Umm....Torpedo builds are a thing lol. And some are downright scary! I use torps as my only weapon alongside my Science Skills and I massacre everything in the game.
Torpedo builds are a thing. But that's not what threads like these are for.
Mixed builds are NOT a thing. And no amount of "love for the torpedo" is going to make them a thing. The game mechanics are fundamentally designed to favor builds with a single weapon type. People only use multiple weapon types if they don't know or don't care about maximum performance. Making torpedoes stronger can get people to switch from all energy to all torps, but it can't make people mix them.
Only way to make mixed builds competitive is to either force players to use them with equipment limits or to replace the entire weapon/console/boff ability paradigm with something that doesn't give advantage to focusing on one type.
Imo the main problem with torpedoes are the shields. Like others have said before me, it makes absolutely no sense that a shield with less than 75% can tank a torpedo like a shield wiht 100%. Why dont we scale it?.
100% shields equals 100% resistance (like it is now)
75% shields equals 75% resistance
50% shields equals 50% resistance....
.
.
.
You get the point.
As a heavy user of torps, I do not think torps need a damage increase. What it needs right now is a base speed increase or a change in how damage is applied. Cannons for example apply damage instantly on CSV despite the animations showing otherwise. I think under TS, torps should apply damage instantly as well.
Destructible torps are devastating when they land. With the speed and damage buff of Torpedo Pre-Fire Sequence trait, they are more manageable when timed right. I've seen damage spikes above 1 Million when I get a HY Grav torp to land on a GW'd mob cluster with my shield pen traits (self-modulating fire and weapons system synergy) active. I'd be wary of buffing them since they may end up being OP.
And no I do not think giving them dedicated ship weapon slots would help them since you are limited by the bridge officer seating of your ship. For people wanting to build canon loadouts, slotting one or two torps won't gimp your ship beyond the point where they are useless in advanced or even elite. I have canon loadout ships (with 1 torp fore and aft) doing above 50k with non epic gear on a non tac and there are now people posting canon loadouts that are doing above 100k so I don't think that is really an issue.
IMO after 2 years of flying torp ships almost exclusively, the main problems reigning them in are:
Shield resistances. Torp damage should increase as shields go down rather than having a flat resistance even with only 1% shields.
Omega Kinetic Shearing's limitation to only (I think 3? @darkknightucf can confirm) torp damage sources.
Flight speed (especially given today's damage levels)
Losing torps fired at the edge of your firing arcs
Inconsistencies on upgrade effects (some torps do not get the mods they should when they get upgraded)
Effect inconsistencies under different firing modes (Neutronic on Torp Spread is an example)
HY Salvo mechanics (where HY1 can be better than HY2 or HY3)
I probably missed some, but those are the ones that are glaring in my opinion.
Agree. Also some console or trait that lets them do extra shield damage would be a good add on
Currently, the only torpedoes I do use are the Quantum Phase Torpedo (from Sunrise) and the Neutronic Torpedo from the Delta Rep. However, I do agree that the mechanics of torpedo skills drastically need updating - if it is even at all possible, the mechanics of FAWx should at the very least serve as a base for how TSx should work; as we saw from ST: Nemesis (if anybody wants to remember) torpedo spreads can still miss. (I guess I just find it odd how a salvo of 2-4 torpedoes fired in rapid succession can miss a target completely, yet a larger-numbered spread of those same torpedoes can all hit with a proximity explosion on each target in the firing arc...)
Another thing I agree needs changing (despite my limited outlook, since I primarily spam FAW) is torpedo flight speed - it should just be noticeable, but not too much so that they're effectively little beams of [-insert energy flavour here-]. Unfortunately, there's too many occasions where torps don't do enough damage by themselves (even with torp skills) to be considered worth the while for the majority of the playerbase. If shield resistances were changed to dynamic resistances instead of a flat resist - not that I've noticed anything myself, being a filthy casual and all - then I think you'd see a helluva load more people using them over the energy-FAW-spam of the metagame.
Umm....Torpedo builds are a thing lol. And some are downright scary! I use torps as my only weapon alongside my Science Skills and I massacre everything in the game.
Torpedo builds are a thing. But that's not what threads like these are for.
