Woot i've officially made it to Verb status lols. Mobility, Old Meta, Full Survival, Darkblade. made me laugh with that one a bit. "yeah jim we don't know how he does what he does we just know that he does it." Much appreciated for the shout out good sir.
Thank you for this video, it's very, very appreciated!! I've sat with my skills all unset on all my characters since the first update a while back invalidated them. I spent a bunch of time reading and trying to pick but just couldn't decide. I think you give enough explanation and samples that I will be able to go ahead and set up my skill tree's and feel ok about my choices!
Yeah, that trait is probably the biggest argument for wanting to get more Shield Capacity at the moment in STO. It was a strong contender for me to include in the starship traits list for this video. The same problem with that trait is the same with other "defeating a foe" traits for tanks -- as a tank, you are less likely than your more dps-oriented allies to do the final blow and get the trait to reliably proc the healing. When fighting groups of enemies, it is a bit more likely for this shield heal to go off. Still, a filler trait for a roughly easy 15% Cat2 dmg if you don't care about the shield healing isn't a terrible trait either. The FOMO aspect of the trait was what ultimately took it off the list.
Thanks so much love your vids always so informative main reason I stayed playing after starting back up from a 8 year break outstanding work thanks again for this
With the Temporal Operative specialization, the 4th tier DOES add something even with threatening stance on. Sure teleport and threat wipe doesn't work, but the automatic heal still does (scales with hull and shield healing). It's a pseudo miraculous repairs that heals you when you suddenly take a burst of damage as a tank.
Great job on the video, I know it’s long but it’s worth it. I found this video worth the length as I could quickly go to specific time to view as I was tweaking my ship and captain, the breakdown of the captain traits was well worth it as result of that I have readjusted my build and it has made big improvement Thanks the for the all the hard work you put in to this video
The list of things which are misunderstood/accidentally misleading here: - Shield Capacity - One point slotted will result in a good bonus to damage mitigation if combined with EPTS, shield regen and shield resistance. Calling it useless or non-useful is misleading at best. - Defensive Maneuvering - You don't wanna slot anything over there. You want to get hit. Getting different reflection skills adds up to that threat - which helps you keeping that threat. Getting hit procs Improved Feedback Pulse and Attack Pattern Delta (improved version) - which some tanks use to maintain threat or buff themselves in the middle of the fight. - Hull Plating - one point won't hurt for +12 DRR, including kinetic. It's more of a left-over/overflow slotting, but it's the sole "not red" thing in the engineering section. But you could go on just fine without it slotted. - The Coordination Protocols are to be slotted on any build to synergy-up with your teammates, as well as making any pets worth even launching. Same thing goes with the Team Frenzy. - You need to slot at least 25 Tactical skill nodes for Team Frenzy, so the answers are pretty obvious (avoid Defensive maneuvering) - Specialization for a tank whilst using a torpedo is Miracle Worker + Command (assuming all of your team is also using torpedoes and Intelligence/Temporal specialization) - You do dps, but you have a synergic/support/empower role to the team - The cooldown is Aux2Batt due to Coldhearted trait which spreads beautifully with FAW and TS (You're here to enable the dps glass tanks) - Starship Traits: EWC, Coldhearted, History Will Remember, Improved Feedback Pulse and a optional 5th/6th of your choice (I'd recommend Honored Dead/Calm Before the Storm and Superior Area Denial) - The most obvious tank to use as a dps-oriented tank is DEW - FAW + TS (2 or 3 piece Lorca comes to mind) - Protomatter tactical consoles (Only one or two slotted) - The proc is reliable with two, but also works wonders with one. Losing CrtH means losing threat, so you don't wanna draw away from that) - The most popular choices are Flagships (FED/KDF) and the Chronos Class Cruiser (C Store). The Vengeance can be made to work with this, but the Flagship Set is hard to beat, especially since the clickies are amazing. Great video and nice work. Most of the stuff is solid theoretics. Thumbs up and a happy new year!
As always, your videos are still the most helpful based on how I play the game. Also, FYI, the link to Timberwolf's video no longer is available (I think he's gone dark across all social media).
I totally agree I recommend this channel as a matter of course to every player that joins the fleet. There is simply no better way to get over the steep learning curve of sto than watching CY's videos. As for this video it is a masterpiece, I have watched it numerous times and learn something new every time the info is second to none and my tank builds have benefited immensely from it. More power to CY he knows this game inside out and shares his knowledge in a very down to earth way that anyone can understand.
For fun I maxed out shield hardness + HP + regen on my science build. Those shields never go down. Bleed through does kill the ship with astounding frequency with shields up full if it starts drawing threat. I can confirm shields are not useful in tanking.
Thanks for the work you put in your vids, stumbling across your channel around Last christmas 😂, sorry couldn't let that one pass, has brought me back to the game after quiting two years earlier encountering that midgame hump as a new player, that vadwauur missions 🤬 when one hasn' t a clue! But your budget builds, awayteam, and bridgeofficer abilities vids have made it possible for me to overcome that hump, and make it to the endgame, where your budget builds 2020 have been my baseline eversince! Thanks to you and timberwolfs Intel report vids the game has transformed from a headache to my favorite pasttime in this trying times! So thanks again, happy holidays, and stay Safe!
Well it took 2 Days, but I made it through the video. Even as a well season veteran that has a multitude of builds. There was ALOT of great info in here. Well done sir.👍 On a side note I've recently started a High End Bu'al AP - Tank build on a Legendary Odyssey, and I'm really loving it so far. Almost more that my Legendary Galaxy Angony Phaser Tank build......almost.🙂
Very Cold in Space kit modules if you are doing exotic space magic. Frosted Boots is always a decent ground device for most ground TFO's Science captains in ground will find Endothermic Induction Field generally useful for most missions. Cryothermic Armor is also a great science kit module -- pretty much is a TempHP version of Medical Tricorder (but is less spammable & lasts longer).
