Build That Ship You've Always Wanted with Qthulu's Guides!

ambassadorkael

One of your Captains has made some pretty awesome and comprehensive ship building guides, and we thought we'd share them with you.

Full details here:
https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/10599254

tunebreaker

Having read Qthulhu's awesome work already when they initially appeared in r/stobuilds, I can safely confirm that they are immensly helpful reading to every STO player.

Thank you for posting them on official page, and let's hope we will see less failpugs in the future.

schloopdoo

That was a terrific interview.

At the risk of derailing, I'm dying to know how Qthulhu gathered that many Borg bridge officers. I recognize the Science Boff from the ground STFs and the Reman from the Zen store in the screenshot, but who are the other two boffs?

themadprofessor

schloopdoo wrote: »

That was a terrific interview.

At the risk of derailing, I'm dying to know how Qthulhu gathered that many Borg bridge officers. I recognize the Science Boff from the ground STFs and the Reman from the Zen store in the screenshot, but who are the other two boffs?

One was probably the Lobi Store RomSci.

anodynes

It's a Romulan, so there's also their allied faction's C-Store Liberated Borg and the Liberated Borg that Romulans get from the Intel BOff box from the Delta Operations pack. A Romulan character can thus have 5 Liberated Borg BOffs.

schloopdoo

Oh, okay! I didn't realize there was one in the Delta Operations pack!

velqua

I thought this article was going to be about the new company that would be making the 3D models of Star Trek Online ships. lol Oh well... Any suggestions on different types of "in-game" starship builds is always useful.

rattler2

I really liked the "Stay out of Zone Chat". That made me laugh.

I don't have master builds myself, but I generally have some decent ones and can help make a relatively balanced endgame build for cruisers. I even have a decent Tetryon build that uses a lot of the various Tet augmenting items and sets.

themadprofessor

velqua wrote: »

I thought this article was going to be about the new company that would be making the 3D models of Star Trek Online ships. lol Oh well... Any suggestions on different types of "in-game" starship builds is always useful.

My first thought was a new ability to fully customize ships by picking the saucer, engineering hull, nacelles, etc.

A man can dream. He can especially dream about creating a Steamrunner with Connie-Refit style engines and a deflector section that goes up instead of down.

tobiashirt

tunebreaker wrote: »

Having read Qthulhu's awesome work already when they initially appeared in r/stobuilds, I can safely confirm that they are immensly helpful reading to every STO player.

Thank you for posting them on official page, and let's hope we will see less failpugs in the future.

A lovely, postive way of framing this

aspartan1

Excellent interview and guides..

szerontzur

Qthulu is a shipwright captain after my own heart. I get absolutely giddy when someone asks for help/suggestions on how to improve a build with some wacky concept/goal behind it. Kudos for doing and sharing this interview.


(I also thought this was another community designed ship project. I realize there is a lot of whining that comes with it, but I do hope we see another one sometime soon. *cough*T6 Vo'quv*cough*)

septicnecrosis

Hi everyone, Qthulhu here. I'm afraid I don't use the forums nearly as much as I use Reddit, and I'm glad to see more Borg players.

Here's a repost of the information I shared there -

Males get the Hirogen chest, Hirogen bodysuit, with miscellaneous shoulder and arm pieces.

Females look odd in the Hirogen chest, so they just get the Hirogen bodysuit and then regular chest armour.

In both cases, Liberated Borg use the Borg suit where possible, but everyone gets Hirogen boots. Some of them get the Hirogen wrist piece just to break up their lines. Tubes come from the Lukari Rep set, worth every Dil put into farming it.

The Borg Reputation BOff can't be altered (doesn't really need to be!).

Lukari wrist weapon looks like really big tubules, so one of them has that. Rest of the weapons are for set bonuses, with the exception of the Borg prostheses which I use wherever I don't need the 3-piece on a BOff.

I would have had better pictures but I couldn't really convince anyone to make me pretty in a photoshoot, sorry.

