Best class and build?

[N8tronic]

ok so i just started this game and after watching videos and reading what i could find there is very little info on what a good build looks like in this game. I chose gunner class but it seems pretty weak since you should be focusing on one weapon therfore making the rest of the skills useless because they only boost certain weapons that you wont even be using.
Should i just restart the game with a different class or is there some kinda hidden power in the gunner class.

[probe]

There are no recommended builds per say. It's all pretty much what works for you. And respecs are fairly cheap at stations so you can always respec due to circumstances or just to try other stuff out.

Gunner is mostly about beefing damage, commander is more about boosting entire fleet (including the commander him/herself) and Engineer is more about buffs/debuffs (or passive damage like the rift skill).

So it's whatever suits you best. No class is better than the other IMO. It's all circumstancial.

[Geek]

The question you should ask to yourself is not "how powerful is that class", but "how I want to play".

Gunner is about overpowering the opposition with weapons, in an all offense strategy.
Commander focuses on working as a fleet and protecting yourself to buy time.
Engineer consists mostly to weaken opponents from the inside, so they become easier to destroy or at least less of a threat.

[sfcwoc]

If you like capturing pirate ships as a way to make a living...

The Engineer skill set is very useful in assisting with the boarding function. If you buff the Hack skill - Life support degrade, along with buffing the Perk - Field Commander (General category), and you can find/purchase a frame with a cloaking mechanism installed.... It may make your borading sorties a little more rewarding and less time-consuming. ;)

Buffing the Rift skill category in Engineer really comes in handy in the upper ranks, for those multi-target opportunities! ;)

[N8tronic]

Originally posted by Geek:

The question you should ask to yourself is not "how powerful is that class", but "how I want to play".

Gunner is about overpowering the opposition with weapons, in an all offense strategy.
Commander focuses on working as a fleet and protecting yourself to buy time.
Engineer consists mostly to weaken opponents from the inside, so they become easier to destroy or at least less of a threat.

Well that was my original thought about the gunner is that i want to focus on guns blazing but that actually limits you to only ONE skill . If i put my points into plasma weapons they only affect one weapon and all the other skills are useless. The class needs a rework. i can think of a better skill bar just off the top of my head.

skill 1- gives your ship a damage boost %
skill 2- defensive skill gives a shield buff %
skill 3- weapon fire rate buff
skill 4- adds a damage over time

[Erei]

Originally posted by N8tronic:

Originally posted by Geek:

The question you should ask to yourself is not "how powerful is that class", but "how I want to play".

Gunner is about overpowering the opposition with weapons, in an all offense strategy.
Commander focuses on working as a fleet and protecting yourself to buy time.
Engineer consists mostly to weaken opponents from the inside, so they become easier to destroy or at least less of a threat.

Well that was my original thought about the gunner is that i want to focus on guns blazing but that actually limits you to only ONE skill . If i put my points into plasma weapons they only affect one weapon and all the other skills are useless. The class needs a rework. i can think of a better skill bar just off the top of my head.

skill 1- gives your ship a damage boost %
skill 2- defensive skill gives a shield buff %
skill 3- weapon fire rate buff
skill 4- adds a damage over time

I agree. But you can always edit the classes to suits your needs. My gunner only have the railgun skill, but I have 2 engineer skills and 1 commander.

[Syrris]

If you're after a general damage boost, the Fleet Command specialist is your best bet. The damage (and accuracy) benefits in that class's skills are generic, so you can mix-and-match weapons however you like.

[N8tronic]

Ya i ended up switching to commander class but it still left a sour taste in my mouth knowing that gunner just isnt right. I didnt know you can edit the skills....how?

[probe]

It's sort of embarrasing but I've more or less only played Engineer so far (I love that class). But all classes can get extremely powerful when used properly.

