Whilst they do low amounts of damage they are constantly doing it, their firing arc is 360 degree so no matter where your target goes, as long as its inside of the 10k range your doing damage to it, combine this with Cannon Rapid Fire and your gonna notice your damage scores go up.
well no ones ever been killed by an all turret cruiser in pvp, i can tell you that hehe....
I played the Turretboat Boys a few days ago and watched em do it over an over. In an Excelsior, the way they build em, one's a handful and two will make your shields blink like a Christmas tree. That's coming from a carrier point of view. I could hang in there a little while but eventually they'd get me since my help consisted of exploding bits of debris waiting to respawn.
Turrets, although INSANELY helpful for sustained DPS... just arent that impressive to look at. I LOVE turrets and all they are capable of, they just don't have that "Wrath of God" feel to them like a nice flaming beam does... or Dual heavy cannons.
Currently I am trying a new Sci ship build that is working rather well for me DPS wise:
2 fore Dual Beam Banks, 1 Fore Chroniton launcher.
3 aft Turrets.
Now for this build to be effective, you need to have supreme turning ability to keep your opponent in view of your chronitons (To slow them down) and your Dual beam banks. It helps to have Tractor beams, Gravity Well, and disable engines. Also I slot 2 RCS consoles to keep my turning up as well.
Most sci ships I have seen in PvP just go with the boring 4 beams, 2 torps combo... with my build (as long as you keep your enemy in view) your DPS is re-freaking-diculous for a sci ship! I walk out of most PvP battles with 200k damage! Turrets KILL!
ATM on my galaxy - r i have 3 Dual beam banks 1 quantum torp and 4 turrets rear. As long as theyre in that arc the dmg is just awesome . I am now considereing putting some cannons up front i think that might be interesting.
As far as turrets go i was told once that two turrets are equivalent to a DHC
So with my setup i have 2 DHC, 3 DBB and 1 Torp all firing at the same time
Offensive tactics: Torpedo High Yield 1, Rapid Fire 2, Scattershot 2
I am using Rapid fire and Scattershot almost 100% of the time. theyre both on the 30seconds cooldown.
If an enemy is right in my face with its shield dropped, i fire the High yield Tricobalt.
I am also using alot Eject Warp Plasma 3 and Boarding Party 2.
My defense is far from being top notch but when it comes to offense and damage dealt i always rank first or second. Phaser Cannons have a nice 180 degree arc which is twice as more than dual beam banks which is great. And since every of my weapons are Cannons of a sort, they all get to fire when i use Rapid Fire and Scattershot.
Add over all that the Phaser 2.5% proc which get triggered very often because of the crazy rate of fire.
Like i said earlyer, i have nothing against beam boats. My Star Cruiser is a standard beam boat and i like using Beam Overload. But make no mistakes, you do not need to play an Escort to make a powerful cannon build. Cruisers are just as good with single cannons and turrets than they are with beams imho.
I use a Beam Array and 1 or 2 turrets on the back of most of my escorts. The beam allows you to do a nice broadside spray since it's > 180 degree arc overlaps the Beam Array I have on the Fore weapons.
As mentioned, Turrets are good for popping fighters, mines and add a decent bit of DPS if you have like Cannon Rapid Fire.
If you have 3+ aft weapons, you can even stick a Torpedo back there to give whatever you've been shooting at a nice little going-away present... KABOOM, nice for finishing off a ship if the full frontal assault didn't do the job.
Edit (afterthought):
If you have a lot of beam arrays and then add the turrets, you might want to stick a EPS engineering console online. If something messes with your power, lots of arrays and turrets can drain you down to the red. The EPS console helps you get the power levels back up. This is usually a non issue but every so often, you'll run into something that drains away at your power (like the big Breen ships). Save your Science Team ability for a quick fix, heh.
Turrets are useful if you have the "cannon rapid fire" skill and honestly, if you play anything else than an escort, it makes no sense to use turrets ... at least to me.
There are viable cannon/turret options for battlecruisers. I like my setup and am easly able to keep feddies in my crosshairs even in competitive pvp gameplay.
