Consoles: Damage vs Penetration

[Eggy]

So, I now have more consoles than I can slot. Should I go with the one that offers a damage boost, or the one that offers a nearly equivalent pen boost?

[Grendel_the_Wise]

I would say the Pen boost. It seems to always change in the game to what is better than the next.

[NIkto Barada]

what evers lower atm. dam boosts in space from consoles seem to stack though.
so please yourself since pen doesnt increase % wise which would be interesting with higher enemy res.
oh outa curiosity? whats the damage boost for and is pen for weapons only?
sci boff abilities are calling.

[Eggy]

NIkto Barada の投稿を引用：

what evers lower atm. dam boosts in space from consoles seem to stack though.
so please yourself since pen doesnt increase % wise which would be interesting with higher enemy res.
oh outa curiosity? whats the damage boost for and is pen for weapons only?
sci boff abilities are calling.

It's an AP build. I believe the PEN boost is for energy weapons only.

[Eggy]

Eggy の投稿を引用：

NIkto Barada の投稿を引用：

what evers lower atm. dam boosts in space from consoles seem to stack though.
so please yourself since pen doesnt increase % wise which would be interesting with higher enemy res.
oh outa curiosity? whats the damage boost for and is pen for weapons only?
sci boff abilities are calling.

It's an AP build. I believe the PEN boost is for energy weapons only.

OK, I stand erect. I just checked my consoles and the PEN boost does not specify energy weapons on any of them, just "weapons".

I ultimately decided to swap out one of my remaining armor consoles. We'll see how THAT works out over the long run. If all of the AP consoles stack, then I should be running around 200% over base damage levels.

[Maj_Cyric]

The "Pen" stat comes down to being a "silent" CritD stat when you do all the behind the "scene" math regarding the target ship's Armor and resistance etc etc ..
Both the Pen & CritD stat will in the end of the Damage number total that gets dealt comes the same amount of damage if you.. This was studied long ago by the players of the STO "DPS League"..

The Tactical Consoles you'll 'want' to slot would mainly depend on what weapons you're using (dmg type and what rolled bonus stats they have at Mk XV).. Other consoles used, plus what Starship/Space traits you have that are active..

I will say though, that the Tact Console you're gonna 'want' to get/use are bought from the Fleet Store..
The Elite Fleet Vulnerability Exploiters for boosting CritD + Wpn 'X' type Dmg (Used when you have combos of "stuff and things" that can boost your base CritH%..

Like in the way back 'times', A player used to be able to use the "Q OP" build using full CritD stat Dual Beams (5 of them in the front) plus a stack of 4 Epic Elite Fleet Vul Exploiters Slotted + the Starship trait "Superweapon Ingenuity", and Tactical Boff with a seat that can slot the Beam Overload III Ability, + the Trait "Emergency Weapon Cycle" to counter the added Power draw Beam Over III uses + a 20% boost to RoF (plus a number of other hard to get/afford "gimmicks" in the build for moar Dmg/CritD, like a 2 piece set with a Dynamic Power Redistributor Module console).. About every 30 seconds, that build would remove anything in the frontal firing arcs from the timeline with a single hit..
I also remember back when I used to use the above "OP" build, it also came with a 100% Crit chance.. It was "nerfed" from the timeline though.. I still use the Lobi Overcharged Delphic AP Dual Beam Bank in my AP Beam build.. Anywho, I digress..

Elite Fleet Vulnerability Exploiters gives 1/4's of the stats towards CritD and 3/4 to the Dmg type that you pick.. (can be bought at the Fleet Spire)
Flip side of the coin..
Elite Fleet Vulnerability Locators... Same as Exploiters, only they give CritH % plus Dmg..

You'll also more than likely want to "mix & match", or run a Pure CritH% Locators for more consistent Crit Hits and use other sources for the CritD bonus (a CritD build requires collecting a lot of "rare" EC pricey things to work consistently enough to be worth using (buying Zen ships just for the Console or Trait etc)..

Also there is Fleet Colony Kinetic Protomatter Matrix Infuser console that can be mixed in, which Exploit/Vul consoles for some 'added' tankiness (A 25% "chance for a proc hull/shield healing..

[Maj_Cyric]

Eggy の投稿を引用：

I ultimately decided to swap out one of my remaining armor consoles. We'll see how THAT works out over the long run. If all of the AP consoles stack, then I should be running around 200% over base damage levels.

Correct, Tactical Consoles that give Dmg/CritD/CritH% aren't "diluted" (stat saturation nerfed) like Engineer Armor/Resistance stat bonus Consoles etc, that each one after the first gives less and less of what the displayed number(s) are..

