Kelvin Timeline Intel Dreadnought Cruiser SS Build Help

[clever juniper]

Returning player, looking to build out a meta-ish DPS ship.

Consider doffs a clean slate.

[cerulean grotto]

What's your budget

[clever juniper]

Looking for tips on consoles, weapons, traits, and doffs.

Budget is around 10k zen, have 200k unrefined dilith, 40k refined, 300mil ec

[cerulean grotto]

ok

[clever juniper]

I have not played much since 2019, so I am missing most event and limited time items that cannot be bought on the exchange

[cerulean grotto]

right now I'd sit on your zen because we have an upcoming anniversary bundle and we have no idea on how that will hit the meta

and it will probably have T6 coupons you can use to buy current meta components

so if you can be patient on that that's my recommendation

are you married to Surgical?

[clever juniper]

I quite like it at the moment, but I would like to be able to loadout swap to FAW

From what I understand, the equipment wouldn't be so different right?

[cerulean grotto]

I would recommend a swap to dual beam banks

but also worth noting that Withering Barrage is obtainable for free starting I believe tomorrow with the start of the KDF Recruit event

which is the CSV extender, and Scatter Volley/Cannons are the most powerful archetype in the game rn

Just a note, not pressuring you to change

[clever juniper]

I'd like to stick with beams if I can, I am not a huge fan of cannons

At least on a ship this size

[cerulean grotto]

fair enough, but for what it's worth it's totally capable of it with ECH, Deuterium, and Comp engines

I would recommend swapping to DBBs though

[clever juniper]

Is there a specific DBB set that is worth swapping to?

[cerulean grotto]

not really

people over think that

pick a color and sound and go with it

(within a given flavor)

you dont have the budget to go with the high meta plasma build

[clever juniper]

Yeah i'd rather stick to phaser for the flavor

For consoles, is it worth swapping anything in particular out? Besides reinforced armaments which I will be removing

[cerulean grotto]

you'll have a lot of options once we know where your zen can go

right now they're pretty ok

for placeholding

[clever juniper]

Is the meta boffs setup still all SRO?

[cerulean grotto]

SROs or Watchers

Watchers can be bought off the exchange

[clever juniper]

Not even 1 krenim for cdr?

[cerulean grotto]

nah dont need it

Boims and PO are enough

I dont even run PO

I run Boims, the winter console, chrono cap array and ruin

anyways dbbs, if you're gonna swap to faw, you're gonna probably pick up ETM with a coupon or zen down the road, which means a torpedo for sure - i'd use Dark Matter over QP

I'd use the Disco 2pc Core/Shield and pick up the Valdore console from the ship vendor

[clever juniper]

OK assuming I didn't want to swap to FAW, Disco 2pc and valdore is still a safe bet correct?

[cerulean grotto]

disco 2pc for sure, valdore is questionable with Surgical's low rof

if you're not swapping to FAW and keeping surgical I'd recommend dropping a torpedo altogether

and look at picking up both the terran phaser and dhc since you can run both under Surgical

[clever juniper]

I'm only tier 5 terran atm

But that is the plan once I finish up t6

[cerulean grotto]

I'm gonna go to bed but there's some improvements to personal traits that can be made for sure

And starship traits can wait til we know where your Zen is going

I'll drop some more details in the morning

[clever juniper]

👍

[shrewd vault]

Technically not swapping but make sure to keep the disco rep dbb

[clever juniper]

Thought I might add some more parameters for what I'm looking for.

Looking to stick with phaser and beams, either arrays or maybe dbb or a mix w/ one torp for flavor. And stick with SS for this build at least (though I might make a separate post for a FAW build)

I realize I put "metaish" in the first few messages, but that is maybe my mistake; I am aware the meta is cannons and not phaser dmg but I am not looking to swap the core flavors I just mentioned.

I am looking to build a ship that can perform very well in random Elites.

Any assistance will be appreciated! This is my first foray into harder endgame content in STO

[clever juniper]

Sorry for the ping! Did you have any tips?

[strong oar]

Compiling your build info for easier reference

Missing info on your DOFFs, Captain Specs and Subsystem Power Allocation, but we can work with this.

[strong oar]

This is helpful for tailoring our feedback.

