Am I totally boned? Can't turn ship very well

peteed1985 · February 2016

For some reason I can never turn ship very well to be able to hit enemy's because ships turn too slow unless my officers skills like evasive manoeuvres is off cooldown so I can turn really fast. Because of this I can never fire torpedos since shields take so long to kill.

Meanwhile they tear me a new one and I have to turn so much to not aim my unshielded parts to enemies but all sides shields are so low that one hit would take them down at that point so yeah idk.

Because of this I bought the collectors edition of game at launch and spent $200 on a lifetime sub and then quit before a month into launch. I'm so so so so so unsure of what to do in game and how things work but idk if I can play if I can't turn very well. I was hoping to use a ship like the uss prometheus with the multi vector assault mode in endgame

I just got an email offering me a tier 6 valiant class ship as well as a character boost to 60 and a pile of Qmentations so decided to try game again but I have no idea how to fix the issues I always have in combat.

rattler2 · February 2016

Early on turn rate will be painful. Later on you get ways to counter it. However ship type also comes into play. Cruisers have a lower natural turn rate, so they tend to be better at broadside attacks with beam arrays.

Its a combination of captain skills, ship, and gear.

peteed1985 · February 2016

rattler2 wrote: »

Early on turn rate will be painful. Later on you get ways to counter it. However ship type also comes into play. Cruisers have a lower natural turn rate, so they tend to be better at broadside attacks with beam arrays.

Its a combination of captain skills, ship, and gear.

I think last time I played I was around level 50 and in a defiant still having the trouble. Forget exacts because it was like a year ago.

angrytarg · February 2016

If you have trouble turning a Defiant around there's something weird going on with your play, to be honest. So you have to hunt down the issue: What are your power levels set to? If you never really got the hang of the game chances are you never adjusted them. To increase speed and turn rate be sure to boost engine powers. Look for engines that benefit the playstyle you have - for example, combat-impulse engines grant you turnrate boni when running on low engine power, this is what cruisers usually do. Hyper engines, I think, peak at high engine power which would be the choice for a Defiant class ship.

RCS accelerator consoles improve the natural turnrate of your ship and there are bridge officer skills that do the same, auxilliary power to inertial dampeners for example. You can also use a engine battery during combat and see if it helps.

And last but not least, ship speed/throttle - remember you don't have to fly full speed or come to a complete stand still - setting your throttle to 3/4 for example might be a more desireable combat speed. Experiment with that.

Unknown · February 2016

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daltonimperial · February 2016

As others have said, RCS Accelerators and various other consoles with +[Turn] are very helpful. I usually have one even on my non-Command/cruiser/slow turning ships and will often throw a second on things like the Winter Anniversary ship.

I, too, shared your frustration and was miserable for the beginning of the game/the tutorial section when ships would blaze by me (despite being a "light" cruiser/warbird), making battles take forever (and be dull). If they were as annoying as the teleporting heralds, I probably would have given up.

You could also look for items/abilities that slow down enemy ships, like the Science Officer Tractor Beam ability, torpedoes that slow down enemies (I think it's Chroniton but am not sure), and the set bonus ability that destroys fluidic rifts and slows down enemies. Even if you're still slow, well, they'll be slowed as well.

You also might want to consider a ship with a hangar, as at least your fighters will be pestering the enemy as you lumber around. I think you can even buy fighters that will use tractor beams, aiding your ability to slow down the enemy, too.

I am a very casual player and have no idea how much these suggestions would hurt you in end-game play, but they can make just playing the game less aggravating.

glenn · February 2016

As most have said, if you can't turn a Defiant you have some real problems. Before ponsing about with RCS consoles you have to get that sorted. Take her out in sector space and just fly about for a while.

Unknown · February 2016

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dracounguis · February 2016

Can't turn an escort? You did install an impulse engine, right?

