I can help your ship build

[Battle Lion]

Weapons hitting like a wet noodle? 

Is the Transwarp gate one shotting you in Infected space?

Just dont know which consoles are worth it?

Crit Chance too low?

Hi, Battle Lion here, and i can help.

If you are looking to get a tad bit more serious in STO, or just want to have more fun, then youve come to the right thread.

use this excellent resource
http://www.stoacademy.com/tools/skillplanner/

MAKE SURE TO INCLUDE YOUR DUTY OFFICERS AND WHAT THEY DO/RARITY. also your POWER LEVELS in SYSTEM space.


then pop in your repuataion power choices at the end somewhere, generate and copy the URL to your build and post it here. along with what your goals are. (more dps, more heals, what your usual role in PvP/STFs is)

i'll take a look at it and offer any suggestions i have.

im also willing to 1v1 pvp against you to test out your builds.

the overall goal here is to get people to have baller ships, so they can have more fun playing, can play more challenging PvE content. i know some people who dont STF at all bc they think their ships cant take it. 

i assure you that it can, and elite content can be very rewarding, so lets go!

~Battle Lion the Cruiser King

[Jureth]

I'll be your first customer: http://skillplanner.stoacademy.com/?bui ... havenger_0

this is for my Trill engineer...I don't have any of her reps maxed so I don't have access to a truly good set of gear...but this is what I have put together.

[Battle Lion]

alright!

first off it looks like you are a broadsider - pressure DPS - thats certainly a fine route, especially for PVE.

ok lets get right down to it.

you have three copies of EPtS, right off i can say the most you should have of ANY power is 2 copies.

here's the math on EPtS powers.

no matter which one you hit, they all have a global cooldown of 15 seconds. the power itself is active for 30 seconds and has a CD of 45s.

in the STO days of yore, there was a type of build called the DRAGON FLAGSHIP BUILD.

it had 2 copies of EPtS and EPtW. why?

because by hitting epts (45s cooldown), you gain its benefit for 30 seconds, putting the other 3 powers on 15s GC (global cooldown)

15s later, the GC is over, and you still have 15s left on your EPTS uptime. so you hit EPTW, again initiating a 15s GC.

at the end of that GC, your second copy of EPTS is still good to go, with 15s left on the original cooldown of your first 
EPTS. 

you can now see that you have started a leapfrog chain reaction! you have 100% uptime of BOTH epts AND eptw!!

that is pretty neat. and you can also see why 2x copies of any EPTx is all you need.

with that much beam drain, it will be very important to have an EPTW in there somewhere.

another thing that is holding you back is probably the singular BEST power in the game. Tactical team. it removes hostile boarding parties, including but not limited to: boarding party, ASSIMILATE SHIP (!!) etc. it also auto balances your shields to the facings that are currently taking damage, and on top of all of this, it temporarily increases your damage and buffs your attack patterns.

the best part? unlike its brother, engineering team, its not worth having TT (tac team) 2 or even 3. this is especially helpful on escorts that have just a few too many tactical stations.

if you are sticking PvE, i highly recommend also getting APO (attack pattern omega) or APB (attack pattern beta)

beta is worthless in pvp, but it is king in PVE, bc the computer doesnt hit TT to cancel it. 
heres where it gets good. want to help your team mates do more damage? hit your APB, then FAW (fire at will).
every. single. target that your FaW hits, will get the APB debuff.

APO is good all around though, bc it gives a turn rate buff, a damage buff, a damage resist buff, AND it breaks tractor beams! helpful for fighting borg.

your choice, but in PVE, APB will net you more DPS.

beam overload is a great skill, however, to max your dps, especially as a broadsider that relies on pressure damage instead of spike (BO is a spike power), i would get a SECOND copy of FaW.

you will be spitting beams out left and right, so be prepared for the extra aggro that will come your way.
this isnt necessarily a bad thing, as it is your job as a cruiser to keep the DPS off the escorts.

also , against a single target, FAW gives you roughly 25% more damage to it than just shooting at it alone.

its great htat you have extend shields, it really is a great power. but how often do you use this? doesnt it have a 5km range? kind of a shame to have this as your commander power. 
id recommend bumping that down to ES1 instead of ES3.

great commander powers are RSP, DEM3, and aux to sif 3.

aux to sif is a better option than engineering team and i'll tell you why.

