Comment on my Fleet Defiant Build

blockbusters · October 2012

I've been playing since f2p launch, so i have some experience in playing the game etc etc. However, I don't have as much experience as some of the regular forum dwellers. I regularly play PVE content, however i find PVP much more fulfilling, nothing like pulverising other ships like you're in the thick of the Dominion War

So, could you, the fountains of knowledge regarding everything STO ship combat, contructively rate and comment on my characters build/setup? Many thanks in advance!

Character Info, Skillpoint allocation, and Bridge Officer Set up
Trill Male with Warp Theorist as only space trait
http://www.stoacademy.com/tools/skillplanner/index.php?build=arcticallcannondefiant_0
3 efficent Bridge officers, and 3 Human ones for the Leadership trait.

Ship Setup

Fleet Tactical Escort Retrofit

Weapons Fore
Phased Tetryon Dual Heavy Cannons Mk XI [CtrD]x2
Phased Tetryon Dual Heavy Cannons Mk XI [CtrD]x2
Phased Tetryon Dual Heavy Cannons Mk XI [CtrD] [CtrH]
Phased Tetryon Dual Heavy Cannons Mk XI [CtrD] [CtrH]

Weapons Aft

Phased Tetryon Turret Mk XI [CtrH] [Dmg]
Chroniton Torpedo Launcher Mk XII [CtrD] [CtrH] [Acc]
Phased Tetryon Turret Mk XI [Dmg] x2

Equipment

Omega Force Tachyon Deflector Mk XII

Assimilated SubTranswarp Engines

Omega Force Shield Array Mk XII

Devices
Subspace Field Modulator

Engineering Consoles
EPS Flow Regulator Mk XII
Neutronium Alloy Mk XI
Cloaking Device

Science Consoles
Field Emitter Array Mk XII
Assimilated Module

Tactical Consoles
Tetryon Pulse Generator Mk XI x5 (Currently upgrading to Mk XII Very Rare versions)

Duty Officer
Conn Officer: Tactical Team Recharge time reduced and attack pattern buffx 3
Warp Core Engineer: Chance of temporarily improving ships power on use of emergency substem abillity
Hazard System Officer Damage Resistance Buff with Ramming Speed and Brace for Impact

Some extra info

If they're not Mk XII and/or Very Rare then i'm slowly upgrading them, and anything listed is changable.
I also would like information on which weapon modifiers are reccomended for PVP, as some say [Acc] x3 or [CtrH]x3 or some other variant and it can get quite muddled which to use.
The Torpedo is in the back as I felt thats how i could get more damage output whilst using all my boff skills. Think of it like a wasp, you've got a stinger ready on your rear. I find Chronitons useful in PVP as it has that slow effect, thus lowering your targets defense rating. For PVE I switch out the Chroniton Torpedo for a Quantum Torpedo of the same modifiers.
I'm quite good at keeping my target in my forward firing arc. I prefer to keep moving as fast as possible, so if i pass over my target(s) I have a skilled torpedo waiting for them.
My survivabillity is rather good (in my opinion) as I have a selection of shield heals and hull rrepairs to aid me in my passive speed tanking.

If there are any questions you have just ask, i tried to get as much info down as i could think of.

age03 · October 2012

It is not bad go to Q-Torps instead and this would be better skill set up and yes it is mine.

http://www.stoacademy.com/tools/skillplanner/?build=Age_0

scurry5 · October 2012

It is a fairly good setup overall. However, you may want to swap out the EPS console, as it doesn't really give much additional benefit unless you swap power settings a lot.

The omega force shield is also a bit low on capacity for pvp, and will be difficult to keep up under burst fire. In my opinion, it's only viable if you have mad speed at all times to keep your defense up. Personally, I go with Omega engine and deflector and MACO shield, but it's your call there.

Also, the Hazard System Officer is generally shunned for the Shield Distribution Officer, which gives you a chance for a large shield heal on brace for impact.

And for the weapons, you will want [acc] modifiers for pvp. Even with one acc, my weapons miss about half the time on most good pvp escorts, especially defiants and bugs.

Finally, you may want to post your Boff layout as well, unless you've got a super effective build that you want to keep secret .

I would say your Boff abilities are at least 50% of your success as a competitive player.

All the best, and see you in pvp!

oridjerraa · October 2012

Warp Core Engineer won't give you much bang for your buck, considering the best you can run is 2 copies of an EPTX(assuming shields).

I have a fleet defiant. I run only 1 EPTS1 and use damage control Engineers to reduce its recharge by 30%, in effect allowing it to be up non-stop. Slap in DEM or Asif1.

Lose the EPS console. Won't do a thing for you. Armor is ok in pve, but in PVP defense is your only defense. If your not moving, your dead. Dump your cstore consoles in engineering or even some RTS(turn consoles)will give you a bit more forward arc fire time on targets.

