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kittyhawknx91036
Member Posts: 41 Arc User
***For anyone new to this thread skip far down for the new build. Thanks 
OK I know this is a very subjective subject but I am trying to figure out what is a decent ship build for about three million credits each on a PVE pilot ships. There are other outdated post that I am relying on for info, but for my Tactical Pilot ships I am looking at:
Federation: (Mostly Rare Blue)
Fore: 5X Antiproton Dual Cannons Mk XII
Kobai Set
Aft: 2x Quantum Torpedo Launcher Mk XII [CrtD]x2
Eng: 3x Console - Engineering - Neutronium Alloy Mk XII
Sci: 3X Console - Science - Field Generator Mk XI
Tac: Console - Universal - Microprojectile Barrage Launcher
4x Console - Tactical - Antiproton Regulator XII
Klingon Tactical Pilot: (Mostly Rare Blue)
Fore: 5X Disruptor Dual Heavy Cannons Mk XII
Kobai Set
Aft: 2x Quantum Torpedo Launcher Mk XII [CrtD]x2
Eng: 3x Console - Engineering - Neutronium Alloy Mk XII
Sci: 3XConsole - Science - Field Generator Mk XI
Tac: Console - Universal - Microprojectile Barrage Launcher
4x Console - Tactical - Disruptor Induction Coil Mk XII
Romualn Tactical Warbird:
Same as Klingon? or go Antiproton for spike?
I really need help for the Romulan weapons!
Thanks for any advice. I just need help in understanding how tings work. Also before you blast my noob build please remember this is just for PVE and I have a budget.
ANY constructive criticism or help would be greatly appreciated.
OK I know this is a very subjective subject but I am trying to figure out what is a decent ship build for about three million credits each on a PVE pilot ships. There are other outdated post that I am relying on for info, but for my Tactical Pilot ships I am looking at:
Federation: (Mostly Rare Blue)
Fore: 5X Antiproton Dual Cannons Mk XII
Kobai Set
Aft: 2x Quantum Torpedo Launcher Mk XII [CrtD]x2
Eng: 3x Console - Engineering - Neutronium Alloy Mk XII
Sci: 3X Console - Science - Field Generator Mk XI
Tac: Console - Universal - Microprojectile Barrage Launcher
4x Console - Tactical - Antiproton Regulator XII
Klingon Tactical Pilot: (Mostly Rare Blue)
Fore: 5X Disruptor Dual Heavy Cannons Mk XII
Kobai Set
Aft: 2x Quantum Torpedo Launcher Mk XII [CrtD]x2
Eng: 3x Console - Engineering - Neutronium Alloy Mk XII
Sci: 3XConsole - Science - Field Generator Mk XI
Tac: Console - Universal - Microprojectile Barrage Launcher
4x Console - Tactical - Disruptor Induction Coil Mk XII
Romualn Tactical Warbird:
Same as Klingon? or go Antiproton for spike?
I really need help for the Romulan weapons!
Thanks for any advice. I just need help in understanding how tings work. Also before you blast my noob build please remember this is just for PVE and I have a budget.
ANY constructive criticism or help would be greatly appreciated.
Post edited by kittyhawknx91036 on
0
Comments
Two, your boff layout is probably more important than your gear actually. So long as your gear layout is reasonably logical, how your boff powers chain together is what really makes the difference between adequate and demigod. Fancier gear and desired mods are icing on the cake.
Excellent advice. You have blue mark 12 gear, you are already good enough for anything advanced. Now focus on the other bits as reginmala explained.
Is the Kobai Set a decent choice?
Why a pair of aft-facing Quantum torps instead of turrets and KCB? Even if you want a torp aft, I can't imagine you'll be pointing your butt enough to need two, considering how maneuverable the ships are.
You're a little excessive on the Sci and Eng consoles, you'll likely want to be putting in Reputation consoles there later. The Assimilated Console (from the Omega rep, and especially paired with the KCB) is very common, and the Iconian one isn't bad when compared to a 3rd armor console. Heck, I'd take the mission console from the latest FEs (which boost inertia, turn, etc.) over a 3rd armor console.
Tactical consoles are correct - go all in on the appropriate energy type. Ideally you'd get Vulnerability Locators, but that requires Fleet access and Fleet Credits.
