Best weapons?

erikmodi · March 2015

I don't mean so much type (I know a lot of people say Antiproton > All), but I mean, source, I guess. Are Crafted weapons the best at higher levels, or are Reputation weapons (like the Romulan Plasma) just as good, or better in some ways?

jarvisandalfred · March 2015

erikmodi wrote: »

I don't mean so much type (I know a lot of people say Antiproton > All), but I mean, source, I guess. Are Crafted weapons the best at higher levels, or are Reputation weapons (like the Romulan Plasma) just as good, or better in some ways?

For pure dps, as a tier list (assuming every mod on the weapon is CrtD (except fleet weapons), and it's a UR Weapon of the same type/mark)

Crafted AP (Crafting)

Corrosive Plasma (lockbox)

Disruptors (a general mix, including Elachi and Nanite - the idea would be you mix the various disruptors), Plasma, Tetryon (if you count tet's buff to the tet cascade), Phased Biomatter, Vaad Pol (this is a mix of lockbox and crafted/drop weapons)

Normal weapons, thorion-infused polaron (more crafted/drop weapons and a rep weapon)

Romplas, Protonic Polaron, Bio-Molecular disruptors, Spiral Waves, Voth AP (most of the rep weapons, and a few other sources)

Refracting Tetryon, Phased Polaron, Phased Tetryon, Phased Disruptors, Destabilizing tetryon, Fluidic AP (mostly lockbox weapons, with one rep weapon)

Dominion Polaron, Plasma-Disruptor Hybrids, Caustic Plasma, Fleet Weapons (these weapons are so low because of fixed mods)

So, in general, it's going to be crafted/lockbox>rep weapons>other lockbox weapons>story reward/fleet weapons. But it really depends on the type.

paramvirmodi · March 2015

jarvisandalfred wrote: »

For pure dps, as a tier list (assuming every mod on the weapon is CrtD (except fleet weapons), and it's a UR Weapon of the same type/mark)

Crafted AP (Crafting)

Corrosive Plasma (lockbox)

Disruptors (a general mix, including Elachi and Nanite - the idea would be you mix the various disruptors), Plasma, Tetryon (if you count tet's buff to the tet cascade), Phased Biomatter, Vaad Pol (this is a mix of lockbox and crafted/drop weapons)

Normal weapons, thorion-infused polaron (more crafted/drop weapons and a rep weapon)

Romplas, Protonic Polaron, Bio-Molecular disruptors, Spiral Waves, Voth AP (most of the rep weapons, and a few other sources)

Refracting Tetryon, Phased Polaron, Phased Tetryon, Phased Disruptors, Destabilizing tetryon, Fluidic AP (mostly lockbox weapons, with one rep weapon)

Dominion Polaron, Plasma-Disruptor Hybrids, Caustic Plasma, Fleet Weapons (these weapons are so low because of fixed mods)

So, in general, it's going to be crafted/lockbox>rep weapons>other lockbox weapons>story reward/fleet weapons. But it really depends on the type.

Neat summary...thanks

erikmodi · March 2015

So, going with the Romulan Reputation set isn't really a good idea? Thanks.

darkknightucf · April 2015

Go w/ @jarvisandalfred on his answer.

As a general rule of thumb for torpedoes, Rep >= Particle Emission Plasma >> Lobi >= other crafted >>> mission ~ lockbox. Specific builds may have some adjustments to this, but that's typically used to supplement a build.

lindaleff · April 2015

The best things you can do are:

1: ALWAYS avoid Fleet weapons. They are spammed with [Dmg]x2, or x3.

2: Buy a crafted weapon off the Exchange instead, with ALL crit mods.

3: When you buy that weapon, look for as low of Mk number as you can possibly find, preferably a Mk II already in Ultra Rare. That way, you have a near 100% to hit Epic by the time your upgrades reach Mk XIV.

erikmodi · April 2015

lindaleff wrote: »

The best things you can do are:

1: ALWAYS avoid Fleet weapons. They are spammed with [Dmg]x2, or x3.