The visuals on the deflector, engines, & shield are really cool, and are free if you play through the Breen arc -- and worth playing through if you want that space barbie (but not tied to winter event). The warp/singularity core doesn't give visuals, so I don't really ever go for it. Other science sets just outpace it in today's STO. If you want an EPS warp/singularity core, the Elite Fleet Warp/Singularity cores are the way to go.
No plans on doing so. I can make decent dps builds, but I'm not someone that knows all of the intricacies of the various types of dps builds out there (I'd be pretty much just copying from other sources in STO, and I want to be able to add to what is out there instead of just repeating it). And I have no current interest in doing a nanny build guide.
It is all based on personal preferences on what you may want or need in your build. The big thing is to make sure you can gain enough threat (via damage & threat enhancers) to get hit the most in your team, and to make sure you have enough survival in your build to not die through all of those attacks on your starship. Knowing what specific space maps and difficulty also are components to consider, as tanking builds in ISA/HSA vs ISE/HSE vs DGE vs Korfez all have differences in their approaches. The principles in the Budget Builds: 2020 Edition video should get you started for cheap things to add to build a starship, then go back to this video on some of my suggestions on what to add from there to make a good tanking build. If you want specific suggestions for your build, feel free to ask specifically what you are looking for that isn't clear in my videos.
Aux-to-SIF and Aux-to-Damp don't mess with your power levels. It's Aux-to-Battery that messes with your power levels (Aux-to-Batt used primarily for the cooldowns with duty officers, not for the power levels).
@@CounterYoloGaming Thanks. Over the past year and a half, you have greatly helped me enjoy this game. This time I say to you, enjoy the rest of your day.
The last I checked, it is a weaker version of Honored Dead (same regen, but less DRR for some extra CritH at the beginning of combat), but does trigger from crits instead of post-resistance damage, so it would work on builds that already have a lot of TempHP. There are better hull regen traits (including FED-account unlocked versions via the Legendary Bundle), so you have to really want the DRR from the trait for it to be worth it. People normally buy the Ba'ul vessel for its clickie console over anything else (and the console is only good really in ISE as long as only one player has that clickie console in your group); if you are going antiproton to tank and are only going to play ISE in your build, the trait isn't bad as a bonus for your build. I'd probably rate it as a situational trait, because the Risian Corvette's trait is similar DRR that is account-unlockable via Mudd's Market.
Would you please explain why shield capacity should not be slotted. I had a difficult time understanding that in the video. I have read the other comments on shields and they did not help. Your videos are some of the best education for Star Trek Online. By the way, I have a science-torp build. Thanks again.
I can certainly try, though watching Darkblade’s video on the tanking spectrum will do it better justice honestly. After writing this, and the other comments here, this might actually deserve a separate video discussion honestly. (1) When it comes to the 3 aspects of tanking, increasing shield capacity is in the category of Damage Negation. We want more #’s here to be able to survive the occasional spike damage in STO. In order for higher shield capacity to matter though, we have to be able to consistently KEEP that higher shield capacity for it to matter when that spike dmg occurs. That is the biggest issue with shield capacity right now. There are a lot of proc & things in STO that give you an increased % of hull regen that is based on your maximum hull (HP). Because increasing your MaxHP gives you more passive regeneration (and Tyler’s Duality now allows it to give you more dps as well), you are highly incentivized and rewarded for it. Are you rewarded with any good proc’s that increase your base shield regen in STO? Not really. The skill tree and your shield power levels help a little with your base shield regen, but that’s about it. Most of the other shield heal proc’s in STO don’t scale with your max shields. Even my favorite subtype, piezo-polaron, isn’t a shield regen increase that is based on %MaxShields (even though that’s exactly how the hull regen proc of it works). As thus, in order to actually justify more shield capacity, you have to go into the math of your starship in terms of how much shield regen you have - and what you can realistically sustain with your passive regen in elite content. And that gets really complicated really quickly. I normally tank by feel instead of the hard numbers, but it almost never really feels good to invest in more shield capacity honestly for the majority of tanks I have used. When you look at the great things to pair with higher shields (like the Automated Shield Alignment starship trait), you start to realize that extra shield capacity isn’t actually helping those traits all that much on the dps side of things. To actually justify more shield capacity, you have to have the following occur: (1) You have ample passive shield regeneration, to the point that you can afford to have more shield capacity and still be able to keep your shields up 90%+ during your fights. If you fight the Borg, expect to lose your shield entirely from shield drains. Even the engineering captain’s drain resist ability doesn’t stop Borg drains in elite difficulty. (2) You are still struggling with the extreme spike damage from certain enemies that isn’t shield-bypassing damage. We don’t have any traits right now in STO that redirect damage that bypassed a shield back into your shields. Something simple like that would make shields great and incentivize building starships like how you see in the shows (ships blowing up when shields go down) (3) The spike damage struggles is just enough that it is going through your TempHP & TempShielding, but something like extra shield capacity would stop those one-shots (4) These one-shot occurrences have to be frequent enough or severe enough that traits like Honored Dead, Rhythmic Rumble, or Invincible are wasted, but still close enough to surviving that a little extra max shields would have made the difference. Justifying increased shield capacity is a niche situation upon a niche situation upon a niche situation. It’s so hard to justify that I just don’t bother really trying anymore. It technically should be a white situational color instead of red, but I just consider it too niche to worry about. Most tanks in STO hull-tank because of the issues with shield regen vs shield capacity, combined with the sources of shield-bypassing damage that is annoying to deal with (making it so that you have to have a durable hull either way). Most tanks I talk to that use Automated Shield Alignment just use it as a filler +15% Cat2 all damage starship trait (as a filler while going for better traits) instead of using it for the shield healing aspect. If you want to shield-tank, that’s a trait you want to use if you have access to it - probably better on a CSV tank so it’s easier to get the last hit and get the shield heal proc from it that scales with MaxShields. I might show a build at the end of a later video as an example of how this could work.
