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Assault Cruiser help please.
x0ligy
Member Posts: 0 Arc User
Hey all ive been playing 3-4weeks now and wondererd if people would give some help and advice with my build which can be found here: http://skillplanner.stoacademy.com/?build=assaultcruiser_3677
Im only a free player with a limit of 10mil on my bank at moment and currently farming the marks to upgrade my reputation (tier 2 unlocked tomorrow) Im not a member of an alliance yet either...
So you know i changed my shields from the Jem'Hadar's today and the beam weapons are the Plasma-Disruptor Hybrid ones from a mission, i currently hit between 2-3k dps according to "Advanced Combat Tracker". I use the RCS to move my but around and do as much damage from the side and then switch if my shields are nearly gone.
PvP does not bother me too much at the moment i only start hitting others if im in Ker'rat and they shoot first or i see them hitting Federation :P (yes some people kill me in seconds lol).
With me only really farming at the moment i was thinking of getting the Dilithium Antiproton beam arrays as i think thats what most use for farming but i could be wrong, then saving for the borg set though ive not looked at the romulan one if im honest.
Sorry for teh long post any advice is welcome, not looking at "respeccing" just yet though heard aux to bat is good i just stick attack on though and prey for the best lol
Oh power levels without/with..
Att 100 - 118
Shd 50 -74
Eng 25 - 53
Aux 25 - 44
Thanks in advance for any help/advice.
Im only a free player with a limit of 10mil on my bank at moment and currently farming the marks to upgrade my reputation (tier 2 unlocked tomorrow) Im not a member of an alliance yet either...
So you know i changed my shields from the Jem'Hadar's today and the beam weapons are the Plasma-Disruptor Hybrid ones from a mission, i currently hit between 2-3k dps according to "Advanced Combat Tracker". I use the RCS to move my but around and do as much damage from the side and then switch if my shields are nearly gone.
PvP does not bother me too much at the moment i only start hitting others if im in Ker'rat and they shoot first or i see them hitting Federation :P (yes some people kill me in seconds lol).
With me only really farming at the moment i was thinking of getting the Dilithium Antiproton beam arrays as i think thats what most use for farming but i could be wrong, then saving for the borg set though ive not looked at the romulan one if im honest.
Sorry for teh long post any advice is welcome, not looking at "respeccing" just yet though heard aux to bat is good i just stick attack on though and prey for the best lol
Oh power levels without/with..
Att 100 - 118
Shd 50 -74
Eng 25 - 53
Aux 25 - 44
Thanks in advance for any help/advice.
Post edited by x0ligy on
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Comments
get rid of 1 engi team and the sci team.
for the sci team use transfer shield strength instead.
use FAW 1 and get either attack pattern beta or delta in the ltd tac slot.
for one engi team use Emergency power to shields 2, many cruiser captains run 2x EPtS, to keep the resistance buff up at all times. (i think though this is about to change because 2x EPtS will leave a 10 second gap)
aceton beam is nice to lower NPC energy weapon dmg, but the aceton beam 1 is already sufficent at doing that...otherwise ask an engineer to train aceton beam 3 atleast for the commnder slot or put directed energy modulation in that slot.
also look for AUX to Structural integrity field 2 or 3 on engineering boffs and use it.
for starters i'd recomand the jem hadar set, which can be aquired via the 2400 feature episode.
also you skilled projectile weapons, so use them! stick with photons or quantums though
this should give you some insights before skilling your character...it clearly reveals that maxing some skills is not worth the points spent.
rcs consoles on cruiser are questionable at best, but wait for 21. may...there should be a slight upgrade to turnrate for every ship.
the plasma disruptor hybrid weapons benefit mainly from disruptor consoles, not plasma infuser...sry.
personally i think disruptors are best for PVE, and actually really cheap on the exchange. for a few millions you can actually get MK XI or even MK XII very rare beams of disruptors.
also a coveriant shield or resiliant shield capx2 with 20% plasma resi should be on the "to buy list" at the exchange. you'll need it dearly for elite stfs.
anyway, i would not buy anything via dilithium...rather save it and get a ship upgrade or other essential upgrades like 1 billion EC cap for your account.
replace the RCS console with a Tachkokinetic Converter from the Lobi Store. It's got a turn rate , Graviton Gen AND Crit chance/severity bonus in one slot.
