Isomag Meta Breakdown | Better Than Tac Consoles?

[@CasualSAB]

The math stuff is not my specialty, but the results I had seemed to line up quite well with what STO Better found. So if you want some more detailed math and a second opinion, here's the STO Better Isomag Breakdown: old.reddit.com/r/stobuilds/comments/14b2mna/mathbusters_3_advanced_engineering_ipdm_consoles/

[@wolfjarlgrbane5771]

I am a penitrator with Resists this would knock out my resitance consoles making me a dead on arival.

[@KalijahAnderson]

You should have tossed in a section of doing Iso Mags + Colony consoles. Those numbers get pretty insane.

[@Reoh0z]

I respect how much work you put into a tube like this, and its part of why I'm here. But my eyes glaze over with big blocks of numbers dumped on screen. Might I suggest a graph? Its a great way to easily display and compare lots of data inputs in an intuitive and easy to follow way.

[@CasualSAB]

Aye, oversight on my part there.

[@peterhans3791]

If only isomags weren't such a pain to get. Either stupidly expensive on the exchange or grinding out elite TFOs. My Boimler alt just wants 8 Isomags on his California class yet I feel like I'm taking on a job

[@HalcyonSkies]

I've been buying rank II isomags and upgrading them myself, you can turn a profit doing it. Though for common weapons like phaser, it's still stupidly expensive. At least a million EC per even at rank II.

[@TJMODLA]

There is your problem...EVERYTHING is more expensive in California. 😂😂

[@Nikephorus]

Great video! While I was already familiar with most of the information presented, I was genuinely surprised to learn just how superior isomags are compared to locators/exploiters in almost every scenario. It seems like I'll need to make a significant shift in my ship builds and prioritize isomags.

[@hughejass9461]

Great breakdown, thank you. I blew through half of my dil making eight Isomag consoles. I wanted phaser but it was going on too long so when I hit 'beams' I just stopped. Yes, it's a little less damage but with the colony consoles in the tac slots it seems fine. Overall it feels like I'm melting ships faster then with my old locators. I still drop in the Bioneural and Tachyokinetic consoles as well. Keep up the great work!

[@jerrymclellan4711]

Thanks for taking the time to do all of this. It helps me to have a good build, without stressing over the math or testing, testing, testing.

[@KalijahAnderson]

Thank you for this comprehensive guide.

[@juangutierrez8977]

I mostly ran the ground TFO's and made 7 isomags. Since there is only a 50% chance for isomag material to drop, I had to double my runs. Therefore, I ran 70 elite tfo's. I got really lucky and those 7 crafted ones netted me 3 plasma. I wanted phaser. Sold those on the exchange and with the EC earned purchased the cheapest ultra rare consoles on the exchange. I then set out to re-engineer those 7. Luck continued. Long story short, I managed to re-engineer six consoles to phaser and purchased one on the exchange. The cost was only 164, 000 dil and tons of salvage, which I didn't own. I ran "search and rescue" patrol, picked up all drops for salvage, did this three times per day till I had enough. I ended up netting 20million EC by selling high and buying low on exchange. Keep one thing in mind. I didn't own all that dil either. All those 70 elite tfo's dropped a lot of marks. I chose all rep marks. I then exchanged those for dil at the reputation store. Do this on a few characters so you can refine the dil.

[@WhiskeyTango0420]

Thanks man. I'm just coming back to STO after a few years and this was really helpful.

[@seans878]

Thanks for putting this video together. Let's see if the isomag prices rise in the exchange after this announcement.

[@tenaciousgamer6892]

I think they need to buff exploiters by at least 2% crit sev. They also need to do something for the science consoles, they just don't stack up.

[@geoffrogers7590]

Those Sci consoles are garbage. I'm OK the exploiters the way they are but I could totally see how people who don't have sro bridge officers or all the traits and consoles I do would benefit from them being buffed.

[@DiabloDave8605]

Yeah the sci consoles at least the one that deals exotic increase mentioned needs to specifically be an exotic dmg boost % or where it boosts aux similarly to wpn power which in turn would increase torp yields I would think

[@tenaciousgamer6892]

@@geoffrogers7590 It's mainly only exploiters, the locators are good were they are at for a decent crit boost for new player builds. But exploiters should stay somewhat relevant in the meta for Most Tactical heavy ships. If the ship has 5 tact consoles exploiters should be a comparable option even if it has 4 engi consoles.

