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What are the ingredients for the perfect Defiant?
hydraface
Member Posts: 41 Arc User
Hello all!
So this comes up every now and again, and why not? The Defiant is many people's favourite borg-busting, phaser-blastin' 'tough little ship'. For my part, I wants one for my fed tac Captain, a fleet defiant with which to enjoy the new (new to me, just getting back into STO) Iconian storyline.
But a ship builder I'm not! I currently have an Anti-proton, obelisk-cored Stream-runner, and I've been away from the game so I don't know what the 'new hotness' is right now. I'd like to build an effective Defiant. Now, again, this is for the missions (elite difficulty), NOT PvP. I'd also like to keep it canon(ish) if I can by ideally using the quad cannon, certainly using the cloak. Yes, I know, there's more effective stuff out there, more effective escorts even, but I would like to use a phaser-toting Defiant if possible (next choice would be polaron 'cos I like the effect and could imagine Defiants being retro-fittet with Domion weaponry) !
IF that's too straight-jacketing and it seriously affects the killing potential, advice on just how to make it the most effective killin' machine would be welcome (even if it means defiling my Defiants sleek physique with adapted borg bitz)!
I have access to fleet-stuff, and many of the sets already. Any advice on weapon loadouts and sets would be especially welcome, but any general advice would be greatfully received!
So this comes up every now and again, and why not? The Defiant is many people's favourite borg-busting, phaser-blastin' 'tough little ship'. For my part, I wants one for my fed tac Captain, a fleet defiant with which to enjoy the new (new to me, just getting back into STO) Iconian storyline.
But a ship builder I'm not! I currently have an Anti-proton, obelisk-cored Stream-runner, and I've been away from the game so I don't know what the 'new hotness' is right now. I'd like to build an effective Defiant. Now, again, this is for the missions (elite difficulty), NOT PvP. I'd also like to keep it canon(ish) if I can by ideally using the quad cannon, certainly using the cloak. Yes, I know, there's more effective stuff out there, more effective escorts even, but I would like to use a phaser-toting Defiant if possible (next choice would be polaron 'cos I like the effect and could imagine Defiants being retro-fittet with Domion weaponry) !
IF that's too straight-jacketing and it seriously affects the killing potential, advice on just how to make it the most effective killin' machine would be welcome (even if it means defiling my Defiants sleek physique with adapted borg bitz)!
I have access to fleet-stuff, and many of the sets already. Any advice on weapon loadouts and sets would be especially welcome, but any general advice would be greatfully received!
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As for keeping it canon-ish, go for it. No you won't be capital-O Optimized, but there is absolutely no reason you can't build a Defiant with cloaking, quad phasers, quantum torps, and even a beam array (omni-directional FTW) and still blast the TRIBBLE out of things well enough to queue just about any mission you like. Heck, search the forums for Trizeo and his Star Trek Battles channel where to my knowledge they still do runs specifically with canon ships.
But I would really recommend patience when it comes to ship acquisition, I think.
Your science bridge officers will need to be able to use tractor beams in order to hold fast-moving enemy ships in place for withering cannon volleys. Your tactical bridge officers, of course, will need cannon abilities. Cannon: Rapid Fire is a must-have for me, and Cannon: Volley is useful for crowd control. Torpedo: High Yield will allow you to rapidly destroy enemies once their shields have been removed. If you want to go for an omni-directional phaser beam, be sure one of your tactical officers knows some beam abilities.
However, since the Defiant is an escort, you will need to improve its survivability. For that, I recommend the Kobali Regenerative Circuitry set, which you can get by repeatedly playing "Dust to Dust". Get the best possible ablative hull armour consoles, and, if possible, upgrade your shields as much as you can. Your engineering bridge officer would do well to know Reverse Shield Polarity, and your tactical officer(s) should know Tactical Team, both of which provide valuable reinforcements to your shields.
