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My build: full respec or full scrap?

lurka72lurka72 Member Posts: 44 Arc User
edited June 2013 in The Academy
Hi again,
whether or not the Romulans will give us a free respec, I'd like to discuss my build, which you can see at:

http://skillplanner.stoacademy.com/?build=luraksciencetestbuild01_0

Don't take it too seriously, I was just experimenting with my first character.
Ignore that one rank in Attack Patterns, it's a point-and-click error and I hit Accept before noticing. :o

Initially I wanted to follow the advice to take only 6 ranks in any skill, because the higher ranks were just a waste of points. I reviewed this build more than once, and maybe there are those 2 or 3 skills that deserve all 9 ranks, like the shield systems.

Since I took the science career, I wanted 6 ranks in all Science and Operations Systems to try out different abilities, but investing in all science skills (especially the high-rank skills) may also be a waste of points, so I am now studying a more suitable allocation for the remaining 18,000 points.

Abilities or not, all you need in the end is firepower and speed.
I am considering some options to distribute the 18,000 points:

1) get 3 ranks in countermeasure systems and subspace decompiler, as originally planned
2) get 6 ranks in projectile weapon specialization and 3 ranks in auxiliary performance
3) get 6 ranks in projectile weapon specialization and max out 2 Lt Cmd skills (weapons or engineering systems)
3) max out 4 Lt Cmd skills (energy weapons, projectile weapons, structural integrity and warp core efficiency

Or scrap everything and hope for a full respec... :P

Bye,
VAdm Lurak
Post edited by lurka72 on

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    deianirrahdeianirrah Member Posts: 236 Arc User
    edited April 2013
    Hello to You,

    there is a full list of the detailed skill effects per level:

    http://home.comcast.net/~amicus/Skill%20Point%20Effects.htm

    which did help me tremendously designing my character and putting priorities. I for one do not put anything in Driver Coil or Starship Sensors - and leave Warpcore Efficiency and Warpcore Potential at 6 - and allocate 7 to the Performance Skills I want to have. I only put 3 points in Graviton Generators as the added area of effect was noticeably small with or without these points. 6 in Particle Generators were nice, especially with Plasma weaponry (though that might be apt to change soon). Inertial Dampeners at 3 was more than enough to reduce hold effects - especially as I do prefer to have BOffs with either an Omega Attack pattern or Polarize Hull I handy.

    Hope this is a bit of help and best wishes to get a free respec - though I personally do doubt it.

    Taskforce 47 Falkenwacht (Federation) / Greifenreiter (KDF)
    (at) deianirrah
    Free Gear and where to get it
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    nicha0nicha0 Member Posts: 1,456 Arc User
    edited April 2013
    Fill out your ship and Boffs and come back again, skills without any reference mean nothing. That said, this layout isn't very good, but you can't fix it working blind
    Delirium Tremens
    Completed Starbase, Embassy, Mine, Spire and No Win Scenario
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    pwstolemynamepwstolemyname Member Posts: 1,417 Arc User
    edited April 2013
    A genralist build is definatly the way to go with your main character. Leave specialization to alts for whom you only intend to buy one ship and use the standard number of boffs.

    My science main has never had any problems taking first in PVP or fleet actions with his general purpose build.

    Specific advice for your build.

    Starship energy and projectile weapons specialization are nice skills, but very costly to investy in. You can still beat the DPS of most people without any points at all in these so if you need points elsewhere this is some where you can take them from.

    Attack paterns deserve some more attention. Attack Patern Beta in particular can considerably improve both your own and your teams DPS. Use a higher level APB with a lower level Scatter volley or fire at will for a bigger DPS boost then a higher level attack ability.

    Subsystem Repair is relativly cheep to invest in and can make the differance between getting your shields or engines back online before you die, or getting your weapons back before your damage buffs run out. Seconds count.

    Electro-Plasma systems deserves 6 points rather then 3 for the boost to emergency power abilities. Also note that the Starship Power performance abilities all give the same boost to their subsystem but do not all have the same cost. I recomend taking weapons down to 3 and upping Auxiliary to 3 for a net gain. Also up engines to 6 if you can find the points elsewhere.

