In today's STO with T6 ships, having an ultra heavy ENG BOFF layout with mere Lt level TAC skills at most is not optimal, even if you use that Lt Universal as TAC. On top of that glaring weakness, the trait is completely useless and as a Command FDC, it lacks Weapons System Efficiency.
The BOFF & Console layouts are very mediocre.
It lacks Weapon System Efficiency Cruiser Command.
The trait is one of the most useless out there.
The ENG Command FDC has nothing going for it at all.
A pitty, it looks really nice.
And sci version? Does buying whole pack has any advantages? Or is it not worth additional zen farm?
I have the whole pack, and I like it.
I mostly fly the Presidio, but the Geneva is very nice as well. I use appearance parts from the Concorde and the Concorde has (in my opinion) the best console of the three.
The Geneva is a really nice ship, it's kind of like a command version of the Guardian. It sacrifices some on Tactical Seating and 1 Tac Console, but it still puts out great damage and the extra science focus gives it crowd control through Gravity Well and other skills that can improve your survivability.
This is how I have my Geneva set up if you're curious. The extra Science Consoles really let you maximize the leech and stack up on that plasma burn from the Embassy Consoles. It's a really nice ship, I enjoy flying it. Again, my build uses Reciprocity (Phantom trait) so it saves me from having to double Tac abilities and lets me get the most out of the limited tactical seating.
I agree with the opinion that the Concorde is worthless. I use it's console and appearance features, otherwise I don't touch it. It's just too weak offensively for my taste.
hmm, and what you guys think of Benthan Assault Crusier? I got lucky today and i have Xindi Olean now, which i could sell and change to Benthan. But is it a good ship? Is it worth it? Or better leave money for fitting and upgrading stuff for Presidio later?
hmm, and what you guys think of Benthan Assault Crusier? I got lucky today and i have Xindi Olean now, which i could sell and change to Benthan. But is it a good ship? Is it worth it? Or better leave money for fitting and upgrading stuff for Presidio later?
The Benthan ship is nice, fairly versatile layout of BoFF abilities, good console layout, strong hull, good shield modifier. It's a Fleet Quality T6 ship and very capable of putting out some very nice damage numbers. I like that it can use Intel Abilities so you can take advantage of Override Subsystem Safeties. It's a very capable T6 ship, if you like the design it's a solid choice.
The Benthan ship is nice, fairly versatile layout of BoFF abilities, good console layout, strong hull, good shield modifier. It's a Fleet Quality T6 ship and very capable of putting out some very nice damage numbers. I like that it can use Intel Abilities so you can take advantage of Override Subsystem Safeties. It's a very capable T6 ship, if you like the design it's a solid choice.
Did they ever fix the model orientation of the Benthan ship so that it's flying forwards instead of backwards?
About the Drexfiles i managed to find some article that says this:
"Well, once upon a time there was a wonderful website called Drex Files, where Star Trek visual effects wizard, art department pro, make-up artist, all round mega-fan, and friend of trekkies everywhere, Doug Drexler, treated the world to regular looks behind the scenes at years of his work on Star Trek, from TV production and beyond. Alas the Drex Files are no more, but Doug carries on the good work on his Facebook profile instead."
I haven't kne any of this myslef too
But more to the topic, from the looks of those 3 ships i like Eclipse the most and Benthan the least. But i'm also not much of a fan of Presidio looks so i may get used to it and Benthan too.
Anyway, which one of those three would be the ship to"go to" as an all-around cruiser, capable to act as a tank mutlitple enemies if needed in the middle of battle, but also being able to have quite a punch to be competitive in stfs to win high place in dmg for additional loot? That was the role my fleet assault did for me. I mean if i should spend 70mil on benthan i would want to knew that this is best ship for that role and i will not try to gather resources for any other assault cruiser out there.
Anyway, which one of those three would be the ship to"go to" as an all-around cruiser, capable to act as a tank mutlitple enemies if needed in the middle of battle, but also being able to have quite a punch to be competitive in stfs to win high place in dmg for additional loot? That was the role my fleet assault did for me. I mean if i should spend 70mil on benthan i would want to knew that this is best ship for that role and i will not try to gather resources for any other assault cruiser out there.
All three ships would serve that purpose.
The Eclipse would deal more damage, but would not tank as well as the Presidio
The Presidio would be more durable and last longer in a fight, but delivers slightly less damage then the Eclipse.
The Benthan is somewhat in between. It's intel capability gives it solid damage, maybe slightly higher then the Presidio, but not as much as the Eclipse. It's also softer then the Presidio but tougher then the Eclipse. The Eclipse would need to be taken to fleet version to approach the staying power of either ship.
The big strike against the Benthan is it's completely worthless Star Ship Trait. It only works with Torpedos and it's weak even on those builds. The Eclipse has a very useful trait, and the Presidio Trait is probably the single best trait in the game.
My personal recommendation is still the Presidio followed very closely by the Eclipse and the Benthan is a distant 3rd.
For the tie breaker.. I would use this..
The Eclipse has the ability to use an Intel based Surgical Strike build that delivers very high damage. It's a very strong build, but it's a single target build designed to take out enemies one at a time.
