Are Skills Capped?

jagdhippies · August 2013

Are skills capped at some level? An example of what I am talking about is graviton generators. Say if I put 6 points into graviton generators then I equip 4 graviton generator consoles, will I reach a max level that I can boost a skill?

I am just trying not to waste any fleet credit on the fancy fleet science consoles. I don't want to buy 4 of something when 3 would max out the skill.

relizarraras · August 2013

I don't know about graviton generators, but flow capacitors aren't capped. I've gotten flow capacitors to around 250. Although, the gain to leech, polaron proc and energy siphon wasn't worth the console space needed to reach those numbers.
I would think graviton generators aren't capped too.

adjudicatorhawk · August 2013

Skills are not capped. Enjoy your Graviton Generators.

mazurkr1 · August 2013

i'd love to know the diminishing returns on skills over 99. any chance we could get the math?

even just the graphical curve would be great too.

playhard88 · August 2013

mazurkr1 wrote: »

i'd love to know the diminishing returns on skills over 99. any chance we could get the math?.

There is no diminishing per point, the diminishing is the amount of points per skill level, no per point.

canisanubis · August 2013

The only effect with diminishing returns in STO is damage resistance, whose formula can be found here: http://sto.gamepedia.com/Damage_resistance

All other game effects offer linear returns. Now the COST you pay for skills for your captain have steep diminishing returns, getting profoundly higher past the first 3 ranks, but those are clearly documented.

The question to be asked is this: What marginal gain are you getting per skill point increase for your addition of consoles? If you look at most BOFF abilities which are improved by skills and consoles (which are mechanically indistinct from skills), most of them don't get very much better from progressive gains in skills. Take Graviton Generators' effect on Gravity Well. For 99 points in the skill you get a ~25% increase in the radius of the effect. If you decide to add particle generators to increase the damage, 99 skill increases the damage by 25%. Certainly good, but hardly mind-blowing, given the rather mediocre base damage of the Gravity Well Effect. Stacking 219 skill will push Grav Well III from 560 DPS to 860 DPS. Hardly mind-blowing.

mazurkr1 · August 2013

interesting.

so, there isn't really an opportunity cost as i thought (putting points >99 has less effect than putting points into a new skill with no points).

in your example, you cite grav well gaining 25% radius and/or dmg per 99 skill points, with a linear curve.

what is the base, at 0 pts in grav generators/part gens?

and does this 25%/99pts apply to all boff/cpt skills?

i seem to remember a spreadsheet someone made with various data pts from testing X skill with X pts...

jagdhippies · August 2013

Here are couple of links that have been passed around for the return versus skill point investment.
http://home.comcast.net/~amicus/Skill%20Point%20Effects.htm
http://starfleetprotectors.guildlaunch.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=9300290

In short it is not worth putting more than 6 points into anything unless you are min-maxing or following a narrow path. Some skills are not even worth 1 point.

Kudos again for those that put in the effort for this charts.

Thanks for the info everyone, still not sure what I might do, maybe 4 particle gens for pushing cubes and gates, I can't move them but I can hurt them in place.

topset · August 2013

jagdhippies wrote: »

Here are couple of links that have been passed around for the return versus skill point investment.
http://home.comcast.net/~amicus/Skill%20Point%20Effects.htm
http://starfleetprotectors.guildlaunch.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=9300290

Thanks, both great links. Had the first bookmarked but lost the second one ages ago and have been looking for it for ages.

Kudos, sir.

canisanubis · August 2013

In my opinion, the only science console worth slotting is the Field Generator, because it gives linear returns directly on total shield strength. All other science consoles pale in comparison, because skill effects on science skills is so marginal. The only science skill worth putting 9 points into is Shield Emitters, because even at triple price, it's still wildly cheap, and the effects are still pretty good, 99 points giving you a 50% improvement to BOFF/Captain abilities repairing your shields, and a 100% increase to your base shield regeneration rate.

If you have a particular gimmick build in mind, by all means enjoy yourself, but don't expect miraculous improvements in your execution. IMO, shields that never drop are a far better prospect.

meimeitoo · August 2013

jagdhippies wrote: »

Are skills capped at some level? An example of what I am talking about is graviton generators. Say if I put 6 points into graviton generators then I equip 4 graviton generator consoles, will I reach a max level that I can boost a skill?

I am just trying not to waste any fleet credit on the fancy fleet science consoles. I don't want to buy 4 of something when 3 would max out the skill.

You can always get into space (ESD undock, for example) and check your individual space stats there: you'll see there's no cap. For instance, on my Vesta, stats say I have 109 in Grav gens, and 202 in Flow Caps -- and judging by my Plasmomnic Leech, I really do.

Whether having 4x Graviton consoles is a good choice per se, that's another matter.

Are Skills Capped?

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