[@tenaciousgamer6892]

@@DiabloDave8605 I personally think the one that uses particle generator skill ability should give particle generator skill base, but should not get double particle generator skill. Just like the isomags give weapons power and max weapon power. I also think they should remove the cap, there is no point. The other one I am unsure what to do with.

[@KalijahAnderson]

The exploiters are also only half the value of the locators as well. You get a CrtH tag on a weapon, you get 2%, just like a Locator. You get a CrtD tag on a weapon, you get slightly more than twice as much as you would get on a locator. So they should actually make a 15 Epic exploiter do 20% CrtD instead of the 9.8% they currently give. 50% extra CrtD would be a slight improvement in most advanced and elite level builds.

[@ExoKiller4]

I think the Isomags have been interesting for ship balance, because now for energy builds Tac-focused ships still have the superior Boff seating while Eng ships get more Isomags as opposed to Tac just being superior across the board. That said this does kind of make the rich get richer as the best energy ships have long been Warships and similar, the Juggernaut for example can make use of it's 4x engineering consoles and universal console to get a pretty meaningful power bump over a typical tac ship with roughly 3 or so eng consoles which was previously only down 1 of the best console.

[@junkiexl86]

There are plenty of meta 'Tac' ships that can slot 6-7 Isomags, but yea. Isomags have made alot of ships actually playable now, if not among the top 5%. Zombie cruisers have long plauged STO and held randoms back, Isomags now gives those

[@Carlos0619ASmith]

Nice breakdown, I was able to get 2 for my main ship, Oddie Tact.

[@benedictionkupo]

great video, ive been wondering how they stack up so this breakdown has been useful for me im not really at the point where i can justify dropping the sheer amount of salvage+dilithium that is required to get the useful modifiers, however the tip about just getting any +damage type then selling that and putting the money towards the cost of the required one, is very helpful :) for now i'll probably stick to locators as they require SO much less in terms of resources, but the idea of crafting my own and slowly building up a stock of the ones i want is intriguing

[@rolandbaldinger9784]

Thx for the breakdown, very well done content SAB!

[@Jeremy-83]

This kinda helped answer my questions. Alot of people told me not to bother with isomags unless I can equip at least 6.

[@realplonk]

Well done my boy!

[@needparalegal]

Power Creep, something STO has been doing since it went free to play at a pretty steady rate. Any investment you make will be obsolete to drive Zen Sales.

[@sabrejack69]

I just returned to the game after a long break and struggling to understand how the Isomags affect the meta. This video has explained it in a way even I can understand so thanks very much for that. I have lots of cruisers in my fleet so I'm glad Cryptic finally gave them something to make them more competitive.

[@bX-rk2oo]

Kick ass video once again Spencer!

[@ocabear]

Awesome vid, I think the big takeaway is if you have invested heavily into locators and exploiters its all good, and if you have eng heavy ships, Isomegs are the ticket out of the DPS basement :) Seriously though I run 8 Isomegs in a Fleet (Shepard) Gagarin and I love it.

[@Benjamin-yl4xl]

Pardon my noob question. How can you have 8 eng consoles if the ship only has 5 eng console slots? I just recently started playing the game.

[@ocabear]

@@Benjamin-yl4xl Hi, The ship also comes with 1 Universal Console and when its T-6X and T-6X2 (Token upgrades)that's the other 2 universal consoles. (5 + 3)

[@Duckspuddle]

great vid Spence.. good break down and explaining the difference with new consoles.

[@TARAN66]

Big thanks i didnt know about this consoles.

[@masterdude9419]

After I (FINALLY) bought the Gorn Hunter Pilot Raider, I bought 2 Plasma Isomags and Re-Engineered 3. Those 3 Isomags cost me around 200k Salvage and close to 400k Dilithium. Should've sold them as good ones (Phaser for instance) and purchased more Plasma ones instead!

[@geminijustgemini7784]

I can live without them, but my main toon Is Science exotic torp. I am pleased flying that ship. And the ease of getting the locators out weighs the dmg iso mags would provide. I work 48 -60 hrs a week. If I spend my game time grinding instead of playing I think I would lose interest. Thank you so much for this video. I’ve been waiting for a breakdown. I am now curious to find whether the Advance consoles are worth it for my exotic catian. I have one slotted.

[@NotoriousNickNorris]

I'd Avoid isomags for s so torp build as stated in the video. I'd recommend sticking with Crit Chance Locators over exploiters or Isomags.

