STO: are starship phasers worth a darn?

[Tribble puncher]

Ive been a casual player of sto for awhile, never really got hardcore into the game. so alot of the acronyms and such on various message boards, I have no Idea what they mean. So, with that said, I see alot of people talking about cannon weapons and how much "dps" they do, but what about us cruiser lovers? I have a level 22 engineer flying an excelsior, right now I have 4 mk 6 phaser arrays and 2 mk 5 photorp launchers equipped, I'm wanting to maximize this ships offensive capabilities and still be able to last in a fight. I like the turning radius of this ship but do not want to give up my 360 degree coverage. I want it all I guess, haha. Also, I'm at a loss as how to pick consoles that best complement each other...any help would be appreciated...

 

[intrinsical]

Ive been a casual player of sto for awhile, never really got hardcore into the game. so alot of the acronyms and such on various message boards, I have no Idea what they mean. So, with that said, I see alot of people talking about cannon weapons and how much "dps" they do, but what about us cruiser lovers? I have a level 22 engineer flying an excelsior, right now I have 4 mk 6 phaser arrays and 2 mk 5 photorp launchers equipped, I'm wanting to maximize this ships offensive capabilities and still be able to last in a fight. I like the turning radius of this ship but do not want to give up my 360 degree coverage. I want it all I guess, haha. Also, I'm at a loss as how to pick consoles that best complement each other...any help would be appreciated...

Lets just say there are many ways to skin a cat. It ultimately boils down to which playstyle you prefer.

Cruisers have strong shields and decent all-round weaponry so the strategy that makes sense is the "Line of ships" approach that ancient mariners use. Broadside the enemy ship, let your phasers whittle down their shields while you counter or patch whatever little damage your ship takes. The pace is almost leisurely and rarely do you have to mash buttons rapidly.

Escorts on the other hand basically only have frontal weaponry (some do have limited aft weaponry) and very weak shields. The successful strategy in this case is to simply dash in quickly, launch a single powerful strike and that pray your little ship can withstand the enemy ship's fly swat. As everything depends on a single successful strike, you'll have to manage your weapons and defense systems simultaneously and you're mashing buttons like a ADHD junkie in every single fight just to keep your ship in one piece.

 

[Amaris]

Phasers are good for causing subsystem damage (if critical), but otherwise offer generally decent DPS. I have a star cruiser (the new Odyssey), and use anti-proton beams myself, which are just a nice way to flay the crap out of whatever you're broadsiding.

 

[Haggis and tatties]

On my cruiser i go with two fore single beams(i like the sustaned damage they do), two fore single cannons, and all turrets at the back.....hook those up with a pre-fire chamber console, cannon rapid fire buff and a beam overload buff and away you go.

I dont touch torpedos or mines because i like to be doing damage at all times

 

[Methos]

I have a star cruiser (the new Odyssey), and use anti-proton beams myself, which are just a nice way to flay the crap out of whatever you're broadsiding.

Pretty much the same setup here...

got 2 antiproton arrays at the front, along with a dual beam tetryon setup and a quick reload transphasic torpedo launcher...

that's generally my 'open up everything as i approach and blow the s#!t out of it' approach...

rear weapons are 2 Tetryon arrays, a transphasic mine launcher, and a disrupter array... though that'll be swapped for another antiproton array when i can save up for it

generally i fly towards the target, opening up a LOT of shield damage with the tetryon and antiproton arrays, a few transphasic torpedoes on apprach, then do a flyover and drop the transphasic mines basically on top of the target while flying away... not much can stand up to a full fly by assault like that...

M

 

[Timelord79 (he/him)]

I have a star cruiser (the new Odyssey), and use anti-proton beams myself, which are just a nice way to flay the crap out of whatever you're broadsiding.

Pretty much the same setup here...

got 2 antiproton arrays at the front, along with a dual beam tetryon setup and a quick reload transphasic torpedo launcher...

that's generally my 'open up everything as i approach and blow the s#!t out of it' approach...

rear weapons are 2 Tetryon arrays, a transphasic mine launcher, and a disrupter array... though that'll be swapped for another antiproton array when i can save up for it

generally i fly towards the target, opening up a LOT of shield damage with the tetryon and antiproton arrays, a few transphasic torpedoes on apprach, then do a flyover and drop the transphasic mines basically on top of the target while flying away... not much can stand up to a full fly by assault like that...