The Presidio is best used as a 'Fire At Will Boat' designed to hunker down and blast everything on the screen. It will deliver less damage per target then the Eclipse but hit more targets.
If you want the single power build.. Eclipse, if you want the FAW build.. Presidio. I use both ships, the links in my sig are how I personally built the Presidio (Vigilant) and the Eclipse (Predator.) You can look at that for an example the builds I'm referring to.
It should be noted that if you build both ships as FAW build, the Eclipse will still do more damage then the Presidio. I just point out the Single Target option for the Eclipse because it's the only Federation Cruiser capable of this build.
Also, it should be noted that the Eclipse is a base T6 ship meaning it takes a fleet module to elevate to fleet level. That means the Presidio is 500 Zen Cheaper.
I'll say again, if you're choosing between the Presidio and the Eclipse, you cannot make a bad choice. Either way you're getting an absolutely top tier ship.
sorry, not trying to hijack your thread and thoughts here, just wanted to point out real quick-
the reason the sto wiki is lacking in info is over all these years it was mainly pvpers that filled all that out.....
but cryptic hasn't really done anything for pvpers over the years... so the population is drying up, like ... really- really drying up, ask around on opvp- its not an opinion... its a fact- so few left now
and because of that...
things like the sto wiki? ya, not going to get updated, tribble testing? yup down as well...
I wish some pve guys would step up and start updateing the sto wiki.. but sadly because theirs only 1 build that really matters in pve and all your top pve guys already know at a glance if its worth to add or not... they wont bother with any of the other ships, consoles, traits, weapons, gear, doffs... you name it
cause they don't matter for pve:( shame really
it hurts the new guys the most because they are not in those inner circles of passed along knowledge and have to rely on sifting through countless pages of forums posts to get a simple answer... makes me sad (honestly)
Wow i feel so nauseous suddenly...
"...'With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured...the first thought forbidden...the first freedom denied--chains us all irrevocably.' ... The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. I fear that today--"
- (TNG) Picard, quoting Judge Aaron Satie
What is the difference in survivability between Fleet version of Eclipse and Presidio? Is it that noticable? Also how viable to fly is Eclipse with it's own trait if i would never plan to buy reciprocity or all hands on deck?
What is the difference in survivability between Fleet version of Eclipse and Presidio? Is it that noticable? Also how viable to fly is Eclipse with it's own trait if i would never plan to buy reciprocity or all hands on deck?
The Eclipse is remarkably durable for an Offensive Minded ship. It gets a nice boost from it's trait which increases defense and resistance when you use Engineering or Intelligence abilities. For me, I'm running 3 DoFFs to reduce Cooldown on my Emergency Power Abilities as well as constantly activating O.S.S. and Surgical Strikes, so this bonus is constantly in effect. It makes a pretty big contribution to your survivability. The Eclipse is far from soft, I never die in mine.
The Eclipse probably has the best overall ratio of Damage to Survivability, it gains a pretty huge offensive bonus over other cruisers while sacrificing very little in return. As for the Traits, neither Reciprocity or All Hands on Deck are required, they just make things easier. If you don't have Reciprocity, just double up on Surgical Strikes and O.S.S. and you'll be fine.
If I could only buy one of the two ships, the better buy would be the Eclipse. It's biggest flaw is it's horribly ugly, and I mean.. ridiculously, hideously ugly. The Presidio is far better aesthetically, but the Eclipse (Fleet) has superior overall stats. It's a tough ship, and the Intel stations give it unparalleled damage output.
Ok, thanks for all advices, today after daily reset i'll finally have enough zen to buy a ship, and after changing my mind many times through last weeks i decided to go for Fleet Eclipse.
Seaofsorrows i think i'll go for your build from your signature, but without reciprocity ofc. So what do you think i should change and where in your build to make it work? And why go phasers?
Also your skill and trait builds are for tac captain, would it be the same for engi?
Ok, thanks for all advices, today after daily reset i'll finally have enough zen to buy a ship, and after changing my mind many times through last weeks i decided to go for Fleet Eclipse.
Seaofsorrows i think i'll go for your build from your signature, but without reciprocity ofc. So what do you think i should change and where in your build to make it work? And why go phasers?
Also your skill and trait builds are for tac captain, would it be the same for engi?
1. What to Change: Your intel abilities are your 'bread and butter' skills. Without reciprocity, you will want to double up on those to keep uptime as high as possible. I would do the bridge officer slots exactly as I have them except I would change the Commander Intel/Engineering to O.S.S.1, O.S.S. 2, Surgical Strikes 1, Surgical Strikes 3. You can't get SS3 from the Bridge Officer trainer, so you'll need to craft it or get it from the exchange. Other then that, I would leave it as is.
2. Why go Phasers: I went Phasers because I also run a very similar build on the Phantom Intel Escort and that ship has a Heavy Phaser Lance that's boosted by Phaser consoles. I also sometimes fly my Fleet Patrol Escort and Phaser consoles buff the Saturation Bomb. For your build on your Eclipse, use whatever energy type you like. I honestly don't worry much about Energy type, heck my main ship (Vigilant) uses Tetryon. It's the Weapon Mods that matter. Use whatever damage type you like best.
