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M'Chla Bird-of-Prey Refit

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Eph289's Builds

Build Overview and Focus

When I made a KDF character, I figured that it was about time we put up a build for the M'Chla, the somewhat-underwhelming T6 ship that Klingon recruits get. In truth, with no specialization seating and the loss of a seat in exchange for universal seating, it's more of a T5.5, but it is an appreciable leap-up from things like the T5 Vor'cha Battlecruiser.

With that in mind, we put together a very straightforward Starter build for captains leveraging this as their first T6 ship. While Cannon Scatter Volley is quite overdone in the meta, it's an effective firing mode and you do get the firing mode extension trait (Withering Barrage) from this ship, plus Klingon ships are often shown firing cannons in the shows.

I've been very pleased at how well it's performed in various story content missions and patrols on Normal, and even in Advanced TFOs. It's not the powerhouse that many of our other builds are on Elite, but if you're more casual or just beginning and like a more pet-focused build, give this a try.

This is a starter build, with no C-store items, no upgrades, and 10M EC limit. There are no Lobi, lockbox ship or promotional ship items, and no gear on this ship has been upgraded or re-engineered. See the build costs page for more detail.

Namesake

While I would never claim to be a Klingon scholar, this ship's name can be translated as "bird," specifically a large bird-of-prey and wouldn't you know it, this is ship is a bird of prey. How about that?

Meta Analysis

ISA: 159K (2-man, deathless)
ISE: 161K (random), 461K (premade)
Tzenkethi Front Advanced: 3:19 (2-man, deathless, all optionals)
HSE: 466K (premade)

A word of warning: it is highly unlikely that a new player will be able to replicate those numbers for four reasons:

I have invested significant time into becoming an excellent pilot. I know where to be, how to angle my ship, and when to use abilities. A new player will have to learn that skill and piloting at this level is over half of DPS.
I have a very high personal endeavor rank, giving me substantially better stats than a new player will have access to. All my consoles combined provide fewer relevant stats than my personal endeavors.
A new player will likely not have a premade group with favorable team compositions for Elite play. While team composition does not matter much at this level of DPS, it certainly doesn't hurt.
A new player will not have access to T6 reputation, Temporal or Gamma Recruit rewards. I would turn them off for the purposes of this build if I could, but it's not worth it to me to make a whole new account just for this.

Budget Analysis

Using the EZRA rubric, this build would cost 1 USD to replicate. If that cost still looks daunting, don't worry! Lower-budget alternatives are provided below.

No Elite Captain/T6X upgrade, no fleet gear
No T6 C-store ships
No R&D Promotional ship
1 Lockbox console, 1 lockbox starship trait, 0 lockbox doffs
No Event console, Event Trait
Reputation + fleet gear; all Mk XII-Mk XIII
No Lockbox or Lobi ships

Change History

August 2026: Released build

Build Breakdown

This is a no-frills CSV build with a few other supporting element.

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
- Taking two Hull Capacity helps survivability and boosts Tyler's Duality as well. A point in Hull Restoration is useful for helping heals
- 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
- A single point in Shield Regeneration has surprisingly large impact on shield regeneration based on recent research by Jay
- Since this character uses either Overwhelm Emitters, the Bajor Core, or Tetryon weapons on various builds, all of which scale with Drain Expertise, I take a point in DrainX. A point in Control Expertise powers the Gravity Well on builds that use it on this toon. Two points in Exotic Particle Generators helps add damage to any exotic effects or abilities on the 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, 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, 3 points in Projectile Weapon Training is a good choice. Improved Hull Penetration, Shield Penetration are decent adds; the last point doesn't add very much.
- I like taking 3 points in accuracy and 2 in 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.

This ship is a classic energy + 1 torpedo set up with a heavy dose of carrier focus, as much as budget allows.

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.

Build

Starship Weapons

Notes

If you have the Klingon Executor Disruptors or Spiral Waves, feel free to swap out some of the weapons. I would start with the generic Disruptors. I'm using a mix of visuals to leverage set bonuses and reputation items, but you can go for more standard colors at a loss of some DPS.

Starship Equipment

Notes:

This is a pretty basic and effective setup for starter play. A Colony Deflector would definitely be an upgrade; see our other builds for the appropriate mods and type.

Starship Consoles

Set Bonuses

Notes:

Obviously this is a pretty cheap build, so if you have nicer things, slot 'em if you got 'em.

Meta-Focused Tweaks:

There are many consoles that would work better than what I have slotted. Fleet Power Network Array, Flagship 2-piece, and Sigma Strategem all come to mind from the C-store level. Dragonsblood Flame Reactor is an even better choice.
Replacing the Disruptor Induction Coil consoles with Energetic Protomatter Matrix Infuser [Disruptor] consoles from the Fleet Colony will help a lot. Even better would be shuffling down three of the universal consoles to Tactical and fitting Isomagnetic Plasma Distribution Manifold [Disruptor] consoles.