Going top to bottom:

• Change your fore weapons to all DBBs. No torp.

• For RETFOs, you will want the Disco Rep 2pc for suvivability. Swap out the Warp Core for the 2nd piece.

• Beacons do not need to be slotted to be used. Replace with Dueterium Surplus.

• Other than the Disco Rep 2pc, you will need more damage mitigation for RETFOs. Problem with SS is that you can't use SAFG console and Colony Tact Consoles as effectively. If you don't have access to DPRM or AES or Particle Conversion, you will likely need to make room in your BOFF abilities for RSP.

• In terms of your consoles, first on the chopping block are Reinforced Armaments (2pc or not), Approaching Agony, Dominion Coordination Protocol, and Quantum Phase. For RETFOs, you will want to replace these with damage mitigation options and stronger consoles. On Stronger consoles, do you have the consoles from the recent event ships like the Vovin and Eleos?

• If you have a non-event T6 Coupon lying around, or are willing to buy a C-store ship or two when a sale comes around, since you already have a firing mode extender ship trait, make the Ahwahnee Carrier your next priority purchase. For its console and hangar pets.

• Eventually, you will want to invest in the Unconventional Systems personal trait, in order to facilitate the FPNA console from the Ahwahnee.

• Until you have Uncon Sys, I suggest the following BOFF layout.

• On your ship traits, get the final slot unlocked from fleets, and invest in the following budget ship traits for now: Pilfered Power (which is why Tractor Beam is suggested above) and Programmable Matter Enhancements.

Assuming your piloting is competent, even with all the above changes, you won't be able to quite hard-carry RETFOs until you have a lot more expensive things on your build.
However, you will be able to more than pull your weight, while minimizing your own instances of blowing up.

[shrewd vault]

As an alternative setup, to avoid getting surrounded

[shrewd vault]

I'd consider Carrier Wave Shield Hacking over Prog Matter, good synergy with a single target build and making further use of TB

[strong oar]

Yeah, Carrier Wave would be another good budget pick.

[clever juniper]

I do not have event ships unfortunately.

[clever juniper]

Is uncon worth it with only 1 clicky?

[shrewd vault]

depends on the clickie. for FPNA (the ahwahnee's console) it is

and there are several competent clickies available, possibly more worthwhile ones from future events

even without spending zen, you can use M6 computer, Approaching Agony, Cutting Tractor Beam

[clever juniper]

Speaking of expensive things, I pulled a T6 prize. Is it worth going with the Crossfield refit for Uni systems? Or will it come back around in an event

[strong oar]

Well, do you currently have the means to upkeep Universal Designs stacks?

[clever juniper]

I guess I don't know what I would need to make sure I maintain stacks

[clever juniper]

I have a few clickable universal cons, how many are needed for uni designs to be viable?

[strong oar]

It's easier to upkeep UD with the right kind of console than many consoles.

The current ideal consoles:

• Vovin SFTF console
• Custom Power Matrix (by toggling on and off)

Former best consoles:

• Immolating Phaser Lance
• VAQ Launcher

Will upkeep UD but aren't great consoles:

• Mining Drill Laser
• Pahvan Crystal console
• Any other console that has a 20s or lower active ability

I personally would advise against getting UD now if you don't have the current ideal upkeep methods for it.

---

I'd sooner suggest you go for Terran Goodbye (TG) instead. In most builds, it is just as powerful as UD, while having a much easier activation condition of just landing 3 kills.
As a massive bonus, TG's +Accuracy boosts is very very handy for countering the effects of TurretGate: https://www.reddit.com/r/stobuilds/comments/1h2vt24/bug_discovery_turrets_with_csv_are_hurting_your/

[clever juniper]

What would be a good boff setup once I have uncon?

[shrewd vault]

[clever juniper]

no heals?

[cerulean grotto]

we dont use the bridge for heals, really.

[clever juniper]

What is used then?

[cerulean grotto]

Disco 2pc, Shield Absorptive Frequency Generator, Energy Refrequencer, Automated Protomatter Capactitor

other things depending on budget

Adaptive Emergency Systems goes a long way to making the Disco 2pc stronger by virtue of much higher resists

[clever juniper]

I've got the Adaptive Emergency console. Is that better than the Valdore for SS builds?