3. Yes, I would do the skills the same, just shuffle around the ground abilities. On my Engineer, I spent the same amount of Points on Ground (67,500.) I did Max on Demolitions and Weapon Proficiency in column 1. 6 points in PS Generator, 3 Points in Repairs in Column 2. 6 Points in Generators in Column 3, 6 points in Turrets and Drones in Column 4, and finally 3 points in Combat Armor in Column 5. That's just how I did it, feel free to adjust as you see fit. The space skills are exactly the same.
Let me know how you like the ship when you get it, it's a great ship. On mine, I save one loadout that's the build I linked, and I use the 2nd load out for a 'Fire at Will' style similar to the BoFF skills I use on the Vigilant. I almost always go with the Single target intel build though, I just love being able to shred one target after the other. It's a really great build for bosses and large enemies too. I hope you enjoy your new ship.
Ok,so first thing, i seriously fked up... i bought eclipse for zen. I dont know what i was thinking, i could have bought phantom for trait for zen and just fleet eclipse for ec...
Ok,so first thing, i seriously fked up... i bought eclipse for zen. I dont know what i was thinking, i could have bought phantom for trait for zen and just fleet eclipse for ec...
Yes, you could have done it that way but you would not have received the module discount on the Eclipse. If you don't own the C-Store version of the Eclipse then it costs 5 Fleet Modules which is a heck of a lot of EC. You also would not have received the Eclipse Trait, but you would have the Phantom Trait.
If you want to save money, you're fine buying the C-Store Eclipse. Use EC to buy the 1 Fleet Module to get to fleet level, then save up Dilitihium and eventually cash that in for enough Zen to buy the Phantom for the Trait. The Dilithium exchange price is high, but Dilithium is easy to get. You did fine, get the Fleet Module, and fly the Eclipse with the Eclipse Trait. Later, if you feel you want or need the Phantom Trait buy it with Zen. In the mean time you'll have a nice ship to fly around while you grind.
I guess maybe it's not complete fail, but still in your build i wont be using eclipse's module, and if i'll go for phantom i wont be using eclipse's trait too. so paying 3k zen i get discount of 4 modules, which is 2k zen if i remember correctly, so basically i lost 1k zen. Not that huge amount, but if i wouldnt have done that mistake i could be flying fleet eclipse with reciprocity right now I have aound 90mil ec so i would have money for 5 modules anyway.
Well, what's done is done. That broke my mood of getting new ship a bit, but there is nothing i can do about it now. I'll just look for a fleet now and get a fleet version.
I looked through you build and prepared my boffs and my skills (still need a lot of time to get trait points) and patched up something more or less similar from equipment i got, while i'll be gathering dil and marks for rest of the modules. Some of them i see are quite expensive, 60mil ec for plasmonic leech, 200lobi for bioneural circuit..
Regenerative integrity field looks to be unobtainable now? So i guess for now i'll be using eclipse console in it's place.
So i patched up the ship with yours abilities and whatever equipment i had that were at least bit similar to the one from your build, and went for few stfs.
I was quite positively surprised with the survivability of that ship, maybe it's because o that i'm engineer, but it was much more survivable that my t5u fleet assault i've been using till now, and for the 3 times i went to Crystaline Catastrophe adv, i scored 2times 1st place and once 3rd, so damage seems to be good too, but it feels a bit tricky to use correctly. Few times i thought i positioned myself for 90degrees broadside to enemy, but my rear phazers werent firing. Also cloak is a nice addition to get into correct position before firing.
Need some more testing and actually puting correct equipment on it, but it looks promisable.
I have some question though - any type of boffs race you recommend or dont matter much? i use 2 saurians for efficient and humans for leadership. And any certain doffs needed for this built? five technicians? What power distribution 100/50/25/25 ? Is plasmonic leech really worth 60mil, and bioneural 200lobi?
I guess maybe it's not complete fail, but still in your build i wont be using eclipse's module, and if i'll go for phantom i wont be using eclipse's trait too. so paying 3k zen i get discount of 4 modules, which is 2k zen if i remember correctly, so basically i lost 1k zen. Not that huge amount, but if i wouldnt have done that mistake i could be flying fleet eclipse with reciprocity right now I have aound 90mil ec so i would have money for 5 modules anyway.
Well, what's done is done. That broke my mood of getting new ship a bit, but there is nothing i can do about it now. I'll just look for a fleet now and get a fleet version.
I looked through you build and prepared my boffs and my skills (still need a lot of time to get trait points) and patched up something more or less similar from equipment i got, while i'll be gathering dil and marks for rest of the modules. Some of them i see are quite expensive, 60mil ec for plasmonic leech, 200lobi for bioneural circuit..
Regenerative integrity field looks to be unobtainable now? So i guess for now i'll be using eclipse console in it's place.
So i patched up the ship with yours abilities and whatever equipment i had that were at least bit similar to the one from your build, and went for few stfs.
