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Guardian Cruiser help

milesllewellynmilesllewellyn Member Posts: 56 Arc User
edited November 2014 in Federation Discussion
Hi Folks,

before DR released I used to fly an Tac Oddy and switched to the Guardian on release, it seems since then I seem to have problems now in STF's and Fleet actions, and yet other times I do fine.

This is my current Build:

http://skillplanner.stoacademy.com/?build=llewellyn1_0

Note the website would not let me enter in the following:

Ensign = Tactical Team 1
Lt Cmdr = FAW1, Torp Spread 2, Attack patter omega
Cmdr Eng = Engineeering Team 1, Aux to Dampners 1, emergency to shields 3, rotate shield polarity 3
Lt = Emergency to Aux1, Aux to Dampners 1
Lt Cmdr Sci = HE1, ST2, Grav well 1

For Duty officers I run:

1x purple Conn officer (reduction on Tac team)

1x purple Matter-Antimatter Specialst (increased energy resistance and buff duration when using aux to Dampners)

3x purple Damage Control Engineers

Staying alive is not a problem but taking out targets is a pain before DR I was holing my own but in some pugs we just seem to have no luck.

In STF's I use the maco deflector and adapted MACO engine and shields.

Could you advise where I could improve? Is it buggy difficulty and/or my toon/ship? This is the first time I have felt like I needed advice on a build.

Thanks in advanced for any help.
Post edited by milesllewellyn on
«1

Comments

  • jer5488jer5488 Member Posts: 506 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    Well - you aren't doing the old STF's. Everything got a balance pass and is harder now. Pugs are having a pretty brutal time of it. All enemies got a health increase, advanced queues have mandatory 'optionals'. Though the maps are supposed to get a bit easier on Thursday.

    Your build looks fair, so it doesn't seem like a 'you' issue. Without a powerful group - it's really hard to burn down million hp borg spheres without a well coordinated team.
  • perfectshipsperfectships Member Posts: 118 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    I've been finding that enemies are now harder to kill, and Mastery traits give such a survivability boost that you no longer need as many BOFF abilities invested in staying alive; which then are best traded for increasing your damage output.

    Your build's very different than anything I use, so I can't say much about it - eg I don't use torps or AtD. All that I'd suggest, changing as little as possible, is that if you're not too attached to AtD in the new DR meta:-

    Swap Cmdr Eng's AtD for EPtW;
    Swap Eng/Intel Lt choices for Override Safeties I and II.

    This'll give your beams more punch and raise your overall power levels (including your Aux and Engines) for a bit. If you can get one, swap your Matter-Antimatter Specialist for a Warp Core Engineer, who gives a chance to add a biiiig chunk of power to every subsystem every time you activate EPtX.

    I really value Aux, especially since I use both Nukara T4 traits; but have found that using the above plus Leech and high Flow Caps, and all the other Engineering capt bits and bobs, my Aux is on ~130/~50 most of the time without needing EPtA.

    Anyway, except for the DOFF I mentioned (who isn't actually that critical, but is certainly a nice to have), if you want to give my idea a shot, it'll only cost you retraining three BOFF abilities, plus a cheap (ideally human) Eng/Intel BOFF if you don't have one already.

    Anyway, best of luck.
  • milesllewellynmilesllewellyn Member Posts: 56 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    I used to use a warp core doff with my Tac Oddy I have a purple one so I could swap that.

    This build revolved around keeping aux to dampners chained so that I could drop one armour console and keep the ship in motion.

    Saying that there I will give it a go, ya never know.

    Thanks for commenting glad to know others are having the ups and downs to since DR released ;-)
  • reginamala78reginamala78 Member Posts: 4,593 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    Since you have the purple version of the A2D doff, could you run on just one copy of A2D and live with the small gap? Plus if you pick up the new reputation console that'd take another 7% off the cooldown time to 28 seconds, giving you a gap of, what, 5 seconds per cycle?

    Following that, you could drop RSP to 1, then add the doff (fabrication engineer, IIRC) to extend the duration to make up for it. That'd free up your top slot for DEM3 to get some shield penetration.

