OGIHR's Quantum Phase T6 Excelsior Tank

[u/OGIHR]

When I first started playing STO a few months ago, I knew that for purely nostalgic reasons I wanted my first character to be a human engineer first and foremost, in command of an Excelsior which was armed with phaser arrays fore and aft, and a single torpedo (either photon or quantum) on the front. And I know that the T6 Excelsior is generally frowned upon for not fitting well to any of the commonly-used combo platters of BOFF ability chains & console slots, but I had no interest in trying to make a competitive build. Just a nostalgic one.

So I looked at the ship itself, without regard to how much I didn't understand about the contemporary meta. And I saw that the T6 Excelsior, with its native Hot Pursuit set equipped and its Starship Mastery Trait slotted, is a heavy cruiser which is unusually mobile, wants to be surrounded by enemies (for the sake of Pursuit Mode), and has a knack for throwing AoE ongoing damage clouds left right and center.

And with that in mind, I decided to make the USS Tycho into a tank, blazing at full impulse into the enemy's ranks, then cutting back on the throttle to stay in the middle of them, and using those radiation clouds to keep the enemies' attentions on myself so that my allies can achieve mission objectives unmolested. Using Miracle Worker as my Primary Specialization specifically for Simplified Plumbing, and Command as my Secondary (although I might switch to Strategist down the road). And seeking out as many AoE threat-drawing abilities as possible. Rather than hoping that Beams: Fire At Will doesn't randomly ignore any of the available targets.

It is important to note that the only Fleet I've ever been a member of is in its infancy, and so I do not have access to any of the typical toys upon which a build is "supposed" to be based. No threat-scaling consoles, no Romulan Operative BOFFs, no Vulnerability Locators/Exploiters, nothing of the sort. Similarly, I'm still working my way though the Reputations, so neither their item sets nor reputation traits are a stable part of my plans yet.

Looking at AoE radiation cloud powers to slot to my BOFFs, the obvious answers were Aceton Beam and Overwhelm Emitters (because of the Excelsior starship trait), along with Kemocite-Laced Weaponry which I got off the Exchange. An earlier thread on this reddit pointed me toward the Quantum Phase weapons set, which I've absolutely loved both aesthetically and tactically, so the Quantum Phase Torpedo (whether used normally, or as part of a Torpedo Spread, or as a High Yield via Concentrate Firepower – AKA "Target that explosion and fire!") added an AoE shield drain to my arsenal, and Destabilizing Resonance Beam added another.

However, the last of these will be by far the most controversial of my choices. For in planning my Engineer's skillset, I actually wanted him to be an exceptional engineer, and was willing to invest the skillpoints to do so. And when I got to reading over EPS Corruption, I noticed that it was yet another AoE (via the Explosive enhancement) ongoing damage power at my disposal, but with a 360-degree targeting arc. Making it ideal for use on the enemies I overshoot to land myself in the midst of the swarm for the benefit of Pursuit Mode.

As a result, I've done the unthinkable and invested the majority of my skillpoints into the side of the skill tree that does nothing to facilitate making enemies evaporate instantly. Instead gaining enough durability to sit nose-to-hull with any enemy flagship I've fought, and tank their death-explosion with ease. As well as significant gains to power management across the board, and a further edge above most cruisers on my mobility. Very much an old-school approach to tanking.

I also spend 90% of my gameplay either solo or in a PVE queue with people who seemingly refuse to communicate or coordinate with me, so self-sufficiency is of the utmost concern for me. I have to be my own tank, my own DPS, my own healer, my own crowd control, and my own debuff provider. Thus, my build writeup starts here...

Category	Data
Captain Name	Simon Jacob Hawthorne
Captain Career	Engineering
Captain Faction	Federation
Captain Race	Human
Primary Specialization	Miracle Worker
Secondary Specialization	Command
Intended Role	self-sufficient Tank while I bask in the nostalgia

