Notes

I leaned into the energy build meta very hard! Full Tactical unlocks, everything I could in extra damage output, and a spare few points in just some basic resistance and survivability. 

Notes

Our weapons are driven entirely by Temporal Surge. Antiproton weapons, such as from R&D, don't have a typical proc (2.5% chance to do X). Instead, they come with 20% CrtD on each weapon. That means with any amount of +CrtH, you'll get 20% Cat2 damage more often than any proc would trigger since the base CrtH is 2.5%. Temporal Surge pegs out CrtH at 100%, so every shot under Temporal Surge will get that extra 20% Cat2 damage.

With Commander Intel seating, the Cyclone can use Surgical Strikes 3, but the duration extension trait is expensive for most budgets (*cough cough* Legendary). CSV is much more budget friendly, and has a satisfying "pew pew". 

Dual Heavy Cannons (DHC) drain slightly more power than Dual Cannons (DC), but in return also get 10% CrtD additional. Since we have Temporal Surge, I chose DHCs over DCs. The power drain difference is usually mitigated by EPS, overcap, and Emergency Weapon Cycle. Other weapons just simply trade raw damage for firing arc. The Cyclone is fast enough turning that I have little trouble keeping a target in arc.

Modifiers on weapons are always a hot topic. Generally, you must choose between [Acc], [CrtD], [CrtH], and [Dmg]. Epic modifiers let you choose two for one.

An [Acc] modifier, if we assume it all goes into overflow, is 1.25% CrtH and 5% CrtD. This is basically the best you can get from an [Acc] modifier. If you aren't hitting 99.9% of your shots, that's pretty unusual as enemy defense is often quite low. If you are talking PvP, I'm the wrong one to talk to.

A [CrtD] modifier is 20% CrtD. A [CrtH] modifier is 2% CrtH. A [Dmg] modifier is a 3% final damage increase. I've always seen an argument between CrtD and Dmg modifiers, but I'm going to compare all 4.

Using an all of my ship stats, pre-modifiers, on the build with around 64% CrtH and 233% CrtD, if we assume all of the ship mods are the following (vs non-Contributing mod):

• Acc (as Crit): 0.76%

• CrtD: 8.27%

• CrtH: 3.95%

• Dmg: 9.99%

Dmg and CrtD mods come out on top, as expected. Even still, please realize that we're talking fractions of a percent in damage for each mod that switches between CrtD and Dmg - this is a total of 27 modifiers across 7 weapons, so 0.06% final per modifier. On 100k DPS, 0.06% is 60 DPS. Taking 91 seconds to clear the map instead of 90 seconds is 1.1% DPS loss.

Now, why include a torpedo? In my case, the torpedo is a trigger for some of my starship traits, as well as a way to use a tactical seat. On a tac-heavy ship, a torpedo power will do much better than something like Distributed Targeting. The torpedo I chose is just a solid option for doing Spread damage. It also provides 25% global CrtD from its 2-piece bonus. With [CrtD] modifiers, Dual Heavy Cannons, and Antiproton weapons, we have a total of 130% CrtD on each of our 4 fore energy weapons. 

If you were to grow out of this budget, take a look at the similar Hydra build. It uses a Ba'ul Omni for the 2pc set, which costs 200x2 Lobi. This lets us get 5% of all AP weapons' damage to hit other targets with the 2 piece bonus. 5% extra damage to our strong fore cannons is a great way to break out of the single target mold for Surgical, and spread to even more targets with CSV.

The experimental weapon, to me, is always about what's available since just about all of them are locked to a ship purchase. However, in this case, we get a really good Experimental Weapon with the Cyclone that we are already using the ship, trait, and console from. Since this comes at Mk XII Very Rare, this is a good application of an Ultimate Tech Upgrade from something such as a Red Alert event or a giveaway. This often outperforms my turrets, just make sure you are flanking and it will do over 2x its normal damage! It's Psionic damage, which is a bit odd, but "All Damage" still helps us out here and all the extra Flanking damage is even better!

Notes

The majority of shields available provide resistances to various damage types. Some even have triggers based on taking damage, such as a burst of damage or +Power. I'll be focusing on ones that enhance our energy weapon damage.

