Rank usefulness of intel BOff abilities....

narasil2 · October 2014

So far the only two I really use is Torpedo: Transport Warhead III, and Intelligence Team I with any regularity. I'd like to compile some thoughts from the community on how effective various abilities are in PVE specifically, however PVP perspectives are welcome too.

casper32433 · October 2014

There are 4 intel boff abilities I have been using, not all on 1 build though. Transport Torpedo Warhead, Override Subsytem Safties, Kinetic Magnet and EM Pulse Probe. I only use the EM Pulse Probe on my sci toon with gw, group them all together then send the EM Probe at them they are disabled for a short time. Kinetic Magnet is good when either you use mines or the enemy does, since it does not work as intended right now. Overide Subsystem Safties is a nice ability I am starting to use more, big boost to power levels for a decent amount of time, there is a random system failure for 2 secs when this ability expires, but it is still very nice. Transport Torpedo Warhead is great, have it on all my builds that use torpedos. Sending a torpedo onto ship completely bypassing shields is very nice. You do have to give up other boff abilities to slot these but once I got used to using them and adjusting other abilities to compensate I have gotten used to them and really like using them now.

hypl · October 2014

Ionic Turbulence is a must have. Not only is it entertaining to see ships have their movement impaired and being jostled about, but it also lowers damage resistance.

Override Safeties is also great for a big power boost, with a negligible random sub-system drain.

sinn74 · October 2014

hypl wrote: »

Ionic Turbulence is a must have. Not only is it entertaining to see ships have their movement impaired and being jostled about, but it also lowers damage resistance.

So true. It's worth it for the entertainment value alone.

desertjets · October 2014

sinn74 wrote: »

So true. It's worth it for the entertainment value alone.

I thought seeing a tac cube or a gateway dance was fun. Then I did a CCA run and made the Crystalline entity dance.

Most of the space intel abilities seem interesting and a few of them may actually be useful. As I begin to play around with them the big thing for me is what traditional BOFF skills do I give up to use them.

narasil2 · October 2014

Thanks for the feedback! I've used override subsystem safeties too, and find it's a great ability. I just wonder about space issues with usually only two stations able to slot intel abilities. I LOVE when people post about an ability that is BOTH fun and useful...so I'll have to try ionic turbulence

I should get a DPS parse program and I can find out some of this stuff by myself, it's just helpful sometimes to not re-invent the wheel if people already have the information.

I haven't even considered the ground abilities yet. Anyone with any thoughts on those are welcome too!

strykewolf67 · October 2014

Tac character, guardian cruiser.

OSS2 is AWESOME! :P

ussintercept · October 2014

hypl wrote: »

Ionic Turbulence is a must have. Not only is it entertaining to see ships have their movement impaired and being jostled about, but it also lowers damage resistance.

Override Safeties is also great for a big power boost, with a negligible random sub-system drain.

You should see Ionic Turbulence used on the TransWarp Gateway in Infected:Conduit and the Tactical Cube.

Looks like giant christmas ornaments bouncing around.

narasil2 · October 2014

wardcalis wrote: »

I only use the kinetic magnet, but i rune a pure torp build so it works, i still feel transport warhead is inferior to high yield

That is good info to have. I use gravametric torps and I seem to notice that the delta mobs aren't much affected by the root. I used to throw out a spread and just watch the ships clump for my scatter volley while the kinetic damage ticked away. So something that works to clump ships would be nice...especially for a torp ship.

I really just need to get a dps parser and answer some of these questions like transport warhead vs. high yield for pure dps. Also those numbers are going to change depending on the torp used. Another thing that I think is missing with transport torp with my gravemetrics are a lack of the special ability firing off. Anyone else noticing this with any other torps?

desade1 · October 2014

Does warhead transport work on Breen Torp or other special torps?

narasil2 · October 2014

desade1 wrote: »

Does warhead transport work on Breen Torp or other special torps?

I know that it "works" for omega, and gravimetrics, I wish I could tell you specifically about the Breen trop, but I don't have that one so can't say for sure. What I'm unsure of is if the specials still fire off. I can't say I've noticed my gravimetric working a single time with transport. Can anyone confirm that?

I also know the damage done and how long the "fuse" is on the torp is related to it's rate of fire...what the EXACT relationship is mathematically I can't say.

gavinruneblade · October 2014

Kinetic magnet pulls aceton emitters to the target. Which is fun.

markhawkman · October 2014

I like Kinetic Magnet, but I find it to be more useful defensively than offensively. (It makes enemy torps hit the target you painted)

Transport warhead is ok, but in most situations I'd rather use torp spread.

But yeah, most of them are pretty useful. I've yet to find a good use for Viral Impulse Burst though...

neomodious · October 2014

hypl wrote: »

Ionic Turbulence is a must have. Not only is it entertaining to see ships have their movement impaired and being jostled about, but it also lowers damage resistance.

Override Safeties is also great for a big power boost, with a negligible random sub-system drain.

ussintercept wrote: »

You should see Ionic Turbulence used on the TransWarp Gateway in Infected:Conduit and the Tactical Cube.

Looks like giant christmas ornaments bouncing around.

I've been wondering what was doing that!

borticuscryptic · October 2014

Sorry to rain on your fun, but Ionic Turbulence isn't supposed to affect large targets like that. We'll be removing the "dancing" effects in a future patch from anything that is very large.

This will include Borg Cubes, Transwarp Gates, Crystalline Entity, the Borg Unimatrix Ships, Voth Dreadnoughts, and a few other things.

kelshando · October 2014

borticuscryptic wrote: »

Sorry to rain on your fun, but Ionic Turbulence isn't supposed to affect large targets like that. We'll be removing the "dancing" effects in a future patch from anything that is very large.

