Build Costs

STO's overlapping economic systems often obfuscate the costs of replicating a high-end build. The STOBETTER team is committed to build cost transparency with the costs of our builds, specifically identifying the expensive parts of a build, which ones are truly critical and what parts are incidental. Some players will have that kind of budget. Some will not. Some people would prefer we add even MORE expensive things, best-in-slot everything. That said, there's no point in dodging around the expense of high-end builds including the ones on this site. There are a few practices that we think are helpful when understanding and communicating builds, their costs, and their performance, so this page is really more for shipbuilders looking to share their builds rather than those looking to make a ship of their own.

Transparency in Cost

We think the best way to communicate cost is to communicate a reasonable value for what it would take someone else to replicate the build, not necessarily what you paid for it. If your build costs 1000 USD to replicate, it's better to say so upfront. If the build didn't cost you anything because you earned the rewards through gameplay, but it would cost a new player significant financial cost, we think that should be described. We have a formula for doing that which we'll cover below. Just because someone has the DOMINO console account-wide for free doesn't mean that console is equally available to all players. Similarly, we've received expensive items as gifts. Jay was gifted an Inquiry and Eph289 was gifted two expensive Liberated Borg doffs for his Dranuur. That's how Tilor got his Superior Area Denial. That doesn't mean that there wouldn't be significant costs involved for most players to replicate those builds. All three of us have put far less money into STO than raw build costs to replicate would indicate, especially if you summed them up across builds. Much of that has to do with earning rewards through gameplay, smart use of account unlocks, and a handful of gifts. 

Performance Context

The standard measuring stick that people tend to use when evaluating high-end ship performance is damage per second (DPS) on a handful of testing maps which we describe more thoroughly in an overview of the metagame in the FAQ. Whether you're looking on Reddit, Discord, another website, or YouTube as your source of build guides, the quick-and-dirty measurement is DPS for most builds, with some specialized metrics for tanks and supports. 

We think it's helpful to note whether or not a build is suitable for coordinated play on DPS maps only, how a record was set (premade vs coordinated), and maybe even a note on what team composition was used to achieve the record. 

There have been builds that achieved over 1 million DPS . . . with 3 hugely-expensive supports "nannying" them through the run and numerous practice runs. That's not to take away from the accomplishment, but for maximum clarity, that result is not achievable just by replicating the build. What most high-end builds and guides (and all credit to Spencer, who does draw attention to this) don't talk about is the importance of team composition, which really doesn't come into play until above 300K but is a key factor above 500k. Sure, there are builds designed for solo play and those don't care about team composition, but most generic ISE / HSE builds with eye-popping numbers are results achieved as part of a coordinated team, even if it's just minimal coordination like having a tank. To an extent, all ISE/HSE records that are coordinated in any way are supported. 

Many keystrokes have been spent trying to define what's a coordinated run or not but for all practical purposes, if you had a tank, it was a coordinated run. The amount of ally buffs and enemy debuffs that the team brings plays a role in achieving most high-end records. At the very high end of the DPS meta, the most specialized builds become increasingly specialized to a few maps and team compositions. For example, at the very top of coordinated ISA runs, the record-holding Thalaron build requires a specific composition of other high-end ships to work, and is largely useless on other maps. For instance, survivability and even things like cooldown reduction can be outsourced to an extent if your team is set up for it, or if you're defeating the map fast enough.  That's why we think providing context on team composition and map suitability is helpful.

All STOBETTER builds that are not starter builds or dedicated supports are suitable for general Elite TFO and mission play (some more so than others). Even the supports and starter builds would do excellently on Advanced TFOs, patrols, and missions, which is how we believe most dedicated endgame players who care about ship performance interact with the game.

Provide Budget Alternatives

One of the best ways to bridge the gap between a high-end build and a new-to-endgame player is to use all the fun high-end toys, but provide budget alternatives for non-crucial expensive parts. Are you using the Tachyokinetic Converter, an expensive Lobi console? Well, then consider listing the Assimilated Module, the easiest-to-acquire endgame console in the game, as an alternative. The stat difference between them is fairly small and the Tachyokinetic Converter, while better in terms of also providing turn rate, has very comparable stats to the Assimilated Module. 

There may be pieces of the build that are expensive and irreplaceable. For example, if a key part of the build is having the Vanguard Specialists trait to extend Surgical Strikes, Reroute Reserves to Weapons, or Exceed Rated Limits, then it is what it is. Identify it as crucial and be upfront about what's essential and what's a nice-to-have.