Prevailing Innervated have a 5% chance when damaged by energy damage to gain 1% CrtH and 10% CrtD, for 5 seconds. If the duration were longer, I'd consider it. However, since I'm expecting to take less than 10% of the damage on the map, I don't expect to be shot enough to proc this consistently. Based on a recent parse, I was hit by 2 energy attacks. That many triggers over the 150 seconds of the map means basically no uptime on 10% CrtD.

Tilly Shields use our Shield Power to increase the damage we do to enemies we hit, I get at least 10%. This is pretty solid and has 100% uptime, not to mention we take advantage of the 2pc (more to come on that).

Hyper-Capacitor are a favorite of mine where you can bleed off shields to do extra damage. However, being shot at also reduces shields. If you are a tank, ironically, you could use Reverse Shield Polarity right before activation to keep the shields up, but for a standard energy build, the uptime and low benefit aren't worth it. You could also use the Shield Absorptive Frequency Generator during the Hyper Capacitor active, but I already have enough console slots used. There's not really any other way to negate the shield self-damage.

Imperial Rift Shields turn Aux Power into Cat1 Directed Energy Damage. While I have a lot of Aux, this shook out to be less effective than the Tilly shields. Even above 125 Aux power, I was only seeing about 15% Cat1 energy damage at the peak.

For warp cores, most options are best used to apply a set bonus. Besides set bonus, the Bajor Core can give me a lot of +Power, but I have an abundance of +Power, so it would mostly be wasted. In fact, most cores are a +Power to a single system, with a little extra +Max Power on top. Deuterium is -15% Weapon Power cost, while Plasma-Integrated is +100% EPS. Elite Plasma-integrated takes a balanced approach with -10% Weapon Power cost and +66% EPS. These are go-to for availability, and coming at Ultra-rare *and* pick your mods on a non-re-engineerable component. I would also like to make sure that I get [AMP] or [Bat] to take advantage of all of my extra power. A [Bat] mod gets 21.25 Battery Expertise at Mk XV, which increases the duration and the power bonus of Enhanced Induction Coils (below). For Fleet Spire cores, [Eff] is the only mod available in this slot. Essentially, there are no warp cores in the game with [Bat] and [AMP], and I will be getting 2-3 AMP stacks pretty much all of the time. 

Reputation cores have some interesting options. Lukari and Temporal Defense both have a teleport, each with varying degrees of applicability. You'll see more teleports later, but neither of these are great with a 4 minute cooldown. Temporal core just poofs you forward 5km on your heading. Lukari core puts you 4km in front of your target, which isn't any real benefit since we'll be trying to flank or be behind our target.

Mission reward cores tend to actually come from events and are free if you have them, expensive if you don't. Other than the Bajor core, the Breen core is interesting, but is just outclassed by the Fleet Spire cores.

The Mycelial core can give us the 2pc with the shields, but I ended up with the Fleet Spire core for maximum effectiveness. Having a good mix of power cost reduction and EPS will be strong for the energy weapons. 

The engines are, honestly, the least optimized portion. Romulan Engines offer 12.75% CrtD at Mk XV, so I chose those. Many might immediately gravitate towards the Competitive engines, but the Hydra is plenty fast, especially with 125+ Engine power. The last thing you want is Competitive Engines + Temporal Surge, you'll end up out of position for sure.

The Deflector, there really is only one main option and that's the Colony Protomatter deflector. With passive CrtH and CrtD, it blows away anything else on an energy build. It's best to roll into CtrlX mods where applicable because of the Fragment of AI Tech, and the other options won't provide damage. Be sure to keep [EPS] and [ColCrit] though. 

I don't focus on devices much, but I do keep a few around. Energy Amplifiers are the obvious choice. Targeting Batteries make a good off-cycle option as that much accuracy makes for a hefty amount of CrtD (unless using Fire at Will, which we aren't). Deuterium Surplus is a little extra kick in case evasive maneuvers is on cooldown. I have the Delta Reinforcements Beacon, which is just free damage. 

