STO Fleet Training.

[thunderfoot]

STO Newbies Captain's Primer - Ch 5: On Tractor Beams

This is something I started more for my own entertainment rather than to inform anyone or set myself as some sort of subject expert. For me, something isn't real until I write it down somewhere. This post and the others to follow consist of some things I've learned the hard way over the last few months. I'd like to prevent others from making the same fatheaded, fat fingered rookie mistakes I have. If what I've posted is incorrect, incomplete, or worse, wrong headed, please do not hesitate to add your own two cent's worth to the mix. My ego's not so big nor is my skin so thin I cannot tolerate being corrected in public. The idea here to allow people to play smarter, not harder. Makes the game more enjoyable for everyone.

She Thinks My Tractor's Sexay (Do. Not. Want.)
In STO, the AI controlled ships loove tractor beams. To the point where they'll tractor you even when they have better weapons or it creates a disadvantage for them. The Borg, Breen, and Rommies in particular cannot seem to fight unless they have you fixed in place. The Fed battleships like tractors almost as much. The Dominion will use a repulsor to send you away and this is nearly as bad. I dislike tractor beams. I suspect most players do as well. To be pinned firmly in place while that Mogai circles about to launch plasma torps is about as helpless as I've ever felt in a game in a long time. It took me awhile to develop effective counters to tractor tactics. And of course I learn soo much better the hard way. I am going to pass along to you, Gentle Reader, the things I've learned in the hope yo do not become ensnared like a fly in a web.

Stay out of range.
Tractors have an effective range of five klicks. So, as long as you stay at least six klicks away, you're good. Easy to do one on one. When attacking a group, this becomes a lot harder to pull off. There will always be one ship trying to flank you off screen and then turn on the magnet beam. Kill this one fast and do whatever you have to to keep yourself out of the middle ground. Because as soon as you wind up there at least two of the enemy ships will tractor you. If this means you need to break off an attack, so be it. Remember in previous posts how we talked about STO cycling back and forth from offense to defense? How offensive can you be while stuck? And how long will you last on that Borg Sector Invasion mssion? Go defensive here, clear the engagement envelope and try it again from a different vector. You'll live to fight another day.

Fight fire with fire
Use your tractor on the ship tractoring you. After all, it's lonely at Ground Zero. So grab some company and holler for help to one of your buddies. After about five to ten seconds, the enemy ship will turn off their tractor. Then, the both of you will be able to go your own way.

Tractor Beam by itself is only half a weapon. I like to use it in conjunction with either the Boarding Party or Eject Warp Plasma buff. I have watched AI controlled Borg Spheres run away very fast when I started leaking plasma from the nacelles. The Boarding Party buff has the advantage of messing things up other than the Tractor Beam as well. Disabled a player's weapons once for forty five seconds during a 1vs1 PvP event.

The Enemy Cannot Tractor what they Cannot See
This is probably my very favorite way of dealing with tractor beams. I use Jam Sensors or some other scrambling type buff just before I enter the five klick radius of the enemy. Any of the buffs which cleanse or drain drain Auxiliary power should also work well.

Vary these in timing and sequence and you stand a very good chance of avoiding the unpleasantness of sitting still as that STF Tactical Cube closes inexorably on you.

 

[thunderfoot]

STO Newbies Captain's Primer - Ch 6: Cloaking Tactics

This is something I started more for my own entertainment rather than to inform anyone or set myself as some sort of subject expert. For me, something isn't real until I write it down somewhere. This post and the others to follow consist of some things I've learned the hard way over the last few months. I'd like to prevent others from making the same fatheaded, fat fingered rookie mistakes I have. If what I've posted is incorrect, incomplete, or worse, wrong headed, please do not hesitate to add your own two cent's worth to the mix. My ego's not so big nor is my skin so thin I cannot tolerate being corrected in public. The idea here to allow people to play smarter, not harder. Makes the game more enjoyable for everyone.

The Dark is our Ally! Confound our Enemies! Strike from the Shadows!

