Nicely played sir! Probably way beyond the means of mere mortal players to assemble.
Or people with a wife and a mortgage
Nice ship and build, Always Been a fan of the wells especially those shields
Only one criticism don't be lured into thinking Kerrat is pvp
Most people in there run pve builds with 0 points in power insulators which with 6 points in will negate the power drain considerably
----=====This is my opinion you don't have to listen and no one else has to read them these "OPINIONS" are based on my exploits and my learning other people will have their opinions and that's fine just don't knock my way of doing things thanks=====---- :cool:
Iskandus, thank you for sharing your build. It looks like it would be fun to fly.
I've got a Sci captain in a Wells, myself. Though her build is significantly different, it does focus on Energy Siphon, Gravity Well, and Tachyon Beam. I agree with you, I think most people discount TachB, but it's really lovely (and works great to debuff the Crystalline Entity, too, BTW - Taking away 5 of it's Crystalization Regen/Dmg stacks).
So while I won't be copying your build in total, there are some elements of yours that I may work in to a couple of my characters. I greatly appreciate your detailed descriptions and thought processes behind your decisions. It'll make it easier to take bits'n'pieces for use elsewhere.
You are welcome.
Actually, Leech stacks 15 times. (it's even visible at 15 in your pic here).
I think that's the Leech's 15 seconds countdown. Each copy last 15 seconds. I don't believe it stack 15 times, doesn't add up to the power it transferred if it were 15 times.
A ship's Power Transfer Rate (as controlled by your Electro-Plasma Systems skill) affects its shield distribution? I didn't know that.
Really?
Huh.
Is that displayed anywhere or is there a method to test/confirm that? If one has a high PTR, does it also improve Tac Team's re-distro?
Someone suggested in the OPvP Channel, never really tested it to confirm since all my builds have high EPS, no way to test a low EPS profile without respec.
But I can say shield distribution is not a problem for me during PvP without TT, that I can say for sure.
...I think that's the Leech's 15 seconds countdown. Each copy last 15 seconds. I don't believe it stack 15 times, doesn't add up to the power it transferred if it were 15 times...
Oh... D'oh. I'm gonna have to pay better attention. :P
You can find/contact me in game as @PatricianVetinari. Playing STO since Feb 2010.
Nice ship and build, Always Been a fan of the wells especially those shields
You know something, I don't farm. I hate farming via playing. It's boring. 95% of my EC come from doff-ing. Early on in my STO life, I have always had a focus on doff. Iskan has a roster of 250, almost all of them are purple doffs, except for refugees and prisoners. Just yesterday, one of my toon got a purple Technician from Asylum on Vulcan. Haven't sold it yet but that's 9-10 million ec right there in one shot. I also do a lot of Explore Ruins doff missions and they yield Strange Alien artifact probably once / 15 missions. Once, I even got two of them in one shot. Then I process them through 5 purple Jem Hadar Diagnostic Engineers. Sometimes, they result in jackpots such as purple Tactical consoles in Phaser Relay, Disruptor Induction coil, which sold for about 33-35 million each. This week, I got two Mk XII Blue Disruptor Induction Coil, that's 7 million X 2 = 14 million. They don't always result in pricy consoles to be sure but they are a very good source of income.
With Doff-ing, you don't need to play the game all the time. Just set the missions up and let the clock runs its course.
Only one criticism don't be lured into thinking Kerrat is pvp
Most people in there run pve builds with 0 points in power insulators which with 6 points in will negate the power drain considerably
In the Pure Science build, not to confused with the Maximum Drain build, the Pure Science doesn't really care about the power insulation on the target. Power drain is a support skill for this build to :
1) Boost & maintain high power level for self
2) To impede the target knowing that it can't really hold or stop them like a Max Drain maybe can
The Pure Science build drains about 100 points in power at most when all 3 drain abilities are in force. 6 points into PI = about 40% resistance. The target will still be drained by about 60 in the selected subsystem. Assuming the target has an engine power of 100, the targeted ship will still be slowed down considerably by losing that much power.
Well, I've been focusing on getting enough EC for a Wells on my Fed Sci, but I see the cost has now skyrocketed to over 160m EC! :eek:
At the moment I'm looking at either the Orb Weaver as I was going to go with originally, or I'm also considering the fleet deep space science vessel. It's quite a tough call to make actually, as throughout the lvling process I've spent most of my time with a lt. Tac boff slot and I've got to say having FAW1 & CRF1 work really well.
I think I may just buy the Orb Weaver anyway, and if I don't like it... well heck, it would still make a mighty fine A2B build!
Well, I've been focusing on getting enough EC for a Wells on my Fed Sci, but I see the cost has now skyrocketed to over 160m EC! :eek:
At the moment I'm looking at either the Orb Weaver as I was going to go with originally, or I'm also considering the fleet deep space science vessel. It's quite a tough call to make actually, as throughout the lvling process I've spent most of my time with a lt. Tac boff slot and I've got to say having FAW1 & CRF1 work really well.