There's an APU and build to match, I will have it in a Prelude article on theme building. Eventually™.

As for the Bridge Officers, apparently BBCode tables don't work, so...

Male Borg Science

• Accolade/Omega rep
• ALL factions

FED/KDF Female Liberated Borg Engineer

• ZEN store
• ALL factions (FED and FED-ROMs get the FED one, KDF and KDF-ROMs get the KDF one)

REMAN Male Liberated Borg Tactical

• ZEN store
• ROMULAN ONLY

ROMULAN Female Borg Engineering/Intelligence (but Borg in name only)

• ZEN/ARC store (Delta Rising bundle)
• ROMULAN ONLY

ROMULAN Female Liberated Borg Science/Intelligence

• ZEN/ARC store (Delta Rising bundle)
• ROMULAN ONLY

ROMULAN Female Liberated Borg Science Officer

• Lobi Store
• ALL factions

So long as you're a Romulan, you can have all-Borg (don't even need the Accolade BOff). There's enough for any toon to have an away team that's TeamSpacePrincess compliant.

You can fudge it with the other factions by using an Android, and going for that Borg Queen/Assimilated Data look with the exposed circuitry.

I hope this has helped. I do fly the APU, but the Tholian Orb Weaver and Mesh Weaver look great, and the alternate Tholian skin just needs green Impulse Engines. The APU uses the Breen shields, while the Breen ships just use their alternate less-greebly skin. Add Assimilated gear to taste - I'm not a fan of the single engine (it's canonical, but looks odd on my ships), but the Assimilated Module and Deflector work pretty great. The Borg Shields can be combined with the alternate skins of the Tholian or Breen ships if you prefer a more classically TNG look.

Can't promise I'll reply further here, but I'm usually available on Reddit.

Happy flying!

toiva

Hmm, seems like a lot of pretty useful information. Now how to compel newish players to read it use that knowledge...

kronin

I was really looking forward to these articles, and as I read some of them, I did find some good information. However, here is the issue. In one article, he says "the most entry level torpboat", and "this is for the earliest torpedo build that can provide reasonable results". But then he says "A Transphasic torpboat requires that you have completed the Breen and Nimbus arcs, minimum. Optionally, you would like to complete the Dominion arc, "A Step Between Stars", "Blood of Ancients", "Time and Tide", "Butterfly", "Installation 18", the Khazan Cluster colonization chain, and have unlocked the Winter Event store." I'm sorry, but an entry level player has not completed any of this. Maybe they've done Nimbus, but definitely not all that other stuff. I don't mean to knock the author. This comes up a lot when people give advice to new players. Assumptions are often made that new players have completed reputations and high end missions, and have access to expensive exchange gear, or other things that cost zen or dillithium. I am guessing that by the time a player gains the knowledge to be able to build awesome ships, they have lost touch with how little entry level players have at their disposal.

septicnecrosis

kronin#4685 wrote: »

I'm sorry, but an entry level player has not completed any of this.

I've clearly failed to communicate the purpose then. That article is not for an entry level player, it's for an effective entry level torpboat. The optional steps are truly optional, all they will do is improve your torpboat (they're really listed as a means to encourage people to "grow" their build as they move through post-Breen content), but without the Breen 2-piece to buff Transphasic damage, and without at least one PWO (in this case, "Law") then your torpboat is going to be woefully inadequate, and an exercise in frustration rather than enjoyment. I will reconsider the wording, but I don't feel that Nimus+Breen is too far to travel for a new player.

kronin#4685 wrote: »

I am guessing that by the time a player gains the knowledge to be able to build awesome ships, they have lost touch with how little entry level players have at their disposal.

Then I'm afraid you have guessed incorrectly. The most elementary build in STOBuilds is derived entirely from story reward gear, and I can assure you of this as I've helped people optimise Tier 2 ships (as much as a Tier 2 ship can be optimised!). The people posting the truly top-end ships can often be found discussing ways to make said builds more affordable and accessible to players that lack ZEN or EC. When the console version first arrived, without Duty Officers and without Reps, as a community we drew on the truly old-school methods of making effective ships. I would say that, as a community, we've a very good grasp on how to budget build with free gear.

