now I'm running:
3 x Aux DHCs
2 x [Acc]x2 [Dmg] Mk XII Phaser Turrets
1 x Kinetic Cutting Beam (for the Omega Amplifier)
Mk XI Borg Deflector (+5 Aux and Autonomous Regeneration Sequencer)
Mk XI Jem'hadar Engines (+4 Weapons)
Mk XI Borg Shields (+5 Shields and Autonomous Regeneration Sequencer)
2 x very-rare Plasma Distribution Manifold Mk XII (+8 Weapons)
Borg Console (+5 Weapons and Omega Amplifier)
Zero-Point Energy Conduit (+1.8 all Systems)
Transwarp Computer (+22.9 Warp Core Efficiency)
2 x rare Field Generators Mk XI
3 x rare Phaser Relay Mk XI (to be replaced with Mk XI purple soon)
3 x Efficient Saurians (+22.5 Warp Core Efficiency)
9 points in:
Weapons Training/Energy Weapons/Targeting/Energy Specialization
Shield/Weapon/Aux Performance (max possible points in Shields/Weapons/Aux)
Warp Core Efficiency/Potential
With all that, my non-buffed power levels are:
W: 98/60
S: 60/25
E: 45/25
A: 125/90
There's some more tweaks I can do (Jemmie Mk XII Engine would add another 2.5 points to Weapons) and I'm hoping we get the Plasmonic Leech Fed-side at some point because this build will be crazy then
Incidentally, if anyone knows a way of pushing the power levels even higher (any Doffs that do that?) then please let me know - I think I've gotten the most possible out of the gear available in the game (well, apart from the Mk XII Jem'hadar Engine but I don't have the Lobi for that).
I put 3 Aux cannons on the front and one turret, the borg cutting beam and concentrated tachyon mines on the rear. This has two very nice effects.
1) You can drop weapon power to 25. The drop in that single turret's DPS for your ship is not that large. It enables you to have more in your shield and engines. Handy for squeezing out a little more turn, giving you that extra speed when you're hunting those that try to escape and it makes you less susceptible to power drains. (Well, you still get drained but as you have a higher power rating it's harder for you to be drained to 0 in any of the three subsystems you care about.)
2) The tachyon mines can really hurt people, especially when tractor beam and purple danubes aren't letting them escape.
Running with as little weapons power was an experiment for me but one that paid out.
Oh my... The Vesta has been mothballed for performance issues (fine ship, I can just do better, and I try not to be a shameless min/maxer, but when I saw my Atrox did better for my playstyle, my Atrox it was =P Tho honestly I spend most of my time switching ships and builds and gear and running parses because for some inexplicable reason I am addicted to the math)
But I ran ...
Edit2: Oh, I also replace the attack pattern beta with cannon scatter volley, less scorps means less return on AP:B. Either is good, really, even on the Vesta, but CSV gives me a "poor mans point defense" taking out torps and such... coin toss or personal prefference... I have TBR to accomplish point defense if I need it, and intercept mode. That is how I do it in the Atrox.
Very nice build. I can see that we probably disagreed on some points earlier as it looks like a PvE build and recently I've made the foray in to PvP. One thing I've noticed is that ever since I've started to focus my builds for PvP my PvE effectiveness has slightly dropped. When I first started my forays in to PvP I didn't realise how different it would be. Some abilities gain use whilst other lose their use. For example, I never used subnuc in PvE as I found it did almost nothing. In PvP it's an ability that really hurts people.
I run a cannon Excelsior which is based on Aux2Batt. I found that running two copies of it with 3 technician DOFFs pretty much halved the cooldown for every ability on board. Can you squeeze another on? If you did you'd want to get rid of tac team and replace TSS for Science team. As you'll run on close to zero aux for the match you'll find that eng and sci teams will be your saviours as their output is not aux dependant.
Grav Well 3 will be neutered so maybe putting photonic shockwave with aftershock DOFFs would help. (Viral matrix and PSW don't depend on high aux to increase their effect.) Additionally, tractor repulsors will push slower but that slower push will give the ability timt to do more damage. Marginal damage, yes, but still more damage nonetheless.
Hello all
I agve up on Cannons awhile ago.. Just wondering.. Will STO ever make an App version, 3 or 4G, is that possable??
