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sharpfangjr
Member Posts: 42 Arc User
in The Academy
I'm a returning player from a long hiatus. My escort is no longer a glass cannon. Now it's just glass. I struggle with most space missions and a few I'm unable to complete. Therefore, I could use some build help. My away team feels under-geared. They die much more than I remember.
I don't have access to reputation gear. I never really worked on reputation before now. It's gonna be gear strictly from missions and the exchange. I don't have any fleet credits saved either. Was never really in a fleet, but I don't mind joining one.
Thanks for any and all help.
I don't have access to reputation gear. I never really worked on reputation before now. It's gonna be gear strictly from missions and the exchange. I don't have any fleet credits saved either. Was never really in a fleet, but I don't mind joining one.
Thanks for any and all help.
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Most missions don't need ultra-super-high-end-remarkable-don't-blow-me-up-type gear, so you should be able to play most with some green, blue or white gear to get you started.
I'd recommend taking a look at the STOwiki where you'll find a run-down of each mission and the gear it rewards.
You can also find the various energy weapon types and the gear that's available in the game.
For example, if you're looking for Phasers, the missions "Sunrise" and "Stormfront" might be good places to start.
You'll need to play and then replay each mission for a total of three times to get all the parts for the sets. They're also quite short compared to others and within a couple of hours you'd then have a few nice bits of gear to get the ball rolling...
Mission gear is fine. What is your profession? What escort are you flying and what have you got on it so far? How are your bridge officer abilities? Do you play on PC or console?
My captain is tactical. She flies an advanced escort with blue quality antiproton beam arrays and a purple ancient omni-directional beam array. The ship also has 3 piece breen set(deflector, shield, and engines), obelisk subspace rift warp core for that 2 piece set.
Ground is getting better. Should I farm the nakhul or romulan sets for my away team?
Edit: I play on PC.
As a tactical captain try to focus on kit modules that buff your damage such as Battle Strategies and Ambush. Two other very good kit modules that you can get from the exchange are Motivation (helps you and your team) and Trajectory Bending. Fill out the remainder of your ground kit with a grenade and perhaps a type of attack you find enjoyable (i.e. Lunge). On the ground tactical captains will usually be using their kit modules as often as possible.
Also, if you're struggling with ground combat, the number of enemies present at one time is a factor.
Saying all that, I think there's four sets you might want to consider farming:
A relatively short mission with very little space or ground combat. The disadvantage here being the set is made up of armor, shield, and kit-frame. But, if you've made your Bridge Officer an Elite, then it might be worth considering.
An alternative set to the one above. Again the mission has little combat with only a few enemy NPC's or ships at a time.
Made from shield, armor, and weapon, this doesn't need bridge officers made Elite to use all parts.
A trickier one to farm due to a sequence mid-way through the mission that sets waves of enemies at you for a few minutes.
Another set made of shield, armor and weapon.
Another set made of shield, armor and weapon, but maybe the most tiring one to farm. It's a long mission with a couple of sequences of waves of enemies.
Of course, you could mitigate repetitiveness and boredom by farming all four.
Play each mission once to get a feel for them and one piece from each set; then replay each mission for the second parts, finishing with a third set of replays for the third parts.
Alternatively, farm the easier sets first to help farm the trickier sets.
Of course, once you're set up, you'll want to get some Reputation sets, or even Lobi sets.
Keep an eye on the Events that happen ingame as you can sometimes get some nice enough rewards to use until you get something better.
I would strongly recommend considering a different approach when it comes to your choice of starship, weapons, and space set unless your intent is limited to short term leveling. Here's why..
Prometheus Advanced Escort This ship was released in 2010. It is very heavy on tactical bridge officer (boff) ability slots and quite light on survivability related engineering and science boff slots. It is NOT really meant for use with beam arrays as the ship is not able to engage in anything other than a very quick fight. This ship is meant for cannons front, turrets rear. This choice is supported by it having lots of room for higher level tactical boff abilities. The ship would require a very proactive and speedy sort of game play style in order to work effectively. If this play style isn't for you I'd consider trying something else to avoid frustration.