    The two science skills you have neglected are only realy of use in PVP. If you are not going to PVP, or if you are going to use an escort or a cruiser for PVP you need no points in them. With some science ship builds you also dont need them.

    Notch Shield systems down to 6. Nothing ever needs to be more then 6.

    Your ground skills look solid. If you wanted you could gain some points for willpower or more armor by picking your favorate kit and ditching the skills that it dosnt use, but you dont need to.
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    oldschooldorkoldschooldork Member Posts: 426 Arc User
    edited April 2013
    When LoR is released in May all characters will get one RETRAIT token, not a respec. It's for the new trait system, and ALL characters on ALL accounts will get one so that pre-existing characters can benefit from it. They are not giving free respec tokens. There have been some forum posts from cryptic about this.

    On a side note the trait system is great...I've been messing with it on my Romulan character on Tribble and it adds some nice powers, both ground and space. Just my opinion, of course.
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    I don't care what the header says, I am not now, nor have I ever been, nor will I ever be, an "ARC user".
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    lurka72lurka72 Member Posts: 44 Arc User
    edited April 2013
    Thank you for your replies. I posted the entire layout on this new link:

    http://skillplanner.stoacademy.com/?build=luraktestbuild02_3525

    I planned a final skill point distribution. I can't respec points already assigned, so I opted to give the last 18,000 points to some low rank skills, as suggested by pwstolemyname:

    3 ranks in Attack Patterns
    3 ranks in batteries
    6 ranks in Subsystem Repair
    6 ranks in Electro-Plasma Systems

    I also have a +15 permanent buff on Auxiliary Power (don't remeber how I got it).

    I have a Mirror Universe Advanced Escort (they are cheap on the Exchange, I bet everybody has one). Do you think it can be of any use in PvP or Fleet actions? Any suggestion on its layout?

    Play long and enjoy,
    VAdm Lurak
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    sjokruhlicasjokruhlica Member Posts: 434 Arc User
    edited April 2013
    My recommendations, based on the 2nd link:
    Gear:ditch those generic tac consoles and go with ones specific for your weapon type, in your case tetryon and either a chroniton or quantum. Also, using one type of torpedo will allow you to double up on a specific console, increasing your DPS potential. A monotanium console in place of the RCS, and an Emitter Array console in place of Inertial Damper will increase your survivability.

    I'd replace that Jam Sensors I with Hazard Emitters I. Provides a decent heal and clears plasma fire and aceton/harpeng radiation. Also consider replacing Tachyon Beam II with either a Sci Team or Transfer Shield Strength. You may consider changing your Eng BOFF skills with EPtS I and Aux to SIF I. While it doesn't give as big a heal as an Eng Team, it gives damage resistance, doesn't interfere with Tac Team or Sci Team skills, increases heal with aux power, and is usable every 15 seconds.

    As far as spec, you don't need anything in Attack Patterns, as you don't have any attack pattern skills slotted. Use those points for another skill. Your build looks like it's torpedo-heavy, I'd decrease your energy specialization and increase projectile specialization. You REALLY ought to have 6 ranks at least, in Aux performance, since all Sci skills depend on aux power levels for effectiveness.

    Note: These recommendations are specific for this career and ship type. They may need tweaking for another sci ship type, and may be useless for cruiser or escort.

    My two cents. take it, modify it, or leave it. Enjoy your game!
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    lordmalak1lordmalak1 Member Posts: 4,681 Arc User
    edited April 2013
    I wouldn't respec until 3 months after the next big update. You know the devs are gonna be tweeking things and if you respec now you may need to again after they're done done messing with the mechanics months from now.
    KBF Lord MalaK
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    pwstolemynamepwstolemyname Member Posts: 1,417 Arc User
    edited April 2013
    lurka72 wrote: »

    I have a Mirror Universe Advanced Escort (they are cheap on the Exchange, I bet everybody has one). Do you think it can be of any use in PvP or Fleet actions? Any suggestion on its layout?