I think I may just buy the Orb Weaver anyway, and if I don't like it... well heck, it would still make a mighty fine A2B build!
I haven't been to the game for several days, no idea what's going on but the price hike to 160m seems crazy. :eek: Just glad I got my Sci his Wells without paying a single ec via merely 20 masterkeys. He is now Lv 50 but have to go through the whole reputation system, grrr....
As for alternative ships to Wells for this build, I can't find a good alternative. The Wells is unique, no Fleet Sci ship come close. In many ways, it's a superior ship to the Bug ship. If the latter is not a time-limited only ship, its price would be far lower. Someone who is willing to pay can get the Wells eventually via masterkey lotto, not so for the Bug ship outside of specific promotional period.
I am glad threads like this one has made people appreciate the Wells even more. Sorry about the price hike however, it is out my control and the market will decide what they want to pay.
I think most people discount TachB, but it's really lovely (and works great to debuff the Crystalline Entity, too, BTW - Taking away 5 of it's Crystalization Regen/Dmg stacks).
I'm referring to the Crystalline Entity encountered in the Crystalline Catastrophe fleet action. It's my primary source of Nukara Marks (awarding 40 per go even on the Normal setting which is easy enough to PUG).
When the CE absorbs its own small shards it gets these little buff flags that increase it's damage output by 2% per flag. I think they're called "Re-Crystallize" or "Crystal Regen" stacks. It can stack 100s of these (in one train wreck of an attempt, I saw the stack get over 450!). Certain Science Powers can debuff the CE's stacks. Tachyon Beam is one of them, and you can quite clearly see that each time you fire the TachB at the CE it loses 5 stacks. Other powers are supposed to affect the CE too, as described in the mission's details (and the above link I provided):
Charged Particle Burst
Energy Siphon
Tyken's Rift
I've never tried CPB. I have used ES and TR against the CE, and while those missions seem to go better, I can't see exactly what they are doing. With TachB you can clearly see that you fire and the stacks come off.
If you have at least one person that keeps using TachB on the CE you can keep its beam attacks from hitting too hard, though they will likely get stronger by the end of the match (ie it stacks faster than you can remove so eventually the CE's damage will grow noticably). If you have two or three TachB using players, the CE is debuffed into a gentle kitten.
You can find/contact me in game as @PatricianVetinari. Playing STO since Feb 2010.
I'm referring to the Crystalline Entity encountered in the Crystalline Catastrophe fleet action. It's my primary source of Nukara Marks (awarding 40 per go even on the Normal setting which is easy enough to PUG).
When the CE absorbs its own small shards it gets these little buff flags that increase it's damage output by 2% per flag. I think they're called "Re-Crystallize" or "Crystal Regen" stacks. It can stack 100s of these (in one train wreck of an attempt, I saw the stack get over 450!). Certain Science Powers can debuff the CE's stacks. Tachyon Beam is one of them, and you can quite clearly see that each time you fire the TachB at the CE it loses 5 stacks. Other powers are supposed to affect the CE too, as described in the mission's details (and the above link I provided):
Charged Particle Burst
Energy Siphon
Tyken's Rift
I've never tried CPB. I have used ES and TR against the CE, and while those missions seem to go better, I can't see exactly what they are doing. With TachB you can clearly see that you fire and the stacks come off.
If you have at least one person that keeps using TachB on the CE you can keep its beam attacks from hitting too hard, though they will likely get stronger by the end of the match (ie it stacks faster than you can remove so eventually the CE's damage will grow noticably). If you have two or three TachB using players, the CE is debuffed into a gentle kitten.
Thanks for the information. I play the CE Elite very often to get fleet marks, but never bothered to read the mission info, bad me!
This is good to know. In fact, after reading the info you provided I went to test it out using the Pure Science build adapted for CE Elite, see here : Build to win @ Crystalline Entity (Elite)
The nice thing about the Pure Science build is it is highly adaptive to specific missions - unlike the boring Escorts, who die a lot and easily in Elite CE. As you can see here, Feedback Pulse and Jam Sensors are replaced because those two skills aren't useful against the CE. Instead, Tachyon Beam and Tractor Beam Repulsors are added in. Tractor Beam Repulsors are especially useful in CE (Elite) because they deal considerable damage with high Particle Generator skills and can function well under low Aux when A2B is in effect. They can also be used to push away large Fragments, saving your ship from collision with them. With A2B, the Tachyon Beam can be used very frequently - pretty much once every 20 secs, thus continuously debuffing the CE.
Some changes to DOFF were made as well. The three Purple Technican doffs are kept for A2B. However, the other two are switched out in favor of Demera, a purple Romulan Gravimetric Scientist to help creating multiple GW III and a purple Development Lab Scientist who will help keeping Science Team at GCD with the help of A2B and add +10 to Starship Emitters, thus helping healing of TSS III and EPtS, which are very important for tanking in this mission. This arrangement will allow for Science Team to be activated every 15 sec. most of the time, thus very rapid shield heals in addition to making EPtS and Transfer Shield Strength III even stronger due to its bonus Starship Emitters skill.