I see. In other words, we lack resources to improve the rate of shield regeneration that we have with hull capacity. Therefore, as you said, we only need to increase shield capacity for spikes. Thanks. Now, this makes sense. I suppose, as a corollary, personal ground shields are only worthwhile if they regenerate fast enough as well.
The Legendary Sovereign in this video is close to the Legendary Excelsior in seating. You should be able to just adjust the build a little to your starship.
how viable is engineer for tanking elites vs tac? really dont want to reroll but i dont want to buy any lockbox/lobi ships on my main if tac would be a lot better.
Before I get into the question, keep in mind that you don't need any lockbox/lobi starships to tank in elite content in STO. Most strong tanking platforms have account-unlockable or fleet alternatives that are about as good, and most of the strong tanking traits are from the C-Store anyways. Granted that having the DPRM console is a nice survival clickie console to have as a tank (though not necessary), and lobi store consoles like Bioneural Infusion Circuits and Altamid Modified Swarm Processor are common damage consoles to fill out your non-tactical console slots. All professions are viable for tanking -- it just depends on what you want the most out of your profession for how you want to build and how you are measuring "viable" or "better" for tanking. Tactical captains give the most damage potential for all types of builds (including tanking) but doesn't offer any extra survival abilities (so you need your traits & consoles to shore all of that up -- most example tank builds out there are dps players making a tank build, so their preference will always be this). Science captains have some damage abilities, but are really the best for debuffing & weakening enemies; Subnucleonic Beam is my favorite ability honestly from them [and at least one teammate should be a science captain for HSE's Borg Octahedron to counter its OP feedback pulse], which is why this profession is my personal recommendation for tanking to players (plus their ground builds are super easy AoE builds). Engineering has some extra damage for energy-based tanks, but their one real saving grace is their Miraculous Repairs ability that functions as an extra survival clickie ability for your build that doesn't require a console slot. There are a decent amount of survival clickie consoles in STO (though most aren't as easily accessible), so super veteran players don't value engineers as much as the others.
Yeah! Keep telling them that. I use TO/DrainX. Nothing is like watching someone go from 100 to 0% in 5 seconds. If I have to PvP for the engine then I want the science captains to have a easy time at it. They can just suck it up on the points at the Admiral level in my skill tree as most are pugs. As am not specing for them! Am specing for me and my play style, survival, threat, DPS, etc. If it was a fleet ran deal, I would think about it. Normally, I don't have any points at all at that level.
Miracle worker starships -- starships that have their commander seat have the miracle worker specialization. This gives those ships an extra universal console, which gives dps-oriented builds an extra tactical console & edge vs other builds for damage.
When I talk about a "flagship" in STO, I am referring to any T5/T6 starship that can use the Flagship Console Set (beyond the timeline stabilizer console). sto.fandom.com/wiki/Flagship_Technologies_Console_Set
This is an MMO after all that needs to make money. If you want the best stuff in the game, it will either cost time, or a little less time with money invested. See my budget builds 2020 edition video for builds good enough for advanced content that don't involve the player exchange nor C-Store.
It means that with point investments in the Shield Capacity section of the skilltree, you can get an extra 15% to 30% extra shields, depending on how many points you invest (+15% capacity for 1 pt, +30% capacity for all 3 points). I highly discourage investing in Shield Capacity honestly -- other aspects just give you more meaningful benefits for your skilltree point investment.
I'm not sure what you mean by scheme, but I talk about my opinions on the strengths of every aspect of the skilltree, and give 3 example skilltree setups for standard energy builds and 3 example setups for exotic-oriented builds
Saw this and wanted to point out A Good Day to Die doesnt work with Go Down Fighting. It will activate but wont actually give you the damage bonus. There is no reason at all to be running a Tac toon.
Yes it can. I have a really strong bias with exotic tanking to have access to both Reverse Shield Polarity & Aux-to-SIF on them, but you can tank on it with just RSP1 on the ship with its stats (if you use Rally Point Marker for a good Lt hull heal).
Exotic damage is often either physical or radiation damage. Look up u/eph289 on reddit's r/stobuilds for his LONG series on exotics for a deep dive into how it works with math.
Assimilated is much better on advanced difficulty than most plasma subtypes. In elite, my experimentation has the others listed in the video edging out from the dmg I have seen.
Well, after viewing your video; it appears, that I will have to do a skill tree reset in terms of updated information provided in your video, as I had utilized the Budget beam builds for all 3 of my toons.. No biggie mind you.
I've been watching your videos from the almost 2 yrs i've been playing on console. I've found them very informative on a wide variety of subjects and i'm constantly referring back to them. Now while i've always clicked the like button, i've never commented because i've never had a need to question anything. I'm just starting my first tank toon and so this video came at a very opportune time. But in looking into what starship traits i had available i came across built to last. I would've assumed it was a top tank trait but it's not even mentioned. So my curiosity and lack of understanding has me finally commenting lol. Is built to last so bad that it doesn't even deserve a mention?
