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DeadQthulhu's budget Discovery Engineering Captain
septicnecrosis
Member Posts: 16 Arc User
Hi everyone,
I'm probably better known as Qthulhu, or DeadQthulhu, and you may be familiar with my gameplay guides hosted elsewhere.
To celebrate Discovery's second season, I've created an easy-to-make build that can actively participate in Advanced difficulty content for next to nothing in resources - the only thing it'll cost you is time.
The gear is from Episodes, Specializations, the Duty Officer system, and from Tier I and Tier II Reputation - no Fleet items, no Exchange items.
I am choosing to use the Age of Discovery Starter Pack, but this is simply for cosmetics since there's no appropriate "free" T5 option for DSC Starfleet – in fact, the build will actually produce better results if you use the Exploration Cruiser Retrofit that you can get for free at level 61.
Introducing.. Edmund "Tibs" Kurland!
Since this is a freebie setup, I'm choosing to use an Engineering Captain. While Tactical Captains will eventually do more damage, they require investment to truly outclass the others. By contrast, Engineers get strong survival Abilities and better Subsystem Power management out-of-the-box.
Ability...................................Effects
Engineering Fleet......................Teamwide boost to Damage Resistance, Hull healing, and Subsystem Power
EPS Power Transfer...................Improves Subsystem Power levels, their Maximum, and how quickly spent Subsystem Power is refilled
Miraculous Repairs...................A huge Hull heal that also gives you Secondary Shielding and Shield Regeneration
Nadion Inversion......................Reduces Energy drain, both from enemies and from your own Weapons
Rotate Shield Frequency...........Your Shields regenerate faster, and resist both damage and enemy Shield Drains
Intrusive Energy Redirection.....Slurps Subystem Power from enemies and uses it to improve your own Subsystem Power and Weapon damage
The Kurland is of Bajor, so for race I'll be choosing Alien - it gives me better Tailor options and more freedom with my Personal Traits.
I explain the Skill Tree in my own Ten Forward article here. You'll also find a very good worked example in a post by Atem, here.
Much like Atem, I'll be heavily investing in the Tactical Tree, since most of Kurland's damage will be from his weapons. I'll put a few points in some relevant Science Tree picks, and then the rest in boosting survival.
That's 8 Engineering, 12 Science, and 26 Tactical, for a total of 46. Note that, even though I’m an Engineering Captain, the bulk of my points are in Tactical.
For my unlocks, I've went with the following -
For my ship, I'm using the scaling Prototype Light Exploration Cruiser from the Age of Discovery Starter Pack.
Note that this ship stops scaling at T4, so it'll be challenging to use in Advanced content, but you can find a largely-identical T5 Exploration Cruiser setup here.
If you insist on using the T4 ship then consider taking Beams: Overload instead of Beams: Fire at Will - you'll draw less Threat if you're only attacking single targets.
If you don't have the scaling beams from the Prototype Light Exploration Cruiser, then either use the reclaimable scaling Beam Arrays from the T1 TOS Constitution Class Cruiser or Mk XII Retrofit Phaser Banks from "Everything Old is New".
All gear is assumed to be Mk XII, minimum!
