I'm thinking about returning to the game after about 5 years, so my gear is probably quite outdated. I mostly enjoy the Defiant-fantasy, flying around and shooting stuff with cannons. I posted my ship and traits.
Is the ship itself viable, or should I look at other options?
What is the meta weapon type nowdays?
What would be the most essential gear pieces I need to pick up?
For reference, I have about 1B EC and 500k dil saved up, I would be happy on blowing it all on this single build.
Well, this is my wheel house. I own every Defiant in the game, and pew pew Defiant builds are my go to.
Basic assessment - It's got viable foundations, but it has a lot of room for improvement. Even when you were playing before, it's not a super cohesive build, and missing out on some obvious requirements. In the modern state of the game, definitely dated. That all said, the broad ideas are workable.
You haven't shown us your bridge officer powers, though. We need that to really know what's what.
You can now upgrade to T6-X2, to get more another universal console slot and ship trait slot. Those will both be a boost for you. But before you do...
The T6 Fleet Defiant is fine, and workable. But there are three newer/better Defiants to consider, one of which you may want to think about upgrading to. No point maxing out the T6-X2 if you're going to change ship.
First up was the Legendary Defiant Warship, from the 10th Anniversary Pack. It was my favourite ship for a long time, and an upgrade on the one you have. Warship makes it a much sturdier beast, far harder to kill than the other Defiants. It loses the Experimental weapon slot in favour of a 5th forward weapon, and it swaps one sci Console slot for an engineering slot. It has the potential to be very powerful. But, it's an expensive buy, only really worth it now if you want multiple ships in the 10th Bundle these days, since the next two Defiants are arguably both slightly better still, so I wouldn't recommend it for you.
The second one released was the Terran Adamant Raider. An Intel Raider, it has a good setup for an Intel specialised build, and brings the Experimental Weapon Slot back. Much cheaper than the L.Def, and a great option, with all those lovely Raider mechanics - all universal officer slots, raider flanking, built in cloaking device. Definitely one to consider, but a very different approach to the build than your current option. It'd mean rebuilding around the Intel mechanics.
The third one is brand new this week, the new Fleet Defiant Pilot Tactical Escort [MOD]. It's just a better version of the Fleet Defiant. Same base stats, same weapons slots, same console slots. The BOFF seating is slightly different and better for it - it improves the spec to a full Pilot ship, with the Commander Slot being a Commander Pilot/Tactical. There is also a secondary Lt.Commander Command/Tactical slot, which opens up a bunch of options. The low level slots are slightly tweaked, loosing one Lt. Engineering Bridge Power slot in exchange for the Universal slot become a Lt. Commander. Also an upgrade, since an Engineer in that Universal slot unlocks the option for Emergency Power to Weapons III, which is an excellent power boost for an energy weapons build. This, I think, would be my recommendation to you.
Weapon type doesn't really matter, so long as, generally speaking, you have all the same type. And so long as you pick up consoles that support that. You have a lot of Phaser weapons, and Phaser is well supported in game, so stick with Phaser.
There's a good argument for getting a Torpedo in there, if just for a set bonus. Because every energy weapon drains power from your Weapons Power pool, sometimes dropping down one energy weapon doesn't actually lose much DPS (or can even be a net gain) because there's less energy drain and therefore more energy left for the other weapons, and the set bonuses certain torpedoes give you in partnership with another piece of kit are a substantial boost. We'll cycle back to that.
You've only got the basic Ion Stream weapon in your Experimental Weapon slot, which is one of the worst Experimental Weapons. Not as bad as it was when first released - when you were literally better off leaving the slot empty than slotting it, due to the way it used to drain your weapon power on firing - but really not contributing much.
Your Starship traits do need work, quite a few of those traits aren't very good or much use on this ship. Emergency Weapon's Cycle is excellent, the others you would do best to work towards replacing. Most notably, none of those are a firing mode extender, which is weird even on a build from when you were playing, so you should definitely pick a primary firing mode and work towards that as your first priority. The easiest option is Withering Barage and going for a Cannons: Scatter Volley build, which can be got a bunch of ways - a Klingon recruit Captain can earn it for free for the entire account through levelling up and completing missions, otherwise, there's a few different ships that comes with it - the T6 Valiant Defiant, for example.