With almost 60K in effective shielding each facing due to stacking EPtS, TSS III, Shield Power = 130 + 4 X Mk XII Purple Field Generators, one can just lolz at the CE with its beams of death like it's nothing.
As for alternative ships to Wells for this build, I can't find a good alternative. The Wells is unique, no Fleet Sci ship come close. In many ways, it's a superior ship to the Bug ship. If the latter is not a time-limited only ship, its price would be far lower. Someone who is willing to pay can get the Wells eventually via masterkey lotto, not so for the Bug ship outside of specific promotional period.
I am glad threads like this one has made people appreciate the Wells even more. Sorry about the price hike however, it is out my control and the market will decide what they want to pay.
I tried a few keys but no joy . I got the Orb Weaver, but the turn-rate just isn't really sufficient - even with the tachyo console and a fleet neutronium with +turn - to make good use of a forward-oriented weapons setup. It does however make an excellent broadside beam-boat, so I'm happy I bought it.
I had originally intended not to purchase C-store ships on my sci, but I caved and purchased the tactical Vesta. The boff layout isn't as good as the Wells, nor are the shields as strong, but the tachyo console is enough to make it turn on a dime and I've found putting advanced delta flyers with their tachyon beam ability into the hangar, really complements the shield-stripping ability of the build. It's not a perfect alternative, but I've got to admit it's very enjoyable to fly. Once I've gotten through the rep system and fitted it with everything I want to, I'll run some parses to see what it tops out at.
I tried a few keys but no joy . I got the Orb Weaver, but the turn-rate just isn't really sufficient - even with the tachyo console and a fleet neutronium with +turn - to make good use of a forward-oriented weapons setup. It does however make an excellent broadside beam-boat, so I'm happy I bought it.
I had originally intended not to purchase C-store ships on my sci, but I caved and purchased the tactical Vesta. The boff layout isn't as good as the Wells, nor are the shields as strong, but the tachyo console is enough to make it turn on a dime and I've found putting advanced delta flyers with their tachyon beam ability into the hangar, really complements the shield-stripping ability of the build. It's not a perfect alternative, but I've got to admit it's very enjoyable to fly. Once I've gotten through the rep system and fitted it with everything I want to, I'll run some parses to see what it tops out at.
...I think that's the Leech's 15 seconds countdown. Each copy last 15 seconds. I don't believe it stack 15 times, doesn't add up to the power it transferred if it were 15 times...
I did some testing last night. You're were 100% right, Leech's "15" on the tag is for seconds remaining. The actual max stack appears to be 8.
Well sir your post intrigued me. I'm also a tac captain and I have been experimenting with a science ship so I've recreated your build pretty closely. I used mk xii field modulator (1 purple and three blue), but otherwise it's almost exactly the build you describe.
The only difference I won't give up is tractor beam repulsor... I like those...and since the CD for photonic officer is four mins :-( I might add photonic shockwave instead. All the power levels max out just like you said, and I put the romulan plasma torpedo on the front for a little more punch. It is extremely survivable considering the only tac ability on my tray is APA3, which does help the DPS
I have FBP 3 and HE3 but most sci abilities are lvl 1. Trying to get more DPS. Any ideas??
Congrats on a great build!
Niiiiiiice. But... I kinda like spraying beams everywhere.
You like keeping all power at max, I find myself handling 3 better.
Once I get it ready, I'll go test the A2B nebbie and see how it goes. With luck, I can prove that there is a science vessel that can operate feasibly with virtually no aux power!
"Last Engage! Magical Girl Origami-san" is in print! Now with three times more rainbows.
Niiiiiiice. But... I kinda like spraying beams everywhere.
You like keeping all power at max, I find myself handling 3 better.
Once I get it ready, I'll go test the A2B nebbie and see how it goes. With luck, I can prove that there is a science vessel that can operate feasibly with virtually no aux power!
I'm currently running my Orb Weaver on A2B, and it does really well. It's pretty easy to have aux power when necessary for abilities like Sensor Scan & GW3, and being able to cycle EPtS + EPtW instead of 2 x EPtS helps crank up damage a bit. Frankly though, A2B is somewhat boring to run in spite of having to micromanage a little more to keep your Sci abilities pumped up.
Despite using it on several ships across my characters, I do hope A2B gets nerfed at some point - or at the very least a real and relatively significant malus is attached to using the combo, because the current "malus" is far too easily overcome.
Well sir your post intrigued me. I'm also a tac captain and I have been experimenting with a science ship so I've recreated your build pretty closely. I used mk xii field modulator (1 purple and three blue), but otherwise it's almost exactly the build you describe.
