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Quad cannons viable?
sirmayday
Member Posts: 535 Arc User
I really like quad cannons, on a conceptual level; I've never had the chance to use them in-game. I've been thinking about picking up the Tac Escort Refit for a copy of the weapon, but have a few questions first:
1) What all can equip them? It may seem like blasphemy on these fora, but I'm not planning on picking up the T6 'Defiant' if/when it comes out. Can I mount them on my Ajax pilot escort? What about an Arbiter battlecruiser?
2) When I started playing, they weren't considered viable, but a few things have changed since. Can they be 'upgraded' to have a mark and be upgradeable? Does the impending improvement of the [Dmg] mod help salvage their usability? Where I'm already committed to a phaser build (mine is a Starfleet vessel, dagnabit!), I'm obviously not looking to set any DPS records, but having my damage hamstringed for neat looking cannons would lead to serious buyer's remorse.
3) The last question is purely cosmetic. Do quad cannons change the visual effect of firing all of your ship's cannons, or will it just add the two extra bolts to roughly 20% of my outgoing volleys?
1) What all can equip them? It may seem like blasphemy on these fora, but I'm not planning on picking up the T6 'Defiant' if/when it comes out. Can I mount them on my Ajax pilot escort? What about an Arbiter battlecruiser?
2) When I started playing, they weren't considered viable, but a few things have changed since. Can they be 'upgraded' to have a mark and be upgradeable? Does the impending improvement of the [Dmg] mod help salvage their usability? Where I'm already committed to a phaser build (mine is a Starfleet vessel, dagnabit!), I'm obviously not looking to set any DPS records, but having my damage hamstringed for neat looking cannons would lead to serious buyer's remorse.
3) The last question is purely cosmetic. Do quad cannons change the visual effect of firing all of your ship's cannons, or will it just add the two extra bolts to roughly 20% of my outgoing volleys?
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http://perfectworld.vanillaforums.com/discussion/1194204/from-tribble-patch-notes-dmg-gets-a-buff
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We just don't know how much better, and a dev already commented that it still won't make [dmg] on par with crit mods.
Support 90 degree arc limitation on BFaW! Save our ships from looking like flying disco balls of dumb!
1) Quad cannons can be equipped on all ships that can equip dual cannons and dual heavy cannons. They aren't restricted to any specific type of ship you can use them on.
2) Yes. Quad cannons can be fully upgraded to epic Mk 14. If you character is level 50 or higher, just place the cannons into the upgrade slot in the upgrade window and they will automatically convert to Mk 12 gaining a small boost to their stats.
3) I never noticed any special visuals with quad cannons. With dual heavy cannons, turrets, torpedoes, and everything else, going off at the same time it's kinda hard to tell. In the heat of battle I'm more focused on defeating enemies and keeping myself alive to pay attention to any flashy visuals.
I think that is almost a bigger drawback than having a single weapon out of 6-8 equipped with a suboptimal mod.
Quad cannons are viable, just not optimal, even with the incoming boost to the DMG mod. Dual heavy cannons with the right mods will be better than the quad cannon. Since obtaining DHC's with the right mods may not be an easy thing to quickly accomplish, using the quad cannons until it can be replaced with a good DHC isn't a bad thing to do. Shoot for DHC's with CRTDx3, CRTDx2 PEN as your base versions and CRTDx4 or CRTDx3 PEN for the best EPIC versions. This also means you need to boost your crit change up to around 10% or better. Vulnerability locator consoles from a fleet spire are where you find them. On the fed side, your quad cannons are phaser based weapons, so get vuln. locators that are for phaser weapons.
What I myself would like to know if someone can tell me, what mods it will get if upgraded to ultra-rare/epic?
epic usually gets an [acc/dmg) mod, right? So what will be the UR mod in that case? Is it a specific one or can I get lucky and get a CrtX one?
No, you cant. I mean, if you want to make any proc or mod worthy you need to almost max that proc. This means if you want crit severity is not enough with traits or watever, you will be needing CTRLxD in your weapons.
Y'know, honestly, I'm inclined to agree. Guess I'll just hold out hope for the vague implication you-know-who gave awhile back that quad cannons were going to become more widely available.
Too true. I want to be able to meaningfully participate (contribute, but probably not carry) in Advanced STFs, and in time, Elites.
Please enable us to buy a token with Zen to faction change a 25th Century FED to a TOS FED.
Truth be told, for the longest time DHC shamed beam arrays.
IMO the problem isn't with the BA, but with the BFAW ability. Some tweaking either through power drain, accuracy or range is needed for that one.