The only strength of the trait is in the weapon power cost reduction, though power is much less of an issue in modern STO than it was in years past. The hull regen also used to be ok, but thanks to the endeavor system giving lots of hull regen now (combined with what the disco rep's shield/core 2-piece gives us 120% hullregen), that aspect no longer shines on the trait. It's an ok trait if you happen to have access to it (probably via the original legendary bundle), but there are much better and cost-effective survival and dps options now in the game. It was a trait I used to use on one of my tanks (see my old TOS enterprise build that has it on the channel), but thanks to MMO scaling in STO, it has gradually gotten out-scaled by better traits.
@@CounterYoloGaming ah thank-you for taking the time to reply with such an informative explanation. And while i'm on the subject, thanks for taking the time to do these videos. They really have helped over the years.
When I watch your videos I can't help but wonder if you give more though to the stats than cryptic does themselves..I can agree Engineering needs a complete redo
Question from somebody that's casually played for a while but never gotten serious. Can one tank with a Tac captain in 2021? I've looked it up and never really found what I would consider a satisfying answer to that question and most of the discussions are old and probably outdated on the subject.
Yes, any profession can tank in the game -- professions affect ground combat much more than space combat, but as to the main differences... Tactical -- their abilities let you do the most dps & threat for your build in space combat. They also have a lot module that guarantees you threat -- though ground tanking isn't really necessary anymore with everything dying so quickly there. Min-maxers will always pick tactical, and will often tell you any other profession choice is incorrect. Engineering -- have the best dps potential in ground combat in the dps-parsing maps (it's close between tac/eng on the others), but it takes a LOT of knowledge of the maps & skill to pull that off (for most players, it is actually the worst dps option). Engineering have a more survival focus in space combat with a few extra abilities to stay alive (nice, but there are other options) Science -- Subnucleonic Beam gets rid of the Borg Queen's feedback pulse in HSE, so groups need a science officer or a similar ability slotted from the Intel bridge officer abilities to take care of that. Science also has the most AoE ability options for ground combat, making them able to do ground content the easiest of all the professions (though tac/eng will out-dps them eventually in the right build if they know what they are doing) For me, my preference is science, because I often am with 4 tac captains in ISE/HSE without anyone having a build to deal with the queen -- and science can do it in any ship/build. Tactical is best for space dps & threat generation -- so if you are are only going to do ISE tanking then tac is probably a little better. Engineering is fine for energy-based tanking and gives you effectively 1.5 clickie consoles extra worth of survival in your build -- so they are the best tank on a budget.
I'm not sure I can go more exhaustive without going into math -- which historically doesn't do well on RUclips -- but am happy to make an updated video once we get enough strong new tanking traits & consoles, or if the meta drastically shifts and requires an entire build update for everyone.
You must be using either a horrible mic/input or a really really poor codec: lots of hissing, crackling and distortions as soon as you speak. And as you are not speaking especially loud or accentuated, I as a non-native speaker have at times trouble to make out words which is a shame, considering all the effort that must have gone into this.
with aux to bat tank build Im curious what you would recommend...I have 3x aux to bat officers, a crit C and D tac officers and GuK for out going damage as healing, would you remove the C/D officers for 12 of 47 (delta prime is being used) or would you go with T'likchik'zi or Zemok Jenro ? I dont have other attack patterns tho...or is something like Hurra, Allina, or one to just extend rsp? Also you mentioned cold hearted wasnt that damaging but as a tank let others do more damage, if I was wanting to hold threat and get more damage what would you replace it with?
The duty officers you have are generally fine, but 12 of 47 would be better than GuK as long as you are using APD2 or APD3 -- as the borg officers put APD1 on cooldown in your build if you have it, but not the higher rank versions. Most of the named duty officers in your comment besides 12 of 47 are bad & should be avoided. If your starship uses RSP, the RSP extender is a best-in-slot duty officer. I would need to know the full context of your build to really give you detailed advice on your other questions. Send me a link from STO Academy here or via email -- or another site you prefer
@@CounterYoloGaming unfortunately my build can't fit in apd 2 or 3 I could, but then I wouldn't have bfaw3 and I've heard that is preferred so I'll look into extending rsp3 duration.
![KSI - Dirty [Official Visualiser]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/VoDh1h1dPUE/mqdefault.jpg)
So you finally went & done it in making a STO tutorial movie lol.
Tanks for the shout out. Yes, I did make that joke. lol
Woot i've officially made it to Verb status lols. Mobility, Old Meta, Full Survival, Darkblade. made me laugh with that one a bit. "yeah jim we don't know how he does what he does we just know that he does it." Much appreciated for the shout out good sir.
Lol 😂 Blade you just summed yourself up perfectly.... But congrats buddy 👏🏻
Assault on Terok Nor is the ground map you were thinking of. Great video, thanks!
Thank you for this video, it's very, very appreciated!!
I've sat with my skills all unset on all my characters since the first update a while back invalidated them. I spent a bunch of time reading and trying to pick but just couldn't decide. I think you give enough explanation and samples that I will be able to go ahead and set up my skill tree's and feel ok about my choices!
for shield tanking the automated shield alignment from the alliance battlecruiser is my autoinclude along emergency weapons cycle and honored dead.
Yeah, that trait is probably the biggest argument for wanting to get more Shield Capacity at the moment in STO. It was a strong contender for me to include in the starship traits list for this video. The same problem with that trait is the same with other "defeating a foe" traits for tanks -- as a tank, you are less likely than your more dps-oriented allies to do the final blow and get the trait to reliably proc the healing. When fighting groups of enemies, it is a bit more likely for this shield heal to go off. Still, a filler trait for a roughly easy 15% Cat2 dmg if you don't care about the shield healing isn't a terrible trait either. The FOMO aspect of the trait was what ultimately took it off the list.
hes chased us around the rings of labia for that skilltree
>.>
Wow, don't have time to watch this right now but it is on my list. Thanks for your efforts. Your videos have helped me so much in this game.