For myself, I spent the better part of a month trying to get a Console torpboat working, but unfortunately the Duty Officers turned out to be the glue holding the thing together. As a result, there's no way I'm going to encourage a player to run one without them - it'd only put them off playing the game.

Thanks for your feedback, every comment received helps shape the new content created.

alcaatraz

kronin#4685 wrote: »

I was really looking forward to these articles, and as I read some of them, I did find some good information. However, here is the issue. In one article, he says "the most entry level torpboat", and "this is for the earliest torpedo build that can provide reasonable results". But then he says "A Transphasic torpboat requires that you have completed the Breen and Nimbus arcs, minimum. Optionally, you would like to complete the Dominion arc, "A Step Between Stars", "Blood of Ancients", "Time and Tide", "Butterfly", "Installation 18", the Khazan Cluster colonization chain, and have unlocked the Winter Event store." I'm sorry, but an entry level player has not completed any of this. Maybe they've done Nimbus, but definitely not all that other stuff. I don't mean to knock the author. This comes up a lot when people give advice to new players. Assumptions are often made that new players have completed reputations and high end missions, and have access to expensive exchange gear, or other things that cost zen or dillithium. I am guessing that by the time a player gains the knowledge to be able to build awesome ships, they have lost touch with how little entry level players have at their disposal.

How long do you think a player has to be playing before they exit 'Entry Level' then?

ssbn655

No offense but these "master builds" have HURT the game more then anything else. They have created a community of harassing and bullying of players with what are considered by these elitests to be sub par builds and the player is unworthy of playing the game. These elitest types with these uber exploit builds have made situations where a player in a pug gets an AFK due to the mission being over before they can get a shot off. They have also created "vanilla" builds where everyone has them and there is no individulity left as far as builds go. It has created a game where it's all mega DPS or nothing at least in the eyes of these people. These uber DPS builds have also lead to a very vocal minority screaming for nerfs after being smoked in either PVP or have had PVE pugs end with them getting an AFK. I feel these so called master builds have taken a lot of the fun from the game as there is no need to experiment or tinker with builds on ones own as golly gee why bother I just have to plug this and that in and have a uber build. Where is the fun in that when everything is laid out for you? Do not think for a second that I am a new player either or jealous of these builds. Just the opposite I hold these players in contempt as many are depending on uber builds to get through the game.

ssbn655

"The people posting the truly top-end ships can often be found discussing ways to make said builds more affordable and accessible to players that lack ZEN or EC. "
In a word BS I have never heard any constructive advice from these people EVER. In all my years of playing STO the only things I have ever heard from these players is contempt and harrassment of other players. The contempt slung by those with truly top end ships are prime examples of how to be Richard head. Maybe you are an exception to the rule.

tunebreaker

@ssbn655
If you'd actually knew those people who have "master builds", you'd know that very many of them are completely well-meaning people who harrass and bully nobody. In fact, you'd know that they have lots of fun in game, they experiment with very many different playstyles and hate nerfs (most of them anyways) with passion.

Furthermore, those people who have "master builds" have made huge contribution to understanding game mechanics, have shared them with everyone in the game (click here if you want to see their contributions), given out huge amount of helpful general advice, as well as have pointed attention to pretty much every exploit in the game and helped to get them patched. Oh, and plenty of them also make budget builds, or point out variois possible cheaper options to the expensive gear they're using.

