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Weapons Better to grind for or upgrade?
pzzdachu
Member Posts: 39 Arc User
in The Academy
So Im just starting to get into upgrading and I was wondering, is it better to buy a Tier 1 weapon system and upgrade or grind for weaponry and Tech?
Allow me to introduce myself, I am P'zzd Achu.
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You can't fully outfit most ships and weapon types with just rep or other set gear so you are going to need to get some drops/crafted/fleet stuff to fill in the gaps. But just because it comes in a set doesn't mean its worth equipping the set either, nor do you want the full set in most cases.
You need to figure out what you want to focus on, get the applicable set gear and fill in the gaps.
Depending on the resources you have on your hands (dil or ec) upgrading low level items while you level make sense (when low on ec). The exchnage market however so saturated that you can easily buy guns on the you like as well (when low on dil).
My best advice I can give you is that whatever way you pick do not invest too many resources into it so early in game. Depending on the energy type the origins of the respective “best” weapons may vary a great deal and can lead to a bit of frustration when u put too much effort into suboptimal choices right at the start.
Do you already have a plan or a, let’s say, favorite weapon type? Phasers and Disruptors for example have a lot of great options.
Looking for a fun PvE fleet? Join us at Omega Combat Division today.
The gear you get as drops is going to be just fine for leveling up. Just find stuff with the highest mk and/or color rarity to use and you are generally fine. Once you get to 50 you need to start considering a more cogent build for your ship because enemies get tougher faster at end game. But for now just explore and enjoy because there is a lot of information to take in if you really want to understand ship builds and gear and there isn't a reason to care at the low levels because the game is extremely easy at low levels.
About shields specifically, every ship has a shield modifier to it. Some ships have weaker shields, some have stronger shields, so the same shield might have its strength multiplied by .9 for one ship and 1.3 for another.
One reason to craft is there are some fun mods you can only get from crafting: PEN for armor penetration, OVER for beam overload 1, SPR for torpedo spread 1.
It is better to start with Mark II VR then for example Mark XII, because you get 10 extra very cheap chances for quality upgrades.
The max you can acquire most gear is mk12(there is an exception, but it's not relevant at this time). Gear can go up to mk15, so you're going to have to upgrade it yourself or buy it at a premium from the exchange eventually.
While you're still leveling, I'd suggest just working with whatever mission rewards and drops you get as you go - it's not really worth the resource investment required to upgrade it when you outgrow it so quickly. If you really like a reward from a mission, you'll be able to replay that mission for a mk12 version of it later.
If you need help figuring out builds at some point, feel free to ask. Despite what some say, you can run any damage type and make it work. Some have more support than others in terms of gear, but all damage types are still viable with enough work. Also... if you just have fun that is also important.
You'll probably end up upgrading some key mission reward items sooner or later no matter their level. It makes sense from an upgrade perspective to start with Mk II very rare weapons as you get more chances for an increase in quality.
But as others have said with 2 weeks in-game there's also the options of mission replay, the exchange, and drops to fill in the gaps as well, until you're able to learn the game for a bit and make a more informed decision.
The wiki has some good info - https://sto.gamepedia.com/Episode_replay. People here can help fill you in on some pieces to focus on and things to do to get your ship and phasers working well.
Where about are you level wise?
No, you cannot re-engineer the special mods (pen, over, rapid, snare, etc). You can only craft them in, relying on RNG to get them.
You can also get those special mods from Doff equipment assignments.
Although I suppose those fall under crafting as well.
You just can't get them through re-rolling.
Don't worry too much about upgrades till max level then choose a color .There are good free mission sets to get started with in almost every flavor.
After that it's more efficient to upgrade weapons at mk II if you want to make gold(epic) quality ones but do that during upgrade events
Other than that just have fun
Ah cool, we are talking phaser.
Here are 2 good mission sets one can grind out and upgrade without any regrets:
https://sto.gamepedia.com/Trilithium-Laced_Weaponry
https://sto.gamepedia.com/Quantum_Phase_Catalysts
The first one is so good that it’s 2 piece finds it way on a lot of high end builds (console and beam eg.). The other one is nice as well, especially if u aim for a beam/torpedo hybrid (again the console in any case).
For the next Phoenix event try to get a token for the Phaser beam array of this set:
https://sto.gamepedia.com/Prolonged_Engagement_Set
Players keep it on high end builds as well so save to upgrade again. Later on from the Terran Reptutation System try to get the beam array of this set:
https://sto.gamepedia.com/Terran_Task_Force_Munitions
It’s the strongest phaser beam weapon in game.
As @protoneous suggested try to get some filler weapons for the remaining slots and you are set to go as far as your gun ports are concerned. Ideal stuff, at close to zero cost.
Looking for a fun PvE fleet? Join us at Omega Combat Division today.
Though you can start stockpiling resources for once you hit level 50+
As someone stated in one of your other threads reputations unlock at "admiral" (or level 50) so you don't have to worry about those before that.
There's some nice rewards from missions too though I think Pete linked most that would be good for your build idea.
The Lowest you can craft an item at is Mark II. These weapons are crafted at Very Rare Mark.
The most optimal way is to indeed make an item at Mark II and Upgrade it from that mark. The optimal method is to do the upgrade using an Omega Upgrade Kit and a 2x Quality Improvement Accelerator. Ideally, you would do this on an Upgrade Weekend and it should take the item roughly to mark VIII giving you a 40% chance to increase in rarity every time. So you will have 6-7 upgrades with a 40% chance each time to get the 2 levels of Rarity you need for Epic.
You could then use Phoenix Kits to get it the rest of the way to Mark XIV and re-engineer any mods you don't want.
The Pen Mod cannot be obtained through Re-Engineering. The Mod can only be acquired as part of the items base stats at Mark II. An item that does not originally have the Pen Mod can never obtain it.
the others mentioned crafting phasers and consoles but i will go one bit further. craft A LOT of them, like 25 of them maybe 30. of them you might get 4-5 with a proc that is good, like overload or penetration. THOSE, you do one upgrade. if they don't pop from VR to UR, then craft more. that way worst case you get to MK 15 at UR. you can bump a LOT or arrays using one upgradr than it would taking one peice up to MK 15. you asked about shields. shield strength varies by type of ship. scinece ships get a higher shield modifier, like 1.4 or higher. Cruisers stay around 1 and escorts are lower, like .7-.9. it is suppose to offset the offensive firepower of each class.