    The Mirror Universe Advanced Escort is a very capable ship and easily able to contribute more to any PVE content then your RSV can. I would recomend switching to it and using it to grind out the resources to obtain your end game gear even if you intend to switch back to your sience ship. Science is fun but currently and for the forsable future the majority of science skills are not that usefull in PVE, due to long cool downs and relativly weak or unreliable effects.

    This is why a generalist build is the way to go for your main character, it gives you the fredom to switch your bridge officer skills and ships around without having to invest in a respec every time, it also protects you from any nerfs cryptic patch in. As a science captin you wont be winning a battle of the alpha strikes any way, and dedicating a ship to tanking is largly pointless in end game PVE where your generaly up against an optionale timer so your team cant afford to sacrafice that much DPS.

    Now alts are a differant story, no need to give them skill points in anything they wont be using in their final ship, even if the returns for over specialisation are minor, which they are.

    But back to your Mirror Universe Advanced Escort. I recomend you use heavy cannons forward and turrets aft. A resilient shield array, a positron deflector and normal impulse engines (not hyper or combat). Your Bridge officers would serve you well trained thusly:

    Cmdr Tac: Tactical Team 1, Cannon Rapid Fire 1, Cannon Rapid Fire 2, Atk P Beta 3,
    Lt Cmdr Tack: Tactical Team 1, Cannon Scatter Volley 1, Atk P Beta 2
    Lt Eng: EP 2 Sheilds 1, EP 2 Sheilds 2
    Lt Sci: Polarize Hull 1, Hazard Emitters 2
    En Sci: Transfer Shield Strength 1

    You should work on your Omega reputation which means doing STFs. This will give you access to the MACO and Adapted MACO and Omega sets which will make your life a lot easyer. This build will help you fight borg and generate this reputation more efficently then anything you could do with your science ship.

    The Tactical Teams and Emergency power to shilds, along with the Transfer shield strength are very important. If you do elite level STFs you will need to keep your shields up and between you and the enemy at all times, or you will likly die. These abilities work together to help you do that. Remember a ship waiting to respawn does no damage.

    Borg use tractor beams and plasma fire, the polarize hull and hazard emitters help you counter these efects.

    Stacking the atack patern and the rapid fire lets you keep them both going as you move from one destroyed ship to the next, there should only be 5 second periods when your not under the effects of these buffs.

    Cannon scatter volley is one of the best PVE DPS skills around, but its dps dosnt scale up very much with its level so a level 1 is all you need. Untill you have reputation gear you should mostly use the rapid fire insted as you dont want to take too much agro untill your able to take the extra hits.
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    deianirrahdeianirrah Member Posts: 236 Arc User
    edited April 2013
    In addition to pwestolemynames' already very good advice I'd like to add:

    Get Shields with the [Pla] attribute as Borg do only cause Plasma damage (well - that and Kinetic and a small amount of Antiproton, the latter not being worth caring about).
    I for one would not use torpedo consoles when using cannons and a cannon build as all turrets and cannons do profit from the BOff skills proposed, contributing to the major part of the ships' damage. One torpedo launcher up front (Quantum comes to mind, later either the Omega or the Romulan Hyper Plasma) might be something though all-cannon builds go a long way.
    If You are still undecided about the type of weapon - try disruptors or polarized disruptors. They can be quite affordable if You are not immediately after the high-end versions. As long as You stick to one type of energy weapon only, You should be fine, though. Regarding the attributes, I personally prefer one [Acc] and as much [CrtH] and [CrtD] as I can for PvE, PvP would require as much [Acc] as possible.
    The engine should have [Turn] and [Spd] and yes, a normal Impulse Engine - getting the Assimilated Engine from the Reputation system could be another viable choice to strive for as well as the Assimilated Deflector.
    The Subspace Field Modulator is a nice, defensive item You get from the mission Skirmish for free - and I never leave space dock without it once I have access to it.