Not sure what DHCs means.
I see that Antiproton Dual Cannons part
The reason that I used the rear torps was the turn radius for the pilot was so tight that I would come in fire all front weapons, rubber band back fires again. If shields would fall I could spin and launch torps from rear. Otherwise rinse and repeat. This way all my fire power is up front. Than again I am a noob and looking for guidance.
Thanks for the advice on consoles! I will try and figure out what that means an make adjustments.
This was the kind of advice I was looking for!
Reasonably. Dual heavies are better than regular dual cannons, but its only by a couple percent so 'good enough for now.' The aft torpedoes are an odd choice though; I can see maybe having one as a 'parting gift' sort of setup or maybe on a torpedo boat, but two is a wasted slot. Common replacements would be turrets (since they also use cannon skills) or maybe an omni-directional beam array (or two, since you're antiproton) to use with a copy of Overload.
The Kobali set is good for healing and tanking and isn't a bad set overall, pretty good for a free set but maybe second or third tier overall. You might want to swap the warp core at least for the Subspace Rift Warp Core plus Ancient Antiproton Beam Array from the mission Sphere Of Influence, which while it would cost you the cool Kobali shield capacitor, would give you a flat boost to your antiproton damage. If you want to take it a step further, in the rep system the Counter-Command deflector and engines are pretty good, the MACO shield is pretty good if you don't have the cash for a Plasmonic Leech (they both boost energy but conflict with one another), or the new Iconian Resistance set overall is pretty impressive. Likewise in the Fleet system, Elite shields with the [adapt] mod are very durable, and Elite warp cores with the [amp] mod give you a nice damage boost.
Consoles, too much armor too much shields. Armor hits a point of diminishing returns, and unless you're a dedicated tank, one console is plenty (Fleet ones are especially nice with a turn bonus). Sheilds, if you have good hardening and good healing, more than 9-10k is overkill in most situations. Strip to maybe one console each (I'd drop all the shield ones personally), fill the spaces with utility things instead. 4-5 free slots, you could move in some of your other pilot consoles to play with, move the Microprojectile Launcher and add another tac console, add an Assimilated Module or the thing from the Iconian Rep or the Kobali console as an emergency button or lots of other possibilities. Your choices aren't awful by a long shot, but there is more you could do with those spaces.
And seriously, list your bridge officers and duty officers. Those will make or break you.
As reginamala78 points out, DHCs are generally better than DCs.
Yes, you generally want to have one killzone and focus on getting the enemy into that killzone. So usually DHCs fore and turrets (or other 360 weapons that can fire forward) aft.
The thing about torpedoes is that there's a cooldown between torpedoes, and I was questioning if (since you can turn so well) you'd actually spend more than 2s (0.5s firing the 1st, 1s torpedo cooldown, 0.5s firing the 2nd) with your aft to your victims. So 1 as a parting gift if you want it, but 2 is probably excessive.
I didn't realize that two torps in the rear was bad.
RE: Your suggestion for turrets (or other 360 weapons that can fire forward) aft for the rear.
Don't you NEED torps once the shields are down?
Should I move one to the front, or just keep the all cannons up there? I will look into your suggestion of a cannon skill or one omni-directional beam array for the rear.
RE Sci & Eng Consoles: I thought I needed the massive armor and shields to make the runs in my Pilot Tactical ships. Again I am just learning. Thank you for your suggestions on changing those out.
I do not have a final bring officer list. But if you have skill set for a Pilot Tactical Ship. I will get the books needed.
Would it be too much to ask for a link to a build you recommended (with bridge officers)?
Remember this is for PVE only
http://skillplanner.stoacademy.com/?build=casperstacpilot_0
I was wondering why you chose to use Vulnerability for a Tactical Console instead of Console - Tactical - Phaser Relay.
@westmetals great tipe I got the Ancient Omnidirectional Antiproton Beam. Perfect for my build!
http://skillplanner.stoacademy.com/?build=kdfpilot_5101
I stuck to what you already had as much as possible, plus some farmable gear, since you said you're on a budget. Couple of notes.