Mixed builds are NOT a thing.
Opinion. I use mixed builds literally every time.
"He shall be my finest warrior, this generic man who was forced upon me.
Like a badass I shall make him look, and in the furnace of war I shall forge him.
he shall be of iron will and steely sinew.
In great armour I shall clad him and with the mightiest weapons he shall be armed.
He will be untouched by plague or disease; no sickness shall blight him.
He shall have such tactics, strategies and machines that no foe will best him in battle.
He is my answer to cryptic logic, he is the Defender of my Romulan Crew.
He is Tovan Khev... and he shall know no fear."
I've always used a mixed build, right from Day One.
Currently I have 2 Plasma DBBs, the Omega Plasma Torp and the Quantum Phase Torp in the front and 2 Plasma Beams, the KCB and the Rommie Plasma Torp in the back.
My reasons? The ships I grew up watching in Star Trek shows and movies had both beams and torps, so why the hell shouldn't I? Who cares if it isn't maximum performance, it suits me absolutely fine.
Umm....Torpedo builds are a thing lol. And some are downright scary! I use torps as my only weapon alongside my Science Skills and I massacre everything in the game.
Torpedo builds are a thing. But that's not what threads like these are for.
Mixed builds are NOT a thing.
Opinion. I use mixed builds literally every time.
same, everything has at least one torpedo, except one drain breen carrrier, most use two. and it doesn't slow me... I'm terrible ether way. :P
if I stop posting it doesn't make you right it. just means I don't have enough rum to continue interacting with you.
I also use a mixed build and it kicks TRIBBLE. Chronometric Calculations Set minus the torp. + Full Quantum Phase Catalysts set + full Delta Alliance Ordnance set + full Omega Adapted Borg Technology Set
Who cares if it isn't maximum performance is right., I do builds that are fun.
I don't see why the developers could not incorporate a bonus to projectile speed based on your level of projectile weapon training. The projectile speed is the main reason I don't use torps now. The target is usually a smoking cloud of debris before the torpedo reaches it.
"I'm not big on telepaths myself. I'm not big on guns either. But if everyone else has them, I want to make sure I can get my hands on the biggest one I can."
Umm....Torpedo builds are a thing lol. And some are downright scary! I use torps as my only weapon alongside my Science Skills and I massacre everything in the game.
Torpedo builds are a thing. But that's not what threads like these are for.
Mixed builds are NOT a thing.
Opinion. I use mixed builds literally every time.
I like how you cut out the part where I talked about when people use them so you could pretend that's a retort.
I also like how the next 2 posters repeat exactly what I said ("don't care about maximum performance") and pretend that's a retort.
Mixed builds aren't that bad. There are several canon builds out there hitting over 100k DPS. My canon Oddy (Phasers all around, Neutronic fore and Terran torp aft) is just shy of 90k on my Engineer and I don't have epic weapons yet.
Reddit has been getting an influx of Canon/mixed builds the past few days and STB has been flying these mixed loadouts for years.
So yeah I'd say mixed/Canon builds are a thing. They're just a niche thing compared to plain meta builds.
Mixed builds aren't that bad. There are several canon builds out there hitting over 100k DPS. My canon Oddy (Phasers all around, Neutronic fore and Terran torp aft) is just shy of 90k on my Engineer.
Reddit has been getting an influx of Canon/mixed builds the past few days and STB has been flying these mixed loadouts for years.
So yeah I'd say mixed/Canon builds are a thing. They're just a niche thing compared to plain meta builds.
QFT. Just a question: how effective is the TTF photon compared to, say, the enhanced bio-photon or standard photons?
The TTF is a great finisher because its damage scales up as enemy hull goes down. That's why I generally place it aft. The EBM is great under HY.
Standard photons lack the secondary effects that make rep and specialty torps really good. They do make fairly good utility torps due to their low CDs.
Mixed torpedo type builds are the best these days, at least from what I can tell, due to the special ones you can only equip one each of, as they are the most powerful choices, and to maximize their potential, you never use any regulars, nothing but special torpedoes. You then make up for them being different types by using the spire tactical consoles that boost all the torpedo types.
