http://skillplanner.stoacademy.com/?build=erika_681
[CFRIII is my commander tac power by the way. For some reason it isn't displaying correctly on the planner]
So this is my build for my tac/escort. I would like to get opinions as to wny it sucks, please. I use her predominantly for pvp, btw, so that is what I would have this focus on.
I pilot the Advanced Escort with the MVAM console.

I have 3DHC (antiproton) the emblem ones from esd and a DBB (also emblems/esd) fore.
3 AP turrets aft (again, emblem/esd)
Breen deflector and engines with the mk X capx3 shield from K7.

I have the 35% shield capacity console and a common eps power transfer console
The enhanced plasma manifold console, the borg console and the MVAM console
And 4 of the common antiproton mag regulator consoles

39000 hul
11000 shields


Is this a soild build/setup and there are no excuses to come out of a match with 40k damage total, other than I need to learn to play escort?
Or is there something obviously wrong sticking out like a sore thumb?

Any tips, or help you could provide (on the build, or how to play in an escort) would be very much appreciated.

Looking at your skills I would say first off Sub-system repair really does nothing for you and I would put those skill points some place else. You can lose some or all the skill points in tac team also and put them some other place.
Since you have 2 EPtS you could switch out the TSS to a tractor beam for a nasty surprise.

You also need to post what your power settings are. (most escorts run 100/25/50/25 base settings)

In general with most Tac builds you need to have as many of your attack buffs going as you are with in the effective range of your weapons as you attack. For cannons that range is 4 KM or less.

The targets defenses need to be taken into account. Can you de-buff it? Can you slow or stop it? Can a team mate(s) do those things for you? Can you time your attack to hit during the targets cool downs?

It takes lots of practice to get the timing down. So you got to work at it.

You also might try asking in the PvP forums for help. Lots of good players there too and they are willing to give advice.

Edit - Like right here.
From about page 3 to page 5 of this thread there is some great advice for someone who is asking the same kind of questions as you are.
http://forums.startrekonline.com/sho...=225406&page=3

Good Luck

What power levels are you currently running at? I ask because, typically you will probably want to be running 100 weapon, 25 shield, 50 engine, 25 aux and having 9 points in Engine Efficiency is a waste. The most you'll want to spend in that, assuming bonuses from set/passives is ~4 points, as after that spending more points becomes very inefficient according to the power level calculator.

Any particular reason you're running with the Breen set?

Also why do you have Weapon Maintenance? As far as I can tell you don't have any abilities that would benefit from that (pretty sure that only effects Engineer abilities that affect weapons systems). I've heard mixed reviews about Subsystem Repair, and haven't tested it out myself, so I can't comment on that--all I can say is that most don't seem to value it very much, either because it doesn't work well or is bugged or something, I dunno.

I'd recommend getting another Cannon Rapid Fire I, so you can run both CRF's nearly back to back for constant up time. Then you can get Beta II and Omega III. Overall, I'd reconsider slotting Science Team in your Ensign Sci slot too, you're already going to be running Tac Team's constantly, more often than not... and you're neither a Science officer, nor do you have many Science abilities, so the buff it provides isn't as useful to you. You could replace it with something more beneficial, IMO.

What is your typical strategy/style of play?

Dual CRFs isnt nessecarily needed for a Tactical.. TacInit removes the GCD from CRF3, making it useable at the same time the CRF1 would be availible. Perhaps a CSV in the LT slot would be useful for spamclearing instead?

OP, the build is basically fine (Ive run a similar build, and scored well over 1.5mil damage in a C&H, check your powerlevels, and make sure youre not targetting ships being healed/protected.

Thank you for the input so far guys.
The power levels I typically run are 124/95 64/45 62/35 41/25

N-Danger, I took your idea of throwing a tractor beam in there to see how it would work (without having specced into it yet) and it does seem to give me a nice little boost to my damage dealing capabilities. The shields do seem to drop much quicker (which is a start, considering that I often have trouble doing even that much).
I wasn't in the know about cannons needing to be within 4 km optimally. I knew their damage decreased over longer ranges, but had no idea that it was a signifigant ammount. I would typoically pop my buffs at around 10-7 km and start firing. I am starting to see that this may in fact be one of my more grevious errors in playing escort...

Kemotherapy, i will have to make note of reducing my engine efficiency skill points, I had been operating under the assumption that since my engine points would be less than 50 base setting that more points in this skill would be better, without pausing to consider diminishing returns...
As for the breen set, mainly because I just like it. It's easy to acquire and the engine is a combat engine (again hitting on the point that I simply assumed that an engine that was efficient at low power levels would be better for me, base enginr power beinmg 35). The deflector has that flight resistance buff, so altohugh I slow signifigantly under tractor beam, I can still turn. The shield of that set sucks and the 3 piece bonus isn't worth it, so I got a different shield with emblems. The two piece bonus (eng and def) is, correct me if I'm wrong, a passive ability to improve power transfer, which I thought would help recovere power after firing off my 3 DHC's.
Perhaps I would be better served by the Aegis, or Borg gear?
As for the weapons maintainance, I can only chalk that one up to careless mistake. Unless perhaps I was previously running EPtW at some stage...