I was quite positively surprised with the survivability of that ship, maybe it's because o that i'm engineer, but it was much more survivable that my t5u fleet assault i've been using till now, and for the 3 times i went to Crystaline Catastrophe adv, i scored 2times 1st place and once 3rd, so damage seems to be good too, but it feels a bit tricky to use correctly. Few times i thought i positioned myself for 90degrees broadside to enemy, but my rear phazers werent firing. Also cloak is a nice addition to get into correct position before firing.
Need some more testing and actually puting correct equipment on it, but it looks promisable.
I have some question though - any type of boffs race you recommend or dont matter much? i use 2 saurians for efficient and humans for leadership. And any certain doffs needed for this built? five technicians? What power distribution 100/50/25/25 ? Is plasmonic leech really worth 60mil, and bioneural 200lobi?
I actually don't use the Eclipse console anymore. I swapped it out for the Samsar Console once the change was made to make the Samsar an account wide unlock. If you don't have access to the Samsar, then that's fine, you can put an Neutronium Alloy here or if you have the Eclipse Console, that works too.
For some reason, I was under the impression you had a Plasmonic Leech, I'm not sure why I thought that. The skills and everything are set up assuming a leech is being used but the only real difference is that I maxed out Flow Capacitors which doesn't do much good without the Leech. As for rather or not it's worth it, yes it is but it's hard to obtain. In my opinion, the Plasmonic Leech is the single most powerful item in Star Trek Online. If you can find a way to get one, I absolutely would. As for the Bio-Neural Infusion Circuits, they're nice (they add a huge critical damage bonus) but they're a luxury.. nothing more. If you don't have one, use something else.. no big deal. Maybe swap in a Romulan Zero Point console for the Critical Damage Boost. I also like the Sustained Radiant Field from the new Iconian Rep, it's a Universal Console that gives +20% Hull Healing, +20% to Shield Heals, and +10% all damage boost. Very nice.
As for BoFFs, for Federation it mostly doesn't matter. The best BoFFs in the game are Klingon Specific (Pirate) or Romulan specific (Superior Romulan Operative.) You can however, get a few of these BoFFS for the Federation. For my Tactical Officer, I use the Superior Romulan Operative BoFF from the Fleet Embassy. When you're in the Embassy, take the turbo lift to Operations. There are a bunch of consoles around the outer ring and one of them is used to recruit new bridge officers. One of the choices is a Blue Romulan Tactical Officer that has the Superior Romulan Operative (+ 2% Critical Chance and +5% Critical Damage.) He's not cheap, I believe he costs around 80k Fleet Credits. The thing is, once you commision him, he's actually a purple. The Embassy also sells a Purple one for 100k, don't buy that one. That one is only a Romulan Operative (not Superior) so the 'Blue' one is cheaper and better.
You can also get a Pirate BoFF once you have reached level 4 in Diplomacy from doing Bridge Officer Assignments. Once you hit level 4, visit the Ambassador in ESD in the Admirals office. He will let you pick 1 enemy faction BoFF and he has a Nausicaan Engineer that has the Pirate Trait.
Lastly, you get a reward from the Delta Mission 'Alliances' that gives you a Hierarchy Bridge Officer. This Science Officer has the Pirate Trait as well as Efficent (I think.)
That gives you a Superior Operative in your Tactical and 2 Pirates (Engineering and Science) which gives you a nice little boost.
As for Space Duty Officers, I use 3 Purple Damage Control Engineers (Emergency Power Variant.) You can get by with 2, or use 3 blues which is actually pretty cheap.
I run 1 Warp Core Engineer, Purple Quality that gives a chance to boost all power levels when using an Emergency Power.
Last slot is really up to you. I think right now I'm using the one that gives you damage resistance every time you use Brace for Impact. I sometimes use a DoFF to reduce cooldown on Evasive Maneuvers, or if I am in a ship with Gravity Well, I use this slot to slot an aftershock Gravity Well DoFF. This one is really your choice.
Since I have the leech, the power distribution is full power to Weapons. I just click the arrow above Weapons and I'm good to go. Using the Leech with Maxed Flow Caps and 2 +Flow Embassy Consoles keeps weapons at 100-125, Shields at 100+, and both engines and Aux at 75+ at all times. That's why the Plasmonic is so expensive, it literally solves all your power needs in one console slot.
DOFFs - I had 2 purple technicians (with 10% reduce to ability cd each) and added to it 2 blue dmg control engineers and one purple warp core engineer.
Damage type - phasers or tetryon i think wont best choice for me, because most i do are stfs, and things like Crysaline Entity dont have shields and borg too dont have subsystems (i think). It leaves disruptors for buffing whole party dmg, plasma for dot, or antiproton for CritD.
If i would take antiproton with CritDx3 modifier, that would be huge amount of CritD. Or maybe (also to save some ec, because those ones are hugely expenisve on exchange) i would go for some antiproton crtdx2 with crth, dmg or pen?
Should i use EPtW only when my beams go offline or whenever it's off cooldown?