Budget Tweaks:

This will struggle to get cheaper, but you could take Energy Amplifiers over the Red Matter Capacitor.

Bridge Officers

Meta Notes

Getting boffs with space traits like Superior Romulan Operative or Watcher would be a boon, even if it's just Pirate.

Traits

Personal Traits

Meta-Focused Tweaks:

If you can fit A Good Day to Die, Intelligence Agent Attache, or Breen Shield Tunneling, swap out Elusive, Innocuous, and Operative for them. You can also update the ___ training traits to Superior versions at Fleet K-13 if you have access to it, but that is a much lower priority to lots of other things when you're first starting out.

Budget Tweaks:

If you don't have access to Twinkling Lights, look for Redirected Armor Plating

Starship Traits

Meta-Focused Tweaks:

There's lots of room for improvement, so check out our Energy Basics guide for trait ideas.

Budget Tweaks:

Doesn't get much cheaper than this.

Reputation Traits

Active Reputation

Duty Officers

Meta-Focused Tweaks:

If you can afford the doff slot unlock, see about picking up either a crit-boosting energy weapons officer or maybe Dal R'el for survivability.

Budget Tweaks:

If low budget

This is as cheap as it gets for usable doffs. Downgrade rarity if you need to but you can get these relatively easily.

Miscellaneous

Cooldowns

Without Boimler or some other more powerful (and expensive) cooldown solutions, we're stuck with Photonic Officer II and Chrono-Capacitor Array, plus a little readiness. However, it mostly works out. Don't mind the orange bar on the bottom; the tool was designed for T6 ships and this is a T5.

LINK TO CDR SHEET

Ship Stats

Keybinds

Not a lot of keybinding here. A simple spambar for Emergency Power to Weapons 3, Attack Pattern Alpha, Attack Pattern Beta, Scatter Volley, Tractor Beam, Photonic Officer, and Emergency Power to Engines. I manually activate everything else. You could slot Go Down Fighting on here but truth be told without the personal trait A Good Day to Die, it's not likely to ever hit the threshold.

Piloting

Preset your Emergency Power to Weapons. You want to use all your captain abilities and console actives in the first fight, targeting the central cube first. Trigger Evasive Maneuvers to fly over to the left transformer and fire off all major abilities while at 1/4 impulse or stopped within 2 km of the transformer. FAW/CSV should take care of most targets. Once 2-3 of the generators are down, target the transformer. Be careful in timing EPtE here, as you'll need it to reset your Evasive Maneuvers. Ideally you activate EPtE here to reset the cooldown on Evasive and it's still active to fly to the right. I rotate to face inward toward the gate.

When the transformer is less than 5%, fly towards the ball of spheres and give them a torpedo spread and cycle or two of firing. Once they start thinning out, Evasive Maneuvers again with Deuterium (reset due to Emergency Power to Engines) and head to the right side. Rinse and repeat, then Evasive Maneuvers again to fly between the Tactical Cube and Gateway. Stay nose on: no broadsiding. Make sure to flank the Tactical Cube. Lastly, don't forget to summon your Delta Alliance Beacon/Nimbus Pirates as well as Fleet Support. In an average ISE run, I can get two off: one at the start and one at the end.

The importance of Crit and Flanking cannot be oversold. I saw significant increases in DPS from boosting Crit in doffs and traits. 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. Since flanking includes extra crit chance/severity with Intel, you can't go wrong with flanking either! Look for the downward pointing arrow on your target.

Parse Breakdown

Numbers are from record ISE:

Terran Task Force Dual Heavy Disruptor Cannons - Scatter Volley II: 77,141
Enhanced Bio-Molecular Photon Torpedo: 60,061
Digital Compilation Field: 53,523
Dual Heavy Resonant Disruptor Cannons - Scatter Volley II: 53,195
Dual Disruptor Cannons - Scatter Volley II: 49,941
Heavy Bio-Molecular Disruptor Turret - Scatter Volley II: 35,317
Disruptor Turret - Scatter Volley II: 33,919
Experimental Flak Shot Artillery: 18,283
Krenim Chronophage: 14,434
Terran Task Force Dual Heavy Disruptor Cannons: 9,494
Dual Heavy Resonant Disruptor Cannons: 9,092
Dual Disruptor Cannons: 8,833
Gravity Well II: 5,818
Anti-Time Entanglement Singularity: 4,195
Heavy Bio-Molecular Disruptor Turret: 4,119
Destabilizing Resonance Beam I: 4,098
Concentrate Firepower III: 3,748
Distributed Targeting: 3,200
Disruptor Turret: 2,824
Tractor Beam I: 1,397
Bio-Molecular Incubation: 1,024
Concentrate Firepower: 782
Aftershock Gravity Well: 476
Withering Radiation: 41
Resonant Disruption Wave: 12
Destabilized Emitters: 9

Team composition was this ship, a support tank, and 3 supports.

