A set of basic guidelines for designing an energy-weapons ship build. Introductory Notes These ten guidelines are designed to apply broadly to the most common types of builds, which use energy weapons as their primary damage source (and which may also include, optionally, a single projectile weapon). Energy weapons (in Star Trek Online) meaning both beam-type weapons and cannon-type weapons (cannons being energy-burst weapons; they do not fire a projectile). As you will see, this guide is very general, and there is still a lot of room for customization within these guidelines. Please note that many of these guidelines are NOT applicable to two less-common build types: 1) exotic damage based builds (focused on damage from Science BOFF abilities) 2) kinetic damage based builds (focused on damage from torpedoes) Both of these build styles will often use multiple projectile weapons and will not emphasize damage from energy weapons (if, in fact, they use any). Deliberately left out: any discussion of DOFFs, weapon mods, or power/cooldown management (including Aux2Bat), as those are more build-specific than this list is designed to be. Some of these guidelines can be bent or broken successfully, but think about it first. Following these (provided that the equipment is of an adequate mark and rarity level) will result in a ship that can easily produce the damage needed in any normal-difficulty and many advanced-difficulty situations. Guidelines #1 to #4 - Weapons 1. All energy weapons should have the same "damage type". (There are six: Phaser, Disruptor, Plasma, Antiproton, Polaron, Tetryon.) This is usually named in the item name, but some are deceptively named, so check the tooltips. NOTE: all six types share the same base damage scale, they just have different additional special effects, meaning that there is not one type that is inherently better than the others. Some ships have built-in (or console) weapons of a specific type, and in those cases, you should probably match that type. 2. All energy weapons should be EITHER beam-style OR cannon-style. (Turrets are cannons.) NOTE: This is due to the efficiency of Bridge Officer weapon mode skills; on ships that have extremely high amounts of tactical officer seating, it may not be necessary. NOTE: If using a T6 ship with Miracle Worker BOFF seating, it may be preferable to use one 360 aft weapon of the opposite style (a turret or an omni-beam), to trigger "Mixed Armaments Synergy". This is, however, not necessary if you are also using a projectile weapon. 3. 360-degree weapons, if used, should be used in aft slots only. NOTE: the tooltips on omni-directional beam weapons are deceptive. Although they say "one per ship", there are actually three categories, and you may use one of each. (Energy-type beams that are part of a set, energy-type beams that are NOT part of a set, and the Omega reputation kinetic beam.) FYI: The Morphogenic Polaron Energy Weapon from "Home" counts as an omni-directional beam weapon. 4. You should use only one projectile (torpedo) weapon, placed in the far right forward slot (they work slightly better there, due to a combination of the autofire game mechanic and the effects of different weapon styles), or none at all. This weapon should be part of a set with a useful bonus, the appropriate energy torpedo, the Wide Angle Quantum, or the Particle Emission Plasma. (Dark Matter qualifies as "set with a useful bonus" if you are also using the Discovery console listed below.) Guideline #5 - Weapon Damage Enhancement via Console Slots 5. All Tactical console slots should be used ONLY for Tactical consoles with weapon damage boosting effects. These include: (in order of preference) Limited to one (of each) per ship: - the Discovery reputation "Lorca's Custom Fire Controls" tactical console. (While it's not type specific, the +Critical Hit Chance is very good.) - the Counter-Command Tactical Console, Chronometric Capacitor, Morphogenic Matrix Controller, or similar (episode/reputation reward consoles which are specifically tactical AND part of a set AND include energy-specific weapon boosters). Unlimited: - Fleet Spire vendor Advanced Tactical consoles (Vulnerability Locator and/or Exploiter), with the appropriate energy weapon damage-type as the chosen mod. - Fleet Colony vendor Tactical consoles, with the appropriate energy weapon damage-type as the chosen mod. - Discovery reputation store Bellum Directed Energy Distribution Manifold (if using Beam style weapons) or Bellum Prefire Chamber (if using Cannon style weapons). - standard craftable/lootable energy-specific Tactical consoles (Phaser Relay, Disruptor Coil, etc.) for the appropriate energy weapon damage-type. Any energy-specific boosts (most of the consoles on this list) should be chosen to MATCH your chosen weapon damage type (for example, +Phaser type if using Phaser type weapons, +Disruptor if using Disruptor weapons, etc.). 5b. If you choose to use them, the (new) Advanced Engineering - Isomagnetic Plasma Distribution Manifold consoles can also be a very good option, especially if your ship has less tactical console slots than it does engineering console slots. You will want to use ones that have the appropriate energy weapon damage-type as the chosen mod. Note that these are incompatible with (cannot be slotted on the same ship as) the Advanced Tactical consoles mentioned above. They can be used with any other Tactical consoles listed above. 