U.S.S. Aegis
Eternal Temporal Multi-Mission Science Vessel
Build Overview and Focus
Last Updated August 2023
The goal for this ship was to create a mixture of energy weapons and exotics capable of 500K+ DPS using cannons as the primary weapon damage. This relatively rare niche of combining energy weapons and science powers is sometimes called "DEWSci." It's niche because it's hard to fit all of the needed bridge officer abilities, consoles, and even power levels to fully support both energy weapons and exotics. The parses on this ship reveal about an equal split in damage between the energy weapons (DEW) and exotic effects.
Platform Selection
The Eternal is a solid science ship at the affordable C-store price point. It has full Temporal spec as well as a hangar, which works well in its favor. However, the LtCmdr Engineering seat is forced with no specialization option, and full exotic builds don't value that seat particularly highly. You know what does like LtCmdr Engineering? Energy builds that can use Emergency Power to Weapons III. Thus, I chose to turn the Eternal away from full exotic as I had previously done and play toward its strengths, namely harnessing that LtCmdr Engineering to build up its energy damage capability. While DEWSci is hardly meta, it's a fun and very stylistically diverse build space to explore.
Flavor/Theme Choices
Increased survivability for soloing missions on Elite
Mix of exotics and energy weapons
A variety of colors of phaser cannons
1 torpedo
Varied bridge crew vs all Superior Romulan Operatives/Pirates
Science captain for debuffs/buff stripping
Human captain
This is a premium build, with the highest available budgets and resources utilized in its creation. See the build costs page for more detail.
Namesake
In ancient Earth mythology, "Aegis" was a shield carried by the goddess Athena bearing the image of a terrifying monster that petrified enemies caught in its gaze. The shield was used to strike fear in the hearts of enemies as well as protect the goddess. Later in Earth's history, the term Aegis was used to describe a naval defense system designed to detect, track, jam, and shoot down threats. Thus, the term has strongly been associated with defense, protection, and striking fear into enemies. The Aegis Technological Research effort, while unrelated to this ship, also used the term to describe a suite of strong defensive equipment The U.S.S. Aegis is a temporal science vessel whose purpose is to weaken, debuff, and control enemies, softening them up for other teammates. It is a support vessel designed to enable allied fleets without relying on shields/hull heals, or drains. Instead, it uses disables/confuses, and a decent amount of debuffing alongside a mixture of science abilities and energy weapons.
Meta Analysis
ISA: 241K (PUG)
ISE: 715K (premade)
HSE: 719K (premade)
Budget Analysis
Using the EZRA rubric, this build would cost 590 USD to replicate. That is far more than what I spent on STO to make it. If the cost looks daunting, don't worry! Lower-budget alternatives are provided below.
Elite Captain/T6X upgrade, all fleet unlocks
1 Lockbox ship (Mirror Engle)
6 T6 C-store ships (Arbiter, Shran, Eternal, Bozeman, Ouroboros, Valiant)
1 Lobi ship (Iktomi)
1 Event console (DOMINO), 1 Event device (Kobayashi Maru Transponder), 1 Event gear set (Imperial Rift)
1 Lockbox console, 6 lockbox traits, 4 non-standard doffs, 2 lockbox bridge officer abilites
Reputation + fleet gear; all Mk XV Epic
0 R&D Promotional ships or Legendary ships
Change History
August 2023: Replaced Locators with Advanced Engineering Isomag consoles. Replaced Temporal Disentanglement Suite with Tachyon Net Drones. Upgraded to Advanced Batteries. Replaced Tyler's Duality and Sensor Targeting Assault with Magnified Firepower and Particle Generator Amplifiers. Replaced Heisenberg Amplifier with Chronometric Inversion Field. Replaced Conservation of Energy with Intelligence Agent Attache. Replaced Psychological Warfare with Pseudo-Submission. Replaced Quad Cannons with Prolonged Engagement Dual Cannons. Replaced Super Charged Weapons with Improved Critical Systems. Dropped a Particle Field Exciter for another Particle Focuser. Was at 239K ISA / 532K ISE / 486K HSE.