The in game description of Technicians is deceptive. The cooldown bonus for Technician DoFFs only applies when using Aux2Bat. You do not run Aux2Bat, so the Technicians are doing litterally nothing in your build and should be replaced with absolutely anything else. Even if you just slot Green Damage Control Engineers, it would be far better then using 2 DoFFs that do absolutely nothing for you.
As for when you should use EPTW.. absolutely as much as possible. As soon as EPTW or EPTS is available, use it right away. Using it will keep your 2 most important systems at max power, each click gives a chance for your Warp Core Engineer to proc, and each click activates your Battle Ready Trait which increases your resistances and defense. Remember, with Override Subsystem Safeties you can push your weapon power level to 125+ so use it as much as possible.
Does Presidio comes only with it's base skin? I don't really like it's look that much, but engi one looks nice to me. So when i buy Presidio are there any options to modify it's looks?
You can't make it look like the Engineering variant unless you own that variant. The only options you'll have are colors and paints if you just buy one.
The cooldown bonus for Technician DoFFs only applies when using Aux2Bat.
Well, that's good to know , so i went with 3x blue damage control.
I think i'll buy antiproton beams with crtdx2 and pen if possible, to boost my dmg to armor to mitigate lack of torps. that is still going to cost me around9mil per beam for XIVs so total around 63mil. so i guess that plasmonic leech would need to wait till i gather more ec. Probably upgrade from fleet XII beams to purple XIV will boost my dps more than leech with those XIIs?
The cooldown bonus for Technician DoFFs only applies when using Aux2Bat.
Well, that's good to know , so i went with 3x blue damage control.
I think i'll buy antiproton beams with crtdx2 and pen if possible, to boost my dmg to armor to mitigate lack of torps. that is still going to cost me around9mil per beam for XIVs so total around 63mil. so i guess that plasmonic leech would need to wait till i gather more ec. Probably upgrade from fleet XII beams to purple XIV will boost my dps more than leech with those XIIs?
You will gain more by using the CritDx2 Beams from the Iconian Rep store and buying the Plasmonic Leech.
If you have a chance to get a leech, don't pass it up, that's my advice. If anyone thinks differently, please speak up.. but as a rule if you can get the leech.. you should get it. Roll with the Rep Beams while you save up for more expensive beams or just play the crafting lottery and try and make them yourself.
The [PEN] mod is nice, but hardly required. I run straight CritDx3 Beams that I made and they hit plenty hard. Don't pass up the Plasmonic Leech just to buy [Pen] Beams.
What are those science consoles? I saw plasma generating weapon signature nullifier [+flow] mk XII, should i buy that and upgrade to XIV? What is this -[pla] mod from your build?
What are those science consoles? I saw plasma generating weapon signature nullifier [+flow] mk XII, should i buy that and upgrade to XIV? What is this -[pla] mod from your build?
The are Science consoles available from your fleet embassy. When you're in the Embassy, if you go to the Shuttle bay there is a console there where you can buy them. They are Mark XII Ultra Rare just like most fleet items.
They are Science Consoles that add explosive plasma damage to your weapon attacks. Each of them give you a nice little DPS boost. They come in several variants, you can get ones that increase or reduce your threat rating. Usually on cruisers you would increase your threat, but I have the reduced ones since I originally bought them for my Escort. You can also pick between + to Flow Capacitors, Exotic Damage, Hull Healing or a couple other things. I picked +Flow because the increased flow skill strengthens the power drained and added to you from the Plasmonic Leech.
Mine are Mark XIV, yes. They're pretty cheap to upgrade and they provide a nice boost. They're worth taking to Mark XIV.
I will add that if you do have Reciprocity, the +Threat versions do help to proc it more often, but only if you remain mobile or have good built-in defense bonuses or accuracy-reducing abilities.
Comments
For reference, the ENG Command FDC for the Feds.
In today's STO with T6 ships, having an ultra heavy ENG BOFF layout with mere Lt level TAC skills at most is not optimal, even if you use that Lt Universal as TAC. On top of that glaring weakness, the trait is completely useless and as a Command FDC, it lacks Weapons System Efficiency.
The BOFF & Console layouts are very mediocre.
It lacks Weapon System Efficiency Cruiser Command.
The trait is one of the most useless out there.
The ENG Command FDC has nothing going for it at all.
And sci version? Does buying whole pack has any advantages? Or is it not worth additional zen farm?
I have the whole pack, and I like it.
I mostly fly the Presidio, but the Geneva is very nice as well. I use appearance parts from the Concorde and the Concorde has (in my opinion) the best console of the three.
The Geneva is a really nice ship, it's kind of like a command version of the Guardian. It sacrifices some on Tactical Seating and 1 Tac Console, but it still puts out great damage and the extra science focus gives it crowd control through Gravity Well and other skills that can improve your survivability.
This is how I have my Geneva set up if you're curious. The extra Science Consoles really let you maximize the leech and stack up on that plasma burn from the Embassy Consoles. It's a really nice ship, I enjoy flying it. Again, my build uses Reciprocity (Phantom trait) so it saves me from having to double Tac abilities and lets me get the most out of the limited tactical seating.
I agree with the opinion that the Concorde is worthless. I use it's console and appearance features, otherwise I don't touch it. It's just too weak offensively for my taste.