It'll be 200 Lobi, but if you've been opening LB then it's be a great investment.
Yes the timing can be a pain at times, but i have been dealing with them can not remember which skills are the most annoying by name but had a 2minute cool down each lol.
Anyway i'll set up some officers now and try your suggestions, i have 4.4mil in the bank at the moment i forgot to mention with over 100k dilithium (started farming it late). As for my bank that is on the cards to be upgraded im just waiting to do it as there has been too much downtime imo.
Shipp im looking at got to find one i like
As for my current shield im just testing out the "higher" shield numbers vs the benefits at moment, though i did plan on a shield like you said (7.5mil at moment though).
Thanks again.
@Cmdrscarlet, you may
I only have 1 lobi i think from a missin and dont know how to get them lol but yes that is something i have seen and looks nice.
Finding a good fleet is a good way to get equipment: dilithium store weapons cost more dilithium than Advanced Fleet weapons and have worse performance. Getting the required Fleet Credits can be a grind, but Fleet Marks are currently fairly easy to obtain.
Emergency Power to subsystems is the best skill to fill up the Ensign and Lieutenant slots of a Cruiser, since you can run power to two subsystems concurrently and constantly (EPtX starts a 15s cooldown on EPtY and a 30s cooldown on a second copy of EPtX, and vice-versa, so you can keep four Emergency Power abilities in rotation, two EPtX and two EPtY). I recommend Shields and Weapons.
If you have spare room for a reserve Science officer on your roster, keep one with Science Team, but have one with Transfer Shield Strength instead. Use the TSS one as your main Science officer, but switch to the Science Team one whenever you fight Breen or Hirogen (or others with Science debuffs like Jam Sensors or Subnucleonic Beam). The reason that you want Science Team as a backup officer is because it shares a cooldown with Tactical Team, which is the best Team power available (clears Boarding Parties and the debuffs from enemy Attack Patterns, while also rapidly adjusting shield facing strength and giving a slight bonus to weapon damage).
I don't like Aceton Beam, since it has a narrow forward arc (which is very inconvenient for broadsiding) and a long cooldown. The debuff it imposes is useful, but in PvP it's immediately cleared by Hazard Emitters (which due to Aceton Beam's longer cooldown, is usually available), and in PvE it's relatively worthless since Emergency Power to Shields and Auxiliary Power to Structural Integrity Field are able to keep you alive just as well against any energy weapon attacks.
Been trying out the build baudl suggested and i must be doing it wrong didnt last as long as nrmal haha will keep tweeking to see how itgoes though.
Yes acton beam isn't great just hard find something good to replace it, one quick question can officers be trained crosswards? Example i have a few tactical officers could i train one there skills to where acton beam is? only other option i have is warp plasma at moment guess im gonna have to look at buying someone
Anyway time to tweek thanks again for the info people.
Edit: Just joined a fleet.
Until you find an officer with Auxiliary to SIF3, I suppose Warp Plasma will have to do. It can be found on some Very Rare Engineering officers, however, and is common enough that such an officer won't run as expensive as some others are (Efficient Saurians are much more expensive, for example, even though the impact of their trait is not as much as it used to be).
Dps is now 4K+ ofc should improve as my gear improves, also managed to get the shield i needed for elites for 2mil (Covariant [cap]x2 [pla])
Thanks again folks
You should have hit up the dominion missions, 30-45m = MK X Engines, Shields and Deflector.
More than sufficient for elites
Also I cannot believe that a shield cost you 2mil, they have a hard time selling for half their value on the exchange.
Edit
Boldly They Rode = Shield 10-20m.
Operation Gamma = Deflector + Engines 10-15m per run.
Now, about your consoles: It looks as if you're trying to boost regen as well as shield HP, which is fine on a cruiser. I recommend getting a better RCS (blue Mk XI's are cheap on exchange, I believe), just for the heck of it. Replace the ablative console with either a 2nd neutronium console or a monotanium console. For STFs especially, this will help with survivability. . .since the NPCs seem to do most of their damage with torpedoes.
And if you're not opening lockboxes, get the Console - Universal - Assimilated Module. It's from Omega Reputation.
