Hospital Ship, or How to Healboat?

eladonwarps · January 2021

Hi all, so I've been playing for a few years now and I have a fair selection of ships. I think I do alright on most aspects of the game while still having fun with variety.

Lately I've decided to go down a mostly wish-fulfillment RP course and bring one of my characters from a previous Fantasy RPG into this game. In that game she was a healer. And so far I'm not having any issues with Ground Healing.

But I was wondering there were any decent tips or tricks on running a Healing focused ship build? The Healing BOFF skills themselves aren't an issue between Sci/Eng Team, A2Sif, Hazard Emitters, and Transfer Shield Strength, and of course MW Spec tree.

Right now, I have 2 main problems:

1: Keeping Allies Targeted
2: AFK Penalty due to low Total Damage.

They kinda go together, though. If I fire weapons to avoid AFK, I target enemies. During weapon fire cycle, any Heals I activate only work on me. Is there any way to designate an Ally for healing? Then I could focus on piloting so I can stay in range (it works for most ally ships except Escorts).

So far, the only thing that seems to be working for me is slotting a weapon on my hotbar that, if activated, will turn off Autofire for all weapons. Then I can use F2-F5 for ally targeting. But there has to be a better way, right? I tried using the Focus option but it doesn't seem to do anything other than show me one teammate's Vitals in another part of the UI.

As for builds, I'm using FAW2 for energy weapons and TBR3 as a "Clear the Area" move when I need to close the distance to an ally. Wondering if I should slot GW somewhere so that an anomaly can help me with DOT when I go to heal?

Ideas and feedback appreciated.

foxrockssocks · January 2021

There isn't an easy way to deal with the awful targeting system in the game. Many games have a defensive/healing target and an offensive target that can be independently selected and it is frustrating they can't work that into STO.

What you need to do is hit escape, that should clear your target, then hit whatever Fkey to select the friendly you want to heal. As long as you don't mash spacebar or hit another weapon firing key, it should let you heal a friendly that way, and will continue to finish the rest of your firing cycle on whatever you were shooting at. Then after you heal you start firing again. There really isn't a better option as far as I know.

Other options include using traits to just give yourself AOE heals. The Dauntless and JH vanguard dreadnought cruiser offer some of the most useful healing traits for this. With those traits you can just heal yourself and get at least some healing to your allies.

szerontzur · January 2021

As someone who has an active 'Triage ship'(and soon to have a second once the anniversary hits), there's quite a few things to consider here.

What is your purpose, explicitly?
Are you wanting to 'heal' allies, or, objectively speaking, keep them alive?

If you want to heal allies via raw throughput:
You can crank your restoration stats to obscene amounts with the Kobali Set, Emitter Arrays and SIF Generators. However, 'group healing' will generally have to be done through universal console clickies(Shared Processing Integration, etc.). You have plenty of single target options, and you can even enhance some of them to not only heal, but also boost the damage/performance of the friendlies you use them on. That said, and as you've commented on, single-target options are incredibly clunky to use in the heat of the moment, or come with severe drawbacks(Extend Shields locks you into combat/out of most actions for the full duration without any way to cancel it).

If your objective is to (more directly) keep your allies alive.. well.. you've opened a floodgate of possibilities:
Confusion builds are fantastic these days(Grav Well + Scramble Sensors works very well together on a proper control build - you not only prevent damage to allies, you redirect it back at the hostiles); you've also got options of AoE Damage Cuts(Scattering Field, etc.), Perception Debuffs(Subspace Integration Circuit, etc.), Defense Boosts(High-Energy Communications Network, etc.), Energy Drain/Disables(Opening Salvo, etc.), and reducing enemy outgoing damage(Suppression Barrage, etc.). You can mix and match any of these things into most builds - including ones focused on Restoration/'Healing'.

While not a restoration ship by any stretch of the imagination, my JHV Carrier does wonders at keeping people alive with it's combo of Grav Well + Ionic Turbulence + Scramble Sensors. Not only does it disable/redirect hostile damage at themselves, it also cripples the enemy so they die obscenely quickly(It also runs Superior Area Denial, meaning it absolutely butchers defense rating/resistances when combined with the above). With how fragile the ship itself is with the build I run, it speaks volumes about how effective the setup is for locking down an area/neutralizing enemies.

Back before I swapped to my Durgath, that character used to run a Tygokor Command Battlecruiser for a very long time(since they were released). Suppression Barrage 3 is a brutal debuff when combined with BFAW; and, aside from the excellent heals Command Spec provides, those ships also have a wonderful deployable console set that really excels at creating 'friendly territory'.

My actual Triage ship is a Herald Quas(Science Cruiser layouts work very nicely for the playstyle, in general). The main reason I still stick with the ship, aside from it being a neat-looking 'healer', is that it comes with a restricted console that gives a scaling 22.5%(percent, not flat number) passive shield healing boost - while also being one of the few fairly rare AoE Shield Heals on activation. They're also traited with Layered Shielding and Expedient Repairs so Extend shields not only heals, but also gives that friendly a beefy kick of temporary shields and a 20% Damage Bonus/Resist. It's always a treat when you pop that onto a glassy little gunship and watch as they happily become your new best friend/unkillable death-machine. (Big deathships, like Vaad Juggs, love it too.) I mostly used the Anchored space trait and hangar pets to offset the lower personal damage potential of the ship - it's basically designed to find a nice spot and "deploy" into a small spacestation of heals and combat support.