The single Auxiliary To Battery (shorthand is A2B or Aux2Bat) is for reducing cooldowns on all the rest of your stuff when combined with a trio of purple Technician doffs (which you can farm for free from the colony chain in the B'tran Cluster). It kills your auxiliary energy when in use (which costs you some damage when using certain high-end gear, but none of that is in use here) but in trade reduces all your cooldowns by about a third. While not the best cooldown reducer in the game, it is by far the cheapest (unless you already own the Command Ship bundle) and still a quick and simple way to boost your output until you get into the top-tier stuff.
The warp core and ancient omni-directional array are from running the mission Sphere Of Influence give you a 2-piece set bonus to antiproton damage. Also the Omni gives you a decent aft weapon, and the added copy of Overload gives you a little extra burst with it on command.
The forward Neutronic Torpedo (from the Delta reputation) is an odd addition; personally I just don't feel right not having a torp on my ships, and the Neutronic has nice punch and area-of-effect radiation bursts when combined with Torpedo Spread. However for a maximum-efficiency build, its less numerically effective than another dual heavy cannon (DHC) would be. For pure numbers, remove the torpedo for another DHC, remove the Bio Neural Gel Pack console and replace it with the Sustained Radiant Field console (from the Iconian reputation), then replace the Torpedo Spread with Overload 2 (freeing up the Overload 1 slot for another Pilot skill). Likewise remove the Omega Kinetic Shearing trait and replace it with something like Enhanced Armor Penetration or Energy Refrequencer.
The Kinetic Cutting Beam (KCB) and Assimilated Module are from the Borg reputation. Individually the KCB is about equal to a turret, and the Module gives you a handy little weapons energy boost and crit boost. Together however they also have a proc that reduces your weapons drain for a few seconds, boosting your damage. Its only 2.5% chance when firing, but with that many weapons firing that often, it goes off pretty regularly.
Other consoles I put on the complete Pilot set because eh, ya paid for them, and because the consoles most people would otherwise replace them with are outside your current price range. Eventually, things like the Plasmonic Leech or Fleet science consoles would be superior, but for now you can have some fun, and you do need to get used to not overly-stacking armor and shield consoles anyways.
Lastly on skills, that layout is a pretty standard PVE AOE layout with all counters to all the debuffs currently in regular use. With the A2B operating, you can have your Emergency To Weapons and Emergency To Shields (EPTW/EPTS) active pretty much all the time, and most of your other stuff on 20-second cooldowns instead of the usual 30. On the Pilot skills I admit I guessed on what sounded useful, as I've flown lots of escorts over the years but I don't have the Pilot ships so have never been able to actually try the Pilot skills out. If other skills work better for you then by all means change them.
In general, this build is a concept for something that is cheap, gives you some toys to play with, and able to handle any story mission or queued stuff up to Advanced difficulty. I'm not pushing it as gospel or anything, but as a bunch of ideas for you to steal from for whatever you do end up using. Take it as such and good hunting.
@reginamala78 Great explanation. But in this leaning process. It looks like I should move to Vulnerability for a Tactical Console.
I have leaned to much from this thread. thank you all for sharing your time to help me understand better ships builds
Actually I was going to start with my Pilot Romulan war bird first.
Why not cannons? They seem to do so much more damage. I will definitely follow your advice but confused to the weapon switch.
Thanks!
update
OMG Purple Antiproton Dual Beam Bank Mk XI are over Two Million credits each! maybe next year I can get one or two
I will also look at lower end weapons. I am really poor and the 2 million ish for the entire build kind of maxes out my funds.
should be a fun long term project though
Thank you so much for the mentor
Note that the mission Fluid Dynamics gives a choice of an AP BA, DBB, and DC as the mission reward. So you can pick up purple Mk XI DBBs there to start, if you're going with DBBs.
Fore: 5X Antiproton Dual Cannons Mk XII
Kobai Set
Aft: 2x Quantum Torpedo Launcher Mk XII [CrtD]x2
Eng: 3x Console - Engineering - Neutronium Alloy Mk XII
Sci: 3X Console - Science - Field Generator Mk XI
Tac: Console - Universal - Microprojectile Barrage Launcher
4x Console - Tactical - Antiproton Regulator XII
... Going into it, be sure you understand the drawbacks of using cannons. Usually people use heavy, not dual, cannon. Aft weapons that do not shoot forward on a cannon ship are near useless. Aft should be all turrets -- either you are nose pointed to enemy and shooting, or you are not flying the ship to its full potential... doing fly-bys and lobbing a couple of torps cuts your damage down to a fraction of its potential.
