Exotic Basics

Specializations

• Temporal primary, Strategist secondary for general exotic DPS. 

Power Levels

Power levels are a basic but very important way to boost your ship's effectiveness. If you want to know the why behind the power level suggestions, check out our advanced reading on this topic.

• Auxiliary to 100 is essential

• If using 2 or more energy weapons that fire in the fore arc or if using the Chronometric Calculations 3-piece, put weapons to 70 as the active scales Exotic damage from weapon power.

• If using Emergency Power to Engines and a core with [AMP], consider feeding enough power to Engines that the subsystem is above 75 when Emergency Power to Engines is active. If you have the Dragonsblood Flame Reactor and/or Five Magicks from the Hysperian Intel Battlecruiser, prioritize Engine Power second behind Aux. 

• If using the Tilly shield, consider putting more power to shields. 

• Console players will want to use setting 4 (50 weapons, 25 shields, 25 engines, 100 auxiliary)

Now, how to get aux power to 130? Let's revisit that again in-depth. Let's say we're using a science vessel with only +10 innate power. We need 20 more.

• Chronometric Calculations 3-piece: +3.6

• Skills: +13 if we take all aux-power boosting skill nodes including Defensive Subsystem Tuning (+4.8), Aux Subsystem (+3.2) and both Warp Core Potentials (+5)

• Zero-Point Energy Conduit: 2.1 at Mk XV Very Rare

• Warp Theorist personal trait: +1 power

This gets us to +19.7 which is close enough for a budget build. If we had a +15 aux science ship, we wouldn't need Warp Theorist or some of the skill nodes. The Neutronic Eddy Generator console also provides plenty of aux power on its own (+7.5), further reducing our dependency on the items above, but requires an event ship and is not great overall. If you don't want to slot those specific items/have better options and have excess Engineering seating, that's when Emergency Power to Auxiliary comes in, but it's not needed for exotic builds unless you're trying to take advantage of an expensive trait.

Gear

Our intent with this suggestion is to offer a number of viable gear choices, not to dictate cookie-cutter builds. If you want to use something else, be our guest. For those of you who want a narrowed-down menu from the dizzying array of choices out there, this one's for you. Most of the gear options here, save for non-tactical consoles, are the same ones being used or considered at the high end.

Ground rules: only fleet, reputation, easily-crafted, or mission reward items will be considered along with low-tier Phoenix Box rewards. Finishing out reputations is essential to completing an endgame ship. A quick refresher on what those are:

Fleets: Fleets are player groups that allow players to contribute resources (fleet marks, energy credits, refined dilithium, common duty officers, etc.) to various holdings, which unlock a variety of stores carrying fleet-specific items. Fleet holdings with more tiers and unlocks open up more items. Joining a fleet is not essential to succeeding in Star Trek Online, but it can be highly valuable to join a fleet at least temporarily to go shopping even if you don't intend to stay long term. 

Reputations:  There are 13 reputations that reward players for playing specific pieces of content, either battle zones/adventure zones, or task force operations. Fighting against certain enemies will improve a player's efforts with the associated organization devoted to countering them. Reputations must be advanced, typically through daily projects, and takes 70 days of daily projects to fully level to the highest tier (tier 6) for the first time on an account. Starting the reputation climb and advancing through the ranks is a top priority upon reaching level 50. Reputations have both a series of items that combine into sets with bonuses for multiple pieces as well as reputation stores that sell Mk XII items for dilithium. 

Mission Rewards: Come from playing particular missions. It may be desirable (if grindy) to replay a certain mission multiple times. We'll only be recommending items at Mk XI Rare or better because Mk XII Rare should be pretty cheap on the Exchange. 

Phoenix Boxes: Are available from the dilithium store and should generally be purchased in lots of 10 for 40,000 refined dilithium. While some consoles and duty officers are useful and easily available from a rare or very rare token, ship rewards at the Ultra Rare and Epic level are exceedingly unlikely and restricted to a single character. The most frequent choice from the Phoenix Box is the Phoenix Upgrade, which helps upgrade gear items. Phoenix Upgrades are best applied on special upgrade weekends to double their efficiency; it takes about 200 Phoenix Upgrades on an upgrade weekend to take a ship with gear at Mk XII-XIII to Epic Mk XV. 

The Exchange: Allows players to buy and sell a variety of items. Many items are enormously expensive due to their rarity and are thus priced out of the reach of a new or semi-casual free-to-play player; however, they are not needed for this guide. Some items, if cheap on the exchange, may be accessible, so their use may be recommended sparingly.

Crafting: Allows players to create items through leveling their research & development schools (typically via another series of daily projects). R&D unlocks personal traits at level 15, which are particularly valuable in the Beams, Engineering, Projectiles, Science, Ground Gear, and Kits and Modules. Crafting items below level 15 is not efficient as higher crafting skill will lead to greater rarity on first result. 