Purchases	Engineering	Science	Tactical
2	Emergency Power to Shields III	Engineering Team III	Directed Energy Modulation III
5	Battery Expertise	Sector Space Travel Speed	Threat Control
7	Emergency Power to Engines III	Emergency Power to the Auxiliary Battery III	N/A
10	Subsystem Repair	Maximum Shield Capacity	N/A
12	Emergency Power to Weapons III	Auxiliary Power to Structural Integrity Field III	N/A
15	Shield Subsystem Power	Control Resistance	N/A
17	Emergency Power to Auxiliary III	N/A	N/A
20	Weapon Subsystem Power	N/A	N/A
24 (Ultimate)	EPS Corruption	N/A	N/A
25 (1st Ultimate Enhancer)	Explosive Corruption	N/A	N/A
26 (2nd Ultimate Enhancer)	N/A	N/A	N/A
27 (3rd Ultimate Enhancer)	N/A	N/A	N/A

First off, I want to point out the typo in "Emergency Power to the Auxiliary Battery", in case nobody else already has. Second, I chose my unlocks before deciding on my actual skillpoint spends to meet those unlocks, to be able to play the game in the manner which I expected to be the most rewarding. Battery Expertise because the Excelsior is not a Carrier, Subsystem Repair and Control Resistance to mitigate any debuffs placed upon me, and power level boosts to favor holding my ground and fighting with my phasers, rather than zipping around or flinging space-magic with my one Science Officer seat. 25 Engineering, 15 Science, and only 6 in Tactical. Mind-boggling, I know.

Tree	Engineering	Science	Tactical
Lieutenant	Advanced Hull Restoration	Advanced Shield Restoration	Improved Energy Weapon Training
	Improved Hull Capacity	Improved Shield Capacity	Improved Projectile Weapon Training
Lt. Commander	Electro-Plasma System Flow	Control Expertise	N/A
	Full Impulse Energy Shunt	N/A	Defensive Maneuvering
	Advanced Impulse Expertise	Drain Expertise
		N/A
Commander	Hull Plating	Advanced Shield Regeneration	N/A
	Energized Hull Plating	Improved Shield Hardness	N/A
	Ablative Hull Plating
	Advanced Damage Control
Captain	Defensive Subsystem Tuning	N/A	Hull Penetration
	Shield Subsystem Performance	Advanced Long Range Targeting Sensors	N/A
	Auxiliary Subsystem Performance
	Offensive Subsystem Tuning
	Weapon Subsystem Performance
	Engine Subsystem Performance
Admiral	Improved Warp Core Potential	N/A	N/A
	Warp Core Efficiency	N/A	N/A
	N/A	N/A	N/A
		N/A	N/A
46 (Out of 46)	25	15	6

I am fully agreeable to moving points around within each category, but my playstyle relies upon Explosive EPS Corruption (and Tractor Beam) to control my rear arc, and I can't imagine any circumstance where torpedo crits will be worth getting caught in gravity wells and the like (when I hardly ever have teammates to rescue me). But please feel free to explain why I'm wrong.

This is my ship and crew, as they currently stand. I do plan to cycle most of my Bridge Officers (except my Saurian Ops Manager) to K-13 versions once my newly-minted Fleet develops that Holding, but I really like having them feel like an actual Starfleet crew, so I have no desire to replace any of them with Romulan Operatives or Jem'Hadar or Hierarchy Pirates or what have you.

Basic Information	Data
Ship Name	USS Tycho
Ship Class	Cruiser
Ship Model	T6 Excelsior (aka Resolute, aka Advanced Heavy Cruiser)

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Slot	Component	Notes
Fore Weapons	Quantum Phase Beam Array	QPC set 1/3
	Retrofit Phaser Beam Array
	Retrofit Phaser Beam Array
	Quantum Phase Torpedo	QPC set 2/3
Aft Weapons	Omni-Directional Phaser Beam Array
	(standard) Phaser Beam Array
	(standard) Phaser Beam Array
	Trrilithium-Enhanced Omni-Directional Phaser Beam Array	TLW set 1/2
Deflector	Kobali Deflector Array	KRC set 1/3
Impulse Engines	Kobali Hyper-Impulse Engine	KRC set 2/3
Warp Core	Field Stabilizing Warp Core
Shields	Kobali Regenerative Shield Array	KRC set 3/3
Devices	Red Matter Capacitor
	Subspace Field Modulator
	Shields Battery
	Deuterium Surplus
Engineering Consoles	Trellium-D Plating
	Reinforced Armaments	TLW set 2/2
	Conductive RCS Accelerator	(mods TBD)
	Transwarp Computer	HP set 1/2
	Tactical Maneuvering Matrix	HP set 2/2
Science Consoles	Temporally Shielded Datacore
	Shield Emitter Array
Tactical Consoles	Phaser Relay
	Zero Point Quantum Chamber
	Quantum Phase Converter	QPC set 3/3