So much great info here! Thanks Counter for all your effort.
Jesus Christ, your videos are fucking amazing. So much good info, without unnecessary filler. Keep up the good work!
I found many useful things in your video. Thanks and hope you stay well.
Thanks so much love your vids always so informative main reason I stayed playing after starting back up from a 8 year break outstanding work thanks again for this
With the Temporal Operative specialization, the 4th tier DOES add something even with threatening stance on. Sure teleport and threat wipe doesn't work, but the automatic heal still does (scales with hull and shield healing). It's a pseudo miraculous repairs that heals you when you suddenly take a burst of damage as a tank.
Great job on the video, I know it’s long but it’s worth it. I found this video worth the length as I could quickly go to specific time to view as I was tweaking my ship and captain, the breakdown of the captain traits was well worth it as result of that I have readjusted my build and it has made big improvement
Thanks the for the all the hard work you put in to this video
You're the unsung hero of sto building
2.5 plus hours. I am very appreciative of the dedication and passion you have to bring this information to the masses.
Hanger = Something you hang items off of, like a clothes hanger.
Hangar = Facility for housing aircraft and spacecraft.
The list of things which are misunderstood/accidentally misleading here:
- Shield Capacity - One point slotted will result in a good bonus to damage mitigation if combined with EPTS, shield regen and shield resistance. Calling it useless or non-useful is misleading at best.
- Defensive Maneuvering - You don't wanna slot anything over there. You want to get hit. Getting different reflection skills adds up to that threat - which helps you keeping that threat. Getting hit procs Improved Feedback Pulse and Attack Pattern Delta (improved version) - which some tanks use to maintain threat or buff themselves in the middle of the fight.
- Hull Plating - one point won't hurt for +12 DRR, including kinetic. It's more of a left-over/overflow slotting, but it's the sole "not red" thing in the engineering section. But you could go on just fine without it slotted.
- The Coordination Protocols are to be slotted on any build to synergy-up with your teammates, as well as making any pets worth even launching. Same thing goes with the Team Frenzy.
- You need to slot at least 25 Tactical skill nodes for Team Frenzy, so the answers are pretty obvious (avoid Defensive maneuvering)
- Specialization for a tank whilst using a torpedo is Miracle Worker + Command (assuming all of your team is also using torpedoes and Intelligence/Temporal specialization) - You do dps, but you have a synergic/support/empower role to the team
- The cooldown is Aux2Batt due to Coldhearted trait which spreads beautifully with FAW and TS (You're here to enable the dps glass tanks)
- Starship Traits: EWC, Coldhearted, History Will Remember, Improved Feedback Pulse and a optional 5th/6th of your choice (I'd recommend Honored Dead/Calm Before the Storm and Superior Area Denial)
- The most obvious tank to use as a dps-oriented tank is DEW - FAW + TS (2 or 3 piece Lorca comes to mind)
- Protomatter tactical consoles (Only one or two slotted) - The proc is reliable with two, but also works wonders with one. Losing CrtH means losing threat, so you don't wanna draw away from that)
- The most popular choices are Flagships (FED/KDF) and the Chronos Class Cruiser (C Store). The Vengeance can be made to work with this, but the Flagship Set is hard to beat, especially since the clickies are amazing.
Great video and nice work. Most of the stuff is solid theoretics. Thumbs up and a happy new year!
Damn man you came out with a podcast episode
As always, your videos are still the most helpful based on how I play the game. Also, FYI, the link to Timberwolf's video no longer is available (I think he's gone dark across all social media).
Yeah, he has private or deleted just about his entire social media presence.
I totally agree I recommend this channel as a matter of course to every player that joins the fleet.
There is simply no better way to get over the steep learning curve of sto than watching CY's videos.
As for this video it is a masterpiece, I have watched it numerous times and learn something new every time the info is second to none and my tank builds have benefited immensely from it.
More power to CY he knows this game inside out and shares his knowledge in a very down to earth way that anyone can understand.
For fun I maxed out shield hardness + HP + regen on my science build. Those shields never go down. Bleed through does kill the ship with astounding frequency with shields up full if it starts drawing threat. I can confirm shields are not useful in tanking.
Wow, can't wait to watch this later.
Thanks for the work you put in your vids, stumbling across your channel around Last christmas 😂, sorry couldn't let that one pass, has brought me back to the game after quiting two years earlier encountering that midgame hump as a new player, that vadwauur missions 🤬 when one hasn' t a clue! But your budget builds, awayteam, and bridgeofficer abilities vids have made it possible for me to overcome that hump, and make it to the endgame, where your budget builds 2020 have been my baseline eversince! Thanks to you and timberwolfs Intel report vids the game has transformed from a headache to my favorite pasttime in this trying times! So thanks again, happy holidays, and stay Safe!
Well it took 2 Days, but I made it through the video. Even as a well season veteran that has a multitude of builds. There was ALOT of great info in here. Well done sir.👍
On a side note I've recently started a High End Bu'al AP - Tank build on a Legendary Odyssey, and I'm really loving it so far. Almost more that my Legendary Galaxy Angony Phaser Tank build......almost.🙂
I'm saving up for Earhart Strike Wing Escort for my Discovery science Captain
Is there any "must have" gear in Q's Winter Wonderland that I should get before it ends?
Very Cold in Space kit modules if you are doing exotic space magic.
Frosted Boots is always a decent ground device for most ground TFO's
Science captains in ground will find Endothermic Induction Field generally useful for most missions. Cryothermic Armor is also a great science kit module -- pretty much is a TempHP version of Medical Tricorder (but is less spammable & lasts longer).
