Can't decide on AFT weapons

[evo4ever]

Hello all.

Im currently a level 59 KDF engineer flying a Negh'var battlecruiser. But I can't decide on what AFT weapons to use.

I use 4x AP Dual Heavy Cannons mk XIII at the front.

At the back I use:

1x Vaadwuar (tricobalt) cluster torpedo mk XIII
1x Thoron Infused Quantum torpedo mk XIII
1x AP Turret mk XII
1x Omni-directional AP Beam Array mk XII

In my bank I have:

1x AP Turret mk XII
1x Thoron Infused Polaron Turret mk XII
1x Breen cluster cluster torpedo mk XII
1x Rapid Reload transphasic torpedo mk XII
1x Borg Adapted transphasic torpedo mk XII
1x Particle Emissions Plasma torpedo mk XII

I have Fluidic AP weapons too but they can only be fitted at the front.

Is there anything you would replace? I particularly like 360degree weapons at the back for obvious reasons.

[priest865]

It is probably not the answer you were expecting but...

I'd really recommend you to use beam arrays instead of cannons. This way you can broadside enemy ships. Main reason: the turn rate of cruisers is really bad. So instead of triying to get the enemy in front of the ship you try to broadside them which is easier with the lower turn rates of cruisers.

Also With cannons you have to be nearer to the target to cause effective damage (3 k) - energy weapons lose efficiency with increasing distance. Beam weapons are more forgiving in this regard - up to 5 k distance is still efficient.

However if you still want to use Heavy cannons then use turrets. Cannon abilities like scatter volley also apply to turrets.

Regarding Torpedos: I rarely use torpedos but photon torpedos have the shortest cooldown/fire faster. In general Torpedos are only effective once you got rid of enemy shields.

[evo4ever]

So u think I should replace my heavy cannons at the front with beam cannons? and use beam arrays at the back?

[priest865]

No I would recommend beam array for front and aft. Their firing arc is 270° so you don't have to manouver your ship as much as with canons. http://sto.gamepedia.com/Ship_weapon

Here is a video for an example build for a dps engineer: https://youtu.be/8vCvhidE_5o

Although he uses a Federation ship - sam principle applies for klingons.

[evo4ever]

So ALL beam arrays then?

[priest865]

yes, but be aware that more than 6 beam arrays firing at the same time may require more weapons energy so bridge officer abilities like emergency power to weapons and Auxilary to battery may come in handy. Emergency power to weapons additionally increases the damage of energy weapons.

[evo4ever]

Thanks. That ship that guy made would take a huge amount of time and resources to acquire!

[priest865]

Thats true. He probably only chose the bet of the best. However there are some good mission rewards you can use instead of sets which require a lot of grind.

For example the solanae set : http://sto.gamepedia.com/Solanae_Hybrid_Technologies

It has structural integrity leech when you have three pieces of the set. you can get it by replaying the mission A step between stars.

With the mission "sphere of influence" you can get an omni anti proton beam array and a warp core. If you have both you do 10 % increased damage with antiproton weapons.

http://sto.gamepedia.com/Ancient_Obelisk_Technology_Set

I use both with new characters.

[virpyre]

For my FED on the Odyssey Fore Weapons I have x3 Beam Array & x1 Photon Torpedo, on the Aft Weapons I use x4 Beam Arrays.

For my KDF on the Scimitar Fore Weapons I have x4 Disruptor Dual Heavy Cannons & x1 Disruptor Quad Cannon, on the Aft Weapons I use x3 Disruptor Turrets.

[evo4ever]

I can't afford to completely over-haul my ships weapons atm. I going to stick with the cannons and turrets for now. I don't use Fluidic APs anymore, I replaced them with ordinary APs. Is there anyway of improving my ships turn rate while I save up for my new build? Don't get me wrong when im facing my enemy and when all those turrets and cannons r firing at the same time with rapid fire turned on along with emergency power to weapons, directed energy mod, critical hits, etc etc they get absolutely torn apart!

[evo4ever]

....once I fly past my enemy I trap them in warp plasma and fire a vaadwuar tricobalt cluster torpedo. When the mines hit at the same time they open black holes which inflict more damage. It even better when u trap more than one ship in plasma, watching them getting thrown about by multiple tricobalt explosions is funny!

[evo4ever]

Thanks for the advice. Yeah im pretty new and im sure ive got a lot to learn lol.

[priest865]

Originally posted by N3MES1S:

Originally posted by priest865:

Also With cannons you have to be nearer to the target to cause effective damage (3 k) - energy weapons lose efficiency with increasing distance. Beam weapons are more forgiving in this regard - up to 5 k distance is still efficient.

Its 5 km for cannons and 7km for beams. More distance than that, they start losing power. And less distance, they are more effective.

Some time ago I was searching for actual numbers. Best answer I got was from the following link. Unfortunately he did not described how he set up the target otherwise I would have tested it myself. I have to note that the numbers are from 2010 so I can't say wether the they still apply to the game.
https://theenginescannaetakeit.wordpress.com/articles-3/weapon-ranges/