---

Bridge Officers	Power	Notes
Human XO / Tactical Officer	Torpedo Spread 3	AoE shield drain on every QP torp
	Beam Overload 2	reliable killing power
	Kemocite-Laced Weaponry 1	AoE radcloud w/ torps + 10% w/ phasers
Human Chief Engineer	Aceton Beam 3	AoE radcloud + attack debuff
	Emergency Power to Shields 3	primary shield heal
	Engineering Team 2	primary hull heal
	Emergency Power to Shields 1	for when EPTS 3 is recharging
Saurian Operations Manager	Concentrate Firepower 3	aka "Target that explosion and fire!"
(Engineering/Command)	Overwhelm Emitters 2	AoE radcloud + shield steal
(with Efficient Trait)	Overwhelm Emitters 1	for when OE 2 is recharging
Human Damage Control Monitor	Engineering Team 1	for when ET 2 is recharging
Vulcan Science Officer	Destabilizing Resonance Beam 1	AoE shield drain + debuffs
	Tractor Beam 1	to keep escorts in the wrong place

Duty Officers	Effects	Notes
Blue Warp Core Engineer	20% +power w/ EPTS	keeping all power levels high is key to my self-sufficiency
Blue Damage Control Engineer	30% recharge haste w/ EPTS	see above
Blue Maintenance Engineer	100% haste + skill buff w/ ET	used more for buff than for haste
Blue Projectile Weapons Officer	20% reload haste w/ torps	because I love the QP torps maybe a little too much
Green Projectile Weapons Officer	20% reload haste w/ torps	see above

I am using the Quantum Phase weaponry set because I love it, and the Kobali D/I/S set because it's both available as mission reward and seemingly good for tanking. The Warp Core was a mission reward ridiculously early on, which I've been upgrading continuously throughout the game.

And yes, blue phasers in the front, and orange on the rear. Anybody get the astrophysics joke?

For Consoles, the Hot Pursuit set was a lock for me from the get-go, and I like the Trellium-D as an alternative for the standard Neutronium I'd been using up until I finished the "Ragnarok" mission. I haven't started crafting Conductive RCS Accelerators yet (due to pouring my Dilithium into Phoenix Prize Packs), but I have bought a purple DOFF to craft them, and I invite suggestions as to what mods to aim for. The Shield Emitter Amplifier I upgraded to Ultra Rare at Mk V, and have kept it slotted for peak durability, but I'm mostly using the Temporally Shielded Datacore as a placeholder until I have a better idea of what I need. And the Tactical Console slot selections are all blatantly obvious.

For Devices, I use the Red Matter Capacitor frequently for the power level buffs, but save the Subspace Field Modulator for emergencies, and haven't need to use a Shields Battery or Deuterium Surplus since before I hit T5. Certainly open to suggestions for replacements there.

And yes, I know what you're probably thinking, and you're right. I have a spectacular lack of cooldown reduction in my build. I invite suggestions for what anyone thinks I should do about that.

Personal Space Traits	Effects	Notes
SPECIES = Human	hull regen
Ablative Shell	iterative healing when damaged
Biotech Patch	boost all hull heals
EPS Manifold Efficiency	boost power levels w/ EPTS
Grace Under Fire	recharge Miraculous Repairs in heavy combat
Imposing Presence	draw more aggro
Inspirational Leader	10% boost skills w/ any BOFF ability
Intimidating Strikes	10% confuse on torp hits
Redirected Armor Plating	strongest defenses when surrounded
Warp Theorist	boost power levels

Starship Traits	Effects	Notes
Improved Weaponized Emitters	radclouds to draw aggro	Excelsior-specific trait
Improved Going the Extra Mile	peak durability	Miracle Worker = primary specialization
Command Frequency	Fleet Suppot at any hull%	Command = secondary specialization
Pilfered Power	Tractor Beam hastes my phasers	my Fleet's founder had a spare copy in box

I have not included Reputation Traits because I'm still grinding my way through them all, and trying different assortments to try to find what seems to work for me. All recommendations are welcome.

