U.S.S. Perses

Notes

• All weapon-centric builds benefit from the tactical ultimate, as weapon haste and bonus weapon damage from the Focused Frenzy active are appreciable when used on big targets. Applying the bonus to your team is also appreciated. I do not find the cooldown boost from Frenzied Reactions to be needed on a build with a good cooldown scheme.

• Engineering skills

  • Since I use this skill tree for both tanks and DPS build, taking two points in Hull Capacity helps survivability. Increased Hull Capacity boosts Tyler's Duality as well. I could have taken a second point in Hull Restoration but chose to take a point in Shield Restoration instead for the second science unlock.

  • I always take a single point in Hull Plating, but other resistance skills and Damage Control are not worth it. 

  • 2 points in Impulse Expertise are an appreciable boost to maneuverability. 

  • Warp Core Potential and especially Warp Core Efficiency help boost power to subsystems. Efficiency is particularly good at adding power to subsystems I am not allocating much power to.

  • Improved EPS Power Transfer is essential for recovering power while firing energy weapons.

• Science skills

  • Single point in Shield Restoration is low opportunity cost for relatively high survivability gains. Since I need skill points elsewhere, only 1 here

  • A single point in Shield Regeneration has surprisingly large impact on shield regeneration based on recent research by Jay

  • Since this character has Nadion Inversion, which scales with Drain Expertise, I take both points in DrainX. Two points in Control Expertise powers the Fragment of AI Trait.

  • All energy builds should take maximum points in Long Range Targeting Sensors.

  • The rest of the science skills are of little value on this build and are completely skippable.

• Tactical skills

  • Energy Weapon Training, Hull Penetration, Shield Penetration, Weapon Specialization, and Weapon Amplification are all worthwhile skills to take 3 points in as they boost energy weapon damage directly. Since I do use torpedoes and it does decent damage, 2 points in Projectile Weapon Training is a good choice.

  • I like taking 2 points apiece in accuracy and defense. Defense is a small contribution to avoiding incoming damage but also helps reduce enemy crits when you're not moving and accuracy is just good all around, if not a stat that you'll need tons of.

  • Coordination Protocols, Defense Coordination and Offensive Coordination are good team boosts so I always take those. They also benefit hangar pets on builds that have those. Improved Tactical Readiness is essential for reducing tactical cooldowns along with the rest of the cooldown scheme.

• Unlocks

  • There are two crucial unlocks: battery expertise (improves duration of consumable batteries) and threat control which either increases or decreases threat based on threatening stance.

This ship is a energy weapons + 1 torpedo set up. It has absolutely zero investment into exotic damage, so I am not skilled at all into those.

Intel/Strategist is the best-in-slot choice for non-tank Energy builds. Intel provides substantial damage through flanking and Intel Fleet. Strategist likewise adds damage through Logistical Support, Maneuver Warfare, and Show of Force, as well as some damage reduction through Layered Defenses.

While Engineering captains can't output the raw DPS of a Tactical Captain, their abilities lend themselves quite well to energy DPS, and you're not really a glass cannon when you have doubled Miraculous Repairs. Since I'm also tanking on this toon, it makes it rather easy mode. Tacticals have more DPS, Engineers survive longer, and I'm not building pure glass cannon. 

Notes

There's lots to discuss here. This one is spicy.

Disruptor: Disruptor has some advantages in that the Nausicaan console gives EPS. Could do similar things with Phaser via Reinforced Armaments. 

Lorca's Ambition 2-piece: The Nausicaan set is non-value-added since it forces a Beam Array and a meh torpedo. Dark Matter ended up getting slotted by default and the console is good on its own with the 2-piece. The Wide Angle Heavy Dual Beam Bank is NOT slotted because it doesn't benefit from Reroute Reserves to Weapons' haste. 

No Quad Cannons: Look, I enjoy Quad Cannons for their damage and visuals but they drain -10 extra engine power while firing on top of the Reroute Reserves to Weapon drain and for that reason they are not my go-to.

Soliton Wave Impeller: Keeping Five Magicks up all the time requires a source of Electrical, Radiation, Fire, Cold, or Psionic damage with high uptime to gain the Disruptor bonus. This does Electrical damage and fires frequently.