Thanks for the info. I already have the boots but I'm going to gather up the rest before it ends. Is the Breen Absolute Zero set worth getting?
Happy new year
The visuals on the deflector, engines, & shield are really cool, and are free if you play through the Breen arc -- and worth playing through if you want that space barbie (but not tied to winter event). The warp/singularity core doesn't give visuals, so I don't really ever go for it. Other science sets just outpace it in today's STO. If you want an EPS warp/singularity core, the Elite Fleet Warp/Singularity cores are the way to go.
Thank you for this. I wonder if you are going to do any others like it for other roles.
No plans on doing so. I can make decent dps builds, but I'm not someone that knows all of the intricacies of the various types of dps builds out there (I'd be pretty much just copying from other sources in STO, and I want to be able to add to what is out there instead of just repeating it). And I have no current interest in doing a nanny build guide.
I have the Tucker class with radiant Anti-Proton beams with refraction
But not sure what else I need
It is all based on personal preferences on what you may want or need in your build. The big thing is to make sure you can gain enough threat (via damage & threat enhancers) to get hit the most in your team, and to make sure you have enough survival in your build to not die through all of those attacks on your starship. Knowing what specific space maps and difficulty also are components to consider, as tanking builds in ISA/HSA vs ISE/HSE vs DGE vs Korfez all have differences in their approaches.
The principles in the Budget Builds: 2020 Edition video should get you started for cheap things to add to build a starship, then go back to this video on some of my suggestions on what to add from there to make a good tanking build. If you want specific suggestions for your build, feel free to ask specifically what you are looking for that isn't clear in my videos.
@@CounterYoloGaming thank you I will re watch your vids and if I have any questions I will let you know
👍
I hope you do not mind another question. Does Aux to Structural Integrity Field drain auxiliary? Thanks.
Aux-to-SIF and Aux-to-Damp don't mess with your power levels. It's Aux-to-Battery that messes with your power levels (Aux-to-Batt used primarily for the cooldowns with duty officers, not for the power levels).
@@CounterYoloGaming Thanks. Over the past year and a half, you have greatly helped me enjoy this game. This time I say to you, enjoy the rest of your day.
What do u guys think about Intruder Discouragement for tanking
The last I checked, it is a weaker version of Honored Dead (same regen, but less DRR for some extra CritH at the beginning of combat), but does trigger from crits instead of post-resistance damage, so it would work on builds that already have a lot of TempHP. There are better hull regen traits (including FED-account unlocked versions via the Legendary Bundle), so you have to really want the DRR from the trait for it to be worth it. People normally buy the Ba'ul vessel for its clickie console over anything else (and the console is only good really in ISE as long as only one player has that clickie console in your group); if you are going antiproton to tank and are only going to play ISE in your build, the trait isn't bad as a bonus for your build. I'd probably rate it as a situational trait, because the Risian Corvette's trait is similar DRR that is account-unlockable via Mudd's Market.
Used the Universe class as my turtle tank. But been doing off tanks lately on others.
Shared on some facebooks groups. Good luck and thanks for the info.
Would you please explain why shield capacity should not be slotted. I had a difficult time understanding that in the video. I have read the other comments on shields and they did not help. Your videos are some of the best education for Star Trek Online. By the way, I have a science-torp build. Thanks again.
I can certainly try, though watching Darkblade’s video on the tanking spectrum will do it better justice honestly. After writing this, and the other comments here, this might actually deserve a separate video discussion honestly.
(1) When it comes to the 3 aspects of tanking, increasing shield capacity is in the category of Damage Negation. We want more #’s here to be able to survive the occasional spike damage in STO. In order for higher shield capacity to matter though, we have to be able to consistently KEEP that higher shield capacity for it to matter when that spike dmg occurs. That is the biggest issue with shield capacity right now. There are a lot of proc & things in STO that give you an increased % of hull regen that is based on your maximum hull (HP). Because increasing your MaxHP gives you more passive regeneration (and Tyler’s Duality now allows it to give you more dps as well), you are highly incentivized and rewarded for it. Are you rewarded with any good proc’s that increase your base shield regen in STO? Not really. The skill tree and your shield power levels help a little with your base shield regen, but that’s about it. Most of the other shield heal proc’s in STO don’t scale with your max shields. Even my favorite subtype, piezo-polaron, isn’t a shield regen increase that is based on %MaxShields (even though that’s exactly how the hull regen proc of it works).
As thus, in order to actually justify more shield capacity, you have to go into the math of your starship in terms of how much shield regen you have - and what you can realistically sustain with your passive regen in elite content. And that gets really complicated really quickly. I normally tank by feel instead of the hard numbers, but it almost never really feels good to invest in more shield capacity honestly for the majority of tanks I have used.
When you look at the great things to pair with higher shields (like the Automated Shield Alignment starship trait), you start to realize that extra shield capacity isn’t actually helping those traits all that much on the dps side of things. To actually justify more shield capacity, you have to have the following occur:
(1) You have ample passive shield regeneration, to the point that you can afford to have more shield capacity and still be able to keep your shields up 90%+ during your fights. If you fight the Borg, expect to lose your shield entirely from shield drains. Even the engineering captain’s drain resist ability doesn’t stop Borg drains in elite difficulty.
(2) You are still struggling with the extreme spike damage from certain enemies that isn’t shield-bypassing damage. We don’t have any traits right now in STO that redirect damage that bypassed a shield back into your shields. Something simple like that would make shields great and incentivize building starships like how you see in the shows (ships blowing up when shields go down)
(3) The spike damage struggles is just enough that it is going through your TempHP & TempShielding, but something like extra shield capacity would stop those one-shots
(4) These one-shot occurrences have to be frequent enough or severe enough that traits like Honored Dead, Rhythmic Rumble, or Invincible are wasted, but still close enough to surviving that a little extra max shields would have made the difference.