I'd love to be able to play on my Lunch break!!!:DThank for a Great game
Well I came in here to see what the situation on the aux cannons was, seeing as how I'm currently grinding to buy this pack but after the first 8 pages of this thread, I've come out with a whole new outlook on life. I want to live and be free!... Oh wait but really, I learned some interesting information about power management, how broke I really am in game because I can't afford half this gear and the importance of reading comprehension
Well I came in here to see what the situation on the aux cannons was, seeing as how I'm currently grinding to buy this pack but after the first 8 pages of this thread, I've come out with a whole new outlook on life. I want to live and be free!... Oh wait but really, I learned some interesting information about power management, how broke I really am in game because I can't afford half this gear and the importance of reading comprehension
Don't be discouraged. It's an awesome ship. Even without the cannons it's a VERY powerful sci ship. The consoles give it a lot of flexibility. With maxed out stats a full blast of the deflector phaser can pump out over 40,000 in 12 seconds with no power drain. That's in addition to anything else you're dealing to the target.
I have toyed with 2x Aux2Bat, and that is how I run my cruisers now, but I didn't really get on with it on my Carrier (I didn't try it on the Vesta) Because I spent too much time for my liking with the aux drained.
It actually isn't as bad as it sounds, because if you are up and on and hit the second Aux2Bat quick enough you can get the cooldown reduction and lose only a small amount of aux, because most of your aux will still be in the other subsystems when you activate it. Then the power from the first A2B drains back into your aux system.
It does work, and quite well, but it was giving me streaky power settings. That is how the Energy Siphon got in the mix.
With my power settings (straddled between weap and aux) the ES caps my wep and aux at 125, and boosts my shields and engines as well. Then the Aux2Bat covers my weapons and other systems while the ES is on cooldown. By the time the cooldown is up on ES my aux power is back from the A2B and I can hit the ES again.
So, while I started toying wtih the A2B strictly for cooldown management, it quickly evolved to be a cruicial part of my power maintenance. I do pine for the second A2B sometimes, usually those times where I have 3 seconds left on a heal and 'splode... but I found I wasn't more efficient with the second one, I could just be a little layzyer with my timings.
Edit: Oh yes, PvP builds are not optimal for PvE. Luckily in STO the differences are minor, and most PvP builds are better then the PvE builds nubs fly, so PvP builds are quite viable. This does lead to some head-swelling from the PvP crowd, who is quite convinced that their way is the only way. It may work, but I prefer to spec for precicely what I am doing, which for me means a PvE build for PvE and a PvP build for PvP.
Edit2: I love the interaction between A2B and TBR as well... A match made in heaven!
I recently got my hands on a nadeon detonator and keep trying to adapt the build to use photonic officer and photonic shockwave... I haven't found the magic yet. It's plenty viable, I'm just not yet convinced it matches my A2B build.
I once again match my character. Behold the power of PINK!
Fleet Admiral Space Orphidian Possiblities Wizard
I recently got my hands on a nadeon detonator and keep trying to adapt the build to use photonic officer and photonic shockwave... I haven't found the magic yet. It's plenty viable, I'm just not yet convinced it matches my A2B build.
I only think that would work with a fast turning science ship, like the Wells or the Fleet Science retrofit. Anything less and I don't think you'll get enough chance to make best use of it.
Yes I bought the Vesta for the Aux cannons, but it isnt right they go offline with weapon and auc power drains. Weapon power shouldnt effect them. Hence the name AUX cannons.
We paided for this item we would enjoy it to work as stated.
Yes I bought the Vesta for the Aux cannons, but it isnt right they go offline with weapon and auc power drains. Weapon power shouldnt effect them. Hence the name AUX cannons.
We paided for this item we would enjoy it to work as stated.
completely agree with you that doesn't make any sense whatsoever.
I tried using mine but they were really gimped compared to the standard wp cannons despite the tooltip things just didn't die as quickly with these things on. I tried using them but didn't work well.
So logged on last night, suddenly my cannons were working properly. Are they changing server side code or something because they weren't working this well the other day. makes you go hmmmm.
Comments
But I ran her similar to my Atrox... lets see if I can remember it. I fly an Aventine.
Lets start with my Atrox and mention the differences... that will be quicker I think.
http://sto-forum.perfectworld.com/showpost.php?p=8309471&postcount=10
There, that saved a ton of typing.
Of course I don't use plasma on the vesta, I use phaser. I can do more damage with plasma, but I like my quantum focus phaser for burst. Hard to say how much of it is the fact that I have better plasma tac consoles and how much of it is abusing romulan plasma consoles + the romulan set peice + my plasma torps double dipping.