Eh the people find this stuff (I'd link you but they ask not to be overtly identified) usually have a window of 4-6 weeks in advance, and have a pretty good track record so far, so I'd be surprised if we didn't see it by the end of July if not sooner. They do show so far the silhouette and a trait that boosts Cannon Scatter Volley, a 3-pack with T6 copies of the B'rel and T'varo so most likely a Pilot seat, and the usual one extra console and boff seat. My guess is that they'll boost the ensign to lieutenant, then a hybrid pilot/tac ltcmdr, because its not a sci-scort and if they boosted the engineer to ltcmdr it'd be identical to the Phantom, though maybe outside chance they go 6-seat like the Nandi with ensign universal. Were I in the market, that sounds worth waiting a few weeks for.
..........Wut? While everyone certainly has their own build style and TRIBBLE cookie-cutters and I'm certainly not one to criticize people for unique build choices, a lot of this seems like a questionable idea. Tractor beams are fun but on a ship with only 2 sci slots you need your counters first, stuff like Sci Team and Hazard Emitters, maybe Polarize Hull or even Transfer Shield Strength or Jam Sensors if you want something less standard, but Tractor is a luxury here.
RSP is the same way, maybe fun in PVP parties but on a Defiant's limited slots doesn't make the top 5 behind a Drake chain or maybe a hull heal, and a Defiant shouldn't be in that kind of sustained fight anyways. Rapid Fire and High Yield are fun for spiking and dogfighting (I have a Mat'ha set up that way and its hilarious) but most PVE stuff is clustered groups of mobs and AOE simply does more, trading 1/6 less damage for hitting multiple targets at once. Single-target is for fun and if thats what you wanna build for then more power to ya, but AOE wins for maxed effectiveness.
On hardware, ablative armor....just no. You should have your defense too high, your shields too hardened, and your heals too cycling for energy to be a genuine threat. Kinetic, physical, kinetic, occasional exotic/radiation, and kinetic are what really kill you in PVE, and for that your only real choice is neutronium or evasion. Energy-specific armors are a waste of a console slot. And the Kobali set, its a good set for healing and I'll totally agree its worthwhile and good for absorbing punishment, but a well-flown cannon escort isn't really taking punishment in the first place. The whole point of escorts is to kill your target before they can hurt you, then you don't need major heals. And in that case, a more offense-oriented set like the similarly-free Solanae or the Counter-Command or Iconian Resistance rep sets would all fit better.
I don't mean this as a personal attack or anything, and if you've made what you recommended work for you then cool, but if some truly-newbie player reads that list and does that stuff they're just making things harder for themselves. I firmly believe that people should build their own ships to their own styles, and I will help with whatever knowledge I have even when I disagree with their goal, but when someone is giving out incomplete data its helpful to everyone to speak up. We're all here just to pool our collective knowledge right?
That would leave it with only an Lt Science/Hybrid but not be gimped in any way (it's going to be a straight DPS-centric build anyway for most players the way the Pathfinder was mostly made a straight Sci build). Sure, an LtC would be nice, but it's not necessary unlike on the Andromeda.
And, as others have suggested, if you decide to equip a single Omni-phaser on the back of your ship, I would recommend having 1 beam overload slotted in your boff seat. Best case scenario, your canon phaser cannons will knock down the shields and your beam overload will hammer the hull.
As for the T6 Defiant, it is most likely to be coming out within the next 2 monthes after this current battlecruiser line. If you can hold off until then, I highly suggest it as the current T5 Defiant boff seats aren't quite worth it with 3 tac boff seats.
From there, I try a few different styles... anyone got tips for a torpedo build? It might just be fun to give that a whirl too for fun!
Thanks for the advice all! Any more is still welcone, and I may chuck out further ideas for feedback. But first, we play the waiting game... For a while!
1 Miles O'Brien
1 Jadzia Dax
1 Sisko
1 Kira Nerys
1 Worf
Maybe an Ezri Dax...
OH! You meant build... I got nothing.
normal text = me speaking as fellow formite
colored text = mod mode
Oh, but how I bet Terry Farrell regrets leaving when their was only one season to go...and because "Becker" treated her so badly. I also won't comment on the trick DS9 missed by not having the new Dax be a man...
My character Tsin'xing
Otherwise...be rich.
Then along came a Sovereign-class to save the day
Well... the Defiant was originally designed with fighting the Borg in mind. She just ended up being an overpowered little ship that was liable to rip her own nacelles off and was shelved until the threat of the Dominion came up.