Portability

Something that we try to teach is how to read a ship, understand what are the important parts, and then apply it to other ships so you don't need a build for your specific ship. You can either copy or adapt from another ship as needed instead if there’s one that can run the same build or is close enough. Now, this is an extremely simple build at its root, given that we’re just looking for a Commander science or universal seat, at least 4 fore weapons and dual heavy cannons. However, to avoid having a list that’s about 50 ships long, let’s narrow it down and exclude ships that have a Secondary Deflector slot, because you would want to take different choices in gear and bridge officer stations to use that very powerful tool.

Consulting Fleffle's Sortable List with those filters, that gives us a great many options:

The Jem’Hadar Vanguard Carrier has most of the seats pretty similar, but you’ll end up with an extra seat on the LtCmdr Sci/Intel, so drop OSS 3 there. This will cost you a higher rank of Emergency power to Weapons, which moves down to the Ensign Universal at rank I. You’ll also pick up 2 bays, of which Elite Scorpion Fighters are a cheap and easy solution. At higher budgets, consider Elite Nausicaan Stingers or Valkyries or Type 7 Shuttles. Most consoles here are universal, so shuffle around as needed and add the Assimilated Module to the extra slot.
The Fek’Ihri Gok’tad is going to need a little work to make this fit:
- Cmdr Sci: Tractor Beam 1 / Destabilizing Resonance Beam 1 / Photonic Officer 2 / Gravity Well 3
- LtCmdr Uni: Torpedo Spread 1 / Attack Pattern Beta 1 / Cannon Scatter Volley 2
- LtCmdr Tac/Cmd: Tactical Team 1 / Rally Point Marker 1 / Concentrate Firepower 3
- Lt Eng: Emergency Power to Engines 1 / Emergency Power to Weapons 2
- Ens Sci: Hazard Emitters 1
- Again, you get 2 bays, of which Elite Scorpion Fighters are a cheap and easy solution. At higher budgets, consider Elite Nausicaan Stingers or Valkyries
- Note that if you have access to the Earhart/Sech and The Boimler Effect personal trait, I would slot Reroute Power From Life Support over Tactical Team, slot Target That Explosion in Starship Traits and replace the fore torp with the Dark Matter Quantum Torpedo Launcher from the Discovery Legends Reputation. This ship also has another aft weapon slot which goes to another Disruptor Turret. Most consoles here are universal, so shuffle around as needed and add the Assimilated Module to the extra slot.
The Kelvin T’Laru is an interesting choice that also needs some seat shuffling. You’ll have to drop Cannon Scatter Volley to 1 on the universal Lt, taking Tactical Team 1 below it. Engineering condenses to just Emergency Power to Engines 1 / Emergency Power to Weapons 2. The LtCmdr Uni goes to Sci, and I would try and fit Very Cold in Space 3 from the Winter Event there. Again, you get 2 bays, of which Elite Scorpion Fighters are a cheap and easy solution. At higher budgets, consider Elite Nausicaan Stingers or Valkyries or Type 7 Shuttles, or best of all Elite Romulan Drone Ships. Most consoles here are universal, so shuffle around as needed and add the Assimilated Module to the extra slot. You'll also have to take the appropriate Singularity Core.
The Kor Bird-of-Prey can run this build without any additional changes. Swapping Polarize Hull for Hazard Emitters 1 and taking Fly Her Apart 1 would be a net benefit to the build.
The NP Miracle Worker Escort is going to need a little work to make this fit:
- Cmdr Sci: Tractor Beam 1 / Destabilizing Resonance Beam 1 / Photonic Officer 2 / Gravity Well 3
- LtCmdr Uni: Torpedo Spread 1 / Attack Pattern Beta 1 / Cannon Scatter Volley 2
- LtCmdr Tac/Cmd: Tactical Team 1 / Rally Point Marker 1 / Concentrate Firepower 3
- Lt Eng: Emergency Power to Engines 1 / Emergency Power to Weapons 2
- Ens Sci: Hazard Emitters 1
- You do drop a turret for this and pick up the Assimilated Module and Zero Point Energy Conduit for consoles. You also gain a 5th fore weapon, and I’d consider finding another Disruptor Dual Heavy Cannon.
The Ouroboros can run this build without any additional changes. Swapping Polarize Hull for Hazard Emitters 1 and taking Chronometric Inversion Field 1 would be a net benefit to the build. Most consoles here are universal, so shuffle around as needed and add the Assimilated Module to the extra slot.