Ship Name.........U.S.S. Randall
Ship Registry.....NCC 1609
Ship Class..........Prototype Light Exploration Cruiser
Primary Specialization.........Intelligence
Secondary Specialization.....Strategist
Slot.................................Component..........................................................................................Source
Fore Weapons..................Quantum Phase Beam Array................................................................."Sunrise"
.......................................Emitter-Linked Phaser Beam Array Standard Issue................................Comes with the ship
.......................................Emitter-Linked Phaser Beam Array Standard Issue................................Comes with the ship
.......................................Emitter-Linked Phaser Beam Array Standard Issue................................Comes with the ship
Aft Weapons...................Trilithium-Enhanced Omni-Directional Phaser Beam Array...................."Beyond the Nexus"
.......................................Emitter-Linked Phaser Beam Array Standard Issue................................Comes with the Ship
.......................................Emitter-Linked Phaser Beam Array Standard Issue................................Comes with the Ship
Deflector........................Bajor Defense Deflector Array................................................................“Scylla and Charybdis”
Impulse Engines.............Sol Defense Impulse Engines................................................................."Midnight"
Warp Core......................Krenim Temporal Phase Warp Core........................................................"Butterfly"
Shields...........................Bajor Defense Covariant Shield Array.....................................................“Scylla and Charybdis”
Devices..........................Reactive Armor Catalyst........................................................................."Broken Circle"
.......................................Subspace Field Modulator ...................................................................."Skirmish"
.......................................Deuterium Surplus................................................................................"Defense Contract" (Alhena System)
.......................................*Device of your choice*
Engineering Consoles.....Console - Universal - Cyclical Polarity Modulator...................................Comes with the ship
.......................................Console - Engineering - Reinforced Armaments...................................."Beyond the Nexus"
.......................................Console - Universal - Hydrodynamics Compensator..............................8472 Counter-Command (Tier I)
Science Consoles............Console - Universal - Quantum Phase Converter...................................."Sunrise"
.......................................Console - Universal - Assimilated Module.............................................Task Force Omega (Tier I)
Tactical Consoles............Console - Tactical - Counter-Command Multi-Conduit Energy Relay....."Surface Tension"
.......................................Console - Tactical - Phaser Relay.........................................................."Of Signs and Portents"
Note that the "summon" Devices (Nimbus Pirate Distress Call, Delta Alliance Reinforcements Beacon, Phased-Waveform Beacon) can be used from your Inventory.
Bridge Officers
Lieutenant Tactical..............Tactical Team I
...........................................Beams: Fire at Will II
Lieutenant Engineering........Engineering Team I
...........................................Auxiliary to Battery I
Commander Engineering.....Emergency Power to Engines I
...........................................Auxiliary to Battery I
...........................................Emergency Power to Weapons III
...........................................Reverse Shield Polarity III
Lieutenant Science...............Hazard Emitters I
...........................................Science Team II
On a freebie build the Traits of your Bridge Officers are largely irrelevant, but if you've completed your Diplomatic Commendation then you can be using a Nausicaan Engineer, while you can get a Hierarchy Science Bridge Officer from "Alliances".
Duty Officers.....Effects..........................................................................................Name.............Source
Technician.........Ability recharge reduced when Auxiliary to Battery is activated.....Ten of Ten.....Colonization: B'Tran Cluster
Technician.........Ability recharge reduced when Auxiliary to Battery is activated.....Ten of Ten.....Colonization: B'Tran Cluster
Technician.........Ability recharge reduced when Auxiliary to Battery is activated.....Ten of Ten.....Colonization: B'Tran Cluster
Personal Traits.....................Effects
Fleet Coordinator.................Bonus damage per teammate
Beam Training......................Bonus damage for Beam weapons
Point Blank Shot...................Scaling bonus to Energy damage when within 6km of target
Techie..................................Bonus Hull healing
Beam Barrage.......................Bonus damage when using Beam enhancements (in this case, Beams: Fire at Will)
Elusive.................................Bonus Defense
Give Your All........................Damage reduction when Engineering Bridge Officer Abilities are used
Grace Under Fire..................Resets cooldown on Miraculous Repairs if you take lose more than 20% Hull in a short period
EPS Manifold Efficiency........Boosts all Subsystem Power whenever you use a Battery or an Emergency Power Bridge Officer Ability
Shield Frequency Analyst.....Boosts all outgoing Shield heals
Reputation Space Passives..........Effects....................................................................Source
Advanced Targeting Systems......Increases Critical Severity.......................................Dyson Joint Command Tier II
Precision....................................Increases Critical Chance........................................New Romulus Tier II
Advanced Hull Reinforcement.....Bonus Damage Resistance......................................Dyson Joint COmmand Tier II
Enhanced Armor Penetration......Ship weapons have increased Armor Penetration.....Delta Alliance Tier II
Starship Traits...................Effects..................................................................................................................Source
Predictive Algorithms........Activating a weapon enhancement will remove a debuff and improve Accuracy.....Strategist Specialization
Unconventional Tactics.....Brace for Impact grants damage buff.....................................................................Intelligence Specialization
Set Bonuses................................Set.......................................................Effects
Phase Transfer Optimizations.....(2/3) Quantum Phase Catalysts............Improves Accuracy, doubles strength of Quantum Phase weapon drain
Speed Tweaks.............................(2/3) Trilithium-Laced Weaponry.........Improves Flight Speed and Energy weapon Haste
Core Damage Systems................(2/4) Bajor Defense Set........................Improves Phaser Energy damage
Bio-Molecular Instability.............(2/4) Counter-Command Ordnance.....Improves Phaser and Disruptor Energy damage
The three Technicians mean that every time you use Auxiliary to Battery, all of your Bridge Officer Abilities get their cooldown reduced.