2xDHC, I was using crithx2 critd last, but since I've gotten some dmgx2 accx2 ones, I'd likely try them instead. And either the romulan torp, omega torp, or a quantum.
Omega set with maco shields, adapted maco (with or without standard maco shields, your choice) or even borg set, but I favor the first on the Vesta.
KCB, some crappy phaser beam array for TSS, which ever of the torps I didnt put on the front, or a quantum, or a turret if I'm in a place I know I can newb it up and sit still facing something.
for consoles I put 2x vesta ones in the eng slots, sci gets the remaining one, my assimulated module, and either 2x romulan particle generators, -threat +plasma proc, or replace one of them with a field generator, or move a universal down and load a neutronium, or both if you are going somewhere where losing the damage for the survial is a worthy tradeoff. Tac consoles get 4x phaser relays, naturally.
The boff layout is exactly the same, except in place of eng team 3 I get torp spread 1. It works out, the Vesta has a smaller hull so you don't notice the missing eng team so much. The Atrox takes a lot of heals to get full.
A torp boat works too, and that ends up very similar to my Atrox, but the Vesta whispers, "Put cannons on me, its smexy!"
Edit: I can make her do more damage then that, by going more heavily tac, but this is how I end up back in my Atrox. To match the DPS of the Atrox with her 2 hangar bays I have to spec more tac, but that takes away from my sci to do so. The Atrox brings both, so I bring the Atrox, unless I'm really not feeling like dealing with her turn rate that day.
Edit2: Oh, I also replace the attack pattern beta with cannon scatter volley, less scorps means less return on AP:B. Either is good, really, even on the Vesta, but CSV gives me a "poor mans point defense" taking out torps and such... coin toss or personal prefference... I have TBR to accomplish point defense if I need it, and intercept mode. That is how I do it in the Atrox.
Fleet Admiral Space Orphidian Possiblities Wizard
Yours certainly looks a lot more durable than mine lol!
Unfortunately in pursuit of 'max DPS/max Aux' my Vesta (the Sci one) has ended up without the reassurance of Alloys or MACO - it's not so bad since the Autonomous Regeneration Sequencer kicks in once I start taking damage but you have to know when to run away
It kind of forces you down a certain route in terms of gear but I like the play-style it brings with it - also, because of the high-power levels you can always put all that weapons power into shields which drops the DPS the rear weapons do but gets me:
W: 76/25 (!)
S: 86/60
E: 45/25
A: 125/90
Which is pretty fricking neat - especially if/when the Omega Weapons Amplifier triggers
Edit: Oh, I should note that whilst I do Elite STFs in this ship just fine, I wouldn't dream of PvP'ing in it - it sacrifices too much for DPS - my Tac's got a MVAE for PvP (although I mostly PvP KDF-side in my B'rel)
Lol! We were done with that a few posts back - 'working as intended' - but not how we'd like it
Group hug!
Edit: I, also, do not PvP, other then seriously gimped efforts in Ker'rat once in a blue moon.
Fleet Admiral Space Orphidian Possiblities Wizard
Come red-side and get yourself a Tor'Kaht - you don't know what you're missing
Fleet Admiral Space Orphidian Possiblities Wizard
You know you want one
Personally, and if you have fun doing it more power to you, in an MMO I dislike PvP because of the lack of evenness. Inevitably one class is better then the other and one build is better then the other and one set of gear is better then the other... Personal skill is still a factor, but time invested, luck with drop rates, etc, play too much of a part for me to really get into it. These things are not a problem in games with less character development. If you choose something that doesn't perform, you just choose differently at the character select screen next time. In an MMO you are at the minimum talking months of work to level, re-rep, and re-gear, and then you have no guarantee the next patch wont break your new character.
In STO you have P2W on top of it. Not only do I have to have chosen the right character at the start, then progressed the correct path, and gotten lucky with the right drops, I now have to spend money to keep up with the arms race. All in an environment where the laws of physics change weekly.
No thanks. I enjoy competetive play in its place, even tho I'm not a strong PvPer even then. I spent so much time in Xwing vs Tie Fighter if I could have it back I might go get a P.H.D.... I really enjoy co-operative play tho, which is a major aspect of what keeps me working on MMO games.
Fleet Admiral Space Orphidian Possiblities Wizard
but it is so get over it its not that serious really its not and with them working on the romulan thing yeah that bug report is like spitting in the wind but then again its not a bug so ...
We Had Peace!!!! You Came To Our Lands!!!! You Bring War And Famine!!!!!