Notes

Let's get into consoles. We have 6 non-Tactical consoles to fill, and 6 Tactical/Universal consoles to fill. 

For starters, then, let’s talk Tactical Consoles. On a DEW build, you’ll generally see a tactical console in the universal console slot as well, so with a T6X, we have 6 slots. As you’ve seen previously, when it comes to CrtD vs CrtH, I have been choosing CrtD (Exploiters) because of Temporal Surge’s 100% CrtH. Generally, DEW builds end up choosing CrtH (Locators). There’s a 3rd option in the way of Colony Protomatter consoles, which trade CrtD/CrtH for Healing. This is primarily used on Tanks, and won’t be covered here. In my case, Locators come out superior to Exploiters when Temporal Surge isn’t active, but because of Temporal Surge, I went with Exploiters. Even if we switch to Locators without Temporal Surge, it’s a 1% total difference for 6 whole new consoles. I ended up going for a  mix of both simply so that it was easier to convert should I choose to drop Temporal Surge. This is only 0.2% lower than optimal when Temporal Surge is off. I ended up dropping one of these to pick up the Lorca console and its 2pc, for extra CrtD and Shield Pen instead of the Cat1.

With all of our Tac and Uni slots full of Exploiters & Locators, That leaves 6 more console slots open. I want to talk non-C-store ship consoles first. 

Subspace Jumper & Computer Assisted Flight Algorithms (CAFA) - Subspace Jumper is my #2 pick from the Kor set (see my Hydra build for more details on the Kor set). While it may not seem like much, every 60 seconds you can teleport 3km behind your target. You also get +25 Hull Penetration, like adding 2 ½ [Pen] mods to every weapon! But this clicky has other benefits as well. If you cut engines (R on most default keybinds) right before you click the power, it resets your momentum, which is something we don't talk about much. 

Inertia is a value that every ship has, and larger ships have lower "Inertia Rating", while smaller ships have a higher Inertia Rating. With only one console that even affects this, most builds just deal with the Inertia. This is the value that affects how a ship feels when turning, stopping, and moving. A "drift" is when you head in one direction, start to turn, but continue on or close to your original heading. Perfect drift is using the pilot power Lock Trajectory, which locks your momentum in one direction but lets you turn your facing freely. Big bulky ships can hit full impulse for only a second and drift the rest of the way to a target 10-15km away. Small ships can cut engines and stop almost immediately. This is inertia, and momentum is how we talk about continuing movement after you've started. 

Big ships have a lot of momentum, and finding ways to dump that momentum quickly is a big deal. Hitting full impulse, hitting full stop, and then turning off full impulse is my most common way of dumping momentum. The problem is, if you enter combat before stopping, your momentum persists and you will drift towards your target.

So why talk about all of this? Subspace jumper is a method that sheds momentum. If your speed is set to 0 before you jump, even if you have momentum and are drifting, after the flash, you will be at a dead stop. You'll be perfectly positioned 3km behind your target with 0 speed. If you don't cut engines before clicking, you'll probably fly right through your target. This means you have to shift your piloting to take advantage of this ability, but I’ll add some reasons that this is worth it. 

Firing arc is an important mention here. Since Subspace Jumper puts you nose-on to your target, a broadside beam build should not use this ability as half of your weapons (or so) will be out of firing arc. Since we are using a cannon build, all of our weapons hit the front firing arc, and even better, the narrow 45° arc of Dual (Heavy) Cannons will be spot on to our target. 