There's nothing wrong with antiproton or any other energy type. They all work just fine. It's just that from my perspective the storyline and it's rewards better support a phaser build.
Breen Absolute Zero Space Set The Breen space set is a thematic choice with really cool visuals but there are better storyline space sets available. It'll certainly do okay for now.
It might be time to rejig and rethink things a bit in order to maximize satisfaction. As a first step I'd consider another ship for your character in order to make mission gameplay a little easier. Your current ship, even with a full compliment of well chosen mission gear and bridge officer abilities, is always going to be a glass cannon that requires a very proactive playstyle. There are lots of free event ships that might be a better fit. Do you have other ships at your disposal ?
The only ships I have are the ones I gained through leveling.
One thing I noticed is a lot of the leveling type ships are available for a very small quantity of dilithium at the shipyard, in case you ever want to try something different (i.e. a ship suitable for beam arrays).
Here are some suggestions for your ship that should get you going in an economical manner. It uses some of the pieces you already have and needs a few cheap purchases off the exchange that can also be found in random drops. These items can gradually be replaced by better ones earned through completion of the storyline missions.
If you're unable to source Antiproton dual heavy cannons (3 required) and turrets (2-3 required) I can craft them, upgrade them to your level, and mail them to you (PC). As an alternative, you could consider Phaser dual heavy cannons and turrets or whatever energy type tickles your fancy.
Here's your ship. It's ready to go
For the tactical bridge officer labelled "SRO" you could replace the ensign ability Kemocite Laced Weaponry with beam overload for your rear mounted omni.
If you have any questions just ask
However, if you were to take the bridge officer in the photo above that's labelled "SRO SI" and replace the Lieutenant Commander ranked Attack Pattern Omega with a beam firing mode (Beam Overload 3 or Beam Fire at Will 3) and replace the Commander ranked Cannon Scatter Volley 3 with Attack Pattern Omega, this would get you going
If you've a Lifetime Subscription, you'd also get a token at level 50 for a Galaxy class (Ent-D), Intrepid class (Voy), or Defiant class (DS9). These ships are still T5 but limited to level 50+, not 40+. As a result, they have a bit more survivability and power to them.
At level 61, you'd get a token that functions like the level 50 one whether you have Lifetime or not.
The Galaxy has the Saucer Separation console; Defiant comes with a Cloaking Device; Voyager has an Ablative Armor shield.
What kind of cannons and torpedo is that? I still can't tell by looking at the thumbnail for them. I'm guessing antiproton heavy dual cannons and turrets.
I've a question about the furtive perseverance set. Should I farm for the full 3 pc set or is the 2 pc enough for my bridge officers?
When kitting out my Bridge Officers, I opt for sets that have a team-wide benefit. This then helps me and the rest of my Away Team when I'm playing missions.
There's five sets available from Reputations that have a team-wide affect:
Whilst this may not be something you're aiming for right now, it's worth keeping in mind for the future.
Mission sets are definitely easier to farm, which should make missions, patrols and TFO's easier to complete.
Reputation set parts usually become available when those reputations reach Tiers 1, 3, and 5. They will also be Very Rare (Purple) quality at Mk XII.
If you have a Temporal Recruit, and can get all Reputations to Tier 5 on that Recruit (quite easy with all the free Marks boxes they earn as you play), you will unlock an account-wide upgrade to Reputation projects. This means your gear will be UItra Rare (Violet) quality at Mk XIII.
The Temporal Recruit event tends to run each year after the Summer, around the beginnins of September to tie in with the TOS birthday date.
Additionally, if you can get a Reputation to Tier 6, you will unlock a project that will reduce the cost to make Reputation gear by 50% for all characters on your account. (There's one project for each Reputation.)