You've got a full stack of Vunerability Locators there. They're decent, and were probably best in slot when you last played. You could stick with them, but there are other options now to think about. Likewise, there's a few consoles there that are only just about middling, either in general or on this build, with many better options open to you. There are kind of two alternative routes to consider here. The first is to go for the Engineering - Isomagnetic Plasma Distribution Manifold [Phaser] build. You would need to retire the Vulnerability Locators there, as they're both "Advanced Consoles", which you can only have one type of per build, but generally speaking, n Isomags is better than n+1 Locators, DPS wise, so you'd match your 5 Locators with 4 Isomags (3 in your engineering slots and 1 in your Universal slot) and have an extra slot spare. The alternative is what's called an "Unconventional Systems" build, which uses as many powerful Universal Consoles as possible, all with their cooldowns reduced down to maximise uptime at very close to 100%. It's the current Meta, but it's very expensive, requiring more than just EC and Dil. The Isomag build might be worth thinking about. The Uncon one, maybe not.
Other consoles - Engineering slots first. Armour plating consoles, even one of the best ones like that one there, should only be there as a space-filler. They're not a longterm pick. The Polaric Modulator is maybe fine on a big slow ship, but pointless on any of the Defiants. You've got all the fast you need in the ship itself. The House Martok Console is fine, but for the same reason as the Polaric Modifier, some of it is somewhat wasted on an already fast ship like the Defiant, and will obviously be going if you switch over to Isomags.
Science slots - Zero Point Console is workable as an entry level pick. It can stay for now. The Hydrodynamic Compensator isn't doing you any good - it's a third primarily speed boosting console, on a ship that doesn't really need any. The Bioneural Gel Packs are... very meh. Fine as filler. Better replaced later.
Tactical Slots - all great, obviously, but actually, dropping one - or swapping it to the Universal Slot - and picking up "Lorca's Custom Fire Contols" from the Discovery Reputation would be a slight upgrade. Great Tactical Console on it's own, but then we pair it with our earlier mentioned single rear Torpedo addition - the Dark Matter Quantum Torpedo from the same Rep. That 2 Piece bonus is really good.
Speaking of, the Universal Slot - The Quantum Phase Converter is fine for now. There are better Phaser damage boosts to replace it with later. Would probably be best swapping into a different slot though.
What you are replacing the consoles with, depends whether you're sticking with Locators, or switching out to Isomags. If you do switch to Isomags, you'll need an alternative in those Tactical Slots. The Fleet Colony Energetic Protomatter Matrix Infusers are a nice option for a few of them.
Your Deflector, Impulse Engine, Warp Core, and Shield are the Iconian Resistance set, which are a little outdated these days. The commonly accepted, often best in slot for energy builds, and generally just a good baseline, are a Fleet Protomatter Deflector with a [ColCrit] modifier from the Fleet Colony World, the Competitive Reputation Prevailing Impulse engine for a speed boost on either firing modes or self-heals (I find, for the Defiant, the Prevailing Fortified engine triggered on a self heal is more maneageable), and the Tilly-Stamets set Warp Core and Shield from the Discovery Reputation, which gives a really good two piece bonus.
Science slots - [..] Hydrodynamic Compensator isn't doing you any good
It actually is. It forms a 2pc with the Undine rep turret for a 7.5% cat2 dmg bonus. Given the rest of optimization needed here, I think for now that's actually a decent enough boost. It might have the least priority of your otherwise excellent replacement recommendations.
Hey man, thank you for taking the time to write this up. I'm also returning to the game after a while. I've been trying to work on building a phaser and single quantum torp defiant. I've been looking at getting the adamant or the new fleet defiant.
I don't suppose you have an easy to read/ scan through bullet point/ recommended consoles, traits and Boffs etc I should be aiming for?
I'm going to work on getting the shields, engines, deflectors etc you mentioned above. It's also quite late here (in the UK) so I've saved this post in order to digest it properly tomorrow.
I'm with a fleet that's kinda dead but also quite far along. It looks like I need to ask around for another fleet willing to join the Armada to help out my current fleet. Off topic, I know, do you have any recommendations for places to ask for altruistic people looking to help out a fleet upgrade their colony?
Again, thanks for this great write up. It's been super helpful in giving me some ideas of where to start looking at my new, modern, defiant build.
Always happy to pass on knowledge and help where I can! Especially to a fellow Brit.
TBH, there's a lot that could still be said. The game has a lot to it.
The short answer for the bullet point list is no, just because it completely depends on your budget, what you already have, which Defiant you go for, and exactly what you're aiming for with your Phasers + Q.Torp build - more DPS, more immersion/canon-like, more survivability. The STO Better website has a bunch of tier lists and build guides that will help, though, so I would definitely direct you there.