This means being able to use Fire at Will every 20 seconds (or Beams: Overload every 15!), and you'll always be getting the benefits of your two Emergency Power Abilities.
Another way of putting it - by using cooldown Technicians and Auxiliary to Battery you'd be doing at least 150-200% damage compared to the same ship without this combo.
Hope this helps new players! And I hope BBCode's tables work! THEY DON'T.
I'm probably better known as Qthulhu, or DeadQthulhu, and you may be familiar with my gameplay guides hosted elsewhere.
To celebrate Discovery's second season, I've created an easy-to-make build that can actively participate in Advanced difficulty content for next to nothing in resources - the only thing it'll cost you is time.
The gear is from Episodes, Specializations, the Duty Officer system, and from Tier I and Tier II Reputation - no Fleet items, no Exchange items.
I am choosing to use the Age of Discovery Starter Pack, but this is simply for cosmetics since there's no appropriate "free" T5 option for DSC Starfleet – in fact, the build will actually produce better results if you use the Exploration Cruiser Retrofit that you can get for free at level 61.
Introducing.. Edmund "Tibs" Kurland!
Since this is a freebie setup, I'm choosing to use an Engineering Captain. While Tactical Captains will eventually do more damage, they require investment to truly outclass the others. By contrast, Engineers get strong survival Abilities and better Subsystem Power management out-of-the-box.
Ability...................................Effects
Engineering Fleet......................Teamwide boost to Damage Resistance, Hull healing, and Subsystem Power
EPS Power Transfer...................Improves Subsystem Power levels, their Maximum, and how quickly spent Subsystem Power is refilled
Miraculous Repairs...................A huge Hull heal that also gives you Secondary Shielding and Shield Regeneration
Nadion Inversion......................Reduces Energy drain, both from enemies and from your own Weapons
Rotate Shield Frequency...........Your Shields regenerate faster, and resist both damage and enemy Shield Drains
Intrusive Energy Redirection.....Slurps Subystem Power from enemies and uses it to improve your own Subsystem Power and Weapon damage
The Kurland is of Bajor, so for race I'll be choosing Alien - it gives me better Tailor options and more freedom with my Personal Traits.
I explain the Skill Tree in my own Ten Forward article here. You'll also find a very good worked example in a post by Atem, here.
Much like Atem, I'll be heavily investing in the Tactical Tree, since most of Kurland's damage will be from his weapons. I'll put a few points in some relevant Science Tree picks, and then the rest in boosting survival.
- Lieutenant
- Improved Hull Restoration - Improves the strength of all Hull heals
- Improved Shield Restoration - Improves the strength of all Shield heals
- Advanced Energy Weapon Training - He primarily uses Energy weapons, so the more damage they do, the better
- Advanced Projectile Weapon Training - I need to spend a lot of Tactical points to get the Tactical Ultimate, and torpedoes are useful while you're levelling up
- Lieutenant Commander
- Improved Electro-Plasma System Flow - This makes your Weapons Subsystem Power refill faster, which is vital for Energy weapons, and improves the EPS Power Transfer Engineering Captain Ability
- Improved Control Expertise - Boosts my Science stats AND my resistance to lots of unpleasant things, such as Holds, Pulls, Confuses, and Slows
- Improved Drain Expertise - Boosts my Science stats AND my resistance to enemy Drains and Subsystem Offlines
- Drain Infection - Engineering Captains come with a "free" Drain Ability, "Intrusive Energy Redirection", so this should make it do damage at the same time
- Advanced Targeting Expertise - I need to spend a lot of Tactical points to get the Tactical Ultimate, and Accuracy helps me hit things
- Commander
- Hull Plating - Improved my Damage Resistance
- Ablative Hull Plating - Because torpedoes hit harder than Energy weapons
- Advanced Weapon Amplification - Makes my Critical Hits hit harder
- Advanced Weapon Specialization - Gives me a better chance at Critical Hits
- Captain
- Improved Exotic Particle Generators - Boosts my Science stats, and more specifically it improves the damage done by the Drain Infection from my Intrusive Energy Redirection
- Advanced Long-Range Targeting Sensors - Reduces the damage penalty to using Energy weapons at a distance. Very important!