Justifying increased shield capacity is a niche situation upon a niche situation upon a niche situation. It’s so hard to justify that I just don’t bother really trying anymore. It technically should be a white situational color instead of red, but I just consider it too niche to worry about. Most tanks in STO hull-tank because of the issues with shield regen vs shield capacity, combined with the sources of shield-bypassing damage that is annoying to deal with (making it so that you have to have a durable hull either way). Most tanks I talk to that use Automated Shield Alignment just use it as a filler +15% Cat2 all damage starship trait (as a filler while going for better traits) instead of using it for the shield healing aspect. If you want to shield-tank, that’s a trait you want to use if you have access to it - probably better on a CSV tank so it’s easier to get the last hit and get the shield heal proc from it that scales with MaxShields. I might show a build at the end of a later video as an example of how this could work.
I see. In other words, we lack resources to improve the rate of shield regeneration that we have with hull capacity. Therefore, as you said, we only need to increase shield capacity for spikes. Thanks. Now, this makes sense. I suppose, as a corollary, personal ground shields are only worthwhile if they regenerate fast enough as well.
I'm a huge fan of TOS and TMP era ships, is there any way you could do me up a quick guide to DEW tanking with the Legendary Excelsior or Vengeance?
The Legendary Sovereign in this video is close to the Legendary Excelsior in seating. You should be able to just adjust the build a little to your starship.
Styx ship is one of the best looking ships in the game!
how viable is engineer for tanking elites vs tac? really dont want to reroll but i dont want to buy any lockbox/lobi ships on my main if tac would be a lot better.
Before I get into the question, keep in mind that you don't need any lockbox/lobi starships to tank in elite content in STO. Most strong tanking platforms have account-unlockable or fleet alternatives that are about as good, and most of the strong tanking traits are from the C-Store anyways. Granted that having the DPRM console is a nice survival clickie console to have as a tank (though not necessary), and lobi store consoles like Bioneural Infusion Circuits and Altamid Modified Swarm Processor are common damage consoles to fill out your non-tactical console slots.
All professions are viable for tanking -- it just depends on what you want the most out of your profession for how you want to build and how you are measuring "viable" or "better" for tanking. Tactical captains give the most damage potential for all types of builds (including tanking) but doesn't offer any extra survival abilities (so you need your traits & consoles to shore all of that up -- most example tank builds out there are dps players making a tank build, so their preference will always be this). Science captains have some damage abilities, but are really the best for debuffing & weakening enemies; Subnucleonic Beam is my favorite ability honestly from them [and at least one teammate should be a science captain for HSE's Borg Octahedron to counter its OP feedback pulse], which is why this profession is my personal recommendation for tanking to players (plus their ground builds are super easy AoE builds). Engineering has some extra damage for energy-based tanks, but their one real saving grace is their Miraculous Repairs ability that functions as an extra survival clickie ability for your build that doesn't require a console slot. There are a decent amount of survival clickie consoles in STO (though most aren't as easily accessible), so super veteran players don't value engineers as much as the others.
Wow. Great stuff!
Yeah! Keep telling them that. I use TO/DrainX. Nothing is like watching someone go from 100 to 0% in 5 seconds. If I have to PvP for the engine then I want the science captains to have a easy time at it. They can just suck it up on the points at the Admiral level in my skill tree as most are pugs. As am not specing for them! Am specing for me and my play style, survival, threat, DPS, etc. If it was a fleet ran deal, I would think about it. Normally, I don't have any points at all at that level.
in Suggested Starships in OFF TANKS what MW STARSHIPS means?
Miracle worker starships -- starships that have their commander seat have the miracle worker specialization. This gives those ships an extra universal console, which gives dps-oriented builds an extra tactical console & edge vs other builds for damage.
Another question: when u says T6 FLAGSHIP, what mean with FLAGSHIP?
When I talk about a "flagship" in STO, I am referring to any T5/T6 starship that can use the Flagship Console Set (beyond the timeline stabilizer console). sto.fandom.com/wiki/Flagship_Technologies_Console_Set
I love how all the great equipment is from exchange but no real fast way to earn ec
This is an MMO after all that needs to make money. If you want the best stuff in the game, it will either cost time, or a little less time with money invested. See my budget builds 2020 edition video for builds good enough for advanced content that don't involve the player exchange nor C-Store.
A question: in ruclips.net/video/4UoeDxY2C5k/видео.html when you say SHIELD CAPACITY 15-30 means i have to set it at TIER 3 ?
It means that with point investments in the Shield Capacity section of the skilltree, you can get an extra 15% to 30% extra shields, depending on how many points you invest (+15% capacity for 1 pt, +30% capacity for all 3 points). I highly discourage investing in Shield Capacity honestly -- other aspects just give you more meaningful benefits for your skilltree point investment.
@@CounterYoloGaming Ah so that explain whats happening if someone set it at tier 3 right?
@@CounterYoloGaming And so no SKILL TREE scheme in the video right?
I'm not sure what you mean by scheme, but I talk about my opinions on the strengths of every aspect of the skilltree, and give 3 example skilltree setups for standard energy builds and 3 example setups for exotic-oriented builds
Saw this and wanted to point out A Good Day to Die doesnt work with Go Down Fighting. It will activate but wont actually give you the damage bonus. There is no reason at all to be running a Tac toon.
Doesn't the Fleet T6-X Titan Class also works as an EPG/torp boat?
Yes it can. I have a really strong bias with exotic tanking to have access to both Reverse Shield Polarity & Aux-to-SIF on them, but you can tank on it with just RSP1 on the ship with its stats (if you use Rally Point Marker for a good Lt hull heal).
