U.S.S. Yi Sun-sin

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 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.

Notes

Torpedoes: One, I wanted a torpedo for immersion purposes. Two, the right torpedo, when used with Entwined Tactical Matrices and Super Charged Weapons, is NOT a DPS loss compared to beam arrays. I was already going to slot the Quantum Phase Converter console, so adding the torpedo for its two-piece is an excellent DPS boost. It outparses most of my beams except the Terran/Disco. I could have slotted the Dark Matter torpedo, but I already had the Quantum Phase gilded and it doesn't quite do the same damage. Note that if you don't like the Disco DBB, but you are okay with the Dark Matter torpedo, I would use the DM torpedo in order to keep the 2-piece bonus. 

Mixing in 2 DBBs: Despite "don't mix weapons" being conventional wisdom for good reason, I've chosen to mix in the Wide-Angle DBB. For one, I wanted the two-piece bonus without the torpedo. For two, specifically on a FAW build with a torpedo and 2 Omnis, most of my weapons are hitting my forward arc anyway, with just one beam in the aft that can't fire forward. With 100% FAW uptime and at least 1 target in my side or rear arc, I'm firing that beam pretty much all the time anyway. Suffice to say, with this specific build (FAW) and decent piloting, I'm not really losing uptime on either my torp, my aft non-Omni beam, or my WADBB. The Pulse Phaser 

Firing Order

1. The Quantum Phase torpedo is launched first to stack Super Charged Weapons and damage shields

2. The Discovery Wide Angle Dual Heavy Beam Bank has a spooled up passive so it's slotted early

3. The Prolonged Beam also benefits from firing early

4. The Terran Beam does more damage to targets with lower health

5. The Pulse Phaser Dual Beam is just there so it's last. The proc is unreliable.

Notes:

Drive Train: I've finally moved away from the Iconian 3-piece since in our current ISE/HSE runs, I can get it from teammates flying support. This combination yields slightly better selfish DPS if the 3-piece isn't being provided from a teammate, and is significantly better if it is. If I wanted more survivability, I would swap the engines for the Disco Engines to pick up the regeneration from the two-piece.  In terms of healing, the Yi Sun-sin is pretty tanky for a DPS ship and it's pretty rare to die in any Advanced TFO that doesn't involve killing yourself (i.e. Feedback Pulse, Voth damage reflection) which the Disco 2-piece regen won't help with.The ship is designed to be self-sufficient. It's not a full tank (though I've built one on the same character using most of the same pieces), but that only really matters for Elite runs. 

Notes: 

Isomags versus Locators: The new Advanced Isomagnetic Plasma Distribution Manifold Engineering consoles have been shown by analysis to be about 7.5% better than Vulnerability Locators for this build. They're either expensive on the Exchange (especially in Phaser flavor) or you'll need to farm approximately 21 of the appropriate Elite TFOs depending on how good your luck is, then re-engineer to Phaser (not trivial given their large mod pool) and upgrade them. If that's too much effort, slot Locators and play musical chairs with the consoles. Slotting the full 7 Isomags probably would have been better than some of the other consoles I have, but they were themed choices.

No Trilithium Set: The Gamma Omni is slotted over the Trilithium Omni set. According to both the Energy Weapon Calculator and several ISA parses, the Gamma set ends up being superior once you adjust the haste for uptime. There are a few reasons for this. 1) The Trilithium-Omni cannot be re-engineered and with FAW, the forced [Acc] and [Ac/Dmg] mods essentially costs me 2 mods since FAW does not benefit from accuracy overflow. It also doesn't have the 2% bonus damage from T6 reputations that the Inhibiting beam does. 2) The 10% weapon haste is great but it would require the console, and especially on a FAW build, does not proc often enough, whereas the -10 DRR from the Gamma beam is easily proc'd against big targets as long as you're not sitting completely still. Seriously, the haste proc has 2% uptime on a FAW build. 

Alternate energy types: Obviously all weapons would need to be replaced. Replace the Quantum Phase torpedo with Dark Matter Torpedo. If Disruptor, consider the Nausicaan Energy Torpedo. Quantum Phase Converter (unless Polaron) is the two console to replace. Keep D.O.M.I.N.O. and replace the Advanced Engineering consoles with the appropriate flavor.

