I.S.S. Taggart

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

  • Two points in Hull Restoration/Hull Capacity are low opportunity cost for relatively high survivability gains. 

  • 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.

  • I take a single point in EPS Power Transfer to recover power levels faster after drains or Full Impulse, but it's low impact on this build. 

• 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. 

  • Since this character is using Gravity Well and Tractor Beam, having both points in ControlX boosts those as well as the Exotic Particle Generator skill adds value. DrainX helps amp Neutronic and/or Quantum Phase Torpedoes on builds which use them so I take both points on this character

  • The rest of the science skills are of little value on this build and are completely skippable. 

• Tactical skills

  • Projectile 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 some energy weapons that deal decent damage, 2 points in Energy 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 chose Temporal primary for Atrophied Defenses and the Phasic Artillery passives, as well as the Continuity perk for if/when I blow myself up. Strategist has solid boosts to crit since I have a boff heal. 

Notes 

The Thoron-Infused Mine Launcher is a staple in the current kinetic meta while the Black Ops Mines have an unusual interaction with Resonating Payload Modification where you can get 12 stacks per set of mines launched. I don't take max [Radius] mods even on launchers that support them (Tricobalt) as testing has shown only 1 Radius mod applies. Full write-up on mine mechanics here. The Advanced Chroniton mines are something of a theme choice. You want to diversify mine types as there are limits to how many mines of each type (e.g. Photon) you can have deployed at once. The Lorca's Ambition 3-piece does okay damage but is hardly essential. The Romulan torpedo launcher only stacks Ceaseless Momentum up once per salvo of 3 torpedoes; however each torpedo has a chance to trigger the reload Projectile Weapons Officer duty officer and it will stack Resonating Payload Modification faster. 

The argument for not going full torpedoes in the front is #1) I wanted the Lorca's Ambition 3-piece, #2) I wanted the Dual Beam Bank specifically since its 20% bonus damage spooled-up passive applies to your entire build, and #3) the Gamma Omni completes the 3-piece for thematic reasons. I intentionally avoided some of the more powerful meta-friendly torpedoes to prove a point and build around destructibles, so if you want to use Neutronic, or Enhanced Bio-Molecular, dropping the Omni is your best choice. Keep the DBB for the passive and triggering MAS; the DM torp could be dropped if you want all 3 of the other meta torps.

There are no DPS calculators that support mines so I am not making one for this build. 

Notes: 

The Gamma set provides decent damage through its 3-piece whereas AMACO only benefits torpedoes. If the Competitive (Prevailing) engines are desired, then I would use the Tilly Shield (Discovery Legends reputation), possibly adding the warp core from that set as well for survivability. It's arguable that Tilly Shield/Revolutionary Core/Romulan Engines would provide more damage due to more Cat2 damage increase, but it wasn't enough for me to make that jump and our tools don't support mines yet for me to mathematically verify that. Do not skip the Colony deflector.

Notes:  

Meta-Focused Tweaks:

• Mines are not meta. I've suggested some weapon tweaks above to incorporate more meta-friendly concepts but we're out in uncharted / thematic territory here

Budget Tweaks:

• If the Elite Alliance Fighter Squadrons are unavailable, the Mirror Shuttles that came with the Lexington are really solid also

• Tachyon Net Drones can be replaced by the old standby Assimilated Module. The Covert Warhead Module can be replaced by the Ferrofluid Hydraulic Assembly, preferably with the Dual Heavy Cannons over the Omni to provide the 2-piece. 

• Deconstructive Resonance Emitter or Tricobalt Tear Generator could be replaced by Temporal Disentanglement Suite

• Everything else should be fairly accessible

Meta Notes 

• Do you really expect a meta-centric analysis on a minelayer? Abandon such thoughts, there be no meta here.

• Be forewarned that Kinetic Magnet makes your mines damage not only you but your allies as well if they are too close. Given how hard this ship amplifies mines, it's likely that such encounters will be fatal. I have applied 500K kinetic in one burst to an ally on Hive Elite. Suffice to say they did not survive. To that end, be careful using Kinetic Magnet near enemies that are close to allies you must protect, such as Deep Space Nine on Counterpoint to avoid fratricide.

Meta-Focused Tweaks: 

If going full glass-cannon with unlimited budget

• Ablative Shell -> Terran Targeting Systems

• I should consider seeing what Varuvian Explosives does on this build since I have it. To be explored later. 

Budget Tweaks:

Try and keep the ones at the bottom, but the default traits are not very good for mines at all. 

• Drop Boimler Effect (Elite Captain)

• Ablative Shell -> Redirected Armor Plating

• Context Is For Kings -> Operative

• Pike Maneuver -> Innocuous

• Resonating Payload Modification -> Astrophysicist

• A Good Day to Die -> Elusive

• Intelligence Agent Attache -> Particle Manipulator (super strong on scitorp builds, pretty weak here)

• Hot Pursuit ->  Accurate

Meta-Focused Tweaks:

• For full glass, drop Strike From Shadows for something expensive like Terran Goodbye

Budget Tweaks:

 Try and keep the ones at the bottom. 

• Drop Rapid-Emitting Armaments (T6X)

• Promise of Ferocity -> Sniper if available, Improved Command Frequency if not

• Superior Area Denial -> Unconventional Tactics

• Strike From Shadows -> Onboard Dilithium Recrystallizer

• Ceaseless Momentum -> Improved Critical Systems would be okay; so would Programmable Matter Enhancements.

Notes:

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. 

While the trait Harasser Mines exists and would be thematic, it is really, really bad. I have Heavy Tachyon Mine available but haven't tested it.

Miscellaneous

This ship uses Photonic Officer and Boimler Effect as its primary cooldown mechanism. As evidenced from the chart above, without Boimler Effect triggering, this build will not have most of its powers on global cooldown. Thankfully, with a high number of short rotation powers (13 over a 15-20 second rotation), there's an 92% chance or higher of at least 1 activation of the trait during a rotation.  

Link to CDR Sheet for this build