[@s.scottstaten1852]

very useful, I'll just point out what i think is one assumption you made... Reccomending a LEGENDARY ship (For a trait) is not really something a fair number of folks can consider.

[@KalijahAnderson]

Yeah, especially one that is locked behind a legendary bundle.

[@timothyhiggins8934]

Geeat video. I have tried as much as possible with the time i have to make isomags, and for the past 2 months i kerp getting battery loops. I could loop around the world with all the loops i have. So since i love ss3, i'll stick with my hard earned exploiters.

[@outlawedTV88]

sometimes it takes me over 30k Dil to find the right one. in the range between 15-20 clicks is considered normal by my testing over 50 isomags so far. So guys if you're low on Dil its always better to pay for the golden one you want than to try your luck. Its basically lock box system and casino luck. Do not go for it - u will end up disappointed.

[@nunya3163]

Only 30K in dil? I have wasted far more than that, to get one phaser mod.

[@Warmaker01]

Of all the characters I have, the big winner of all this is my TAC Rom. Full SRO BOFF setup and maxed crits from endeavors. Dropping old +crit hit TAC Consoles hurt, yes, but she has a lot of stacked up crit buffs from before anyways to lessen the blow. Used an old event token to give her a Dhailkhina, throw on a handful of Isomags and she's profiting. The Isomags are big because with all the +Weapons Power, it's a flat, straight up buff to your pew-pew. Crits are nice but it's still RNG unless you got a really high end build. But a well established Romulan looks like will reap most of the benefits, the best of both worlds.

[@KalijahAnderson]

This is my experience as well. My RAT (Rom, Alien, Tactical) has the same and most of her builds are sitting around 90%+ CrtH. She's named Crittles, Captain of Taste the Painbow.

[@Retset]

The expense on a game I don't play much is what has mostly put me off. However, I have an alt who plays carriers so I got him 5 of the hangar pet ones off the exchange as they are cheap. I haven't parsed it but I imagine those SAD fuelled To'duj are ripping some holes. Just for a bit of fun really. I may hit the exchange big time for my Rom Tac CSV toon but it would mean pulling her off her Hydra or the benefits will barely materialise.

[@raijinmeister]

Nice to have new stuff for the meta that is not behind the paywall but for now they are too expensive for the bang they give. Not super excited about burning so many resources on those yet.

[@MatthewBluefox]

Isomax are really cool, but they are super hard to re-engineer and therefore super expensive to buy on the exchange. Locators and exploiters need no re-engineering at all and cost only a bit of dilithium and medium fleet credits per consul. So, even on my high-end energy weapon build, I won't change from locators to isomax. On new builds though I might start with isomax and use colony energy consuls on top of them, especially with a single torpedo mixed into the build since the colony consuls also boost purrjectile damage.

[@junkiexl86]

You can get them for 48M all day off exchange with the mod you want. 48M is hardly what I would call "super -expensive" these days. If need be, just buy/farm 2k zen, then buy the 3-pack ship upgrade tokens, then sell all 3 for 300M. That banks you 6 Isomags. Zen to upgrade tokens is better ROI than Zen to keys these days. Also a "high end" energy build without Isomags is no longer "high end".

[@MatthewBluefox]

@@junkiexl86 400 million for eight Isomax consoles are definitely not cheap, even for a longtime player (without spending money). ^^

[@junkiexl86]

@@MatthewBluefox $25 worth of zen (4 ship upgrade tokens) gets you 8 Isomags. Can rake leaves at your neighbors house for that, if money is that tight. 400M is not cheap, no. But there is a big difference between "super expensive" and "expensive". Context matters.

[@KalijahAnderson]

Side note, I noticed they have Kin+Phys resist, but no Kin or Phys damage boost. I don't understand why they are so against letting us boost our experimental weapons.

[@CasualSAB]

Yeah, while I'm not fully a fan of putting more mods in the pool, I do think they should cover some of the niche damage types. Like some + electrical or rad isomags would be really nice.

[@KalijahAnderson]

@@CasualSAB Yeah, my Cnindarin defender would love to have Iso Mags with +electrical damage.

[@flamesofglory3186]

Thanks Spencer awesome as always :)

[@short72hp1]

hi hope you are having a great week

[@CasualSAB]

Thank you! You too!

[@3Rayfire]

I'd like your insight on how the DMG and CrtD mods on weapon interact with the Isomags, especially for non Tacs. Conventional wisdom for a long time was Tacs use DMG mods on weapons and everyone else should have CRTD on theirs. Has that changed?