The Legendary B’rel can run this build without any changes. Swapping Polarize Hull for Hazard Emitters 1 and taking Fly Her Apart 1 would be a net benefit to the build. Pick up Override Subsystem Safeties 3 on the extra LtCmdr seat and put the Assimilated Module in the spare console slot.
The Fleet B’rel can run this build without any additional changes.Swapping Polarize Hull for Hazard Emitters 1 and taking Fly Her Apart 1 would be a net benefit to the build. Add the Assimilated Module to the extra slot.
The Tal Shiar Khlinae Adapted Battlecruiser has some changes. You have to give up Attack Pattern Beta and downrank Scatter Volley to 1, but you get Concentrate Firepower 3 on the science seat and get an extra universal ensign, which goes to Tactical Team 1. You also gain 2 extra aft weapons for turrets. However, you have to give up a Tactical Console, and slot the Assimilated Module and Zero Point Energy Conduit instead.
The Aetherian Harmony can run this build with some modifications. You’ll keep the LtCmdr Tactical and the Commander Universal goes to Science. The LtCmdr Sci/Intel picks up Override Subsystem Safeties at 3 and you end up with an extra Ensign Science at the cost of Reverse Shield Polarity, fitting just EPTE 1 / EPTW 2 on the engineering seat. The Ensign Science seat goes to Hazard Emitters, DRB moves over to the LtCmdr Sci/Intel seat, and you take Chronometric Inversion Field 1 on the Cmdr Uni/Temp seat. You also gain an aft weapon and 2 bays which should be a Disruptor Turret and either Elite Scorpion Fighters are a cheap and easy solution. At higher budgets, consider Elite Nausicaan Stingers or Valkyries or Type 7 Shuttles.
The Breen Keth Sarr Intel Courier gets double Commander, so keep the Science on the Universal, slot the Tactical seat on the second Cmdr Uni/Intel, with CSV going up to 3 and Override Subsystem Safeties III fitting in at LtCmdr. You’ll lose Polarize Hull, as Hazard Emitters shifts over to the Commander seat, but pick up another fore weapon, another Disruptor Dual Heavy Cannon.
The Jem’Hadar Light Battlecruiser can run this build seamlessly, but shift Reverse Shield Polarity to rank 3 and add Auxiliary to Structural to make it shine. You also get another Disruptor turret over the Experimental Weapon and an extra fore Disruptor Dual Heavy Cannon.
The Kelvin D4x Pilot Bird-of-Prey can run this build seamlessly, though I’d be tempted to displace Tractor Beam with Heisenberg Amplifier. You do downrank Emergency Power to Weapons to 1. Also, you’ll trade a turret for a fore cannon, which is great since Disruptor Dual Heavy Cannons are much better.
The Kelvin D7 Heavy Destroyer drops Polarize Hull to fit Hazard Emitters 1 on the Commander seat, and leaves Tractor Beam on the Ens Uni. You also get Call Emergency Artillery III and can substitute Fly Her Apart 1 over Reverse Shield Polarity at the cost of some durability. This is the same for the Kelvin Einstein Heavy Destroyer.
The Na’kuhl Tadaari Raider can run this build seamlessly, though dropping Hazard Emitters down to rank 1 on the Commander Sci seat and taking Override Subsystem Safeties 2 on the the Lt Uni/Intel would be a better choice; Polarize Hull falls off.
The United Earth Defense Force Vessel is a weird one but strangely can take this build just fine, picking up Call Emergency Artillery 3 on the second Tactical/Command Commander. Downrank Emergency Power to Weapons to 2 and slot Concentrate Firepower 3 on the LtCmdr Command/Engineering. You’ll trade the experimental weapon for two more turrets.
La Sirena can also run this build, but you get Scatter Volley 3 on the Tac/Pilot Commander, with Fly Her Apart 2 on the LtCmdr seat there. If you want more firepower, slot Override Subsystem Safeties over Reverse Shield Polarity on the LtCmdr Uni/Intel seat (Engineering otherwise). The weapons layout trades a turret for a Disruptor Dual Heavy Cannon in the front.
The Pakled Miracle Worker Clumpship can run this build also, but wow is it slow. You’ll need Prevailing Fortified Impulse Engines to even remotely make it work, and the Ensign Universal seat goes to Engineering Team to keep it moving. The extra console goes to the Assimilated Module until you can get fleet gear or Isomags, and if you want to take a Miracle Worker power, bump Destabilizing Resonance Beam over to the Lt Uni seat, put Hazard Emitters over Polarize Hull, and fit Narrow Sensor Bands 2 on the Commander MW/Uni seat. You’ll also trade the Experimental for two more Disruptor turrets.

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