February 2023: Dropped Tactical Team for Kemocite. Dropped Matter Anti-matter Specialist for Vincent Kish. Was at 189K ISA / 497K ISE / 353K HSE
December 2022: Changed Improved Critical Systems to Superior Area Denial. Added additional Superior Romulan Operatives.
December 2021: Posted to Sites. Changed Entwined Tactical Matrices to Withering Barrage. Changed Exotic Modulation to Improved Photonic Officer. Added Elite Captain trait (Terran Targeting Systems). Was at 156K ISA, 372K ISE, 223K HSE
Build Breakdown
This ship is pretty evenly split between energy DPS and exotics, but also has some concessions to hangar and a projectile. There's also some build space for survivability, agility, and even supportive concepts. It's all over the place, which is pretty typical for DEWSci
Skills
Skill Unlocks
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
Single points in Hull Restoration/Hull Capacity are low opportunity cost for relatively high survivability gains. Since I need skill points elsewhere, only 1 here for those.
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 is using Gravity Well and other control-based abilities, having both points in ControlX boosts those as well as the Fragment of AI Tech trait adds value. I take a single point in DrainX to help resist drains and two points in EPG for boosting the Exotics like Gravity Well on this build.
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 went with Intel and Temporal, which gave me the offensive benefits from Temporal (sans Temporal Cross-wiring) along with Intel's flanking and Intel Fleet. That said, not having Temporal/Strategist leaves me significantly squishier. Previous iterations were more themed around confuses and disables but I've made further concessions to DPS to make it fully Elite-capable.
Build
Starship Weapons
Notes
Cannons were chosen because 1) most of the control-effects require targets to be within the forward firing arc and 2) I hadn't built a cannon ship yet. I like multi-colored cannons so this has quite the diverse color palette of cannons. You could be just as effective with more conventional all-orange Phaser Turrets replacing the Heavy Bio-Molecular and Andorian turrets. I dropped Quad Cannons because the Engine power drain was just too much.
Starship Equipment
Notes:
I decided that if I was going to build an off-meta ship, I was going to have some fun with it, so Imperial Rift 4-piece is the drive train of choice. The active does respectable damage, such that if you can land good shots from it, it compensates from losing the raw stats of the Colony Deflector plus any other meta 2-pieces. The set is really quite solid for both exotics and energy, so if you're mixing those in DEWsci fashion, I think it's pretty close to optimal if not best-in-slot. If you don't have Imperial Rift, better to do more conventional setups.
Starship Consoles
Set Bonuses
Notes:
Alternate Energy types:
There are no Phaser-only consoles on this build; just replace the weapons and your Isomags of choice.
Meta-Focused Tweaks:
This is not a build remotely close to meta. There are more expensive consoles out there like Immolating Phasre Lance and Dynamic Power Redistribution Module (especially with a Point Defense Bombardment Warhead for its 2-piece) that would benefit this but I would think it's a waste of resources on something so off the beaten path.
Budget Tweaks:
The easiest replacement for D.O.M.I.N.O. would be the M6 computer, available for a small chunk of Dilithium from the T3 Perseus or else an Ordnance Accelerator from the Gamma reputation for the 2-piece
Bridge Officers
Meta Notes
I could drop Photonic Officer from II down to I, but the CDR scheme is sufficiently close that I didn't want to chance it.
