Not sure if this has been debated before and if so, I apologize. But if not, why not??

I was browsing through engineer abilities the other day and started thinking about Direct Energy Mod (DEM).

For back story - I fly a fleet (partrol now?) escort. 4 turrets in back, 2 dual heavy cannons upfront and 2 dual beam banks - all are antiproton.

My engineer officers give me 2 emergency power to shields and 1 emergency power to weapons. What I've noticed is generally, my weapons power in attack mode never drops before like 90 or 100 - generally, always up at like 120/125. this is true even when i dont run EPtWeapons.

So i was thinking, why not switch this to DEM and get the additional boost? I do a fair amount of PvP so I was thinking this could help knock out hull and shields vs just shields.

thoughts?

i was also thinking of doing this on my beam boat which follows the dragon build. I would swap out both EPtWeaponds and replaced both with DEM. broadsiding worries me though - 6-7 phasers firing at once could be a poor choice to do without EPtWeapons.

The EPtW BOFF skill is really there for those of us running beam boats. I run with the Free Oddy as a tank using 6 Anti-P beam arrays, and two Hargh'peng Torpedoes one in front one in back. We NEED to have the EPtW to keep out beam damage up where it should be rather than dropping low because we have to have 1) more power in shields, and 6-7 beams will drop your weapon power by 50-60 per weapon shot cycle.

If you are going to run with higher engine power for more speed, defense, and turn rate, then maybe you would like to have the EPtW to help cap you out. If you are sitting at 120/125 prior to firing your weapons it sounds to me like DEM would be better for you.

Note however, that your power drain must be really nasty. Your entire setup is energy based which means that you probably are constantly running at lower than average damage. I would suggest trading the dual beam banks to torpedoes of some sort, you should see your damage go up overall.

DEM is only useful in PVP: in PVE the vast majority of damage is directly hull.

Agreed with Ray, DEM is primarily used to penetrate shields, which aren't a huge concern in PvE except against cubes and bosses.

PvP however, with extends, TSS, EPTS, Sci Teams, RSP, etc etc etc - DEM is favorable.

It should also be noted that DEM is per-pulse, which means it stacks better with rapid-fire cannons/turrets than beams. More penetration. They also consume far less power than beams.

Beams require EPtW just to maintain sufficient effect due to power drain.

Just small notations to consider.

I am a tac flying a defiant-r. I have 2 eng that I swap out interchangeably... 1 has DEM and I use that for shield penetration on some of those fast moving escorts. Because the escorts are moving fast, I have trouble hitting them and any shield damage I perform is quickly negated and followed by "miss miss miss", so I use DEM to get through their shields on "direct hits"... so while their shields are staying up, their hull is going down.. it even works on RSP since I have about 28% shield penetration with DEM1. For those zombie cruisers.. same thing. however, I am sacrificing a heal ability by doing this since I only have 1 eng BOFF slot. Any input from others would be welcomed.

For a Defiant, I'd favor the heal over DEM and simply rely on timing your DPS bursts better to avoid skills and evades.

Defiant's squishy even with that heal, to sacrifice it would be an incredible blow to your survivability and make you 100% reliant on your allies to keep you alive.

Not a good position to be in.

PvP you've to balance your survivability with your ability to kill your enemy. Best PvPers are those who don't require someone else to do their own job.

If you were a Fleet Escort or an Armitage with 3x Engineer BOFFs, I can see slotting a DEM for that burst. But I would recommend against it on a Defiant.

This about sums it up.


At the OP, EPTW is not really something I would bother with on an Escort. DHCs are actually very energy efficient for their damage output.

I would highly recommend Aux to SIF 1 instead.

This gives you a nice hull heal/resistance boost that you can use on yourself or team mates every 15s.

agree with you 100%, which is why I very rarely use it in PvP (only PvE against borg), unless I am part of a non-pug team that I know will heal me. We are on the same page....