[@NotoriousNickNorris]

Seconded

[@chaff5]

Wow looking back at this video to see how to build now that the elite queue has launched... I'm glad I didn't spend 30+ mill on isomags.

[@ghenghisprawn6034]

Stobuilds post a while back said the Hangar Craft Power Transmission consoles were giving their buff to targetable torpedos, but they weren't sure if the buff was actually increasing the targetable torpedo damage. Any idea if they're actually benefitting from them?

[@trazyntheinfinite9895]

They do not. Unless the pets fire them. Scorpions make things go boom boom.

[@QuantumNova]

Excellent Video, but I think you just exploded the Isomag market. Prices on the exchange are around 19m each at the time of this post. ( Glad I have 47 in stock 😁).

[@michaelbobek3543]

You da man! 🖖😊

[@PaulieLDP]

Great video breakdown, thank you for the tips.

[@krafka]

Very informative videos. How about a video on ships that you were lukewarm about but are now worth a second look with builds using isomags?

[@junkiexl86]

This is true. Alot of ships that were once easy pass overs for being too focused on engi slots, are now becoming more and more meta as a result. 6-8 Isomags on ANY Energy build is too powerful to pass up.

[@KalijahAnderson]

An easy way to figure it out for me is that whatever your difference from 100 to your power level is, cut it in half and that's the % difference you will see. So you will never drop below half normal damage so long as you have any weapon power to fire with, and cranking it up to 200 will net you a 50% increase over what you would do at 100 weapon power.

[@Reoh0z]

I'm probably sticking with exploiter/locators not for simplicity, but because that's a way cheaper investment that's going to be good enough for 99% of the game.

[@kfire7042]

Great Vid, thank you.!! Do the Isomags have to be crafted, or are they acquired somewhere else. I just recently heard about them.

[@KalijahAnderson]

Iso Mag + Colony consoles combo works great for me.

[@BobaDavis]

It looks like the difference between none and two is negligible but the difference between none and three is definitely worth using.

[@Jay-ql4gp]

Going by my base stats, my crit chance is 29.1 crit chance and my base severity is 236.3. Hmm. Time to do some shuffling around. And at least my energy type, disruptor, is extremely rare. Because of course it is.

[@radeadcool]

With Eng Capts I get the Sov at Weapons Power over 200 power!

[@KazeMunashii]

as a sci, this doesnt benfit me. i already have cap mk consoles in tactical from the armada fleet starbase vendor for beam damage. all ripping out my eng consoles would do would drop my EPG significantly, and its not worth it when fleet base items for this already exist.

[@trazyntheinfinite9895]

Isos are great for the same reasonnthat overide subsystems was: you necer dip below dew1 and keep up the dakka Also, crit works of the damage you do so if you base damage is higher, ots harder to catch up on crit builds where it isnt.

[@Dracounguis]

Should have started the video with the price of them. Once I heard that it was like _nah I'll stick with my other consoles that are already epic 15s._ 😆

[@Lukos0036]

Problem is they aren't cost effective. Their price on the exchange is prohibitive unless you have billions of EC. And if you have alts or use multiple different damage types that increases exponentially for what is an incremental upgrade. It's still more cost effective to use locators and exploiters.

[@thextreme7619]

I don't know why, but when I tried switching to isomags, my dps dropped be like 30%. That's with 7 consoles. I tried it on a couple different ships, and it just wasn't working out for me.

[@roguephoenix]

oh didn't know this wasn't for torpedo. good thing i didn't get any yet. i was leveling my r&d for these.

[@GeoPoliticsCommentry]

Was there a patch I thought we covered this weeks ago??

[@CasualSAB]

I have covered them before, but this is just adding in some more math and showing how they stack up vs Locators/Exploiters in some more detail.

[@GeoPoliticsCommentry]

@@CasualSAB Just making sure my Potzeimers was not acting up

[@KalijahAnderson]

@@GeoPoliticsCommentry LMAO @ Potzeimers

[@short72hp1]

Hi Spencer I had a chance to try out the terror monitor Carrier actually like it but I took it to the The rescue and search patrol it's where I do all my testing of builds and I got killed twice I hope I can handle it the Carrier first time I've had problems brown face But I do really like it

[@KevinGenus]

This is a great, great video... but I truly suck at the game (PS4/5). For whatever reason, my basic ass is always at inventory full, I don't know what to get rid of, what to train and end up using a carrier all the time, which I do not want to do. When I stopped playing, I'd just purchased the 3 Pack (I think Omega) with Science / Operations / Tactic cruisers. I wanted to make it work, but the game's UI and mechanics were more confusing than EveOnline (which I found exceedingly simplistic).