This means that your Gear will cost 250 Marks, 4,500 Refined Dilithium, and 20,000 Energy Credits but will still need 5 of the respective Elite marks. (Usual cost is 500 Marks, 9,000 Refined Dilithium, and 40,000 Energy Credits.)
Again, this may not be something you're looking to do right now, but it's a pointer for the future.
Yes they're antiproton dual heavy cannons and turrets. The torpedo is photon.
I put antiproton weapons on the ship because you were already using that energy type. Everything else on that ship is there to provide an example of a simple setup that could be used to play missions.
Both engineering consoles, all three science consoles, and possibly even parts of the space set are all slated for gradual replacement with mission reward items that should provide slightly better performance.
This is why only the ship's weapons have been upgraded. It doesn't make sense to upgrade things that aren't being kept longer term but upgrading weapons can help.
Bridge officer abilities (and their actuation) are more important than consoles though.
Are you still looking at the Hilbert guide?
No, I figured the HIlbert guide is quite outdated now.
Yes, it is old now. But I think you were right to be curious about it.
A simple (single key or spacebar) keybind that fires off abilities in a tray you choose is one of the largest multipliers in the game that almost nobody talks about (PC only).
I use one to make things easier on my fingers.
Emergency Power to Weapons --> Beam or cannon firing mode --> Attack Pattern Beta --> Photonic Officer
^^ Having these things taken care of without clicking on individual abilities is really a godsend for older players like myself.
Here are some updated links from a larger list of resources and reading..
I started with the second video by Teacher Kirby. It works well for me as I usually play on a laptop where screen space is limited. I also have used the setup described in the first video by MC Stu. It works great also. The third video by Spencer certainly highlights the fact that you can use whatever setup and choice of key that works best for you.
If players had two choices in order to make their game play easier, more efffective, and more relaxing..
A.) Having a Tier 6 ship with a full compliment of upgraded storyline and reputation consoles and hand crafted weapons.
B.) Taking a bit of time to set things up so that a single key or the spacebar fires off bridge officer abilities that are put in a specific tray.
..most would pick A.
I would pick B
The first year I came back to STO the summer ship was the very weirdly laid out 3/5 Vorgon Ytjara so until the winter event I ran just about every kind of build on that class, and even the most unsuited builds for it were a lot easier to use than a basic T5u (those level 61 ships Inferiority talked about), so even if you get a bit frustrated with the Advanced Escort hang in there, a free T6 is coming (not to mention the T5u at level 61you will probably have before then, which is still better than a basic T5).
Speaking of the Advanced Escort, beam arrays are generally meant for either broadside firing ships (like 4/4 cruisers) or secondary weapons on other ships. While it is possible to use an escort as a broadsider specializing in oblique attack runs it can be a bit tricky since the arrays give up some damage for the wide firing angle, so they have less punch than narrower angle beams or cannons.
If you prefer escorts with beam weapons (which is nicknamed a "beamscort") it is best to fill the forward hardpoints with Dual Beam Banks (DBBs) and put as many omnidirectional beams in the rear slots as possible (the maximum is one set or mission omni plus one crafted omni if both exist in your preferred energy type) and fill the rest of the rear slots with turrets, a torpedo, mines, or whatever.
A (fairly) popular tactic with that kind of setup with a torpedo between the omnis is to drive straight at the enemy and knock down their shields with the DBBs (ideally on Beam Overload) then suddenly reverse course if it is still there when you get close and hit it with the torpedo through the downed shield as a (hopefully) coup de grâce.
Beamscorts are not quite as easy to use as Dual Heavy Cannon (DHC) builds though since they don't practically vaporize targets on contact as well as the DHCs do, but they are fun and don't have the excessive and annoying hangfire that those cannons suffer from (also beams are easier to see than bolts for the most part, which is nice nowadays with so much VFX vomit that it is hard to see if your cannons are even firing). If you are short on cash, DBBs are usually less expensive than dual cannons of any sort if you are buying them instead of building (on the downside though there are fewer DBBs available from mission rewards than cannons so there are fewer sets to work with).