In STO there are two types of cloaks. The regular type and the Battle Cloak. The regular type comes standard on nearly all KDF Klingon ships. There are a few StarFleet ships which can cloak as well. The Battle Cloak is much more limited in release and it can be used to remain cloaked whilst firing torpedoes. Looks exactly like what Chang did with his BOP in ST:The Undiscovered Country. Kudoes to the Devs for matching this so well. I've come to rely upon the cloak heavily in some situations. I must admit it appeals to me a great deal to be able to close to point blank range, drop the cloak, and unload an Alpha Strike with maximum buffs applied. The AI doesn't use cloaking very well at all. A great many players use it poorly. Being able to cloak can be a serious force multiplier. Especially for a smaller ship going up against a very large one. Using a cloak well allows one to get across that 10K gap reasonably intact. At two klicks out, your weapons do as much damage as his do and all the Enemy really wants at this point is to escape being from right in front of your muzzles. This presentation outlines the way I prefer to use the cloaking device with IKS Qul'Taj. I am sure there are other ways which are as effective, too.

Rule #1 - Slow Down!

That's right. S l o w w w D o w n n n, lol. Cloaking does not require you to zip around at high impulse. Use the higher speeds to close to just outside 10k and then drop the engines down to a lower setting. Moving too fast can place you inside an Enemy's engagement envelope prior to your being ready to be there. Think like a submarine commander. No need to expose yourself until the attack you are going to launch is completely ready and entirely on your terms. Most people in STO fly their ship as fast as they can while firing as rapidly as they can as often as they can. Effective cloak tactics mean you are only going to get one shot at killing the Enemy outright. Take your time. You have all you need. You seldom need to move faster than Three Quarters or One Half Impulse. I prefer these because I can usually turn far more quickly than my target can move to escape my forward firing cone. Means my second shot usually does the trick.

Use Your Buffs. All of Them
Some of the best offensive buffs have a very long cooldown. If I time it correctly, my first disruptor shot does about 2100+ DPS, with my follow up shot at about 1700 - 1900 DPS. Few indeed are the ships which can stand and return fire against this kind of damage. And this is before my torps arrive. With this kind of damage, the warheads are impacting bare hull which has already been hurt badly. This can be a timing issue and you may need to rearrange your tray to achieve maximum results. Do not start clicking on buffs until all of them are ready to be used. Click on them prior to dropping your cloak. Some of them, like Jam Sensors and Fire On My Mark, cannot be used until after the cloak is dropped. Try not to have more than one or two of these. The longer it takes you to fire after uncloaking the more likely it is the attack will not go the way you want. What I normally do is close to about 12 - 10.6 klicks, slow down and then start powering up buffs. Took down a Defend the Sector Block Tactical Cube with three shots this way. Not by myself of course. When the Team went after the next Cube, all of them tried to let me shoot first. Further, they were busy healing me up as fast as they could as we closed on the next Borg Fleet. What a nice compliment.

Position Yourself Correctly
Since you have the time to do so ensure you are in your preferred attack position prior to dropping the cloak. I like to be behind and slightly above the target, on a parallel heading and course. Being behind and slightly above the target gives me the ability to dictate the terms of the fight because I retain the initiative. No matter which way he breaks, and he will break to attempt placing you inside his forward firing arc quickly, you'll get a second shot at the shield(s) you just destroyed. He'll continue the turn and make himself broadside to you. Which makes him a bigger target. At this point, a human player starts thinking about escape if he is smart. Because no matter what he does next, your next shot will kill him. If he is thinking escape he is not thinking about shooting at you, is he?

Multiple Targets? No Problem!
Frigates and fighters like to fight in groups. This can be difficult when they see you coming. Breen Frigates can be especially troublesome. Moreso when there is a Chel Gatt nearby close enough to pile on. when fighting a group of theree of more ships, you will need to close until all are within range. One of these will always be offscreen. You will also need the Torpedo Salvo buff to be able to engage all of them. Focus on the two you can see first and then go after the third. The first one should die quickly while the second one is heavily damaged. The second one will normally fall to your second shot. At least one or more of your buffs should be recycled. This is enough to take a decent shot at the third one which will always be directly behind you.