Good luck!

dalnar83 · October 2012

If I close my eyes and for a moment forget that I do not like all cannons builds, I think you are wasting precious resources here.

You took a ship with greatest number of tactical abilities, double ranked some while completely wasting tactical initiative skill.

Adding forward torpedo wont hurt you, because the all cannon weapon energy drain reduces your output anyway.

You can also add mine launcher instead the aft torpedo and get like dispersal pattern 1 to drop bunch of chroniton mines behind you.

blockbusters · October 2012

The BOFF setup was in the link but here it is again:

Commander Tactical Station
TT1, C:RF1, AP:O1, C:RF3

Lt. Commander Tactical Station
T:HY1 C:SV1, AP:O1

Ensign Tactical Station
T:S1

Lt. Engineering Station
EPtS1, AtSIF1

Lt. Science Station
HE1, TSS2

Attack Pattern Omega has a recharge time of 1 min, 2 AP:Os and Tactical Initiative allows me to run it almost constantly. Shall i replace a C:RF with another attack pattern? Such as Delta or Beta? Or perhaps a torpedo skill?

I'll experiment with the Omega Engines, Deflector, and MACO Shields.
I assumed the EPS console helped the recharge speed after weapon drain, so i'll switch it out for a RCS console, and move my cloaking device up to engineering and should i slot another Emitter Array?

Should I respec and put points into torpedo skills? Also how should i change my BOFF layout to accomadate the torps/mines?

I'll get onto the DOFFs

shookyang · October 2012

I would recommend getting rid of the EPS and Field Emitter arrays.

You could put in another Neutronium Alloy and/or Field Generator. If you are going to put in an RCS console, swap out the Borg engines for a Omega and change your shield to MACO.

On my Tactical Escort Retrofit, I have the following:
Engineering consoles - RCS mk XII (purple), Assimilated Module, AMS (I will swap this console with Subspace Jumper or Vent Theta Radiation)
Science consoles - Tacheyokinetic Converter, Cloaking device (I will swap this with Subspace Jumper)

Is there a reason why you chose to put so many points into your ground abilities? You should be just doing the bare minimum on that and putting those points into other skills (like, Power Insulators for instance). That's really my only complaint about your build.

I am a proponent for all cannon escorts. Putting points into tordpedo damage/criticals in your build for one torpedo seems like a waste for me.

You should have 2 Tactical Teams, as they act as an automatic shield redistribution skill. With 2 of them, you can have them up almost all of the time.

In my build, I opted for one AP:O1 and AP:D1. This allowed me to have C:RF3 and 2.

If you're going to use Chroniton torpedoes, consider ditching T:HY and just stick with T:S1. Hitting three targets on your aft has the potential of slowing/reducing the turn rate of all of them. Chroniton torpedoes are pretty weak out of all of them.

For my Doffs, I run Shield Distribution Officers x3, Hazard System Officer x1, and an Energy Weapon Officer.

For modifiers on your weapons, I would recommend going with ACC on your turrets. CritD on your fore. I ran tests against a ship with 81%+ defense with just a single DHC with CritDx3, and my accuracy was over 80% with a sample of 500-750+ shots.

Meanwhile, my fleet mate tested his [crith]x3 and [acc]x3 turrets on my 80% defense, and we found that the [acc]x3 gave his turrets 80% accuracy, while the [crith]x3 turret gave 60% accuracy. But, he found the DPS on the [acc]x3 to be 150, while the DPS on the [crith] was 160+. So, for the aft, it really depends on if you're going for DPS or chances to proc. Considering the lower damage output of turrets, you'll probably want to go for the latter.

blockbusters · October 2012

At one point this character was primarily for ground pvp, now i have a different character for that.

I just tested going without the alloy, it didn't survive as much, and i was whizzing around like a wasp.

I don't have the TachyoKinetic Converter at the moment, what would you reccomend there?

I'm using chronitons for the slow effect, lowers the targets defense whip around fatally hurt them or blow them up.

shookyang · October 2012

blockbusters wrote: »

At one point this character was primarily for ground pvp, now i have a different character for that.

I just tested going without the alloy, it didn't survive as much, and i was whizzing around like a wasp.

I don't have the TachyoKinetic Converter at the moment, what would you reccomend there?

I'm using chronitons for the slow effect, lowers the targets defense whip around fatally hurt them or blow them up.

I don't use the alloys and I do just fine in PvP. But, if you can't live without it, I'd say use a second one in place of the EPS console.

If you do plan on getting the Converter at some point, you can put in an RCS console in place of the EPS for the time being.