Also the Aegis set is nice. It's the 'beginner' set for STFs. It's a defense oriented set which would be good for a cruiser. You can find the parts on the Exchange for a few million EC each. Or find someone w/ max crafting and they can make you it if you pay the Dil for the "unreplicatable items"
For my top Engineering power I use Eject Warp Plasma III. Does good damage and slows down those annoying maneuverable ships so you can turn around and blast them.
Ship weapons I go 6 Beam Arrays and 2 torps (Qs or photons). Saves you 20 weapon power, I find 8 BAs a bit too much drain. If you don't want to worry about using torpedo tac powers like spread or high-yield, try the Hargh'peng. They can't use torp powers, fly fast, do DoT damage and the cooldown isn't too horrible.
@travelingmaster, yeh pvp dont really interest me, it might do at a later date and id make a new post regarding that but in my experience from other games you normally end up fighting people with more experience and alot better gear than you, sometimes you get lucky othertimes you just get destroyed lol
Also if i was to do pvp i would prob look into a defiant or soemthing not a cruiser and id need to get use it.
@dracounguis, Yeh im not bothering with lockboxes yet my luck isn't that great and i normally end up with crappy items id prefer to outfit my ship and what not before wasting ec on them keys.
Aegis looks ok yes, did think about purchasing it but waiting for the borg set at moment i think but like i said not looked at the romulan stuff and maco set properly (think i read maco is slightly better shield i forget).
Weapon wise i just use beams getting people behind is hard in a slow ship though as you said possible and yes annoying when you can not move but you can normally sit there and survive the majority of the incoming hits anyhow.
As for weapons im 8beams, firing like a pirate! lol Yes i have abilities in projectiles but having a big TRIBBLE and not beeing too fast at turning (removed the RCS) i think its a better option. I might "try" adding a torp and seeing how it affects my dmg overall though. And i need another look at my skills one or two need sorting.
The problem with 8 beams is that the drain is extremely high, so high that depending on circumstances you might even get higher DPS out of 7 beams, simply because your weapons are forced to fire at such low power levels. Now, some things can change that, like the doff for Directed Energy Modulation and the two piece bonus from the set with the Assimilated Module, but that's the general problem that tends to lead to people wanting some kind of a different weapon in the 8th slot. With your power level running the 8th beam shouldn't actually hurt you, but if you were a few points lower you'd actually get higher DPS from leaving the slot empty, which is why even a weapon that you scarcely use could be a better choice. Most of that can be found from the tool in this thread: http://sto-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?t=236545
Six, as the tipping point is past six beams when the drain gets too high, so long as you have at least at 100 power to weapons, and without not doing anything special to get your power up/your drain low.
7 is only worth it if you have the Experimental Romulan Beam and the Borg Kinetic Hull beam because the former doesn't drain energy and the latter provides plenty of kinetic damage to make up the lack of a torp.
8 generally isn't worth it because torpedoes will do more damage against hull than any beam array. (Excepting the Borg Kinetic one.)
Build is still using plasma-disruptor hybrid beams, wth 3 disruptor coils though i do ant to upgrade tot he antiproton just waiting to see what expansion brings but not sure when thats fully released.
Edit:
No not logged in today so for all i know its today lol
You should try out the nanite disruptors in the Tal Shiar lockbox, which can be Mk XII purples. Judging by how the previous lockbox weapons have gone (phased polaron for example), they should become relatively cheap in a few weeks.
I still believe that the best disruptors, and one of the game's best beams, is the Spiral Wave. Hard to beat 4 mods and 2 procs.
Unfortunately the twin proc is kind of a step down from what I've seen. The phaser immunity timer will prevent the spiral waves from proccing at all (since the procs are linked, and if one can't fire, the other can't fire), whereas other disruptor variants don't have a lockout mechanism.
Plus my bank is limited to 10mil so, i buy what i need when i can afford it if somemthing is out of my reach im kind of knackard but hey, thats how cryptic coded the game "Pay to Win" which like i said due to issues i refuse to do.
This cruiser can be acquired at rear admiral rank and has the most tactical specialism of the two available for free. Below is a build that will be able to tank almost anything in the game (short of elite borg 1 shot torps or being ganged up on by powerful enemies).