[cerulean grotto]

bring both

[clever juniper]

Wanted to provide a little update on the build. I have been completing my first Elite TFOs and so far feeling pretty good. I was able to do 400k (using beam arrays instead of DBB) on Hive Onslaught Elite my first time in the TFO. I think I need more survivability though.

What are the next steps? Besides DHC which I know are superior damage wise.

Really appreciate all the help the discord has been able to give me so far!

[clever juniper]

Worth mentioning also my endeavor rank is 10

[strong oar]

Compiled screenshot for easier reference

[clever juniper]

Thank you!

[strong oar]

Some questions:

• In your 400k DPS parse, how much did Resonance Shock contribute?
• Do you have Custom Power Matrix from the Eleos?
• Do you have SFTF from the Vovin?

[clever juniper]

I have neither of those consoles. However, I have 800 Lobi so I am considering biting the bullet and getting to 1k Lobi and doing the buyout.

[strong oar]

• Do you have a spare T6 coupon that could use the get the console and pet from the Ahwahnee?

[clever juniper]

And resonance Shock only did 200k damage, or 2k DPS :/

[strong oar]

In that case, I think you're better off with a Phaser Omni to replace that.

Pahvan Omni really needs FAW/CSV for Resonance Shock to shine.

[strong oar]

Might be worth it, because it'll be more expensive when it eventually comes to Mudd's.

But I won't say it's an absolute must-get, because I cannot predict future balances/patches that might involve those items.

[clever juniper]

What would be best replaced with the Eleos and Ahwahnee console?

Of the consoles I have now

[strong oar]

SAFG console is one to replace. Also won't be doing all that much for you without FAW/CSV.

After that, Flagship computer. Which tends to suffer in this age of high uncon sys and SFTF console, because of the lockout period on its clicky.

[clever juniper]

What exactly is the bonus from Ahwahnee? Does it affect your ship as well?

[clever juniper]

Is Ship of the Line meta?

[cerulean grotto]

yes

[cerulean grotto]

yes, in many configs

[clever juniper]

Unfortunate. So expensive

[cerulean grotto]

v0v you don't need it

[clever juniper]

Right

Is there any other perks or ship traits that should be focused on? I'm not opposed to spending zen or EC lol

Besides the 120$ pack of 2 ships

[cerulean grotto]

First, never buy that pack not on sale

Never buy any pack not on sale

But I'm in bed so not really gonna deep dive rn

But I marked off things to replace

[strong oar]

Biggest one right now is the Ahwahnee console and pets. Everything else will be either be incremental increases or situational depending on which scenario you are optimizing your build for.

[clever juniper]

Haha definitely wasn't planning on it

[clever juniper]

500k on HSE with the Ahwahnee console and type 7 pet. I am so new to end game content I'm not sure if that's decent for the build

But I still seem to die on occasion when the team is bad

[strong oar]

That is the kind of DPS that can almost entirely carry a bad team by yourself.

Though you may need something like DPRM to better survive the incoming damage if you are hard-carrying.

[clever juniper]

Already had to do that a couple times. Hard not to get globalled sometimes. I am not 100% with my cool downs but it feels like if I'm not a tank I'm not sure how to lice

[clever juniper]

Wanted to provide an update:

• Replaced Best Defense with Heart of Sol Starship trait
• Replaced Pahvan Omni with Trilithium Omni and Dark Matter Quantum with Terran Task Force Phaser BA
• Replaced Flagship Comp and Valdore Console with Eleos and Awahnee Console
• Replaced random personal traits with Fire Ball Escape and Intel Agent Attache

Probably going to switch Wide arc DHC to Terran DHC when I get them to Epic

CLA - Infected Conduit (Elite) (01:36.000): Name DPS / @viperdata 652k

[strong oar]

Missing your latest BOFF station layout

[clever juniper]

Same as above ^

The message I replied to

Doffs are also the same. Only thing changed is what I mentioned

[strong oar]

To make it easier for people on this server to give feedback, best to give the same A-Z details even for minor updates to the build.

Making us piece together missing info ourselves is giving us more work.