5c. Universal console slots should be used as additional Tactical slots, UNLESS you are using the Advanced Engineering consoles, in which case they should be used as additional Engineering slots. DO NOT put Universal consoles in Universal slots. Those consoles can be placed in any slot, so can be placed in Science slots, and in Engineering slots if you are not using Advanced Engineering consoles. Guidelines #6 to #8 - Bridge Officer Abilities 6. Tactical BOFF abilities should include Tactical Team. Your top two Tactical BOFF abilities should be some combination of: either Beam Fire at Will OR Cannon Scatter Volley (depending on chosen weapon style), and an Attack Pattern (Beta, Delta, or Omega). Third-highest should be Torpedo Spread, if you have chosen to use a torpedo and have room for four or more Tactical abilities. (If you are lacking in Tactical BOFF space, the Starship Trait "Entwined Tactical Matrices" can be used to add a Torpedo Spread effect to your energy-weapon BOFF skills.) 7. Science BOFF abilities should always include Polarize Hull and if you have room for them, Hazard Emitters and/or Science Team. 8. Engineering BOFF abilities should always include Engineering Team and, if you have room for it, Emergency Power to Weapons. Guideline #9 - Other Ship Equipment 9. Seek out equipment (universal consoles, science consoles, engineering consoles, deflectors, shields, impulse engines, warp engines) which have some of the following boosters: +All Damage, +Damage for your chosen weapon types, +Critical Hit Chance, +Critical Severity, +Turn Rate, + Power Transfer Rate, +All Damage Resistance, +Hull Capacity, +Shield Capacity, -Weapon Energy Cost, +Weapon Firing Speed, -Bridge Officer Cooldown. In some cases, these stats can also be found as 2-piece or 3-piece set bonuses. Of special note: Fleet Colony deflectors, and any warp core with a +Power Transfer Rate modifier. NOTE: STO thrives on synergy. There is not a single piece of equipment, a single ship, etcetera, that is "the best". For best results, you will want to find the things that contribute the most to your build choices. For example, a +Phaser Damage bonus is not useful if your weapons are not Phaser type, but could be rather useful if they are... Guideline #10 - Bridge Officers 10. All active BOFFs should have a "space" personal trait. (Bridge Officers have four personal traits, but many have four ground traits... these are not desirable for use on your ship, but may be retained for Away Team duties.) The best such traits offer stat bonuses for critical hits. These are "Superior Watcher Operative" and "Superior Romulan Operative" ("SRO"). Both are stackable. "Superior Watcher Operative" is found only on Watcher Operative lockbox BOFFs, which can also be resold via the Exchange. (+3 Critical Hit Chance and +3 Critical Severity per officer) "Superior Romulan Operative" is sometimes (not always) found on Romulan BOFFs. (+2 Critical Hit Chance and +5 Critical Severity per officer) Romulan captains can easily get enough Romulans with SRO to run an all-SRO bridge crew through normal BOFF recruiting methods (level-up rewards, DOFF assignments, or the Exchange). However, for non-Romulan captains, they must be obtained from a Fleet Embassy vendor. There are two other space traits which offer stat bonuses for critical hits, but at lower quantities: "Engineered Soldier" (Space), found only on Jem'Hadar Vanguard BOFFs (from the Gamma expansion pack) which is effectively a combination of half-strength SRO (+1 Critical Hit Chance and +2.5 Critical Severity per officer) and a weapon-only damage boost. NOTE: this trait is not found on standard Jem'Hadar officers (the episode reward one and the ones given to starting Jem'Hadar characters), which only have ground traits. "Authority of the Founders", which is unique to the Weyoun clone science BOFF awarded by the Dominion Captain bundle, is identical to "Engineered Soldier" (Space) with an additional ground ability added. Other useful space traits include: - "Pirate". Klingon captains can easily get many of these, as Nausicaans always come with this trait; Federation captains may get one Nausicaan BOFF as a reward for reaching 100,000 Diplomacy duty officer points. There is also an episode-reward officer, the Hierarchy Science officer (Delta episode "Alliances") who has both "Pirate" and "Efficient", making him the best free Bridge Officer in the game (for non-Romulan captains). (As such, I recommend that Federation captains use the diplomacy reward to claim a Nausicaan Tactical or Engineer.) - "Kentari Ferocity". Available only on Kentari BOFFs, purchased from Fleet Colony, not stackable (so only get one). - "Temporal Engineering", "Temporal Applied Sciences", "Temporal Tactics". Found on profession appropriate Krenim BOFFs, purchased from Fleet Research Lab. (That is not a complete list.) Other BOFFs with an assortment of other space traits are available via duty officer recruiting assignments (random BOFFs with "Efficient" are available for both factions, and Human Fed officers come with "Leadership") or via fleet vendors (especially at the Embassy, K-13, and Colony), and also via the CStore (individually or included in purchasable expansion packs). NOTE: K-13 Human officers come with "Leadership", while other K-13 officers do not. --------------------------- My recommendations are as follows: Romulan-faction captain: Use Romulan faction officers with SRO only. Klingon-faction (or allied Dominion) captain: Use Romulan faction officers with SRO (purchased at Fleet Embassy) OR Watcher officers if/when available. Remaining seats should first be filled with Jem'Hadar Vanguard (and/or Weyoun clone, if available), then the Hierarchy Science Officer. Fill all remaining seats with Nausicaans. Federation-faction (or allied Dominion) captain: Use Romulan faction officers with SRO (purchased at Fleet Embassy) OR Watcher officers if/when available. Remaining seats should first be filled with Jem'Hadar Vanguard (and/or Weyoun clone, if available), then the Hierarchy Science Officer. If you have a remaining Engineering seat, use the diplomacy-reward Nausicaan Engineer. If any seats remain vacant, then look for officers with other useful space traits.