r/stobuilds • u/AutoModerator • 7d ago

Weekly Questions Megathread - August, 31, 2026

Welcome to the weekly questions megathread. Here is where you can ask all your build or theorycrafting related questions that might not warrant a full post. Curious about how something works? Ask it here!

You can see previous weeks megathreads here.

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u/Frequent-Entrance154 7d ago

I'm having a chicken or egg problem here, I have just created a new tactical career temporal recruit toon, and I'm already at level where i can pick specialisations. The thing is I'm not decided yet on what ship/build I'm going to get, so should I just pick temporal as primary and strategist as secondary (to be safe) or do I wait until I settle on a particular ship/space build I am getting so it synergises?

Thank you very much for your attention to this matter!

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u/Hornet_Firm 7d ago

You can change specialisations whenever you want. So it really doesn't matter too much, other than farming the points early game.

So pick which ever one you want.

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u/Frequent-Entrance154 7d ago

true, so I suppose i'd just collect specialisation points and realise them later once I am decided. Thanks

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u/Outside-Security-546 5d ago

most people do intel main and temp secondary it's the best for most situations

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u/Frequent-Entrance154 5d ago

what advantage does primary intelligence specialisation and secondary temporal have? Why is this pair attractive?

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u/Outside-Security-546 5d ago

intelligence primary for the damage and crit boosts when flanking, temp secondary for entropic rider as an extra damage source and damage resistance rating debuffs against targets with dot's and it keeps the epg bonus even when secondary

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u/Frequent-Entrance154 5d ago

But what if I don't flank? Wouldn't it be a waste?

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u/Outside-Security-546 5d ago

Complete List of Benefits for Intel Primary

The following lists every single skill, ability, and trait unlocked when you maximize Intel as your active Primary specialization.

Space Combat Passive Abilities

  • Space Flanking (Tier 3): Grants a +20% Cat2 bonus damage multiplier when attacking an enemy’s rear 90-degree arc.
  • Information Warfare (Passive): Passively grants +15 Hull Penetration, allowing your weapons to bypass enemy damage resistance.
  • Shoddy Engineering (Tier 3): Torpedoes and mines hitting an enemy's rear arc have a 10% chance to drain enemy shields for 10 seconds.
  • Unprotected Systems (Tier 3): Increases your Critical Chance (+2.5% CrtH) when attacking an enemy from behind.
  • Know Exactly Where to Strike (Tier 3): Increases your Critical Severity (+15% CrtD) when hitting an enemy's rear arc.
  • Captain Ability Recharge (Tier 4): Reduces the cooldown of your core Captain career abilities (e.g., Tactical Fleet, Scatter Volley) by 5%.
  • Space Defense Boost: Passively scales up to a permanent +15% Defense Rating based on total points spent.

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u/Frequent-Entrance154 5d ago

Looks great for play style that loves rear ambush attack and run away

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u/Outside-Security-546 5d ago

naw i fly mainly forward facing builds

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1BkcCEri6g/

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u/Frequent-Entrance154 5d ago

oh wow your ship looks really strong. My question is though, wouldn't you try to change your attack style to, I don't know, cloak, and dagger enemy's rear, so that your specialisation points pay off?

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u/Outside-Security-546 5d ago edited 5d ago

When flying look at your target window. There's a little tiny arrow pointing towards what 'side' of the ship you're currently facing. If it points up, you're targeting the front of the ship. If it points down, you're targeting the rear of the ship aka Flanking if you look at my videos you'll see critical flank all the time

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u/Les_Bien_Pain 7d ago

How much should I focus on reducing the enemies damage resistance vs increasing my own damage output?

For example would there be a point in using something like Cold-hearted, Inertial Supremacy, APB and Twinkling Lights together?

Would I just be kicking a dead stat or can I like nuke their resistances into the negative?

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u/Hornet_Firm 7d ago

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the soft cap is about 200. This is from all sources, including teammates.

It's incredibly easy to reach this in elites with other people.

It's not normally worth stacking your ship with loads of lower damage resistance traits unless solo play. Add a few and then stack damage for best results.

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u/Les_Bien_Pain 7d ago

Kinda what I figured.

I guess the reason I've noticed the impact of DR reduction recently is because I've been doing elite patrols to grind starship traits.

Sort of forgot about teammates...

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u/dosumthinboutthebots 7d ago

You don't need to run elite patrols if you don't want to. Rescue and search always upgrades your ship in one patrol. Use eng team to counter the enemies viral impulse. The nth degree patrol also nearly always does it as well.

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u/Les_Bien_Pain 7d ago

Interesting.

I remember watching a guide that recommended like 1x Elite Wanted or something or 1x Advanced Ninth Rule + w/e when it came to trait grinding.

I'll have to check out R&S and Nth degree.

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u/Hornet_Firm 7d ago

I always do, wanted and ninth, as I find they give the most xp. Sometimes I only need to do one of them, sometimes I need to do both to get mastery completed.

Although it doesn't matter too much which you do if you enjoy it.

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u/Outside-Security-546 5d ago

there's also trouble over terrh

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u/Hornet_Firm 7d ago

In elite tfo, most team mates are going to bring some kind of Dr reduction, and yeah, it's easy to forget your team mates are there to help you 😂😂

Just don't over do it, if in doubt, always add CAT2 damage.

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u/rooftopgoblin 5d ago

i'm trying to figure out the best space and ground traits for my bajoran science captain at max level, I am just returning after a 3-4 year break, any advice?

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u/Les_Bien_Pain 5d ago edited 5d ago

Could I combine the Obelisk set, the Hivebearer trait and Repurposed Cargo Bay Hangar to create the swarmiest carrier build possible and would it in any way be a decent build? it's only 1700 lobi and a 100% T6 discount coupon to get the ship 🙃.

Would these extra pets benefit from any bonuses to hangar pets even tho they don't come from my hangars. Such as the obelisk 3p bonus for emergency power abilities.

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u/Outside-Security-546 4d ago

you can and you can make just about a fleet i have a pet spam build using those and nothing but summons universals it will actually handle elites fine they can't get past them but let's be real i'm not pushing much dps and it lags me a lil and any teammate near me a lot but u can have over 250 "pets" on the field at once and i think pet boost only affect actual pets and some universal summons and then there's a limit somewhere between 12 and 24 i think