The only difference I won't give up is tractor beam repulsed... I like those...and since the CD for photonic officer is four mins :-( I might add photonic shockwave instead. All the power levels max out just like you said, and I put the romulan plasma torpedo on the front for a little more punch. It is extremely survivable considering the only tac ability on my tray is APA3, which does help the DPS
I have FBP 3 and HE3 but most sci abilities are lvl 1. Trying to get more DPS. Any ideas??
Congrats on a great build!
The build has been updated a few times, however, photonic officer is no longer used on any of them. Consider a Tachyon Beam II to help with your DPS because it can strip shields and debuff some enemies in PvE. Instead of the Romulan Plasma Torp, I would recommend the Omega Plasma Torp fore as these torps are non-destructible and can fire very rapidly.
Maximum DPS can reach over 17K+ when you use the Omega Plasma Torp fore combined with 2 DBB and 2 Turrets + Kinetic Cutting Beam.
Have we had any luck adapting this build to anything other than the Wells? Would love to try this set-up!!
Unfortunately, there isn't one.
I am aware how expensive the Wells has become but there really is no suitable alternative ship where you can try this, which is by far the biggest caveat of this build.
Niiiiiiice. But... I kinda like spraying beams everywhere.
You like keeping all power at max, I find myself handling 3 better.
Once I get it ready, I'll go test the A2B nebbie and see how it goes. With luck, I can prove that there is a science vessel that can operate feasibly with virtually no aux power!
The beam boat set up (assuming 6 beam arrays) is a possible variation but one that I choose not to explore. This is due to the build using a mandatory Refracting Tetryon DBB. Given the DBB only has a 90 degree arc, it will ruin a Beam Boat set up. The beam boat set up is also very taxing in terms of energy management. Your Weapons Energy consumption is estimated to be 50 per cycle whereas my current set up consumes only 34. Also, given this build doesn't use Tactical Stations, your 6 Beams will have far lower DPS overall. The current maximum DPS of this build is just over 17K per second. If I were to use 6 Beam Arrays, the maximum DPS will only be around 11K, for using more energy than I do. In addition, not having the Refracting Tetryon DBB will lower the damage output of all Tetryon weapons and lower the Flow Capacitor skills by 15. You also lose the defensive Refracting Tetryon Beam that can clear spam.
I adapted that drain build for the mobius in an attempt to get maximum damage out of it with plasma currently its capable of shredding a TAC cube like its nothing. Also iskandus can you post a link to an sto academy build of your build? Those pictures in the op are good and all but I think wed get more out of seeing the build in the program. Also I'll post my mobius drain build in a later post cause I've got to make it in the program.
The build has been updated a few times, however, photonic officer is no longer used on any of them. Consider a Tachyon Beam II to help with your DPS because it can strip shields and debuff some enemies in PvE. Instead of the Romulan Plasma Torp, I would recommend the Omega Plasma Torp fore as these torps are non-destructible and can fire very rapidly.
Maximum DPS can reach over 17K+ when you use the Omega Plasma Torp fore combined with 2 DBB and 2 Turrets + Kinetic Cutting Beam.
Thanks for the tip I will adjust my build as you suggest. I have the rom ulna plasma torpedo on the rear now and since it turns on a dime it's no problem to whip it around and fire. I also have the romulan beam array on the rear. Put those together with the zero point module and I have the entire romulan set complete with plasma hyperflux ability. Haven't directly measured DPS while firing, and I realize it doesn't fire 360 degrees, but it's one of the few tac abilities I retain even though there are no tac officers in my setup. Thoughts?
I adapted that drain build for the mobius in an attempt to get maximum damage out of it with plasma currently its capable of shredding a TAC cube like its nothing. Also iskandus can you post a link to an sto academy build of your build? Those pictures in the op are good and all but I think wed get more out of seeing the build in the program. Also I'll post my mobius drain build in a later post cause I've got to make it in the program.
Please note that the Tachyon Beam II is interchangeable with a number of skills such as Jam Sensors, Tractor Beam II, Mask Energy Signature II, depending on the situation. If Tractor Beam II is placed in that slot, then Tractor Beam I is replaced with Jam Sensors I.
Gravity Well and Tyken's Rift are not included in the builds at the moment because they are being fixed on Tribble and are in a state of testing / flux. For more information on these two abilities, please read here :
In PvE, Reverse Shield Polarity II is removed in favor of more Science Stations given that the ship already has way too much shielding for any PvE content you can imagine. Even in Crystalline Entity Elite, the Beam of Death was barely scratching this ship's heavy shielding. Unlike in PvP where there could be 4 ~5 nasty Klingons ganking you or using double tap alpha exploits, there is no such threat in PvE. So RSP II becomes just an overkill that is not very useful in PvE. In any event, with 3 different shield heals in the build already, there is no shortage of shield repair. In lieu of RSP II, Tractor Beam Repulsor II is added instead.
