Weapon Power consumption

[C0DEx]

Hi there.
I have a problem regarding this topic and it seems like I cant find an answer using google or the wiki.

My ship's weapon power is always at 125 base. I'm using 8 weapons which use 10 power each while firing.
I have some questions now.

1. Is this power consumed or returned after the weapon fired? I think its returned but I wanna be sure.
2. In theory, with all 8 guns firing, my power level should drop to 45. It sometimes hits 5, even when (it feels like) I'm not beeing targeted by enemies abilities. Does this make sense?
3. I know there are some components that give reduced weapon power usage. I had one installed, but I dont remember what it was. I googled and tried to use the wiki but I couldnt find anything like a list of components that offer this bonus. Could anyone provide that info?
4. If there are any tricks on how to keep the power up (no battery spamming) even with this amount of guns please tell me. I thought of removing the rear turrets but I'm not sure if that would make much sense, since my front guns gain damage but I would lose the rear guns damage output.

Thanks!

[Dave of Infamy]

1) yes it is returned

2)not usre what you are on about make sure you are using all same weapon beam/cannon types that reduces power cost also if you are using a ship that has a energy weapon command you can reduce the power cost of your weapons

3)there are some items that will reduce the power usage of weapons off top of my head i cant think of any maybe lobi items will have that trait or fleet consoles

4) try adding a front facing torpedo that should reduce the power ouput of one cannon/beam apart from that all you can do is make sure steps i mentioned in answer no 2.
Check your space traits make sure you are getting the best use of them and check the wiki for ones for the weapon types you are using as the more damage yo do the less power you are using in a prolonged attack also i believe the terran warp core from the reputation tree gives you an ability that can pump your weapon power output to over 125 in combat may be worth checking in to that

hope that helps im sure if i missed something or got something wrong some1 will correct me later in this post :P

[Vexlanei]

The Wiki lacks some keywords that makes finding some things extremely difficult, and Reddit is a mess in general. More to the point and to answer your questions:

1. The power is returned. When you fire, you'll see part of your Weapon Power turn gray, showing that it was used to fire weapons. It will build back up over time--how fast exactly depends on your overall Power Transfer Rate.

2. This actually ties into the previous question. If your Power Transfer Rate is low enough, you don't fully restore your Weapon Power level to 125 before firing again. 5 Power is the absolute minimum, so you're actually bottoming out your power. This is bad, as it means many if not most of your firing cycles aren't doing "full" damage. When you fire an Energy Weapon, the damage scales to your CURRENT Weapon Power level, not your SET power level. A weapon fired at 125 Weapon Power does significantly more than a weapon fired at 60 Weapon Power.

3. I don't think there's a compiled list of all components that offer Weapon Power Cost reductions, but I know of a few: Deuterium-Stabilized Warp Core, Morphogenic Matrix Controller, Priors World Elite Defense Satellite, Fleet Plasma-Integrated Warp Cores. There's also Traits that can help manage Weapon Power Cost, and Cruiser-class ships have the Weapon System Efficiency Command that you can toggle for more reductions. There's also some Rep sets that offer reductions for having two or more pieces of the set.

Try looking through these search results: https://sto.gamepedia.com/index.php?search=Weapon+Power+Cost&title=Special:Search&go=Go&searchToken=bts4uvmyterkt6xmqieojuvzd

4. Absolutely focus on getting a decent Power Transfer Rate and two or more Weapon Power Cost reductions. A very good option is the Fleet Plasma-Integrated Warp Cores, as they offer both on a single component. You can get both stats to a high enough number that it's possible to fire eight beam weapons at once, and still maintain 80-90 Weapon Power. With the Power Transfer Rate, you'll regenerate your power faster than you can begin your next firing cycle.

Also, save up Dilithium and/or buy the Arbiter/Kurak/Morrigu Battle Cruiser (depending on your faction). The ship Trait is still one of the best in the game, as it applies a 30-second 50% reduction to Weapon Power Cost and an increased 20% Firing Cycle Haste for Energy Weapons whenever you use the Emergency Power to Weapons BOFF ability.

[Running-Target]

Install the best gear you can get: Plasma Distribution Manifold, Deuterium Stabilized Warp Core, EPS Flow Regulator.
Look at your traits and space skills build, maybe reset your tree.
Using Auxiliary to Battery and Emergency Power to Weapons boff powers.