Beams aren't working for the OP.
You can only flog a dead horse so much.. wishful thinking doesn't make something work better.
Light ships aren't designed to "slug it out" with the enemy.
IMO players that don't like cannons shouldn't really fly escorts or birds of prey or raiders unless it's just a temporary arrangement for leveling.
When playing the storyline missions and leveling up, the enemy become more difficult after level 50.
The storyline missions provide a very good selection of consoles that increase a ship's stats in beneficial ways. They make a ship stronger. I like to focus on storyline reward consoles that offer two or more different stats, even if they're part of a set that I don't fully use.
Using cooldown reduction (i.e. photonic officer) and working on making bridge officer ability actuation easier will provide a far higher damage multiplier than anything else in the game (and it's completely free).
A single well chosen Tier 6 ship (whether free from an event or purchased from the zen store) can make life a bit easier.
There isn't any combination of consoles or weapons or traits that will "magically" make a ship do far better.
There is a whole list of small things a Captain can do that will gradually make a ship do better (and make game play more satisfying)
To be precise, it is Arrays that are not working for the OP, which is not surprising since they are not well suited as the main weapons on an escort. Arrays are not the only type of beam weapon in the game and throwing out the baby with the bathwater because they are using the wrong beams is silly if they prefer beams.
DBBs using Beam Overload are just as viable for an endgame escort as cannons, they are just slightly harder to use and require different support from consoles, traits, and skills to get the most out of them (though better support from the devs would be nice too, like removing the type restriction and loosening the number restriction on omnibeams so DBB armed ships don't have to run turrets or whatever in the rear to fill the gaps between the too-few omnis, which would make things a lot easier, and more efficient).
And yes, things get harder after level 50 so the OP's basic level 40 ship is undoubtedly making things even harder, I remember how frustrating things got with a basic T5 escort at that point before I got T5u and T6 escorts, and even basic T5 cruisers were annoyingly fragile against modern enemies after lvl 50. Basic T5 escorts performed so badly at that level that I stopped flying escorts for quite a while, until a T6 came out as an event reward and I found escorts were fun to fly again, so I know what the OP is going through.
One suggestion if they want to stick with escorts would be to pick up a Special Requisition Pack - Hirogen Heavy Hunter in the EC marketplace. The Hunter is an excellent ship for a first-character who does not have a T6 to ride out the difficulty hump with, it is more durable than the average T5/T5u escort (which really isn't saying much, but anything helps and the difference is definitely noticeable), it comes with a nice console for getting out of trouble quickly, it has the four-step version of the escort mastery track which basic T5s lack, and at the moment it is selling for around 1 million EC, a sum which is usually not too difficult for a character of around level 50 to raise.
And as a T5u it is eligible to use X-upgrades (though I forget whether it requires the U-upgrade first or has it already built in). Also, since it is a factionless alien ship anyone can use it without having a KDF character at level 65 to unlock cross-faction flying.
The biggest problem would be finding good antiproton DBBs without paying a lot for them since they are not featured in many (if any) mission rewards and random drops are usually trash. I usually just craft them (the craft-only 'Pen' mod is great for them though it takes making a lot of the things to get it since it is random), but I know a lot of people either don't craft at all or concentrate on a different crafting field than 'Beams'.
I was attempting to build upon things that the OP has touched upon previously such as the Hilbert guide, other escort builds, and other requests for assistance over the years.
At this point I've made all the recommendations I can.
After a quick test drive I must say that the Prometheus (exactly as pictured above) seems to work well pretty well in random TFO's.
All the OP needs is 3 DHC's, 2 turrets, and a bit of practice.
I just found out I had purchased the Dyson Romulan Science Destroyer Warbird bundle if that will help me any.
The T5 Dyson can be set up to work nicely as a science based ship with some beams, a torpedo, and a gravity well.