Weapons (all energy types of your choice)
Fore: 3x BA, 1x Torp
Aft: 3x BA, 1x Torp
Equipment
Deflector: M.A.C.O recommended however most will do the trick
Engines: M.A.C.O recommended however combat engines with turn and speed mods are good alternatives
Shields: M.A.C.O recommended however resilient shields with regeneration and capacity or resistance mods are a good alternative
Consoles
Engineering: 3x Neutronium Mk XI (These can be found for free as rewards for the games final story mission), Borg console (if you can have it) otherwise Monotanium Mk XI
Science: Field Generator Mk XI (can be acquired for 11,350 dilithium in the dilithium shop), Emitter array Mk XI
Tactical: 3x Mk XI Energy type
Bridge officers
CMDR Engineer: EPtS1, RSP1, EPtW3, EWP3/DEM3
LTC Engineer: EPtS1, Aux2SIF, EPtW3
LT Tactical: TT1, AP:B1
Ens Tactical: FAW1
LT Science: HE1, TSS2
Base Power (Primary)
Weapons: 100
Shields: 25
Engines: 25
Auxiliary: 50
Character skill spec
http://skillplanner.stoacademy.com/?build=ac0_0
Notes: This build requires a Systems engineer doff (Purple, weapon power drain resistance when activating DEM) if you use DEM.
This build can serve well as a high DPS and decent tank though it is not capable of anything more than that. This build works best when using a keybind (Placed on the spacebar) Cycling your EPtX while firing all weapons, balancing shields, activating TT, Aux2SIF, AP:B, DEM (if you chose it)
An alternative if you are willing to spend more ECs and go to a little more effort to arrange optimum running is the PvP build I also gave my fleet.
This cruiser can be acquired at rear admiral rank and has the most tactical specialism of the two available for free. Below is a build that will be able to perform well in an offensive role in PvP, also works great as a PvE DPS/tank.
Weapons (all energy types of your choice)
Fore: 3x BA, 1x Torp
Aft: 3x BA, 1x Torp
Equipment
Deflector: M.A.C.O or Elite Fleet (Recommended)
Engines: M.A.C.O or Elite Fleet Combat with speed and turn mods (Recommended)
Shields: M.A.C.O or Elite Fleet Resilient Shields [ResX] (Recommended)
Consoles
Engineering: 2x Neutronium Mk XI (These can be found for free as rewards for the games final story mission), 2x EPS Flow Regulator Mk XI
Science: Field Generator Mk XI (can be acquired for 11,350 dilithium in the dilithium shop), Borg console
Tactical: 3x Mk XI Energy type
Bridge officers
CMDR Engineer: EPtS1, RSP1, Aux2SIF2, EWP2
LTC Engineer: EPtW1, DEM1, Aux2SIF2
LT Tactical: TT1, AP: D1
Ens Tactical: FAW1
LT Science: HE1, TSS2
Base Power (Primary)
Weapons: 100
Shields: 25
Engines: 25
Auxiliary: 50
Base Power (Secondary)
Weapons: 100
Shields: 50
Engines: 25
Auxiliary: 25
Character skill spec
http://skillplanner.stoacademy.com/?build=acpvptac_0
Note: This build requires a keybind, 3 Damage Control Engineer doffs (preferably purple but blue will do) and 2 Conn Officer (Tac team cooldown variety)
(Placed on the spacebar) Cycling your EPtX while firing all weapons, cycling your Aux2SIFs and balancing shields allowing you to tank most things. (Modify the keybind shown in the keybind thread to read as follows)
Space "GenSendMessage HUD_Root FireAll $$ +power_exec Distribute_Shields $$ +TrayExecByTray 3 0 $$ +TrayExecByTray 3 1 $$ +TrayExecByTray 3 2 $$ +TrayExecByTray 3 3 $$ GenSendMessage HUD_Root FireAll"
(This leaves your TT open to throw at someone else if you don't need it)
Another alternative if you fancy a more versatile build for the same price as the PvP one is... (also my personal favourite)
This cruiser can be acquired at rear admiral rank and has the most tactical specialism of the two available for free. Below is a build that will be able to fill any role a team needs and solo any content you need to.