M

Heh, care to test that theory? I challenge it

 

[Methos]

roflol well your beast could probably handle it

M

 

[Scout101]

Yeah, depends on the ship. For an escort, beams are a waste. You can turn fast enough to keep the mich higher DPS cannons facing the enemy, so use them.

For a cruiser, they turn like they're stuck in cement, so you'd never get a cannon to face the enemy for more than a shot or two. Beams allow you to get a bunch of weapons on target most of the time.

Only annoyance for me with the beam/cruiser approach is that it takes your torpedos out of play when you're mostly broadsiding. Gotta use emergency evasive just to fire a torp and return to broadsiding...

 

[Hartzilla2007]

My major gripe about the Odessey is that it can't use dual cannons which I though was one of the things they were going to let it do when they started the Enterprise-F contest. So I'm just goping to go with two purple mark XI dual phaser beam banks, one purple mark XI phaser array and one purple mark XI transphasic torpedo launcher in the front and 4 purple mark XI phaser array in the back.

 

[Kochi]

On my assault cruiser i like to use two dual beam banks, one beam array and one torp in front. For the back i use three beam arrays and one torpedo launcher. Two consoles for the energy type and two for the torpedo type.
Broadside is only with four beams at a time but weapons power doesn't drop as much as with six beams, so i can run with a bit more shield power for better resistance.

 

[JRS]

My fleet escort currently has three sets of phaser cannons on the front, plus quantum torpedo launcher..and in the rear I have photon launcher and two turrets.

 

[Scout101]

Same idea here. 3 purple MK XI antiproton dual heavies in front, one purple XI quantum. Rear is 2 MK XI purple antiproton turrets, and either quantum or Har'Pang (spelling) depending on mood/loadout. Better punch upfront, and a nicer torp to smack them with as I turn to run.

 

[Kochi]

As to phasers, they are ok for earlier levels in pve, and good for pvp, as many don't setup for resistance to phasers.
For later levels antiproton is better, in my opinion.
I'm not decided on what is the best projectile weapon type.

 

[Haggis and tatties]

My major gripe about the Odessey is that it can't use dual cannons which I though was one of the things they were going to let it do when they started the Enterprise-F contest. So I'm just goping to go with two purple mark XI dual phaser beam banks, one purple mark XI phaser array and one purple mark XI transphasic torpedo launcher in the front and 4 purple mark XI phaser array in the back.

Well seeing as the only cruiser to allow dual cannons is the dred, and that cost 2000c, i can see why they are not allowing it on this free ship.

 

[ProwlAlpha]

Quantum's have the best kinetic damage and Photons have the best DPS. They are both have two fastest reload times.

 

[Amaris]

I've modified the setup in my Excelsior Retrofit to use 4 Phaser beam arrays and 2 Polaron beam arrays, with Mk XI purple Quantum torpedoes. It does a massive amount of damage, more than the anti-proton setup to the point where I can easily handle several Borg spheres at once, while still giving backup support to any other nearby teammate.

 

[intrinsical]

On a related note, what is the power setting you guys use when attacking?

Right now I am using a 75% weapons, 50% shields, 50% engines, 25% auxiliary ratio on my advanced escort. From what I understand, auxiliary power is mostly used for science officer special attacks? My science officers are all devoted to shield/hull healing so I was thinking maybe I can get away with diverting all auxiliary power to the other subsystems?

 

[Amaris]

On a related note, what is the power setting you guys use when attacking?

Right now I am using a 75% weapons, 50% shields, 50% engines, 25% auxiliary ratio on my advanced escort. From what I understand, auxiliary power is mostly used for science officer special attacks? My science officers are all devoted to shield/hull healing so I was thinking maybe I can get away with diverting all auxiliary power to the other subsystems?

125% Weapons
74% Shields
54% Engines
38% Auxiliary

I'm a Tac Officer.

 

[Rocketeer]

Aux power is used for many of the Sci officer abilities. However, it is also used in starship turns. So if you're dodging in and around enemy ships, you may want to increase it a little.

 

[Rocketeer]

My engiineerr used to be a broadsider but modified his Excelsior Refit a little to allow him to do a straight in attack occasionally. Use plasma all around. Ship has 2 beam arrays, 1 dual beam bank and torp fore which gives good damage on approach using tach beam and dir energy mod. If he keep to a distance, he rolls into a broadside and occasionally turns back to fire the torp. If he chooses to get closer, he does a flyover with Eject Plasma and Disperses a double load of plasma mines in their lap. This setup works good in PvE.

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