[Timothy R Benton]

Hey guys,

Just looking for a little help improving my PVE builds for my two fleet ships. I've been away for a while and there's a lot more stuff available from spires, undine and dyson rep etc. Also, taking a look at my skill build, it feels laclustre and could use a bit of a repeccing - and now I have to choose rep traits!?!

I've finally finished all but the Undine Rep which I will have maxed shortly hopefully. Looking to really get as much out of these ships as possible and have a lot of backed up dilithium,rep and fleet marks, ec - pretty much the only thing I won't save up for is a c-store ship to get the console!

U.S.S Vanguard - Fleet Advanced Escort
- Build @ STOacademy: http://www.stoacademy.com/tools/skil...ntbattlespec_0
- My Playstyle: In a nutshell, lay down as much DPS as possible. Also Gravity Well FTW!

U.S.S Valiant - Fleet Assault Cruiser Refit
- Build @ STOacademy: http://www.stoacademy.com/tools/skil...ntbattlespec_0
- My Playstyle: Aux2Bat Build, want to draw as much agro as possible while still seeing some good dps numbers!

DOFFS and other info are in the 'description' tab on the stoacademy thing. I put my skills and traits in there too, if any of you care to comment.


Thanks in advance,

Benton

[Arkainjel]

I'd go with all locators instead of exploiters. The 1.6% value is greater than the 8% value on a console slot, even for Romulan captains.

For the FACR, you say you want to draw aggro but you have a -Th console so I guess I'm confused as to your choice there. If you swapped EPtS3 for EPtSW3 and EPtA1 for EPtS1 you'd probably be happier all around. Since you are looking to get lots of aggro, the borg 2-piece makes sense. I'd grab a plasmonic if you can afford one. If you do go the plasmonic route, I'd put some points into flow caps and grab the flow cap science consoles with +Pla for extra DPS or shield emitters for tankiness. You do not need the following doffs:

1 x Orlos (Recharge on Subsystem Targeting Attacks)
1 x Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (Reduces TT Recharge, Buff Attack Patterns)
1 x Emergency Engineering Hologram (Reduce cooldown on EP to subsystem abilities)

Your technicians are already cooling down everything those are meant to help. As an aside I do not see anything that uses subsystem targetting attacks in your build so I don't know why you are using one.
People say the new bio-molecular torp is amazing so you could look into swapping the quantum out for that.

[Arkainjel]

for the advanced escort, you do not need hamley for the TT CD, so I'm guessing you're using him to buff your attack patterns. I'd recommend getting a gravity well doff that procs more wells. If you end up getting APB and APO, zemok's are great to reduce their CD's close to global.

Generally I make builds that focus on either single target or AoE. You have CSV and CRF as well as TS and HY. I cannot speak to how effective this is but I do not see high dps players using this mix. I'd stick with one or the other. Also, since you have 2x reduce canon special attack doffs, you have a 75% chance to get the next canon attack at global CD (3 would get you to about 88%) thus you wouldn't need 2 copies of the same canon attack. This frees you up to get a copy of APO or another of APB.

The antiproton omnidirectional beam array will do more DPS than the turret so I'd swap that out. Because you're using a torp, I'd use the adapted maco set to get the 25% bonus torp damage (shield and engine). The counter comand deflector from undine tier 2 is great for DPS so I'd grab that. Alternatively, since your torp DPS will be a small percentage of your overall DPS, you could go with the counter command deflector and romulan engine paired with fleet core/shields (most folks choose elite fleet resilient adapt Res B). Again, the bio-molecular torp is good.

I'd swap EPtS and EPtW since you said you wanted to DPS more.

For both builds and general advice, I do not use field generators or any armor consoles, even in my full tank. The game is really about DPS and if you can put out some more damage to kill stuff faster, you will then take less damage so the need for higher shields/armor values becomes diminished.

[Timothy R Benton]

Hey there!

Not sure I can thank Arkainjel enough for the detailed and extremely useful advice!