2: Buy a crafted weapon off the Exchange instead, with ALL crit mods.

3: When you buy that weapon, look for as low of Mk number as you can possibly find, preferably a Mk II already in Ultra Rare. That way, you have a near 100% to hit Epic by the time your upgrades reach Mk XIV.

Interesting, thank you!

welcome2earf · April 2015

I would place Tetryon at the bottom. seriously why it's that high, cascade or not, is silly.

Also, thoron-infused polaron over standard polaron? No. If you PvE, its a waste.

erikmodi · April 2015

welcome2earf wrote: »

I would place Tetryon at the bottom. seriously why it's that high, cascade or not, is silly.

Also, thoron-infused polaron over standard polaron? No. If you PvE, its a waste.

Not planning on using either of those, but I'm curious to hear your reasoning. I like to know WHY things are, not just THAT they are.

lordsteve1 · April 2015

Tetryon -

Because it removes extra shield HP's with its proc you think it is useful, which to some degree it is. But then realize that NPC or even player shields regen so rapidly that they can often regen more than the proc takes off. And many DR NPCs have massive sponges of shield HPs that can simply shake off any tetryon proc.
Plus, even a tiny 1% sliver of shield facing is enough to stop 75% of a torpedo's damage so even on a torp boat they are not all that great.
Then there's the fact that once shields are off the proc is of no use at all.

Now if combined with say embassy consoles you can make them a bit better by adding the plasma explosion proc to them, so then they do extra shield damage and plasma damage if the procs fire off.

If they changed the proc so it took off shield HP's and also lowered regen rates or lowered shield resistances then they would be more useful. As it is now you can do just as well or better using any other energy type.

On the grand scheme of things though, don't build the shield round a proc going off, its a 2.5% chance and that will often have little effect on the fight. Match your tac consoles with your energy type sure but just pick the colour or sound you like most.
Only serious DPS playstyles require such attention to detail as going with a specific energy type.

gonzothegreat78 · April 2015

in pve the enemys have more hull so this makes the tetryon even worse

erikmodi · April 2015

lordsteve1 wrote: »

Tetryon -

Because it removes extra shield HP's with its proc you think it is useful, which to some degree it is. But then realize that NPC or even player shields regen so rapidly that they can often regen more than the proc takes off. And many DR NPCs have massive sponges of shield HPs that can simply shake off any tetryon proc.
Plus, even a tiny 1% sliver of shield facing is enough to stop 75% of a torpedo's damage so even on a torp boat they are not all that great.
Then there's the fact that once shields are off the proc is of no use at all.

Now if combined with say embassy consoles you can make them a bit better by adding the plasma explosion proc to them, so then they do extra shield damage and plasma damage if the procs fire off.

If they changed the proc so it took off shield HP's and also lowered regen rates or lowered shield resistances then they would be more useful. As it is now you can do just as well or better using any other energy type.

On the grand scheme of things though, don't build the shield round a proc going off, its a 2.5% chance and that will often have little effect on the fight. Match your tac consoles with your energy type sure but just pick the colour or sound you like most.
Only serious DPS playstyles require such attention to detail as going with a specific energy type.

Makes perfect sense, thank you.

Speaking of consoles, weapon types, and pretty colors. . . a LONG time ago, in one STF I think, I saw someone with a "rainbow beam" setup, using, I think, ever kind of beam there is. Is it viable to mix types of energy weapon, and use the generic beam/cannon improvement consoles, or is this "Awesome But Impractical?"

baudl · April 2015

set buffs need to be considered too. That way even phasers aren't too shabby. But there is probably nothing better than crafted AP in the game right now. Rom plasmas through science consoles +plasma dmg and disrupters through set buff somehwhere behind it.

erikmodi · April 2015

So, what set buffs are considered good? Right now, my main has the Romulan Singularity Harness, New Romulus Command Advanced Prototype, and Omega Adapted Borg Technology on a Fleet Heavy Escort Carrier. I also have the three Mk XII pieces of the Adapted MACO set.

jarvisandalfred · April 2015

welcome2earf wrote: »

I would place Tetryon at the bottom. seriously why it's that high, cascade or not, is silly.