Counter Cloak Tactics
I've not paid much attention to these because I seldom fight players or AI with cloaking capability. I suppose convoy tactics would work against a lone wolf. A pair of my LAN buddies and I were slaughtering an entire Fed Fleet in PvP until they started changing course at random times and in random directions(zigzagging). Very enjoyable match which made me work far harder for the victory than I wanted to. What more can one ask for from a game than to be really challenged? ADM_Z threatened me with a console which is supposed to eliminate any chance of remaining undetected. I do not know if he used it when we fought or not so I cannot tell you whether or not is was effective. It is purple quality so there won't be that many of them around anyway.

Attached is a sequence which illustrates the techniques I've discussed. It is an attack on an Adelko Battleship in the D'Kel Nebula. I was clearing a system of enemies and this was the last group.

 

[thunderfoot]

Beams or Cannons?

Hey, Y'all!

Been trawling the STO Forums quite a bit lately. Some interesting factions over there. The question of Beams or Cannons comes up regularly and it is intersting to note how quickly people mark themselves as PvP proponents. Gets more interesting when these PvP proponents look down their noses at everyone else. Some of the exchanges get quite...heated. Is Star Trek Online truly only about smacking someone else around so one can then brag online about stomping a n00b? Makes it just like all the other space combat MMOs then, doesn't it? I have to laugh because I like PvP and play it regularly with Fire Blade. According to the numerous PvP "experts"(If you do not believe they are experts, just ask them. They'll tell you.), I built her all wrong! They'll keep telling me this right up to the point where they rage quit a fight, rofl. Meanwhile, I have noticed these same experts will jump thru hoops during an STF or the KDF Terran Invasion event to keep Fire Blade in the fight. They'll gladly let me take point, snickering all the while about how n00b I am. The silence when I bring ISS Stadi to half strength with two salvoes is most enjoyable. Even more amusing is when I issue a challenge to them and they all run and hide.

But I have digressed badly. As usual. What I want to find out is where the fine folks of MSFC who play STO stand on the Beams vs. Cannons issue. I know Y'all have some personal preferences and I'd like very much to find out what they are and why you think the way you do.

Moi? I started out with cannons on my very first ship because it was all I could afford that did any kind of decent damage at the time. Stuck with them, just upgraded when I had the EC's. Noticed I had to have a ship which turned better to make the cannons work better. Got tired of people waxing my tail or coming in from a flank so I placed turrets at the rear. Added torps mostly because everyone else said I should. Decided since people were going to park their ships in my exhaust trail anyway, nothing said, "I care. A lot.", quite like a nice High Yield Torpedo launched right when they decided it was time to close to point blank range. Set all the weapons to Auto Fire so all I have to do is manage buffs and steer the ship.

Anyways, these are my preferences. Not looking for the "One Best Thing" here which so many in the InterWebs seem to do so often so much and so pointlessly. Just want to know what you prefer and why.

 

[kjc733]

I haven't played STO for several weeks now (got a bit bored), but I actually had a similar discussion with a newly minted Captain at work. I currently operate a Sovereign, but I was getting to the point where I was going to drop back down to my Defiant as the Thrace was the most fun ship I've flown to date (although my friends BoP was quite neat too). I experimented with a few configurations on the Thrace as originally I hadn't been impressed with cannons on my previous escort.

Because the Defiant turns very well it does pack cannons up front, a pair of dual tetryon cannons. I did experiment with mixing in a heavy cannon but I preferred the continuous faster rate of fire to the staggered higher damage. I also pack a Quantum torpedo up front for the killing blow, and a set of dual tetryon beams. The reason for the beams is that the "Fire at Will" (I think its that anyway) skill allows me to shoot multiple targets simultaneously. This is most useful when engaging multiple fighters. Because the Defiant turns so well I don't worry about arcs too much. Aft I have a tetryon array and another Quantum torpedo. Again, because the Defiant turns so well I don't mind the array having a slightly smaller arc than the turret. Yes it means I have less damage being dealt forwards, but I like the slightly heavier aft weapon to "discourage" people from following when I'm bravely running aw... *cough* performing a strategic retreat.