    A note on Your Ground Equipment:
    Try getting Energy Dampening armor with the [Pla] attribute - again, Borg do mostly cause Plasma damage. Same goes for the Personal Shield.
    The 'Ghostbusters Gun' from the mission Spin the Wheel can be a cheap alternative for Normal ground STFs - but will not suffice for Elite. A Pulsewave weapon and either a Split Beam or a Sniper rifle (anything except Disruptor and Phaser) will be a good investment as well.
    Try getting a MK X set if You plan to do ground missions. The Integral Frequency Remodulator of a complete set is the one thing You should be after as it remodulates Your weapon frequency in an instant. You can easily use the MK X set (my choice would be MACO) in Elite ground missions.
    The MK X Physicist set is a very good choice - especially if You combine it with Rare or Very Rare Geologist DOffs that may create a Phasic Instability when using the Electrogravitic Field. Grenade-hurling Tacs and Bomb-laying Techs will love You for it. Do get the Very Rare version of it, though - it should be very affordable on the Exchange or You can build it Yourself on Memory Alpha with sufficient crafting skill. Also, a Medic Kit MK X might be something worth looking into as You can not only heal party members but also be a nasty Tank with it.
    Close combat weapons like the Lirpa - I personally do not like them, especially once You have a complete ground set. Missions like Infected Ground (a walkthrough can be found here) can require Trigger Lines to be kept in mind so getting up close and personal is not always the best choice. Then again, Borgs cannot adapt to physical damage so up until You have a complete ground set, close combat weapons can be worth it.

    Taskforce 47 Falkenwacht (Federation) / Greifenreiter (KDF)
    (at) deianirrah
    Free Gear and where to get it
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    notapwefannotapwefan Member Posts: 1,138 Arc User
    edited April 2013
    deianirrah wrote: »
    Hello to You,

    there is a full list of the detailed skill effects per level:

    http://home.comcast.net/~amicus/Skill%20Point%20Effects.htm

    which did help me tremendously designing my character and putting priorities. I for one do not put anything in Driver Coil or Starship Sensors - and leave Warpcore Efficiency and Warpcore Potential at 6 - and allocate 7 to the Performance Skills I want to have. I only put 3 points in Graviton Generators as the added area of effect was noticeably small with or without these points. 6 in Particle Generators were nice, especially with Plasma weaponry (though that might be apt to change soon). Inertial Dampeners at 3 was more than enough to reduce hold effects - especially as I do prefer to have BOffs with either an Omega Attack pattern or Polarize Hull I handy.

    Hope this is a bit of help and best wishes to get a free respec - though I personally do doubt it.
    thx for the link :-)
    Grinding for MkIV epic gear?
    Ain't Nobody Got Time for That


    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
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    lordmanzelotlordmanzelot Member Posts: 468 Arc User
    edited April 2013
    Sorry dude but the build is TRIBBLE ...

    ... you should focus on 2 high abilitys like tractor beam or tractor beam repulsor or gravtiy well... But not 5 abilitys you can't skill 5 different abilitys to a high utility level. And you have only 2 heals thats not good.
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    deianirrahdeianirrah Member Posts: 236 Arc User
    edited April 2013
    @lordmanzelot:
    If the OP goes with pwestolemynames' build proposal, I count no less than five heals:

    Lt Eng: EP 2 Shields 1, EP 2 Shields 2
    Lt Sci: Polarize Hull 1, Hazard Emitters 2
    En Sci: Transfer Shield Strength 1

    in addition to two alternating TacTeams 1. More than enough to keep ships alive through most STFs.

    As to the skills, I agree with pwestolemyname again - changing ships needs versatility unless You want to respec every time You change ships.