There are viable cannon/turret options for battlecruisers. I like my setup and am easly able to keep feddies in my crosshairs even in competitive pvp gameplay.
Well being able to equip DHC must help with that, but even normal cannons is a viable setup
The tri-cobalt is automatically high yield, using high yield does not affect it in any way, shape, or form
Just tried out a turret build on my cruiser commander. Man that was fun. I completely out DPSed the escorts in SB24
Heh! thats right! I didnt notice. I just recently equipped the Tricobalt launcher to test it out. I used to have a Quantum launcher. So since Tricobalt has no use for High yield then i have room to add a new skill in Tactical 1 slot
Maybe i could add another copy of Rapid Fire or Tactical team if there is nothing else.
Being a sci guy in a sci ship, the all turret or turred cannon build is niiice. I usually have to do crowd control with a bit o healing in there. Trying to pay attention to all my cool downs, firing arcs, and spreading mayhem to hinder the group of enemies really starts to wear you down after about an hour. Lack of firing arcs really does allow me to focus more at the job at hand, and leaving the dps to the cruisers and escorts. (I still do some pretty good DPS though)
Since I saw this thread I just had to try out a Turret build.
I created a new Tactical captain and ran him up to Lt Com quickly enough. At low levels however you can't have enough turrets for it to be a great build. I had to muddle through by supplementing with my good ole TOS blue phasers from time to time.
At Lt Com I got a Cruiser and set it up with two Disruptor turrets in the aft and one Disruptor turret in the fore along with a Photon torpedo. It ran pretty nicely, but again I had to supplement by swicthing out a beam for the front turret for a fight or two.
Now at Commander the turret build is really showing its power. My Heavy Cruiser is set up with 2 Plasma cannons and a Quant up front and then 2 Disruptor turrets and a Plasma turret in back. With the addition of Cannon Rapid Fire from my Tac BOff, this build is just mean now. Space battles are much shorter than they are with my other Cruiser captains.
After testing this build with both a Tactical and Engineering captain (i did a respec test with my Eng Cruiser captain), I found that the build is much more effective with a Tactical captain. The Tac skills help a lot to boost the power of the turrets. But either way, if you buff up the Cannon and Disruptor (or Phaser) skills, those turrets and cannons can easily out damage a beam build Cruiser any day of the week.
I'm loving this build. That might be why I've gone from level 0 (last Friday) to level 29 (last night) in less than a week.
I decided to do some test work with a turret build, something I'd never done before. But, I have a silly little qualm with being blown up, repeatedly. So, I decided to use the worst, most hated of my T5 ships to test it out, that's right, the Galaxy Dreadnought.
I loaded the USS Halsey up with two Phaser Turrets, Two Tetryon Turrets, One set of Tetryon Dual Heavy Cannons, a fore Transphasic Torpedo Launcher, and the Breen Transphasic cluster Torpedo aft.
I set her up with a Rare Covariant Shield Array Mk XI [Cap]x2, 4 Neutronium Alloys, a Biofunction Monitor, a Graviton Generator, a Prefire Chamber, and Transphasic Compressor.
I got a new Tactical officer, and made sure he was trained in Scatter Volley II and Rapid Fire I.
Then I went hunting Borg.
At first, my results were lackluster, the turning speed made sure that by the time I got to a group of Borg, the rest of the players in the DSE had them blowing up, then, I managed to find a group all my own.
Two cubes, at least 3 Spheres, and I couldn't count how many Probes.
I died. Quickly. My shields went from 100% to 0 and my Hull followed in seconds. Decloaking in the middle of them was not a wise move.
Then I found a solitary Sphere, a much more fair test. I'll admit, I did "cheat" a bit, I started the encounter head on, decloaking just out of range, and coming in slowly, facing it, cannons and Spinal Phaser Lance hitting hard early. But soon enough into the engagement, before it's shields were even down, i realized my mistake, I pulled the wheel/helm/hotkey hard to Starboard, to broadside her, putting my faith in my newly equipped Turrets, and my new Tac officer and her skills.