My Sovereign (the Reverence should anyone see her) is mostly arrays, one quantum torpedo each fore and aft, and a dual beam forward for slightly better hitting power. It works well, but I prefer the options available to me with my Defiant that I don't have with the Reverence.

I set my aft array to auto fire because if it's behind me I may be busy with other things anyway (such as fixing my ship). All other weapons I do manually because I like the personal touch.

 

[Majestic]

Well you can't run cannons on Science ships or Federation cruisers so most people do run beams like I do on my Galor. However on escorts I generally run 1 cannon, 1 torpedo and 2 beam banks up from. The sole reason I run beams over cannons is the firing arc, it's all good to have a good payload at the front but it's not much good when you can only use them in a 45 degree arc so beams work well for my play style.

With Beam Banks over Beam Arrays, on my cruisers I generally run beam arrays only, again due to the arc they have over beam banks. Kevaas on his Galor is a fine example of this, he works extremely well imo. He may not dish out the most damage but he does often bring anywhere from 3-7 beams at one time, especially on his sides when all banks are in firing position.

 

[SciFiFan]

I feel your pain in regards to PvP players. I met a handful of really good quality eople who PvP and the rest were complete ____heads. Thing to remember is the this game is trying to please three different types pf gamers.
1 casual gamers: those that play simply because the game is there.
2 Star Trek fans: those that play because of the Star Trek IP.
3 MMO players: these are the ones that focus on PvP.

Given what Cryptic has been given to work with, I think they doing a marvelous job. Can't say the same for PWE, but that is another topic.

Speaking of topic, time for me to get back on it.

For my engineer VA, Otungku, he runs strickly a beam boat. The Oddysey turns so painfully slow that torps are all but useless. I use Beam Overload and Fire At Will on her. If I do use torps, then that is where a Tractor beam comes in handy.

N'mirx is currently running the Defiant R. When the Spiral Wave Disruptor hits the Dilithium Store, he will switch back to that with 6 SWD and 2 Transphasics.

Mac... I have really come to enjoy Mac. Recently made Captain and running the Defiant. He has 2 DHC, 1 QTL, and 1 BA. On back he runs 1 BA and 1 Turret. He has an AOE ability for each. BFAW, CSV, and TS. When I come opon a squadron of three BoP, I can most of the time drop all three with one alpha strike.

 

[Andre27]

Heavy antiproton canon, dual anti proton beam, quantum Torpedo and tricobalt in front, tricobalt, dual beam and plasma mine launcher in back. All extra damage vs. borg.

Mixed XI and XII very rare. Aiming to get all to XII. After that i'll go for the ground sets in STF

I chose this set since i noticed that in a fur ball i simply don't have the turn rate to keep up so it's swoop in, hit as hard as possible, drop mines, Borg tractor opponent in place and watch the fireworks.

 

[Lord_Trekie]

Figured I'd chime in on TF's post about the weapons. The short version is that what you use does not depend on your class directly so much as what ship you decide to fly and how you decide to fly it.

Most people will tell you that you should only be mounting cannons on your escorts. Most of the time they might even be right. Me personally, I have two vice admirals who fly escorts. A Tac who flys a Defiant Retrofit, with a Phaser Quad Cannon, Phaser Dual Heavy Cannon, Phaser Dual Cannon, and Phaser Dual Beam Bank in the fore end, and three phaser turrets in the aft, with occasionally swapping in a Tricobalt Mine launcher. I use Attack Pattern Omega III, Beam Overload III, and Cannon Rapid Fire I on my main Tac BO, it's effective, I haven't changed this loadout in over a year, but like all things, it's not for every one.

My other Escort flier uses the MVAM Escort, with 3x Polaron Dual Cannons and a Polaron Dual Beam Bank in the front, with 3x Polaron turrets in the rear. She also uses a near identical Tac BO set up. Did I mention she's actually a science officer? Sadly she dies more often than my Tac escort flier. And that's even with rocking Science Team III and Hazard Emitters II.