Traits
Personal Traits
Meta-Focused Tweaks:
If you want to go full glass cannon with a DPS-focus:
Drop Inspirational Leader for Duelist's Fervor
Ablative Shell -> Self-Modulating Fire
Give Your All -> Adaptive Offense
Psychological Warfare -> Feel the Weight of Our Presence
Budget Tweaks:
Drop Inspirational Leader (Elite Captain unlock)
Fragment of AI Tech -> Point-Blank Shot
Context Is For Kings -> Redirected Armor Plating
Psychological Warfare -> Astrophysicist
Terran Targeting Systems -> Operative
Starship Traits
Meta-Focused Tweaks:
You'll be hard-pressed to find a better set of starship traits for mixed exotics / energy weapons at this price point. A possible upgrade would be replacing Strike From Shadows with something expensive like Terran Goodbye or Terran Machinations.
Budget Tweaks:
Drop Improved Photonic Officer (T6X upgrade)
Strike From Shadows -> Improved Command Frequency (Command specialization)
Superior Area Denial -> Unconventional Tactics (Strategist specialization)
Withering Barrage -> Entwined Tactical Matrices if you have it; Programmable Matter Enhancements if you don't
This build basically won't work without Emergency Weapon Cycle.
Notes:
If I had Terran Machinations, I'd slot it, but that's an expensive purchase that this ship doesn't need to be capable.
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.
Reputation Traits
Active Reputation
Duty Officers
Meta-Focused Tweaks:
DEWSci is fairly subjective, but these are pretty darn good for what you get. The Tac/Temp Strength Through Unity would be better but pricy.
Budget Tweaks:
If low budget
Energy Weapon Officer -> Exocomp (Phoenix Box) Maintenance Engineer for extra buffs on batteries
Energy Weapon Officer -> Warp Core Engineer (chance of power on Emergency Power ability)
Matter-Antimatter Specialist -> Fabrication Engineer from K-13 that grants minor skill boosts on use of ensign skills
Security Officer -> Sensors Officer that debuffs enemy offensive damage with Sensor Scan.
These are cheap/free but provide far less benefit
Miscellaneous
Cooldowns
This ship manages cooldowns by Photonic Officer II with Improved Photonic Officer. I was not quite at global on some of my powers with IPO and PO I, so I kept it at PO II. It'd be just as easy to swap to DRB II and PO I but I like my Aux to Structural.
Ship Stats
Keybinds
Keybinds are essential to how I fly this ship. Since my background is in RTS games and MOBAs, I'm very comfortable with using my left hand to both fly and activate keys. If I was more acclimated to a gaming mouse with lots of buttons, I could map activations to that as well. Remember that keybind progression in STO generally works from the edges to the center
Tactical chain: (Spacebar) Emergency Power to Weapons, Attack Pattern Beta, Auxiliary to Structural, Kemocite, Emergency Power to Engines, Structural Analysis, Photonic Officer, Energy Amplifiers, Torpedo Spread, Cannon: Scatter Volley.
Exotic Chain: (3 key) Chronometric Inversion Field, Destabilizing Resonance Beam, Gravity Well, Causal Anchor, Exotic Particle Flood
Heal chain: (4 key) Auxiliary to Structural, Brace for Impact, Hazard Emitters. I don't map ALL of my heals here, preferring to activate Bio-Molecular Shield Generator, Sensor Interference Platform, Diversionary Tactics, and Co-opt Energy Weapons manually.
Everything else is activated manually.
Piloting
I don't do much prebuffing on ISA/ISE aside from Kobayashi Maru and Emergency Power to Weapons, hitting Energy Amplifiers and [spacebar] as I fly in. I use my big buffs [2] if it's ISE and keep spacebar cycling at the first group along with the exotic combo. On ISA, I’d save the big buffs until the left generator. Next, I hit Evasive Maneuvers and fly to the left side, activating my remaining big buffs on [2] and keeping the tactical chain going as well as any exotics that come off cooldown but NOT Gravity Well. Target the generator with Sensor Scan and position to hit the smaller transformers as well. With a cannon build, you often will not be at optimal point-blank range if it helps hit three targets with Scatter Volley instead. This is a trade worth making.
