Excalibur: Looking for a decent build

Game Discussion Ships
1

Yeah, I know many of you will tell me that my first mistake was buying an Excal in the first place.
But well. I have a weakness for shiny flowing streaks, so whatever. It’s done.

…And when I saw its modifier setup… I got stuck. I don’t know what to use, because it has such a weird slot setup.

1 Engine Slot (???)
2 Capacitor Slots
3 Shield slots
0 Hull slots (?!)

3 CPU slots (?!?!)

For most of the time, I’m a T3 player (I have both a Strong and a Katana S that I use extensivelly in both PvE and PvP), and I’m satisfied with my T3 build. But I’m starting to build a T5 so I can free roam without being swatted like a fly by everything outside the protected sectors. And also be able to join high-lvl PvE content once in a while. And since I started at the Jericho faction, I chose the Excalibur as my first T5 (and still wondering if the Rockwell would’ve been a better choice). For PvP, I think I’m sticking to my beloved T3, for now.

So… what do I do? What are your suggestions on modifiers (I’m more or less good on modules, but suggestions are welcome too)? How can I cope with this weird setup (3 CPU slots, but a single Engine and no hull slot? What the f…?)

2

ask residente, he has good general builds

3

For me at least…

Railguns - Crit Ammo

Ion missile

2 aura buffs, Valkyrie, shield booster. Rearrange order to fit your needs.

1 Shared Cooler

2 Volt regulators

1 Compact Shield Generator, 1 Thermal, 1 EM resist

1 proton wall, 1 electronic guidance, another EG or infrared scanner

Feel free to critique my open onion.

Edit: The ship modifier layout just gives me the impression that this ship is more offensive than the Sword S and can’t take diffusion punches. Also the energy recuperation system sucks.

4

Thanks for the suggestions! I have some questions, though (marked in bold blue)
 

For me at least…

Railguns - Crit Ammo
Ion missile

2 aura buffs, Valkyrie, shield booster. Rearrange order to fit your needs. [For roaming (Invasion) could be better to use a Repair Kit instead of the hull aura? I mean, Jericho ships have a lackluster hull, and there’s no automatic hull regen in Invasion unless you change locations.]

1 Shared Cooler [What about Auxiliar Generator? With so much energy regen, wouldn’t be worth including some speed? (which Jericho fighters lack)]
2 Volt regulators
1 Compact Shield Generator, 1 Thermal, 1 EM resist
1 proton wall, 1 electronic guidance, another EG or infrared scanner [i’m a personal fan of OC’d CPU. Wouldn’t that be more interesting for Invasion than Proton Wall?]

Feel free to critique my open onion.

Edit: The ship modifier layout just gives me the impression that this ship is more offensive than the Sword S and can’t take diffusion punches. Also the energy recuperation system sucks.
[Even with the native 25% boost to Energy Regen?]

5

First of all… I thought this was PvP build. My apologies. I will try to answer the blue text as best I can.

  • There are little green powerups scattered in Invasion. Honestly I would worry about low hull. With the diffusion shield and regular shield you shouldn’t get down to hull. If you did you are doing something wrong.

For invasion, exchange the coating polarizer for the gravi-scanner.

  • Again I apologize for my PvP build. If you want speed in Invasion you might as well go with the new Cruise Modifier.

  • Usually you don’t want raw volume of either hull or shield unless you know what you are doing. xKostyan explains the relationship between volume, regeneration and resistances. When you are facing AIs in Invasion you will love the sheer size of the diffusion shield to get you out of hairy situations. Shield modifiers are good as is.

  • The Enhanced Scanner is more useful when completing certain mission. OC is referring to the module that increase critical damage I think. The IS provides more damage output but that’s a different topic.

  • Energy regen is for DPS and Energy Pool Size is for alpha hits like rockets or plasma arc. Please read up on the pinned Command guide.

6

Again, thanks a lot o/

By “OC CPU” I mean Overclocked CPU, which speeds up lock time (-90% or so). Seems specially useful for clusters of enemies (…like cyber squads). It’s usually essencial for Tacklers instead of Commands, but with 3 CPU slots? Maybe worth a try?

So, I guess the suggested build now would be:

Engine: Cruise Engine Mod (or Aux Generator, since I have only one Engine slot, and can’t compensate with Verniers, like some people do in the Rockwell or Panther)
Capacitor: 2 Voltage Regulators (Energy Regen)
Shield: Compact Shield Regenerator (+ Cap Volume, - Shields), EM & Thermal resistance mods.
CPU: EG (- Spread), OC’d CPU (- Lock time) and either Infrared Scanner OR Spatial Scanner (+ Crit Chance, special radar with Spatial Scanner)

Does that look good?

Edit: Oh, and I usually keep Enhanced Scanner out because most of the quest locations are fixed, so when I finish them for the first time, it’s just a matter of memorization instead of actuall radar/visual range.

7

First of all… I thought this was PvP build. My apologies. I will try to answer the blue text as best I can.

