Jem Ha'dar Vanguard Carrier - trying to figure out SciTorp

[lincthra]

So, recently switched to SciTorp and trying to figure it out. I've pinged 23k DPS in Japori, haven't really tried IRA or anything in it. 

Anyhow, new player, only been playing a few months, therefore all the fun meta consoles from anniversary ships and the like are unobtainable for me. Also, not through the storyline yet and am working towards Temporal Entanglement Suite and Chronometric Capacitor there, but not there yet. Same for the meta personal shield, Na'kuhl. Finally, haven't decided on a ship shield really, so the one on there is pretty average.

So, without further ado, where have I gone astray? Thanks in advance!

https://skillplanner.stoacademy.com/2599...6fa3f690bb

-lincthra

P.S. In case you miss the 'Notes,' my fifth ground kit is the new Crystal Prism that isn't on the builder yet.

[robonixon]

When you're doing an exotic torp build, you generally want to use your rear slots for weapons that are part of sets to grant you set bonuses for the torps you do want to focus on in the fore slots. The carrier is not really an ideal platform for this either because of its turn rate and lack of tac seating. If you want to do exotic damage you'll want to get an actual science vessel that gets the secondary deflector slot, for example, so you can get some additional boosts from that. There are a lot of options as far as ships go there, with Fed-aligned characters probably getting the best ones (T6 Multi-Mission science vessels or the Temporal Multi-mission science vessels for a start, other lockbox ships can also do well or event ships in some cases like the Krenim Science Vessel). You want something that you can slot APB on as well as at least one copy of Torp Spread (this is your bread and butter damage skill since it doesn't do an accuracy check - it always hits) and one copy of Torp High Yield (this is your spike damage, use this once you remove shields). 

There are a couple of varieties of scitorp you can try - going for drain and shield removal with torps like the Quantum Phase and Neutronic opening up holes for something like the Bio-Molecular torp, or going for a full exotic damage build with the Particle Emission Plasma torp and the Gravimetric torp. You can certainly mix and match as well, but as far as set boosts and consoles to go for there is not a lot of overlap. I notice you don't have the PEP torp, this is one that anyone with a high R&D in projectiles can craft for you. You can also buy it off the exchange. I'd be happy to craft you one if you want, just send me an in-game mail.

I would try to get 2 pieces of the AMACO set from the Omega rep, as the 2pc bonus gives 25% more torpedo damage. You can keep the colony deflector and swap out the Iconian shield for the AMACO shield and AMACO engines also. Warp core can be whatever, try to find one that boosts some skills you might need. I like the Delta rep core in a pinch because of the trajector jump ability being useful to reposition yourself, and it boosts drain if you're going for the Quantum or Neutronic torps. There are a few other cores that boost relevant skills or provide boosts to Aux, like the Lukari core, that can be good on an exotic build also, since your exotic skills are going to be doing damage based on your Aux power level generally. As far as Exotic skills go you have a ton of options here besides just Grav Well, like Tractor Beam Repulsors, Destabilizing Resonance Beam, etc. 

Hope this helps. I've got a couple of example builds you can look over as well, they haven't been updated in a while but the basic use case is still solid.
https://skillplanner.stoacademy.com/e449...381171131f
https://skillplanner.stoacademy.com/1031...6ba80f6e9b
https://skillplanner.stoacademy.com/5367...20b934cb1a

[lincthra]

Hmmm... I appreciate the long and detailed post. It certainly gives me a lot to think about. Various places around the 'net had led me to believe that the Vanguard Carrier was a great SciTorp ship, but I can see where it's missing out on some seating. It's a shame there isn't much in the way of science ships that work and also have Command seating for Concentrated Fire. 

I had certainly overlooked the importance of APB. 

The AMACO Engines will be easy enough to get, and even work with my Gamma Warp Core so that I don't lose the sector speed I enjoy having. Maybe I'll look at some of the others and swap out when I want speed. The shields are a different matter as I'm about 25k reputation away from T5, but I'll make do until then. That said, I am a little worried about the squishiness of the hulls of some of the science ships, but I guess it will work out. 

Finally, I have the PEP Torps, they had just gotten lost in the shuffle when I switched back from the Chemish (from grinding out Improved Gravity Well).

Thanks again!

[robonixon]

To be clear, you certainly CAN run torps on this ship if you wanted to, but it's going to be more of a "park-and-fire" torpedo platform than it will be a moving ship like normal. You can run scitorp on almost anything really, it's flexibility is more due to the science seating than anything else. Command is nice to have also but on an exotic-damage focused build your abilities will be doing more work than your torps. You might want to look into ships with good Temporal boff seating if you want to go full exotic.

[lincthra]

Probably not on the full exotic. At least not right now. Most of the fun for me is in the satisfaction of the sound of the torpedo and watching them sail toward their target before making a big boom. lol. BUT, at first glance, the Eternal seems like it could swap over to full exotic pretty easily with the Temporal seating it has?

[robonixon]

The Eternal is a good platform for a variety of options, and the Temporal seating plus the universal seat gives you a lot of flexibility as far as what powers you want to run.