As the generator is about to die, turn and engage the ball of Nanite Spheres, aiming to use a second Gravity Well and Diversionary Tactics. I will often use a Reinforcements cooldown here or at the left transformer. Activate Evasive Maneuvers and Deuterium and fly to the right side, rinse and repeat with as with the left. I try to save my big active heals for this part. As it's dying, I turn back on the gateway and FIRE EVERYTHING! This is where Quantum Singularity Manipulation should be used with a Gravity Well and Anti-Time Entanglement Singularity as well as any other exotics available. After your initial burst of exotics are down, this is where I fire the Weaponized Mycelium Emitter. If you don't feel confident in targeting the gateway, save it for the Tactical Cube.
I try to stay so that my cannons can hit both the gateway and any nearby spheres. Once the gateway is down, turn on the Tactical Cube. Another Gravity Well will likely be available at this point. Don't forget to call a second reinforcements cooldown if it's available.
Parse Breakdown
Numbers from record HSE:
Deteriorating Secondary Deflector: 134.5K
Weaponized Mycelium Emitter: 148.9K - the opening stage of HSE is one of the best scenarios for getting a good shot out of this
Terran Cannons: 56.5K
Prolonged Engagement Cannons: 51.3K
Elite Epoch Fighters: 37.5K
Dark Matter Torpedo: 35.1K
Digital Compilation Field: 34.4K
Andorian Phaser Turret: 29.7K
Heavy Bio-Mol Turret: 27.9K
Heavy Inhibiting Turret: 27.1K
Gravity Well III: 22.4K
Destabilizing Resonance Beam: 18.7K
Tachyon Net Drones: 17.2K
Kemocite: 8.9K
Chronometric Inversion Field: 11.8K
Concentrate Firepower: 10.8K
Nimbus Pirates: 10.2K
Anti-Time Entanglement Singularity: 8.7K
Entropic Rider: 7.9K
Aftershock Gravity Well: 5.4K
Causal Anchor: 3.5K
Distributed Targeting: 3.1K
Photonic Fleet: 2.3K
Molecular Deconstruction Beam: 1.2K
Refracting Tetryon Cascade: 0.9K
Weapon crits were around 50-60%, exotics were generally higher, up into the 90s. I had 200K from energy weapons, about 370K from exotics, and the rest from a variety of sources like hangars, torpedo, Kemocite, etc.
Portability
This build could be ported to a number of other ships as the important parts are not tied to any specialization. However, the 31st-century set would have to be replaced since those are exclusive to the 31st-century ships. Good replacements for those consoles would be the M6 Computer, Ordnance Accelerator, or Tholian Webspinner. The desirable seats are Commander Sci, LtCmdr Tac, LtCmdr Eng, and a Secondary Deflector which leads to the following options:
Equinox Pilot Scout Ship (replace Chronometric with a Pilot Team to take advantage of its trait). The Vulcan Experimental Scout Vessel would be another choice, either using Pilot Team for traits like Synthetic Good Fortune and Cold-hearted, or else Narrow Sensor Bands on the Miracle Worker seat.
The Esquiline or other Engineering-heavy cross-faction Multi-Mission Explorers would also be options, but weaker due to lack of full Temporal spec
The Somerville and its cross-faction equivalent or the Vulcan T'Pau Scout Ship would be another good choice, slotting Ionic Turbulence over Chronometric Inversion Field
Similarly, the Sutherland, its fleet variants and its cross-faction equivalents as well as the Paradox Temporal Dreadnought and Son'a Collector Science Dreadnought are able to run this build, dropping Chronometric for Distributed Targeting.
The Lukari Dranuur Scout Ship has incredibly flexible seating and could run this build.
The Tholian Iktomi and Voth Bastille would be other candidates, though I'm not sure what you'd do with the Lt Cmd seat. Probably I'd slot another Exotic power like Very Cold in Space there for the Iktomi; the Voth can replicate this build exactly with some seat reshuffling.
Note that if you replace Chronometric Inversion Field with a non-Temporal power, the Security Officer doff 21 of 47 should be re-evaluated.