I knew that much about the standard photons, but thanks for that little tidbit about the TTF and EBM - I should probably begin investing in the Terran photon...
I'd like to see more and similar torpedo and Science/Engineer/Tactical PvE power synergies to boost both torpedo and power effectiveness. Part of the solution is improving some PvE Science stand alone powers. I'm trying to make basic photons+full spec into DrainX+Epic Sonalae Sec. Deflector+full complement of DrainX times two upgraded consoles+supporting Sci powers to transfer shields on Advanced missions effective and having a hard time doing it. If I used energy weapons I believe I would be having little to no issues, parity would be nice.
I'd like to see more mid and entry level viable options supporting the use of torpedoes for those interested in using them. Help out the casual player.
I'd like to see torpedo buffs not dependent on energy weapons.
I'd like to see the Long Range (Targeting?) Senors skill buff torpedoes and mines, not only energy weapons. Consider and include torpedoes (and mines) when energy weapons are considered in new designs.
Instead of increasing NPC hit and shield points and driving damage based torpedoes, perhaps NPC powers or mission objectives could be used that build the value of underutilized secondary aspects of torpedoes such as Chronitons (slow), Tricobalts (disable), etc.
I'd like to see the former anti-crew torpedo mechanic reintroduced in some way; perhaps torpedo's knock out NPC subsystems or lengthen a recovery defined as "the torpedo disabling the crew".
Fix broken torpedoes and torpedo mechanics. E.G. Fix the torpedo GCD lockout if your target passes outside of the firing arc.
One thing I'd like us all to remember is that when we talk of helping out torp users can we also not forgot the mine users! As kinetic based weapons they also need the same treatment as torps.
I kinda wish that cluster-torpedoes might get a limited use out of both torpedo and also mine abilities. Like I could see using dispersal pattern alpha would cause your cluster torpedo you fired leave a trait of mines behind it as it traveled to the target, or with dispersal pattern beta causing the cluster-torpedo to leave behind a mine net. Maybe with torpedo spread version of cluster-torpedo launching several lesser versions of the normal cluster-torpedo that deploy mines at each target's location, while with the HY variant might cause the mines deployed by the cluster-torpedo to have a large range they can be triggered from.
Almost would rather see torpedo travel speed, as well as their re-load speed/rate of fire tied to one of the non-weapon power systems, as than you could buff these by pumping power into the other system like you can buff your beam/cannon weapons thru dumping power into your weapon power system.
Some of the best suggestions that might work for enhancing the effects of mixing cannon/beam type weapons with torpedo/mines is thru traits that would cause your cannon'beam weapons to cause a expose state on a target hit allowing mines/torpedoes to bypass the shield resistance/reduction of the shield.
Shield integrity compromisation: Thru direct hits by the cannons/beam weapons slotted on ships with this trait slotted have a 2-5% chance of exposing/causing a weakening of the ship's shield integrity negating their shield's damage reduction/resistance towards torpedoes that lasts 15-30 seconds or until a shield heal is used on the ship. (mind you numbers are arbitrary, an so I am sure would be adjusted for balance.).
Another possibility is that the massive damage absorbed from torpedo hits by the shield cause the shield integrity of a target to destabilize slowly raising the bleed-thru of the shield up to a threshold point. Honestly I could see this as a form of a secondary function of torpedo High yield kinda, as to me the Torpedo HY ability should enhance the innate characteristics of the torpedo type, such as causing transphasic torpedoes under a HY to bypass the target's shields or Chronitron torpedoes to disable the target hit for a short duration.
What torpedoes need more than anything is a speed bonus. I don't get why some torpedoes get to zoom across space (Hargh'peng) and some takes AGES to reach their target.
It would be nice to see some consoles that are standard stackable tactical consoles that could combine both an energy type alongside a torpedo type, but that the bonus given would be 60-75% of the boost of a equal non-mixed tactical console (Not sure if a perfect split actually desirable.). Like with another suggestion I have made with creating some consoles that would buff the stats of carrier/hanger-pets by sacrificing some of the straight bonus it would give otherwise, it would be possible to redo some of less used consoles (like the generic cannon, torpedo, or cannon boosting consoles) into these tactical consoles that buff a mixture of weapon types.