I think you're approaching a point where you should focus on one type of game play for a while.. something you feel comfortable and engaged with..
Am wondering if you've ever considered something like a cruiser? They can be a very sturdy platform to complete missions with and the sort of game play associated with them might be the most relaxed out of the three.
How is your Prometheus doing?
Like I said above, T5U ships are a step above basic T5 ships, also destroyers are a bit tougher than escorts though not quite as tough as cruisers, so the "glass" part of the problem won't be as severe as an escort. Maneuverability is between the two as well.
There is a possible expense though in that they might require a "U" upgrade to activate the ship to full T5U status if you have not done that already (and some of them come with it already). I have had my Harpia class for so long that I don't remember if I had to use a token or not. Once a T5U is up to full spec (whether it comes that way or a token is used) it can be further upgraded to T5X using an X-upgrade token which brings it up to about lower-to-mid tier T6 levels capability-wise (those can be bought in the cstore or you can get them ingame during a phoenix event).
One thing about the Dysons though is that they have a fixed proton cannon in the nose, and since proton is not a primary energy type it means the ships are automatically a "rainbow" ship splitting between a primary energy weapon type (like antiproton) and that proton cannon. A recent event introduced a few more proton pieces, but most of the consoles supporting proton are in the Dyson reputation. That fixed gun is another thing that makes those ships unpopular with the DPS record-chaser crowd, but the ships themselves are good despite that, especially if your style leans more towards the science side of combat since that cannon is switched off in science mode).
Personally, my style is split between science and tactical so they are a perfect fit for me. With the mode switching activating and deactivating things (like the fixed canon is only active in tac mode and the secondary deflector only in science mode) it takes some getting used to and it may not even be your best fit in either mode (like if you prefer tankier engineering ships and fighting style for instance). The only way to know for sure is to try different things like Protoneous suggests, and a science destroyer can take care of two different types at once, especially if you tinker around with the internal stuff like what you put in the hardpoints and console slots.
Another caveat is that the old Romulan Dysons use singularity cores which means you would not be able to use your Obelisk warp core. Sing-cores also take some getting used to (unless your having that package means you already used sing-cores somewhere).
Also, they are more versatile than warp cores with their various singularity abilities, but they pay for that versatility by not producing quite as much raw power for other systems to use, so ideally it is best to have a few points in the power-generation skills in the engineering part of the basic skill tree to make up some of the difference and take full advantage of the singularity core (though you can get by without easily enough, especially if you are good with batteries). The new T6 version of the ship has a bog-standard warp core slot which sidesteps the power-grid problem, but from what I hear it also makes the ship feel Klingon instead of Romulan if you care about that.
Shifting to one of the Romulan Science Destroyers could be a very good move, but it has its downsides too, like having to break the Obelisk set and possibly having to buy a "U" upgrade token (you only have to buy one of those once for any particular ship class, btw, so if you use that class of ship on another character they upgrade for free, and that is the same with the X-upgrades too).
The leveling cruiser equivalent to your advanced escort is available for about 40 cents worth of dilithium in case you want to try something different than your Prometheus. They are considered leveling ships though so the bridge officer layout is always going to be lacking a bit, with respect to longer term use, as compared to an event or Zen store ship.
Taking a closer look at your T5 Dyson science ship..
The Dyson is a viable option and a cool looking ship. I had a pretty good time in my Tier 5 Dyson. The idea is to suck the bad guys ships into a gravity well then pepper them with other things.. some energy damage, a torpedo spread, and perhaps some more science damage.
No matter which type of ship you choose though it's the timely use of bridge officer and Captain abilities that seem to make the biggest difference. That's why there's usually so much discussion about them. The same applies to ground gameplay only for ground it's the use of kit and Captain abilities that makes a big difference.
You can test this yourself..
