V.S.S. Solemn Penance

Notes

Jayiie's Skill tree has been optimized to be used on as many build types as possible. As such there are some questions that naturally arise when talking about it. I will try to capture these discussions as succinctly as possible here.

Tactical ultimate and Exotic Builds

The tactical ultimate does basically nothing for the majority of the damage on this build. However this is a skill tree that is still designed to run things like the Inquiry and Verity, so I do still have this. A more optimized tree would look something s. The core skill selections are still there. There is an overlap on looking at torp skills when getting to the 25 Tac ult unlocks.

Hull Restoration vs Hull Capacity

This is very simple, while also not. Given the choice between a Improved Hull Capacity (+25.5%) and Hull restoration (+25%) against Advanced Hull capacity (+30%), I personally prefer to take the former, splitting the point difference. Since my character is an engineer, this 25% Hull restoration actually has some very useful applications through Miraculous repairs.

As well by taking some extra points into engineering, this has allowed me to take the 10th Engineering Unlock skill which adds +10 Hull Capacity, which is comparable to the +15 taken from the last point of Hull restoration. Due to how the skill works this is a +3.3% Max Hull vs 4.95% Max Hull buff respectively.

EPG vs Control Amplification, DrainX and CtrlX

This time around I've opted to put more points into CtrlX and EPG while taking Control Amplification, and instead dropping points from DrainX. If this wasn't on an engineering captain I wouldn't consider this a loss. However both Nadion Inversion and Intrusive Energy Redirection both scale with DrainX and are innate captain abilities, thus wanting for the skill.

Aux Power

Optimizing to hit 130 Aux power has been challenging. To do this I required Defensive Subsystem turning for the +4.8 Power to Aux. Combining this with the passive on most science ships as well as the Neutronic Eddies has allowed 130 to be hit passively. This has then allowed me to drop EPS Manifold Efficiency freeing up a 10th starship trait. On other builds this has the effect of allowing more aux power for more damage / better scaling on various powers.

Shield Regeneration

This is still a tank first skill tree. Shield regeneration is statically anomaly and adds a huge amount to shield regen in just the first point (more Information on shields can be found here). As such, I have taken the single point. with the most recent tree revision I've opted to spec out of DrainX and Drain Infection for that last point in EPG. Should you want to not take shield regeneration I would suggest the next DrainX point.

Starship Weapons

Notes

As of right now I'm not amazing at getting much out of the mines on this ship. I mostly just let them go and do their thing, feeding stacks of Feel the weight of our presence and relocating them to big targets to build up stacks of Resonating Payload Modification. It is worth mentioning both of these are currently broken. Feel is not intended to scale with mines but does anyway, and Resonating can break the 5 max stack limit with mines. This has been the case for years (basically since the traits were released). I don't enjoy taking advantage of these but considering they've been in the game for several years now I think its fair game to use them here.

The Delphic is also not performing as well as I had hoped and was lead to believe it would. I think the Grav torp and Plasma Particle Torp would both be better options here, especially considering that this is an ship that does lean into the exotic damage.

Another consideration has been to drop the Phaser Wide Angle Dual Beam bank to move the Dark Matter Quantum up front to fill in the rare gap I get between CF downtime and unlucky PWO triggers. To keep the Lorca's Ambition 2pc I would need to use the tactical console (since the beam cannot be slotted in the rear) which I plan to test in the future, but this layout has been sucessful for me so far.

The Imperial Rift set is very good here since the exotic lean, but if you don't have it it becomes very hard to source if you don't have it from the event. Instead I would suggest some other setups:

• Gamma Reputation 3pc: This provides ship with kinetic damage as well as some turn, and accuracy

• AMACO: Old Reliable, still used for the +25% Torp Damage and Aux. This is missing a core so this would mean slotting the engine and shield with something like the terran core or a Colony Core.

• Temporal Reputation 2/3pc: Providing +25% Damage to DoTs and Hazards with the 2pc and +20 CtrlX / DrainX with the 3pc.

As always feel free to experiment here and find something that works for you.

Meta-Focused Tweaks:

Console wise there's not much improvement here. Possibly the previously discussed Locator into a tactical slot and potentially some more actives like the Tricobalt Tear Generator would be beneficial here. The Multi-Directional Artillery Barrage is also an option, but works better on builds that lean heavier into torps where I am leaning into both EPG and Torps.

Budget Tweaks:

As always, there's a large portion of replacement consoles available. Have a look here for some suggestions. The largest thing to keep in mind is that phaser lance is not uniquely available for kinetic builds. The Quantum Warhead Module builds charges and benefits from the projectile / torpedo buffs.

