Which is better? Beams or Cannons

[Mattyxp]

Which would be better for high DPS builds cannons or beams?

[Vellari]

Cannons, all though it is easier to sustain damage with beams (particularly dual heavy cannons have very narrow firing arc).

[The Arkady]

It really depends on how well you can handle the STO piloting. DHC boats can melt stuff in no time, but a lot of people seem to find sustained dps in TFOs easier to keep up with a beam boat.

Add to that beam cruisers are a lot more durable than raider/escort glass cannons, I'm pretty unsurprised more people go beams.

[Mattyxp]

I myself have been floating with disruptor and AP beams on my miracle class but I thought about doing a straight up cannon set to see

[Ordinary Dark]

beams do max dmg at 1km or closer while canons do at 2km or closer
(ik barely anyone even knwos about dmg loss over range)

but canons dmg loss over range scales down harder than beams

but since u use canons in fast turny ships anyway mostly...


long storys short: if u are a good pilot canons do more dmg
with beams its easier

with canons u are also more vournable to CC
goes with CC urself liek gravety well to have all enemys in front of u

beams dont care...just bfaw and be in the middle of all enemys

[Mattyxp]

makes sense. I didn't even know about the range part.

[Ghost]

Originally posted by Mattyxp:

makes sense. I didn't even know about the range part.

If u check through the skills u will find a long range senser skill to aid this.

[ImperatorPavel]

Originally posted by Scrooge:

beams do max dmg at 1km or closer while canons do at 2km or closer
(ik barely anyone even knwos about dmg loss over range)

but canons dmg loss over range scales down harder than beams

but since u use canons in fast turny ships anyway mostly...


long storys short: if u are a good pilot canons do more dmg
with beams its easier

with canons u are also more vournable to CC
goes with CC urself liek gravety well to have all enemys in front of u

beams dont care...just bfaw and be in the middle of all enemys

I thought damage loss over range was the same for all weapon types as of season 13? Not sure exactly though.

[StupidNameHere]

Torp boat.

[Teratus]

I'm no expert but i'd say canons..

I've built a sort of glass canon style Escort with 3 Duel Heavy antiproton canons and a Torpedo launcher on the front and nothing but anti proton turrets on the back.

Admittedly my damage while side on and flying away from my target is abysmal.. but when i'm coming in head on with self buffs and rapid fire my ship just p***es canonfire like no tomorrow XD
It is a lot of fun to just obliterate many things.. some things loose their shield facing and about 70-80% of their hull before I even fire a second hellfire on them ^^

My ship is only a T5 though and my equipment is not maxed out either so there is still more damage I can get from better canons and a better ship as well as more defence and better shields so I do die a lot on some missions and get stuck at times.

But that's what having a backup beam based Sovereign tank is for right ^^

[Sandormen]

My maintoon (SCI), flying a cardassian science dreadnought, uses science to take down shields, then using a mix of disruptor beams and torps to blow things to smithereens.
Oldtoon (ENG), flying a phantom intel escort blast things to pieces using mainly antiproton beams. (From the time where AP was King of Beams) (Still works very well).

What is best... ...Meh... Things explodes so fast, there is little time to worry.

[Maj_Cyric]

Depends on the ship + your traits/consoles... If it's a 4/4 slot ship that turns like a brick, then beams... a 5/3 or 5/2 ship and can turn and stop on or nearly on a dime, then DHC.. That 5th forward weapon slot makes the forward arc hit harder and for more which is better for BnZ tactics.. Plus Cannon's have a base CritD for being cannons, and AP also have a base CritD for being AP...

[StupidNameHere]

Never lost to someone using cannons.

Was used to mop a poop covered chevron bathroom, face first, by beam boats.

[sissyfuzz]

if you want to get serious about dps builds, you are cordially invited to our fleet
ingame mail @sissyfuzz
we have some toplist dps-leagers in our armada,

when you look at the current meta (edging towards 1000 dps ISA) cannons CSV does outperform Beams FAW by an inch - but that's talking *god* level dps :D.
in principle, what others here have said: bit of a matter of preference and/or variety.
to get really good dps from cannons in competitive PvE, you do need to be a bit of a better pilot compared to beams. it's somewhat down to your preference and skills which will be better for you, both can be done.
note that weapon type and quality are just a small part of what contributes to your final dps.
personally, I'm not a good pilot, so i do more dps in beams - but i fly a lot of cannon boats cuz its just fun. I have even more fun on sci, which doesnt care a whole lot about energy weapons.:)

how are you parsing your current dps?

[StupidNameHere]

This guy is lying. Beam boats are not fun. They are boring.

Unless he prefers to let his brain go afk.

[WolfTooth]

I really like Dual Heavy Cannons. kinda wish i had made a Klingon Tac instead of a KDF engineer though. Sometimes its hard to get a cruiser into firing position with the Cannons :P