    Taskforce 47 Falkenwacht (Federation) / Greifenreiter (KDF)
    (at) deianirrah
    Free Gear and where to get it
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    lordmanzelotlordmanzelot Member Posts: 468 Arc User
    edited April 2013
    The author is "lurka72" and he posted only 1 link about a Luna Class Vessel.
    Subscribed For: 2300+ Days
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    lurka72lurka72 Member Posts: 44 Arc User
    edited April 2013
    Thank you for your advice. I made some changes to Boff skills, now I have:

    - EP to Shields I
    - Aux to SIF II
    - 2 x Tactical Team I
    - Torpedo HY II
    - Jam Sensors I
    - Transfer Shield Strength II
    - Hazard Emitters III
    - Gravity Well III
    - Polarize Hull I
    - Science Team II
    - Tachyon Beam III

    Which is 8 heal/buff and 4 debuff/attack skills, plus the captain's abilities and the built-in subsystems targeting. Space combat with my RSV has improved a bit. :P

    @sjokruhlica:
    generic tac consoles are not optimal, but I like to experiment with different weapons. For example, now I'm using a hybrid plasma-disruptor mk xi and the Hargh'peng torpedo mk ix. The radiation damage is really effective. :D Should I really ditch the RCS console? Turn speed is very important (and is a weakness of science ships). I've seen people mounting 2 or 3 RCS at once. :eek:
    My typical power configuration is:
    Wpn: 83/70
    Shld: 83/70
    Eng: 47/30
    Aux: 56/30
    What is the additional bonus for getting ranks in Auxiliary Performance?

    @pwstolemyname:
    sadly, my Mirror Advanced Escort did not pass the Defense Contract test: I was destroyed 3 times, while the enemies feasted on the deuterium tanks. I usually manage to save all tanks with my science ship. Combat in escort ships is really complicated, as I have to face the enemy most of the time to shoot cannons. Could just be a matter of experience, but using beams and torpedoes while circling around in a science ship is more congenial to me.

    @deianirrah:
    I'm not extensively engaging the Borg at the moment, and I prefer more general-purpose equipment, like [cap]+[reg] shields and ablative hull armor. Is the proton distortion rifle really good against non-Devidian targets? I really suck at ground combat. I reached lv 50 playing mostly in Advanced mode, but now I (shamefully) have to revert to Normal when involved in ground combat. I suspect the game is biased in favor of the NPCs. I fire a pulsewave mk xi in their face and I can barely scratch thier shield. They fire a couple of rounds and my shield is gone and next shot I'm dead. :mad: I agree that sometimes ground combat requires a more tactical approach, but it's hard to shoot, dodge, use skills and give orders to boffs at the same time.

    Oh, and since I got to lv 50, I'm always bugged to fight the Tholians on Nukara Prime. Any specific advice for space and ground combat against the Tholians?

    Thank you,
    VAdm Lurak
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    operations2000operations2000 Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited April 2013
    lurka72 wrote: »
    Initially I wanted to follow the advice to take only 6 ranks in any skill, because the higher ranks were just a waste of points. I reviewed this build more than once, and maybe there are those 2 or 3 skills that deserve all 9 ranks, like the shield systems.
    That is a good general rule of thumb as red points are the most expensive, but you have to consider the tier the skill is in, and how universally useful it is.
    For example you only have 6 points in "Starship Weapons Training", yet you have 6 points in "Starship Energy Weapons" and "Starship Projectile Weapons".
    If you look at the skill point effects table, you will see weapons training has a bigger bonus per point than the other two, is at a cheaper skill tier, and affects all weapon types.
    So red points in that is more cost effective than yellow points in two separate skills at a higher tier.

    My personal rule is I wont go red beyond tier 1 or 2, red at tier 2 is still only as expensive as yellow at tier 5 in terms of skill bonus per skill point.
    I also like to max out "Structural Integrity" and "Starship Shield Systems", there is no such thing as too many HP, or too much Shields.
    deianirrah wrote: »
    @lordmanzelot:
    If the OP goes with pwestolemynames' build proposal, I count no less than five heals:

    Lt Eng: EP 2 Shields 1, EP 2 Shields 2
    Lt Sci: Polarize Hull 1, Hazard Emitters 2
    En Sci: Transfer Shield Strength 1
    I only count one heal, three are shields heals, and the other has no heal component. :P
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    sjokruhlicasjokruhlica Member Posts: 434 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    lurka72 wrote: »
    @sjokruhlica:
    generic tac consoles are not optimal, but I like to experiment with different weapons. For example, now I'm using a hybrid plasma-disruptor mk xi and the Hargh'peng torpedo mk ix. The radiation damage is really effective. :D Should I really ditch the RCS console? Turn speed is very important (and is a weakness of science ships). I've seen people mounting 2 or 3 RCS at once. :eek:
    My typical power configuration is:
    Wpn: 83/70
    Shld: 83/70
    Eng: 47/30
    Aux: 56/30
    What is the additional bonus for getting ranks in Auxiliary Performance?

