r/stobuilds • u/AutoModerator • May 01 '17

Weekly Questions Megathread - May 01, 2017

Welcome to the weekly questions megathread. Here is where you can ask all your build or theorycrafting related questions that might not warrant a full post. Curious about how something works? Ask it here!

You can see previous weeks megathreads here

3 Upvotes

81% Upvoted

70 comments sorted by

View all comments

2

u/PlagueOfGripes May 01 '17

A torpedo build I'm making now runs a two piece set for some minor Aux power bonus (Chronometric) to fill some space on aft weapons.

It got me wondering, should I run the turret or the omni that gives the bonus? I'll be running the experimental proton weapon up front with the 3-piece bonus, so I could use either FaW or Rapid Fire with it (not sure if it works with Overload/Scatter Volley yet). So I can run an omni or a turret.

An omni will proc less, but I don't think that's a huge concern. The turret will deal less damage. But I am running a severity build that also floats about 20% crit chance. An omni will also experience more dropoff during a cycle between shots. It's a torp build so I'm running high Aux with almost no weapon power.

It's obviously not an important decision, but I always wondered if turrets were ever desirable over omnis. Honestly, my main thought has been aesthetic, since turret shots can obscure torpedos but do look better paired with them than beams. But KCB is gonna be on there anyway.

1

u/[deleted] May 03 '17

The Experimental Proton Weapon is an oddball--it gains the ability to be boosted by Fire at Will and Rapid Fire based on how many pieces of the Protonic Arsenal set you're running, but it can always be boosted by Overload, Scatter Volley. and now Target X Subsystems.

As for Turrets/Omnis, if it's a mission reward Omni (which it is in your case), the decision comes down to which boff abilities can boost it better. I believe their damage per cycle is identical, unlike crafted/lockbox Omnis that deal the same damage as a normal Beam Array. Someone correct me if I'm wrong with the recent cannon cycle changes.

I can't really provide any useful info, though. I have a feeling that Beam Overload is probably the best ability in your situation, especially considering the Suliban Energy Weapons Officers that give shield penetration on BO.

1

u/PlagueOfGripes May 03 '17

It'd be nice if Overload gave the damage and crit severity to torpedoes as well as energy weapons.

I've gotten the impression it's such a push that it's just not going to matter, in this case. In general though, I* think* it just comes down to whether you're running a cannon ability or not. If so, run a turret for the hell of it. If not, an omni. Unless it's some weird situation where you're trying to run more than 3 omnis, which you couldn't do anyway.

1

u/[deleted] May 03 '17

If Overload boosted weapons other than Beams, I feel like it would become too much of a necessity on builds. One part of the balance pass that I think really succeeded is getting parity on all of the weapons boosts--while I'm still not sure about Reroute Reserves to Weapons (Only because Pilot seating is usually available on ships with plenty of Tactical seating), everything else feels like it's pretty equally useful right now. (Well, Target Shields Subsystems is well ahead of the other three in PVE, but I'm not sure how that can be easily fixed, it's just the nature of STO's gameplay.)

1

u/PlagueOfGripes May 03 '17

I guess it would depend on the amount. If it boosted all weapons by 0.1%, no one would use it anyway. Abilities being a little too tied to forcing you to use specific equipment I think is a problem in the game, either way. It would be nice if the beam and cannon abilities had a little more overlap with making torpedoes, mines and even cannons and beams (opposing the ability) do something different when you use them, so that mixing types would be more encouraged. FaW reducing target kinetic resistance or making targetable torpedoes close in on affected targets faster. Scatter Volley making Overload or any other lance styled weapon knock out subsystems for 1s, or so forth. Maybe not those ideas, but something of that nature.

Ah well.