I.G.S. Jhamel

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.

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.

Notes

This ship’s primary role is Energy DPS. Its primary weapon systems are Antiproton Cannons of various flavors. I went for a variety of cannon subtypes purely for visuals. I love seeing the different red-purple cannon splats of various shapes, frequencies, and sizes. That’s why there’s a Ba’ul and a Delphic cannon in there. The build would function just as well if not better with regular Antiproton for all the slots. I avoided Radiant weapons because they are significantly different in color and they don’t benefit from any other haste except their own. Weapon flavor is Antiproton because they look cool. Energy type doesn’t matter (much). Could have just as easily been any other type. 

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 Dark Matter torpedo provides a fantastic 2-piece bonus in addition to fueling Super Charged Weapons. 

Notes:

This ship is sufficiently nimble that the Prevailing Regalia engines are not worth it. If I felt I needed more defensive tools, the Stamets-Tilly 2-piece is also an option, using it over the fleet core. Instead, we'll go for max offensive stats from deflector, engine, and warp core.  

Notes: 

Not many set bonuses are particularly good for antiproton exclusively (aside from the Ba'ul 2-piece Lobi set, which is more for tanks), so instead this build focuses on generically good bonuses and consoles rather than sets. The only set bonus is the near-ubiquitous Lorca's Ambition 2-piece for 25% Critical Severity. 

Alternate Energy types: 

Obviously all weapons would need to be replaced except the torpedo. Alliance Tactics is the only console to replace. Keep D.O.M.I.N.O. and replace the fleet consoles with the appropriate flavor.

Isomags versus Locators: Isomagnetic Plasma Distribution Manifold consoles are very strong and 1-for-1, outclass Locators. However, this is not a 1-for-1 replacement scenario. Even setting aside that Lorca's Custom Fire Controls takes up a tactical slot, I can slot 6 Locators against only 4 Isomags. Analysis indicates that +2 is a sufficient benefit to favor Locators over Isomags for Scatter Volley builds. 

Meta-Focused Tweaks:

• Regular antiproton cannons are probably a touch better than some of the alternate flavors I have here. 

Budget Tweaks:

• Regular antiproton cannons are just fine here, don't need the fancy lockbox ones

• Tachyon Net Drones -> M6 Computer from the T3 Perseus

• Drop the Kobayashi Maru for a Red Matter Capacitor from the Phoenix Box

Meta Notes

• Fly Her Apart is surprisingly good. Turn it on, leave it on, enjoy your 20% Cat2 all damage at 10/25 uptime. As much as people go nuts about Mixed Armaments Synergy, this is comparable. Of course, Miracle Worker has other things going for it besides Fly Her Apart, but if you're going to run Pilot on an offensive build, this one is pretty good. The self-damage can be negated via the Discovery drive train 2-piece

• I was using Tactical Team and Engineering Team, but while they work as low-budget alternatives to Distributed Targeting and Deploy Construction Shuttle Wing, they have a longer activation time that will prevent anything else from occurring while they are initializing (1 second). At higher levels of DPS, this is an appreciable loss so I opted to drop both powers. That said, if you find yourself blowing up a lot from having one shield facing down, swap Tactical Team back in over Distributed Targeting. 

Meta-Focused Tweaks:

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

• Whole Lotta X's -> Breen Shield Tunneling

• Give Your All -> Terran Targeting Systems

Budget Tweaks:

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

• Whole Lotta X's ->  Redirected Armor Plating

• Context Is For Kings -> Operative

• Fire Ball Escape -> Point-Blank Shot

• Fragment of AI Tech -> Innocuous

• Intelligence Agent Attache -> Techie

• Boimler Effect -> Photonic Capacitor

• Intel Handler -> Accurate

Meta-Focused Tweaks:

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

• 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)

• Drop Thirst For Battle (T6X upgrade)

• Improved Critical Systems -> Promise of Ferocity at the C-store level, Programmable Matter Enhancements otherwise (Exchange)

• Strike From Shadows -> Improved Command Frequency (Command specialization)

• Super Charged Weapons -> Unconventional Tactics (Strategist specialization)

• Withering Barrage > Improved Predictive Algorithms (Intelligence specialization)

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:

Improved Critical Systems was superior to Promise of Ferocity or Piercing Projectiles, but it was very close. If you don't have ICS, consider one of those at the C-store level. Entwined Tactical Matrices can be used to replace Withering Barrage, just make sure you stagger out your Torp Spread and Cannon Scatter Volley instead of stacking them. 

Miscellaneous

This ship manages cooldowns via Photonic Officer I and The Boimler Effect.  Note that with a good Photonic Officer timing, I barely need the Boimler Effect, but those aren't always on good timing cycles so it's mostly to fill gaps.  Within a 10 second rotation, I have a 92% chance of triggering Boimler so cooldowns should be solid here.That said, I do not recommend slotting the Boimler Effect as your only CDR source. The chart gets weird in that Construction Wing Shuttle has a longer duration than its cooldown so it kind of breaks. 

Link to CDR sheet for this build