Stormbreaker

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 offtanks, taking two points in Hull Restoration/Hull Capacity helps survivability. Increased Hull Capacity boosts Tyler's Duality as well

  • I always take a single point in Hull Plating, but other resistance skills and Damage Control are not worth it. Likewise, 2 points in Impulse Expertise is 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 points in Shield Restoration/Shield Capacity are low opportunity cost for relatively high survivability gains. Since I need skill points elsewhere, only 1 here for those. 

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

  • Since this character uses Quantum Phase torpedoes on 2 builds, which scale with Drain Expertise, I take both points in DrainX. A single point in Control Expertise powers the Fragment of AI Trait on builds that use it on this toon. 

  • 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 have a torpedo 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. I lean a little heavier on Engineering in lieu of stacking more points into the Tac Ultimate. 

This ship is a classic beams + 1 torpedo set up. It has minimal investment into exotic damage, so I am not skilled at all into those.

Miracle Worker/Strategist is highly competitive for heavy tank builds. I did some analysis where I compared the uptime of No Risk, No Reward (10% bonus all damage per stack) in a solo ISA and determined I averaged ~1.2 stacks, plus the 2% CrtH from Embolden up all the time. That was compared using the Energy DPS calculator against a 30% flanking rate intel spec with Intel Fleet, uptime-adjusted, and the damage differential was slightly in favor of Miracle Worker. Miracle Worker provided much more survivability so I went with that instead.  Temporal is an option for a secondary specification, adding damage through Entropic Rider and Atrophied Defenses. 

Notes

Torpedoes: I like torpedoes. I use at least one on every ship. The right torpedo, when used with Entwined Tactical Matrices and Supercharged Weapons, is NOT a DPS loss compared to beam arrays, but in this case, I chose the torpedo for team support reasons. The Dark Matter is generally the best single torpedo for augmenting energy builds if the 2-piece set bonus is not already obtained from a dual beam bank.

Plasma: Before Ba'ul Antiproton was the new hotness, Plasma was one of the (slightly) better flavors for tanking due to the proc on the Advanced Piezo-Plasma Beam Array offering a decent heal. I built this tank when Cryptic gave away 4 Assimilated Plasma weapons and was hopeful that they would help heal as well. Turns out they don't do much, but I decided to stick with Plasma if for no other reason than to show you can tank without Ba'ul AP. 

Healy beam: "Improved Regenerative Protomatter Influx" is the heal-to-allies effect from the reputation set weapon, it does not actually count towards your healing despite being listed that way by SCM.

[Over] beams: In lieu of crafted Omnis with Over being broken (;-;) , I'm using two crafted Plasma beams with the [Over] proc. Any time that beam procs the Overload, all weapons will fire Overload for 6 seconds but won't overwrite existing firing modes. With perfect piloting, I will always have Fire at Will up which overrides the use of [Over], but I don't fly perfectly. The overloads might trigger when FAW is no longer active, so if my FAW ever slips and the proc is active, the Overload will provide a little burst damage in between FAW and ETM cycles. TBH, it rarely procs but Overloads are fun so I left it in hopes of proccing Technical Overload from the Lukari Beam, which is a super-strong effect. 

Notes:

Everything here is basically optimal for tanking. The Discovery 3-piece adds substantial regen as well as Mycelial Lightning, which is a valuable damage source. The Elite Alliance Fighter Squadrons were chosen because they don't have torpedoes and buff allies. Torp-armed hangar pets can steal Concentrate Firepower procs from torp boats and tanking is a selfless profession anyway.  

Shout-out to Prototype Ablative Jevonite hardpoints which, while kind of difficult to get, give +100 Hull Capacity for 15 minutes and can be used from inventory, meaning that they don't take up a device slot. Definitely useful on maps like Hive! 

If the Elite Alliance Fighter Squadrons aren't available, then I'd use Elite Epochs which are a very solid choice and come with the ship.

Notes: 

Crit: The importance of Crit cannot be oversold and while DPS is not the primary goal of this ship, you have to do decent DPS to pull threat/aggro and this is a more DPS-focused tank. I saw significant increases in DPS from boosting Crit in doffs and traits. On my record runs, my weapons were parsing between 65-70% Crits. There are players with better gear and piloting skills than I who've achieved much, much higher percentages, but I will say broadly that when in doubt, add crit. 

Alternate Energy types: If you want Ba’ul AP, swap those beams in and replace the Altamid Omni and Piezo-Electric Focuser with at least 2-piece Linked Sentry set. For consoles, Aligned Antiproton Shielding from the Khitomer is another solid option. For anything else, choose your weapons of choice and matching Protomatter consoles.