Picking Weapons and Weapon Types

Very few weapons scale with Exotic Particle Generators, so we're going to slot those as available and then fill in the rest with weapons that grant set bonuses;

• Fore weapons: Gravimetric Torpedo Launcher from the Dyson reputation and the Particle Emission Plasma Torpedo (crafting) are the two EPG-scaling weapons. Round your third fore weapon slot with the Dark Matter Torpedo Launcher by default. Alternately, you can use the Wide-Angle Dual Beam Bank from the same set for the set bonus. If you have a fourth weapon slot, consider slotting the other one of those two weapons, allowing you to skip the console. 

• Aft weapons: Always slot the Dyson Proton weapon (Dyson reputation) for the global 3% CrtH bonus with the Gravimetric Torpedo you're already slotting. The remainder depends on your setup

  • If you need a console slot, put the Dark Matter torp in aft and the Wide Angle Heavy Dual Beam Bank from the Discovery Reputation in the aft.

  • If using the Chronometric Calculations 3-piece, the Omni and beam array go here

  • If using the Morphogenic set on a Tactical lean, the Omni and torpedo go here

  • If using the Neutronic torpedo, slot the Beam Array for the 2-piece and consider slotting an Advanced Inhibiting Omni from the Gamma reputation for its -DRR effect

  • Alternately, you could use the Advanced Inhibiting Omni and a mine launcher like the Thoron Infused Quantum Mine Launcher from the Delta Reputation store. 

Other Gear for F2P/New players

• Deflector: Elite Fleet Intervention Protomatter Deflector Array with [Colcrit] and [CtrlX]x2[EPG] from the Fleet Colony provides a wide range of useful offensive stats.

• Secondary Deflector: Any flavor of Deteriorating Secondary Deflector is fine. The ones from the Fleet Colony are slightly better than those from the Research Lab due to boosting Projectile Damage [ProjDmg] over Energy Damage [EngDmg], and the Crafted ones with max CtrlX and EPG are very close. 

• Engine/Core/Shields: 

  • If you have the Imperial Rift or Tholian, slot that core. If not, Temporal Defense is the way to go.

  • Now you have choices. 

  • You need a way to go fast. Every ship needs to be able to move quickly, so either

    • Slot Emergency Power to Engines (bridge officer ability, rank I is fine), the Deuterium Surplus device, and the Emergency Conn Hologram duty officer (Phoenix Box, Very Rare)

    • Prevailing Regalia Engines (Competitive Reputation), choosing Innervated if you have multiple firing modes or Fortified if you have a low cooldown hull/shield heal like Science Team or Auxiliary to Structural

  • You need to complete a set: Save Engine and/or Shield Array to complete your Imperial Rift or Temporal Initiative 2-piece set. If you're using Prevailing Regalia, this is what you use for your shield.

  • You need to fill in the gaps:

    • If your shield slot is still open:

      • Tilly's Review-Pending Modified Shield from the Discovery Legends reputation is an option for its increased damage to shields

      • The Regenerative Crystal Shield Matrix from the Para Pacem mission is a defensive choice that distributes shields automatically, letting you skip Tactical Team. 

    • If your engines slot is still open: Romulan Advanced Prototype Engines (Romulan reputation NOT the Reman ones) for the critical severity boost

• Consoles: There are many options for consoles, especially in Tactical or Engineering consoles depending on whether you're using Research Lab consoles or are willing to dip your toes into Advanced Science Exotic Particle Amplifier consoles, or something at a lower budget. This guide will list some options but the ALICIA tool was created to provide a tailored console recommendation for your budget and build. 

• Tactical Consoles:  If you don't have lots of other good consoles, save a slot for Lorca's Custom Fire Controls from the Discovery Legends reputation. Otherwise, take the 2-piece via the Dual Beam Bank and torpedo per above. The Fek'Ihri Torment Engine from the "Leap of Faith" mission is a must-slot. 

• Science Consoles: You'll want to fill those with [EPG][CtrlX] Particle Focusers from the Fleet Research Lab choosing the ones with higher EPG and lower CtrlX. If your budget/grind capability is higher, you could consider Exotic Particle Amplifiers with the [EPG] mod, which are likely superior to Focusers for any open slots if you can stack Focusers fully with just 2-3 Focuser consoles OR if you can't reliably stack Focusers. Knowing the difference takes some testing on your individual build. See ALICIA for more help. 

• Other consoles: 

  • If you have the Temporal Vortex Probe or Neutronic Eddy Generator (Risian Weather Control Ship), these are good options. The Tholian Webspinner used to be very powerful. It is significantly less so since being nerfed in September 2022, but if you're struggling to fill console slots and already have it available, it still does decent damage as a budget option. These are all event items, so if you don't have them already, they are outside of our budget range.

  • Chronometric Capacitor (especially with Beam and Omni) from the "Time and Tide" mission. Requires a 3rd Tactical console slot

  • Morphogenic Matrix Controller (with Omni and Torpedo) from the "Home" mission. Requires a 3rd Tactical slot. Only use if Entwined Tactical Matrices is available. Do not use with Chronometric set.