[clever juniper]

Sure. Let me open up paint

[clever juniper]

Need to find a replacement for Law now that I am not using a torpedo

[shrewd vault]

Also gotta replace super charged weapons, that needs a torp to trigger the buff

In terms of doffs: frankly, every doff in the current setup except Emergency Conn is on the chopping block

[clever juniper]

True, any suggestions for replacements?

Also, which doffs are going to be a solid choice? Besides the super expensive borg ones

[shrewd vault]

depends on what you have tbh

i'd argue if you don't have any decent substitute, going with one torp for Lorca 2p, Supercharged, and TS2 over DT2 may even be worth considering

[shrewd vault]

budget dependent.
energy weapon officers (or in case of a torp Projectile Weapon Officers) that increase critD or critH would be desirable. ideally one of each - but they'r a bit costly. blue or purple quality is worth going for.

k13 doffs that increase all skills on ensign or Lt abilities are a decent filler if you have some surplus fleet credits.

Hangar recharge doffs are always good filler and pretty affordable on the exchange (any quality that fits your budget. obv the higher the better)

[shrewd vault]

in terms of event ships you may have, Inertial Supremacy (from the Rex) is pretty good.
technically Flagship Staffing could be implemented, but that would cost you an uncon trigger (probably replacing Jam Sensors)
Improved Critical Systems from the temp recruit may also be available

[clever juniper]

I've got the Lorca 2p with the console + DBB, I guess I could swap back to the torpedo. I really don't have any good starship traits otherwise.

I unfortunately do not any event ships, besides the Eleos which I just purchased with lobi, as I just recently returned to the game

[shrewd vault]

honestly i'm not sure which option would be the better here. after all, you could just go for Carrier Wave Shield Hacking or Pilfered Power from the exchange
maybe try out one loadout with a torp and one without...

[clever juniper]

I am willing to shop for good starship traits though. I was thinking about picking up the Mirror Warship or World Razer, both for the looks but also the trait that goes well with other builds

[shrewd vault]

both have meta traits, ngl

[clever juniper]

I've got a starship trait box, pilfered power would work well with the amount of control boff abilities I have slotted

[shrewd vault]

i'd say the Mirror Warship trait (TG) is a bit stronger, but haven't done the math to actually judge that

oh, Shield Hacking reminded me of a thing: consider using the new Chronophage console. a single target build does profit quite a bit off disabling enemy shields (and the console's damage also is quite good)

[clever juniper]

I picked up the new console, I just wasn't sure what I should replace. Would it be worth dropping an isomag?

[shrewd vault]

i'd say it would.
alternatively, if you do end up using a torp, replace Lorca

[clever juniper]

Forgot to mention, I am running 100/15/15/70 power distribution. I am not sure if this is optimal for this setup

[shrewd vault]

go 100-15-70-15. and just use a large aux battery directly before FPNA

[clever juniper]

Update! Added Ship of the Line and Cultural Conquest starship trait, replaced wide-arc phaser DHC with Terran-task force DHC, replaced doffs with drops from the free delta doff packs from the promotion.

CLA - Infected Conduit (Elite) (01:46.500): Karn@viperdata 789k

This parse is from a slightly different build, missing doffs. I think with better piloting I can do a lot better with the current setup.

[strong oar]

Great results.

Tho Cult Conq is not the ideal fit on an SS build.

Especially right now, as you only have a single trigger for it.

[clever juniper]

What would be better atm? Something ideally that isn't super expensive or can be purchased with a c-store coupon

[clever juniper]

Also can you explain how there is only a single trigger for it? Is that not true for most other build types with 1 weapon firing mode?

[strong oar]

From the C-store for DEW builds: Atlantis for Temporal Tunneling

[strong oar]

Wiki has a good outline on it

In practical terms, a CSV build can have 3 trigger abilities for Cult Conq: CSV + BO + TS/THY

Vanilla firing mode builds can do that because beam and cannon firing modes don't have conflicting cooldowns.

Specialist firing modes like SS/ERL/RRTW, however, shares a cooldown with both beam/cannon firing modes.

You could squeeze in THY/TS as a second trigger, but without a torp to consume that charge, you'd get very low uptime on it.

[clever juniper]

I mean I could always replace a beam array with a torp

[strong oar]

Aye you could, and the right torp might even be a DPS upgrade from an array.
But a torp will very likely not be better than another DHC under SS.