So, I'm sorry if you've had troubles with couple of idiots who are well-versed in game mechanics (because, let's be honest, it's sadly possible to both be a bawbag and do high DPS), but no, majority of them are not at all what you're describing. And talking specifically about r/stobuilds moderators/math experts- they happen to be both some of the nicest, as well as most knowledgeable persons in game you could ever encounter.

burstorion

@septicnecrosis Nice to see I'm not the only crazy shipbuilder in sto ... I recently moved my old (I've been flying it since the cell ship and the suliban doffs were released) high turn vo'quv build to the Ryn'kodan and being able to fling a carrier about with a 40-odd degree turn is amazing (and funny as heck, out turning most cruisers, sci ships and even a few escorts)

Theres something undeniably fun about making the seemingly impossible possible (such as turning the t5 bort into a 35+ degree cannonboat, or a ship that can hit over 2k impulse and clear the breach trench run in under 15s or making non science orientated ships into decent scislingers (not to mention theme builds))

As to @ssbn655s comment;
You are fighting human nature - Humans on the whole will gravitate to the fastest way of self gratification (ie, rewards for completion) - this means naturally in a game where there is no higher objective than 'murder x' , they want to do it as fast as possible. Add to this the trend of being recognised due to their dps value and you have the current scenario where for some worth equates to dps value (metally in this game, at least)

Many of these 'elite' players are simply disseminating information earned through effort and study - its the players who simply read a build then simply copy it that are the issue; but without the spread knowledge the overall performance of a pug would be lower - which in turn would lower the rate of gratification. The problem I feel lies in the fact that the other 'elites' have forgotten they copied a build verbatim, miguidedly think they are 'helping' by chastising non dpsers and have otherwise simply garnered an inflated ego and have simply forgotten a golden rule of gaming - its a game, not a career of life and death

As to uber dpsing 'ruining' pugs; thats simply as the most parsed map is the same as the best map for instant gratification (rewards) - which means theres a conflict there that cannot be easily resolved (unless cryptic brought back ISE); this is mainly due to the 'big fish, little pond' problem:

Big dpser, 4 small dpsers = bigger dps share
Big dpser, 4 big dpsers = a more even share of dps, but lower dps for that player

So, in effect they -have- to pug for the big scores that validate them as players (to their minds) as 'nanny runs' are generally looked down on

As to fun... that, my friend; is up to the decision of the player not you - if they want to cookie cutter a build then simply enjoy the results of winning, thats their perogative - I myself cannot give two figs over dps (my 'value' is if it can kill/survive in/for a reasonable time) and I adore build tinkering but I perfectly understand others do not - Fun is what you make of it and holding them in 'contempt' for it is just, well, sad.

markhawkman

anodynes wrote: »

It's a Romulan, so there's also their allied faction's C-Store Liberated Borg and the Liberated Borg that Romulans get from the Intel BOff box from the Delta Operations pack. A Romulan character can thus have 5 Liberated Borg BOffs.

left to right: not sure(maybe the preorder/Zstore fed eng, maybe the lobi), LoR Reman, Omega Rep Sci, Delta Ops

markhawkman

qthulhu wrote:

Females look odd in the Hirogen chest, so they just get the Hirogen bodysuit and then regular chest armour.

I think it's good. Though possibly I have different reasons than you do.

Yeah, that's not a particularly Borg look really. Then again, for RP purposes he's actually a Liberated Borg Terminator...

cirran1

As a filthy casual, who works his hiney off with his real life job, I do NOT want my entertainment to be a second job. For me, there is zero fun chasing DPS numbers, or listening to a vocal group of players scream "don't que up if you cant post above a certain dps". STO has become very unfriendly to players like me. I know, I know, my opinion means very little since I find it tedious and not fun to have a STF finished in less than 5 minutes. I also realize, I am not valued as a customer/player due to not condoning the actions of certain troll fleets and not playing the way the Devs want me to. (had a long write up on how I would like to see the que's changed. Realized it did not matter since I am not the target audience.) To each their own and to each their own kind of fun.

Cirran

questerius

@septicnecrosis a.k.a. Qthulhu

Do you have a link for that Tricobalt blockade runner build? Also into quirky/unusual builds, but i tend to avoid anything with reddit like the plague (couple of bad experiences on other reddit forums).

septicnecrosis

burstorion wrote: »

@septicnecrosis Nice to see I'm not the only crazy shipbuilder in sto ...