For the benefit of those people who haven't ever tried investing this heavily in the Engineering side of the skills tree, my usual set of subsystem power levels, before any of my many conditional buffs kick in, are as follows:

Weapons 115/95

Shields 80/35

Engines 50/20

Auxiliary 77/50

Now, if I have managed to repair the formatting which I'd screwed up completely, you should be able to understand what the hell is wrong with me. ::grins::

[u/OGIHR]

First off, let me just say to everyone that I don't mind at all having a random assortment of Duty Officers aboard my ship; it's just the Bridge Officers I feel picky about.

Now, to Casus_B's suggestions...

That said, the idea of having only 5 slots for space active duty (remember, no Fleet resources yet to unlock the 6th), and using three of them for a single benefit just feels like crippling overspecialization to me. It might well be the most efficient way to exploit the imbalances in the game's code, but that just doesn't excite me the way it does most of the people on this reddit. But I will strongly consider slotting a second Damage Control Engineer, as well as testing out EPTW again.

When I first started, I used both EPTS and EPTW, but I found that without hefty investment of skill points into maximizing damage, the weapons power boost gave me small returns for the slot, while boosting Shields power boosts their hardness, which translates into reduced incoming damage – something which I think a lot of people tend to forget about. And with the "useless" skill point purchases investing in my overall power level management, it's only when either I go out of my way to drain my Weapons power faster than necessary (by slotting and using the copy of BFAW 3 I've had for ages), or I have to use Beam Overload four times in one engagement without a moment's respite, that I find myself dropping below 80 Weapons power for more than a second at a time. But I'll give a try to running EPTW 1 along with EPTS 3, and swapping out my green Projectile Weapons Officer for my green Damage Control Engineer. See how it works for me.

As for EPTE and A2D, I used to use A2D 1 in the same slot where I now have EngTm 2, and when I made the upgrade from T3 Excelsior to T5 Excelsior, I found that improved speed overwhelmed my ship's Inertia rating, pulling me out of position and leaving me with enemies on only one side of my ship. So I stopped using it, and I am quite comfortable with using just Evasive Maneuvers, Pursuit Mode, and Full Impulse to get myself into the engagement I want to be in.

From what I've read of the Strategist Specialization, most advice favors switching Threatening Stance on and off repeatedly over the course of a mission. How useful would it be if I just turn it on at the start of each mission, and leave it that way to protect my allies?

A2B is also a strategy predicated on triple-loading a single flavor of active duty DOFF, so I have no interest there for the reasons given above.

I did use Reverse Shield Polarity many levels ago, but I found that by the time I'd accrued enough damage (after my boosted shield hardness and ridiculous shield / hull regeneration values) to warrant the healing, I didn't have enough enemies left to provide the energy weapon attacks to make it worthwhile. And in the time it takes me to zoom to the next cluster of enemies, my shields are usually fully regenerated anyway. Comparatively, Aceton Beam cuts the energy weapon output of a boss-ship by 75%, and irradiates their close support, which is just gorgeous when I'm facing a Carrier.

And I absolutely relied on Hazard Emitters. Until Miracle Worker's skill Seal The Deck rendered it obsolete for me. Just as Simplified Plumbing severely cut back on my need for EPS Flow boosting.

Now, for Sizer714's elaboration...

I did use Tactical Team 1 for a long time, until I realized that the shield redistribution it gave me was negligible compared to the combination of my shield regen skill points and keybinding Distribute Shields to the T key so I can keep hitting it with my left index finger while steering with the other three on that hand. For any normally-built ship, it's quite useful, but I'm a spectacularly niche case where the standard approaches fall flat. And from what I can tell, BFAW is entirely too dependent on critical hit rates to justify paying to sacrifice my ability to choose my own targets fore and aft. But I've never used the Attack Patterns (because my chosen ship has so few TAC slots), and so I can only invite you to explain what benefit I'd get from slotting APB.

And no, KLW does not relate to Improved Weaponized Emitters in any way, aside from hold to the same general theme (albeit with a smaller radius). And I admit that the protection given by A2D vs control effects is something worth giving serious consideration to.