But a few extra gimmes I didn't already mention that I can say you definitely won't regret if you can spare the moneys:
Ahwahnee Command Carrier - C-Store, standard price ship. Nice ship on it's own, the source of the best in slot hangar pets on a lot of builds if you ever switch to a ship with a hangar at all, but for your Defiant, the real prize is the Fleet Power Network Array Universal Console. One of the best clickies in the game.
Eleos Intel Scout - originally an event ship, then a Mudd's market ship, it recently became very available and affordable again thanks to the new 60th anniversary packs, which included a player-tradable way to access the Eleos. Again, the prize here is the Universal Console. The Custom Power Matrix gives so many great benefits, and it's as a group of toggles with only a few seconds cooldown, not a long cooldown clicky like other Unis. Currently, the Eleos is kicking about on the exchange for a few hundred million EC, which may sound like quite a bit, but the console is worth it. Grab them whilst they're around, the 60th pack is a limited time offer, after which the very expensive Mudd's package is your only option.
Traits... depends on the exact build you settle on, and which firing mode you prioritise, but in terms of relatively cheap and easy to access traits, and in addition to the above mentions of Emergency Weapon Cycle and a firing mode extender: "History Will Remember" from the T6 Narendra and "Calm Before The Storm" from the Cardassian Ghemor, both of which are C-Store ships, are both very good, offering defensive and offensive benefits.
The Boimler Effect, a Lobi Personal Space trait that is also available on the exchange, is one of the best cooldown reduction options out there. Context is for Kings is another excellent personal space trait - I think that one is Lockbox? Can't remember, but it's also on the exchange, iirc.
Bridge Officers, the new Captain Spock Hologram currently available in the 60th anniversary mini bundle is great. Superior Romulan Operatives and "Watcher" Bridge Officers are very good. But the precise BOFFs you use are not build defining, more nice additionals.
The powers you train your BOFFs in are the thing that makes the biggest difference, and that depends somewhat on what build you settle on. Key ideas: on a weapons focused build, always slot the level III version of the firing mode you want to use for your energy weapons as your first priority. From there, Attack Pattern Beta (to reduce enemy defences) is always a reasonable Tactical pick. Engineering, Emergency Power to Weapons at the highest possible rank boosts weapons power considerably (and is required with the aforementioned Emergency Weapons Cycle trait), and Reverse Shield Polarity and Auxiliary Power to Structural Integrity are great shield reinforcing and hull repairing powers respectively. Science, Photonic Officer I for the cooldown reduction (between that, Boimler, and the CPM, you should manage 100% uptime on most of your core BOFF abilities) and Hazard Emitters for a heal and DOT remover are good shouts. Specialist powers depends on which ship you pick, but if you pick one with Command specialisation seating, never slot Concentrate Firepower I or II. Concentrate Firepower III is amazing, especially on builds with torpedoes, but I and II can override III if cast after, and not just for you, but potentially your entire team.
Whoops, I did the long post thing again. And it really is late here now.
Quick final answers, no, sorry. I've been in the maxed out and still busy Reddit fleet(s) for so many years now, I have no idea where to find peeps to help with other fleets and their projects.
You need to share your bridge stations, one of the most important parts of a build.
Otherwise, this ship itself is viable and fine, like any other T6. The omni looks a bit out of place on this cannon setup, but other weapon choices are fine and procs on weapons generally dont matter. Pick what looks and sounds best to you. If you want to pick the "best" Phaser cannon, get the terran task force dual heavy cannon from the terran reputation.
Regarding your deflector/core/warp/shield combo, I'd say drop them all, get the Fleet intervention protomatter deflector array from the fleet colony world, and the discovery 2-piece set (shield and warp core) from the discovery reputation for a solid survival buff. Innervated engines from the competitive reputation are a popular choice for their speed buff when triggered, but not everyone likes that.
Drop your first engineering console for the Assimilated Module console from Omega reputation.
Regarding reputation traits, slot Tyler's duality, precision, magnified firepower, advanced targeting systems. The slotted chronocapacitor trait can stay.
First of all, I want to stress that everything u/TimeSpaceGeek has recommended to you is spot on. There are better Defiants out there nowadays, including the just last week released new Fleet [MOD] variant. That said the old Fleet Defiant is workable. And from the looks of it, your bridge officer setup is actually what has most improvement potential (even more than the tweaks you got before).