[@ADway-hn7qu]

Embassy consoles 2.0. Being locked behind Elite TFO's and Gamble boxes means these wont get gutted at some point in the future.

[@asuravojl]

cries in babysteps damage...

[@scotthopkins2235]

So, what I need to know is, are the Iso mags all the Phaser power flavor or do you have other traits on the Iso Mags? Because it looks to me like you are building a Glass cannon. I don't have my endeavors finished so I can't lean on those bonuses for defensive survivability. I don't have the resistance I think I need to take long term punches to the face. I know I have issues with Torps smacking me around like a little girl. I just cringe when I see a torp come for me. BRACE for IMPACT!! I donno if a Point Defense trait or console is the solution to this issue or a good trade off in slot.

[@short72hp1]

Also has anyone give me an impression on how good the Borg tesseract reward is ty

[@wkrick]

I'm running a CSV Phaser build on the La Sirena Heavy Raider. It only has 2 engineering slots (but 4 science slots). Is this a clear "stick with locators" situation?

[@CasualSAB]

I'd stick with Locators there

[@KalijahAnderson]

If you were going to go Iso Mags, I would swap your locators for Colony consoles.

[@Rickpa]

I really want to know if anyone has found similar value in the other advanced consoles? I did the science ones on an EPG build, but it doesn't seem that they perform much over fleet science consoles. Just as well? Sure.

[@CasualSAB]

The pet ones do ok for pet focused builds, but you need to get the pets to rank 5 asap and keep them alive to get the most out of it. And then it's a question if doubling your pet's DPS would outdo the boost Isomags would do for your weapons. As for the sci consoles, was not impressed with either, so just not given em much attention yet.

[@KalijahAnderson]

@@CasualSAB IMO the Iso Mags are the only consoles on the list of what they added that are worth anything at all. Only Niche builds for carriers are going to come halfway close to the usefulness of the Iso Mags and then only for carriers.

[@jeffhogan3433]

I am a bit confused...the numbers you obtained for each console type, is that base damage only, or does that take into account critical hits? As an example, my Gagarin has 51% critH and almost 270% critD unmodified sitting at ESD. Are isomags still going to out perform the tac exploiters I am using with those stats? I also have 407% power transfer rate.

[@CasualSAB]

The numbers factor in crits. And yes, on a build like yours, Isomags should outperform the exploiters.

[@jeffhogan3433]

@@CasualSAB how much critD was on your build?

[@Friedbrain11]

I tried making some of them and they all turned out crappy. Didn't get a single good one. The ones on market are just too high priced to get and use.

[@TJMODLA]

I have a dozen questions about interactions with Antiproton and the Advanced Disruptor...basically, how do these interact with weapons that have inherent Crit Chance / Crit Damage?

[@CasualSAB]

The isomags boost them up like anything else. Doesn't really change anything said here.

[@TJMODLA]

@@CasualSAB That's really interesting. I would think that with a set of 8 Advanced Disruptors the Crit Severity is at 80% (I believe.) How is it better to spec into power level causing a 40% increase in damage vs Consoles that cause more guarantee to crit? Does it have to do with increasing the base damage? Where increasing the base damage makes that 80% hit harder. Does that occasional proc of 80% more of the buffed base damage result in more damage than basically guaranteeing the 80% crit? My head math says it would be close. But, I would have to research more about how damage buffs stack on each other.

[@CasualSAB]

The advanced weapons proc caps out at 6 beams/60% CrtD. At least is how they worked last I looked. As for the damage formula, here it is: old.reddit.com/r/stobuilds/wiki/math/damage_formulas Weapons power is quite impactful here. Is why in many of these sims I had 1-2 less isomags giving a comparable or better damage boost.

[@TJMODLA]

Thank you.

[@EnterpriseKnight]

watching this after spending 200kk ec on the exchange.

[@bigv3210]

I'm sorry but I might have missed this. Don't exploiters have the benefit of not "interferring" with the lorca console? The tac consoles have to go in tac slots and so does the lorca one as well correct? Thus, you would actually get more benefit right? I would expect that might change the math a bit when it comes to have 1 less eng console possibility compared to tac.