  • There are little green powerups scattered in Invasion. Honestly I would worry about low hull. With the diffusion shield and regular shield you shouldn’t get down to hull. If you did you are doing something wrong.

For invasion, exchange the coating polarizer for the gravi-scanner.

  • Again I apologize for my PvP build. If you want speed in Invasion you might as well go with the new Cruise Modifier.

  • Usually you don’t want raw volume of either hull or shield unless you know what you are doing. xKostyan explains the relationship between volume, regeneration and resistances. When you are facing AIs in Invasion you will love the sheer size of the diffusion shield to get you out of hairy situations. Shield modifiers are good as is.

  • The Enhanced Scanner is more useful when completing certain mission. OC is referring to the module that increase critical damage I think. The IS provides more damage output but that’s a different topic.

  • Energy regen is for DPS and Energy Pool Size is for alpha hits like rockets or plasma arc. Please read up on the pinned Command guide.

OC is the reduce lock time one.

 

To OP, about overclocked CPU: It’s not really worth it, since it does no extra damage, and you (as a command) have nothing that really requires you to lock on to somebody else.

8

This build is oriented for shield tanking

 

JxwwzsT.jpg

 

Your shield will be able to absorb a good amounts of damage and thanks to all the CPU modules you can deal a lot of damage too with the Railguns.

 

IMO Excalibur is more of an aggressive command, but if you really want Diffusion Shield Tanking you should remove the Iridium Heatsinks and put more energy regeneration. On the shield slot you would need a minimum of 1 Compact Shield Generator. Also a Proton Wall on the CPUs would do wonders for you, because it would make it easier to resist ECM modules, specially the one absorbing your energy.

 

PS: This is all PvP oriented, but I guess a PvE build would be pretty similar.

9

OC is the reduce lock time one.

 

To OP, about overclocked CPU: It’s not really worth it, since it does no extra damage, and you (as a command) have nothing that really requires you to lock on to somebody else.

It is worth it

Really helpful with projectile weapons in PvP. Switching targets is an important thing

10

Here you have mine.

 

3fVn5cL.jpg

I prefer to use one shield slot for epic diffusion tank. In the CPU i have range, crit and proton, because I already use the empire rank 2 implant, so I don’t need targeting time or additional critic.

 

You can go for resi build of having one Heatsink and one voltage regulator and scrap the vanadium shells for more critical chance, but I prefer having more difussion tank.

 

Finally, I think that command auras are needed, both of them. Not because of you, because you are not going to use the hull aura, but because your team will. If you want to go Rambo mode and forget about being a command, you can use just one aura, or scrap both.

11

Here you have mine.

 

3fVn5cL.jpg

I prefer to use one shield slot for epic diffusion tank. In the CPU i have range, crit and proton, because I already use the empire rank 2 implant, so I don’t need targeting time or additional critic.

 

You can go for resi build of having one Heatsink and one voltage regulator and scrap the vanadium shells for more critical chance, but I prefer having more difussion tank.

 

Finally, I think that command auras are needed, both of them. Not because of you, because you are not going to use the hull aura, but because your team will. If you want to go Rambo mode and forget about being a command, you can use just one aura, or scrap both.

 

I find 1 aura + speed more useful for the team than 2 auras. In organized squads specially.

12

THanks a lot, all of you :3

THis ship will be more PvE-oriented, so I’ll follow the shield-tanking + PvE-ish hints.

I think I’ll go with this build

Engine: I’m still wondering if I’ll use Verniers or Cruise, at this point, because I do have a Panther and I still intend to have a Rockwell, so this Excalibur will be my “tanky Invasion/PvE” for now. Perhhaps Vernier for instance PvE, Cruirse or Aux for Invasion.

Capacitors: Twin Voltage Regulators, because I’ll need to Diffusion-Tank a lot in Invasion PvE, because of the start of the fights (because of the swarming ammount of cybers/pirates). But I’ll keep a Heatsink later, for instance-PvE usage.
Shields: I’ll stay with the EM and Thermal Resists, coupled with a Compact Shield Generator. Again, later I’ll keep a Kinectic Resist for instanced-PvE builds.
CPU: I’ll go with the Horizon + IR combo, and go Burst-fire with my railguns (it’s my usual strategy anyway, and the spread is actually useful for last-hitting those annoying Intys. Later I’ll try to get a Spatial Scanner for Invasion, and make a few tests with OC’d CPU, too.

Modules: I’ll go with Residente. Shield aura, Valkyr, Shield Boost and Gravi. Gravi will be useful in Invasion because of my lack of base speed for “those moments”, and since I’ll have a functional Diffusion Shield, I won’t need to pop flares to run away.

I think that’s it for the moment, unless someone disagrees or have another opinion on that.

Maybe later I’ll open another topic for my Panther, but for now, I’m adapting Residente’s Rockwell build to it, with a few improvisations due to different slot layouts.