I used to use the Field Generator until I got the Converter. If I didn't have the Converter, I'd go back to that. Once you get the Converter, you probably won't need the RCS console, as the Converter has a 22.9% increase in your turn rate...almost on par with the RCS MK XI (rare).

I chose to have the purple RCS MK XII and Converter equipped at the same time, because I'm obsessed with increasing my turn rate. As it is now, my turn rate, 52/30 engine power, is 42.6%. Almost as good as my B'rel Retrofit torpedo boat uncloaked.

baudl · October 2012

85k skillpoints in ground combat...no power insolators...i give the whole setup a 5/10 imho.

why not run 2 tac teams, and cut down the conn officers...i mean you have 3 tac ensign slots...
chroniton in the rear is useless, preiod.

blockbusters · October 2012

In the planner, I've taken points out of ground, i've done 6 ranks into Power Insulators, and now i have 10,500 skill points remaining. Shall i max out Power insulators, or put more points into weapon performance? (so i can then alter my power settings to accomadate more shield/engine/aux power)

Current power settings are: (No equipment bonuses)
Weapons: 118/90 (+5 from assimilated console not inc.)
Shields: 59/40
Engines: 63/45 (+5 from Assimilated Sub transwarp engines normally not inc.)
Aux: 39/25

Also, this is helping so far, thanks a lot!

On the DOFF front, the conns are allowing me to run tac team constantly, plus i've got the boost to my attack patterns skill, I can cut it down to two conns without compromising recharge time/ buffs. However, i can ditch them all together for something else. I've got a shields ditribution officer in their and a damage control engineer, not sure which to go with 2 or 3 of.

shookyang · October 2012

You can also consider putting some points into Threat Control.

While it gets you more aggro (for an escort, you should be getting aggro anyways), it also gives you points into energy and kinetic resistance. Not as much as the Hull and Armor plating, but it's pretty cost effective for the amount of resistance you get.

I don't think it's necessary to max Power Insulators. Perhaps add some more points into Weapon or Shield power (probably the former).

I would say get 3x Shield Distribution Officers and get rid of the Conn Officers. Cover your TT cooldown with using two TTs.

Having two Hazard doffs isn't a bad idea either, as it works with Brace for Impact and Ramming Speed.

blockbusters · October 2012

When I get my next Respec i'll take points out of ground, put 6 ranks into PI and fill up wepaon performance, thus I can then accomadate my power settings to allow more into engines/shields.

I'm going to go 3x Shield Distribution Officers, 1 x Hazard System, and 1 Energy Weapons (Buff stripping one)

I'm still experimenting with the torpedoes and their placement, boff skills etc etc.

Thank you so much for all this help!

tick0 · October 2012

Bridge officer layout: Tac - TT1, TT1, TSS:E1, TSS:E2, APD1, CRF2, CRF2, APO3. Eng - EPtS1, EPtS2 or AtS1 or RSP1. Sci - HE1, TSS2.

Duty officers: run 2x Conn Officers (the ones which reduce the cooldown of Attack Patterns), 3x Shield Distribution Officers.

Weapons: if possible, try to upgrade to Acc x3 weapons. 4x Tetryon DHCs, 2x Tetryon Turret, 1x Tetryon BA (for subsystem targeting).

Equipment: offensive - Omega Deflector, Omega Engine, MACO Shield. Defensive - Borg Deflector, Borg Engine, MACO Shield.

Consoles: Eng - EPS (if you adjust power levels, which, really, everybody should be doing), Neutronium, Cloak (optional - personally, I don't like using up a console slot for cloak since it only helps your initial attack for several seconds and won't be useful again until you die and re-enter the area) or RCS. Sci - Borg Module, Field Generator. Tac - 5x Tetryon Pulse Generator.

Devices: Auxiliary Battery and Subspace Field Modulator (or Red Matter Capacitor if you have it which will last 28.5 seconds with 6 points in batteries). Pop the aux battery before using aux-based heals (such as TSS, HE and BFI shield heal proc). If your aux batt is unavailable, this is where the EPS console comes in handy and you can quickly switch to a full-aux preset.

EDIT: @age03 who first replied to this thread. Sorry if I sound rude, but that is an absolutely horrible spec and BOff layout... I hope nobody uses that for advice.

shookyang · October 2012

blockbusters wrote: »

I'm going to go 3x Shield Distribution Officers, 1 x Hazard System, and 1 Energy Weapons (Buff stripping one)

This is what I currently have as my setup as well. Though, I do have a second subnuke doff that I will replace the Hazard officer with....depending on the upcoming changes this doff will get.

tick0 wrote: »

Cloak (optional - personally, I don't like using up a console slot for cloak since it only helps your initial attack for several seconds and won't be useful again until you die and re-enter the area)

There are times when my team will clear the area of all enemy players, giving me time to recloak.

barbofb92 · August 2014

I think thats a nice build

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