Engineer Class Cruiser build info

trcsimperfi · August 2017

I'm returning to the game after a break and want to play a Engineer class/cruiser ship. Looking for tips and info on builds. I've mostly played science class ships.
I play PvE and solo. On the Fed side for ships. any info would be helpful, and thanks

questerius · August 2017

Any particular ship you're interested in?

For an engineer a couple of interesting traits were released some time ago in boxes (to be found on exchange) and while expensive they're well worth the investment.
https://sto.gamepedia.com/Trait:_EPS_Overload
https://sto.gamepedia.com/Trait:_Nadion_Bypass

alcaatraz · August 2017

So, the few keys to the engineering class in space:

Engineers in space are quite adapt at managing power levels
Engineers have see the best use with energy weapons
Engineers have key powers to reduce the amount of heals needed

Together, these three points should indicate the ideal way to setup an engineer, but I'll go into a bit more detail on how I think about it.

Power Management

Powers

EPS Power Transfer (EPSPT) and Nadion Inversion (NI) are the crux of the Engineers abilities to deal with power. At rank 3 EPSPT is giving me +25 to all and max subsystem power, and +250% Power Transfer Rate. NI at 3 (with 180 DrainX; more on this in a bit) is giving me +380 Subsystem power resistance, and more importantly -190% weapon power cost reduction.

With these two powers, Engineers can basically cycle EPSPT and NI, first using EPSPT then using NI when EPSPT's CD is off.

Traits

The trait that is specific to engineering captains is called EPS Manifold Efficency, which gives +10 power to all subsystems for 15s, which means with a stable EPtX cycle (i.e. using two copies of Emergency Power to Weapons, or using Damage Control Engineers with Emergency Power to Weapons and Emergency Power to Engines, or any other setup where you can activate an EPtX ability every 15s) you can get 100% uptime.

This power will allows you to be able to help keep your weapon power up high, which is exactly what you want to do

Heals

Miracle Worker (MW) and its accompanying trait Grace Under Fire (GUF) were improved a decent amount during S13. Currently MW3 is giving me:

12,196 Secondary Shields for 15s
+34,421 Hit Points
3,599.1 Shield Regeneration

(At 70 Hull Restoration and 50 Shield Regeneration)

This is a heal all kind of button that should really only be used in emergencies when you need a heal; GUF then lets you either use it twice in quick succession or save it for a second time when its needed.

Rotate Shield Frequency (RSF) is the shield healing spam that you can use to accompany Reverse Shield Polarity (RSP) (Which I highly suggest doing). Together the two will give you a very very high shield / shield DRR uptime. RSP is a BOff power so it must be slotted in you're engineering slots in your ship, but RSF will let you not always need it.

Putting it all together

So there's a few things I look for in a cruiser:

What kind of Console layout does it have, and does it have any set piece / unique console worth using?
What method of Cool down reduction will I use
Are there enough Tactical BOff slots?
Are there enough Science BOff slots?
What method of Cool down reduction will I use?

This generally means:

- 6 Tactical Slots
- 5 Engineer slots
- 2 Science slots

But you can really use any combination. For instance, with A2B you'll want something like:

- 4 Tactical Slots (lt.C Tac and Ens Tac)
- 6 Engineer slots (Lt. and Cmdr. Eng)
- 3 Science slots (Lt. and Ens. Sci)

This will vary depending on the ship you want specifically, as well as the role you intend for it (note this method is the same for any ship really).

Consoles and equipment will also focus on the role you pick, but ideally I suggest trying to fit DrainX Skill increase in whenever you can for the buff to NI. This will help you reduce the weapon power drain you have so you can fire beams at a much higher weapon power setting.

For Weapons you'll generally want to run either Beam Arrays for a 4/4 setup or 5/3 setup, but ultimately you can use whatever you feel more comfortable with. I've known people to use DC's with a 5/3 Cruiser setup before, focusing on increasing turn rate for a better time on target. Whatever you choose you don't need to feel worried about using anything else, no need for a torp or another special weapon; due to the engineers ability to have a crazy amount of power management 8 energy weapons works fine.

(Note: Emergency Weapon Cycle is a HUGE benefit for doing this, I highly suggest it if you're looking for a special trait for doing this, if you don't have it already.)

Hopefully that helps, there's not much on specifics without knowing exactly what you have to work with and what you plan on flying.

szerontzur · August 2017

Probably going to need a bit more information here.

Which faction? (Fed/KDF/Rom)
What kind of playstyle are you going for? (straight beam-boat, exotic hybrid, control hybrid, defensive support, etc.)
Are you currently eyeballing any particular ships? (do you want/have the budget to use lockbox/lobi ships?)

As far as engineers go, they do have some perks that are worth considering:
-Able to instantly dump a large amount of power into all subsystems (they can also trait even more power generation on Emergency Power abilities)
-Able to reduce the power drain of weapons (easier to run a lot of energy weapons, and Nadeon Inversion can be traited to boost damage on use)
-Gets a 'full heal' on demand

Probably the default recommendation would be the Arbiter/Kurak Battlecruiser. Good Mastery Trait, flexible weapon layout, flexible bridge layout(including a potent Intel seat) and relatively good combat agility. The only downside of the ships is the limited science console room if you wanted to do anything particularly science-y with it. For that playstyle, there is the Science Command Battlecruiser (available for each faction).

alcaatraz · August 2017

questerius wrote: »

Any particular ship you're interested in?

For an engineer a couple of interesting traits were released some time ago in boxes (to be found on exchange) and while expensive they're well worth the investment.
https://sto.gamepedia.com/Trait:_EPS_Overload
https://sto.gamepedia.com/Trait:_Nadion_Bypass

Nadion Bypass has been quite average in my experience (its only a Cat1, and a fairly small one at that), but EPS Overload is better since it varies and is at least as good as operative.

odinforever20000 · August 2017

alcaatraz wrote: »

So, the few keys to the engineering class in space:

Miracle Worker (MW) and its accompanying trait Grace Under Fire (GUF) were improved a decent amount during S13. Currently MW3 is giving me:
12,196 Secondary Shields for 15s

+34,421 Hit Points

3,599.1 Shield Regeneration

(At 70 Hull Restoration and 50 Shield Regeneration)

Also..if your using the science Ultimate..That number gets much higher...I heal for as much as 90K hull twice!!

dracounguis · August 2017

If you want the boring cookie-cutter build: 8 beam arrays, Beam: Fire at Will, and an A2B build.

trcsimperfi · August 2017

Thxs for the Info every one

seaofsorrows · August 2017

@alcaatraz That's some really top notch information man.. seriously well done!

You sir know your Engineer class.

dracounguis wrote: »

If you want the boring cookie-cutter build: 8 beam arrays, Beam: Fire at Will, and an A2B build.

A2B isn't the 'Meta' build for Engineers, so not exactly true. They can pull it off quite nicely, but personally I prefer a Drake style build for Engineers. I tend to use Aux2Bat more for Tactical Captains that don't have as many ways to mitigate power drain. Really depends on the ship though, it's easy enough to pick a build that fits a specific ship. A2B can be a good option for Engineers depending on situation.

Engineer Class Cruiser build info

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