[Scarlett]

I mean ... Seriously.

Disruptor is the most supported "flavor" via consoles (followed real close by phaser)
Terran Task Force Beam Array - being Disruptor, it's the most powerful space beam in the game
"Spiral" mod has been Dev-confirmed to be the same as [Dmg]x2, so it's 2 mods in one
At Epic quality, there are three other mods that can be re-engineered -for Tactical Cpts this means having mods, essentially, [Dmg] x5 AND THEN the Epic mod
Since procs have been marginalized into near non-existence, then having the phaser/Disruptor proc combo is very "meh"

So ... Why not use this weapon?!

[Bridger]

I mean ... Seriously.

Disruptor is the most supported "flavor" via consoles (followed real close by phaser)
Terran Task Force Beam Array - being Disruptor, it's the most powerful space beam in the game
"Spiral" mod has been Dev-confirmed to be the same as [Dmg]x2, so it's 2 mods in one
At Epic quality, there are three other mods that can be re-engineered -for Tactical Cpts this means having mods, essentially, [Dmg] x5 AND THEN the Epic mod
Since procs have been marginalized into near non-existence, then having the phaser/Disruptor proc combo is very "meh"

So ... Why not use this weapon?!

Because until the DS9 Lockbox we could not get different versions and not re-engineer them.

[Scarlett]

Uh ... Right.

What I'm asking without saying it I suppose, is why are not more people talking about using them?

[Petrarch]

They’re quite expensive, something like 40K dilithium a pop and you need the Galor (or one of the others, I forget which) to get access to them from the store. That’s quite an outlay and a lot of folks are probably more inclined to use their funds elsewhere.

[Asteropax]

What I'm asking without saying it I suppose, is why are not more people talking about using them?

The real question is "What is STO's meta?"

The best weapons in the world are the ones which have the best supporting consoles. People will choose the weapons, specifically the damage type, based on what their console load out is. It is safe to say phasers are currently the ones which people use the most at this time because of all the good consoles which also support that damage type.

For example:
The Domino console has an active ability which has all sorts of great bonuses, including boff recharge and and total damage, and extends the duration of the effects with each kill. It also provides a passive damage bonus to phasers. To make full use of this console, it makes sense to use phasers.

To answer your question on why people aren't talking about using spiral wave disruptors; the damage type with the best supporting consoles at this time aren't disruptors.

[Bridger]

You have to understand difference between Cat1 Damage and Cat2 Damage so the +15% Phaser Damage on DOMINO is a joke not bad to have but minimal.

To answer your question on why people aren't talking about using spiral wave disruptors; the damage type with the best supporting consoles at this time aren't disruptors.

This will change very soon when they understand how powerfull they are.

[Asteropax]

This will change very soon when they understand how powerfull they are.

No argument there. It seems like the thing to use in STO changes within a week or 2 following every new content release.

[Bridger]

That is true and that is why I very seldom have builds that are extremely Min/MaX in general I go with the highest possible DPS in the most canon possible build.

[Heyallo]

I just go with what makes me happy, I might not ever do the insane damage numbers people pull, but I'm happy at the end of it all =)

[Raz Beraht]

I just go with what makes me happy, I might not ever do the insane damage numbers people pull, but I'm happy at the end of it all =)

Here here. DPS chasing was fun for a while but my new plan is to stick with more cannon builds. Even a passing interest in DPS can ensure that you're stronger than most players and capable of effectively dealing with queues.

That said, I'm sure that if I had more time to play I'd be bugging Dark, Bridger, and Scarlett all the time wanting advice to squeeze every unit of damage out of my ship lol.

[Petrarch]

I’m like that too, I always with the rare exception follow a canon approach to builds which is why I’m always phaser and in a Starfleet vessel on my Fed, same with the KDF etc. and I’ll be doing the same with my Jem Hadar. Even though Polaron is a bit of an odd one, I want to see the purple beams coming out of my warship. Did consider disruptors, but I fancy trying something different.

Going he spiral waves approach with a Cardassian Fed too once I’ve got things sorted out, despite the expense of it.

[Ariotex]

I crafted a few sets of good, Epic APs, just because that was the flavor at the time. Now I go more canon. Slowly working on Plasma for my Roms, Phasers for my Feds, Disruptors for my KDF. Although not all that great the last I actually checked, it now looks like I'll be working on some Polaron for my Jems also. The APs I already got will likely go on some non-faction ships.

I'll never put out crazy DPS numbers anyway as I'm not that committed, so as long as it gets me through the game, I'm going with more canon builds

[Scarlett]

Fair enough.

I realized I'm being a little selfish with the question because I did employ several resources for the SWDs I do own and used them for a long time. This was the snowflake in me.

So, seeing they got some attention, I was quick to want to use them again for nostalgia to the snowflake.

[Dark]

Unless something changed with ViL, the meta is Disruptors. I believe the top four is Disruptors, Phasers, Plasma, then Antiproton.

This is due to non-Tactical console boosts, plus the TTFD weapon being the single most powerful individual weapon. Then Phasers because it has the Prolongued weapons which is the second most powerful individual weapon, as well as the Trilithium haste bonuses. Plasma just ends up that way because the major set that boost Disruptor and Phasers also boost Plasma. Then it's Antiproton because of it's innate "constantly on" CrtD effect plus good console support.

(Actually AP and Plasma may be tied, though it'll likely tilt Plasma if we can re-engineer Romulan Plasma to get use out of the rep set.)

I suspect that Spiral Waves aren't talked about much is that prior to ViL they weren't available and couldn't be re-engineered. So everybody who cares about it had already gotten souped up [Pen] arrays. Currently we get 4 free if you bought... one of the packs? I think it may be the T5 Galor. So it may become more widely used, though I don't know if anyone would spend the dilithium to get more. Still a hefty cost of entry, though I'm inclined to switch one of my main's non-[Pen] Disruptor arrays over just for the heck of it.

The comparison for a Tac would be [Dam]x5 vs [Dam]x3[Pen], and for the non-Tacs it would be [CrtD]x3[Dam]x2 vs [CrtD]x3[Pen]. So it'll really depend on if [Dam]x2 is better than [Pen], and I don't know if anyone is still doing evaluations/tests on these things nowadays. I've seen Vel online recently, but he's been radio silent about STO for a long while now.

[Raz Beraht]

I'll definitely be using the spiral waves on my cardassian ships though!

I like Areotex' idea about what to do with AP beams since I'm not using them anymore.