This will include Borg Cubes, Transwarp Gates, Crystalline Entity, the Borg Unimatrix Ships, Voth Dreadnoughts, and a few other things.

Boo...

I assume that damage resistance debuff will still apply to those target though right?

dragonsbrethren · October 2014

borticuscryptic wrote: »

Sorry to rain on your fun, but Ionic Turbulence isn't supposed to affect large targets like that. We'll be removing the "dancing" effects in a future patch from anything that is very large.

This will include Borg Cubes, Transwarp Gates, Crystalline Entity, the Borg Unimatrix Ships, Voth Dreadnoughts, and a few other things.

This is for the best, it looks absolutely ridiculous...but I'm still sad to see it go anyway.

Just so we're clear, you only mean the dancing, not the damage resistance debuff, right?

hyperionx09 · October 2014

Well that sucks; the game is already increasingly No Fun Allowed. But whatever. This is par for Cryptic.

As long as the effects besides visuals themselves remain, then at least some enjoyment can still be had.

borticuscryptic · October 2014

dragonsbrethren wrote: »

Just so we're clear, you only mean the dancing, not the damage resistance debuff, right?

Just the animation will be disabled on these big critters. The rest of the ability will affect them as designed.

dragonsbrethren · October 2014

borticuscryptic wrote: »

Just the animation will be disabled on these big critters. The rest of the ability will affect them as designed.

Excellent, thanks for the confirmation.

-edit-

To get back on topic, I've been using the following on my Faeht --

Engineering:

Engineering Team 1
Override Subsystem Safeties 2

Tactical:

Torpedo High Yield 1
Ionic Turbulence 1
Surgical Strikes 1
Surgical Strikes 2

I tried Kinetic Magnet but the debuff goes away too fast for how much kinetic I tend to pack (I mean, Vaadwaur torp, one mine clears KM1). Transport warhead just wasn't giving me enough feedback to tell if it was really helping or not.

markhawkman · October 2014

borticuscryptic wrote: »

Sorry to rain on your fun, but Ionic Turbulence isn't supposed to affect large targets like that. We'll be removing the "dancing" effects in a future patch from anything that is very large.

This will include Borg Cubes, Transwarp Gates, Crystalline Entity, the Borg Unimatrix Ships, Voth Dreadnoughts, and a few other things.

Aww... but it's hilarious! Oh well. I kinda expected this actually.

orondis · October 2014

Override Subsystem Safeties:-
At first I was rather unsure of this ability, given it knocked a system offline. After testing it though I quickly became a fan.

Surgical Strike:-
Basically what I've always wanted for beam weapons, buffing them when firing on a single target (rather than a single spike or AOE).

Ionic Turbulence:-
A great extra dmg resist debuff, which is a nice on top of attack pattern beta.

To be honest I'm rather glad the Ionic Turbulence animation is getting removed for the larger targets. Whenever I use it on a large shielded opponent I always get the feeling one of my teammates will think I'm trolling them.

Viral Impulse Burst:-
A nice AOE crowd control ability, probably a good way to make an annoying mob go away for a minute, giving you time to save a troop transport.

Electromagnetic Pulse Probe:-
After a bit of testing of this I came to the conclusion it'd be good in PvP but VERY situational in PvE.

Transport Warhead:-
I suppose it's great for a dedicated torp build or when fighting players. I just don't see it's usefulness against NPCs given how high their HP is. Also the limited arc doesn't make much sense, especially with the wide arc quantum torp that came with the Regent.

Intelligence Team:-
I suspect the stealth is only really useful at higher ranks, it certainly doesn't stop NPCs from firing on me. I'm not sold that the threat reduction is working, but I might be putting out far more DPS than my teammates (which I doubt).

narasil2 · October 2014

orondis wrote: »

Override Subsystem Safeties:-
At first I was rather unsure of this ability, given it knocked a system offline. After testing it though I quickly became a fan.

Surgical Strike:-
Basically what I've always wanted for beam weapons, buffing them when firing on a single target (rather than a single spike or AOE).

Ionic Turbulence:-
A great extra dmg resist debuff, which is a nice on top of attack pattern beta.

To be honest I'm rather glad the Ionic Turbulence animation is getting removed for the larger targets. Whenever I use it on a large shielded opponent I always get the feeling one of my teammates will think I'm trolling them.

Viral Impulse Burst:-
A nice AOE crowd control ability, probably a good way to make an annoying mob go away for a minute, giving you time to save a troop transport.

Electromagnetic Pulse Probe:-
After a bit of testing of this I came to the conclusion it'd be good in PvP but VERY situational in PvE.

Transport Warhead:-
I suppose it's great for a dedicated torp build or when fighting players. I just don't see it's usefulness against NPCs given how high their HP is. Also the limited arc doesn't make much sense, especially with the wide arc quantum torp that came with the Regent.

Intelligence Team:-
I suspect the stealth is only really useful at higher ranks, it certainly doesn't stop NPCs from firing on me. I'm not sold that the threat reduction is working, but I might be putting out far more DPS than my teammates (which I doubt).

Excellent! Thank you so much. This is the kind of post I was looking for. For my esccort tac capt. I think I'll drop transport warhead (I mostly pve) and add surgical strike and override subsystem.

Thanks again.

rswfiredotcom · October 2014

I don't like any of the ones I have. Transport Warhead III sounds awesome though. I got three purple intel officers with the expansion pack and I tried to upgrade their skills by purchasing more with dilithium. Unfortunately, that feature is bugged (they do not have the skills they show when you hover over them; they change every time you open the window) so I have not used mine yet. I'm unsure just how much more useful these new bridge officers are, but it is nice to hear what other people think here.

Rank usefulness of intel BOff abilities....

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