    Turn rates are usually pretty decent with Sci ships, so unless you're running dual beam banks up front, or are heavily dependent upon torpedoes, turn rate shouldn't be a huge issue. Sci ships do , however tend to have weak hulls, and a monotanium console to resist kinetic damage can really help.I do have one KDF build where I'm using 3 RCS consoles, but it's an all cannon fleet tor'khat with lots of hull points.

    As far as high aux power goes, all skills that are dependent on aux power will be more effective, ie hazard emitters and aux2SIF will heal more damage, your grav well will inflict more damage, polarize hull will give a better damage resist, tachyon beam will drain more shields, ect.
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    deianirrahdeianirrah Member Posts: 236 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    lurka72 wrote: »
    - 2 x Tactical Team I
    - Science Team II
    Just to have mentioned it - all '.. Team'-abilities share the same cooldown and You can usually only make use of two of them - activate the first, second one goes on cooldown; once the cd on the second one is gone, You can activate it; then You can activate the first again. A third team ability would mean that You can switch between one of them - but also one ability remaining dormant all the time. Hence I'd go with only two team abilities in total. Personal preference: Tactical Team.

    To add to sjokruhlicas' advice:
    Try to concentrate on one type of energy weapon only once You have found 'Yours'. There are (well, except for Plasma currently but that is about to change) no consoles where both Torpedoes and Energy Weapons profit from the same console.
    A slow torpedo like the Hargh'Peng or a Tricobalt does indeed cause some nice damage - yet they suffer from a long cooldown. In addition, the Hargh'peng does NOT profit from Your Torpedo: High Yield BOff ability which is a shame to waste.
    Do experiment with Attack Patterns as well, I think You might start to like Beta and Omega in particular.
    The exact amount of additional energy generated by skills can be seen in the skill affects table I did post the link to (notapwefan quotes it on the top of this thread page).
    And experiment with the energy settings as well, I for one usually keep Weapons on max and Aux comes second in my science ships (apart from the Vesta where it is the other way around). You will not notice much difference between 25 and 30 in an area - but a lot of difference between 70 and 100.
    @deianirrah:
    I'm not extensively engaging the Borg at the moment, and I prefer more general-purpose equipment, like [cap]+[reg] shields and ablative hull armor.
    I just mentioned it as going against the Borg currently makes up for the major part of the endgame content. Kinetic damage from torpedo attacks is something to keep in mind as well.
    Is the proton distortion rifle really good against non-Devidian targets? I really suck at ground combat. I reached lv 50 playing mostly in Advanced mode, but now I (shamefully) have to revert to Normal when involved in ground combat. I suspect the game is biased in favor of the NPCs. I fire a pulsewave mk xi in their face and I can barely scratch thier shield. They fire a couple of rounds and my shield is gone and next shot I'm dead. :mad: I agree that sometimes ground combat requires a more tactical approach, but it's hard to shoot, dodge, use skills and give orders to boffs at the same time.
    Like I said: it is a very good weapon against groups of enemies (especially if You keep using the Crouch and Aim stances (c and x in a standard keyboard configuration), hit the key again or toggle run with the shift key to leave). Crouch will make You vulnerable to close combat but increase Your defense against ranged weapons - and aim will increase Your damage considerably. But both also makes Your character rather stationary.
    Do not use the Proton rifle in Elite Ground STFs, though.
    Oh, and since I got to lv 50, I'm always bugged to fight the Tholians on Nukara Prime. Any specific advice for space and ground combat against the Tholians?
    For Space, Batteries, Science Team (I think) and Emergency Power to X-abilities help You overcome their subsystem targeting - if that bothers You. Apart from that, a Fire at Will is nice against their Tholian Webs they keep throwing around, there will be another ability against that with the upcoming Reputation system equipment.
    For Ground, apart from getting a nice spacesuit - I prefer getting a [Sonic] splitbeam rifle and I do the Medium missions (preferably with a team mate like You are supposed to do or by finding Yourself a more or less quiet corner position) until I get the Cryo Launcher (bound on pickup e. g. opening the box). You will be able to get the Tholian Ground set with the upcoming reputation system so there is no need to invest Lobi into it - but You might save a bit on Dilithium getting the set from Medium mission reward boxes instead of the Reputation system.
    Doing the Hard missions with a 5+ team will yield the very rare reward boxes which still do sell well - yet I'd keep them for the reputation system again. I personally think they have about the same chance as the rare boxes from the Medium missions to include the Ground set items.