1, engineering team puts TT on GC. thats not good. you want to keep TT up as much as possible to keep your shields where they need to be, and to keep your DPS up.

2. it has a long cooldown. Aux to sif can be popped every 15s!

3. aux to sif adds a damage resistance bonus. its not about heals per se, its about buff stacking, and this adds a nice resist.

DEM (directed energy modulation is a great power that adds shield penetration to your energy weapons. it has a long CD, 2 mins. 

science team.
im really conflicted about this power bc it can literally save your life.
that being said, im talking from a pvp point of view. 
as far as pve goes, its not nearly as helpful as TSS (transfer shield strength) and heres why.

1. it conflicts with TT. 

2. it gives a shield heal sure, but it adds no resistance like TSS does.

3. theres not much being thrown at you in pve that needs to be ST cancelled.

torpedo spread is fine. but high yield is not really that great. your main damage is coming from beams, so capitalize on that and have TT, 2x FAW and attack pattern beta 2

your torpedo has a 90 degree arc, so its not firing nearly as often as the back beams are. torps arent affected by energy levels, so you cant scale their dps like you can with beams.



your science console is not pulling its weight.

regeneration rate means pretty much nothing in this game, unless its jacked through the roof, and even then its not very useful.

when your shields get low, are you really counting on that 100 something shield regen per facing every 6 seconds when your capacity is usually somewhere in the 6 thousands? no. you use a power to regen your shields, or add resists.

you would be much better off with one that boosts your shield emmiter (shield healing)
as luck would have it, the fleet embassy sells the perfect console for you

it :: reduces your threat (yay! youre gonna need that sometimes), gives +30 to emmiters (yea, epts is hella buffed now) AND it adds a 2.5% chance for your energy attacks to do the plasma fire proc, thus increasing damage. oh, and it also BUFFS plasma damage, so it buffs its own proc which is nice.

your tac console that buffs quantum damage - sorry to say that you should ditch that in favor of another energy boosting console. again, your primary damage is going to be from beams, capitalize on your strengths, dont try to make up for a weakness.

jem hadar set - it certainly isnt a bad set, but youre getting nearly no benefits from it.
the set 2 is worhtless, the deflector isnt really buffing anythign you use, the shield is ok, but not nearly high enough cap, and it doesnt reduce plasma damage to shields.

it is widely considered the best set you can pick up outside of the rep projects, though i dont know if thats true anymore now that the solanae set is out.

honestly? i would swap over to the solanae set. its more focused on tanking and you can benefit alot more from the deflector.


ship devices:: go to the alhena system in eta eridani and do the mission there for Deuterium surplus, and slot those.
they are consumable evasive manuevers and they come in REAL handy.

also, get the subspace field generator from the devidian arc. its slightly less useful now that proton is a damage type, but that just means you can use it literally everywhere in game EXCEPT the dyson sphere.

weapons battery would be swell as your third option.


could you please update the build with your Doff layout, skill point distro and rep progress (how far and what passives you selected?) so i can help you more?

please let me know if you have questions on anything.

also, i have a DPS parsing program we can run to get a good benchmark on before, and after we make some changes, so you can see quantifiable results.


thanks for being my 1st customer :3

-Battle Lion

[Spawnner]

Alright....

2 builds here. 1 for my Chimera, 1 for my Avenger (all weaps are interchangeable...they are just where they are right now).

http://www.stoacademy.com/tools/skillpl ... nger1_6039

http://www.stoacademy.com/tools/skillpl ... mera1_6039

[Hera]

Reputation power choice?

Can you give some more info on what that means?  I looked at the reps and just gave up because of the grinds and I didnt see anything that fantastic...is there something useful in that mess?

[Hera]

Ill put up my Caitian Tac first.  shes one of my first characters so shes built while leveling so is a bit confused but overall Im pretty happy but i feel I could do more.

The few times Ive been in a group and not the healer Ive been on her and if im getting heals I swap my engineer to emergency power to weapons and Directed Energy Modulation.  Shes a sneaky pounce and smash character with enough survivability she can run away .. same tactic I use soloing on my romulan.  Ive been thinking of updating it to the avenger but..I just like the Defiant's look and feel more.

