Antiproton BO Build Help

[u/Guillotine_Fox]

Hey all, I am working on Beam Overload builds and really want to do an Antiproton build. Thinking about doing it on the World Razer, Galaxy-X (Fed or Terran), or Legendary Excelsior...but open to ideas. I have been looking around but mainly see Phaser builds.

What are the best weapons for not-a-Tank going down this road? And best deflector/engines/core/shield and consoles?

I am looking at crafted dual beam banks and the crafted omni, as well as the crystalline entity torpedo. From there, I see the Ancient Obelisk omni and the Ba'ul Linked Sentry omni and torpedo. Also the Dark Matter torpedo for Lorca's Ambition.

Looking at the Khitomer Alliance shield/impulse/deflector, but don't know what warp core?

And for consoles looking at isomags, Lorca's console, the Ba'ul console if I go that route, or the Obelisk console if I go that route.

But what else? Am I nuts?

[u/DilaZirK]

Hey all, I am working on Beam Overload builds

Do you already have the Superweapon Ingenuity ship trait? And are you aware about the drawbacks of Beam Overload compared to other energy firing modes like Surgical Strikes or FAW or CSV?

really want to do an Antiproton build

Any particular reason you want it to be AP?

Thinking about doing it on the World Razer, Galaxy-X (Fed or Terran), or Legendary Excelsior...but open to ideas.

All ships in this game can accommodate a Beam Overload build. So it's perfectly valid to simply go with the ship you really like flying in.

If you ask us which ship in the game right now is the "best Beam Overload platform", we would then clarify: "For what specific scenario? RATFOs? RETFOs? ISA/ISE/HSA/HSE in Solo/PuG/Supported? Something else?"

What are the best weapons for not-a-Tank going down this road?

When it comes to generic (non-unique) energy weapons, the best ones are the ones with your preferred visual FX and sound FX, while also not breaking your bank. They all have exactly the same base damage, and 2.5% weapon procs do not matter.

Ba'ul AP is an exception for the generic weapon rule, due to their passive Refractions ability. However, this is largely irrelevant for BO builds as the Refractions are better when paired with FAW/CSV.

And best deflector/engines/core/shield and consoles?

Similar to the theoretical topic of best ship: "For what specific scenario? RATFOs? RETFOs? ISA/ISE/HSA/HSE in Solo/PuG/Supported? Something else?"

It also greatly depends on what you have immediate access to, so I'd advise working with whatever you have right now that will boost your AP or ship global damage output.

crystalline entity torpedo. From there, I see the Ancient Obelisk omni and the Ba'ul Linked Sentry omni and torpedo. Also the Dark Matter torpedo

Why so many torpedoes for what is supposed to be a Beam Overload focused build?

Looking at the Khitomer Alliance shield/impulse/deflector

Khitomer Alliance Shield is potentially a good option IF you are in a scenario where you are frequently shot at and can survive the incoming damage. Basically, tanking scenarios or completely Solo runs.

But what else? Am I nuts?

There's still the matter of your Duty Officers, ship traits, personal traits, Space Rep Traits, subsytem power level allocation, devices, skill tree, Captain Specializations, and a bunch of other things that all contribute to a ship build.

[u/Guillotine_Fox → u/DilaZirK]

Thanks for all of this. I have looked into Surgical Strikes a bit but haven't tried to build around it yet. I am aware of the drawbacks of BO but it's what I have been doing as of late. Could retool to FAW though easily.

I have the trait I believe. Let's go with the assumption I do.

I am eyeing AP because it's not a proc. At least the base AP weapons are just crit severity.

I mostly solo or do RAs and random queues. No PVP or anything like that.

As for torpedoes, I just like having that extra something. Really only want one, and eyeing the crystalline one because it's also AP so should benefit from the isomags as well. Only reason I am considering the dark matter one is for set bonuses.

I know phaser is more well supported from an item perspective and I have been doing that this whole time but want to try something different and see how it feels. But maybe I need to dig deeper on SS/FAW instead...

[u/DilaZirK → u/Guillotine_Fox]

I am eyeing AP because it's not a proc. At least the base AP weapons are just crit severity.

Standard vanilla AP then? Fair enough.

I mostly solo or do RAs and random queues.

General content then. Suggested reading: https://www.stobetter.com/new-f2p/energy-basics

If you're hyper-optimizing for a specific scenario, then it's a different story.

eyeing the crystalline one because it's also AP so should benefit from the isomags as well.

It's just not a very good torp, even with the AP boosts. Both it and Ba'ul Torp are inferior to Dark Matter Torp 2pc set paired with Kemocite-laced Weaponry.

I know phaser is more well supported from an item perspective and I have been doing that this whole time but want to try something different and see how it feels.

An energy build is an energy build. Even for those who parse themselves frequently, the main change you will feel is just the different visual FX and sound FX.

But maybe I need to dig deeper on SS/FAW instead...

Appropriate reading on this topic: https://www.reddit.com/r/stobuilds/comments/121rs8b/weapon_enhancement_analysis_beams_cannons_and/

[u/08DeCiBeL80]

For antiproton, BOIII, visual I would recommend delphic or heralds, for damage, crafted / exchange regular antiproton beam array with the [PEN] modifier.

The sad story about special antiproton weapons like, baul, delphic, heralds, fluidic, voth temporal..... they all lose their crit damage modifier for a different special proc.

Only the radiant weapons from Iconian reputation store are Hybrids and don't lose their crit damage, it goes from 20% -> 10%

For ship equipment, don't know if you have the "flagship celebration" 2024 event, Khitomer Alliance Defender's Gear It's deflector provide +AP damage. You can combine it with discovery 2 set, or use the full set for gimmicks, with obelisk technology 2 set (+10%AP). The Khitomer set is shield focused, if you are used to hull survivability only use the deflector for the AP.

[u/08DeCiBeL80 → u/08DeCiBeL80]

So example: Khitomer deflector, prevailing engine or imperial rift engine, discovery warp and shield.

[u/Guillotine_Fox → u/08DeCiBeL80]

This makes sense. I do have that set. The goal is to lean in to the crit severity and not worry about procs.