    Taskforce 47 Falkenwacht (Federation) / Greifenreiter (KDF)
    (at) deianirrah
    Free Gear and where to get it
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    lurka72lurka72 Member Posts: 44 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    Hi,
    thank you again for your cooperation.

    After hearing your opinions, i divided the last 18,000 skill point as follows:
    9,000 Auxiliary Performance
    4,000 electro-plasma Systems
    3,000 Subsystems Repair
    2,000 Weapons Training

    You can see the final build here:

    http://www.stoacademy.com/tools/skillplanner/?build=luraktestbuild02_3525

    I already saved the Zen for a retrain token, but I'll wait some time after the LoR deployment, as suggested by lordmalak1 (which means waiting until September).
    I drafted a possible new build here (assuming that a retrain token allows to change everything):

    http://www.stoacademy.com/tools/skillplanner/?build=luraktestbulid04_3525

    There is definitely a trade-off between tactical and science skills. I could sacrifice countermeasure systems and subspace decompiler for weapon specialization. It's the usual dispute "science abilities are useless, only firepower counts". There are lots of builds published in Stoacademy and some earned several medals. Are they good as a reference? What skills/abilities would you get for a fleet support role? Any suggestion is welcome.

    Thank you,
    VAdm Lurak
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    deianirrahdeianirrah Member Posts: 236 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    Things I'd do differently:

    - in both Your new and old builds, You are using a lot of torpedo launchers - and in particular one with a long cooldown that does not profit from Your torpedo abilities. I'd at least exchange the Tricobalt against a Photon (or front quantum). I am not so sure about twin aft torpedoes as well - but as I never used more than one front torpedo, I cannot say much about that. I am pretty sure that they will share the same cooldown, though.
    - get Hazard Emitters I (at least) instead of Jam Sensors
    - try Scramble Sensors - if You find Tachyon Beam and Photonic Shockwave lacking. The two latter abilities would be the first to go for me.
    - I am a bit biased against Tractor Repulsors as they require the player to keep a keen eye on the situation. Pushing enemies away into 'safety' out of a full salvo of Tacticians is a sure method to earn scorn.
    - I did never see the (IMHO very limited) use of the Science consoles and did stick to Field Generators or any other Shield boosting console - but that is just me.
    - if You are planning to use Beam Arrays up front and make use of the Torpedo Launcher, I'd change them to Double Beams. The narrower arc of fire should at least compliment Your damage and Your Torpedo Launcher.
    - as You are not using any Beam ability (Fire at Will, Beam Overload), the turret in the aft section can make sense to have at least a bit more damage facing forward. Again, I am not so sure about the twin Quantum Torpedoes aft - if Your tactis is reducing an enemies shields with Your Tetryon beams and abilities while flying in, then turning tail and sending in Torpedoes with enhanced abilities, it might work on the smaller vessels.

    Ground:
    Still the Lirpa and the rare Physicist, eh? ;)
    Well, as long as You do not have a complete MK X set from the Omega reputation system, it should work out. Regrettably, the favoured set would be the MACO MK X - which will provide a ranged weapon (sniper rifle). The very rare Physicist MK X can be found rather affordably on the Exchange - or You can build it Yourself in Memory Alpha, skill and ressources provided. Do get the very rare Medic MK X as well while You are at it.

