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T'Varo Science Build
admiralah1
Member Posts: 3 Arc User
**UPDATED TO REFLECT TWEAKING IN POSTS BELOW**
I've been playing around with a science captain in the T'Varo Light Warbird Retrofit and I'd like some feed back on a build:
Ship: T'Varo Retrofit
Skill Setup: http://www.stoacademy.com/tools/skillplanner/?build=scivaro_0
Boff Layout:
Lt. Cmdr. Uni: TB1/TB2/VM1 (or GW)
Cmdr. Tac: THY1/TS2/DPBII/APDIII
Ens. Tac: TT1
Lt. Eng: EPtE1/Aux2SIF (or Eng Team 1 if you want more haul healing)
Lt. Sci: PH1/HE2
Weapons:
4 Transphasic Torpedoes (substittue for Breen Transphasics, or Rapid Reload Transphasics if you have them)
3 Transphasic Mines + 1 Cloaking Tractor Mine
Doffs: 2 Projectile Weapons Officers, 2 Systems Eng., 1 Tractor Beam Officer
Power Levels: 15 Weapons/50 Shields/45 Engines/50 Aux
Equipment: Breen 2 + Borg Deflector (or a Positron Deflector), OR Klingon Honor Guard (Adapted MACO if Fed-Rom).
Using the Enhanced Battle Cloak, lay a web of mines with some tractor mines here and there. Use your tractor beams to hold enemies in place while the mines arm while you bombard with torpedoes. VM1 will help with shutdown as well, or use Gravity Well if you prefer area grasping. Use EPtE if you need to escape or turn quickly, and Aux2SIF for healing. Watch out for prolonged engagements, this is really a hit and run build/trapper build.
I could use some help refining this build. As a Science officer, I kind of have to take what they give me.
I've been playing around with a science captain in the T'Varo Light Warbird Retrofit and I'd like some feed back on a build:
Ship: T'Varo Retrofit
Skill Setup: http://www.stoacademy.com/tools/skillplanner/?build=scivaro_0
Boff Layout:
Lt. Cmdr. Uni: TB1/TB2/VM1 (or GW)
Cmdr. Tac: THY1/TS2/DPBII/APDIII
Ens. Tac: TT1
Lt. Eng: EPtE1/Aux2SIF (or Eng Team 1 if you want more haul healing)
Lt. Sci: PH1/HE2
Weapons:
4 Transphasic Torpedoes (substittue for Breen Transphasics, or Rapid Reload Transphasics if you have them)
3 Transphasic Mines + 1 Cloaking Tractor Mine
Doffs: 2 Projectile Weapons Officers, 2 Systems Eng., 1 Tractor Beam Officer
Power Levels: 15 Weapons/50 Shields/45 Engines/50 Aux
Equipment: Breen 2 + Borg Deflector (or a Positron Deflector), OR Klingon Honor Guard (Adapted MACO if Fed-Rom).
Using the Enhanced Battle Cloak, lay a web of mines with some tractor mines here and there. Use your tractor beams to hold enemies in place while the mines arm while you bombard with torpedoes. VM1 will help with shutdown as well, or use Gravity Well if you prefer area grasping. Use EPtE if you need to escape or turn quickly, and Aux2SIF for healing. Watch out for prolonged engagements, this is really a hit and run build/trapper build.
I could use some help refining this build. As a Science officer, I kind of have to take what they give me.
Post edited by admiralah1 on
0
Comments
The real power of the EBC equipped ship is that it does not need to power weapons or shields if it intends to fight while cloaked (with LoR this is even more useful since you can set the power levels even lower). You should either design it to decloak and mix it up or attack from EBC and fade away, not both.
I would change the load out to be just torpedoes and mines and make the eng be EPtE and AuxtoSIF.
Now if you have the skill that turns energy attacks to exotic damage then plasma might be a good choice (conservation of energy I think it is called). Otherwise you might want to look at transphasics, mines with a dispersal pattern and the Breen cluster torpedo are a deadly combination.