TBR II is a perfect fit for this ship in PvE as this ability has multiple purposes, both offensive and defensive. In No Win Scenario, KASE and CE (Elite), saving Freighters, the TBR II can either push hostile ships (or CE Fragments) far away or push allies away from harm's way. Its damage is determined not by Aux but PG skill, which this ship has plenty, therefore, while Tractor Beam is less efficient at low Aux, the TBR thrive under low Aux, which works well when A2B is in effect. Therefore, they can alternate with each other. TBR delivers damage directly through shields, which can add up quite significantly.
Instead of FBP III, I recommend the use of Tyken's Rift III in PvE for the Commander Science slot with a caveat. Right now, Tyken's Rift and Gravity Well II/III are broken on Holodeck, meaning they are not doing what they are supposed to deliver. The Pure Science build incorporates the basic elements of the Maximum Drain build even though it doesn't have any dedicated Flow Capacitor console per say - the FC skill is still a wooping 159. Which means, this build can excel with any drain skill, which is what Tyken's Rift III is. We know from Tribble testing that Tyken's Rift is now doing what it is designed to do, perhaps even a little OP. If and when that is released to Holodeck, it will be the perfect fit for the Commander Science slot as the 4th source of drain on the ship besides Energy Siphon II, Plasmonic Leech, Subsytem Targetings. Now, if any of you are already finding you can turn Tactical Cubes into tofu cubes already with the existing drains, wait till you see the addition of a fixed Tyken's Rift will do. The caveat of course is that it's not fixed yet. So you can start slotting Tykens in that slot, to get used to its effect but know that it's going be a while before Cryptic finally release the fix to Holodeck.
If you don't want Tyken's Rift III in the Commander Sci slot due to the bug at the moment, then you can slot Energy Siphon III there instead and give the existing slot of ES II to GW I. Gravity Well I is in fact no bugged as strange as it may seem and can do more damage than GW III at the moment.
Nice build to have some fun in PVE I guess, but here the hints from a pvpeer that only does sci-damage (and usually finishing first of second damage dealer in all matches) using preciselly a wells:
-Get ride of field generators, 4 Partigens is gonna put your particle generators over 250. That will buff A LOT all your exotic dmg (Gravity Well, FBP, EWP, etc.) Also, plasma infused ones from the Fleet Embassy for more hull eating damage!
-With 20k shields you'll need a TSS3 to keep that monstruosity up. With 10k shields you're better and you can get rid of TSS3 in exchange for some lt.com more useful skill (example, FBP2 at max aux. with 250 partic will reflect 90% of incoming dmg). But basically this, if you're into sci damage, you'll want 4 partigens, which are like our tactical consoles for sci.
-Dont use a2battery build. That build, made up by DDIS a year ago, was ment and only works in tactical cruisers and a very few escorts. For sci-damage you'll want your auxiliary power level at 130 all the time. A2B is not for a science vessel.
-Your skill build is... kinda messy. Too many points in skills like warp core potential and efficiencies in general while those skills gives nothing over 6 points. 2 or 3 points in warp core potential and warp core efficiency is what you'll usually want. Check this table to learn how to set up a good skill build.
-If you could switch to torp build, you could get rid of all your weapon energy level into full aux, and give more power to your shields. You'll need nothing else. Also Adapted Maco Deflector and Engines, for the bonus set for torpedo dmg. Plasma torp or transphasics are the way to go! But if you stick with tetryon or polaron energy, and you are using flow cap skills, you may want to use omega deflector and engines, which grant you a bonus shield drain with every single hit according to your flows!
I am aware how expensive the Wells has become but there really is no suitable alternative ship where you can try this, which is by far the biggest caveat of this build.
Fleet Nova, very simillar in all aspects to the wells..
Would you possibly be able to elaborate on this? Intrigued, very Intrigued!
Well, both are in many ways the best current fed 'pure' sci vessels imho. As for similarities, first of all, same turnate and manouverability, same console layout (3 eng, 4 sci, 3 tac), almost same hull and shield (1.43 fleet nova, 1.45 wells, wich is currently the higher but meh, just a lil difference). Both boff layouts almost identical, very tactish...
Wells has a lt. commander and a lt universal, fleet nova has lt. commander tactical and lt engy. Which is for main builds the desirable set up (although I have it inverse in my wells). Anyway, the lack of the versatile layout its compensated imo by having its ensing as a sci, unlike wells that has an ensing engy, mostly not as desirable.
Edit: and of course, both have the same commander and leutenant science.
Comments
Or people with a wife and a mortgage
Nice ship and build, Always Been a fan of the wells especially those shields
Only one criticism don't be lured into thinking Kerrat is pvp
Most people in there run pve builds with 0 points in power insulators which with 6 points in will negate the power drain considerably
You are welcome.
I think that's the Leech's 15 seconds countdown. Each copy last 15 seconds. I don't believe it stack 15 times, doesn't add up to the power it transferred if it were 15 times.