My Main Character, also a Science Officer, flies the Advanced Heavy Cruiser, i.e. Excelsior Retrofit. Because this ship has a decent turn rate it utilizes 3x Tetryon Dual Beam Banks along with a Quantum Torpedo Launcher in the fore, with 3x Tetryon Beam Arrays in the aft with another Quantum Launcher. His tactical BO has High Yield III, Beam Overload II, and Tactical Team I. Did I mention that I rarely lose shields in this ship? Yeah, no one else believes me either.

The other Cruiser flier I have is an Engineer, patrolling the Milky Way in the Dreadnaught Cruiser, aka Galaxy X. Her weapons loadout is more what you probably expect of a cruiser, since it's low turn rate nearly necessitates it. 1x Phaser Dual Beam Bank, 2x Phaser Beam Arrays, and 1x Chroniton Torpedo Launcher in the fore. 3x Phaser Beam Array's and another Chroniton Torpedo Launcher in the rear. Some may wonder why the rear torpedo, my answer is that anyone can get around my backside, and maybe they ought not to. Tac powers on this ship are Fire at Will II, and Torpedo Spread I, along with Tactical Team I, This is my tanking character, and for some reason nearly always the top of the damage charts in a PvP match, I can't imagine why, with that Phaser Lance and all... I will say that the cloak can be this ships single most greatest advantage, because the enemy will oft be in your fore firing arc for the Lance unless you make frequent and tactical use of your tractor beam.

The last one I have doesn't really sport anything all that special other than it's a Tactical Officer who flys a Recon Science Vessel. Not really all that special honestly.

I also want to say that I've been in-game a lot more this last week than I probably have in the last six months combined, so if anyone ever has any questions about anything, you're more than welcome to ask.

 

[Adm_Z]

Well, from my experance with both engineer characters and Tatical, therefore escort and cruiser, Beams are not worth much. An extra beam here or there on a tactical character is great when mixed with beam overload, is nice because it can punch a hole in a shield for a torp, or fire at will to take care of fighters and heavy plasmas, but over all, beams can't do much else. The majority of their damage is dealt to shields meaning that you when enemy shields are down they are rarely useful.

Cannons on the other hand, deal heavy damage to both hull and shields. They can be coupled with rapid fire, or cone attacks to take care of one or many targets. You can use the slow firing heavies, or quick duals, or even singles and turrets for 360 degree coverage. Though they don't deal as much damage as a full blast of forward canons, I found that on a cruiser, having 4-6 turrets will deal significant damage to an enemy, and since its 360, you never stop firing.

So, IMO, cannons are the way to go, maybe with a rear beam set to fire at will or overload. Personally, I think STO should have a 360 degree beam that is better than the turret, making them more worth while.

Oh, and as trekki says, a dual beam bank in front is also nice, especially when paired with overload.

 

[thunderfoot]

So far the "correct answer" seems to be what I thought it was. Namely, it comes down to personal preference. I like the way Fire Blade is set up. 3 Disruptor-Plasma Hybrid DHCs for'ard, 3 Mk XI Disruptor Turrets Aft. One Mk XII Plasma Torpedo Launcher fore and one aft also. Consoles to support these. Bridge Officer buffs which support these weapons as well. Some people refer to cruisers as tanks in game. As a former US Army tanker I like this. Means all that tactical stuff they filled my head with is useful in STO. Tanks have three design areas. These are firepower, armor and movement. You cannot improve significantly on one with detracting significantly from the other two. You can 'tune' the vehicle in question so its parameters match your expectations and strengths but you cannot improve on all three areas at once. From what I have seen so far, all of you have tuned your STO ship of choice nicely. I can only wonder what an all MSFC fleet would do in PvP. I can say with certainty the "experts" would be badly surprised and shaken to their core. Good!

Something people seem to have forgotten are the intangibles. In MechWarrior4, I used to routinely take on a Daishi or Atlas in my Cauldron Born and win. Even though I was giving away a 35 ton advantage in armor and weapons. Why? Simple. I expected to win. I fortified this expectation by training hard. If I wanted a system, I made sure it was one which meshed with the ones I was already using. I did not try to operate outside the parameters I set for myself although most of the time I was right up hard against the edges. Attitude counts for a great deal. Playing PvP in STO you are not fighting an Odyssey. You are fighting her Captain. If he thinks he is beaten, then he truly is beaten. An Alpha Strike which completely strips a shield off with the first shot makes him sit up and take notice. And if he sees your Vor'Cha still closing the range, he can only wonder what you have for him next. At this point he is no longer thinking about victory, he is focused on survival. The outcome is decided already. The match is yours to lose at this point. The winner will be you. As long as you do not make the last mistake, lol.