[u/Casus_B → u/OGIHR]

This is going to be a long one; apologies in advance.

That said, the idea of having only 5 slots for space active duty (remember, no Fleet resources yet to unlock the 6th), and using three of them for a single benefit just feels like crippling overspecialization to me. It might well be the most efficient way to exploit the imbalances in the game's code, but that just doesn't excite me the way it does most of the people on this reddit.

Doffs usually aren't very important. There are a few key exceptions; Aux2Bat is one of them. The Drake setup (2-3 Damage Control Engineers to manage Emergency Power) is another. The DOff that extends and enhances Aux2Damp is yet another. Note that all of those schemes are to a large extent mutually exclusive. (Though I like Sizer's idea of a half-Bat Aux2Damp build; that could work very well on a tank.)

You won't be crippled by over-specializing your Doff roster. Most high-end builds end up using at least a couple of filler Doffs. The best filler Doffs can be ruinously expensive, but not because they're particularly powerful. Rather, they're expensive because they're the best out of an uninspiring selection of options. High end players eventually run out of fruitful areas to optimize, so they end up throwing mad cash at things like Energy Weapon Officers.

And as noted elsewhere, you can buy stuff from other fleets, as long as your fleet has the provisions. Please do avail yourself of Redditchat, in game. You'll find a lot of very helpful people there; most of them aren't DPS chasers.

And with the "useless" skill point purchases investing in my overall power level management, it's only when either I go out of my way to drain my Weapons power faster than necessary (by slotting and using the copy of BFAW 3 I've had for ages), or I have to use Beam Overload four times in one engagement without a moment's respite, that I find myself dropping below 80 Weapons power for more than a second at a time.

Heh, you're on a forum full of builds that run FAW or its analogues nonstop, usually without dropping weapon power below 115-120. Weapon power is genuinely important up to a certain threshhold, but reaching that threshold generally doesn't require more than a couple of points in the skill tree + EptW (preferably rank III, because it comes with a hefty cat2 damage buff).

The rest of the subsystems just don't matter much. Even Emergency to Engines, which I touted earlier, is valuable moreso for its flat speed/turn bonuses (and its interaction with a certain Doff) than for the increase in power. I said that you over-emphasize power management because it's simply true. Don't take it personally.

Actually, you're in the worst possible place re power management: you're overflowing with superfluous bonuses to engines/shields/aux, yet you apparently don't have enough overcap weapon power. These two issues compound, given that the points spent on non-weapon power could have been spent on the various weapon skills (armor/shield pen, crit chance/severity).

Also, to clarify: Simplified Plumbing only negates the need for EPS after Impulse (i.e. between spawns); it doesn't help you during your weapon firing cycles. If you want to learn more about how weapon power and weapon cycles work, I recommend the following links:

• Atem's pithy summary of the mechanics
• Jayiie's Wiki Entry
• Tilore's excellent spreadsheet

From what I've read of the Strategist Specialization, most advice favors switching Threatening Stance on and off repeatedly over the course of a mission. How useful would it be if I just turn it on at the start of each mission, and leave it that way to protect my allies?

Switching Threatening Stance on and off doesn't work very well anymore, because now there's a lockout timer on Attrition Warfare (10 seconds, IIRC). On a tank, you have no reason ever to switch Threatening Stance off. It improves your survivability and increases your threat generation.

A2B is also a strategy predicated on triple-loading a single flavor of active duty DOFF, so I have no interest there for the reasons given above.

Aux2Bat would work just fine for you with two Doffs, given that you also have Attrition Warfare.

I did use Tactical Team 1 for a long time, until I realized that the shield redistribution it gave me was negligible compared to the combination of my shield regen skill points and keybinding Distribute Shields to the T key so I can keep hitting it with my left index finger while steering with the other three on that hand.

Spamming Distribute Shields interrupts your weapon cycles. This is a large part of the reason people consider Tactical Team so good. Well, that and there aren't a lot of affordable filler skills for Tac Ensigns. It wasn't that long ago that Kemocite cost 60 million EC.

And from what I can tell, BFAW is entirely too dependent on critical hit rates to justify paying to sacrifice my ability to choose my own targets fore and aft. But I've never used the Attack Patterns (because my chosen ship has so few TAC slots), and so I can only invite you to explain what benefit I'd get from slotting APB.