Eng consoles ... armor is over-rated, use officer skills to survive and eng consoles for universal reputation gear as you earn it. Until you earn it, use what you can, of course. Same is true for science... use what you can until you can get more unique/universal items.
tac... should all be AP boosters. The universal can move off to sci or eng slot.
Klingon Tactical Pilot: (Mostly Rare Blue)
Fore: 5X Disruptor Dual Heavy Cannons Mk XII
Kobai Set
Aft: 2x Quantum Torpedo Launcher Mk XII [CrtD]x2
Eng: 3x Console - Engineering - Neutronium Alloy Mk XII
Sci: 3XConsole - Science - Field Generator Mk XI
Tac: Console - Universal - Microprojectile Barrage Launcher
4x Console - Tactical - Disruptor Induction Coil Mk XII
same advice as above.
Romualn Tactical Warbird:
Same as Klingon? or go Antiproton for spike?
I really need help for the Romulan weapons!
share your weapons with account storage and get ONE GOOD SET of AP for now. Its better to upgrade one set to XIV with good mods than to have 3 sets of XII of different types and such.
Thanks for any advice. I just need help in understanding how tings work. Also before you blast my noob build please remember this is just for PVE and I have a budget.
ANY constructive criticism or help would be greatly appreciated.
Budgets aside, you need to earn your reputation and fleet gear access. It takes time, but as a long term goal. Also again, sharing items is a huge budget saver! Also crafting items at low ranks is *virtually free* and upgrading the ones with good mods is long term more effective than other methods, in general. Low ranks let you crit a purple, cost nothing in materials, jump to mark 8 or so off a single upgrade token, and all you to farm for good modifiers like critd x2 or x3 (or even x4 if you get really lucky...).
As far as how things work, consider using dual beam banks instead of cannons. There are dozens of reasons why they work better in most PVE builds. Cannons are *fun* but less effective in general. I have a couple of cannon ships, but my serious ships use beams because of the drawbacks. Just to name a couple of issues... cannons have a weaker aoe, do less damage at any range (more than 3K away you are about equal to dual banks at 5k...), and are unfriendly to aim. I can make a list over half a page long on the minor issues but those alone are pretty important. If you love cannons use them, just be aware of the implications to your ship's performance.
I would like to thank everyone that pointed me in the right direction for a noob builder. That said here is what I have come up with. I do have a limited budget but can most likely squeak out a few million more credits if you see a bigger band for the buck. Or set it up as a future project to work for.
So before I start to purchase parts, can you guys take a look at this build and help me modify it though keep in mind I do have a budget.
http://skillplanner.stoacademy.com/?build=xxxromulanbuild3_0
NOTE: I do have an EPIC Universal Singularity Stabilizer and a EPIC Universal Photonic Displacer. Will those replace anything?
I also do not mind grinding missions for a better piece of equipment (within reason)
Additional Questions:
I do not see specs for free antiproton weapons from missions like Mission: Fluid Dynamics http://sto.gamepedia.com/Mission:_Fluid_Dynamics (is this the best free one?)
Are they better than than the AP fore weapons that I have chosen?
Is the Console - Universal - Assimilated Module still good even though I don;t use gravity?
Or should I just get a BOFF that can do gravity well? (not sure i know what I am talking about)
Which is better Change the Universal - Zero-Point Energy Conduit for a Nukara Particle Converter? Other choice?
The only point in using DHCs is if you combine them with a BO for heavy decloak ambush. A HY torp may also help though most use DBB+3/4 DHC.
Read above to the new build I no longer am using Dual Cannons. TY!
I will look into the Fleet versions of my consoles, I hope they will not be super hard to get as I am in a very small fleet. That said I started collecting fleet Marks in Risa Summer Event.
Thanks for the suggestions about dual beam banks!
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you for your Boff suggestions!!!
Again your post was very helpful. I just need to do some research. I learned so much about builds from this thread
Thanks ever so much for the help!