The reason I had the beams and turrets as well as EPtS was so that I had some kind of fighting ability during situations when fire was too heavy to cloak. Admittedly, though, they are hangovers from when I was using lower tier ships that did not have EBC. I'm still learning the ropes of the EBC.
To answer your question, I am a science officer and do have access to the trait Conservation of Energy. However, since I do not have much in the Particle Generators skill set, maybe I should change it out.
Also, what kind of equipment do you recommend?
The way I fly the T'Varo is to approach cloaked, fire off Gravity Well, Torpedo Spread 3, the destabilized torp, activate all cannons and RFC3, and decloak.
By the time your torpedo spread and destabilized torp reach the enemy, you've already pummeled their shields and even have time to fire off a second plasma torp and Sensor Scan.
Then I usually bank and fire off a high yield plasma torp 2 or spread 1 from aft, if needed.
If you are going to overwhelm someone with Plasma the real way to do it is with large spreads of mines, the Omega torpedo, and the Romulan Rep Torpedo. I don't know how far in to your rep system you are, but I'm quite sure that as of this post no Romulan has access to the Tier IV reputation gear.
The cheap way for a EBC ship to be successful is transphasics. The Breen cluster torpedo is a mission reward and IIRC you can mount more than one. The Rapid Reload Transphasic is a very easy mission reward. Transphasic Mines tend to be a cheap buy, as do the consoles. The Romulan tractor mines from Cutting the Cord are also a interesting thing to get since you can use them to snag passing ships to attack. You can also try the Bio-Neural Warhead since it is cool down friendly to other weapons.
If you are making an EBC attack with Transphasics the normal tactic I've seen is to buff up (and toss your debuffs on your target), then fire your mine spread and Breen Cluster Torpedoes from close range so you put out a wall of mines right on top of the target. If you can hold the target for the mines so much the better.
What set do you recommend for this build though? Borg, Breen, Romulan, etc?
The Romulan and Reman sets are almost identical in terms of benefits; the visuals are different. Both give boosts to High-Yield Plasma Torpedoes, so if that's where you want to take your build, you can invest in that gear. It will be time consuming and expensive, though.
The Breen kit probably doesn't work very well on the T'Varo... it strikes me more as a good set for a Science Vessel or Cruiser. The set bonuses are not the most spectacular things ever.
The Borg set is an interesting mix. Some items are worth using on their own, depending on the context of the build, and on other ships you can fit the whole set. The Engines aren't spectacular in my experience but they are by no means bad; they're also some of the fastest engines for traversing sector space. The Deflector is useful if you can make use of bonuses, and being a Sci-built ship with Tractor Beam powers, the Graviton Generators bonus will get used. However, I would definitely steer clear of the shield; you need a lot of Sci consoles to boost shield cap/regen to get the most out of it.
You see these items getting used a lot because before the Rep system was in place, they were very accessible STF rewards. One common option is to use the Borg Engine and Deflector, and pick a shield more suitable for your needs (probably Resilient or Covariant).
The Aegis Set is also fairly accessible, and can be crafted or bought on the exchange. Overall, it's a fairly strong defensive set, performing simiilarly (but not identically) to the MACO set.
While the Wiki doesn't have all the LoR updates yet, this page is still fairly useful:
http://sto.gamepedia.com/Set
In the meantime, it is probably best to use a Positron Deflector.
Actually, as a Klingon aligned Romulan, this set looks pretty good:
http://sto.gamepedia.com/Honor_Guard_Positron_Deflector_Array#Klingon_Honor_Guard_Positron_Deflector_Array
Honor Guard (or if Fed Adapted MACO) is great for EBC ships since it has an extra cloak in the Mask Energy Field ability, which is great if someone decloaks you, and it boosts projectile weapons.
The Breen set is actually good for this build mostly for the 2 piece set bonus that enhaces Transphasics and EPS systems (EPS helps things like EPtX skills). The Breen shield and engines with say the MACO dish or a Positron deflector (one heavy in things like SIF and Dampaners). An Omega deflector could also work since it would boost your sensor scan ability The Breen 2+ Borg Dish would actually work quite well since it boosts your Aux, Dampeners and SIF. I think the Romulan set is kinda Meh.