    Skills:
    - the Starship (Energy type) Performance skills (Engine, Shields, Aux, Weapons) could get another bit of energy by investing just one more dot into them. I'd reduce Engine by three.
    - EPS Systems can be useful if You plan to switch between energy distribution presets a lot (from 100 Weapon to 100 Aux and back, f.e.). Otherwise, I'd leave it at no more than three dots.
    - Subsystem Repair: no more than three dots.
    - Impulse Thrusters: personal opinion - three dots are sufficient. Especially with a ship that uses Beam Arrays.
    - Flow Capacitators are mostly useful for Klingons with the Plasmonic Leech - or (currently) Polaron and Energy Siphon builds. As You are using neither, I'd at least reduce the skill.
    - as You mentioned it already - I do doubt the viability of Starship Sensors, Countermeasure Systems and Subspace Decompiler strongly. Looking at the Skill Effect table (link on top of page 3 of this thread) You will see the miniscule effect of the skill on the BOff ability. Same goes (most regrettably so) for Graviton Generators as You can see how little the area of effect is being influenced by the skill currently.

    Hence I'd propose the following, including Your ship equipment:

    http://skillplanner.stoacademy.com/?build=lurakbuildproposal_0

    Apparently You are already in the 2nd Tier of the Omega Reputation system - so getting the Assimilated Console and the Kinetic Cutting Beam should be possible. Polarized Tetryons make use of Your Flow Capacitators skill and do Tetryon damage, last time I checked they were not too expensive on the exchange. I did favour Energy Weapons over Torpedoes as the Kinetic Cutting Beam will add to Your hull damage capabilities and fire forward as well. The Double Beam Banks will have the same arc of fire as the front Torpedo - Quantums are good for damage and You already have them. You can exchange it for the Omega torpedo - or go all Plasma with the Romulan stuff if You prefer (look up Epoh tagging for a nice way to get Romulan Reputation). I did exchange a few skills - be careful when using Fire at Will as You might attract unwanted attention. You could try using Beam Arrays aft if You think the FaW is enough to cause all around mayhem instead of concentrating on forward fire - the turrets will not profit from FaW, Beam Arrays would but will not have the arc of fire unless You are going up against larger targets and get close enough.

    And last but not least:
    Do get into a Fleet and see if the Fleet version of Your ship is already available - as well as Fleet weaponry and equipment. It may cost Fleet Credits and Dilithium - but might be easier to obtain than EC in the long run.

    Forgot to answer Your questions:
    Yes, a Retrain token allows You to change all the Skills - and if You did so, redistributing the Reputation System choices as well.
    Waiting until after the LoR update might be a good choice, there will be a lot of changes with the Warp Cores, new Traits and changed skill effects.
    The builds on STOAcademy are just that - builds by people like me who have their own, subjective opinion about what is 'good' and what suits their style of play most. Medals may help to find the better ideas - yet they are - as any advice and rating in the IntarWebz - to be taken with a grain of salt as even they could just be friends trying to be helpful or simply from older, no longer viable builds.

    So, despite my attempts to get You into a direction I personally favour - the ultimate choice will be Yours to make.

    Taskforce 47 Falkenwacht (Federation) / Greifenreiter (KDF)
    (at) deianirrah
    Free Gear and where to get it
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    lurka72lurka72 Member Posts: 44 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    Hi all,
    back again on this thread. With more focus on healing and buff, the durability of my ship has improved. DPS still sucks, though. :( In STF there are people who blow up a cube before I can get in firing range. :eek:

    I'm working for reputation, but collecting marks for all the neat stuff is a long process... :P
    What abilities do you suggest for Nukara rep? I was thinking of Identify Vulnerability, Shield Penetration, Cryo Immobilizer and Auxiliary Offense.

    The current build is here:
    http://skillplanner.stoacademy.com/?build=lurakcurrentbuild_3525

    A Mirror Universe Luna class popped out of a lock box. Is it any better than the standard ship?
    I also got the Ent-C from the Temporal Ambassador mission, but what good is it at this point?

    Thank you,
    VAdm Lurak
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