Just also do keep in mind when it comes to looking at what your Console(s) are giving your ship stat bonuses, when not in space, they aren't going to be shown (displayed on your ship card).. And also in space, there are two sets of bonus stats that will be displayed.. The passive applied buff stats that you can easily see when flying in your ship (still some are "hidden").. the 2nd set of "hidden" ship stats not being displayed won't be displayed until your ship is at Red Alert (in combat).. Only when you're In combat will all the bonuses from your consoles, traits, carpeting and plant on your Ready room desk etc etc, your ship gets will be displayed on your ship stat info tab..

Anywho, If I recall how STO handles Armor/Resist stacking is that the first console (might also be the console with the highest stat bonus) gets the full displayed bonus applied, the next console would then only give you "X" % of what it displays of the the applied 1st console's bonus..
So if you had two consoles that gave say, +65% Resist to "X".. the 1st console would give the 65% resist to X.. the 2nd console would only give 65% of what the 1st is giving.. and a 3rd would give "X"% of what the lesser amount that the 2nd console was reduced(nerfed) to giving..

[Eggy]

Maj_Cyric の投稿を引用：

Eggy の投稿を引用：

I ultimately decided to swap out one of my remaining armor consoles. We'll see how THAT works out over the long run. If all of the AP consoles stack, then I should be running around 200% over base damage levels.

Correct, Tactical Consoles that give Dmg/CritD/CritH% aren't "diluted" (stat saturation nerfed) like Engineer Armor/Resistance stat bonus Consoles etc, that each one after the first gives less and less of what the displayed number(s) are..

Just also do keep in mind when it comes to looking at what your Console(s) are giving your ship stat bonuses, when not in space, they aren't going to be shown (displayed on your ship card).. And also in space, there are two sets of bonus stats that will be displayed.. The passive applied buff stats that you can easily see when flying in your ship (still some are "hidden").. the 2nd set of "hidden" ship stats not being displayed won't be displayed until your ship is at Red Alert (in combat).. Only when you're In combat will all the bonuses from your consoles, traits, carpeting and plant on your Ready room desk etc etc, your ship gets will be displayed on your ship stat info tab..

Anywho, If I recall how STO handles Armor/Resist stacking is that the first console (might also be the console with the highest stat bonus) gets the full displayed bonus applied, the next console would then only give you "X" % of what it displays of the the applied 1st console's bonus..
So if you had two consoles that gave say, +65% Resist to "X".. the 1st console would give the 65% resist to X.. the 2nd console would only give 65% of what the 1st is giving.. and a 3rd would give "X"% of what the lesser amount that the 2nd console was reduced(nerfed) to giving..

Yes, the inability to determine the actual, in-battle stats is a real PITA. I had also slotted the Reflective Crystalline Shielding console, so that certainly helps to make up the difference ... and it's also kinda, sorta offensive.

[Maj_Cyric]

Best way to view your ship's complete combat stats on the info card, is to go to a space zone that isn't hard lvl capped.. Space zones like the Contested Voth Space Battlezone is hard lvl 50 capped.. Badlands Battlezone is lvl 60.. Hard lvl capped zones brings every player in that zone either down or up to whatever the lvl cap is (you can see it in the top left corner).

If I recall you really just need be in a non level capped space zone like a Faction home world system space, or the "DSync9" station before beaming off your ship..

I don't recall what all the cmder/boff abilities/skills can be used outside of combat to trigger a 'RA' off hand.. But something that effects the stats and or Hull HP of your ship like "Ramming Speed" if you have the trait that ignores the requirement that your ship has 50% or less hull points to use.. or "Brace 4 Impact" I think might trigger your ship into Red Alert status (whatever you use it will have a shorter duration time than how long the Red Alert status takes to end (I think it's 20 or 30 seconds of idle no combat actions).. Plenty of time to take screenshots of your displayed ship's combat stats..

I Also recall that replayed story missions will scale up to your level.. Like one that is a lvl 54 mission, will scale up to lvl 65 when replayed again at lvl 65.. Allowing players a means & way of "earning" Mk XII loot drops outside of TFOs..

I'd farm the "Argala System Patrol", "Borg Battlefield Patrol" in the Delta Quad, & the Herald Story Mission "Midnight" (warpping out when the Annorax comes) for quick and easy Mk XII weapon/equipment drops for crafting salvage to use when I craft Epic Mk XV weapons sets and equipment.. Re-engineering(rerolling) a 6 set of Epic Mk XV weapons to have matching stats that someone wants will eat through crafting salvage hella fast if RNGesus isn't smiling on you..
I "counter" the bad crafting RNG rolls though, by also playing Dabo while crafting.. Placing 100k to 1mil GPL bets on the Dabo table while crafting.. Lolz
Which has ZERO impact on any crafting RNG rolls.. It does help pass the time and lowers any boredom that builds up from how long it can take to craft 6 Very Rare Mk II ship weapons into 6 Epic Mk XV with matching stats the buyer wants)..