I jammed Rapid fire, and watched as dots of orange-red and blue energy streamed from me, suddenly, green arcs of death lanced into my starboard side, opposite from the Sphere, Probes!
Three Probes to be exact, I had been caught in a classic pincher maneuver, those cybernetic devils!
I quickly went into damage control mode, hitting Miracle Worker and Science Team to try and keep my shields and Hull up, then, I hit Scatter Volley.
It was beautiful, streams of multi-hued energy flowing outwards from me in all directions, a ballet, a death blossom of carnage, two Probes exploded, their death throes injuring both the remaining Probe, and the Sphere.
Emboldened I went on the attack, swinging my aft Transphasic Cluster Torpedo into a prime firing arc, and I fired. The Sphere was no more. My Turrets made short work of the remaining Probe, and I cloaked once more, off to join with the other players, and hunt yet more..
Personally I can't imagine a build without turrets of some sort.
My current setup on my star cruiser is ...
2 fore dual beams
1 fore beam array
1 fore quantum torp
2 aft turrets
1 aft beam array
1 aft quantum torp
I've always got turrets on target, torps front and rear, on a broadside I hit with 2 beams. This gives me a satisfying 'look'.
I used to run 4 turrets out back and a pair of cannon up front, but I just didn't like all that fire coming from one point on the ship. At the same time it always erked me to have aft weapons doing nothing most of the time.
Head on I'm hitting with 2 dual beams, 1 single beam, 1 quantum, and 2 turrets.
I run at 1/2 throtle and most targets are dead before I pass them. For the tough targets (borg cubes for ex.) I'll reduce throtle to 1/4.
Trick is hitting them with a tractor beam once you down a facing to keep them from rotating.
Anything that doesn't die in one pass my aft beam/torp can finish off with bleed through.
For a while I was using all beams/turrets but I just get a kick out of the way the star cruiser fires torps.
With torp spread and high yeild I've got a hard hitting torp attack every 15 seconds, and having that rear torp is nice when a target just needs one more good jab after an attack run.
My star cruiser turns pretty darn well, whithout an RCS at that. There isn't much I can't keep the nose on.
I havn't used mines much, for me they cycle to slowly and don't make up for it in damage. The breen cluster torp is pretty cool to play with, but I find most of the time it hits my target on the opposite facing and impacts against nearly full shields.
I ran this as well but was just having too hard of a time keeping PvP targets in the front firing arc for the beam array; especially if you're getting Zeus'd by a decloaking klink.
So switched to 2 fore cannons and 1 fore beam array and am much happier. I can partially broadside which is about as lucky as you often get in PvP when AP Omega and Evasive Maneuvers aren't up.
Comments
I played the Turretboat Boys a few days ago and watched em do it over an over. In an Excelsior, the way they build em, one's a handful and two will make your shields blink like a Christmas tree. That's coming from a carrier point of view. I could hang in there a little while but eventually they'd get me since my help consisted of exploding bits of debris waiting to respawn.
Currently I am trying a new Sci ship build that is working rather well for me DPS wise:
2 fore Dual Beam Banks, 1 Fore Chroniton launcher.
3 aft Turrets.
Now for this build to be effective, you need to have supreme turning ability to keep your opponent in view of your chronitons (To slow them down) and your Dual beam banks. It helps to have Tractor beams, Gravity Well, and disable engines. Also I slot 2 RCS consoles to keep my turning up as well.
Most sci ships I have seen in PvP just go with the boring 4 beams, 2 torps combo... with my build (as long as you keep your enemy in view) your DPS is re-freaking-diculous for a sci ship! I walk out of most PvP battles with 200k damage! Turrets KILL!
As far as turrets go i was told once that two turrets are equivalent to a DHC
So with my setup i have 2 DHC, 3 DBB and 1 Torp all firing at the same time
Fore: 3 Phaser Cannons and 1 Tricobalt torp
Aft: 4 Phaser Turrets
Offensive tactics: Torpedo High Yield 1, Rapid Fire 2, Scattershot 2
I am using Rapid fire and Scattershot almost 100% of the time. theyre both on the 30seconds cooldown.
