Star Trek Online Ship Setup.

[JustHatched 12,123]

Getting a good setup to suit your type of ship vs the type of play that you do is critical to success.

 

To start, doing "rainbow" loadouts is a fail, meaning using various beam types for example (phaser, disrupter, plasma, etc..) doesn't work well out side of the story missions.

 

Why^^^, there is tactical consoles that benefit particular energy types and there is consoles that benefit weapon types. Energy being phaser, plasma, quantum, photon, etc.. and weapon being beam, projectile, cannon etc.... 

Of those the energy types give a higher boost than the weapon type consoles. Which energy type you choose really doesn't matter. So to give an example of a setup I use on my Bird of Prey which is solely a torpedo carrier, I have 2 forward Thoron Infused Quantum Torpedos and 2 Quantum Torpedos, in the rear 1 of each of them as well (Thoron provides a radiation perk but is otherwise a quantum torpedo) and in my tactical consoles I have 5 Zero Point Quantum Chambers, all of which boost the impact of the Quantum Torpedo. Without the consoles the torpedos hit for 5,000ish kinetic damage, with all 5 they hit for 11,000ish kinetic damage

 

So essentially pick your weapon and tailor the boosts to suit that weapon.

 

So why all torpedos? Well for that specific Bird of Prey (B'rel Retrofit) it will fire them while cloaked, no other ship in game can do that, which makes it quite lethal in PvP, works ok in PvE, sucks in story mode if I am by myself because torpedoes are hull damaging and do little against shields, so I need other ships to weaken the shields of the enemy so I can pound the hulls.

 

I also use a setup of forward cannons and beams on the BoP of missions consisting of all phaser energy type with tac consoles to boost phasers but then it has to be out of cloak which is bad because it has a weak hull. 

 

So if running missions I prefer my Duvqu Heavy Destroyer loaded with 2 rear phaser beams, 2 rear phaser turrets, 2 forward dual phasers, and 2 forward dual heavy phaser cannons. This setup is a quite more damaging if the ship is facing the target due to the firing arc of the weapons and works great in missions and PvE as the NPC ships aren't as aggressive as PvP players. For PvP loading it with 8 phaser beam arrays and taking a support role is best, Keep the enemy on the broadside so all 8 fire at the same time is the thing to do, lowering the shields for other attackers and take them out.

 

So what ship to use? Depends on how you want to play, I have flown all types in every type of play and they all seem to work in mission play pretty evenly, so IMO you should setup for PvP gameplay even if you don't play PVP then make adjustments from there as needed for you style in PvE.

 

Raiders and Raptors have the best turn rates and benefit the best from low firing arc weapons in the fore of the ship, but they have weaker hulls than the bigger ships. These seem to work best as attack craft since they are the most maneuverable and the Destroyers and Carriers benefit from beams and turrets, less damage per weapon but they have 250 to 360 degree firing arcs so you can fire more weapons at once.

Science and Engineering consoles - These basically used for boosting your shields, hull, and giving resistance to types of damage. For my BoP I have consoles to boost hull regeneration since there is no sheilds while cloaked, my Destroyer favors shields over hull.

Be aware, hull/shield regeneration is different and restoration, regeneration is an auto health rebuild over time, restoration is how much it will boost the effects of Engineering Team 1,2,or 3 and Science Team 1,2, or 3 or other hot key quick fixes. I prefer regeneration... but to each their own.

 

If doing support role then you should be hot keying things like Extend Shields or other perks which targets you and a friend/teamate and keeping a bit of distance from the fight (not out of it but some room so enemy targets the closer attack ship), keep those beams on the broadside, using beam overload or fire at will to get the most of them.

 

Attackers need to hot key things that boost their firepower and maneuverability, I find Polorize Hull works well cuz tractor beams cant lock on to you and gives some extra damage resistance.

 

[JustHatched 12,123]

Updated the OP