Ho you want to see Hera's build?  she was supposed to be a healer but that didnt quite work out.

[Jureth]

whew! that's a lot to chew on BL...I will try to update the build later on today with the other information.

[Battle Lion]

Reputation power choice?

Can you give some more info on what that means?  I looked at the reps and just gave up because of the grinds and I didnt see anything that fantastic...is there something useful in that mess?

Quite simply it is what passive powers you selected from leveling up in the reputation systems.

for example, when you hit tier 2 reputation in omega, you get a choice of more hull regen, or +30 to weapon training.

almost always, its best to pick the one that does more damage, but there are exceptions.

its not so much that they are game changers by themselves, but they are very good for optimizing a ship build, and certainly when you have ALL the powers, the effects are noticable.

for example: all my weapons have an added proc that can deal shield penetrating kinetic damage. the +30 to weapon training is like doubling the amount of skill points you have in that area, thus added damage output. my energy weapons ignore 2.5% of a targets shields, and i get a scaling bonus to my defense based on my aux power. i also get a refracting tetryon cascade basically for free that i can use every 5 minutes. i increased my crit chance by 3%, and i have a chance to regain some of my shields when i am critted. also my ship has a limited cloak, that i can still shoot through, that also buffs my science skills, that i can use every 5 minutes. my crit severity is buffed by 10%, and my damage resist goes up as my hull goes down.

in adition to all that, it opens up the stores for each of those 4 reputations that allow you to get the absolute BEST gear in the game. in some cases its better than fleet gear.
it is VERY worth it.

as you can see, this all combined adds a great deal of suvivability and damage dealing potential to the ship without even touching the gear, boffs or doffs in anyway.

if you have multiple characters (who doesnt??) youre actually in luck if you want to max your reps.
before it was tough cookies, max all your reps on all your characters and be happy about it.

now??
you kids got it easy.

find your guy with the farthest progress in a rep, and just do that rep on that guy.
do the same for all the other reps.

example: if you have an alt with tier 3 omega, and the other alts are all tier 0, ONLY DO OMEGA REP ON THAT ONE GUY.

here's why. when you reach tier 5 in ANY rep, you can now generate a 'sponsorship token' on that character, and give it to your alts.

this will DOUBLE THE XP THEY EARN IN THAT REP. you level twice as fast!!

you can go from 0xp to tier 1 in just ONE DAY.

using this method will save you a literal fortune in commodities, and consumables.

[Battle Lion]

whew! that's a lot to chew on BL...I will try to update the build later on today with the other information.

i also would like to say::

get yourself a fleet RCS with all resist, or a fleet neutronium with +trn.

that will be it for resist consoles. they dont stack very well in this game, and for the most part, the game is challenging enough to need more than 1 resist console unless you are pvping, and even then... if they get past your shields youre toast anyway.

so now you have just the RCS+allres or N.A. +trn, and your avenger console, which isnt bad.

i highly recommend getting the kinetic cutting beam and the borg console to get that set 2 bonus, as a broadsider, you are going to need it...also, 99% of builds use that, there are almost no drawbacks.

as for your last engineering console, if you can get a plasmonic leech (exchange, not cheap), nukara console (from rep system) or romulan consoles (again from rep) you will be golden.

what are you power levels? it shoudl be 100 shields, 50 weapons, 25 engines, 25 aux.

[Battle Lion]

Alright....

2 builds here. 1 for my Chimera, 1 for my Avenger (all weaps are interchangeable...they are just where they are right now).

http://www.stoacademy.com/tools/skillpl ... nger1_6039

http://www.stoacademy.com/tools/skillpl ... mera1_6039

ok! round 2.


