U.S.S. Thule

Fleet Arbiter Battlecruiser

Released: 2024 - 02

Build Overview and Focus

As an extension of our attempt to fill in the gaps of build budgets, I've crafted a Fleet Arbiter as an example of the very common two ships people are recommended to pick up when they first can; the Arbiter Battlecruiser and the Gagarin Miracle Worker Battlecruiser.

Budget Constraints

With the release of the Legendary Battlecruiser Bundle, this standard advise is no longer my first recommendation, as the perceived value of the this pack is phenomenal. And while taking the on sale values means we can cost this bundle at 8,400 zen of out 10,000 limit, the two C-store ships Arbiter and Gagarin as stand alone purchases are technically cheaper at only 4,800 zen.

Something to note is that with the extra 3600 you get:

**NOTE: I am assuming that you end up using the T6 coupon you get the Gagarin here, but it can also be used for whatever ship you want; something science, something torps, something energy, the choice is up the user in the end

However, to take advantage of these benefits it does require the upfront cost, and while for me this is no more than the amount I spend on fuel to get to work a week, not everyone has the ability or willingness to spend that much on a game, especially when they are just starting out. As a result, while we can technically get 4 C-store ships at this tier I'm artificially limiting myself to only 2 for this example as a testament to what only these two can get for you

Build Purpose and Scope

We're going back to basics here and crafting a very traditional "Users first Zen Enabled FAW build". This is design to take right after EPHs T5 Sovereign Build, and as such you'll see a large degree of crossover. However this expands on the toolset to include a fleet ship, some fleet gear, and a few S-ctore items. Additionally I've picked up an additional Lockbox console and some traits.

Additionally, I'm taking advantage of a less used method of cooldown reduction that relies on a single copy of Auxiliary Power to Emergency Batteries, but also requires more investment into passive cooldown reductions. This is in the form of Advanced Tactical Readiness, Basic Engineering Readiness, Reputation trait Chronometric Capacitor, 3 Very Rare Technicians,. and one Tactical Krenim Officer acquired from the fleet research lab.

The idea here is also to provide a pathway to build up to a more advanced FAW Arbiter setup that can be found here.

Namesake

From the Classical Greek literarily northern island, classically used as Ultima Thule as a place beyond the borders of the known world

Meta Analysis

Budget Analysis

Change History

Mission Replay Requirements

Reputation Item Purchases

Build Breakdown

This build focused on energy with a small amount of projectile bonuses, and some agility and survavability picks. Theme gets 1 point for Phasers on a Federation ship.

Skills

Skill Unlocks

Notes

Rhea was developed as an experiment as Hybrid Torp/Energy Character so her skill tree here reflects that to a degree, but is still a very generalist tree like every other captain I make as I eventually want to have a full suite of capability on all my captains. Taking points into the tactical tree reflects weapon damage, and the extra points allocated into control expertise and Exotic particle Generators rounds out the characters ability to move into exotics and utilize exotic/control aspects on projectile heavy builds.

Advanced Tactical Readiness is needed here for this build as is Engineering Readiness; however this can be mitigated by taking Photonic Officer 1 in the lieutenant science seat; this method of CDR is especially helpful on very tactical heavy ships that have limited engineering and science seating as you find most projectile builds want to have.

Alternative Skill trees can be adapted for uses, see EPHs Sovereign for the starter builds tree, and note that it only takes Improved Engineering Readiness opposed to my pick here at Advanced Readiness. Additionally, with the addition of a few more sources of CDR later on this method becomes obsoleted, which is why the more expensive Fleet Arbiter build can safely use only Photonic Officer.

Build

Starship Weapons

Notes

I do have some carry over here of items I have previously upgraded, however it remains that all weapons here are "as is" when made, a few Mk XIII from reputation projects that I cannot turn off as well as Mk XV items from what I've previously updated; however these are minor stat boosts and contribute little to the overall damage envelop of the build.

Starship Equipment

Starship Consoles

Set Bonuses

Notes:

For those looking to avoid the passive readiness investment from the skill tree this build calls for and don't want to spend the 75k dilithium on a non-passive contributing console, the M6 Computer can be swapped for the Delta Reputation Bio-Neural Gel Pack for its 7% cooldown reduction.

Bridge Officers

Notes:

As discussed earlier, another option to remove the readiness requirement of this build is to utilize the Lieutenant science as Photonic Officer 1 to aid in readiness, however this leaves out the option of using DRB in this slot for it's damage and AOE debuff (more important of the two)

Traits

Personal Traits

Meta-Focused Tweaks:

A Good Day to Die is a tactical captain only trait, and therefore needs replacement for other professions. Context is for Kings is an easy substitution here as it provides dynamic damage or durability depending on what is needed at the time.

Additionally, Crippling Fire and Last Ditch Effort are Tactical Captain profession specific. Easiest choice here would be EPS Manifold Efficiency for damage or Grace Under Fire for durability for Engineering Captains. Science captains have no direct path of upgrade innately, therefore I would suggest something like Adaptive Offense, Pseudo-Submission, or anything else of your choice.

Starship Traits

Notes:

For those looking for some more defensive options at this tier:


Reputation Traits

Active Reputation

Duty Officers

Notes:

Very Rare Technitians can be farmed from B'tran. I got very lucky compared to some other characters and only took 2 weeks to get 3 Very Rares, with the thir being from another DOffing event from a random box.

Miscellaneous

Ship Stats

Keybinds 

As an player who's been doing this for some time, I have very few keybinds as I use most of my powers manually. As such I have only 1 "spam" button, which consists of the offensive rotation.

As well, since I have Intelligence Agent Attaché and A Good Day to Die, I can effectively spam Attack Pattern Alpha and Go Down Fighting without need for worrying about timing.

Parse Breakdown

ISE Record Damage Breakdown

Portability

This build is easily placed onto anything with a Lt.C Tactical and Lt.C Engineering Seat. This makes it especially viable for anyone who wants to adapt to any upcoming or Future event ships as well as any other C-store/Fleet ships that might strike ones fancy.