If an enemy is right in my face with its shield dropped, i fire the High yield Tricobalt.
I am also using alot Eject Warp Plasma 3 and Boarding Party 2.
My defense is far from being top notch but when it comes to offense and damage dealt i always rank first or second. Phaser Cannons have a nice 180 degree arc which is twice as more than dual beam banks which is great. And since every of my weapons are Cannons of a sort, they all get to fire when i use Rapid Fire and Scattershot.
Add over all that the Phaser 2.5% proc which get triggered very often because of the crazy rate of fire.
Like i said earlyer, i have nothing against beam boats. My Star Cruiser is a standard beam boat and i like using Beam Overload. But make no mistakes, you do not need to play an Escort to make a powerful cannon build. Cruisers are just as good with single cannons and turrets than they are with beams imho.
The tri-cobalt is automatically high yield, using high yield does not affect it in any way, shape, or form
Just tried out a turret build on my cruiser commander. Man that was fun. I completely out DPSed the escorts in SB24
As mentioned, Turrets are good for popping fighters, mines and add a decent bit of DPS if you have like Cannon Rapid Fire.
If you have 3+ aft weapons, you can even stick a Torpedo back there to give whatever you've been shooting at a nice little going-away present... KABOOM, nice for finishing off a ship if the full frontal assault didn't do the job.
Edit (afterthought):
If you have a lot of beam arrays and then add the turrets, you might want to stick a EPS engineering console online. If something messes with your power, lots of arrays and turrets can drain you down to the red. The EPS console helps you get the power levels back up. This is usually a non issue but every so often, you'll run into something that drains away at your power (like the big Breen ships). Save your Science Team ability for a quick fix, heh.
EDIT: i mean beam arrays, weapon type has no effect
There are viable cannon/turret options for battlecruisers. I like my setup and am easly able to keep feddies in my crosshairs even in competitive pvp gameplay.
Well being able to equip DHC must help with that, but even normal cannons is a viable setup
Heh! thats right! I didnt notice. I just recently equipped the Tricobalt launcher to test it out. I used to have a Quantum launcher. So since Tricobalt has no use for High yield then i have room to add a new skill in Tactical 1 slot
Maybe i could add another copy of Rapid Fire or Tactical team if there is nothing else.
I created a new Tactical captain and ran him up to Lt Com quickly enough. At low levels however you can't have enough turrets for it to be a great build. I had to muddle through by supplementing with my good ole TOS blue phasers from time to time.
At Lt Com I got a Cruiser and set it up with two Disruptor turrets in the aft and one Disruptor turret in the fore along with a Photon torpedo. It ran pretty nicely, but again I had to supplement by swicthing out a beam for the front turret for a fight or two.
Now at Commander the turret build is really showing its power. My Heavy Cruiser is set up with 2 Plasma cannons and a Quant up front and then 2 Disruptor turrets and a Plasma turret in back. With the addition of Cannon Rapid Fire from my Tac BOff, this build is just mean now. Space battles are much shorter than they are with my other Cruiser captains.
After testing this build with both a Tactical and Engineering captain (i did a respec test with my Eng Cruiser captain), I found that the build is much more effective with a Tactical captain. The Tac skills help a lot to boost the power of the turrets. But either way, if you buff up the Cannon and Disruptor (or Phaser) skills, those turrets and cannons can easily out damage a beam build Cruiser any day of the week.
I'm loving this build. That might be why I've gone from level 0 (last Friday) to level 29 (last night) in less than a week.
:cool:
I like the ability to 360 my enemies and torpedo's.
I may get another one for the Aft.
I decided to do some test work with a turret build, something I'd never done before. But, I have a silly little qualm with being blown up, repeatedly. So, I decided to use the worst, most hated of my T5 ships to test it out, that's right, the Galaxy Dreadnought.