THIS POST IS ABOUT THE CHIMERA



what are you trying to do with the ship? what is your role?

everyone please read this
http://home.comcast.net/~amicus/Skill%2 ... ffects.htm

it is an AMAZING look into the skill tree, albeit hard to read.

basically, putting more than 6 points into something is a bad idea. the returns you get for the price are generally not worth it, except for the weapon damage skills, and possibly the accuracy skill.

so i would suggest sir, that you respec and put all those at 6 except for the ones that boost DAMAGE.

now, the admiral level skills there, the 'specialization' ones, DO NOT ADD DAMAGE. they just increase your crit chance and severity. still pretty sweet, but id say take some points out of the torpedo one and spread the love.

you need points in:: integrity, eps, armor, power insulators, dampners, thrusters and engine performance.

points in all of these will really flesh out your build and make it more robust and well rounded. your speed will increase, so your defense will go up, your shields will be drained less by borg bullcrap weapons, your power levels will return to normal faster, your EPTx's will be buffed, your kinetic resist will go up which is a life saver against borg.

after putting the others at 6, you should have no shortage of points to get alot of points in those categories. let me know if you need help with this, skill tree is most important and most tricky part of ship building.


if you have cannons, then you should commit fully to cannons. they do great damage. BUT only if you are within 5km.

cannon damage falls of significantly over distance. beams stay relatively unchanged. THE MORE YOU KNOWWW

i would say to get the borg cutting beam for the rear, along with 2x turrets. no rear torps. idea is to keep front toward enemy like a claymore mine. you wont need to worry often about shooting with your rear end bc by the time you pass it, it should be dead. throttle control will help here too, so you dont pass too quickly.


3x turrets if you have no borg beam.

i like that dual beam bank and heres why. BEAM OVERLOAD. beam overload has the capability to do massive damage in one shot. great as a finisher, or to drop a shield facing quickly.


drop that target shields (it really doesnt do much anyway) for another CRF.

swap torp spread for beam overload. 
heres my reasoning. spread is AoE. aoe is great and all, but a single AoE power on an otherwise single target killing ship doesnt make too much sense.

play to your strengths! more burts, less sustained. 

beta and omega are fine. omega breaks tractors, gives you resist and buffs dmb. beta is god in PvE. so much damage. and its team benefit too, any one else shooting at your beta debuffed target will get the benefit too.


you dont have ANY hull heals??
get rid of Polarize hull and get yourself hazzrd emitters. you can clear plasma burn with it, it gives a resist and HoT 

AND IT CANCELS BORG SHIELD NEUTRALIZER. it is a GREAT power to have in STFs.


jam sensors....hmm i dont think its really helping. especially bc the placate you give will be broken rather quickly once you start shooting at whatever it is you are jamming.

look into tractor beam; keep that pesky sphere in one spot so you can kill it wicked fast. remember, things take ALOT more damage if they are not moving. that goes for you too....

or  tractor beam repulsors (they placate on each pulse, and it can keep nanite spheres away from healing the transformers in Infected, can keep probes away from the vortex in Khitomers, and repel shards chasing you in CCE). 


or go the traditional route, get hazz em, and TSS, and swap your ensign uni to Engi and give him EPTW for more power and a damage buff.

your gear set:: i would set get borg deflector and engines, that 2 part bonus is really good. its widely used in pvp. it dishes out a hull heal.

as for your shield...Maco is good, it gives you more power levels. adapted maco is arguably better, more cap.
both sets will reduce plasma damage to shields by 20%. suddenly borg arent so bad, right? 

aegis set is showing its age, time to upgrade if you can.


your warp core really isnt bad, but it needs to be upgraded as well. the fleet dil mine has excellent choices.
find one that adds to weapons power, from shields power. you should be at 100W, 50S, 25E and 25A. swap to 100 shield if you get in trouble.
a warp core that has a shields or weapons capacitor is your goal.

those 3 engineer consoles are not really doing anything. most consoles in this game are actually garbage.

get the borg console, a fleet neutronium that buffs your hull healing or turn rate; or a fleet  turn rate console that gives resist, and the last console can be a rep console of your choosing. 

seriosly guys, these rep consoles and fleet consoles are GOLD. they are better than anything out there (excpet some lock box/lobi ones)

i would move your tac system console to the second science slot. field generators wont be necessary with neato shields.


as for the other sci console: ive said it before and i'll say it again. embassy science console.

in your case, id say go for a threat REDUCTION console, that boosts shield emitters, but gives a chance to heal hull.


you could keep your quantum chamber, its up to you, but you will see more dps with another energy console. 4x energy consoles.

this is why i like to parse the game for DPS numbers, you can see how much damage your quantums are doing and if they are pulling their weight with taht console.