Someone suggested in the OPvP Channel, never really tested it to confirm since all my builds have high EPS, no way to test a low EPS profile without respec.
But I can say shield distribution is not a problem for me during PvP without TT, that I can say for sure.
You can find/contact me in game as @PatricianVetinari. Playing STO since Feb 2010.
You know something, I don't farm. I hate farming via playing. It's boring. 95% of my EC come from doff-ing. Early on in my STO life, I have always had a focus on doff. Iskan has a roster of 250, almost all of them are purple doffs, except for refugees and prisoners. Just yesterday, one of my toon got a purple Technician from Asylum on Vulcan. Haven't sold it yet but that's 9-10 million ec right there in one shot. I also do a lot of Explore Ruins doff missions and they yield Strange Alien artifact probably once / 15 missions. Once, I even got two of them in one shot. Then I process them through 5 purple Jem Hadar Diagnostic Engineers. Sometimes, they result in jackpots such as purple Tactical consoles in Phaser Relay, Disruptor Induction coil, which sold for about 33-35 million each. This week, I got two Mk XII Blue Disruptor Induction Coil, that's 7 million X 2 = 14 million. They don't always result in pricy consoles to be sure but they are a very good source of income.
With Doff-ing, you don't need to play the game all the time. Just set the missions up and let the clock runs its course.
In the Pure Science build, not to confused with the Maximum Drain build, the Pure Science doesn't really care about the power insulation on the target. Power drain is a support skill for this build to :
1) Boost & maintain high power level for self
2) To impede the target knowing that it can't really hold or stop them like a Max Drain maybe can
The Pure Science build drains about 100 points in power at most when all 3 drain abilities are in force. 6 points into PI = about 40% resistance. The target will still be drained by about 60 in the selected subsystem. Assuming the target has an engine power of 100, the targeted ship will still be slowed down considerably by losing that much power.
At the moment I'm looking at either the Orb Weaver as I was going to go with originally, or I'm also considering the fleet deep space science vessel. It's quite a tough call to make actually, as throughout the lvling process I've spent most of my time with a lt. Tac boff slot and I've got to say having FAW1 & CRF1 work really well.
I think I may just buy the Orb Weaver anyway, and if I don't like it... well heck, it would still make a mighty fine A2B build!
http://sto-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?t=851171
You can find/contact me in game as @PatricianVetinari. Playing STO since Feb 2010.
I haven't been to the game for several days, no idea what's going on but the price hike to 160m seems crazy. :eek: Just glad I got my Sci his Wells without paying a single ec via merely 20 masterkeys. He is now Lv 50 but have to go through the whole reputation system, grrr....
As for alternative ships to Wells for this build, I can't find a good alternative. The Wells is unique, no Fleet Sci ship come close. In many ways, it's a superior ship to the Bug ship. If the latter is not a time-limited only ship, its price would be far lower. Someone who is willing to pay can get the Wells eventually via masterkey lotto, not so for the Bug ship outside of specific promotional period.
I am glad threads like this one has made people appreciate the Wells even more. Sorry about the price hike however, it is out my control and the market will decide what they want to pay.
What's Crystalization Regen/Dmg stacks?
How does the Tachyon Beam affect it?
When the CE absorbs its own small shards it gets these little buff flags that increase it's damage output by 2% per flag. I think they're called "Re-Crystallize" or "Crystal Regen" stacks. It can stack 100s of these (in one train wreck of an attempt, I saw the stack get over 450!). Certain Science Powers can debuff the CE's stacks. Tachyon Beam is one of them, and you can quite clearly see that each time you fire the TachB at the CE it loses 5 stacks. Other powers are supposed to affect the CE too, as described in the mission's details (and the above link I provided):
Charged Particle Burst
Energy Siphon
Tyken's Rift
I've never tried CPB. I have used ES and TR against the CE, and while those missions seem to go better, I can't see exactly what they are doing. With TachB you can clearly see that you fire and the stacks come off.
If you have at least one person that keeps using TachB on the CE you can keep its beam attacks from hitting too hard, though they will likely get stronger by the end of the match (ie it stacks faster than you can remove so eventually the CE's damage will grow noticably). If you have two or three TachB using players, the CE is debuffed into a gentle kitten.
You can find/contact me in game as @PatricianVetinari. Playing STO since Feb 2010.
USS WARRIOR NCC 1720 Commanding Officer
Star Trek Gamers
Thanks for the information. I play the CE Elite very often to get fleet marks, but never bothered to read the mission info, bad me!
This is good to know. In fact, after reading the info you provided I went to test it out using the Pure Science build adapted for CE Elite, see here : Build to win @ Crystalline Entity (Elite)
The nice thing about the Pure Science build is it is highly adaptive to specific missions - unlike the boring Escorts, who die a lot and easily in Elite CE.