Notes:

I don't need the Competitive Engines, as this ship has lots of speed. The regen helps counteract taking damage and the Bajor Core is feeding 12 power into all subsystems as long as I'm within 3 km of an enemy, which is very helpful.

Notes: 

Power Drain:

At the end of the day, Reroute Reserves to Weapons is going to drain a LOT of engine power and since traditional weapon power cost methods like Emergency Weapon Cycle, Marion, or Rhythmic Rumble don't work on it, you have to do something a little bit different to sustain the haste. I've found a winning combination that works for me and my budget level that allows me to sustain RRtW III indefinitely:

• Engineering captain with EPS Manifold Efficiency 

• Intelligence Agent Attache reducing EPS Power Transfer's cooldown

• OSS III

• Bajor Core at 150 DrainX

• Emergency Power to Engines I and Emergency Power to Weapons III

I could probably reduce some of the mitigation methods somewhat, especially on an organized run, but for general use, I have 220.63% EPS and have Engine Power set to 75 with 20 (EPtE) + 10 (ship) + 3 (skills) + 10 (EPS Manifold Efficiency) + 13 (Bajor Core) + 10 (Dragonsblood Flame Reactor), plus Five Magics should be supplying some additional power. If you have 250% EPS or more and over 140 Engine Power (so 30 overcap), you're probably capable of sustaining a RRtW build firing 6 energy weapons. I also have EPS Power Transfer and OSS III in the mix, so those add additional power. OSS's chance of Engine Offline does NOT cancel RRtW.

Budget Tweaks:

• The Spiral Waves can be substituted for something else like a Wide Arc Disruptor Cannon or a regular Dual Heavy Cannon

• Replace the Tachyon Net Drones with the Assimilated Module

• Replace the Agony Redistributor with the Nausicaan console

• Replace the Altamid console with another Isomag (shuffle the consoles around). 

Meta Notes

• Meta options would be replacing all boffs but maybe Weyoun with Superior Romulan Operatives or Watchers. Bor-ing.

• If you're in love with Unconventional Systems, consider replacing the Hazard Emitters and Reverse Shield Polarity with controls like Tractor Beam and Emit Unstable Warp Bubble

Meta-Focused Tweaks:

• The meta would be using a Tactical captain, so EPS Manifold Efficiency gets replaced with A Good Day to Die

• If you wanted to go full glass, drop Give Your All and Grace Under Fire for Duelist's Fervor and Adaptive Offense, or maybe Unconventional Systems if you have the consoles to make it work. I find it overrated myself unless staggering expense is invested.

Budget Tweaks:

If low budget, (try and keep the ones at the bottom)

• Drop Fragment of AI Tech (Elite Captain unlock)

• Context is For Kings -> Operative

• Repair Crews -> Techie

• Self-Modulating Fire -> Point-Blank Shot

• Intelligence Agent Attache -> Cannon Training I suppose. This one hurts to lose because there's no great substitute

• Boimler Effect is the hard one to give up. Scrounge for it if you can

Meta-Focused Tweaks:

• Universal Designs or Ruin of our Enemies would be a replacement for Improved Critical Systems. Terran Goodbye and Ruin are fickle in that you must land the killing blow to stack them. Universal Designs basically requires an expensive console, the Immolating Phaser Lance, to make it worth it. This might be an okay build to replace Emergency Weapon Cycle on, but it'd need one of those expensive traits

Budget Tweaks:

• Drop Ship of the Line (T6X2 upgrade)

• Five Magicks -> Programmable Matter Enhancements

• Strike From Shadows -> Improved Command Frequency

• Super Charged Weapons -> Improved Predictive Algorithms

Notes:

If Improved Critical Systems is not available, you might try Synthetic Good Fortune but definitely take Tractor Beam over Hazard Emitters

Miscellaneous

This ship uses Photonic Officer with Boimler Effect as its primary cooldown mechanism, as A2B helps with the engine power issues. Boimler can be a little unreliable, but when paired with Photonic Officer it's usually pretty safe. Thankfully, with a high number of short rotation powers (10 over a 15 second rotation), there's an 97% chance or higher of at least 1 activation of the trait during a rotation.

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