- Advanced Hull Penetration - Helps get through Damage Resistance
- Advanced Shield Penetration - Helps get through Shields
- Admiral
- Improved Engineering Readiness - My Engineering Bridge Officer Abilities have faster cooldowns
- Coordination Protocols - Buffs your team's Hull and Shield values
- Defensive Coordination - Damage Reduction for your team
- Offensive Coordination - Accuracy and Damage buffs for your team
- Improved Tactical Readiness - My Tactical Bridge Officer Abilities have faster cooldowns
That's 8 Engineering, 12 Science, and 26 Tactical, for a total of 46. Note that, even though I’m an Engineering Captain, the bulk of my points are in Tactical.
For my unlocks, I've went with the following -
- Engineering
- Battery Expertise - Since my Hangar Pets will be buffed by my Coordination picks, I can choose Battery Expertise to improve the duration of my Batteries
- Science
- Sector Space Travel Speed - Less time spent on the Sector Map!
- Maximum Shield Capacity - The Kurland does not intentionally infiltrate, so may as well buff his Shields
- Tactical
- Threat Control - Since my Hangar Pets will be buffed by my Coordination picks, I can choose Threat Control to minimise my Threat in group content
- Projectile Critical Chance - This isn't a high end build, so Critical Chance is likely going to be more valuable than a harder Critical Hit
- Energy Critical Chance - I'd be taking this regardless of whether or not it was a high end build
- Accuracy - This isn't a high end build, so I'll grab all the Accuracy I can
- Focused Frenzy - Marks a target so that every time I hit it, I fire my Energy weapons faster
- Frenzied Assault - Each Frenzy hit boosts my Weapon damage too
- Team Frenzy - Everyone on the team gets to build their own Frenzy!
For my ship, I'm using the scaling Prototype Light Exploration Cruiser from the Age of Discovery Starter Pack.
Note that this ship stops scaling at T4, so it'll be challenging to use in Advanced content, but you can find a largely-identical T5 Exploration Cruiser setup here.
If you insist on using the T4 ship then consider taking Beams: Overload instead of Beams: Fire at Will - you'll draw less Threat if you're only attacking single targets.
If you don't have the scaling beams from the Prototype Light Exploration Cruiser, then either use the reclaimable scaling Beam Arrays from the T1 TOS Constitution Class Cruiser or Mk XII Retrofit Phaser Banks from "Everything Old is New".
All gear is assumed to be Mk XII, minimum!
Ship Name.........U.S.S. Randall
Ship Registry.....NCC 1609
Ship Class..........Prototype Light Exploration Cruiser
Primary Specialization.........Intelligence
Secondary Specialization.....Strategist
Slot.................................Component..........................................................................................Source
Fore Weapons..................Quantum Phase Beam Array................................................................."Sunrise"
.......................................Emitter-Linked Phaser Beam Array Standard Issue................................Comes with the ship
.......................................Emitter-Linked Phaser Beam Array Standard Issue................................Comes with the ship
.......................................Emitter-Linked Phaser Beam Array Standard Issue................................Comes with the ship
Aft Weapons...................Trilithium-Enhanced Omni-Directional Phaser Beam Array...................."Beyond the Nexus"
.......................................Emitter-Linked Phaser Beam Array Standard Issue................................Comes with the Ship
.......................................Emitter-Linked Phaser Beam Array Standard Issue................................Comes with the Ship
Deflector........................Bajor Defense Deflector Array................................................................“Scylla and Charybdis”
Impulse Engines.............Sol Defense Impulse Engines................................................................."Midnight"
Warp Core......................Krenim Temporal Phase Warp Core........................................................"Butterfly"
Shields...........................Bajor Defense Covariant Shield Array.....................................................“Scylla and Charybdis”
Devices..........................Reactive Armor Catalyst........................................................................."Broken Circle"
.......................................Subspace Field Modulator ...................................................................."Skirmish"
.......................................Deuterium Surplus................................................................................"Defense Contract" (Alhena System)
.......................................*Device of your choice*
Engineering Consoles.....Console - Universal - Cyclical Polarity Modulator...................................Comes with the ship
.......................................Console - Engineering - Reinforced Armaments...................................."Beyond the Nexus"
.......................................Console - Universal - Hydrodynamics Compensator..............................8472 Counter-Command (Tier I)
Science Consoles............Console - Universal - Quantum Phase Converter...................................."Sunrise"
.......................................Console - Universal - Assimilated Module.............................................Task Force Omega (Tier I)
Tactical Consoles............Console - Tactical - Counter-Command Multi-Conduit Energy Relay....."Surface Tension"
.......................................Console - Tactical - Phaser Relay.........................................................."Of Signs and Portents"
Note that the "summon" Devices (Nimbus Pirate Distress Call, Delta Alliance Reinforcements Beacon, Phased-Waveform Beacon) can be used from your Inventory.