But for the Engineer, the Life-Support Sabotage is really great for capturing ships and beefing income early on. The Rift skill is just outrageous in larger battles. Constant AoE damage to multiple boogies is soooo powerful. And the third skill tree offers what Ryouchan dubbed the "Tank-gineer" build. That thing can take damage all day and just recharge power from being hit (ie more skill-use capability). It's so devastating but a decent specced Gunner or Commander will dish out damage just as well as any engineer skill (perhaps Rift is an exception, but nonetheless... both are more than capable).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pv69-ECYgg0

Engineer skill walkthrough including the Tank-gineer Build (around 4-5 minutes in).

Safe Travels Captain!

[Ichthyic]

sorry, but I have played all 3 classes, tried all skills.

the tankgineer wins hands down. unlimted energy to power skills means you can then activate OTHER skills, like 4th panel skills that will allow you to do massive critical damage as well as shutdown systems, AND GENERATE MORE POWER... which means you can add ANOTHER SKILL, like say drop a radiation cloud in the middle of your enemies... yes, in fact, with a big enough fight, you can have enough constant power to fully enable 3 complete skills at the same time, as long as the fight goes on.

sorry, but nothing else compares to it. not even close.

this is not an opinion, it's just plain fact. the engineer is horrendously OP once you learn how to play it.

I never ever once came close to dying, even playing on extreme, using the engineer.

commader? bah. even with 50% evade and 25% soak running at the same time, I've still died several times playing just hard in the origins campaign; and the damage output is not even close to what the engineer can put out with all the massive crit damage.

[probe]

Yeah the power recharge is kind of insane. But I wonder if other classes maybe shine earlier in the game? As I said I more or less only play Engineer. Easier capturing early on, then the rift skill in mid-levels and then spec for the tank-gineer. Everything else besides the shield and power recharge I normally dump into Rift. Which is perhaps a mistake because the build sort of discourages killing enemies, hehe.

I'm sure they'll revamp the skill system for Warlords, hopefully add a new class (still hoping for a non-combat class like Merchant or something. Add some speed boost for getting away faster, maybe something to boost defence and maneuvering and a passive bonus to the class for better income whether it be in general for your own ship or for your faction as a whole).

What intrigues me the most is the branching dialogue options mentioned.

I can't wait for that thing to hit early access.

[Ichthyic]

"Everything else besides the shield and power recharge I normally dump into Rift. "

the funny thing is, that isn't even the best second skill for long fights... it's the 4th skillset, with massive boosts to crit damage, and even more power generation, as well as EMP damage and shutdowns.

rifts don't move. you do. in a long protracted fight, you want to take your damage dealing with you. remember... crits don't JUST do damage (I had mine up to +200%); they have a good chance to shut down systems.

of course, like I said, once you have either your hit or to hit power generation rolling, you can dump a rift out there as well.

it's just nuts.

but really, it's more fun and more powerful long term to boost 3rd tier, then 4th tier (for just raw long term damage output).

I can keep those two skills up indefinetly when fighting any group, and usually even with any decent single ship fight (like you against a hero).

[Riktoven]

I still think engineer with a 2.0 power core ship is best. Add regen 3 enhancement to power core for a 3.0 recharge and you can run virus all the time.

I'm done capping ships, so I split my points for a 30% chance to drop sheilds on hit, 20% chance to disable enemy ship on hit, and 34% power drain per second.

The first salvo out of the guns consistently drops shields, leaves the target helpless in space so all followup shots hit, and in 3 seconds leaves everything in range with no power to work with (just in case the AI ever thinks about using a rift, or multiplayer gets introduced).

[Geek]

Originally posted by Riktoven:

The first salvo out of the guns consistently drops shields, leaves the target helpless in space so all followup shots hit, and in 3 seconds leaves everything in range with no power to work with (just in case the AI ever thinks about using a rift, or multiplayer gets introduced).

Is that draining skill power, or weapons power ?
The modifiers are rather unclear.

[Riktoven]

Drains skill POWER.

If it was weapon power, it would say BATTERY ENERGY.

[Riktoven]

Also forces cloaked ships to decloak if they get too close for 3 seconds.