What you want are Complimentary Torpedo Flight Speeds (no seriously, have a look). It's an idea that preserves "slow flight" for the early game, but then makes possible "fast(er) flight" as the Mk Levels increase on gear (in this case Impulse Speeds). It's a nuanced solution to a problem that deserves a nuanced answer ... and ideally it would affect Torpedoes, Mines and Cannons (ie. all "projectile" animation based damage sources) for both PCs and NPCs at the game mechanical level.
As far as Shield NEGATION of Torpedo Damage is concerned, I'm going to break with the consensus here and say that the Negation of Torpedo Damage should be subjected to RNGesus where the chance to Negate a portion of the damage is equal to the % of Shield Remaining that takes the damage. That way, instead of having a 100% chance of 75% Torpedo Damage Negation if Shield HP is 1+ ... instead you have a 75% Torpedo Damage Negation on (current Shield HP/max Shield HP)% chance ... meaning that the 75% Negation is more reliable when Shields are at full HP and less reliable when Shields are at low HP (and obviously Shield Down offers 0% chance of 75% Torpedo Damage Negation). After implementing THAT change, re-evaluate (I know, heresy, right?) and determine if additional adjustments are called for ... such as adjusting the value of the Shield Negation % (to something other than 75%?).
Point being that Full Shields are "strong" against Torpedoes, while Damaged Shields are "weak" against Torpedoes and prone to "bleedthrough" ...
I can see the appeal of that type of system, and honestly I think either one for how the torpedo damage reduction/resistance would work are viable options, with each having their pros an cons.
how about a tac console that does for example: phaser+photon/quantum/transphasic, and for kdf it would be the same with disruptor replacing the phaser, and for rr it would be slightly different as somehow STO thinks that rommies use plasma, they do only in that they use the red-ball of death, their beam weapons i believe should be disruptor also.....
I don't think it should be restricted to what your faction is, unless it is just that phaser versions of the combined ones are purchasable on fed an then similar for the other faction's energy type. But since we can equip any energy type we should have access to all combos of them via drops'/crafting.
What Torpedoes need is to travel faster. That way they actually hit the target instead of its already smoking wreck.
Agreed, and ditch the "slow, high yield pet torp" mechanic. That's a relic from 6 years ago.
Didn't the first high yield plasma torpedo's in TOS outrun the Enterprise? Its been a long time but I am pretty sure they had trouble avoiding the Rom high yield plasma torps.
I think it should be higher bleed-through the lower hp shields get, but the resistance should be curve based on shield power. Never dipping below 50% at power level 50, up to 75% at 100 shield power.
But in general a simple speed buff to all torpedos HY and others etc. Would be perfect, even if you have to relate the speed to aux or engine power..
Umm....Torpedo builds are a thing lol. And some are downright scary! I use torps as my only weapon alongside my Science Skills and I massacre everything in the game.
Torpedo builds are a thing. But that's not what threads like these are for.
Mixed builds are NOT a thing.
Opinion. I use mixed builds literally every time.
I like how you cut out the part where I talked about when people use them so you could pretend that's a retort.
I also like how the next 2 posters repeat exactly what I said ("don't care about maximum performance") and pretend that's a retort.
The internet is fun.
Aren't you glad people are here to show you how fun it is.
"He shall be my finest warrior, this generic man who was forced upon me.
Like a badass I shall make him look, and in the furnace of war I shall forge him.
he shall be of iron will and steely sinew.
In great armour I shall clad him and with the mightiest weapons he shall be armed.
He will be untouched by plague or disease; no sickness shall blight him.
He shall have such tactics, strategies and machines that no foe will best him in battle.
He is my answer to cryptic logic, he is the Defender of my Romulan Crew.
He is Tovan Khev... and he shall know no fear."
how about a tac console that does for example: phaser+photon/quantum/transphasic, and for kdf it would be the same with disruptor replacing the phaser, and for rr it would be slightly different as somehow STO thinks that rommies use plasma, they do only in that they use the red-ball of death, their beam weapons i believe should be disruptor also.....
The Romulan Republic uses plasma, as opposed to the remaining shreds of the Star Empire and Tal Shiar who use Disruptors.