Price Tiers

After giving the matter much thought, we've divided STO ship builds into roughly four pricing tiers that we'll use to classify our builds here even if the wider community doesn't adopt the standard, just like we did with ship build types based on purpose and gearing. Not all builds will fall neatly into the tiers, but there are some clear breakpoints between cost that can help guide conversations. It's always possible to pull from builds that are more expensive on an otherwise cheaper build, and not all resource costs are equally applicable, but we think these delineations make sense. We'll add budget options on our more expensive builds and point to some beneficial purchases the next tier up as well. 

Starter Tier

This tier encompasses everything for completely free-to-play and starter builds for players reaching level 50. For the purposes of our site, this will not include leveling builds as we're focused squarely on the endgame. While this tier could include Day-1-at-Level 50 builds, our site tends to focus more on F2P builds that you grow into starting at level 50. This tier is extremely low-cost and choices made here will only utilize free or very cheap items. Some time investment, particularly through filling reputations or R&D schools might be required. Most dedicated players will soon surpass this tier, but it's for players who are more casual/extreme F2P or just reaching the endgame and will be grinding reputations or fleet gear for a considerable period. Since dilithium is needed for so many other things at this point, all gear is used at the mark at which it is earned. This tier is capable of doing well on Advanced difficulty even with no monetary investment, but there is some grind needed.

• Mission Gear: Yes

• Reputation Gear: Yes

• Fleet Gear: No

• Maximum Mark/Rarity: Mk XII or Mk XIII, no upgrades allowed

• Trait/Elite Captain/Ship Upgrades: No

• C-store purchases: None

• Direct Lobi purchases: None

• Event Items: Only if from recurring recruitment events, non-ship items from Summer and Winter event like boff powers or doffs

• Energy Credit Limit: 10 million EC worth of exchange purchases using the EZRA framework at the bottom of this section. This precludes Lobi, Lockbox, or Promo ships.

Economy Tier

This build tier is for a wide swathe of the playerbase that has some C-store investment and is willing to put some money into the game, but is far from being a big spender. Perhaps they've earned some ships from giveaways or Event campaigns and they've built up their foundation to afford some upgraded gear to where a capable Economy-tier ship can fly Elite TFOs.

• Mission Gear: Yes

• Reputation Gear: Yes

• Fleet Gear: Yes

• Maximum Mark/Rarity: Up to Mk XV, possibly some gear not Epic. We do allow the use of Epic gear so that our builders don't have to re-buy AND partially upgrade gear they already have at Mk XV Epic. Gilding items is NOT essential to having an Elite capable build. 

• Trait/Elite Captain/Ship Upgrades: T6X yes, Trait unlocks yes. No Elite Captain or T6X2

• C-store purchases: Up to 10000 Zen (can use the sale price)

• Direct Lobi purchases: None

• Event Items: Yes, but non-Event substitutes must be provided for items from ships

• Energy Credit Limit: 100 million EC worth of exchange purchases using the EZRA framework at the bottom of this section. This precludes Lobi, Lockbox, or Promo ships.

Midrange Tier

At this price tier, the builds become more expensive but also more capable. A higher EC limit means Lobi ships enter the conversation and opening the window on C-store bundles allows for a wide swathe of powerful traits and consoles to be applied, as well as Epic gear and all captain unlocks. Many hardcore players have budgets in or near this tier, allowing for extremely capable ships of near or exceeding 1M DPS with the right team composition and build. Since most of the items on these ships will be account unlocked, they'll also be possible to duplicate across multiple characters. 

• Mission Gear: Yes

• Reputation Gear: Yes

• Fleet Gear: Yes

• Maximum Mark/Rarity: Mk XV Epic

• Trait/Elite Captain/Ship Upgrades: All unlocked

• C-store purchases: Up to 20000 (can use sale price)

• Direct Lobi purchases: Up to 400 for items that must be purchased with Lobi (gear). Traits, etc. that can be purchased from the Exchange do not count against this total.

• Event Items: Yes, but non-Event substitutes must be provided for items from ships

• Energy Credit Limit:  Up to 600M EC worth of exchange purchases using the EZRA framework at the bottom of this section. This precludes Lockbox, or Promo ships but allows for some Lobi ships to be utilized. 