I'm here to have fun, and getting a DHC Vo'quv to dance about a map is pretty fun for me, haha.

markhawkman wrote: »

Though possibly I have different reasons than you do.

Nice looking crew! For me, the female armour is a bit too cocoon-y, and the neck clips badly with any collar piece. I've tried playing with the sliders (wider, flatter) but it just seems to be a feature at the current time.

cirran1 wrote: »

As a filthy casual, who works his hiney off with his real life job, I do NOT want my entertainment to be a second job.

Me too! That's why I spent the time collating all the info, so that someone like me could know where to spend their money and how to build their ship, meaning we're spending more time having fun and less time struggling. I can appreciate not wanting to get into the high-DPS game (which is very different from a regular optimised build).

questerius wrote: »

Do you have a link for that Tricobalt blockade runner build?

Sorry to hear about your bad experience. I haven't yet posted the build, and it was made before the current range of changes. Since I've had some interest in all the builds I've mentioned, my intent is to get them S13 ready (it shouldn't take as long as S14, I hope!!) and then post them up. They'll not be high-DPS monsters, but they'll be effective enough for regular play (the Romulan K't'inga perhaps not so much). It'll either be part of a theme build article (the Tricboat and K't'inga are nods to Armada and show canon, respectively) or if that takes too long I'll post them individually. I'll drop you a line when it's done (not soon, I'm afraid).



Thanks everyone!

burstorion

I have an intresting tricboat idea for the blockade runner (well, it was adapted from a 'nuke runner' I made a while back) Quest ...

Fore - Vaad tric cluster,Tricobalt, kentari (optional fore weapon here - maybe a dbb or omni, or the elachi torp, recommendation would be a terran set piece torp or energy weapon for 2pc)
Aft - 2x tric mines and the bioneural (or one tric mine and something else if you think one mine is enough)

sets - at least 2pc amaco/khg for the projectile boost, 2pc terran (console and weapon) rest is pretty much to taste

com tac - tt1,apb1,spread/hyt3,apb3
ltc tac - tt1,klw2,bo3/crf2/csv2/apo1 (left to taste)
lt eng - et1, epts2
lt eng - epta1, a2b1
ens sci - he1

Due to the lack of science/aux needing powers, I decided to base the build on a half a2b - the kentari is a cheap, effective pwo proc engine, so will drag the cluster and tric to firing position quickly (doffs are likely 3x pwo, 3x a2bs) - allowing a quick firing rate (while looking pretty awesome throwing out rockets here and there), the tric mines and cluster (tip - a cluster =/= apb3) providing punch (the mines will need manual control)

with this build, you should easily get a lot of uptime on amp and have 125 engine and shield

ssbn655

burstorion wrote: »

@septicnecrosis Nice to see I'm not the only crazy shipbuilder in sto ... I recently moved my old (I've been flying it since the cell ship and the suliban doffs were released) high turn vo'quv build to the Ryn'kodan and being able to fling a carrier about with a 40-odd degree turn is amazing (and funny as heck, out turning most cruisers, sci ships and even a few escorts)

Theres something undeniably fun about making the seemingly impossible possible (such as turning the t5 bort into a 35+ degree cannonboat, or a ship that can hit over 2k impulse and clear the breach trench run in under 15s or making non science orientated ships into decent scislingers (not to mention theme builds))

As to @ssbn655s comment;
You are fighting human nature - Humans on the whole will gravitate to the fastest way of self gratification (ie, rewards for completion) - this means naturally in a game where there is no higher objective than 'murder x' , they want to do it as fast as possible. Add to this the trend of being recognised due to their dps value and you have the current scenario where for some worth equates to dps value (metally in this game, at least)

Many of these 'elite' players are simply disseminating information earned through effort and study - its the players who simply read a build then simply copy it that are the issue; but without the spread knowledge the overall performance of a pug would be lower - which in turn would lower the rate of gratification. The problem I feel lies in the fact that the other 'elites' have forgotten they copied a build verbatim, miguidedly think they are 'helping' by chastising non dpsers and have otherwise simply garnered an inflated ego and have simply forgotten a golden rule of gaming - its a game, not a career of life and death