I've taken into consideration everything you said and come up with a few builds to aim for, I'd really appreciate any further comments you (or any other kind folk) had. DOFFS and other info are in the 'description' tab again and I've changed my skills about a bit too.

U.S.S Vanguard - Fleet Advanced Escort
New Build @ STOacademy: http://skillplanner.stoacademy.com/?...battlespecv1_0
Specific-ish Thoughts:
- Not sure about my tac BOFF layout here - certainly looks better, but am I missing something?
- Is there a better warp core for this kind of build?
- Worth having 2 Zemoks? Or another Cannon DOFF

U.S.S Valiant - Fleet Assault Cruiser Refit
Build @ STOacademy:http://skillplanner.stoacademy.com/?...battlespecv1_0
Specific-ish Thoughts:
- I do have a +th console (sorry forgot to mention, there is no option for +th on stoacademy so I picked the closest!)
- Is there a better warp core for this kind of build?
- DOFF setup seem reasonable?

Once again, big thanks!

[Dark]

If you swapped EPtS3 for EPtSW3 and EPtA1 for EPtS1 you'd probably be happier all around.

While having EPtW3 and EPtS1 would increase your DPS, I don't recommend it.

EPtS3 offers noticeably better survivability than EPtS1 due to the increase in shield hardening, but EPtW3 offers a rather lackluster improvement in performance compared to EPtW1.

EPtW3 vs EPtW1 = +10 Weapon Power, +6.6% base damage.
EPtS3 vs EPtS1 = +10 Shield Power, +200 Shield Regen/Facing, +12% Shield Damage Resistance.

The reason we usually run EPtS3 and EPtW1 instead of EPtS1 and EPtW3 isn't because we value survival over DPS, but because higher levels of EPtW aren't worth the higher level slots, while higher levels of EPtS give significant returns.

If you can't mitigate weapon power drain, then +10 Weapon Power could mean +20% damage, but if you're spamming Aux2Bat your Weapon Power is already maxed out, which means neither Weapon Power nor Shield Power enters the equation. That means that I have nothing against EPtW2 and EPtS1 on your escort, but your Aux2Bat cruiser really should be going EPtS3 and EPtW1, especially if you intend to tank with it.

Strictly speaking though, you probably would get even better results with DEM3 instead of RSP3, get rid of Engineering Team to have both EPtW1 and EPtS1, and RSP2 in place of EPtX 3. DEM3 adds damage per hit, so has excellent synergy with FAW3. I'd also switch TSS2 and HE1. You'll have considerable shield recovery abilities with RSP2 on global cooldown, and if you swap the Energy Weapon DOff with a Shield DOff you'll turn Brace For Impact into a shield heal. That means you could get by with TSS1, and lets you have a bit more healing with HE2 instead of HE1. Note that if you find you don't need Brace for Impact as a shield heal, you can always plug in Marion to get even more out of your DEM3.

With regards to your skills, you have too much in Starship Warp Core Potential. The difference between Rank 6 (84) and Rank 9 (99) is literally +0 to +1 power, unless numbers have changed since this was researched. If you look at that chart, you're not getting very much out of Rank 9 vs Rank 6 of Starship EPS either.

For Warp Cores - unless you're using particular sets, for both ships you'd want a Fleet core with [AMP], which will increase your damage with negligible trade offs. For your escort, you're likely to want the ones that resist drain, to increase your Weapon Power (and thus damage). The cruiser, you might want an AuxBat one (but not if it costs you [AMP]) so you have a way to recover your Aux if it's drained and disabled.

Not a fan of forward facing torpedo launchers with broadsiding beam boats. If you can, grab the Wide Angle Quantum Torpedo launcher, but that's from a C-Store ship. The Ferengi missile launcher from the Lobi store is not a decent replacement for that (I have both, and I've tested it - big difference in numbers). So long as we're talking $$$, the Plasmonic Leech console is always awesome.

Not sure why you need those two Warp Engineer DOffs if you're doing Aux2Bat, you should be able to keep your power levels maxed just from spamming Aux2Bat. I'd grab the DOff that clears debuffs on use of EPtX abilities instead.