Premium Tier

This final tier encompasses the most expensive high-end builds in the game, the ones that players are most drawn to for their tremendous potential. Mind  you, there can be plenty of highly-expensive builds that fail to achieve significant DPS either lack of build knowledge or interest in doing so. However, on this site, our premium builds demonstrate mastery of build principles paired with many of the peak offerings the game provides (at great expense) to yield significant performance in the form of DPS, maps tanked/accomplished, DPS records supported, or other metrics. 

• Mission Gear: Yes

• Reputation Gear: Yes

• Fleet Gear: Yes

• Maximum Mark/Rarity: Mk XV Epic

• Trait/Elite Captain/Ship Upgrades: All unlocked

• C-store purchases: Unlimited

• Direct Lobi purchases: Unlimited 

• Event Items: Yes, but non-Event substitutes must be provided for items from ships

• Energy Credit Limit: Unlimited

Calculating Cost

We came up with a rating called EZRA, or the Equivalent Zen Replication Index, to measure how expensive a build is to replicate, taking all items that come from the C-store, Lobi Store, Mudd's Store/Epic Phoenix Token, or any Lockbox/Promo pack and attempting to quantify how much Zen it would take if purchased completely new in an attempt to replicate the build, then dividing it by the USD to Zen conversion ratio (100). Some guesswork/estimates/simplifying assumptions are necessarily included to create the price equivalences, like odds on Epic Phoenix tokens or the energy credit price of Lockbox ships in keys. 

Premium builds (which most of ours are) are over 350 EZRA, meaning that on paper it would take over 35,000 Zen (350 USD) to replicate one of them for a new player, buying at full price. In practice, we haven't spent nearly the amount of cost that summing the EZRA ratings of our builds would imply. Some items like C-store ships are account-wide and thus re-usable, reducing the cost of making multiple builds. Buying on sale lowers the overall cost (but isn't accounted for in EZRA) as does collecting items from events and giveaways--particularly the annual meta-campaigns. Having a Kobayashi Maru Transponder from its original inception saves 2,000 Zen even if bought at a 75% sale from Mudd's Market. Grinding EC or Dilithium to convert to Zen can defray the cost, etc. We don't expect the greater STO builds community to adopt this, but for full transparency, here's how we calculate EZRA:

As a reminder from above, be careful when applying EZRA or any other cost metric against DPS to gain an idea of ‘build efficiency.’ 1) DPS scores in organized Elite runs are the product of a team effort. Anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something. Elite DPS isn’t completely tied to team comp, but there is a relationship, and we’ve gotten rather good at honing our team comps. A "cheap" build with high DPS might not account, as an example, for 3 Jorogumos loaded with bespoke gear inflating its DPS. 2) Don’t apply DPS efficiency to builds that aren’t minmaxed for DPS, i.e. tanks, supports, carriers, theme builds. 3) Don’t judge people for how they spend their money. What could be a good chunk of a month’s rent for one person is throwaway play money for someone else. 

All that said, here's the breakdown:

• Promo ships are from the R&D promotion list  If a ship is offered in a cheaper bundle, it's acceptable to use that price instead. Promo ships are calculated at a rate of 1.7B EC converted to keys at 12M EC apiece, buying keys at 125 Zen apiece. This includes promo ship traits, consoles, pets, experimental weapons, and the ship itself. Promo ships offered temporarily in the Lobi store are priced at the Lockbox tier instead. 

• Legendary ships or things exclusively from Legendary ships are priced at the cost of the bundle NOT ON SALE. The exception to this is the 10th Anniversary Bundle, whose price has fluctuated throughout the time, but is usually 19,500 Zen when available. If you use multiple items from the bundle, only charge the bundle once. It's acceptable to use the bundle's cost to cover items that can be obtained elsewhere, especially if exclusive items from the bundle are used.

• Lockbox ships are T6 ships offered from a Lockbox (135.42 per ship). If a ship is offered in a cheaper bundle, it's acceptable to use that price instead. If a promo ship was offered for Lobi temporarily, price it here. Lockbox ships are calculated at a rate of 1.3B EC converted to keys at 12M apiece, buying keys for 125 Zen. This includes lockbox ship traits, consoles, pets, experimental weapons, and the ship itself.

• Lobi ships are T6 ships offered from the Lobi store (31.25 per ship). If a ship is offered in a cheaper bundle, it's acceptable to use that price instead. Lobi ships are calculated at a rate of 300M EC converted to keys at 12M apiece, buying keys for 125 Zen. This includes Lobi ship traits, Lobi ship consoles, Lobi ship pets, experimental weapons, and the Lobi ship itself.