VADA/Deadly Maneuvers 2-piece: This doesn't get slotted a lot for good reason. That said, I was already using the Ablative Hazard Shielding for flavor and survivability, so when I did the numbers, adding the VADA for its innate 15% Phaser damage and then another 15% Weapon damage from the 2-piece and the active's damage was better than the Altamid-Modified Swarm Processor, which is what I had there previously. That console has too much value tied into Accuracy which is wasted on Fire at Will since it doesn't benefit from Accuracy Overflow. 

Meta-Focused Tweaks:

If going full DPS with unlimited budget, you’re not using beams. That said, for higher damage at higher cost:

• VADA -> Another Isomag

• Hull Image Refractors and Quantum Phase Converter -> Dynamic Power Redistribution Module+Point Defense Bombardment Warhead or two of Weaponized Helical Torsion/Bioneural Infusion Circuits/Approaching Agony. 

• Ablative Hazard Shielding can be subbed out for another Isomag at the cost of survivability

• Replace the Pulse Phaser and [Over] Phaser with Sensor-Linked Phasers or Advanced Phasers. If really going for a rich build, replace the Crafted Omni with a Sensor-Linked Omni

Budget Tweaks:

 If low budget, the Arbiter build is probably what you want, but anyway...

• Drop 2 Isomags (T6X and T6X2 upgrades)

• Replace D.O.M.I.N.O. with Prior's World Elite Defense Satellite if available and if not, for things like Zero Point Energy Conduit, or a Bellum EPS Flow Regulator/RCS Accelerator.

• Drop Kobayashi Maru Transponder if unavailable (T6X upgrade and event); if available, drop the Hull Patches instead

Meta Notes

• Could replace Reverse Shield Polarity with Mixed Armaments Synergy III if going full glass. This is my off-tank, though, so I don’t. Would also need to replace a doff.  

Meta-Focused Tweaks:

If going full DPS, with unlimited budget 

• Give Your All -> Duelist’s Fervor

• Repair Crews -> Adaptive Offense or Point-Blank Shot

• Inspirational Leader -> Could go to something like Boimler Effect or Into the Breach. 

Budget Tweaks:

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

• Drop Inspirational Leader (Elite Captain unlock)

• Terran Targeting Systems -> Beam Training

• Context Is For Kings -> Operative

• Symbiotic Ice -> Accurate

• Repair Crews -> Techie

• Self-Modulating Fire ->  Point-Blank Shot

• A Good Day to Die -> Innocuous

• Intelligence Agent Attache -> Beam Barrage

Meta-Focused Tweaks:

If going full DPS with unlimited budget 

• Strike From Shadows->Terran Goodbye

Budget Tweaks:

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

• Drop Ship of the Line (T6X2 upgrade) if you're not using the Legendary Inquiry. If you are, drop Universal Designs

• Drop Super Charged Weapons  (T6X upgrade)

• Strike From Shadows -> Improved Command Frequency

• Calm Before the Storm -> Unconventional Tactics

• Entwined Tactical Matrices -> Improved Critical Systems or The Best Defense

Notes:

Improved Critical Systems was better than Promise of Ferocity on this build but not as good as Heart of Sol. Both were superseded by Universal Designs when paired with the Immolating Phaser Lance.

Miscellaneous

This ship manages cooldowns via Photonic Storm (Photonic Officer I, Calm Before the Storm and a little extra in readiness skills, plus a Krenim).

On an Inquiry, I don't really want to dedicate two of my engineering slots to A2B,nor do I wish to give up the universal seat for science to pick up Photonic Officer II . Nor do I want to double abilities or give up the bulk of my duty officer slots in a Drake/Dragon setup. This allows me to maintain high Aux power (for heals, the Aux Config Offense trait, and general defense) 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 could use Attrition Warfare for engineering abilities, but that's less forgiving unless Threatening Stance is on all the time. Despite having more survivability, this build is not a tank; plus Strategist has a number of damage abilities that would be lost if Threatening Stance was used constantly.

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 Kemocite/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. 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. Boimler Effect is not needed either; with the exception of Narrow Sensor Bands all the powers are where they need to be. The graph above does not show the effects of Calm Before the Storm.

Link to CDR sheet for this build