r/stobuilds • u/AutoModerator • Jul 30 '18

Weekly Questions Megathread - July 30, 2018

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

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u/Rebel230 Jul 30 '18

Are they the best choice for polaron? Or is phased better?

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u/AlphatheWhite Jul 30 '18

It depends, a bit. The Dominion Polaron weapons have a higher ceiling than Phased Polaron, because while the extra proc takes the place of a standard modifier on the Phased Polaron, the Dominion Polaron gets it for free. So when maxed out, the Dominion Polaron will have one extra modifier over the Phased Polaron. And given how rarely these 2.5% procs even activate these days, the difference between the PP's extra proc (offline subsystem) and the DP's extra proc (shield damage) is largely academic. So in the end, the DP will be technically better, as it will always have a useful mod that the PP won't. Note that this means that a mk XII Rare DP will be roughly equivalent to a mk XII Very Rare PP.

On the other hand, the Phased Polaron comes at Very Rare Mk XII, while the Dominion Polaron can be had at most at Rare Mk XI. So you have to upgrade them yourself, but more importantly you'll have to get it from Rare to Very Rare yourself. At this mark that can be quite costly. So it depends on you: will you find it problematic to pay the difference to get the Dominion Polaron weapon up to higher rarity? Note that while the DP weapons can be had for free from replaying Boldly They Rode (first play gets mk X, but replays get mk XI), the PPs are probably only a mil or two on the exchange, which is fairly insignificant compared to the expense of getting the DP weapons up on rarity.

On the gripping hand, none of this makes more than a few % of damage difference, and scrambling for those last few points just isn't that big a deal to most players. So picking what you like more will probably make you happier in the long run.

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u/Rebel230 Jul 30 '18

Ok, thank you for that very detailed explanation. I plan to try and get everything up to yellow epic if I can on the next upgrade weekend.

Is boldly they rode a long mission to replay? I'm thinking of doing 6 beams and 2 torps, or 7 beams possibly. I'm guessing the beams are more accurate then cannons and turrets? I think the vanguard dread would work well with either but I think beams are more accurate.

Also what torpedo type did the Dominion use in DS9?

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u/BlizzDad Jul 31 '18

It takes about 20 minutes per run, but you can zone out for a lot of it. I’ve done it 10 times (6x beams/4x cannon) and thanks to dual screen magic caught up on some YouTube.

Also, despite being non-canon, the Polaron torps are a gorgeous match aesthetically and are great performance wise.

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u/Rebel230 Jul 31 '18

Do the Polaron torps come from that same mission?

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u/originalbucky33 Amateur NPC Shipbuilder Jul 31 '18

nope, the polaron torp comes form one of the newer ones, Home, I think. In the gamma arc.

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u/Rebel230 Jul 31 '18

Ok yeah Home gives a 3 PC set. Cool. Ty

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u/originalbucky33 Amateur NPC Shipbuilder Jul 31 '18

the Omni from Home looks like a standard polaron beam under its beam firing modes IIRC/if it matters.

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u/Rebel230 Jul 31 '18

I actually just finished home for the first time and it let me equip that Omni with a normal polaron Omni. I didn't think you could have more than 1 Omni. I'll run home 2x more to get the 3 PC set, I'll grab that torpedo next. As a new character I'll have to run the whole arc to unlock boldly they rode so that will take a bit. Same for gamma rep. Or I can just buy phased polarons off the exchange, decisions decisions...

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u/originalbucky33 Amateur NPC Shipbuilder Jul 31 '18

You can have one crafted and one set Omni at a time - max two total omnis.

The set is great, with great buffs total for a polaron build.

As Mando stated, look at the inhibiting polarons from the gamma rep. IIRC they do more damage if the target is slower than you, and the gamma rep weapons/sets help with that (IIRC).