  • Assimilated Module from the Omega Reputation

  • Nukara Particle Converter from the Nukara Reputation

  • Zero Point Energy Conduit from the Romulan reputation

  • Interphasic Instability from the Phoenix Box

  • If you can afford a Delphic Tear Generator, slot it. The Micro Dark Matter Anomaly is another possible candidate but can be pricy. (Exchange)

  • Bio-Neural Gel Pack from the Delta reputation as either the 2 or 3-piece.

  • Consider slotting 1-2 defensive consoles as well (but no more than that!). If you don't have any of the nicer ones like Ablative Hazard Shielding or Protomatter Field Projector, which come from C-store ships or events, slot the Trellium-D console from the "Ragnarok" mission.

• Experimental Weapons: Can generally not be slotted on science ships aside from certain destroyers. Based on this ranking, your best best is the Experimental Flak Shot Artillery from the Competitive reputation if you don't have one of the better ones like the Soliton Wave Impeller or Voice of the Prophets (event ships). If you want to shell out for a T6 ship, the Subatomic Field Disruptor from the Earhart/Sech is decent, as is the Hypercharged Field Projector from the Shran/M'Chla. 

• Hangars: We recommend our tier list for the "Base" configuration for most builds

• Devices: Exotic Particle Floods (crafting R&D) and Deuterium Surplus (crafting once you run the Defense Contract mission once) are both helpful and free, if having an unfortunately low stack limit. Reactive Armor Catalysts or Hull Patches help with survivability.

Upgrading and Rarity

For the majority of items in the game, a build filled with Mk XII+ gear at Rare+ rarity and flown well is capable of tackling Advanced content reasonably well. Some maps are harder than others and some builds will do better at certain maps than others, but it's certainly possible to quite well with Mk XII and Mk XIII on a F2P/new player build. I've done it twice while building up my builds. 

If you want to fly Elite, you will need to strongly consider Mk XV gear as the difference between Mk XII and Mk XV is about as big as the one between Mk I and Mk XII. Enemies are much harder to kill; while there are a few maps that are relatively easy on Elite that could be completed with Mk XII gear, it would be a slog. 

Epic'd and re-engineered gear is never "necessary" and is only for optimizing builds and/or DPS-chasing. 

Lastly, let's go over things we aren't going to worry about.

Things That Do Not Matter Much

• Energy weapons slotted for set bonuses do not need to be upgraded or re-engineered at all.

• Rarity is a very small damage boost for weapons. Both Gravimetric and Particle Emission Plasma torpedo gain 3% final multiplier from going Epic but that is a lot of expense for marginal gain. Do it if you have the resources to spare.

Traits for F2P/New players

See our tier list for starship and personal traits and look for the ones that are free, a mission reward, or from R&D schools. Some traits can be enhanced at the Fleet K-13 holding for marginal gains; those are options as well. 

If you're looking to exit the F2P world and pick up your first C-store (Zen) ship, the one you want is the Somerville or its cross-faction equivalent. The Spore-Infused Anomalies starship trait is a significant DPS boost on exotic builds even if you don't end up flying it longterm. If you're on a science ship that has at least 3 forced tactical seats or just prefer a more tactical-focused build, also consider the Gagarin or its cross-faction equivalents. Its Entwined Tactical Matrices starship trait is a significant DPS boost on exotic builds due to granting free torpedo spreads from energy firing modes. Other powerful traits tend to be expensive, but here are a few highlights that apply to virtually all exotic builds. 

• Ceaseless Momentum either from a dwindling supply of boxes on the Exchange or a Lockbox ship grants bonus Kinetic damage and torpedo reloads

• Improved Photonic Officer from a Lobi ship (cheaper on the Exchange) adds 25% Bonus Exotic damage with 100% uptime and extends the duration of Photonic Officer to solve your cooldown problems.

• Strike From Shadows from the C-store adds 5% Critical Chance and 5% Bonus damage while also reducing threat. 

Other generically useful things to look for in a starship trait or personal trait are critical chance, critical severity, EPG, damage, exotic damage, and ControlX but there are many variables that play into evaluating a trait's strength, including magnitude, conditionality, and stacking. Please see the Progression Guide, the Tier List, or our various Builds for more information and examples. 

Reputation traits:

List is sorted top to bottom in terms of priority:

• Always slot: Precision, Advanced Targeting Systems, Particle Generator Amplifier, Auxiliary Configuration: Offense

• If you need the cooldown help, Chrono-Capacitor Array and possibly Torpedo Astrometric Synergy

• If your ship has over 90,000 hit points: Tyler's Duality

• If you're using 2+ torpedoes in the front or have slots left: Omega Kinetic Shearing

Example: This sample setup doesn't need cooldown help and it's on a fragile ship with 3 fore torpedoes, so Omega Kinetic Shearing is the last trait.