Maybe I should update the first page with all of our tweaks.
How do you feel about the power levels. I was looking at I realized it should say 15/50/45/50.
Also, for devices, I recommend the Red Matter Capacitor (if you have it), the Subspace Field Modulator, and I'm open to other suggestions.
basically a transphasic torpedo boat to take fully advantage of its enhanced battle cloak, which also boosts constantly the damage of your torps every time you decloak and fire.
With this build all my weapons are boosted by my consoles, by my maxed out personal torp skills and by the breen set, in addition to the battlecloak. Also don't forget 3 projectile doffs, preferably purple.
the 3 normal transphasic torps are there to get rid of light ships or to finish off a target, while my main damage and spike comes from the cluster torps and the mine launchers. In order to get them hit a moving target though, I need to use my sci abilities: viral matrix (maxed out subspace decompiler + 2 purple VM doffs) will keep your target still for about 8-10 seconds, scramble sensors will prevent your victim from shooting down your mines and cluster torps. Subnuke + APB1 (or APO3) + Sensor Scan should allow your mines and cluster torp to quickly crunch your enemy's hull away.
If you face grouped targets don't hesitate to throw in an iso charge in your attack.
I usually run with max power to aux, then engines, then the lowest low in weapons and shields (you are cloaked 80% of the time) in order to maximise my sci abilities effects.
If you get decloaked or held, don't panic: jam sensors + emergency power to engines + APO3 + evasive should get you out of trouble most of the times. if you also have the singularity teleport active you can use it to further increase the distance between you and the guy chasing you. Hazard emitters is your only heal, but if you engage the enemy wisely and if you keep cycling your emergency power to engines you shouldn't get hit too often.
shields or shield power are not important since if you get caught without a fast way out you're dead in a matter of seconds anyway due to the low hull, the point is not to get caught. (due to your superior speed with epte you can close in and out of range very quickly between those 3 seconds of decloak and recloak)
this setup works very well for PVE (granted you won't get 1st place so often due to the sheer firepower of tac captains, but you will have fun) and quite well in PVP, with a well coordinated team and timing well your attacks.
The issue comes from the fact that this build doesn't quite do anything all the way--it isn't a raw DPS build, it isn't an area denial build, and it isn't a support build, although it has elements of all three. While this makes it pretty good on a team in PvP, it makes it a lot weaker in STF.
If there is a way to remedy this situation, I'm surely open to it.
I do have another BOFF with some control skills like TB and VM, but I find it easier to just kill the target with weapon spray than try to control it and then kill it, especially in an assault craft. I take the same approach when my fed sci is flying an escort, guns do the talking and sci abilitiesi are irrelevant. If I want to use magicks I'll switch to the sci ship.
Agreed. This is especially true for STFs. I don't use the torp only setup anymore too, just because PvE with big fat targets is all about raw dps, cause you can't instakill almost anything with your spike. Even if I got the t'varo on my sci character my dual antiproton heavy cannons do most of the dirty work now. It's just much easier. For PvP I just add a DBB on so I can spike with BOs on decloak.
In addition to this, sci team skills like GW are almost useless due to the rework of epte (wich is a good thing in itself imo, but an overhaul of many sci abilities should have followed that too.)
Don't get me wrong, my torp boat worked in a satisfactory way most of the times even in elite STFs, it is just not able to carry a bad team, works best in a coordinated effort, something it's not always there if you pug a lot.
If you want to keep your t'varo a torp boat, I can suggest you not to fire all the time whenever your next torp is ready so you won't be a shieldless and visible target all the time, just let the ship recloak first. Also don't forget that mobility is the key for your survival. never, ever sit still, or in those 3 seconds you're decloaked you'll get killed. Or you can try to equip torps with only a longer cooldown such as the bio neural, 1 quantum, the harpeng and the breen cluster (though I've found this combination even less effective overall due to less synergy with your tac consoles). I used torps with a short cooldown (like the regular transphasics) not to do damage really, but more as a mean to trigger my projectile doffs effect in order to fire the real damage dealers (the breen clusters) with acceptable frequency.