[clever juniper]

It would likely be the Dark Matter Disc torp, also would equal the 3 piece.
And yeah, but I like the mix of DHC, Array, and DBB

Especially since I'm not the best pilot yet lol

[strong oar]

If you're going DMT, I'd keep KLW and replace DT with TS.

[clever juniper]

Could I get away with replacing Heisenberg Amp>

*?

Otherwise replacing DT makes sense

[strong oar]

Having one less Uncon Sys trigger will hurt more than having a filler DPS ability in DT.

[clever juniper]

Hitting 700k somewhat consistently on ISE.

At this point, is there really anything else I should be shooting for build wise? Beyond changing to all DHC and plasma damage lol

[thorny yoke]

Are you running pug ISE or with a group?

[strong oar]

The current highest parsing DEW builds are mostly variations of the Krait build:

#1332323541517074546 message

Take inspiration from that, but bear in mind your chosen firing mode of SS and the tweak accordingly (especially since SS gives you so much effective CrtH).

[clever juniper]

All pugs

[thorny yoke]

Nice!

How do you handle the varying level of the team?

[clever juniper]

Die sometimes

Get lucky othertimes 😛

[thorny yoke]

🤣

Fair enough. :D

[clever juniper]

Would Terran Goodbye be a better option than Cultural Conquest, assuming only 1 firing mode trigger

[strong oar]

You want them both

But I would not even bother with Cult Conq if you only have 1 trigger for it.

Thirst for Battle becomes better at that point.

[clever juniper]

I did some testing with torp spread for cultural conquest increase, but I didn't find that it was as effective as slotting another dhc

[clever juniper]

CLA - Infected Conduit (Elite) (04:18.400): Name DPS / @viperdata 987k

I'm not really sure where to go from here. Obviously, being a better pilot will help. However, I have no frame of reference for what an SS build can realistically do.

@strong oar Sorry for the ping, but would you happen to have any surgical builds (whatever platform, doesn't have to be the Kelvin Vengeance) that I could reference?

[strong oar]

SS builds largely want the same thing as any DEW build.

Just that you need to account for the fact that it is single target and has high innate CrtH.

[clever juniper]

Without the vovin console, I feel a little hampered going for a full uni clicky build

But i'll keep that in mind!

[strong oar]

You will still want Uncon Sys, all the same

[clever juniper]

Right

I guess I am wondering if its possible to even reach the 1.3, 1.4, etc mil with an SS build.

For lack of AOE

[strong oar]

Definitely doable, especially if you can get yourself a team of supports

[clever juniper]

But in pugs? I know its a crapshoot but realistically?

I really just am unfamiliar with high-end endgame DPS

[strong oar]

If the PuG happens to have a heavy tank with grav well, and when your pilot is super solid, and you get a few more shiny traits/consoles.
Yes, doable.

[clever juniper]

Cool

[strong oar]

Oh, I'd be remiss not to also mention that SS also means low rate of fire for things like SAFG console and Dilithium Transporter. Before you go shopping for any of those things.

[clever juniper]

Assuming, A. No budget limit and B. No access to past event consoles, what would be the shopping list for traits and consoles?

[strong oar]

For an SS build for PuGs without any torp launcher, maybe the below ship traits:

• VS
• Ruin (questionable utility if someone else in the PuG is an even bigger DPSer)
• UD
• TG (depending on your effective CrtH under SS)
• SOTL
• Temporal Tunneling
• EWC

For consoles, you already have a lot of powerful toys as is, so below are just some considerations to replace Isomags, also assuming the same scenario as for the ship traits:

• Phalanx Micro Torp
• CES from the Garrett, IF they fix the fact that it does not work with Uncon Sys
• I want to say Particle Conversion Matrix, but as you don't have the SFTF console, uptime for this won't be that great.

[clever juniper]

Would the inclusion of the maelstorm torp change much in terms of what you've already mentioned?

[strong oar]

Problem with maelstrom (by design) is that you're only supposed to fire it strategically. Most all ship traits that work best with a torp (Cult Conq, Eclectic, SCW, etc) want frequent firing torps.

And of course, there's the matter of your overall DPS possibly taking a hit if you do decide to slot fore a torp, even a good one.

[clever juniper]

Right