As to uber dpsing 'ruining' pugs; thats simply as the most parsed map is the same as the best map for instant gratification (rewards) - which means theres a conflict there that cannot be easily resolved (unless cryptic brought back ISE); this is mainly due to the 'big fish, little pond' problem:

Big dpser, 4 small dpsers = bigger dps share
Big dpser, 4 big dpsers = a more even share of dps, but lower dps for that player

So, in effect they -have- to pug for the big scores that validate them as players (to their minds) as 'nanny runs' are generally looked down on

As to fun... that, my friend; is up to the decision of the player not you - if they want to cookie cutter a build then simply enjoy the results of winning, thats their perogative - I myself cannot give two figs over dps (my 'value' is if it can kill/survive in/for a reasonable time) and I adore build tinkering but I perfectly understand others do not - Fun is what you make of it and holding them in 'contempt' for it is just, well, sad.

Very valid points and perhaps to a degree you are correct about the biggest richard heads being cut and pasters. Frankly for my part it doesn't matter if the missions over quickly, but I do feel very sad for the players who get stuck with the AFK time out for not being able to meet the minimum % of damage thanks to someone being a Richard Head with an uber build. I would like to see a time out in normal diffculty pugs for players who do the vast majority of damage in that pug say something like 60% to 80% being the the trigger. It would encourage them to quque for the higher difficulty missions it would let them put their money where thier mouth is if you will by making encourging them to face a tougher level of enemy and at the same time give less experienced players a better shot at meeting the requirements. LLAP see you in the game!

szerontzur

septicnecrosis wrote: »

...It'll either be part of a theme build article (the Tricboat and K't'inga are nods to Armada and show canon, respectively) or if that takes too long I'll post them individually...

Huge props for running inspiration from Armada - loved those games. I completely forgot the steamrunners ran them as a special attack until you mentioned it. Must.. resist.. temptation. (It also makes me wonder how close to the Romulan Shadow class one could get in STO, performance-wise.)

kronin

@alcaatraz: What is an entry level player? That's a great question. I don't honestly know. Is it a player who's best ship is a tier 2? Is it a player who just got their first T5U or T6 ship? Is it a player who has a few T6 ships, but hasn't completed all the story arcs? This leads into my next question...
@septicnecrosis: What is an entry level ship, if it isn't a ship being piloted by an entry level player? I don't know if I count as an entry level player or not, but I haven't completed the Breen story arc yet. If I had to guess, I'd say I'm an intermediate player. I have a few T6 ships, and I've completed some reputations. I also know enough to help new players and give them advice. Do I know how to build a high end, high DPS ship? Heck no. I don't even have access to the recommended gear. So, when I read articles about entry level ship builds, it's mostly stuff I know. However, when I read articles about taking builds to the next level, and often by the same authors, that next level includes gear that I don't have and can't get. The catch 22 about mission reward gear is that you need a ship (and character) tough enough to complete said mission. Please understand, I'm not trying to be a jerk or argue with you. I've bookmarked your article, and I'm going to read it some more. But I am expressing my frustration with the game, and the lack of information out there for players moving from "entry level" to "highest DPS in an elite queue" with very little fancy gear and/or crew. Maybe you could write an article on what is the easiest intermediate build to get for a T6 ship. I would love to see some options on this. And I hope you meant it when you said my feedback was helpful, because that's where I'm going with this.

markhawkman

septicnecrosis wrote: »

markhawkman wrote: »

Though possibly I have different reasons than you do.

Nice looking crew! For me, the female armour is a bit too cocoon-y, and the neck clips badly with any collar piece. I've tried playing with the sliders (wider, flatter) but it just seems to be a feature at the current time.

Well, what I'm using is a winter scarf. It clips but it doesn't look bad as long as you color match it. Also, it sometimes gives you a combadge looking thing on top of the armor.