[Timothy R Benton]

Hi there,

I'm new back to the fleet having been away from STO for about a year and i'm looking for a bit of assistance with upgrading my Tactical Captain's Advanced Escort build. I'm not entirely sure what the deal is with the new fleet/reputation weapons and equipment and whether they'd be better for me. I'm currently farming up the rep with all 3 factions and saving to upgrade to the fleet version of this ship. I'm just about to hit Tier 3 and any advice on the passives to pick would be great.

Currently I'm fitted out with tetryon dual heavy cannons + turrets + torps from the borg stfs (now purchaseable from Omega Rep I believe). If anyone could suggest what I should be saving up for I'd be much obliged, especially as to what the optimal Deflector/Shields/Engine set. Do I want to switch to fleet weapons or another rep factions weapons? If so, is Tetryon good or should I switch to Antiproton?

I'd rather not spend zen points on a skill respec at the moment (saving for fleet ship) but if you guys think it's a total mess then I could probably manage it some point soon.

I play mainly PvE and STFs and I like to see lots of big crits!

Posted my build here:

http://www.stoacademy.com/tools/skil...uild=benton1_0

Any help on any aspect of the build much appreciated!

Thanks guys

Benton

[Dark]

For PvE and STFs, you're probably better off with Antiproton weapons. Most targets don't have signifigant shields compared to hull, so Tetryons aren't too useful. A full team (usually approaching the same facing) will bring down shields quickly. Also, Tac captain has abilities (specifically related to Crit) that synergize well with Antiproton weapons.

As it stands, I believe Fleet weapons are about the only way to get good Antiproton weapons now. You'd also want the Embassy Science consoles, for threat reduction and Plasma procs. While they're more useful for Plasma weapons (being a +% bonus boost), adding a Plasma proc to your weapons will obviously increase DPS regardless.

I'm rather behind on the new stuff from our Dilithium Mines though (being heavily distracted by Neverwinter), so I can only offer the above basic advice. I think Disruptors may have become more attractive with the recent new gear, but I'm not sure about that.

[Soral]

Looking at your abilities and gear, I have a few suggestions for you to go along with what Dark said...

Firstly, I'd recommend giving yourself an extra hull heal. Tractor beams are nice, but in an escort where you're constantly moving I don't find much use for it. If you're gonna PVP, then that's a different story, but I'd recommend getting rid of it in place of Hazard Emitters I just so you've got some kind of hull regen going for you.

Reverse Shield Polarity I is a hard one for me to both use and give up once I've had it. It's nice for those "Oh S**T* moments when you need a quick heal, but there's also good use out of DEM I, Aux2SIF I, and even putting EptS II there and replacing EptS I with an EptW I. For that, I'd say play around with the abilities and see which you like. If you're like me, some cases change and you may want to have a different boff handy to switch out depending on what you're doing.

I'd suggest the Adapted MACO Engines (they have a nice restart after 1 sec if disabled that comes in handy against certain engines) and the original MACO Shields for an escort. You get better shielding and some nice buffs with those shields that go with your abilities.

Work at getting yourself the Zero Point Energy Conduit from the Romulan Rep. It'll give you some extra Crit and I think some power boost (I'm not in-game at the moment so I'd have to look it up).

Hope that helps you get started. And welcome back!

[Timothy R Benton]

Thanks Dark and Soral for the help!

As for deflector, is it worth going for the MACO or Adapted Maco to get the 2-set bonus or can I get better stats elsewhere?

Which consoles are best to swap out for the Zero Point and Embassy Console? Should I ditch the assimilated module? Looks like there are some great new engineering consoles in the dilithium mine - so much choice! Guess I should probs get a better warp core too! Exciting times.

[Soral]

Lot of folks like the 2-set bonus. I personally have never found much benefit out of the 2-piece bonus for those sets. I'm mostly likely missing the benefit they're providing, but the general consensus is that set bonuses are a must have.

I'd keep the assimilated module. The stat boosts it gives you are important. I consider that a staple of every build.

I'd take out one of your neutronium alloy consoles to put the zero point console in and then switch out the shield amplifier for the embassy console. I think that would give you the best bang for your buck overall.