Also, thoron-infused polaron over standard polaron? No. If you PvE, its a waste.

The tetryon cascade is a not insignificant source of dps; as a result of this, the pre-DR records were actually set with tetryon.

Since Thorion-Infused Polaron trades the polaron proc for a proc that gives some damage, and the polaron procis not a generally high source of damage increasing, I put them on the same tier.

And set bonuses are the reasons some weapons are as high as they are.

baudl · April 2015

erikmodi wrote: »

So, what set buffs are considered good?

Counter Command Ordnance 2 piece bonus...basically an additional tac console (the 7,6% are actually worth a full VR phaser/disruptor tac console)

Silent Enemy Set: A "heavy single disruptor cannon" + a 15.2% Critical Severity console that gives another 7,6% disruptor dmg as a 2 piece set bonus.
The cannon has actually same DPS as a dual cannon...not sure how it functions though.

Ancient Obelisk is still used by some for the extra 10% AP dmg. This one is tricky, since the omni beam combined with the warp core is like a cheap [AMP] mod.
Not sure though if you reach ultra rare with the warp core it gets another mod and I'm not sure if this new mod can actually be a [AMP] mod.

Singularity Harness 2 piece again. Console + beam on a beam setup gives 7,6% more plasma dmg, and I think it is also effectively more than the 7,6% just like CCO

lordsteve1 · April 2015

Speaking of consoles, weapon types, and pretty colors. . . a LONG time ago, in one STF I think, I saw someone with a "rainbow beam" setup, using, I think, ever kind of beam there is. Is it viable to mix types of energy weapon, and use the generic beam/cannon improvement consoles, or is this "Awesome But Impractical?

True rainbow multi-energy boats are quite hard to spot now unless you are really clued-up on identifying energy types when you see them.
There's at least 4 types of phasers in different colours and at least 3 types of plasma again in different colours plus variations on antiproton, disruptor, polaron and tetryon.
So it's actually perfectly reasonable to build a highly effective rainbow boat with matching energy types.
Many a times in STFs I've been yelled at and been accused of being a noob for having a rainbow build when the idiot doing the yelling didn't realise I was using 3 flavours of plasma to mix n' match procs. The build works well, just some idiots don't know what they are looking at.

So, what set buffs are considered good?

Counter Command 2pc set - 7.5% bonus phaser or disruptor damage (that's end of calculation damage) which actually works out at being almost as much as a spire tac console.

Nukara Munitions 2pc - extra tetryon damage. (reasonable boost and the refracting beam if quite amusing when it works)

Romulan Singularity 2pc - extra plasma damage.

Ancient Obelisk 2pc - extra antiproton damage. (though the warp core if a bit meh and Romulans can't fully appreciate this set as well)

Jem'hadar space set - extra polaron damage. (a bit meh unless you upgrade the pieces)

Breen space set - extra transphasic torp damage. (not a good set, boosts too many things but none really well, only use if you want transphasics to do well)

Adapted MACO space set - extra general torp damage.

Dyson rep weapons 2 & 3 pc sets (forgotten the name?) - give extra photon torp damage and crits plus they boost your critD & critH if you slot all 3 (well worth it for a sci boat running grav torps).

Those in RED are ones I consider to be the leaders in console/space set combos.

erikmodi · April 2015

So I should stick with the Romulan and Borg sets I have? Good to know

doctordositheus · April 2015

I may be missing something here. Why are generic plasma better than Romulan plasma?

Edit -- Nevermind, I get it now. The extra proc replaces a mod.

Best weapons?

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