And again, thanks everyone :3
 

13

THanks a lot, all of you :3

THis ship will be more PvE-oriented, so I’ll follow the shield-tanking + PvE-ish hints.

I think I’ll go with this build

Engine: I’m still wondering if I’ll use Verniers or Cruise, at this point, because I do have a Panther and I still intend to have a Rockwell, so this Excalibur will be my “tanky Invasion/PvE” for now. Perhhaps Vernier for instance PvE, Cruirse or Aux for Invasion.

Capacitors: Twin Voltage Regulators, because I’ll need to Diffusion-Tank a lot in Invasion PvE, because of the start of the fights (because of the swarming ammount of cybers/pirates). But I’ll keep a Heatsink later, for instance-PvE usage.

Shields: I’ll stay with the EM and Thermal Resists, coupled with a Compact Shield Generator. Again, later I’ll keep a Kinectic Resist for instanced-PvE builds.

CPU: I’ll go with the Horizon + IR combo, and go Burst-fire with my railguns (it’s my usual strategy anyway, and the spread is actually useful for last-hitting those annoying Intys. Later I’ll try to get a Spatial Scanner for Invasion, and make a few tests with OC’d CPU, too.

Modules: I’ll go with Residente. Shield aura, Valkyr, Shield Boost and Gravi. Gravi will be useful in Invasion because of my lack of base speed for “those moments”, and since I’ll have a functional Diffusion Shield, I won’t need to pop flares to run away.

I think that’s it for the moment, unless someone disagrees or have another opinion on that.

Maybe later I’ll open another topic for my Panther, but for now, I’m adapting Residente’s Rockwell build to it, with a few improvisations due to different slot layouts.

And again, thanks everyone :3

 

Neat! That’s pretty much how I’d build it, but if you’re going to invasion (especially if you don’t have a squad for it), the shield aura could probably be replaced by a multiphase shield adapter. Just remember to use it when you’re taking heavy fire, have plenty of shield left, and don’t have diffusion shield on.

14

My problem with MPSA is that even though it gives a bit more than double the resistance of the aura (79 vs 30.9), it only lasts 8 seconds and have a cooldown of almost 40 seconds. The aura, on the other hand, is constantly active. I mean, MPSA would soak up the first wave of raw damage, but then my shields would start dropping once the enemies scatter their formation and start the “who lasts longer” fight (and high-level sectors tend to have formations of 4~5 enemies instead of just 2 or 3; and they’re armed with missiles).

But I could make a test later, though. Thanks for the suggestion o/

15

My problem with MPSA is that even though it gives a bit more than double the resistance of the aura (79 vs 30.9), it only lasts 8 seconds and have a cooldown of almost 40 seconds. The aura, on the other hand, is constantly active. I mean, MPSA would soak up the first wave of raw damage, but then my shields would start dropping once the enemies scatter their formation and start the “who lasts longer” fight (and high-level sectors tend to have formations of 4~5 enemies instead of just 2 or 3; and they’re armed with missiles).

But I could make a test later, though. Thanks for the suggestion o/

 

I’d use an aura over an active module any time. As Eviscerador said, it wont only help you but also your mates.

16

I’d use an aura over an active module any time. As Eviscerador said, it wont only help you but also your mates.

Well, I dunno about you, but when I do Invasion, I typically don’t have a squad. In PvP and PvE, of course it’s going to be better to have auras, since helping teammates helps you, too.

17

Well, I dunno about you, but when I do Invasion, I typically don’t have a squad. In PvP and PvE, of course it’s going to be better to have auras, since helping teammates helps you, too.

 

That’s a good point. If I happen to take a Command on invasion is because I’m going with someone to kill people.

18

Keep in mind I don’t play Command fighters that often.

 

As a Brawler:

 

Weapon: Ion Emitter

1 Engine Slot: 1 Shared Cooler
2 Capacitor Slots: 2 Irridium Heatsinks
3 Shield slots: 1 Energy Recuperation System, 1 Thermal Modulator, 1 EM-diffuser
3 CPU slots: 3 IR Scanners

 

Or if you’d rather take advantage of the Excalibur’s natural Kinetic weapon bonuses and snipe…

 

Weapon: Gauss Cannon

1 Engine Slot: 1 Shared Cooler
2 Capacitor Slots: 2 Pulse Dischargers
3 Shield slots: 1 Energy Recuperation System, 1 Thermal Modulator, 1 EM-diffuser
3 CPU slots: 2 IR Scanners, 1 Horizon Module

 

Keep in mind, I tend to go a bit off the beaten path.

19

For the sniping build I’d put an Overclocked CPU to help when switching targets.

20

Again, thanks everyone.

I managed to get all of the modules from the suggested build, and even though most of them are still Mk2, my effectiveness grew up a lot and the ship feels really comfy on most sectors.

After I manage to put most of its modules on Mk4/5, I’ll move my efforts torwards my Panther (which will be sort of my “I wanna be silent today” ship for solo farming) :3