Weapons (all energy types of your choice)
Fore: 3x BA, 1x Torp
Aft: 3x BA, 1x Torp
Equipment
Deflector: M.A.C.O recommended however most will do the trick
Engines: M.A.C.O recommended however combat engines with turn and speed mods are good alternatives
Shields: M.A.C.O recommended however resilient shields with regeneration and capacity or resistance mods are a good alternative
Consoles
Engineering: 2x Neutronium Mk XI (These can be found for free as rewards for the games final story mission), SIF generator Mk XI, Borg console (if you can have it) otherwise Monotanium Mk XI
Science: Field Generator Mk XI (can be acquired for 11,350 dilithium in the dilithium shop), Emitter array Mk XI
Tactical: 3x Mk XI Energy type
Bridge officers
CMDR Engineer: EPtS1, RSP1, Aux2SIF2, EWP3
LTC Engineer: EPtW1, Aux2SIF, ES2
LT Tactical: TT1, AP:B1
Ens Tactical: FAW1
LT Science: HE1, TSS2
Base Power (Primary)
Weapons: 100
Shields: 50
Engines: 25
Auxiliary: 25
Base power (Secondary)
Weapons: 100
Shields: 25
Engines: 25
Auxiliary: 50
Base power (Heal/extreme tank)
Weapons: 25
Shields: 50
Engines: 25
Auxiliary: 100
Character skill spec
http://skillplanner.stoacademy.com/?build=ac0_0
Note: This build requires 3 Damage control engineer doffs (rare or better) to work.
This build can serve well in a tanking role while simultaneously doing about 1000 damage per hit and keeping an ally alive if you have the game setting right and are capable of that kind of multi-tasking. This build works best when using two keybinds
1: (Placed on the spacebar) Cycling your EPtX while firing all weapons and balancing shields allowing you to tank most things while dealing damage leaving most of your skills for manual activation so you can be a heal platform.
2: (On Ctrl+Spacebar) Should do the above and activate your Aux2SIF and TT thereby turning you into a powerful DPS/Tank this however severely limits your ability to healboat (not that you will need to heal anyone if you are using this keybind)
Hope you find one you like
Current build has been doing me pretty good, but wll find an officer to mess about with sometime.
3 skill points in Power Insulators will help defend against Shield drains (Borg like to use this). Also, you could use at least 3 points in Starship Attack Patterns.
Starship Maneuvers should get 9 skill points. It adds to the defense of your ship (Elusiveness) and directly counteracts Accuracy.
You could drop both Warp Core skills to 6 and eliminate Subsystem Repair entirely. You could reduce Projectile Weapons to 6.
Driver Coil is only for Sector travel speed and full impulse. You could lose or reduce it.
http://skillplanner.stoacademy.com/?build=hapiassaultr_0
Lt. Cmdr Tac: TT1, FAW2, APB2
Ensign Tac: TS1
Cmdr Eng: EPW1, RSP1, EPS3, DEM3
Lt. Eng: ET1, Aux2Bat1
Lt. Sci: HE1, TSS2
Front:3 beam arrays and 1 torpedo
Rear: 4 beam arrays
Aegis set (Working on getting a rep set but I have more EC then rep)
Devices: Red Matter Capacitor, Subspace Field Modulator, Aux Batt, Shield Batt
Eng Consoles: Neutronium x2, Monotanium x1, tachyokinteic converter
Sci Consoles: Field Gen x2
Tac Consoles: Consoles for whatever energy type you are using.
Doffs:
3 x Tech with Aux2Bat
1x WCE
1x quartmaster battery time reduced
I leave power levels default to whatever they are when choose the 'Attack' option. My weapon power with all 7 beams firing usually stays around the 80-90 range.
I had posted a thread a while back and this was the build I created based on the feedback. Some of the items you may not have access too such as the tachyokinteic converter. If you have the assimilated module you can put it there or other armors.
I in no way claim to be an authority on the subject but as I had recently set out to build an assault cruiser I figured I'd pass on the info I received. If you were thinking about picking up the Refit, I would highly recommend it. The 180 deg torp and the fact that you would only need one fleet module to get the fleet version is very helpful. The torp doesn't do as much dmg as a reg quantum but it is awesome to be able to keep 7 beams on target while shooting off torpedos
Also, if someone has already posted an Aux2bat build, sorry I just glanced through the thread real quick