Consoles: The Tachyon Net Drones from the Bozeman are REALLY good, even worth slotting over the Lukari 2-piece, and there's an argument to be made for slapping them onto pretty much any kind of build. Support, tank, energy, projectile, maybe even exotic. It's hard to pick apart the active in the parser but if you tally up all the pieces, it hits really hard and also takes enemy shields offline. 

Meta-Focused Tweaks:

• Ba'ul Antiproton is the king of tanking. Replacing the Altamid 2-piece with the Ba'ul 2-piece and Antiproton Protomatter consoles is ideal. 

Budget Tweaks:

If low budget, the following changes will help reduce cost

• Drop Timeline Stabilizer (T6X2 Upgrade)

• Tachyon Net Drones -> Piezo-Electric Focuser

• Tactical System Stabilizer -> M6 Computer (T3 Temporal Escort)

• Altamid console -> Pick up another Protomatter console

• Altamid Omni -> regular Plasma Beam Array

• Hull Image Refractors -> Zero-Point Energy Conduit (but this shouldn't be too pricey)

Meta Notes

• I went with Kemocite-Laced Weaponry and Cannon: Rapid Fire as an additional proc for the colony consoles on this build. 

• Chronometric Inversion Field is purely here for damage reduction and uncon triggers.

• Skipped Tactical Team. My shields are down too much from all angles for distribution to matter as much.

• You could slot boffs with more offensive traits if you want (i.e. Superior Romulan Operative, Watcher, etc.)

Meta-Focused Tweaks:

• These traits are pretty close to meta. I could probably drop a defensive trait for something more debuff/team-oriented like Into the Breach. Fluidic Cocoon would probably be better but only by a small amount. Redirected Armor Plating is honestly pretty good.

Budget Tweaks:

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

• Drop Fragment of AI Tech (Elite Captain unlock)

• Self-Modulating Fire ->  Point-Blank Shot

• Context Is For Kings -> Bulkhead Technician

• Repair Crews -> Techie

• Unconventional Systems -> Imposing Presence

• A Good Day to Die -> Operative

• Intelligence Agent Attache -> Beam Barrage

Downgrading all the survivability tools will limit your ability to run Hive Space Elite.

Meta-Focused Tweaks:

• These traits are also pretty well meta for tanks. Redirecting Arrays leaves a far bigger gap in uptime for FAW if timed properly, so I prefer not to use it. 

• With current tanking tools like colony consoles, Miracle Worker, and History Will Remember, Honored Dead is no longer necessary, even for Hive.

• If I had Complex Plasma Fires, it'd be an obvious slot over Ship of the Line. Ship of the Line is very good, but CPF is insane.

Budget Tweaks:

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

• Drop Superior Area Denial (T6X upgrade)

• Super Charged Weapons -> Improved Command Frequency (Command specialization)

• Calm Before the Storm -> Unconventional Tactics (Strategist specialization)

This build basically won't work without Emergency Weapon Cycle, Entwined Tactical Matrices, and History Will Remember

Notes:

History Will Remember was not an appreciable DPS loss against something like Promise of Ferocity or Improved Critical Systems. Both are acceptable substitutes but I chose HWR because of its added benefits to survivability and tanking through threat increase. If Improved Critical Systems is not available, Promise of Ferocity or Piercing Projectiles would yield similar results. 

Superior Area Denial is an excellent trait for ships using Fire-at-Will or Scatter Volley that also have a hangar. While it is extremely expensive, captains wishing to use this trait on multiple characters would benefit from saving up and acquiring it via the 12th Anniversary Bundle, which is how I did it.  

Miscellaneous

This ship manages cooldowns via Photonic Officer I, Calm Before the Storm and a little extra in readiness skills, plus 2 Krenims. Since this is a tank, high Aux power is useful to help amplify my heals.

On the Chronos, I don't really want to dedicate two of my engineering slots to A2B, or sacrifice my universal seat for another engineering bridge officer. Photonic Officer I was sufficient for the Roosevelt and it's sufficient here as well . This allows me to maintain high Aux power while freeing up duty officers to enhance damage. It's also easy to fly--the only things I need to do are constantly cycle my Tactical and Engineering chains, which I should be doing anyway. I do use Attrition Warfare, but that happens in the background anyway and I don't really think about it. The chosen option syncs my tactical chain up with FAW, and since I am using Entwined Tactical Matrices to keep Fire at Will up all the time, I am not as concerned with dropping Attack Pattern Beta/Torpedo Spread to minimum cooldowns, as syncing them with FAW III is sufficient. Note that I do not even need Calm Before the Storm to get the desired cooldown reduction, but when it is active, it will help lower those tactical powers, as does Tactical Initiative. Even in the worst case scenario where PO starts its 10 second downtime and no Calm Before the Storm right as my tactical chain is fired, I still have plenty of cooldown reduction to support a 20 second tactical chain.

Link to CDR sheet for this build