    Lastly, energy control to boost the output of your phasers. Replace the aft torpedo with a Kinetic Cutting Beam, which will combo with your Assimilated Module to give you the Omega Weapon Amplifier to help on drain control. Then replace the EPTA with EPTW for both a flat damage bonus and +20ish weapons energy besides (that EPTA isn't helping your A2D all that much, given the diminishing returns on resistances and the low base turn of the Guardian). Swap the forward quantum for another phaser array (so 6 arrays, the grav torp, and the KCB for your weapons), and you'll probably see your damage go up noticeably without much changing the ship's playstyle.
  • milesllewellynmilesllewellyn Member Posts: 56 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    You make a fair point I was using emergency to weapons on my Tac Oddy I could live with the time gap with Aux to dampners and I do want the new rep console, Dem3 would be really useful.
  • thisslerthissler Member Posts: 2,055 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    Hi Folks,

    before DR released I used to fly an Tac Oddy and switched to the Guardian on release, it seems since then I seem to have problems now in STF's and Fleet actions, and yet other times I do fine.

    This is my current Build:

    http://skillplanner.stoacademy.com/?build=llewellyn1_0

    Note the website would not let me enter in the following:

    Ensign = EPTAux
    Lt Cmdr = Tact Team 1, Torpedo Spread 1 and 2
    Eng = EPTWeapons, Aux to Dampners 1 and 2, DEM 3
    Lt = Overide Safeties 1, Ionic Turbulence 1
    Lt Cmdr Sci = HE1, ST2, Grav well 1


    For Duty officers I run:

    1x purple Conn officer (reduction on Tac team)

    1x purple Matter-Antimatter Specialst (increased energy resistance and buff duration when using aux to Dampners)

    3x purple Damage Control Engineers

    Staying alive is not a problem but taking out targets is a pain before DR I was holing my own but in some pugs we just seem to have no luck.

    In STF's I use the maco deflector and adapted MACO engine and shields.

    Could you advise where I could improve? Is it buggy difficulty and/or my toon/ship? This is the first time I have felt like I needed advice on a build.

    Thanks in advanced for any help.

    Use Intel if you have it available.

    Happy flying.

    EDIT: You may want to switch around the EPTx abilities. I was using aux as in my build i was using TSS instead of ST. But with all the NPC jams and sub nucs, sometimes u just want ST. Your call.
  • milesllewellynmilesllewellyn Member Posts: 56 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    Thanks thissler appreciate the feedback.
  • perfectshipsperfectships Member Posts: 118 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    I used to use a warp core doff with my Tac Oddy I have a purple one so I could swap that.

    This build revolved around keeping aux to dampners chained so that I could drop one armour console and keep the ship in motion.

    Saying that there I will give it a go, ya never know.

    Thanks for commenting glad to know others are having the ups and downs to since DR released ;-)

    I always used to use an armour console until I unlocked the T4 Nukara Traits; then cranked up Aux a bit. The defence Trait gave similar enough survivability to armour that I could then swap the armour for something that gave more damage.

    With the DR Cruiser Mastery buffs, I'm looking at seeing whether I even need that Nukara Trait now - may well end up swapping that for another of the damaging rep Traits (prob the Omega one with shield penetrating extra damage proc).

    Like you said, staying alive's no problem but killing stuff fast enough is; so it's good to start the iterative process of swapping a bit of survivability for a bit more damage until you find the balance and combination that you're happy with in the new meta. You can always change stuff back easy enough.

    You'll probably find that your Kinetic resist is still high enough without AtD, though you will get slowed a bit more by tractors and whatnot (but not too much given the high engine power you'll have with the other boosts I suggested). You'll have to figure out whether you find that acceptable vs the increased killing power that you now have, according to your own play style.

    The only other thing I can think of is that on the off chance that you do enjoy using my suggestion for a bit, I also run AtSIF as well as HE - so I can try to keep my ET in reserve to bring the subsystem that's gone offline (from OSS) instantly back, if it's a particularly critical system at a particularly critical time - most of the time it isn't and I don't even notice the offline system.