The Benthan ship is nice, fairly versatile layout of BoFF abilities, good console layout, strong hull, good shield modifier. It's a Fleet Quality T6 ship and very capable of putting out some very nice damage numbers. I like that it can use Intel Abilities so you can take advantage of Override Subsystem Safeties. It's a very capable T6 ship, if you like the design it's a solid choice.
Did they ever fix the model orientation of the Benthan ship so that it's flying forwards instead of backwards?
No, they didn't.
I don't suspect that they ever will either. I don't think have even formally acknowledged that they messed it up to begin with.
Even though they obviously did.
Well, in the Drexfiles images, it's facing the same way that Cryptic has it flying. So it seems like the show actually could have gotten it wrong.
Your father was captain of a starship for twelve minutes. He saved 800 lives, including your mother's, and yours.
I dare you to do better.
I don't know what the 'Drexfiles' is, but I was refering to their appearance in the Voyager Episode 'Vis
"Well, once upon a time there was a wonderful website called Drex Files, where Star Trek visual effects wizard, art department pro, make-up artist, all round mega-fan, and friend of trekkies everywhere, Doug Drexler, treated the world to regular looks behind the scenes at years of his work on Star Trek, from TV production and beyond. Alas the Drex Files are no more, but Doug carries on the good work on his Facebook profile instead."
I haven't kne any of this myslef too
But more to the topic, from the looks of those 3 ships i like Eclipse the most and Benthan the least. But i'm also not much of a fan of Presidio looks so i may get used to it and Benthan too.
Anyway, which one of those three would be the ship to"go to" as an all-around cruiser, capable to act as a tank mutlitple enemies if needed in the middle of battle, but also being able to have quite a punch to be competitive in stfs to win high place in dmg for additional loot? That was the role my fleet assault did for me. I mean if i should spend 70mil on benthan i would want to knew that this is best ship for that role and i will not try to gather resources for any other assault cruiser out there.
All three ships would serve that purpose.
The Eclipse would deal more damage, but would not tank as well as the Presidio
The Presidio would be more durable and last longer in a fight, but delivers slightly less damage then the Eclipse.
The Benthan is somewhat in between. It's intel capability gives it solid damage, maybe slightly higher then the Presidio, but not as much as the Eclipse. It's also softer then the Presidio but tougher then the Eclipse. The Eclipse would need to be taken to fleet version to approach the staying power of either ship.
The big strike against the Benthan is it's completely worthless Star Ship Trait. It only works with Torpedos and it's weak even on those builds. The Eclipse has a very useful trait, and the Presidio Trait is probably the single best trait in the game.
My personal recommendation is still the Presidio followed very closely by the Eclipse and the Benthan is a distant 3rd.
For the tie breaker.. I would use this..
The Eclipse has the ability to use an Intel based Surgical Strike build that delivers very high damage. It's a very strong build, but it's a single target build designed to take out enemies one at a time.
The Presidio is best used as a 'Fire At Will Boat' designed to hunker down and blast everything on the screen. It will deliver less damage per target then the Eclipse but hit more targets.
If you want the single power build.. Eclipse, if you want the FAW build.. Presidio. I use both ships, the links in my sig are how I personally built the Presidio (Vigilant) and the Eclipse (Predator.) You can look at that for an example the builds I'm referring to.
It should be noted that if you build both ships as FAW build, the Eclipse will still do more damage then the Presidio. I just point out the Single Target option for the Eclipse because it's the only Federation Cruiser capable of this build.
Also, it should be noted that the Eclipse is a base T6 ship meaning it takes a fleet module to elevate to fleet level. That means the Presidio is 500 Zen Cheaper.
I'll say again, if you're choosing between the Presidio and the Eclipse, you cannot make a bad choice. Either way you're getting an absolutely top tier ship.
The Eclipse is remarkably durable for an Offensive Minded ship. It gets a nice boost from it's trait which increases defense and resistance when you use Engineering or Intelligence abilities. For me, I'm running 3 DoFFs to reduce Cooldown on my Emergency Power Abilities as well as constantly activating O.S.S. and Surgical Strikes, so this bonus is constantly in effect. It makes a pretty big contribution to your survivability. The Eclipse is far from soft, I never die in mine.
The Eclipse probably has the best overall ratio of Damage to Survivability, it gains a pretty huge offensive bonus over other cruisers while sacrificing very little in return. As for the Traits, neither Reciprocity or All Hands on Deck are required, they just make things easier. If you don't have Reciprocity, just double up on Surgical Strikes and O.S.S. and you'll be fine.
If I could only buy one of the two ships, the better buy would be the Eclipse. It's biggest flaw is it's horribly ugly, and I mean.. ridiculously, hideously ugly. The Presidio is far better aesthetically, but the Eclipse (Fleet) has superior overall stats. It's a tough ship, and the Intel stations give it unparalleled damage output.
Seaofsorrows i think i'll go for your build from your signature, but without reciprocity ofc. So what do you think i should change and where in your build to make it work? And why go phasers?
Also your skill and trait builds are for tac captain, would it be the same for engi?
