U.S.S. Triton

Atlantis Temporal Destroyer

Build Overview and Focus

Last Updated April 2024

The goal of this build was to combine Recursive Shearing and Cannon: Rapid Fire whereas previously I had been using it with Scatter Volley on a Theseus. I separated the two builds, moving the Scatter Volley Antiproton Escort aspect to a Chimesh and taking the Cannons+Recursive Shearing concept over to the Edison to pick up an additional fore weapon. Later, this migrated over to the Atlantis, which is a very similar platform, but picks up an Experimental Weapon and secondary Intelligence seating as well as a powerful trait. I chose Polaron since it would allow me to take advantage of the Polaron weapons from the Lukari Reputation and the powerful Technical Overload proc. Additionally, I chose a Temporal ship to pair the powerful single-target damage of Rapid Fire with Recursive Shearing. 

Platform selection

The Edison was thus an obvious choice for its mastery package, Commander Temporal seating, and five fore weapons. The Atlantis built on this by swapping an aft weapon for an Experimental and offering LtCmdr Intel secondary specialization

Flavor/Theme Choices

Namesake

Triton is the Greek god of the deep sea depths, fierce and powerful. Also the name of Neptune's most prominent moon, Triton is known for his power and the use of a conch shell with which he controlled the waves. This ship packs quite a powerful punch at least in part from the Soliton Wave Impeller. You're welcome!

Meta Analysis

Budget Analysis

Using the EZRA rubric, this build would cost 675 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.

Change History

Build Breakdown

This ship is fast and focuses heavily on energy damage. It splashes into a few other spaces but for the most part, it's designed to blast down a single target very efficiently. 

Skills

Skill Unlocks

Notes

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. Temporal Operative would be another viable choice for primary. 

Build

Starship Weapons

Notes

This ship’s primary role is Energy DPS. Its primary weapon systems are Polaron Cannons of various flavors. I went for a variety of cannon subtypes purely for visuals. I love seeing the different cannon shots of various shapes, frequencies, and sizes. That’s why there’s a Chronometric and Vaadwaur cannon in there. The build would function just as well if not better with regular Polaron for all the slots. Energy type doesn’t matter (much), but Polaron is better suited for Rapid Fire due to the Technical Overload effect from the Lukari reputation weapons.

Mods: Recent investigations on this particular ship using the energy weapon calculator showed that taking [CrtD] mods wherever possible was a net win. This is not universally true.

Torpedoes: I wanted a torpedo for immersion purposes. Two, the right torpedo, when used with Super Charged Weapons, is NOT a DPS loss compared to beam arrays. The Morphogenic torpedo provides a fantastic 3-piece bonus in addition to fueling Super Charged Weapons. 

Starship Equipment

Notes:

This ship is sufficiently nimble that the Prevailing Regalia engines are not worth it. This ship does somewhat lack other defensive tools, so the Stamets-Tilly 2-piece could have been an option over the Fleet Core. I chose to go for max offensive stats from deflector, engine, and warp core. 

Starship Consoles

Notes:


Set Bonuses

Notes:  

Alternate Energy types: 

Obviously all weapons would need to be replaced. Don't run Morphogenic on non-Polaron energy builds. Piezo-Electric Focuser is the only console to replace. Keep D.O.M.I.N.O. and replace the fleet consoles with the appropriate flavor.

Meta-Focused Tweaks:


Budget Tweaks:


Bridge Officers

Recursive Shearing III vs CSV III

Traits

Personal Traits

Meta-Focused Tweaks:

If you want to go full glass-cannon with unlimited budget:



Budget Tweaks:

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

Starship Traits

Meta-Focused Tweaks:

These are pretty well the best traits at this price point. If your budget is unlimited



Budget Tweaks:

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


This build basically won't work without Emergency Weapon Cycle but if you really can't swing it, try Arrest from the Constable specialization to help fill cooldowns as presumably you won't have Boimler Effect either.


Notes:

Go For the Kill is pretty important to Cannon: Rapid Fire builds but I understand it's obnoxiously expensive to acquire.

Reputation Traits

Active Reputation

Duty Officers

Meta-Focused Tweaks:

If you're truly space-rich


Budget Tweaks:

 If low budget

Miscellaneous

Cooldowns

This ship manages cooldowns via Photonic Officer I and The Boimler Effect. Previously I was using Photonic Officer II, the Chrono-Capacitor Array reputation trait, and a Krenim boff to help with the tactical chain cooldowns, but the Boimler Effect allows me to drop the reputation trait and downgrade Photonic Officer. Note that with a good Photonic Officer timing and Calm Before the Storm, as shown here, I barely need the Boimler Effect, but those aren't always on good timing cycles so it's mostly to fill gaps. The tool only somewhat models that trait. Previously, the use of Entwined Tactical Matrices on a 20 second rotation between Scatter Volley and Torpedo Spread made reducing the tactical chain down to 15 seconds less important, but with Withering Barrage, having the more powerful (if unreliable) Boimler Effect was beneficial. That said, I do not recommend slotting the Boimler Effect as your only CDR source. 

Link to CDR sheet for this build

Ship Stats

Keybinds 

Keybinds are essential to how I fly this ship. I keep this one pretty straightforward, just a single spambar. 

Everything else is activated manually. I prefer to activate my Exotics manually to 

Piloting

I do some prebuffing on ISE aside from Kobayashi Maru and Emergency Power to Weapons. You'll want to prestack the Morpho set somewhat, but stop at 0:15 prior to start to avoid being in Combat. I activate [spacebar] as I fly in. For Emergency power prebuff, I want to use Power to Weapons at 20 seconds before countdown and Power to Engines at 5 seconds before so my Evasive Maneuvers resets properly. I use my big buffs and keep spacebar cycling at the big group. Recursive Shearing should be used on the Tactical Cube on Elite. 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 big buffs on and keeping the tactical chain going. Target the generator with Sensor Scan and Recursive Shearing and position to hit the smaller transformers as well. 

As the generator is about to die, turn and engage the ball of Nanite Spheres, aiming to use Refracting Tetryon Cascade and Diversionary Tactics. I will often use a Reinforcements cooldown here as well if I could not activate Fleet Support earlier. Activate Evasive Maneuvers 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!

I try to stay so that my cannons can hit the gateway and any nearby spheres. Priority targets for Recursive Shearing are initial Tac Cube (ISE only), left generator, right generator, gateway, Tac Cube. Since I am using Intelligence as primary specialization, I want to look for flanking angles on the big targets. These are indicated by a little arrow on the targeted enemy's health graphic. When the arrow points DOWN, you're flanking.

Parse Breakdown

Numbers from record ISE



Crits were extremely high in this run, approximately 70% with flanking around of 40%, which was a significant contributor. While it's hard to say how much damage gain was created by running Vincent Kish, there was a significant amount of DPS from Rapid Fire IIIs, a total of 7.6K DPS. The team composition for this run was a support tank, and 3 supports.


Portability

The only other ship with both full Temporal and Intel seating and 5 fore weapons is the D7 Temporal Battlecruiser, which would need to drop the Experimental Weapon for another Polaron Turret. In order to transfer this ship, you would need to drop Deploy Construction Shuttle Wing and take Causal Reversion at rank II. The Universal seat would be Tactical and would also add Kemocite-Laced Weaponry.