    Happy tweaking!:)
  • ryakidrysryakidrys Member Posts: 830 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    This is my current Build:

    http://skillplanner.stoacademy.com/?build=llewellyn1_0

    Note the website would not let me enter in the following:

    Ensign = Tactical Team 1
    Lt Cmdr = FAW1, Torp Spread 2, Attack patter omega
    Cmdr Eng = Engineeering Team 1, Aux to Dampners 1, emergency to shields 3, rotate shield polarity 3
    Lt = Emergency to Aux1, Aux to Dampners 1
    Lt Cmdr Sci = HE1, ST2, Grav well 1

    For Duty officers I run:

    1x purple Conn officer (reduction on Tac team)

    1x purple Matter-Antimatter Specialst (increased energy resistance and buff duration when using aux to Dampners)

    3x purple Damage Control Engineers


    How about a change up.
    first things is to drop the torpedoes. It's a cruiser. Broadside with beam arrays for max damage output. Torpedoes make you have to spend time turning, where you lower DPS trying to get torpedos into a firing arc. If you must have a torpedo, then keep just the wide angle quantum because it has a wide firing arc compared to other torpedoes. You can fire it and all other beam arrays simultaneously without having to keep turning to put torpedos into a firing arc, and turn again to get the other ones into their firing arc, and back and forth repeatedly.

    BO skills, BFAW3 is way powerful with lots of weapon power, so use it.

    Without using 2x Aux to Battery.....
    TT1
    TT1, APB1, BFAW3
    ET1, RSP1
    ET1, EPTS2, EPTW3, DEM3
    HE1, ST2, GW1

    3x Damage control engineers
    2-3 Energy Weapon officers for beam special attacks


    If you have the 2-3 purple Technicians for Aux to Battery....

    TT1
    TS1, APB1, BFAW3
    ET1, A2B1
    EPTS1, A2B1, EPTW3, DEM3
    HE1, ST2, GW1

    1 conn officer for tac team cooldown reduction
    3x Technicians for A2B

    I hope that helps give you some other ideas to consider
  • ussboleynussboleyn Member Posts: 598 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    I knew I wasn't gonna be in this ship very long so I just went with a cheap and easy Aux2Batt/Aux2Damp build as I haven't gotten around to the Intel stuff.

    Worked very well so I'll definitely return to it once I've unlocked the other lvl 5 masteries.

    Cmdr Eng: ET1, A2B1, EPtW3, DEM3
    LtCmdr Tac: TT1, FAW2, APO1
    LtCmdr Sci: HE1, ST2, TBR2
    Lt Eng: EPtS1, A2D1
    Ens Tac: TT1

    Doff:

    Technician x3 (Aux2Batt)
    Antimatter x1 (Aux2Damp)
    System x1 (Marion)
    Tractor x1 (TBR Reverse)

    If you don't have Marion you can run a Maintenance or Development to cut the cool down on either ST or ET.

    /\
  • rragadonrragadon Member Posts: 36 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    ussboleyn wrote: »
    I knew I wasn't gonna be in this ship very long so I just went with a cheap and easy Aux2Batt/Aux2Damp build as I haven't gotten around to the Intel stuff.

    Worked very well so I'll definitely return to it once I've unlocked the other lvl 5 masteries.

    Cmdr Eng: ET1, A2B1, EPtW3, DEM3
    LtCmdr Tac: TT1, FAW2, APO1
    LtCmdr Sci: HE1, ST2, TBR2
    Lt Eng: EPtS1, A2D1
    Ens Tac: TT1

    Doff:

    Technician x3 (Aux2Batt)
    Antimatter x1 (Aux2Damp)
    System x1 (Marion)
    Tractor x1 (TBR Reverse)

    If you don't have Marion you can run a Maintenance or Development to cut the cool down on either ST or ET.


    Hm Personally I wouldn't waste the lt cmdr sci on TBR. In fact, I run GW1 there.
    Also you really want to run at least one of the intel powers... Ionic turbulence seems good however it's a bit difficult to gauge its effectiveness... The other option is Override safeties... And that's amazing, especially in a FAW A2B boat...
    161ish weapon power + APB + FAW. Simply awesome.
  • milesllewellynmilesllewellyn Member Posts: 56 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    Thanks folks, give me a lot to consider and play around with.
  • perfectshipsperfectships Member Posts: 118 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    rragadon wrote: »
    The other option is Override safeties... And that's amazing, especially in a FAW A2B boat...
    161ish weapon power + APB + FAW. Simply awesome.