Flanking is an ability that gives you bonus damage for hitting your target from behind. Not everything can flank, and you have to have abilities or ships that give you flanking to take advantage of it, but the Subspace Jumper puts you in the perfect position to flank. Some ships have Raider Flanking built in, and the Bozeman is one such ship. The Cyclone, sadly, does not have flanking. Raider Flanking gives you 33% Cat2 All Damage when you are hitting the rear arc of your target. Improved Raider Flanking is far more limited in its scope, but is an extra 7% Cat2 to flanking for 40% total. Intelligence Operative Primary Specialization is often chosen because of its ability to add flanking to ships that normally don’t have it. Assuming you have it all unlocked, you can get another 10% Cat2 All Damage in addition to 15% CrtD and 5% CrtH towards your flanking, even on ships that have no prior flanking. A newer universal console, Computer Assisted Flight Algorithms, also gives you 10% more Cat2 to your flanking passively, and has a clicky that adds another 30% Cat2 to flanking. This means that a flank with a Raider gets 83% Cat2 All when flanking with the clicky! The Cyclone only gets 50% Flank. CAFA also lasts 30 seconds, which is quite long for a clicky. CAFA also has a built-in method for reducing its cooldown when flanking, and if you time it right, you can have this back up in time to use it with Subspace Jumper again, without Unconventional Systems. The Cyclone also comes with a console that benefits flanking, but more on that in a moment.

I end up using Subspace Jumper on the first cube, the second Transformer, and the last cube. Even if you are already flanking, like you might be with second transformer especially, remember that it gives you +25 Armor Pen when you use it. 

A note on Universal Console Builds - Universal Designs is a very expensive trait you have to build around, and Unconventional Systems often goes hand in hand with it. Optimally, you use a clicky every 20 seconds which needs a minimum of 4 powers with 60 second cooldowns, 3 powers will drop stacks since timing is imperfect. With the Kor 3pc and CAFA, we have the minimum you'd need without needing Unconventional Systems. I don't have Universal Designs, and have no plans to obtain it. I don't think it's worth it. But a "budget" alternative to phaser lance would be the Kor set, and it would be fun to see it in action sometime.

With the Subspace Jumper and CAFA, that uses 2 of our 6 open console slots. We happen to have 4 C-Store ships that each come with a Universal Console as well, and we have 4 console slots left. Are these consoles worth slotting? (spoiler: yes, I kind of chose them that way)

Ablative Hazard Shielding comes from the Arbiter, and contributes no damage output to the build. However, on builds that aren't used exclusively on premade teams in specific queues, it is a good idea to have an emergency heal. Your DPS drops to 0 if you die. There might be better heals in console form out there, but since this one comes with one of the best Energy DPS traits, it's my choice pick for an emergency heal. You can certainly drop the console if you are confident in your team's ability to keep damage off of you, but if you are solely doing PUG queues, it's always a good idea to have an emergency heal. 

Tachyon Net Drones comes from the Bozeman, and is used on just about every build we can put it on. It has a passive CrtD and CrtH, the active applies extra damage, reduces damage resistance, and turns off shields. There's simply no build this isn't good on. There may be better consoles on some builds when you have a whole host of other consoles to choose from, but this is widely applicable. Now, neither the trait or the console from the Bozeman are critical to this build, but on an Economy budget, it's hard to beat how applicable the Tachyon Net Drones console is. I'd pick the Bozeman as the #3 ship for this build, after the Cyclone and the Arbiter. 

Speaking of the Cyclone, the console that comes with it is the Sensor Phantom Projector. This console is not as widely applicable as the first two we have talked about, but it is really strong for our build focus of Flanking. You get 25% Bonus flanking damage as a passive, which on its own is fantastic if you can keep your flanking up. It also comes with a little CrtD. The active will basically make your target face away from you with a taunt, and while it is active you get 150% Cat2 for flanking. This pairs well with Subspace Jumper since it will lock the target into a flanking position, as well as giving you a ton of extra flank damage. 

Lastly, the Flagship Tactical Computer is a solid option on any energy build since it can increase your damage passively and your haste with a clicky, as well as other members of your team. We pick this up with the Super Charged Weapons trait as well. Neither of these are critical to the build, but are both strong, so pick up the Endeavour (or some other version such as the Legendary Scimitar) as your #4 ship. 

Notes

You'll recognize a lot of these from earlier discussions, but I want to go through them in detail. I always start from the highest rank seat and work through fixed seating and then universals.

Commander Tactical/Intel

Our firing mode of choice is Cannon Scatter Volley, and the extender is "free" with a Klingon Recruit. This makes it a great budget option for a Cannon build. 