At the minute, I am running CRF 1 and 3. I was considering using 2 copies of CRF 1 and getting a higher level buff (APO3) in it's place. But I'm not sure whether it is better (from a making ships pop point of view) to have say CRF3 + APB1 as opposed to CRF 1 + APB2 (or APO3)?
I carry the science team, typically for clearing the science debuffs (though if I get hit by a SNB or SS or something I'm probably going bye-bye pretty soon anyway). I've actually changed the setup slightly since I posted this thread. Currently I am running only one copy of EPtS and alongside it a RSP1, specifically to combat situations as above. If I get SNB'd, I pop, because my EPtS is stripped and I am stuck waiting for the other one to cycle. So now I have a EPtS1 and a TSS1 along with RSP1. Unconfirmed as to whether it is more or less successful yet :p

As for my general playstyle, it is to glide in at full impulse power (not actual full impulse, but 100% throttle, rather) and fire off my buffs at about 7-10km and begin firing. Die then rinse and repeat :p
I guess I feel that I have to begin firing so close because I am so squishy that I fear flying around and not firing while inside another players weapons live zone. I had previously set up some keybinds for activation of certain buffs (ie: 's' rotated my EPtS copies, 't' was my tactical teams etc...) but I recently restored to defaults, thinking that my binds may be part of the cause of my poor performance (my other toons aren't as useless) and went back to clicking my buffs. But this is horrendously slow and part of the reason why I feel I need to start clicking them so far away from the target.

MelineAaele, I have experienced exactly as you described before. I was attacking a defiant in an Arena match and wondering to myself why his shields were remaining decidedly blue, only to realise that he had two copies of extend shields on him... Most annoying.

Thank you for your iunput thus far (long may it continue), it has been very helpful and hopefully I can turn this toon around)
My sincere apologies for this wall of text (and fair play to you if you manage to slog through it all), but I guess there is just so much information to get across here

EDIT: That thread from the pvp forums was extremley helpful N-Danger

Yeah, you have to take DR into consideration. I'd say drop 2 or 4 points in there at most, as that'll give you a good point for point benefit before you hit that DR ceiling.

Generally speaking in PvP, you want to keep your speed pretty high, particularly if you're being shot at, as your speed directly affects your defense (you ability to evade/dodge incoming fire). So, combat engines aren't too great. I'd suggest picking up the Aegis set either from crafting or off the exchange, and then maybe work toward some Borg pieces. Both sets are pretty decent, but I tend to favor the Borg personally.

When you're caught in a tractor beam, that's when you want to use your Attack Pattern Omega, to break free of it; you don't really need any bonuses from set pieces to counter that. There's also other abilities which help too--polarize hull can break tractors I believe.

The 2piece bonus does help with power transfer, but the percentage is relatively low in comparison to engineering consoles. A single EPS flow regulator can give you 105% power transfer rate.

Yes, I'd suggest getting both of these sets and trying them out, or mix-matching them to see how they suit you. As I mentioned above, I'm partial to the Borg set myself, but the Aegis has its perks too. Either one will perform better than the Breen set at this point.

That's more of a judgement call I guess. My escort Captain is science, so I'm less concerned with Alpha strike burst damage than a Tac captain is, and as such would rather have a buff or debuff in my Commander slot. APO3 is pretty nice though, and the CD is rather short, so you can use it quite frequently; and it gets you out of some CCs as well.

I tried running EPtS+RSP for a while, but the long CD on RSP wasn't to my liking. Right now I'm running TSS2, EPtS I and EPtS II and I find that it suits me pretty well. Subnukes are going to suck regardless. I tried running a Science Team along with 2 Tac Teams, but more often than not I found that I couldn't really work it into a rotation in most cases due to shared CDs. So if I'm getting focused and subnuked, I'll hit evasive, and maybe pop a engine battery as I shift to full engines to let it tick away a bit. Not a hard counter, but it helps without having to rely on Science Team.

I definitely discourage clicking, but keybinds are highly subjective to the player. For the most part, I find my number keys and Alt+ or Ctrl+ variations cover most of my needs, and they feel comfortable to me. I keep the higher CD abilities on the furthest keys with my short CD abilities nearer to my WASD for ease of access.

Maneuvering well is probably one of the most difficult things to do in an escort, IMO, at least for me. Throttling back a bit when you need to make a sharp turn helps, but don't forget to throttle back up if you're being fired upon, to keep your defensive value at max. I like to try getting right on top of my target, popping a U-turn, and then throttling back to stay on their six, assuming I'm not getting focus fired.

Thanks Kemotherapy.
I'll definately have to look into an aegis set for the time being, with the long term goal of the borg gear.

I'm also looking at a new set of keybinds. I think the ones I used before because I was trying to steer using the mouse, and activating powers with the main keyboard. I just wasn't having great success with it. I could buff up very well and quickly, but just had trouble with selecting (and maintaining) tragets and moving into effective weapons ranges etc...

Had a couple of games yesterday (on a new Lt. Comm toon) with 140k dmg, which was 3x the dmg of other players in the match, so things are looking up! Hopefully it's because I'm finally learning how to play a tac/escort

Thanks again for all the help guys!