1. What to Change: Your intel abilities are your 'bread and butter' skills. Without reciprocity, you will want to double up on those to keep uptime as high as possible. I would do the bridge officer slots exactly as I have them except I would change the Commander Intel/Engineering to O.S.S.1, O.S.S. 2, Surgical Strikes 1, Surgical Strikes 3. You can't get SS3 from the Bridge Officer trainer, so you'll need to craft it or get it from the exchange. Other then that, I would leave it as is.
2. Why go Phasers: I went Phasers because I also run a very similar build on the Phantom Intel Escort and that ship has a Heavy Phaser Lance that's boosted by Phaser consoles. I also sometimes fly my Fleet Patrol Escort and Phaser consoles buff the Saturation Bomb. For your build on your Eclipse, use whatever energy type you like. I honestly don't worry much about Energy type, heck my main ship (Vigilant) uses Tetryon. It's the Weapon Mods that matter. Use whatever damage type you like best.
3. Yes, I would do the skills the same, just shuffle around the ground abilities. On my Engineer, I spent the same amount of Points on Ground (67,500.) I did Max on Demolitions and Weapon Proficiency in column 1. 6 points in PS Generator, 3 Points in Repairs in Column 2. 6 Points in Generators in Column 3, 6 points in Turrets and Drones in Column 4, and finally 3 points in Combat Armor in Column 5. That's just how I did it, feel free to adjust as you see fit. The space skills are exactly the same.
Let me know how you like the ship when you get it, it's a great ship. On mine, I save one loadout that's the build I linked, and I use the 2nd load out for a 'Fire at Will' style similar to the BoFF skills I use on the Vigilant. I almost always go with the Single target intel build though, I just love being able to shred one target after the other. It's a really great build for bosses and large enemies too. I hope you enjoy your new ship.
Yes, you could have done it that way but you would not have received the module discount on the Eclipse. If you don't own the C-Store version of the Eclipse then it costs 5 Fleet Modules which is a heck of a lot of EC. You also would not have received the Eclipse Trait, but you would have the Phantom Trait.
If you want to save money, you're fine buying the C-Store Eclipse. Use EC to buy the 1 Fleet Module to get to fleet level, then save up Dilitihium and eventually cash that in for enough Zen to buy the Phantom for the Trait. The Dilithium exchange price is high, but Dilithium is easy to get. You did fine, get the Fleet Module, and fly the Eclipse with the Eclipse Trait. Later, if you feel you want or need the Phantom Trait buy it with Zen. In the mean time you'll have a nice ship to fly around while you grind.
Well, what's done is done. That broke my mood of getting new ship a bit, but there is nothing i can do about it now. I'll just look for a fleet now and get a fleet version.
I looked through you build and prepared my boffs and my skills (still need a lot of time to get trait points) and patched up something more or less similar from equipment i got, while i'll be gathering dil and marks for rest of the modules. Some of them i see are quite expensive, 60mil ec for plasmonic leech, 200lobi for bioneural circuit..
Regenerative integrity field looks to be unobtainable now? So i guess for now i'll be using eclipse console in it's place.
So i patched up the ship with yours abilities and whatever equipment i had that were at least bit similar to the one from your build, and went for few stfs.
I was quite positively surprised with the survivability of that ship, maybe it's because o that i'm engineer, but it was much more survivable that my t5u fleet assault i've been using till now, and for the 3 times i went to Crystaline Catastrophe adv, i scored 2times 1st place and once 3rd, so damage seems to be good too, but it feels a bit tricky to use correctly. Few times i thought i positioned myself for 90degrees broadside to enemy, but my rear phazers werent firing. Also cloak is a nice addition to get into correct position before firing.
Need some more testing and actually puting correct equipment on it, but it looks promisable.
I have some question though - any type of boffs race you recommend or dont matter much? i use 2 saurians for efficient and humans for leadership. And any certain doffs needed for this built? five technicians? What power distribution 100/50/25/25 ? Is plasmonic leech really worth 60mil, and bioneural 200lobi?
I actually don't use the Eclipse console anymore. I swapped it out for the Samsar Console once the change was made to make the Samsar an account wide unlock. If you don't have access to the Samsar, then that's fine, you can put an Neutronium Alloy here or if you have the Eclipse Console, that works too.
For some reason, I was under the impression you had a Plasmonic Leech, I'm not sure why I thought that. The skills and everything are set up assuming a leech is being used but the only real difference is that I maxed out Flow Capacitors which doesn't do much good without the Leech. As for rather or not it's worth it, yes it is but it's hard to obtain. In my opinion, the Plasmonic Leech is the single most powerful item in Star Trek Online. If you can find a way to get one, I absolutely would. As for the Bio-Neural Infusion Circuits, they're nice (they add a huge critical damage bonus) but they're a luxury.. nothing more. If you don't have one, use something else.. no big deal. Maybe swap in a Romulan Zero Point console for the Critical Damage Boost. I also like the Sustained Radiant Field from the new Iconian Rep, it's a Universal Console that gives +20% Hull Healing, +20% to Shield Heals, and +10% all damage boost. Very nice.
