Hi All:

I've been doing a lot of thinking, and I had a thought about creating a Steamrunner build that is geared towards both dealing damage (as an escort should) and taking some of the aggro off of tac/sci captains and more fragile escorts. This is a PvE only build, Considering that the hull and shield modifiers of a Steamrunner are about the same as my Regent-class, I thought such a build would be possible...it is also intended for an Engineering Captain. Well, here's what I was thinking:

Weapons, Fore: 3xDHCs, 1 Omega Torp
Weapons, Aft:2x Turrets, 1 Kinetic Cutting Beam

Shields: Maco Mk 12
Deflector: Maco Mk 12
Engines: Adapted Maco Mk 12

Eng Consoles: 2x Neutronium, 1x Borg Console, 1x RCS
Sci Consoles: 1x Field Generator, 1x Shield Regen / Embassy Threat Console (undecided)
Tac Consoles: 4x Appropriate Energy Type

BOff Powers:

Cmdr. Tac: TT1, APD1, Torp Spread 3, CSV3
Lt. Cmdr Tac: THY1, CRF1, APO1
Lt. Eng: EPtS1, RSP1
Lt. Eng:EPtS1, AtSIF1
Ens Sci: HE1

Doffs:

Attack Pattern Cooldown Redcution
Cannon Cooldown Reduction x2
Tac Team Cooldown Reduction x2

Is this a viable build for both taking and dealing damage, do you think? I admittedly have far more experience with Cruisers than Escorts, so I am particularly interested in feedback on my Tac powers.

Looks pretty decent, this is pretty similar to how I had mine setup before I switched to a Breen Warship for more tank on my Engineer.

I didn't have a Threat scaling console on mine though, but I still grabbed a large portion of aggro due to flying closer to the target and occasionally because the other escorts had -threat. Since threat scaling consoles are becoming more common, you may not need a +threat console to pull off the less-tanky escorts, as many now have one or two of the -threat consoles so you end up with more aggro by just not having any threat consoles.

I've gotten good use out of Embassy +Threat console Shield Emitters (will buff your EPtS and RSP) with hull repair on my Fleet Torkaht KDF side, so I'd go with that. Otherwise, a shield capacity console may be better than a regen.

Tankiness will increase, imo, if you change 1 of the EPTS to EPTA, then 2 purple damage control engineers to get their cooldowns to the point they're almost always up. Then the other damage control engineer that gives Aux2Sif a chance at a HoT, and the Maintenance Engineer that gives a healing bonus on EPTA.

That'd be full on tankiness I think, something in between that and a more offensive loadout might be where you land.

The only problem I see is that the cannon doffs are kind of wasted. The best you can get with them is the GCD of 15 seconds, but that is still what you get from running 2 cannon abilities. So unless you really want to get occasional extra uses of one ability or the other there's no real point in them.

I agree with the above. This is what I use for my Tac for PVE:

Commander Tac: TT1, CSV1, HYT3, AP-Beta3
Lt.Tac: TT1, CSV1

DOFFS: 3 Attack Pattern Conn-doffs, 2 Projectile Weapon Officers (or any 2 DOFF's you find more useful for your build)

AP-Beta3 with 3 AP-Conn-Doffs lets you keep AP-Beta3 up 66% of the time (10 out of each 15 second cycle) -- this offers a HUGE damage boost at 49 resist-debuff per target. CSV1 x2 also offers more multi-target coverage, and when combined with AP-Beta3, the combo benefits the whole team while shooting at whatever you hit.

I run a Steamrunner like that but I use two AtSIF1s instead of the RSP, and I have them and EPTS1 going off on my keybind for the constant damage resistance.

To make up for the lack of RSP I use two purple shield doffs (the Breen from the Rolor nebula chain).

I also use a Elite fleet Adaptive shields, with 2 piece MACO.

A fleetmate of mine calls the ship the "Cockroach", because it does not die.