    Aye, and add to that the weapon buff you get from the Nukara T4 offence Trait, with your Aux boosted up to ~160 too, at the same time.:cool:

    EDIT: I meant when not using A2B, obviously....
  • dracondarknightdracondarknight Member Posts: 80 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    Hi Folks,

    before DR released I used to fly an Tac Oddy and switched to the Guardian on release, it seems since then I seem to have problems now in STF's and Fleet actions, and yet other times I do fine.

    This is my current Build:

    http://skillplanner.stoacademy.com/?build=llewellyn1_0

    Note the website would not let me enter in the following:

    Ensign = Tactical Team 1
    Lt Cmdr = FAW1, Torp Spread 2, Attack patter omega
    Cmdr Eng = Engineeering Team 1, Aux to Dampners 1, emergency to shields 3, rotate shield polarity 3
    Lt = Emergency to Aux1, Aux to Dampners 1
    Lt Cmdr Sci = HE1, ST2, Grav well 1

    For Duty officers I run:

    1x purple Conn officer (reduction on Tac team)

    1x purple Matter-Antimatter Specialst (increased energy resistance and buff duration when using aux to Dampners)

    3x purple Damage Control Engineers

    Staying alive is not a problem but taking out targets is a pain before DR I was holing my own but in some pugs we just seem to have no luck.

    In STF's I use the maco deflector and adapted MACO engine and shields.

    Could you advise where I could improve? Is it buggy difficulty and/or my toon/ship? This is the first time I have felt like I needed advice on a build.

    Thanks in advanced for any help.


    That you have problems in STFs has probably less to do with your build and more with the Guardian currently being bugged the following way:

    Shield Modifier is lower than it should be
    It recieves the Heals of a T3 ship (Really now 6K hp with ET II?!)
    It recieves the Shield Heals of a T3 Ship
  • rragadonrragadon Member Posts: 36 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    That you have problems in STFs has probably less to do with your build and more with the Guardian currently being bugged the following way:

    Shield Modifier is lower than it should be
    It recieves the Heals of a T3 ship (Really now 6K hp with ET II?!)
    It recieves the Shield Heals of a T3 Ship

    Shield modifier, not sure (I think it's probably a fair tradeof) , but I did notice getting very little hull from ET... Is that a confirmed bug or just something you think is a bug?

    Though 5k heal in a 60k+ hp ship is indeed a bit laughable. I mean, even miracle worker seems to struggle.
  • milesllewellynmilesllewellyn Member Posts: 56 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    rragadon wrote: »
    Shield modifier, not sure (I think it's probably a fair tradeof) , but I did notice getting very little hull from ET... Is that a confirmed bug or just something you think is a bug?

    Though 5k heal in a 60k+ hp ship is indeed a bit laughable. I mean, even miracle worker seems to struggle.

    Going to ask, is this a confirmed bug? Almost tempted to go back to my TAC Oddy until the bug is fixed if that is the case?
  • rragadonrragadon Member Posts: 36 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    Confirmed? Not that I know, however somebody reported it (in a fairly disjointed way though)...
    I've added to the report, which did say something interesting: another ship seemed to be affected by a similar bug, so I guess it's not outside the realm of possibilities.

    http://sto-forum.perfectworld.com/showpost.php?p=20167831&postcount=2

    (The fix text comes from the patch uploaded on the 23rd)
  • milesllewellynmilesllewellyn Member Posts: 56 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    Thanks for the heads up, that almost makes me tempted to update my TAC Oddy to T5-U I just like how the Guardian flies.
  • dracondarknightdracondarknight Member Posts: 80 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    rragadon wrote: »
    Shield modifier, not sure (I think it's probably a fair tradeof) , but I did notice getting very little hull from ET... Is that a confirmed bug or just something you think is a bug?

    Though 5k heal in a 60k+ hp ship is indeed a bit laughable. I mean, even miracle worker seems to struggle.

    Doubt they'd confirm it, though there are other ships with similar or even the same problem.

    Healing like a T3 Ship(Shields and Hull) is definitely not normal though ;)
  • milesllewellynmilesllewellyn Member Posts: 56 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    Ended up going back to my TAC oddy, updated her to T5-U and a marked improvement, the Guardian hull and shield heals are very much that of the tier 3 ship, ET, HE, Emergency to shields and AuxtoSIF all healed like a Tier 3 ship.