"He shall be my finest warrior, this generic man who was forced upon me.
Like a badass I shall make him look, and in the furnace of war I shall forge him.
he shall be of iron will and steely sinew.
In great armour I shall clad him and with the mightiest weapons he shall be armed.
He will be untouched by plague or disease; no sickness shall blight him.
He shall have such tactics, strategies and machines that no foe will best him in battle.
He is my answer to cryptic logic, he is the Defender of my Romulan Crew.
He is Tovan Khev... and he shall know no fear."
Comments
Mixed builds are NOT a thing. And no amount of "love for the torpedo" is going to make them a thing. The game mechanics are fundamentally designed to favor builds with a single weapon type. People only use multiple weapon types if they don't know or don't care about maximum performance. Making torpedoes stronger can get people to switch from all energy to all torps, but it can't make people mix them.
Only way to make mixed builds competitive is to either force players to use them with equipment limits or to replace the entire weapon/console/boff ability paradigm with something that doesn't give advantage to focusing on one type.
100% shields equals 100% resistance (like it is now)
75% shields equals 75% resistance
50% shields equals 50% resistance....
.
.
.
You get the point.
Agree. Also some console or trait that lets them do extra shield damage would be a good add on
Another thing I agree needs changing (despite my limited outlook, since I primarily spam FAW) is torpedo flight speed - it should just be noticeable, but not too much so that they're effectively little beams of [-insert energy flavour here-]. Unfortunately, there's too many occasions where torps don't do enough damage by themselves (even with torp skills) to be considered worth the while for the majority of the playerbase. If shield resistances were changed to dynamic resistances instead of a flat resist - not that I've noticed anything myself, being a filthy casual and all - then I think you'd see a helluva load more people using them over the energy-FAW-spam of the metagame.
Opinion. I use mixed builds literally every time.
"He shall be my finest warrior, this generic man who was forced upon me.
Like a badass I shall make him look, and in the furnace of war I shall forge him.
he shall be of iron will and steely sinew.
In great armour I shall clad him and with the mightiest weapons he shall be armed.
He will be untouched by plague or disease; no sickness shall blight him.
He shall have such tactics, strategies and machines that no foe will best him in battle.
He is my answer to cryptic logic, he is the Defender of my Romulan Crew.
He is Tovan Khev... and he shall know no fear."
Currently I have 2 Plasma DBBs, the Omega Plasma Torp and the Quantum Phase Torp in the front and 2 Plasma Beams, the KCB and the Rommie Plasma Torp in the back.
My reasons? The ships I grew up watching in Star Trek shows and movies had both beams and torps, so why the hell shouldn't I? Who cares if it isn't maximum performance, it suits me absolutely fine.
same, everything has at least one torpedo, except one drain breen carrrier, most use two. and it doesn't slow me... I'm terrible ether way. :P
if I stop posting it doesn't make you right it. just means I don't have enough rum to continue interacting with you.
Who cares if it isn't maximum performance is right., I do builds that are fun.
I like how you cut out the part where I talked about when people use them so you could pretend that's a retort.
I also like how the next 2 posters repeat exactly what I said ("don't care about maximum performance") and pretend that's a retort.
The internet is fun.
Reddit has been getting an influx of Canon/mixed builds the past few days and STB has been flying these mixed loadouts for years.
So yeah I'd say mixed/Canon builds are a thing. They're just a niche thing compared to plain meta builds.
| USS Curiosity - Pathfinder | USS Rift - Eternal |
The Science Ship Build Thread - Share your Sci Ship builds here!
| USS Curiosity - Pathfinder | USS Rift - Eternal |
The Science Ship Build Thread - Share your Sci Ship builds here!
QFT. Just a question: how effective is the TTF photon compared to, say, the enhanced bio-photon or standard photons?
Standard photons lack the secondary effects that make rep and specialty torps really good. They do make fairly good utility torps due to their low CDs.
| USS Curiosity - Pathfinder | USS Rift - Eternal |
The Science Ship Build Thread - Share your Sci Ship builds here!
Agreed, and ditch the "slow, high yield pet torp" mechanic. That's a relic from 6 years ago.