Some changes to DOFF were made as well. The three Purple Technican doffs are kept for A2B. However, the other two are switched out in favor of Demera, a purple Romulan Gravimetric Scientist to help creating multiple GW III and a purple Development Lab Scientist who will help keeping Science Team at GCD with the help of A2B and add +10 to Starship Emitters, thus helping healing of TSS III and EPtS, which are very important for tanking in this mission. This arrangement will allow for Science Team to be activated every 15 sec. most of the time, thus very rapid shield heals in addition to making EPtS and Transfer Shield Strength III even stronger due to its bonus Starship Emitters skill.
With almost 60K in effective shielding each facing due to stacking EPtS, TSS III, Shield Power = 130 + 4 X Mk XII Purple Field Generators, one can just lolz at the CE with its beams of death like it's nothing.
I tried a few keys but no joy
I had originally intended not to purchase C-store ships on my sci, but I caved and purchased the tactical Vesta. The boff layout isn't as good as the Wells, nor are the shields as strong, but the tachyo console is enough to make it turn on a dime and I've found putting advanced delta flyers with their tachyon beam ability into the hangar, really complements the shield-stripping ability of the build. It's not a perfect alternative, but I've got to admit it's very enjoyable to fly. Once I've gotten through the rep system and fitted it with everything I want to, I'll run some parses to see what it tops out at.
Please do let us know!
Details:
http://sto-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?t=859091
You can find/contact me in game as @PatricianVetinari. Playing STO since Feb 2010.
The only difference I won't give up is tractor beam repulsor... I like those...and since the CD for photonic officer is four mins :-( I might add photonic shockwave instead. All the power levels max out just like you said, and I put the romulan plasma torpedo on the front for a little more punch. It is extremely survivable considering the only tac ability on my tray is APA3, which does help the DPS
I have FBP 3 and HE3 but most sci abilities are lvl 1. Trying to get more DPS. Any ideas??
Congrats on a great build!
You like keeping all power at max, I find myself handling 3 better.
Once I get it ready, I'll go test the A2B nebbie and see how it goes. With luck, I can prove that there is a science vessel that can operate feasibly with virtually no aux power!
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I'm currently running my Orb Weaver on A2B, and it does really well. It's pretty easy to have aux power when necessary for abilities like Sensor Scan & GW3, and being able to cycle EPtS + EPtW instead of 2 x EPtS helps crank up damage a bit. Frankly though, A2B is somewhat boring to run in spite of having to micromanage a little more to keep your Sci abilities pumped up.
Despite using it on several ships across my characters, I do hope A2B gets nerfed at some point - or at the very least a real and relatively significant malus is attached to using the combo, because the current "malus" is far too easily overcome.
The build has been updated a few times, however, photonic officer is no longer used on any of them. Consider a Tachyon Beam II to help with your DPS because it can strip shields and debuff some enemies in PvE. Instead of the Romulan Plasma Torp, I would recommend the Omega Plasma Torp fore as these torps are non-destructible and can fire very rapidly.
Maximum DPS can reach over 17K+ when you use the Omega Plasma Torp fore combined with 2 DBB and 2 Turrets + Kinetic Cutting Beam.
Unfortunately, there isn't one.
I am aware how expensive the Wells has become but there really is no suitable alternative ship where you can try this, which is by far the biggest caveat of this build.
You can consider this build instead : Maximum Drain Build
The drain build is relatively inexpensive to set up and can be adapted on several different Sci ships.
The beam boat set up (assuming 6 beam arrays) is a possible variation but one that I choose not to explore. This is due to the build using a mandatory Refracting Tetryon DBB. Given the DBB only has a 90 degree arc, it will ruin a Beam Boat set up. The beam boat set up is also very taxing in terms of energy management. Your Weapons Energy consumption is estimated to be 50 per cycle whereas my current set up consumes only 34. Also, given this build doesn't use Tactical Stations, your 6 Beams will have far lower DPS overall. The current maximum DPS of this build is just over 17K per second. If I were to use 6 Beam Arrays, the maximum DPS will only be around 11K, for using more energy than I do. In addition, not having the Refracting Tetryon DBB will lower the damage output of all Tetryon weapons and lower the Flow Capacitor skills by 15. You also lose the defensive Refracting Tetryon Beam that can clear spam.
Thanks for the tip I will adjust my build as you suggest. I have the rom ulna plasma torpedo on the rear now and since it turns on a dime it's no problem to whip it around and fire. I also have the romulan beam array on the rear. Put those together with the zero point module and I have the entire romulan set complete with plasma hyperflux ability. Haven't directly measured DPS while firing, and I realize it doesn't fire 360 degrees, but it's one of the few tac abilities I retain even though there are no tac officers in my setup. Thoughts?
Here you go : USS Utopia - PvP
Please note that the Tachyon Beam II is interchangeable with a number of skills such as Jam Sensors, Tractor Beam II, Mask Energy Signature II, depending on the situation. If Tractor Beam II is placed in that slot, then Tractor Beam I is replaced with Jam Sensors I.