[@bigv3210]

I should clarify - you mention the consoles but I am wondering about your early math numbers.

[@KalijahAnderson]

They should take all the torp and mine stuff off the Iso Mags. Nobody is going to be using an Iso Mag with a torp build.

[@Gnostiko1604]

So are isomags simply 1:1 better than locators? I've seen a lot of people saying, in the debate of "which is better?", it depends on if your ship has more tac slots or eng slots. I've got 5 of each (effectively) on my little CSV Hydra, and I've run both 5 isos and 5 locators and I can't really tell the difference, beyond the locators getting a lot more crits. Should I just stick with my 5 phaser isos then?

[@CasualSAB]

1:1 the Isomags should be winning out.

[@Gnostiko1604]

@@CasualSAB I'll stick with the isos then. Cheers mate!

[@matthewday7565]

The effect of catalysts is disappointing to say the least, only shifting by 1% ... 48/52 for a level 30 crafter on a level 20 skill, going to 50/50 if you put two catalysts on. Wonder if the economics favour it or not... if you made 100, on average you would only get 2 more (50 vs 48) at Ultra for the use of 200 catalysts

[@paul_8472]

I have a question regarding the disco rep tac consoles. Is there a difference in using the ones that add crit vs. hull cap if you are using the colony deflector? I'm hoping some may know since my STO combat meter has been acting up lately, or I would test it myself.

[@CasualSAB]

Colony Deflector just scales with your current hull %. Tyler's Duality is the rep trait that gives a scaling crit buff based on hullcap. And for that, the +crit bellums would still be better.

[@paul_8472]

@@CasualSAB thanks for the info.

[@Levi_Skardsen]

In the case of the new legendary Avenger, since it only has one less engineering than tac, you'd go with isomags on that, right?

[@CasualSAB]

Yeah, I stuck with Isomags on mine. Cause realistically 1 of those tac slots is Lorca. So it's 7 Isomags vs 7 Locators/Exploiters. Isomags do win out there.

[@Levi_Skardsen]

@@CasualSAB Thanks for the reply. I'll go with isomags for it. Looking forward to your review.

[@pizzamonster69]

Stupid question, can you use these with the disco consoles? Beam or cannon dmg and crit hit chance

[@CasualSAB]

Yes

[@MChauNsd]

arent isomags the consoles where you can only slot one of those per build?

[@CasualSAB]

No, you can slot as many of them as you have Engineering/Uni console slots. Downside is you can't use them at same time as the Tac Locators/Exploiter consoles

[@MChauNsd]

@@CasualSAB oh man this is going to make my builds super interesting lol

[@kuelh0]

wonder if its safe to invest or they will nerf

[@CasualSAB]

I'd imagine you're safe here. These make cruisers competitive, which boosts cruiser sales.

[@efssurplusfunds]

Do they come in antiproton?

[@CasualSAB]

Yes

[@Ookamimoon66]

So Isomags plus RRTW plus OSS 3 equals nuke????

[@CasualSAB]

Yes

[@Ookamimoon66]

@@CasualSAB Well the Deimos just got way better.

[@KalijahAnderson]

Uh, yeah, and that's actually the basis of my Mars Class RRtW build. Iso Mags + Colony consoles. I get around 800k DPS with it on target. Sometimes touching spikes of 1 million DPS.

[@Ookamimoon66]

Ugh nobody ques for elite on Console and the exchange is stupid

[@cwiggy34]

As much as you are right, it's still easier to get "Spire" consoles.(Basically no ty. This update is geared to whales lol😂😢😂)

[@williamsmith5462]

Exactly

[@hughejass9461]

The Isomags obviously aren't as easy to get but by running elite Miner Instabilities and Into the Hive you'll get drops for free. Plus the pieces on the exchange are only selling for five or six million EC; I picked them up when this started for three to four. Regardless, I haven't spent a nickel of real world money on them and have built eight so far, but to each their own.

[@williamsmith5462]

So only necessary for scoreboard chasing. No realvalue in solo or outside of bragging. Lots of work just for that.

[@outlawedTV88]

Basically you can beat the game on solo with the regular weapons that come with the ship :) But if you're like me playing since the beginning and have a Billion to spend than by all means go for it. :)

[@GeoPoliticsCommentry]

@@outlawedTV88 me too

[@SuperBROKEN81]

We had over cap in S4 of STO. Probably before that. It was always considered broken. I guess the devs decided it was better as a feature since they couldn't fix it