I loaded the USS Halsey up with two Phaser Turrets, Two Tetryon Turrets, One set of Tetryon Dual Heavy Cannons, a fore Transphasic Torpedo Launcher, and the Breen Transphasic cluster Torpedo aft.
I set her up with a Rare Covariant Shield Array Mk XI [Cap]x2, 4 Neutronium Alloys, a Biofunction Monitor, a Graviton Generator, a Prefire Chamber, and Transphasic Compressor.
I got a new Tactical officer, and made sure he was trained in Scatter Volley II and Rapid Fire I.
Then I went hunting Borg.
At first, my results were lackluster, the turning speed made sure that by the time I got to a group of Borg, the rest of the players in the DSE had them blowing up, then, I managed to find a group all my own.
Two cubes, at least 3 Spheres, and I couldn't count how many Probes.
I died. Quickly. My shields went from 100% to 0 and my Hull followed in seconds. Decloaking in the middle of them was not a wise move.
Then I found a solitary Sphere, a much more fair test. I'll admit, I did "cheat" a bit, I started the encounter head on, decloaking just out of range, and coming in slowly, facing it, cannons and Spinal Phaser Lance hitting hard early. But soon enough into the engagement, before it's shields were even down, i realized my mistake, I pulled the wheel/helm/hotkey hard to Starboard, to broadside her, putting my faith in my newly equipped Turrets, and my new Tac officer and her skills.
I jammed Rapid fire, and watched as dots of orange-red and blue energy streamed from me, suddenly, green arcs of death lanced into my starboard side, opposite from the Sphere, Probes!
Three Probes to be exact, I had been caught in a classic pincher maneuver, those cybernetic devils!
I quickly went into damage control mode, hitting Miracle Worker and Science Team to try and keep my shields and Hull up, then, I hit Scatter Volley.
It was beautiful, streams of multi-hued energy flowing outwards from me in all directions, a ballet, a death blossom of carnage, two Probes exploded, their death throes injuring both the remaining Probe, and the Sphere.
Emboldened I went on the attack, swinging my aft Transphasic Cluster Torpedo into a prime firing arc, and I fired. The Sphere was no more. My Turrets made short work of the remaining Probe, and I cloaked once more, off to join with the other players, and hunt yet more..
My current setup on my star cruiser is ...
2 fore dual beams
1 fore beam array
1 fore quantum torp
2 aft turrets
1 aft beam array
1 aft quantum torp
I've always got turrets on target, torps front and rear, on a broadside I hit with 2 beams. This gives me a satisfying 'look'.
I used to run 4 turrets out back and a pair of cannon up front, but I just didn't like all that fire coming from one point on the ship. At the same time it always erked me to have aft weapons doing nothing most of the time.
Head on I'm hitting with 2 dual beams, 1 single beam, 1 quantum, and 2 turrets.
I run at 1/2 throtle and most targets are dead before I pass them. For the tough targets (borg cubes for ex.) I'll reduce throtle to 1/4.
Trick is hitting them with a tractor beam once you down a facing to keep them from rotating.
Anything that doesn't die in one pass my aft beam/torp can finish off with bleed through.
For a while I was using all beams/turrets but I just get a kick out of the way the star cruiser fires torps.
With torp spread and high yeild I've got a hard hitting torp attack every 15 seconds, and having that rear torp is nice when a target just needs one more good jab after an attack run.
My star cruiser turns pretty darn well, whithout an RCS at that. There isn't much I can't keep the nose on.
I havn't used mines much, for me they cycle to slowly and don't make up for it in damage. The breen cluster torp is pretty cool to play with, but I find most of the time it hits my target on the opposite facing and impacts against nearly full shields.
I ran this as well but was just having too hard of a time keeping PvP targets in the front firing arc for the beam array; especially if you're getting Zeus'd by a decloaking klink.
So switched to 2 fore cannons and 1 fore beam array and am much happier. I can partially broadside which is about as lucky as you often get in PvP when AP Omega and Evasive Maneuvers aren't up.