Bridge Officers
Lieutenant Tactical..............Tactical Team I
...........................................Beams: Fire at Will II
Lieutenant Engineering........Engineering Team I
...........................................Auxiliary to Battery I
Commander Engineering.....Emergency Power to Engines I
...........................................Auxiliary to Battery I
...........................................Emergency Power to Weapons III
...........................................Reverse Shield Polarity III
Lieutenant Science...............Hazard Emitters I
...........................................Science Team II
On a freebie build the Traits of your Bridge Officers are largely irrelevant, but if you've completed your Diplomatic Commendation then you can be using a Nausicaan Engineer, while you can get a Hierarchy Science Bridge Officer from "Alliances".
Duty Officers.....Effects..........................................................................................Name.............Source
Technician.........Ability recharge reduced when Auxiliary to Battery is activated.....Ten of Ten.....Colonization: B'Tran Cluster
Technician.........Ability recharge reduced when Auxiliary to Battery is activated.....Ten of Ten.....Colonization: B'Tran Cluster
Technician.........Ability recharge reduced when Auxiliary to Battery is activated.....Ten of Ten.....Colonization: B'Tran Cluster
Personal Traits.....................Effects
Fleet Coordinator.................Bonus damage per teammate
Beam Training......................Bonus damage for Beam weapons
Point Blank Shot...................Scaling bonus to Energy damage when within 6km of target
Techie..................................Bonus Hull healing
Beam Barrage.......................Bonus damage when using Beam enhancements (in this case, Beams: Fire at Will)
Elusive.................................Bonus Defense
Give Your All........................Damage reduction when Engineering Bridge Officer Abilities are used
Grace Under Fire..................Resets cooldown on Miraculous Repairs if you take lose more than 20% Hull in a short period
EPS Manifold Efficiency........Boosts all Subsystem Power whenever you use a Battery or an Emergency Power Bridge Officer Ability
Shield Frequency Analyst.....Boosts all outgoing Shield heals
Reputation Space Passives..........Effects....................................................................Source
Advanced Targeting Systems......Increases Critical Severity.......................................Dyson Joint Command Tier II
Precision....................................Increases Critical Chance........................................New Romulus Tier II
Advanced Hull Reinforcement.....Bonus Damage Resistance......................................Dyson Joint COmmand Tier II
Enhanced Armor Penetration......Ship weapons have increased Armor Penetration.....Delta Alliance Tier II
Starship Traits...................Effects..................................................................................................................Source
Predictive Algorithms........Activating a weapon enhancement will remove a debuff and improve Accuracy.....Strategist Specialization
Unconventional Tactics.....Brace for Impact grants damage buff.....................................................................Intelligence Specialization
Set Bonuses................................Set.......................................................Effects
Phase Transfer Optimizations.....(2/3) Quantum Phase Catalysts............Improves Accuracy, doubles strength of Quantum Phase weapon drain
Speed Tweaks.............................(2/3) Trilithium-Laced Weaponry.........Improves Flight Speed and Energy weapon Haste
Core Damage Systems................(2/4) Bajor Defense Set........................Improves Phaser Energy damage
Bio-Molecular Instability.............(2/4) Counter-Command Ordnance.....Improves Phaser and Disruptor Energy damage
The three Technicians mean that every time you use Auxiliary to Battery, all of your Bridge Officer Abilities get their cooldown reduced.
This means being able to use Fire at Will every 20 seconds (or Beams: Overload every 15!), and you'll always be getting the benefits of your two Emergency Power Abilities.
Another way of putting it - by using cooldown Technicians and Auxiliary to Battery you'd be doing at least 150-200% damage compared to the same ship without this combo.
Hope this helps new players! And I hope BBCode's tables work! THEY DON'T.
Post edited by septicnecrosis on
0