Arbiter T6 Battlecruiser Beams? Cannons? (Looking for build)

alessialinara · July 2015

So I have the following assets:

T6 (Soon to be fleet) Arbiter
T5 Avenger (Thus Console synergy)
T6 Tactical Command Battlecruiser (Thus All Hands on Deck)

With the way the console boosts turn rate I have to wonder if this is a not-so-subtle hint to fly the ship as a cannon-machine and i'm not good with the math of it all: My plan was to doggedly follow this: http://www.reddit.com/r/stobuilds/comments/2vvxpn/uss_pendragon_presidio_tactical_command/

But with the new Arbiter being the clear 'awesome boom ship' i'm looking for a build as detailed for it.

What I have gear wise: (All XII) I have the 2 Purple Conn Officers, Three (Very Rare) CritDx3 Antiproton Beam Arrays, Zero Point Module, Assimilated Console, Nukara Deflector, Particle Converter, Cutting Beam, Romulon Engine, [Flow] Science Console

The rest is cobbled together 'junk' that is being slowly replaced. What should I be aiming to do? Also a mite insecure about my captain skills and about someones guide saying 'all beam cruisers need the romulan array that doesn't use power and shouldn't have more than 6 arrays' but I gather that a -50% reduction in power from commands and perma EP2W moots that on this ship..

reginamala78 · July 2015

The advantage of beams, in addition to the crazy power surpluses we have these days, is that the wide arcs mean they're almost always on target. Cannons can be made to work, but it requires much more worry about positioning and better piloting. Lastly you can also run DBBs in the front with the 3 omni-direction beams (KCB, ancient, and crafted omni) in the back of your Arbiter, but again that requires more piloting. Plus since you already have 3 high-end AP arrays, may as well build around those.

alessialinara · July 2015

Mm.. yeah. I mainly am concerned that when getting swamped by small craft the payload is getting watered down to virtually nothing. But i'm betting when my fleet gets the T3 spire and I can buy AP Vulnerability Locators the overall damage is going to increase by maybe 30% so that should help.

Like the Gateway to Grethor dreadnought has all it's entourage to soak up the beam array. I did some modification of the ship to use the Arbiter hull and the rest Avenger and it looks damn sweet, arbiter nacelles looked like chicken drumsticks. Lol

captainchaos66 · July 2015

My first build on the arbiter was 2 beam arrays in the front, a Dual beam bank, a dual cannon and the quad cannons from Defiant. While my first impression was " WHAT A GREAT BUILD" the longer I played it the more I realized the cannons and Dual beam banks were firing MAYBE 40% of the time,, and if I flew the ship to purposefully line up my cannons then my forward shield was pretty much ALWAYS in need of recharge. I have since crafted an Omni directional array to replace the beam array I had on the rear, and am moving the rear beam array to the front to replace either the dual cannons or beam banks,, I will likely keep the quad cannons but only time will tell. The awesome thing about the ship layout system combined with being to change weapons in sector space at will is,,, if you create a build and don't like it,, its not difficult at all to tweak it. For a LONG time I played with a specific build for cruiser, a different one for sci, and a different one for tact.. recently I have been experimenting a lot more ( mainly due to boredom) and finding the game more Fun and even challenging at times. One other note of personal preference to keep in mind.. beam builds are great, however there is NOTHING as satisfying as seeing a dozen photon torpedoes splash across the screen after kicken off a TORPEDOE SPREAD III...
* I am in NO WAY an expert ship builder,, I build ships for the fun factor and have found trying " weird" builds can be both frustrating AND rewarding. Bottom line is,, don't be afraid to do what I call a " throw-up build",,, which is basically throw whatever you have on your ship and goto town! Can be very entertaining!

willamsheridan · July 2015

some say that Beam Arrays in combination with Embassy consoles (Plasma damage) are the best combination. (even better with the Fleet AMP core and plasm. leech becau e with the core you get i think 3,3% Damage for every subsystem enregy level higher than 75)

For the Arbiter i see no problems with beams. Great damage and a lot easier than cannons. Since the Avenger looks different i use DBBS if i fly with the Avenger skin (5DBBS front, 3 omnis back) because of the big cannons the Avenger has left and right of the saucer.

But you have to try it, see how high you can get your turnrate . With some points in pilot skills i get 26% from that and another 25% extra from my impulse engine so more than 50% extra turn. I have no problems to keep my DBBs on target.

I wouldn't use cannons beacuse you have an even smaller firing arc and that could be problematic.

reginamala78 · July 2015

Eh, just a basic cookie-cutter build idea for the OP

Cmdr Eng
ET1/EPTS2/EPTW3/ChoiceA
LtCmdr Intel/Tac
ChoiceB/OSS2/OSS3
LtCmdr Uni (Tac)
FAW1/APB1/APO1
Ens Tac
TT1
Lt Sci
ST1/HE2

Since you're a tac captain with AHOD you don't really need to double-up on skills so much as run Tactical Initiative then use AHOD to reset it. ChoiceA, for more firepower run DEM3, for better sustained healing Aux2SIF3, or for an Oh **** button run RSP3, all depending on how you fly. For ChoiceB I really don't know since you don't need to double-up on any tac skills due to the AHOD-TI combo (could always fit another TT1 or FAW1 just in case) or throw in an Intel skill like Intel Team or Evade Target Lock, but its kind of a 'whatever ya like' slot. Doffs the only particularly important ones are a couple of Damage Control Engineers for the EPTx chain, and use the remaining slots for 'season to taste.' Otherwise the usual mix of antiproton arrays and whatever your best deflector/engine/core/shield options are. Its a pretty bland layout really, but would do what you're asking for.

Arbiter T6 Battlecruiser Beams? Cannons? (Looking for build)

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