• Lobi gear includes any ship equipment from the Lobi store (50 per piece). It does NOT include Lobi space traits like The Boimler Effect or Varuvian Explosives which can be purchased on the Exchange for cheaper than spending 200 Lobi. This price arises from buying a 200 Lobi item off-sale, converting from buying keys at 125 Zen per key and 5 Lobi per key. (200 / 5 * 1.25 = 50) 

• T6 C-store ships (30) refers to T6 ships purchased outside of a bundle directly from the C-store. It does not include Fleet versions, since those are considered free through the use of Fleet Ship Modules obtained through T6 reputations. 

• T5 C-store ships (25) refers to T5 ships purchased outside of a bundle directly from the C-store. It does not include Fleet versions

• Epic Phoenix or Mudd's Store ships (88) are for ships that were exclusive to previous events and are now included in either an Epic Phoenix Store or an expensive Mudd's Store bundle. These ships are priced at 110 purchases of 10 Phoenix boxes at 40000 Dilithium, converted to Zen at 500 Dilithium per Zen, for an estimated odds of 1 in 300. These are probably generous in terms of getting an Epic token. Even if an item was free for you to obtain through an Event, price it as if you had to purchase it anew. 

• Mudd's Store Items (20 per item) are priced at 2000 Zen based on a 75% sale in Mudd's Market. Don't buy anything in Mudd's Market at full price.

• Lockbox consoles (0.521) are standalone consoles from lockboxes, such as the Delphic Tear Generator or Approaching Agony. They are priced at roughly 5M EC converted to keys since their Exchange price fluctuates. 

• Lockbox weapons (0.521) are standalone weapons from lockboxes, such as Pulse Phasers or Sensor-Linked Phasers. They are priced at roughly 5M EC converted to keys at 12M EC per key and 125 Zen per key since their Exchange price fluctuates.. If you use a Lockbox Omni or Wide-Arc Cannon, count it as 10 the cost of a regular lockbox weapon.

• Lockbox bridge officer powers (1.04) that come from Lockboxes and are priced at roughly 10M EC since their Exchange price fluctuates.

• Strength Through Unity and Very Rare crit-boosting EWO/PWO doffs (31.25) are some of the most expensive duty officers in the game. They are priced at an average cost of 300M EC, converted to keys at 12M EC apiece and buying keys at 125 Zen. The price on these fluctuates wildly.

• Other doffs from fleet packs or the exchange (1.56) are priced at roughly 15M EC. Doffs from the Phoenix Box, duty officer missions, or the doff vendor at the faction hub do not count since they can be obtained freely.

• Lockbox personal traits (3.125) are priced at roughly 30M EC. Ceaseless Momentum, Attack Pattern Delta Prime, Varuvian Explosives, and The Boimler Effect cost 3x this price (9 keys) based on buying on the Exchange, though again, prices fluctuate.

• Non-Advanced Console Crafted Items (0.1) are priced at roughly 1M EC for things like crafted Omnis, Wide Arc Cannons, or the Particle Emission Plasma Torpedo

• Advanced Console Crafted Items (5.21) are priced at roughly 50M EC, converted to keys at 12M EC per key and 125 Zen per key for an advanced console purchased on the Exchange like an Isomagnetic Plasma Distribution Manifold or Hangar Craft Power Transmission. This price does not include Vulnerability Locators or Exploiters since they cannot be traded. 

• Elite Captain tokens (5) are priced at 500 Zen per captain, even if you have multiple ships on the same toon and/or got the token for free.

• We don't count the dilithium spent upgrading a ship to whatever mark / rarity because 1) dilithium can generally be obtained through gameplay and funneled into upgrades, 2) the cost to upgrade will depend heavily on what you're using, whether or not you have the Temporal Agent recruitment reward for MK XIII Ultra Rare reputation gear, 3) how many items you're re-using from another ship or build, and 4) how many Ultimate Tech Upgrades you're using, and 5) whether or not you care about Epic rarity. For most players, Epic rarity and especially re-engineering is a significant expense for very little gain.  Likewise, we don't count the cost of Experimental Ship Upgrade tokens since they are readily available through periodic Red Alert events or converted from Phoenix tokens, with Ultra Rare being the most efficient, during periodic Phoenix events. 

Here's a tool where you can price your build with EZRA by using File->Make a Copy.