My second Triage Ship is going to be the vo'Devwl Support Carrier once the new Klingons are out. Those Support Carriers are a wonderful healing platform. While none of its affinity is unique to the ship itself(all its toys can be used on any ship - so great to get, regardless), it does nicely tie together a partial Command Seat with extremely defensive frigates, a great defensive console, and a great console layout to stuff with Emitter Arrays and SIF Generators. It'll be more of a hybrid with my JHVC build though; relying heavily on calling in a personal flotilla of assorted (and strictly klingon) combat pets for damage.

qqqqii · January 2021

Also look at the Lukari rep space set. It generates a continuous, periodic shield heal pulse.

https://sto.gamepedia.com/Lukari_Restoration_Initiative_Starship_Technologies

edrickvellorin · January 2021

You might also want to look at this event console that's now in Mudd's Market:
https://sto.gamepedia.com/Console_-_Universal_-_Reiterative_Structural_Capacitor
That would let you fight enemies, especially with Threatening Stance and maybe some traits, and heal nearby allies without having to target them. (Granted, I can't say for sure exactly how effective it is to those healed.) Other universal consoles, or lockbox consoles, might be useful too. In TFOs where you have to protect something, I have at times used Projected Singularity to drag hostiles away from the protection target. Graviton Displacer too. It's not healing, but it could give someone the breathing room to survive something they otherwise wouldn't. The Entwined Tactical Matrices trait from the Gagarin could be useful too for more FAW/Torp Spread time.

As far as targeting issues, you could try fiddling with the options for that specific character to allow things like attacking without a specific target being selected, and maybe the option about attacking the attacker of a friendly ship you have targeted. And disable hostile auto-target settings. (I tried something like that the first few times I did the Kobayashi Maru TFO, before I realized the Kobayashi Maru specifically had anti-healing debuffs to make most healing stuff useless.)

nixie50 · January 2021

what are you flying? if you have access to the legendary intrepid or the 31s century sci ship, you have a hangar. the pets SHOULD get you enough DPS to avoid AFK

szerontzur · January 2021

Coming back to this after I've been doing some last minute prep work for my second healboat. Enjoy the fruits of my research/buildcrafting:

-=DECS Sets=-
-KOBALI-
Easily the best healing set.. if you have the core.
Great deflector, useful engines, selfish shield, amazing warp core(basically a full shield heal to 25 nearby allies; also gets AMP).
2 and 3-set are fairly selfish, 4-set is a really good(if loud) aoe hull heal and continuous reactive healing for 20 nearby allies.

-SOL DEFENSE-
Shield and Engines are more selfish-defensive, but the deflector is great.
3-set hits 5 allies with 10km with a hull heal, then those allies each pulse another 3km aoe hull heal

-LUKARI-
Good for meshing with Kobali/Sol(especially if you don't have the kobali core).
Great Deflector, defensive engines, shield pulses an AoE shield heal, Core has a built-in restoration stats(also gets AMP).
2-set is cooldown reduction for boff heals, 3-set doubles the shield-pulse range, 4-set adds more raw shield healing stats.

-TEMPORAL-
More of a selfish survival option if you want to hybrid into space magic.
Solid Healing Deflector, engines give you a lot of debuff cleansing, shields and core are more science-offensive.
All set bonuses are more offensive-space magic in nature.

-=Console Recommendations=-
-BASICS-
2x SIF Generators (Hull Restoration - Minimal options here, luck out with a Conductive RCS, or just use normal ones)
2x Emitter Arrays (Shield Restoration - I'd suggest Fleet Embassy consoles; the shield/hull heal proccing ones)
Alternatively, you can get a Shield Refocuser from the Renegade's Regret mission - it's basically a unique Emitter Array with a partial tet damage and drain mod on it(if you're building for those).
Use more or less of these as you please; I find 2 of each to be a nice sweet spot.

-UNIVERSALS-
Sustained Radiant Field (Iconian Rep) - purely passive, +26%~ Hull and Shield healing; +13%~ Weapon damage.
Protomatter Field Projector (Ho'kuun) - Easily the best AoE healing(hull+shields) console in the game; requires event ship.
Shared Processing Integration (Lockbox) - 15s 4km AoE mass hull healing + resist buff; usually around 10m EC.
Hull Image Refractors (Lockbox) - Turns personal overheals(common) into temp health; also boosts damage; 15m~ EC.
Secondary Shield Projector (Thrai/Lockbox) - Team Temp Health + continuous debuff cleanse. Is/will be prohibitively expensive.
Cardassian Support Platform Cluster (Damar) - Nice Zone control tool; mobile AoE shield-healing + debuffs/damage.

-=Traits=-
-STARSHIP-
Going the Extra Mile (Miracle Worker Spec) - More healing power, overheals = more max health.
Radiant Nanite Cloud (Dauntless) - Turns your hull heals into 3km AoE hull heals.
Improved Tachyon Beam (Sci Command Battlecruiser) - Tach Beam is now a 10km AoE shield heal(with a 20s cooldown).
Reactive Repair Nanites (Sarr Theln) - Hull Heals now heal pets(if you use them); requires event ship.

-SPACE(lockbox)-
Expedient Repairs - Nonself heals give damage buffs and resists.
Biotech Patch - Moar hull healing; fairly old/expensive.
Fleet Physicist(Sci)/Technician(Eng) - Turns Science/Engineering Fleet into a Team shield/hull HoTs. Also old/pricer.
Intelligence Agent Attache - Crits reduce captain ability cooldown; spam Fleet abilities(^) and Scattering Field/etc. more. (DPS Meta: Expensive.)
Principled Insubordination - Boff powers can proc Tac/Eng/Sci team. (untested, but should interact with other stuff.)
Nanite Repair Matrix - Emergency self heal at 50%. (untested, but it is a direct heal, so ^)

Hospital Ship, or How to Healboat?

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