Fleet Defiant Kinetic Heavy Fire Support | Fleet Manticore Kinetic Strike Ship | Tactical Command Kinetic Siege Refit | Fleet Defiant Quantum Phase Escort | Fleet Valiant Kinetic Heavy Fire Support
Turning the Galaxy-X into a Torpedo Dreadnought & torpedo tutorial, with written torpedo guide.
"A good weapon and a great strategy will win you many battles." - Marshall
I knew using Kinetics would be playing the game on hard mode, but what I didn't realize was how bad the deck is stacked against Kinetics.
As kinetic based weapons they also need the same treatment as torps.
Almost would rather see torpedo travel speed, as well as their re-load speed/rate of fire tied to one of the non-weapon power systems, as than you could buff these by pumping power into the other system like you can buff your beam/cannon weapons thru dumping power into your weapon power system.
Some of the best suggestions that might work for enhancing the effects of mixing cannon/beam type weapons with torpedo/mines is thru traits that would cause your cannon'beam weapons to cause a expose state on a target hit allowing mines/torpedoes to bypass the shield resistance/reduction of the shield.
Another possibility is that the massive damage absorbed from torpedo hits by the shield cause the shield integrity of a target to destabilize slowly raising the bleed-thru of the shield up to a threshold point. Honestly I could see this as a form of a secondary function of torpedo High yield kinda, as to me the Torpedo HY ability should enhance the innate characteristics of the torpedo type, such as causing transphasic torpedoes under a HY to bypass the target's shields or Chronitron torpedoes to disable the target hit for a short duration.
"Let them eat static!"
As far as Shield NEGATION of Torpedo Damage is concerned, I'm going to break with the consensus here and say that the Negation of Torpedo Damage should be subjected to RNGesus where the chance to Negate a portion of the damage is equal to the % of Shield Remaining that takes the damage. That way, instead of having a 100% chance of 75% Torpedo Damage Negation if Shield HP is 1+ ... instead you have a 75% Torpedo Damage Negation on (current Shield HP/max Shield HP)% chance ... meaning that the 75% Negation is more reliable when Shields are at full HP and less reliable when Shields are at low HP (and obviously Shield Down offers 0% chance of 75% Torpedo Damage Negation). After implementing THAT change, re-evaluate (I know, heresy, right?) and determine if additional adjustments are called for ... such as adjusting the value of the Shield Negation % (to something other than 75%?).
Point being that Full Shields are "strong" against Torpedoes, while Damaged Shields are "weak" against Torpedoes and prone to "bleedthrough" ...
Protonic Kool-Aid Down The Drain Cruiser
Immortal BOff Skills combo for Ground
I don't think it should be restricted to what your faction is, unless it is just that phaser versions of the combined ones are purchasable on fed an then similar for the other faction's energy type. But since we can equip any energy type we should have access to all combos of them via drops'/crafting.
But in general a simple speed buff to all torpedos HY and others etc. Would be perfect, even if you have to relate the speed to aux or engine power..
Aren't you glad people are here to show you how fun it is.
"He shall be my finest warrior, this generic man who was forced upon me.
Like a badass I shall make him look, and in the furnace of war I shall forge him.
he shall be of iron will and steely sinew.
In great armour I shall clad him and with the mightiest weapons he shall be armed.
He will be untouched by plague or disease; no sickness shall blight him.
He shall have such tactics, strategies and machines that no foe will best him in battle.
He is my answer to cryptic logic, he is the Defender of my Romulan Crew.
He is Tovan Khev... and he shall know no fear."
The Romulan Republic uses plasma, as opposed to the remaining shreds of the Star Empire and Tal Shiar who use Disruptors.
"He shall be my finest warrior, this generic man who was forced upon me.
Like a badass I shall make him look, and in the furnace of war I shall forge him.
he shall be of iron will and steely sinew.
In great armour I shall clad him and with the mightiest weapons he shall be armed.
He will be untouched by plague or disease; no sickness shall blight him.
He shall have such tactics, strategies and machines that no foe will best him in battle.
He is my answer to cryptic logic, he is the Defender of my Romulan Crew.
He is Tovan Khev... and he shall know no fear."