That's really tempting. On a related topic, what's the consensus on the Fed cloaking device? Is it worth picking up the Tac Escort Retrofit for, since I'd probably just slot it on an Arbiter or the T6 Defiant I'm increasingly likely to buy?
Hmmh... you know the cloak is fairly situational. It can be awesome for alpha strikes thanks to the buff it gives you when decloaking but personally I keep forgetting about it in most situations. Also it's a normal cloak and not a battlecloak so to cloak you need to be out of combat which can be tricky depending what mission/situation you're in. It's a nice aid but I wouldn't sacrifice a console slot for it unless you can really afford it.
Their main drawbacks are their abnormal firing cycles and [dmg] mod. They fire closer to non-heavy dual cannons, so they can trip up power flow and firing sequence. Powerful can be compensated for these days by just overcapping power and reducing weapon drain; firing sequence is purely a game/server issue - mashing spacebar to brute force it has its own drawbacks.
Their subjective pros, on the other hand, are the faster projectile speed and distinct sound/visual effects. The former means they're very slightly quicker at tearing apart things like fighters and seeking projectiles or just applying their actual damage to the target sooner(hit, miss, and how much damage is still applied the moment the weapon fires, just like every other weapon).
Personally speaking, I find they're fairly decent on battlecruisers when you want to add a little more forward bite to a ship - particularly beam array setups where you already have ample side-coverage and want just a touch more focused firepower without interrupting BFAW spam.
My only issue with FAW is that it should not be useful single target. Let it rule an AE encounter all day long, but make it not viable for single target. The issue is that you never choose when to use it. FAW always makes your DPS go up. It shouldn't be a DPS upgrade unless you are shooting 3 or more opponents. It should lower your DPS if you use it on 2 or less.
Then you actually have to chose between it or other skills and weapon types. If once the trash mobs were cleared the beam boats settled down and the single target DPS types came into their own there would be better distribution of player types. As it stands now your AE nightmare boat will still crank out crazy damage single target as well.
Fleet Admiral Space Orphidian Possiblities Wizard
If BFAW adds to threat generation, it's going to further fill the heads of those who already don't understand the mechanic into fueling their own belief that there is no need for any other role, such as tank or healer, than the damage dealing, DPS player. Highly respected, high DPS players can attest to the value a player who uses threat as well as damage resists/ healing to absorb lots of damage (tank) can provide under certain circumstances.
It will also change the dynamic that threat tanks already use to maintain aggro from folks doing 3 times or more than their own damage output.
Instead of trying to change the game's mechanics to suit your own agenda, why not try to maximize something the game already affords you instead?
Pft, as if anyone who doesn't have a good BFAW setup can't already tank pretty well. And you're never going to get anyone except the dumb to waste boff skill slots on useless TRIBBLE like Extend Shields.
I agree with the spirit of this statement (game mechanics should always be thoroughly explored before being changed), but B:FAW violates a central tenent of game design: it hampers player choice. Fire at Will is always the best choice--demonstrably so--so the only reason to choose anything else is if one values asthetics above pure performance (which, as the OP, I clearly do to some extent). It needs a taste of the Nerf stick, or everything else (which, at this point, means all non-beam weapons and tactical BOFF powers, at least) needs to be tweaked to be viable alternatives to FAW.
I just so happen to have a set at epic, and as I am orbiting Risa now the stats on my quads read as follows:
Phaser Quad Cannons MKXIV [Ac/Dm] [CritX] [Dmgx4]
669.7 Phaser Damage (892.9 DPS)
-10 Weapon power when firing other weapons
-10 Engine power
*whole bunch of trait and gear stuff*
*
*
*
*
*
+2% Critical Chance
+10% Critical Severity
+10% Accuracy.
So for me the fact you get SOME Crit Severity from them at epic means theyre somewhat more viable than they were before. Its really up to you just how much.
The quad visual is cool, and with RF3 and Kemocite weaponry they sure look the part, but firing cycles can be a bit off with your other weapons.
I use these cannons with a bunch of shiny Phaser DHC's on a pilot escort and have generally shredded everything in Advanced. I'm just a fan so I got them to epic on basic principle.
Not tried elite yet with this ship however.
If you want true DPS greatness then these will never really be for you, but I have found them to be more then adequate and not a little fun
"If this will be our end, then I will have them make SUCH an end as to be worthy of rememberance! Out of torpedos you say?! Find me the ferengi!".
Couldn't have asked for a more detailed answer, thank you.