Override Subsystems Safeties 3 is great for the extra power in weapons, and we can enjoy buffs like [Amp] and increased abilities from extra Aux power. OSS is good on energy builds, but I would not recommend it on Exotic builds as shutting down Aux may shut down many of your exotic powers with long cooldowns. Shutting down Weapons power will shut down your weapons, but they are much faster to recover. Torpedoes also won't be as big of a problem if they go offline, but also won't really see much benefit from the added power.

We have two more slots, and rather than use Intel powers here, I used them over on the Engineering/Intel seat. Attack Pattern Beta and Torpedo Spread are great options, but Attack Pattern Beta is locked to Lt. seats and above. This easily forces us to APB1 and then Torpedo Spread 1 in the remaining seats. 

With all of these intel powers, I'd love to be able to slot "X of 47" that triggers off of intel, however they are outrageously expensive and have no place on an Economy build.

Lt. Commander Engineering (Universal Seat)

Emergency Power to Weapons III is a best-in-slot for any energy weapons build. It's here for Triggering Emergency Weapon Cycle, providing Cat2 Energy damage, as well as a boost to weapons power, there is nothing with this power that isn’t utilized. With a 15 second shared cooldown and 30 second duration, Emergency Power to X powers pair well together. Since I have Improved Critical Systems, having two EPtX powers is worth it. You may end up replacing ICS, but once you have it, ICS is a great free option here.

Given the choice, Aux to Structural is one of the best heals I can slot as long as Aux to Battery isn't being used. With a low cycle time to trigger Strategist abilities, and a strong shot of healing and damage resist, it simply can't be beat. Engineering seats don't offer a lot in the form of damage output or debuff, and the extra survivability is welcome. 

Emergency Power to Engines I is a solid option with the Emergency Conn Hologram Duty Officer, from the Phoenix Box. It’s easy to obtain, and a great boon to mobility. Using EPtE with the ECH resets the cooldown on Evasive Maneuvers (to a minimum cooldown). Not to mention, extra power and mobility on its own help keep you on target regardless of your build. 

If we take this seat as something other than an engineering seat, we end up giving up the Aux to SIF (these powers shift to the Eng/Intel seat), more than likely for a tactical power. In this case, I'd rather have the survivability for a more universal build rather than a glass cannon build. 

Lieutenant Commander Science

Photonic Officer II is my plan for cooldown management. This plus a few sources of passive cooldown reduction are enough to keep my 15 second powers at near 100% uptime. You could slot some sort of damage ability here, but without the CtrlX or EPG to support it, this choice ends up rather lackluster. 

 Hazard Emitters I is getting close to the bottom of the barrel as far as BOff powers on this build, though Very Cold in Space or some other Ensign powers could be slotted here or over Polarize Hull as well, but this has a good cleanse, heal, and damage resist. 

Energy Siphon is an unusual pick for the last power, but this can help fill out AMP stacks, boost our Aux-based powers, and overall power availability. Deconstructive Resonance Beam would be fine here as well since it is free, but is mostly for the -DRR it offers. If you think about Energy Siphon as directly generating AMP stacks, I get a minimum of 2 more AMP stacks from it, and potentially a 3rd depending on power settings. That's 6.6% Cat2 All, which is quite worth it in my book. 

Lieutenant Engineering/Intel

We have plenty of forced engineering seats, so we don't need these as engineering seats, but rather as Intel seats. This also allowed us to use the Intel/Tactical seats as Tactical seats. 

Ionic Turbulence 1 is another solid Intel power, especially since we will have high Aux power. This will lower damage resistance in an AoE making our damage more effective. I think this has a better home when you can do something with the anomaly, such as an exotic build with Spore Infused Anomalies. In our case, it is a debuff and a trigger for Temporal Surge.

Intel Team 1 is a pretty filler power, but has a low cooldown and gives us a high uptime on low threat as well as several cooldown procs on Temporal Surge.

Ensign Science

Polarize Hull offers extra damage resistance and a "get out of Tractor Beams free" card, especially with such high Aux. I'm not sold on this power, but it exists. You could also slot Tractor Beam as trigger for other powers (not on this build, future thinking) or Jam Sensors to remove threat from a big target, though on an AoE build you'll break the placate very quickly. 

Miscellaneous