How are you doing your turns? Keyboard or holding down both mouse buttons or... ? Maybe it's a hardware issue not a ship issue?

ultimatenewbie · February 2016

The enemy ships in the current featured episode can significantly reduce your turn rate through their abilities - perhaps he's just been stunned and thinks its normal play??

djxprime · February 2016

Perhaps it might help if you posted your ship build on STO Academy's website to see if it's something with the types of consoles, boff abilities or skills you're using?

officerbatman81 · February 2016

Why would they offer Qmendations as a part of the please come back goodie bag? They been discontinued. You can turn them in for spec points, upgrade thingamajigs, and crappy space emoticons.

Is this what they're doing?

rattler2 · February 2016

officerbatman81 wrote: »

and crappy space emoticons.

I've actually been having fun with the Live Long and Prosper one, randomly hitting it as I blow up NPCs.
"Live Long and Prosper!" *BOOM!*

reptilespantoso · February 2016

dude.... I'm getting MURDERED all the time.
well.... that is.. I was getting murdered.
now I'm only getting brutually murdered in some PvE maps. I do not stand a chance LOL

there's soooooo many variables to this game, that make your fights worthwhile or a total disaster.
go hunt for consoles that increase turn rate, or other gear that has that particular property.
I found two beam arrays that increase turn rate, when they fire. put these on the back, when ship is at the wrong angle, they deal damage and give that extra little push, and I can point my front at the enemy (at least if I'm not in a bloody tractor beam). very nifty.
also.... check your engine power levels, pull it up a little, experiment with settings, batteries etc.. or get gear that increases engine power settings. I think that's your problem, right there. power settings and transfer is very important in this game's space battles.
lastly, I hope you spent your XP well on skills, choosing the right things (driver coil, impulse thrusters, maneuvers).

I hope I can encourage you, just keep on building that ship and loadout. worse than what I had, you can't be hahahaha. ;-)
also.... lets assume this is a role playing game?
not everyone is flying an invincible DPS dealing anti-proton cannon shooting escort. that would be a BORING universe!
some of us explore, and I think if STO turns into an arcade game only, that would suck the life out of it.

bravecatherine · February 2016

The most important ability to master for new players is "Auxiliary Power to the Inertial Dampeners"
sto.gamepedia.com/Ability:_Auxiliary_to_Dampeners

noroblad · February 2016

every ship in the game can reach cannon level manuverability ... Ive flown a cannon carrier and done just fine.
You just need to learn about all the many, many, many ways to boost turn rate.. and use some subset of them that fits your build. Like the crafted rcs console. Or helmsman. Or the rep trait. Or the crafted aft [turn] weapons. Or the relatively new traits that affect it. Or the piloting speciality. Or a dozen other things.

Even with all that junk a 5 degree / second cow is going to be hard to control, no doubt about it. Just because you CAN make a cannon carrier does not make it "awesome" ... I was burning cooldowns to turn around some of the time. THe slow ships were made for beam arrays. Good pilots with a good mix of turn rate bonuses can up those ships to use DBB up front with only modest aggravations. Anything less than 90 degree arc is going to be difficult in a slow ship, though. If you want to use narrow arc weapons, you need a faster turning ship or be willing to expend a lot of effort to correct for the mismatched build.

Do your best to avoid using turn consoles (the crafted one not included). You can get a LOT of turn in too many other places to waste a console on it.

Another issue is your SPEED. Its mathy ... but if you can follow... the faster you go, the bigger the radius of your turn will be. The enemy is moving too. If you cut down to 1/4 impulse speed or have a slower velocity in general (low engine power, or slower engines, whatever) you can actually "turn" *relative* to the enemy "faster" to line up your weapons better. Try it first by just cutting your impulse. Later you can figure out the ways to do this without lowering speed (there are reasons you don't want to drop speed all the time). Ideally drop to zero would let you aim best but the reduced turn at zero prevents this so try 1/4.

dracounguis · February 2016

Don't forget reverse speed. Even w/o spec points into the right skill (I forget the name) you can go back for a bit while turning and that can help w/ some pesky NPCs. Just don't do it for too long, it starts to drain power for some silly reason. Thanks Cryptic!

Am I totally boned? Can't turn ship very well

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