 

[SciFiFan]

So far the "correct answer" seems to be what I thought it was. Namely, it comes down to personal preference. I like the way Fire Blade is set up. 3 Disruptor-Plasma Hybrid DHCs for'ard, 3 Mk XI Disruptor Turrets Aft. One Mk XII Plasma Torpedo Launcher fore and one aft also. Consoles to support these. Bridge Officer buffs which support these weapons as well. Some people refer to cruisers as tanks in game. As a former US Army tanker I like this. Means all that tactical stuff they filled my head with is useful in STO. Tanks have three design areas. These are firepower, armor and movement. You cannot improve significantly on one with detracting significantly from the other two. You can 'tune' the vehicle in question so its parameters match your expectations and strengths but you cannot improve on all three areas at once. From what I have seen so far, all of you have tuned your STO ship of choice nicely. I can only wonder what an all MSFC fleet would do in PvP. I can say with certainty the "experts" would be badly surprised and shaken to their core. Good!

Something people seem to have forgotten are the intangibles. In MechWarrior4, I used to routinely take on a Daishi or Atlas in my Cauldron Born and win. Even though I was giving away a 35 ton advantage in armor and weapons. Why? Simple. I expected to win. I fortified this expectation by training hard. If I wanted a system, I made sure it was one which meshed with the ones I was already using. I did not try to operate outside the parameters I set for myself although most of the time I was right up hard against the edges. Attitude counts for a great deal. Playing PvP in STO you are not fighting an Odyssey. You are fighting her Captain. If he thinks he is beaten, then he truly is beaten. An Alpha Strike which completely strips a shield off with the first shot makes him sit up and take notice. And if he sees your Vor'Cha still closing the range, he can only wonder what you have for him next. At this point he is no longer thinking about victory, he is focused on survival. The outcome is decided already. The match is yours to lose at this point. The winner will be you. As long as you do not make the last mistake, lol.

I knew we were somewhat kindred spirits my Armor Division Cousin. I was US Armored Cavalry. For those that do not know, I would have been the one to go out and find the enemies that Thunderfoot would have shot with that big sas gun. Unfortunately, a vast majority of Cavalry deaths in Desert Storm was from that very same big sas gun.

 

[thunderfoot]

Blackhorse! Boots and Saddles! Scouts out!

 

[Majestic]

As far as beams being useless, that's all I use on Kevaas and the other day I took on two people in a PvP so 2 on 1 and I never died once, get I was murdering these people who are good players and did very well.

His set-up currently is as follows:

Fore - 1 Disruptor Beam Array Mk XII, 2 Spiral Wave Disruptors and 1 Photon Torpedo Mk XII
Aft - 2 Spiral Wave Disruptors and 2 Disruptor Beam Arrays Mk XII

The Disruptors and torpedo launcher are mk XII. All beam arrays no beam banks and he cam bring all 7 arrays to bear at one time.

When the Spiral Wave Disruptor hits the Dilithium Store, he will switch back to that with 6 SWD and 2 Transphasics.

They are already out my friend, came out in the last patch.

 

[Andre27]

I knew we were somewhat kindred spirits my Armor Division Cousin. I was US Armored Cavalry. For those that do not know, I would have been the one to go out and find the enemies that Thunderfoot would have shot with that big sas gun. Unfortunately, a vast majority of Cavalry deaths in Desert Storm was from that very same big sas gun.

Cavalry.. aren't those the guys who sit on their asses all day..

Though i finished my tour in a branch of the medical corp (military bloodbank) i started out with KCT (Korps Commando Troepen) the army special forces branch.

Busted my knee to the degree there i could not do those infernal marches anymore so i transfered. I figured i had the medical background so why not put it to good use.