As for BoFFs, for Federation it mostly doesn't matter. The best BoFFs in the game are Klingon Specific (Pirate) or Romulan specific (Superior Romulan Operative.) You can however, get a few of these BoFFS for the Federation. For my Tactical Officer, I use the Superior Romulan Operative BoFF from the Fleet Embassy. When you're in the Embassy, take the turbo lift to Operations. There are a bunch of consoles around the outer ring and one of them is used to recruit new bridge officers. One of the choices is a Blue Romulan Tactical Officer that has the Superior Romulan Operative (+ 2% Critical Chance and +5% Critical Damage.) He's not cheap, I believe he costs around 80k Fleet Credits. The thing is, once you commision him, he's actually a purple. The Embassy also sells a Purple one for 100k, don't buy that one. That one is only a Romulan Operative (not Superior) so the 'Blue' one is cheaper and better.
You can also get a Pirate BoFF once you have reached level 4 in Diplomacy from doing Bridge Officer Assignments. Once you hit level 4, visit the Ambassador in ESD in the Admirals office. He will let you pick 1 enemy faction BoFF and he has a Nausicaan Engineer that has the Pirate Trait.
Lastly, you get a reward from the Delta Mission 'Alliances' that gives you a Hierarchy Bridge Officer. This Science Officer has the Pirate Trait as well as Efficent (I think.)
That gives you a Superior Operative in your Tactical and 2 Pirates (Engineering and Science) which gives you a nice little boost.
As for Space Duty Officers, I use 3 Purple Damage Control Engineers (Emergency Power Variant.) You can get by with 2, or use 3 blues which is actually pretty cheap.
I run 1 Warp Core Engineer, Purple Quality that gives a chance to boost all power levels when using an Emergency Power.
Last slot is really up to you. I think right now I'm using the one that gives you damage resistance every time you use Brace for Impact. I sometimes use a DoFF to reduce cooldown on Evasive Maneuvers, or if I am in a ship with Gravity Well, I use this slot to slot an aftershock Gravity Well DoFF. This one is really your choice.
Since I have the leech, the power distribution is full power to Weapons. I just click the arrow above Weapons and I'm good to go. Using the Leech with Maxed Flow Caps and 2 +Flow Embassy Consoles keeps weapons at 100-125, Shields at 100+, and both engines and Aux at 75+ at all times. That's why the Plasmonic is so expensive, it literally solves all your power needs in one console slot.
Damage type - phasers or tetryon i think wont best choice for me, because most i do are stfs, and things like Crysaline Entity dont have shields and borg too dont have subsystems (i think). It leaves disruptors for buffing whole party dmg, plasma for dot, or antiproton for CritD.
If i would take antiproton with CritDx3 modifier, that would be huge amount of CritD. Or maybe (also to save some ec, because those ones are hugely expenisve on exchange) i would go for some antiproton crtdx2 with crth, dmg or pen?
Should i use EPtW only when my beams go offline or whenever it's off cooldown?
As for when you should use EPTW.. absolutely as much as possible. As soon as EPTW or EPTS is available, use it right away. Using it will keep your 2 most important systems at max power, each click gives a chance for your Warp Core Engineer to proc, and each click activates your Battle Ready Trait which increases your resistances and defense. Remember, with Override Subsystem Safeties you can push your weapon power level to 125+ so use it as much as possible.
You can't make it look like the Engineering variant unless you own that variant. The only options you'll have are colors and paints if you just buy one.
Well, that's good to know
I think i'll buy antiproton beams with crtdx2 and pen if possible, to boost my dmg to armor to mitigate lack of torps. that is still going to cost me around9mil per beam for XIVs so total around 63mil. so i guess that plasmonic leech would need to wait till i gather more ec. Probably upgrade from fleet XII beams to purple XIV will boost my dps more than leech with those XIIs?
You will gain more by using the CritDx2 Beams from the Iconian Rep store and buying the Plasmonic Leech.
If you have a chance to get a leech, don't pass it up, that's my advice. If anyone thinks differently, please speak up.. but as a rule if you can get the leech.. you should get it. Roll with the Rep Beams while you save up for more expensive beams or just play the crafting lottery and try and make them yourself.
The [PEN] mod is nice, but hardly required. I run straight CritDx3 Beams that I made and they hit plenty hard. Don't pass up the Plasmonic Leech just to buy [Pen] Beams.
The are Science consoles available from your fleet embassy. When you're in the Embassy, if you go to the Shuttle bay there is a console there where you can buy them. They are Mark XII Ultra Rare just like most fleet items.
They are Science Consoles that add explosive plasma damage to your weapon attacks. Each of them give you a nice little DPS boost. They come in several variants, you can get ones that increase or reduce your threat rating. Usually on cruisers you would increase your threat, but I have the reduced ones since I originally bought them for my Escort. You can also pick between + to Flow Capacitors, Exotic Damage, Hull Healing or a couple other things. I picked +Flow because the increased flow skill strengthens the power drained and added to you from the Plasmonic Leech.
Mine are Mark XIV, yes. They're pretty cheap to upgrade and they provide a nice boost. They're worth taking to Mark XIV.