Fleet Admiral Space Orphidian Possiblities Wizard
I put 3 Aux cannons on the front and one turret, the borg cutting beam and concentrated tachyon mines on the rear. This has two very nice effects.
1) You can drop weapon power to 25. The drop in that single turret's DPS for your ship is not that large. It enables you to have more in your shield and engines. Handy for squeezing out a little more turn, giving you that extra speed when you're hunting those that try to escape and it makes you less susceptible to power drains. (Well, you still get drained but as you have a higher power rating it's harder for you to be drained to 0 in any of the three subsystems you care about.)
2) The tachyon mines can really hurt people, especially when tractor beam and purple danubes aren't letting them escape.
Running with as little weapons power was an experiment for me but one that paid out.
Very nice build. I can see that we probably disagreed on some points earlier as it looks like a PvE build and recently I've made the foray in to PvP. One thing I've noticed is that ever since I've started to focus my builds for PvP my PvE effectiveness has slightly dropped. When I first started my forays in to PvP I didn't realise how different it would be. Some abilities gain use whilst other lose their use. For example, I never used subnuc in PvE as I found it did almost nothing. In PvP it's an ability that really hurts people.
I run a cannon Excelsior which is based on Aux2Batt. I found that running two copies of it with 3 technician DOFFs pretty much halved the cooldown for every ability on board. Can you squeeze another on? If you did you'd want to get rid of tac team and replace TSS for Science team. As you'll run on close to zero aux for the match you'll find that eng and sci teams will be your saviours as their output is not aux dependant.
Grav Well 3 will be neutered so maybe putting photonic shockwave with aftershock DOFFs would help. (Viral matrix and PSW don't depend on high aux to increase their effect.) Additionally, tractor repulsors will push slower but that slower push will give the ability timt to do more damage. Marginal damage, yes, but still more damage nonetheless.
I agve up on Cannons awhile ago.. Just wondering.. Will STO ever make an App version, 3 or 4G, is that possable??
I'd love to be able to play on my Lunch break!!!:DThank for a Great game
Don't be discouraged. It's an awesome ship. Even without the cannons it's a VERY powerful sci ship. The consoles give it a lot of flexibility. With maxed out stats a full blast of the deflector phaser can pump out over 40,000 in 12 seconds with no power drain. That's in addition to anything else you're dealing to the target.
It actually isn't as bad as it sounds, because if you are up and on and hit the second Aux2Bat quick enough you can get the cooldown reduction and lose only a small amount of aux, because most of your aux will still be in the other subsystems when you activate it. Then the power from the first A2B drains back into your aux system.
It does work, and quite well, but it was giving me streaky power settings. That is how the Energy Siphon got in the mix.
With my power settings (straddled between weap and aux) the ES caps my wep and aux at 125, and boosts my shields and engines as well. Then the Aux2Bat covers my weapons and other systems while the ES is on cooldown. By the time the cooldown is up on ES my aux power is back from the A2B and I can hit the ES again.
So, while I started toying wtih the A2B strictly for cooldown management, it quickly evolved to be a cruicial part of my power maintenance. I do pine for the second A2B sometimes, usually those times where I have 3 seconds left on a heal and 'splode... but I found I wasn't more efficient with the second one, I could just be a little layzyer with my timings.
Edit: Oh yes, PvP builds are not optimal for PvE. Luckily in STO the differences are minor, and most PvP builds are better then the PvE builds nubs fly, so PvP builds are quite viable. This does lead to some head-swelling from the PvP crowd, who is quite convinced that their way is the only way. It may work, but I prefer to spec for precicely what I am doing, which for me means a PvE build for PvE and a PvP build for PvP.
Edit2: I love the interaction between A2B and TBR as well... A match made in heaven!
I recently got my hands on a nadeon detonator and keep trying to adapt the build to use photonic officer and photonic shockwave... I haven't found the magic yet. It's plenty viable, I'm just not yet convinced it matches my A2B build.
Fleet Admiral Space Orphidian Possiblities Wizard
I only think that would work with a fast turning science ship, like the Wells or the Fleet Science retrofit. Anything less and I don't think you'll get enough chance to make best use of it.
We paided for this item we would enjoy it to work as stated.
completely agree with you that doesn't make any sense whatsoever.
I tried using mine but they were really gimped compared to the standard wp cannons despite the tooltip things just didn't die as quickly with these things on. I tried using them but didn't work well.
Pull cannon off ship, release ship, reclaim ship, now you have 2.