    Even damage output seemed worse, I know the TAC Oddy has more options to increase damage potentially, but in the end went back to the TAC Oddy, it is just a pain I have to go thru the mastery skills with the ship.

    Cheers

    Richard
  • mightymoosemightymoose Member Posts: 5 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    the Guardian hull and shield heals are very much that of the tier 3 ship, ET, HE, Emergency to shields and AuxtoSIF all healed like a Tier 3 ship.

    I was about to buy the Guardian and glad I checked out the forums about it first. So is there an official word as to whether this is intended or just a bug? Having T3 heals on a T6 ship is pretty major, especially for a tank ship like this.
  • dracondarknightdracondarknight Member Posts: 80 Arc User
    edited November 2014
    I was about to buy the Guardian and glad I checked out the forums about it first. So is there an official word as to whether this is intended or just a bug? Having T3 heals on a T6 ship is pretty major, especially for a tank ship like this.

    Its not just the hull but the shields too.
    And not there is no official word, though I can assure you that it isn't intended as the Kazon ship had the same bug.

    My Galaxy X(Fleet t5U) and Eclipse(t6) also both heal for over 9000 so yeah pretty sure its a bug ;).

    Guardian also has a wrong shield mod from what I heard.
  • milesllewellynmilesllewellyn Member Posts: 56 Arc User
    edited November 2014
    First chance to add but since the last patch the Guardian seems to (at least in my figures) healing with Emergency power to shields and Engineering team seems to be healing more, I have not seen any patch notes to reflect this though as such I switch back to the Guardian and seems to be holding it's own much better now.
  • somebobsomebob Member Posts: 556 Arc User
    edited November 2014
    AFAIK, the devs knew about this and got it fixed (the healing bug). Why there's no patch note for it I have no idea.
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  • benjamintheblackbenjamintheblack Member Posts: 1 Arc User
    edited November 2014
    Out of curiosity, does anyone know when/if they plan to come out with a Fleet Guardian? I'm about to get a T6 ship and want to know before I spend 3000 zen.
  • somebobsomebob Member Posts: 556 Arc User
    edited November 2014
    Out of curiosity, does anyone know when/if they plan to come out with a Fleet Guardian? I'm about to get a T6 ship and want to know before I spend 3000 zen.

    Soon(tm).

    The question is when, and nobody but Cryptic knows that. But it will happen.
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  • rragadonrragadon Member Posts: 36 Arc User
    edited November 2014
    somebob wrote: »
    AFAIK, the devs knew about this and got it fixed (the healing bug). Why there's no patch note for it I have no idea.

    Yeah I have to concur... Not sure if it's "fixed", however ET1 decidedly heals for more now, 6.8ish k against 4.5k it did before.

    It still feels a little low compared to the hitpoints it has, however it's better than before, definitely.
  • gpgtxgpgtx Member Posts: 1,579 Arc User
    edited November 2014
    the shield mod is still messed up at .85-ish
    victoriasig_zps23c45368.jpg
  • rragadonrragadon Member Posts: 36 Arc User
    edited November 2014
    gpgtx wrote: »
    the shield mod is still messed up at .85-ish

    Considering the effect of the new intel passives, having low shields is almost beneficial... Automated reinforcement is the single greatest heal over the duration of any STF I played so far, and by a huge margin. And I'm an engineering captain on a cruiser... I assume that combining that one with the proc from the Dyson shields will be impressive.

    [Edit: not saying it shouldn't be fixed but it's not as high priority as hull mods... Borgs still annihilate your shields on a regular basis, and the voth have a nasty habit of damaging your hull directly]
  • guilli88guilli88 Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited November 2014
    I dont understand why it even has a shield mod of 1 when other cruisers get a mod of 1.1 to 1.15

    :| Shields are a thousand times more important that hull. Shield mod of 1 is one of the reasons why I don't really want to purchase one. Quite frankly, the guardian should have a shield mod of 1.2 at the very least. It's supposed to be "advanced".

    As for intel abilities, I don't use any at all. If I replace any boff with intel boff I lose either a lot of damage or survivability.

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