Read here > https://www.stonewallgaming.net/forums/threads/44839-weapons-power-drain-and-increasing-damage-guide-for-advanced-players#scroll=70375

https://www.startrekvixens.com/mobile/forum/viewthread/m/27120570/id/25729922-some-general-tips-to-increase-your-firepower

https://guidescroll.com/2011/09/star-trek-online-weapon-power-and-multiple-weapon-damage-scaling-guide/

https://www.sto-league.com/startrekonline-dps-basics/

[C0DEx]

Thanks for the answers, I'll check the links too!

[GRIM REAPER]

I know it's been a while since you posted this question, but, I was having the same problem which is how I came across this post. Today is 09/03/2020 & I couldn't find any other info on the power drain issues I was having on either the STO Wiki & Google other than your post & 1 YouTube video by a player whos ID is Teacher Kirby who did a good video on this at

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yg51jEh_9g4

titled Star Trek Online - Teacher's Corner - Emergency Weapon Cycle Ship Trait

which shows how to cut your power consumption by -50% Weapon Power Cost for 30 sec & adds a 20% Firing Cycle Haste for Energy Weapons for 30 sec.

This is done continuously by using the Starship Trait: Emergency Weapon Cycle which is not free, comes from the Zen Store ship Arbiter Battlecruiser for 3,000 Zen under the name Arbiter Class Battlecruiser. This ship can be purchased individually, or as part of the Cross Faction Battlecruiser Bundle [T6] for 6,000 Zen but worth it. I personally bought the set since I play all factions.

Anyway, the way you keep it up constantly is by using to copies of the Emergency Power to Weapons, you only have to use 1 copy but by using 2 copies it cause the one being used to go into a 30 second cooldown otherwise if only using one copy you have to wait 45 seconds to use it again. By using 2 copies of Emergency Power to Weapons one copy only has a 30 second cooldown which is how long the trait reduces your power consumption, so when you trait finishes after 30 seconds it can immediately start because the cooldown period of the 2nd copy of Emergency Power to Weapons is also ready which gives you a continuous use of the 50% power reduction. At the same time you get 20% Firing Cycle Haste for Energy Weapons for 30 seconds from the trait which is also continuous because of the 2 copies of the Emergency Power to Weapons This has helped me a lot with needed power, Now I just need to know if this will stack with the other suggestions that others have made to this post. If you decide to try this REMEMBER this trait will ONLYWORK if you are running a mandatory limit of 1 copy of Emergency Power to Weapons, but it takes 2 copies to keep it up 99.999% of the time, I won't say 100% of the time because nothing is ever 100% especially since the process is one runs for 30 seconds, then quits, then the second copy of Emergency Power to Weapons kicks in which probably takes what a second.

I love Star Trek, I'm glad I finally found a Star Trek game & one I like to play, but, as a new player, this is not an easy game to learn. I spend at least 75% of my time constantly trying to look up information about a decision I need to make because one change or 1 omission or mismatched combination can screw you up majorly & the game doesn't explain any of this. I'll be glad when I get just one Captain, Ship Build, Bridge Officers, Away Team & the Duty Officers all correctly matched so I can start enjoying the game. As A Disabled Army vet on a VA check, this is an extremely hard thing to do because it can be very costly to achieve as I'm finding out. & researching things on Google, Reddit, STO Wiki & YouTube isn't much help because when you think you found the answer you either find that the posts left out the fact that you need to buy stuff &/or get it through the Reputation system &/or the info is wrong which you can usually tell by all the people who reply to the post about how wrong the posted info is or the info that I do find is either outdated &/or just for either console or just for PC.

Anyway I hope this helps.

Also if anyone knows, please let me know by responding as to whether or not using this option of the Starship Trait Emergency Weapon Cycle & Using 2 copies of Emergency Power to Weapons on the Engineering Bridge Officers will stack with other sources of power reduction such as the Morphogenic Matrix Controller, Priors World Elite Defense Satellite, Fleet Plasma-Integrated Warp Cores, Rep sets and any other consoles that offer power reduction & if any conflict with each other because I have seen a couple things that say they don't stack.