Notes

There might be some value in changing Gravity Well for Tykens rift for the purposes of having more secondary deflector procs. I thought this was a less than desirable change for general purpose play as Gravity Well helps group targets together to benefit from the AOE on torpedoes. Dropping GW also lowers the number of unconventional system triggers to 1 which means it's not going to pull its weight.

Meta-Focused Tweaks:

Obviously building on an engineer was "my first mistake"...I just like the engineering playstyle (also EPS power transfer is really good). I have thought about using Intelligence Agent Attaché on this to get that power back faster, but it would have to displace something here. In the future if I solve the Aux power problem I mentioned in my skill tree I might be able to remove EPS Manifold Efficiency. Tactical Captains as always get A good day to die with science captains having Conservation of Energy. Additionally, since this is an engineer it might be interesting to use EPS Overload as the primary subsystem is aux power so this would also grant +20% CrtD.

Budget Tweaks:

Projectile Training is a good alternative for anything missing above.

Bug notes:

As it stands, Feel the Weight of Our Presence and Resonating Payload Modification both have broken interactions with mines. For the sake of transparency I will explain on them here.

FEEL THE WEIGHT OF OUR PRESENCE: Despite explicitly listing mines as not counting for the stacking -0.5, they do. This means that I can routinely apply anywhere from -20 to -25 to targets by myself in any engagement

RESONATING PAYLOAD MODIFICATION: I suspect largely due to how mines work that these are counting as separate entities to the player (also would explain FTWOOP) and therefore are applying stacks to targets independent of the stack counter of the player. This can cause it to exceed the 5 max stack per person limit very easy.

Meta-Focused Tweaks:

With some of my saved (read hoarded) stuff finally selling I saw a small plethora of extra EC I could throw at some wish list items. I used some of that to build up my exotics but I also picked up some 'cheap' lobi items for torps. These being Subspacial Warheads from the Son'a Intel Battlecruiser. This trait alone did 125k DPS.

When looking into ISE record setting, the Cabot Command Light Escort trait Advanced Precision Guided Munitions has huge potential. For example on EPHs Eagle Sympathetic Detonation (the traits line name) contributed 100k DPS, which was on par with the contribution of Subspacial. The cabot trait however didn't do very well in content where the targets are heavily shielded.

Budget Tweaks:

Again, a bit of a dunce on this knowledge base. Some that I know off hand:

• Improved Critical Systems - requires 2 EPtX copies to get the full benefit but most science ships tend to have a Lt. Eng or greater seat. 

• Unconventional tactics - +% bonus damage on using brace for impact.

• While Rapid Emitting Armaments is from a legendary ship, it is account wide and is very good.

• Sniper, if you have it from the Temar. Don't hunt it from the Mudds bundles.

• Strike from Shadows is universally good with CrtH Dmg and threat reductions.

Meta-Focused Tweaks:

In an ideal world I would get myself an 31 of 47 Liberated Borg Duty officer for Exotic Damage increase and DOT damage.

Budget Tweaks:

Most of these are really easy to get. Sub in another Projectile weapon officer for cooldowns or whatever suits your fancy if you don't want the +CrtD one.

Since this is a torp build, all you really need is a ship with Concentrate Firepower 3 access, which is a Lt.C Command seat or higher. However to really port this build you would also need something with a secondary deflector, which limits options. This leaves just a few options:

• Legendary Glenn Temporal Operative Science Vessel - The most direct comparison, I talk more about it here.

• Dauntless II Command Science Dreadnought - The inverse specialization seating, with Cmdr Command and lt.C Temporal. This limits you to recursive shearing 1 but allows you to take a rank 3 Cmdr exotic power or Call Emergency Crtillery 3.

• Courage Command Science Destroyer - The torp platform, I believe most people run this in tactical mode but I think this is probably better run in science mode (or attempting to flip) to take advantage of the secondary deflector.

• Merian Command Science Dreadnought - A 2 hanger ship with both command primary and secondary deflector, this is a big contender here, but also could suffer slightly due to the lower number of tac powers.

• Son'a Command Science Vessel - Being 3/3 limits this ships use case, but it does have some really good stuff going for it, the trait and console and being a full command ship also brings it 

• Titan Science Destroyer - 4/3 with flippy flop mechanics means this can be a very good platform for this type of build. Only 4 tactical powers will limit it but this isn't exactly a huge problem.

• Terran Trailblazer Science Warship - This is a great alternative platform. Primary Command means inspiration abilities, 4/3 with lots of tac powers and miracle worker options. This is just a straight up improvement over the Janeway Command Science Vessel. This is probably the best costing platform here for transitioning the build.

• Terran Somerville Scout Ship - A highly flexible event ship, once again being 3/3 means you probably want to lean into exotics more than I do here.