A) Adjust your weapons power level so it's as high as possible. Fire your energy weapons and torpedo at an enemy ship without activating any bridge officer or Captain abilities. This is pretty slow in getting the job done.
B.) Activate Emergency Power to Weapons + your beam or cannon firing mode + Attack Pattern Beta + Torpedo Spread and then fire your weapons and torpedo at another enemy ship. This should be way faster.
C) Activate everything in B, but add Photonic Officer. Now all four boff abilities used in B will be available to use again much sooner. This is a huge damage multiplier.
D) Activate everything in B and C, and add Attack Pattern Alpha, a tactical officer Captain ability (save this one for a larger targets). This is the ultimate in "gunboat diplomacy"
This is why bridge officer abilities, their actuation, and ways to make this easier are such popular topics as it's quite common to have several buffs activated at one time.
> A science destroyer is a very versatile ship that can be used to explore both the tactical and science combat styles though they are not exactly meta for either so the people who chase DPS records tend to look down on them. Since you mention it is the Romulan bundle I assume it is the old T5U version (which are nice ships) instead of the new three-ship cross-faction T6 bundle.
>
> Like I said above, T5U ships are a step above basic T5 ships, also destroyers are a bit tougher than escorts though not quite as tough as cruisers, so the "glass" part of the problem won't be as severe as an escort. Maneuverability is between the two as well.
>
> There is a possible expense though in that they might require a "U" upgrade to activate the ship to full T5U status if you have not done that already (and some of them come with it already). I have had my Harpia class for so long that I don't remember if I had to use a token or not. Once a T5U is up to full spec (whether it comes that way or a token is used) it can be further upgraded to T5X using an X-upgrade token which brings it up to about lower-to-mid tier T6 levels capability-wise (those can be bought in the cstore or you can get them ingame during a phoenix event).
>
> One thing about the Dysons though is that they have a fixed proton cannon in the nose, and since proton is not a primary energy type it means the ships are automatically a "rainbow" ship splitting between a primary energy weapon type (like antiproton) and that proton cannon. A recent event introduced a few more proton pieces, but most of the consoles supporting proton are in the Dyson reputation. That fixed gun is another thing that makes those ships unpopular with the DPS record-chaser crowd, but the ships themselves are good despite that, especially if your style leans more towards the science side of combat since that cannon is switched off in science mode).
>
> Personally, my style is split between science and tactical so they are a perfect fit for me. With the mode switching activating and deactivating things (like the fixed canon is only active in tac mode and the secondary deflector only in science mode) it takes some getting used to and it may not even be your best fit in either mode (like if you prefer tankier engineering ships and fighting style for instance). The only way to know for sure is to try different things like Protoneous suggests, and a science destroyer can take care of two different types at once, especially if you tinker around with the internal stuff like what you put in the hardpoints and console slots.
>
> Another caveat is that the old Romulan Dysons use singularity cores which means you would not be able to use your Obelisk warp core. Sing-cores also take some getting used to (unless your having that package means you already used sing-cores somewhere).
>
> Also, they are more versatile than warp cores with their various singularity abilities, but they pay for that versatility by not producing quite as much raw power for other systems to use, so ideally it is best to have a few points in the power-generation skills in the engineering part of the basic skill tree to make up some of the difference and take full advantage of the singularity core (though you can get by without easily enough, especially if you are good with batteries). The new T6 version of the ship has a bog-standard warp core slot which sidesteps the power-grid problem, but from what I hear it also makes the ship feel Klingon instead of Romulan if you care about that.
>
> Shifting to one of the Romulan Science Destroyers could be a very good move, but it has its downsides too, like having to break the Obelisk set and possibly having to buy a "U" upgrade token (you only have to buy one of those once for any particular ship class, btw, so if you use that class of ship on another character they upgrade for free, and that is the same with the X-upgrades too).
No, they are the T6 ships.
You could even stick with Federation with that bundle if you want since it has one of each of the three main factions, though all three of them have warp cores so none will break the Obelisk set so you can freely choose whichever one(s) you want to use with that character.