What damage is exotic?
Exotic damage is often either physical or radiation damage. Look up u/eph289 on reddit's r/stobuilds for his LONG series on exotics for a deep dive into how it works with math.
Is Assimilated Plasma not good for tanking?
Assimilated is much better on advanced difficulty than most plasma subtypes. In elite, my experimentation has the others listed in the video edging out from the dmg I have seen.
what about Narendra?
Well, after viewing your video; it appears, that I will have to do a skill tree reset in terms of updated information provided in your video, as I had utilized the Budget beam builds for all 3 of my toons.. No biggie mind you.
I've been watching your videos from the almost 2 yrs i've been playing on console. I've found them very informative on a wide variety of subjects and i'm constantly referring back to them. Now while i've always clicked the like button, i've never commented because i've never had a need to question anything. I'm just starting my first tank toon and so this video came at a very opportune time. But in looking into what starship traits i had available i came across built to last. I would've assumed it was a top tank trait but it's not even mentioned. So my curiosity and lack of understanding has me finally commenting lol. Is built to last so bad that it doesn't even deserve a mention?
The only strength of the trait is in the weapon power cost reduction, though power is much less of an issue in modern STO than it was in years past. The hull regen also used to be ok, but thanks to the endeavor system giving lots of hull regen now (combined with what the disco rep's shield/core 2-piece gives us 120% hullregen), that aspect no longer shines on the trait. It's an ok trait if you happen to have access to it (probably via the original legendary bundle), but there are much better and cost-effective survival and dps options now in the game. It was a trait I used to use on one of my tanks (see my old TOS enterprise build that has it on the channel), but thanks to MMO scaling in STO, it has gradually gotten out-scaled by better traits.
@@CounterYoloGaming ah thank-you for taking the time to reply with such an informative explanation. And while i'm on the subject, thanks for taking the time to do these videos. They really have helped over the years.
When I watch your videos I can't help but wonder if you give more though to the stats than cryptic does themselves..I can agree Engineering needs a complete redo
Question from somebody that's casually played for a while but never gotten serious. Can one tank with a Tac captain in 2021?
I've looked it up and never really found what I would consider a satisfying answer to that question and most of the discussions are old and probably outdated on the subject.
Yes, any profession can tank in the game -- professions affect ground combat much more than space combat, but as to the main differences...
Tactical -- their abilities let you do the most dps & threat for your build in space combat. They also have a lot module that guarantees you threat -- though ground tanking isn't really necessary anymore with everything dying so quickly there. Min-maxers will always pick tactical, and will often tell you any other profession choice is incorrect.
Engineering -- have the best dps potential in ground combat in the dps-parsing maps (it's close between tac/eng on the others), but it takes a LOT of knowledge of the maps & skill to pull that off (for most players, it is actually the worst dps option). Engineering have a more survival focus in space combat with a few extra abilities to stay alive (nice, but there are other options)
Science -- Subnucleonic Beam gets rid of the Borg Queen's feedback pulse in HSE, so groups need a science officer or a similar ability slotted from the Intel bridge officer abilities to take care of that. Science also has the most AoE ability options for ground combat, making them able to do ground content the easiest of all the professions (though tac/eng will out-dps them eventually in the right build if they know what they are doing)
For me, my preference is science, because I often am with 4 tac captains in ISE/HSE without anyone having a build to deal with the queen -- and science can do it in any ship/build. Tactical is best for space dps & threat generation -- so if you are are only going to do ISE tanking then tac is probably a little better. Engineering is fine for energy-based tanking and gives you effectively 1.5 clickie consoles extra worth of survival in your build -- so they are the best tank on a budget.
@@CounterYoloGaming Thanks for the thoughtful response. That helps a lot.
I don't think you went into enough detail in this video... You need to make a follow up where you go into more exhaustive detail.
I'm not sure I can go more exhaustive without going into math -- which historically doesn't do well on RUclips -- but am happy to make an updated video once we get enough strong new tanking traits & consoles, or if the meta drastically shifts and requires an entire build update for everyone.
So back in the iconen war rolling my eyes I'll be redey on concel
This game is so complicated 😔
tetryon realy for tank ??Dear this is joke :D
You must be using either a horrible mic/input or a really really poor codec: lots of hissing, crackling and distortions as soon as you speak. And as you are not speaking especially loud or accentuated, I as a non-native speaker have at times trouble to make out words which is a shame, considering all the effort that must have gone into this.
with aux to bat tank build Im curious what you would recommend...I have 3x aux to bat officers, a crit C and D tac officers and GuK for out going damage as healing, would you remove the C/D officers for 12 of 47 (delta prime is being used) or would you go with T'likchik'zi or Zemok Jenro ? I dont have other attack patterns tho...or is something like Hurra, Allina, or one to just extend rsp? Also you mentioned cold hearted wasnt that damaging but as a tank let others do more damage, if I was wanting to hold threat and get more damage what would you replace it with?
The duty officers you have are generally fine, but 12 of 47 would be better than GuK as long as you are using APD2 or APD3 -- as the borg officers put APD1 on cooldown in your build if you have it, but not the higher rank versions. Most of the named duty officers in your comment besides 12 of 47 are bad & should be avoided. If your starship uses RSP, the RSP extender is a best-in-slot duty officer.
I would need to know the full context of your build to really give you detailed advice on your other questions. Send me a link from STO Academy here or via email -- or another site you prefer
@@CounterYoloGaming unfortunately my build can't fit in apd 2 or 3 I could, but then I wouldn't have bfaw3 and I've heard that is preferred so I'll look into extending rsp3 duration.