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colored text = mod mode
USS Casinghead NCC 92047 launched 2350
Fleet Admiral Stowe - Dominion War Vet.
Pah, how could you not include Nog?
Not only did he pass orders throughout the ship, but he even piloted the ship later in the series!
Anyway,on the topic of waiting for a T-6 Defiant, does anyone know of, were I to aquire a current fleet Defiant, would I get a discount on a new, shiney T-6 if and when it comes out? Seems that'd be fair, anyone know if that'd be the case?
That is all.
Key thing for a t6 defiant will come down to the abilities and weapon set ups. A 3 to 4 piece console/gear set would be nice, and the more I think about it I would love a 360 degree phaser array, so there would be a 2nd equip-able arc phaser. Combine that with the quads, some kind of rapid fire torpedo and a new overpowered warp core you could have a killer 4pc or more set. Take the bridge officer set up from the fleet, change the ensign tac to a universal, personally I'd love to see a slight increase in the engineer rank on the ship, but most importantly no reduction on the shields or any drains at all for the use of the quads.
toughlittle ship? You have to use your manoeuvrability to survive, it can't stand there and take a beating. It's not a criticism! It's the flying style you have to adopt and that's actually pretty suitable for it. Still, a kobali set is, I think, in order to boost survivability.
Phasers shmasers: I was pretty hooked on the idea of loading up with phasers but... They just ain't nearly as good as anti-proton cannons with decent upgrades. Not really a problem, those red bolts do look funky anyway.
Set faces to fun: it's great fun to fly! A totally different deal from the scimitar I use with my rommie, or even the steamrunner I had used. Using a pure-escort Iis a great laugh, and you can easily bring those cannons to bear so yep, it's effective too!
If you'd thought about getting a Defiant, I recommend it!
My character Tsin'xing
Uh, what? Did comment travel to today from 2012?
Why both CSV and CRF? You're going to use one every 15 seconds because of the cds, so why do you want CSV/CRF/CSV/etc. every 15 seconds? CSV is better in PVE, but even without knowing that, don't you prefer one to the other? why not use 2 copies of what you like instead of alternating between them?
I don't know how HY destroys enemies fast once the shields are down. Say you're facing like 20 enemies (an average mob in STO). You target one. pew pew its shields in 5 seconds. 1 second to activate your HY, 1 second to fire the torp, maybe 3 seconds for the torp to reach its target. Let's say it dies right when the torp hits. Now you have to do that 20 more times. If all goes well, you're going to take over 3 minutes to clear that mob. Oh, and your HY is on cd every other enemy. And, no, not saying no one should use torps. Just that this isn't the ideal way to use them.
And tractor beams? You have 20 enemies. You tractor one and start firing it. Great! Now you have 19 left and your tractor beam is on CD.
The kobali set is ok for a free set. Iconian is better but it costs some grinding. The OP can figure out what they want to do, but the amount of grinding required for a decent space set isn't prohibitive.
Ablative consoles? I don't even know what to say. I thought everyone knew those were vendor trash. Even the folks I talk to who don't know much about builds go straight for neutronium.
Also, how many tac boff slots will this ship have? You are recommending 8 abilities already (cannons, torps, beams, and tac teams) and haven't even mentioned attack patterns or klw.
@OP: Phasers are fine. Don't listen to what people say about them - phasers have set their fair share of DPS records. Sure, their proc is useless, but they have the CC ordnance space set bonus, plus lots of fed ships come with consoles that benefit from buffing phasers (nadeon bomb, phaser lance).
If you want cannons, run DHCs/quads up front with the most crtd mods you can find and a pen mod for good luck. Get the iconian space set and vulnerability locaters for your tac consoles. For boff abilities, use2 copies of CSV, either 2 copies of attack pattern beta or 2 APBs and 1 attack pattern omega (so they go off every 15 seconds, like your CSV), and 2 copies of tac team (or 1 copy with 2 boffs to reduce the cd on those tac teams). Get 1 emergency power to weapons, 1 emergency power to shields, and 2 or 3 of the damage control engineers to reduce the CD on those powers. Hazard emitters is a must, then fill up the rest of your boff slots with heals or fun stuff. Upgrade everything as much as you can.
Ta da, you'll be able to do almost all the content in the game.