Where to go from here, build-wise

[Dafmeister]

Hi everyone,

This is my current build on my Fleet Avenger: http://skillplanner.stoacademy.com/?buil...rrent_5844

Does anyone have any suggestions on where to go to keep improving it? At the moment I'm looking at doing two things:

1) Replacing the Fleet AP beam arrays with Mk XII [CrtD]x3 as I can afford them from the Exchange (I've only got 17.7 million to play with at the moment, so that's a longer-term project).

2) Dropping the after AP beam array and one of the consoles (perhaps the emitter array?) and replacing with the beam and console from the Protonic Arsenal set for an extra +3% CritH.

Anything else I can do? You can probably see I'm running an Aux2Batt build and I do have the three purple Technicians to make it work properly, but I've been seeing a lot of talk on Facebook lately that there's better DPS to be had with other skill sets. In particular, dropping Aux2Batt in favour of EPtW. The thing is, I'm already running EPtW3 as part of by chain, so I don't think running two copies of it on another build (one of which would have to be EPtW2 as there isn't another Lt Cdr slot for Engineer powers on the Avenger) would give me better output as the uptime for EPtW3 is already very high thanks to the Aux2Batt cooldown bonus. Thoughts?

[sf911]

Have you considered the Obelisk Warp Core for the 10% AP damage boost?
From what I've read, the Obelisk Core is superior to AMP Cores on AP builds in terms of DPS as the 10% boost is on top of everything and calculated at the end (like the Undine two-set 7.5% bonus for phasers/disruptors).

[robonixon]

The obelisk core would be superior in terms of static damage but your dps in a firefight may be lower over time as drain affects you. I have only anecdotally tested this without a parser but I feel that the fleet spire cores with power drain resist provide higher levels over time and thus higher avg dps. If there is data out there around this I would love to see it so I don't do it myself.

[martinison]

I've also heard that AMP core gives better DPS over time, but I have no idea how much. Personally I've been running the obelisk core simply because it's so easy and cheap to get. I've been thinking about getting an amp core and testing it though. Wondering if anyone has hard numbers on that?

I'll try to answer the question about aux2bat as best I can. Most cruisers have to use a2b to get decent dps because of the limited number of tac boff slots. This isn't really the case with the avenger though. The layout is flexible enough that you can get enough tac slots to run other builds successfully. There are three big things that make other layouts competitive with a2b or even better dps wise. 1. You'll get the chance to use an extra superior rom operative. Being a non-rom you can only get that with tac slots. Using your universal slot to get an extra tac vs an extra engineer will give you an extra superior rom operative (embassy boff) which is especially beneficial with AP weapons. 2. The nukara rep power that converts aux power to offensive power. With a2b you wouldn't use this rep power as it's useless, but it is one of the best rep powers for offensive output. Going with a non a2b build and minimizing your shield and engine power allows you to maximize this rep power. 3. You free up 3 doff slots to play with. There are a lot of great doffs out there that can boost your dps if you have the resources to buy them.

All that being said, I've used both with my avenger and so far the difference has been negligible with a slight dps edge to the non a2b build. Given the upside of having all you defensive powers cycling faster with a2b I'd still give that build an edge. I believe it is possible to get more dps with the non a2b build with the right combination of doffs and equipment though.

[robonixon]

I will try to test the cores tonight and see what I can come up with.