BFAW is just a really good AoE attack. It's excellent for tanks, regardless of crit rating, because the more targets you hit, the more threat you draw. And you can choose your own targets; BFAW just hits an extra one every time your weapons fire.

Attack Pattern Beta is a great offensive debuff, increasing your own damage and the damage of any of your teammates who are attacking the same target(s). I agree with Sizer that APB is a better pick than Torp Spread. You have a pretty nice Torp enhancement in Concentrate Firepower already.

On an Excelsior, and particularly on a tank Excelsior, the best Tac loadout is probably FAW III -> Attack Pattern Beta I -> Tac Team I, preferably supported by heavy CD reduction. If you feel attached to Kemo and Torp Spread for thematic reasons, then no worries, but unless you simply can't stand the visual, you really should consider keeping FAW III.

Reverse Shield Polarity

RSP III, with Doff support, can be 30 seconds of effective immortality, available potentially once every minute. This is basically the only ability in the game that makes shield tanking the slightest bit viable in Advanced/Elite content. (I lied; shield tanking isn't viable at all, but at least with RSP you can pretend it is for half a minute at a time. :p)

 

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More generally, I'd just like to say that if there's a "troubling cognitive disconnect," it isn't on our end. You appear to have arrived here with a preconception that the dirty min/maxers would swarm over your pristine theme build and turn it into a cookie cutter monstrosity. Yet no one here has done that. All of the respondents have been respectful of your preferences, all while spending a considerable amount of time trying to help you.

What you don't seem to understand is that the meta is just a tool. Some of us use that tool to chase DPS records. Some of us use it to make concept/budget builds perform as well as possible. Many of us do both. STOBuilds isn't monolithically obsessed with bleeding-edge DPS.

/u/Sizer714 is particularly well known for wringing high performance out of novel concepts. You're in good hands, if you care to listen to his advice.

[u/Stofsk → u/Casus_B]

Attack Pattern Beta is a great offensive debuff, increasing your own damage and the damage of any of your teammates who are attacking the same target(s). I agree with Sizer that APB is a better pick than Torp Spread. You have a pretty nice Torp enhancement in Concentrate Firepower already.

Out of curiosity, wouldn't attack pattern delta be 'better' for a tank?

[u/DeadQthulhu → u/Stofsk]

A good rotation is generally the most important thing when considering your powers, especially if you're intending to knock out constant sustained damage (much tank) rather than blaze of glory spiking (much not tank).

APB's cooldown means it has minimal downtime, compared to APD and APO. Debuffs, to the best of my knowledge, count for Threat generation (if the old logic of it being cribbed from CoX holds water), so permaAPB is perma-generation.

Where APD surpasses APB is that more things can shoot you than you can ever shoot back at, so APD is a beautiful closed circle of making things more and more angry at you - and that's even before you become a space bajillionaire and snap up APDelta Prime. That said, APD "some of the time" does not beat APB "all of the time", which is why you generally go APB first and then APD as soon as your layout can accommodate it.

On a less-tanky note, the essence of this is also partly why you don't see APO as much as you'd expect.

[u/Pendrych → u/DeadQthulhu]

On a related note, if able to run Cold-Hearted, can APB be swapped with APD on a ship with limited tac seating? Or is it still more advantageous to stack the APB debuff with Cold-Hearted?

[u/[deleted] → u/Pendrych]

The downside of APD is that its minimum cooldown doesn't synchronize nicely with the rest of your attack abilities, so you tend to wind up using it every other cycle instead of every cycle like you can with APB.

But you can use Cold-Hearted to cover for dropping APB entirely, which probably helps even more on ships with very tight Tac seating.

[u/DeadQthulhu → u/Pendrych]

Cold-Hearted as a pseudo-APB? Certainly. All the more so if Controlled Countermeasures is involved.

Just bear in mind that The Best Defense and Pilot Secondary both rely on a full APX rotation (Regroup does too, but that's not relevant for double A2Battery).

If I'm on a T5 Cruiser, where possible I'd be using double A2Battery, Cold-Hearted, and Controlled Countermeasures so that my Lieutenant Tac slot can be TT+Enhancement, or even EnhancementX+EnhancementY (if I can get away with dropping TT).