No matter what tier your ships are their performance is going to be largely related to your selection of bridge officer (boff) abilities and how you use them. The only additional aspect the Dyson ships bring to the table is that the Captain must provide some extra support for the science based stuff.
In order for offensive science based boff abilities to work effectively I'd suggest that your skill tree includes two points each into Control Expertise (Cx) and Exotic Particle Generators (EPG). I'd consider a couple points into Drain Expertise (Dx) as well.
As much as I enjoy playing with specialization boff abilities, X upgrades, set bonuses, fancy consoles, and things like proton damage, all these things can distract from the primary mission at hand.. getting a basic setup established that allows for enjoyable mission gameplay.
I don't believe that specialization boff abilities, X upgrades, set bonuses, fancy consoles, or things like proton damage will do much to enable enjoyable mission gameplay without a strong foundation.
It's all too easy to get overly focused on certain things when the answer can be elsewhere.
Based upon what you've stated you already have, all you really need to get going is 3-4 very cheap non-mission reward science consoles that provide some additional Control expertise to fill up your science console slots and some bridge officer training.
A deflector dish can add a little bit more to your science stats and the good news is your existing Breen deflector will do fine as it already has some Cx and Dx.
You will need a secondary deflector on this ship. No rush on this. I'd recommend choosing one similar to this and then upgrading it to the highest mark possible sometime in the future.
Fill up your science console slots with these.. (the cheapest Mk 12's you can find)
Use the engineering consoles shown in the picture higher up in this thread.. grab the cheapest Mk 12 Neutronium Alloy you can find and add a Monotanium Alloy for some extra protection.
Use your existing beam arrays and omni if you'd like.
Use the tactical consoles depicted in the picture higher up in this thread. They are standard Antiproton Mag Regulators that match the energy type of your selected weapons.
Train up your Commander science officer in Gravity Well 3, Photonic Officer 2, Tyken's Rift 1, and Hazard Emitters 1
Ensure your tactical officer has access to a Lieutenant Commander level beam or cannon firing mode, Attack Pattern Beta 1, a torpedo spread, and Tactical Team 1. You'll probably need your Ensign Universal boff slot to be tactical to fit all these in.
Leave your Dyson ship out of tactical mode.
Train your engineering bridge officer in Emergency Power to Shields 1 and Emergency Power to Weapons 2, as depicted in the picture higher up in the thread.
Decide whether you'd like your Lt Commander universal to be engineering or science. Choose engineering for more tank. Choose science for more damage.
Aside from this one decision you should be off to a good start.
If you need more help on a skill tree or anything else to get your Dyson ship started, just ask.
Tier 5 Dyson basic bridge officer (boff) abilities.
If using beams use Beam Fire at Will (BFAW) or Beam Overload (BO) instead of Cannon Scatter Volley (CSV). I'd recommend BO to start with as it attracts less threat. CSV can be moved to the Commander tactical spot but on a beam based build will only buff the front experimental weapon.
The Lt Commander universal boff slot on your tier 6 Dyson is only a fixed Lieutenant science boff slot (Satra) on this tier 5 ship. Your universal boff slot can be assigned based on your preference.
Photonic Officer --> Gravity Well --> Emergency Power to Weapons --> Attack Pattern Beta --> Beam or Cannon firing mode --> Torpedo Spread --> Tyken's Rift --> reserve science powers to fill in gaps (Tachyon Beam and/or Charged Particle Burst) --> and repeat
Select science boff abilities proc (set off) your secondary deflector for a fair bit of additional damage. The abilities as shown will do this as well as do some damage on their own.
Yes, your skill tree should have 2 points each into Control Expertise, Drain Expertise, and Exotic Particle Generators to make your science abilities work.
Sample skill tree shown is the "Adapted @darkbladejk " skill tree. Of course it's only a suggestion so feel free to adapt it to your particular taste.