The issue, of course, is that there are much better ships to run a cannon build on for Romulans, such as the Fleet Mogai Retrofit which just dominates. Any way you cut it, the T'Varo is a squishy ship that needs to make heavy use of hit and run with cloaks.
But like I said, the build we discussed here is still pretty decent for PvP and PvEvP. It would also work well in an organized STF team. The one map I have found it incredibly useful on is the Conduit, since most things there don't have shields (Nodes, Gates, etc.). It can also be decently effective on The Cure Found, but only if you have good support from the rest of the team.
I run:
front - 2x breens, 2x rr transphasics,
rear - 2x turrets, rr trans
boffs.
TS1, TS2, omega 1, omega 3, tac 1
Eng team 1, EmtE2
TB1, sci team 2
TB1 Haz2, TSS3
I am running 2 piece breen set, and the romulan enhanced battle proficiency set consoles for added damage and cd + leach. My damage will increase when I can get better tac consoles as im running mk xii greens and I also need to improve the levels of my Doffs. I am running 3x torp recharge (though not purples) and 2x reduce recharge emergency power systems (again not purple)
I tend to do a cloaked bombing run, decloak before I strike, tractor beam and then swing around for another pass, able to fight uncloaked and tank well. The turrets are for the energy drain that are draining 2.4 each per hit boosting all of my energy levels as well as the procs rather than damage.
Anyways its a work in progress but a lot of fun, thought i'd share and see if it helped or could get improvements. Able to alpha ships depending on what they are especially if sat still capping, or beat things down over time, with great escape mechanisms.
Fleet T'varo w/ Reman (KDF-aligned) Sci Captain
Traits - Accurate, Astrophysicist, Conservation of Energy, Elusive, Infiltrator, Photonic Capacitor, Reman, Singularity Specialist, Techie
Reputation
New Rom - Precision
Nukara - Fortified Hull
Omega - Omega Weapon Training
THY1, TS2, APO1, DPB3
TT1
EPtE1, AtS1
PH1, TBR1, GW1
ST1, HE2
DOFFs - DO(+Exotic), GS(GW+), PWO(+SC), PWO(Torp), PWO(Torp)
Deflector - Tachyon Mk XII [PrtG][ShdS][SIF]
Impulse - Aegis
Core - Dual Injection Mk XI [SingA][SingC][SST]
Shields - Resilient Mk XII [Cap][Pha][Tet]
Weapons
Fore - 2x Plasma Torp Mk XI [Acc]x2, Hargh'peng Torp Mk XI, Trico Torp Mk XII [Acc][CrtD][CrtH]
Aft - Plasma Mine Mk XII [CrtH]x3, Tractor Mine, Plasma Torp Mk XI [CrtD][CrtH]
Consoles
Tac - 3x Ambiplasma Mk Xi, Warhead Mk XI
Eng - Borg, Tachyo, Neut Mk X
Sci - 0Point, Plasma Destabilizer, Singularity Stabilizer
Devices - SFM, Aux Batt
With plans for the following eventual upgrades...
Reputation: Aux Power Config - Offense, Omega Graviton Amplifier, Sensor Targeting Assault, Quantum Singularity Manipulation, Refracting Tetryon Cascade
DOFFs: Purp the 2nd PWO(Torp)
Deflector: KHG Mk XII
Shields: KHG Mk XII
Weapons: Omega Torp (Fore, replacing Plasma Torp), Plasma Torp Mk XII [Acc]x2[CrtH] (Fore, replacing other Fore Plasma Torp), Hyper Torp (Aft, replacing Plasma Torp), Nukara Mine (Aft, replacing Tractor)
BOFFs: Still running Story BOFFs, so those need to be upgraded to better Traits