Gravity Well and Tyken's Rift are not included in the builds at the moment because they are being fixed on Tribble and are in a state of testing / flux. For more information on these two abilities, please read here :
Tyken's Rift on Tribble
Gravity Well on Tribble
USS Utopia - PvE
In PvE, Reverse Shield Polarity II is removed in favor of more Science Stations given that the ship already has way too much shielding for any PvE content you can imagine. Even in Crystalline Entity Elite, the Beam of Death was barely scratching this ship's heavy shielding. Unlike in PvP where there could be 4 ~5 nasty Klingons ganking you or using double tap alpha exploits, there is no such threat in PvE. So RSP II becomes just an overkill that is not very useful in PvE. In any event, with 3 different shield heals in the build already, there is no shortage of shield repair. In lieu of RSP II, Tractor Beam Repulsor II is added instead.
TBR II is a perfect fit for this ship in PvE as this ability has multiple purposes, both offensive and defensive. In No Win Scenario, KASE and CE (Elite), saving Freighters, the TBR II can either push hostile ships (or CE Fragments) far away or push allies away from harm's way. Its damage is determined not by Aux but PG skill, which this ship has plenty, therefore, while Tractor Beam is less efficient at low Aux, the TBR thrive under low Aux, which works well when A2B is in effect. Therefore, they can alternate with each other. TBR delivers damage directly through shields, which can add up quite significantly.
Instead of FBP III, I recommend the use of Tyken's Rift III in PvE for the Commander Science slot with a caveat. Right now, Tyken's Rift and Gravity Well II/III are broken on Holodeck, meaning they are not doing what they are supposed to deliver. The Pure Science build incorporates the basic elements of the Maximum Drain build even though it doesn't have any dedicated Flow Capacitor console per say - the FC skill is still a wooping 159. Which means, this build can excel with any drain skill, which is what Tyken's Rift III is. We know from Tribble testing that Tyken's Rift is now doing what it is designed to do, perhaps even a little OP. If and when that is released to Holodeck, it will be the perfect fit for the Commander Science slot as the 4th source of drain on the ship besides Energy Siphon II, Plasmonic Leech, Subsytem Targetings. Now, if any of you are already finding you can turn Tactical Cubes into tofu cubes already with the existing drains, wait till you see the addition of a fixed Tyken's Rift will do.
If you don't want Tyken's Rift III in the Commander Sci slot due to the bug at the moment, then you can slot Energy Siphon III there instead and give the existing slot of ES II to GW I. Gravity Well I is in fact no bugged as strange as it may seem and can do more damage than GW III at the moment.
-Get ride of field generators, 4 Partigens is gonna put your particle generators over 250. That will buff A LOT all your exotic dmg (Gravity Well, FBP, EWP, etc.) Also, plasma infused ones from the Fleet Embassy for more hull eating damage!
-With 20k shields you'll need a TSS3 to keep that monstruosity up. With 10k shields you're better and you can get rid of TSS3 in exchange for some lt.com more useful skill (example, FBP2 at max aux. with 250 partic will reflect 90% of incoming dmg). But basically this, if you're into sci damage, you'll want 4 partigens, which are like our tactical consoles for sci.
-Dont use a2battery build. That build, made up by DDIS a year ago, was ment and only works in tactical cruisers and a very few escorts. For sci-damage you'll want your auxiliary power level at 130 all the time. A2B is not for a science vessel.
-Your skill build is... kinda messy. Too many points in skills like warp core potential and efficiencies in general while those skills gives nothing over 6 points. 2 or 3 points in warp core potential and warp core efficiency is what you'll usually want. Check this table to learn how to set up a good skill build.
-If you could switch to torp build, you could get rid of all your weapon energy level into full aux, and give more power to your shields. You'll need nothing else. Also Adapted Maco Deflector and Engines, for the bonus set for torpedo dmg. Plasma torp or transphasics are the way to go! But if you stick with tetryon or polaron energy, and you are using flow cap skills, you may want to use omega deflector and engines, which grant you a bonus shield drain with every single hit according to your flows!
Fleet Nova, very simillar in all aspects to the wells..
Would you possibly be able to elaborate on this? Intrigued, very Intrigued!
Well, both are in many ways the best current fed 'pure' sci vessels imho. As for similarities, first of all, same turnate and manouverability, same console layout (3 eng, 4 sci, 3 tac), almost same hull and shield (1.43 fleet nova, 1.45 wells, wich is currently the higher but meh, just a lil difference). Both boff layouts almost identical, very tactish...
Wells has a lt. commander and a lt universal, fleet nova has lt. commander tactical and lt engy. Which is for main builds the desirable set up (although I have it inverse in my wells). Anyway, the lack of the versatile layout its compensated imo by having its ensing as a sci, unlike wells that has an ensing engy, mostly not as desirable.
Edit: and of course, both have the same commander and leutenant science.