[Airik]

Hello everyone, with the release of season 5 one big issue has come up. Which armour set is better, the answer to this is really simple. NONE, each offers a wide range of bonuses and its up to you to decide which best fits your play style and powers and offers the advantages you want. In an effort to help you do that im going to spend some time covering the new and old (revamped) sets and see if i can help at least one person decide what set is best for them.

so welcome to TACTICAL TIPS a new regular article brought to you by FNN

First off you now have access to 5 armour sets 4 standard and one faction specific, I will start with the Federation specific one first. Also if you fly a science ship its important to note the different buffs that the various deflectors give your skills as having skills that complement this can greatly increase your overall efficency in combat.

Maco Set

The Maco set comprises of 3 peices and offers a set bonus at 2 and 3 peices, in addition to this set bonus the shield of this set also features a bonus effect.

Shield

Starfleet's cutting-edge shield technology relies on highly resistant fields that absorb and redirect incoming energy. The M.A.C.O. shield array channels a small amount of power into the ship's systems when absorbing energy. The shields are also specifically tuned to resist plasma weapons.

M.A.C.O. Resilient Shield Array Mk XII
Very Rare Ship Shields
Bind On Pickup
Vice Admiral

6,762 Maximum Shield Capacity
(5% Absorption, 5% Bleedthrough)
173 Shield Regeneration every 6 seconds
When receiving All Energy Damage, applies Power Conduit Link
+1 All Power Settings for 10 sec
Reduces Plasma Damage to Shields by 10%

This shield essentially grants you +1 to all power settings so long as your being shot at, not bad really, not game breaking and certainly not a bonus to base your decision on but its a handy plus to have.

Deflector

Starfleet's cutting-edge deflector and sensor system is a modified tachyon array that can trace chronometric signatures and transwarp anomalies with unprecedented accuracy. The highly-tuned sensors provide a wealth of information and are easier to use and more accurate in the hands of any crew.

M.A.C.O. Graviton Deflector Array Mk XII
Very Rare Ship Deflector Dish
Bind On Pickup
Vice Admiral
Values do not reflect skills or other modifiers

+2.6 Starship Sensors
+2.6 Starship Structural Integrity
+2.6 Starship Shield System
+18 Starship Graviton Generators
+2.6 Starship Particle Generator
+18 Starship Subspace Decompiler
+18 Starship Countermeasure Systems

This item is the reason i use this set on my science, Graviton Generator affects tractor beams, Gravity well and Photonc Shockwave, handy for pushing probes away from the gate in KA and the Decompiler affects Viral matrix and % chance to shut down systems with subsystem targeting. Since at some point it always affects engines its handy at stopping an enemy in there tracks.

Engines

Starfleet's cutting-edge impulse engines provide emergency thrusters and improved maneuverability. Their fine tuning enhances overall engine performance and in conjunction with the warp core they regulate an asynchronous warp field that improves warp speed for any vessel.

+2.6 Starship Engine Performance
+12 Flight Speed
+6.4 Flight Turn Rate
Thrusters: 25% speed when engines are disabled
Flight Speed set to warp 9.99
Full Impulse
All Power to Engines
+101 Flight Speed
Diverts all power to engines

This is the area i havnt paid attention too, Engines are engines in my book and there isnt that much in them, however these ones do grant increased speed while in sector space and give you a cool graphic while traveling at top speed

Set Powers

For each item added after the first, an additional power is available.

Set 2: Magnetoplasma Relays

Passive
+15 All Power Settings resistance
+10 Starship Warp Core Potential

Set 3: Heavy Graviton Beam
Targets Foe
90' Targeting Arc
10 kilometer range
2 sec charge
0.5 sec activate
3 min recharge
to target: 1,195 Kinetic Damage (6.5 DPS)
to target: 15 Repel
to self: -31 Current Auxiliary Power
to target: -126% Flight Speed for 3 sec
to target: -126% Flight Speed for 3 sec

I like 3 things about these set powers, firstly the power settings reistance means that the borg energy drain affects you less, the +10 to starship warp core potential will effectivley increase your power levels and finally the Heavy graviton beam is taken straight from best of both worlds, one of the most iconic borg episodes. It also packs a punch

I will be covering the Old Borg set and how its been revamped next so stay tuned for more on that but before i go look at the pretty pictures

[Kains]

Thanks for this post Airik, neat to see the MACO space set being broken down, especially since all of the focus at the moment seems to be on the ground components.

Now while I don't do Science (Yet! I'm working on it!) I do... do... engines! How does the warp 9.99 match up to the Assimilated Subtranswarp Engines warp 14 while in sector space? Combat specs should probably be more important, but getting around quickly is a definative plus. Plus I'll have to look at how the power settings versus plus to engine performance actually matches up for combat.

... of course all of this could just wait until the next segment

Thanks again for posting this, more food for thought!

[Airik]

Lol well to answer your question the warp 9.99 has nothing on the subtranswarp engines they are much faster and more efficent so just for travel around sector space i have a borg engine makes collecting doff assignments quicker, shame tho as i do prefer the effect and overall look of the maco set

[Kains]

I agree. I turn off all of the Borg effects on my ship, as it just doesn't feel right.

Was sortof hoping for a replacement, but ah well.