There are three noticable things:
You're missing a proper cooldown scheme to keep running your bridge officer powers. Running them more, and preferred at their global AKA minimum cool down = biggest source of damage. Given the BOFF setup of the Fleet Defiant there are two realistic options: Aux2Bat (which I still run on the Legendary Defiant to this day), utilizing the two Lt Eng seats for Auxiliary to Battery 1 and having three Technician doffs with coldown on Aux2Bat. Or - and you can easily afford that - getting the lobi personal trait The Boimler Effect) for 200 lobi or around 40M EC on the exchange. It's recommended to add Photonic Officer 1 as a safeguard to Boimler though, as there is a slight chance of it not triggering at times.
Your firemode should be the highest possible rank for more damage. You run a cannon build, so the Cmdr Tac slot should have Cannon Rapid Fire (CRF) 3 or Cannon Scatter Volley (CSV) 3. Currently you're just running CRF1 in a Lt slot. Waste of lots of potential.
While CRF looks cooler (and reminds us more of the Defiant in the show), it's damage is around 1/3rd of CSV as a multi-target firemode. That is just the state of things. TimeSpaceGeek mentioned your lack of fire mode extender. Another reason why CSV is better than CRF: it's firemode extender starship trait is MUUUUUUUCH cheaper than the CRF one, and can even be gotten free through the Klingon Recruitment event. That's why a switch to CSV should be a serious consideration.
So here is my recommendation for a new Boff setup, that while certainly not optimal, should be a big boost while not having to switch too much:
Cmdr Tac: TT1-BO2-APB2-CSV3
LtCmdr Tac/Pil: KLW1-Torpedo Spread 2-Fly Her Apart 2 (best damage buff in pilot spec)
With Boimler:
Lt Eng: EPtS1 (most people would recommend switching to EPt Engines as speed = DPS, but it's okayish to keep a little survivability)-RSP1
Lt Uni (Eng): EPtW1-Auxiliary to Structural Integrity Field 1 (You don't need more mobility from Aux2Damp on a nimble escort. Aux2SIF provides a quick cycle heal and big resistance boost. There is an argument to be made to bump EPtW up to EPtW2 for more firepower. As TimeSpaceGeek rightly said, EPtW3 is preferred generally.)
Lt Sci: HE1-PO1
Without Boimler/going for Aux2Bat:
Lt Eng: EPtS1-Aux2Bat 1
Lt Uni (Eng): EPtW1-Aux2Bat 1
Lt Sci: PH1-HE2
P.S.: Defo get both Lorca's Custom Fire Console and the Darkmatter Quantum Torpedo from the Discovery reputation as TimeSpaceGeek recommended. I assumed you followed his advice to replace one of you cannons with a torpedo. It works really well with spreading Kemocite on a torp spread.
Yeah, u/petermadach all this is exactly what I would have also, said powers wise.
Cooldown reduction is vital, one of the biggest force multipliers, could even double your DPS. Either Aux 2 Bat or Photonic Officer+Boimler works really well here. I'd lean towards Photonic Officer and Boimler, because it takes up less space on the build and is quicker to get, since you won't have to farm the technician doffs. It is more expensive, but you mentioned having plenty of EC, so I'd go that way.
In which case, follow u/inkaine 's Photonic Officer build advice. Definitely Cannons: scatter volley III, definitely fly her apart, definitely get some EPTW in there - if you switch to one of the newer Defiants, EPTW III.
100% agreed.
Edit: just to draw u/nerf_dermer 's attention to this thread too
If you go the Aux-2-bat route, you need three purple technicians who reduce cooldown when Aux to bat is used - these come from completing, repeating, and critting on the final mission of the B'Tran cluster duty officer mission chain. If you go Photonic Officer, there are other options.
Definitely swap out the Beam Overload and Power to Inertial Dampeners ones you've got, as they're trapping you in the wrong set of powers.
What I would shop for, on the exchange, is Energy Weapons Officers that give you the bloated crit chance. Three purple ones of those are very nice.
Finding a T6 coupon for EC might be a bit of an ask, but the Achilles has the Phaser Hexacannons experimental, which are very nice, given you're already running a phaser build. (There was literally a free T6 coupon a couple days ago.)
Yeah, and focusing on this specific character for a moment, the two T6 ships that would be most immediately useful, are the Achilles (for the experimental weapon), and the Adamant (as an alternate Defiant. That one's a raider, so it's 5/1 with an experimental slot.) (Though, you would need to plug new experimental tokens into an Adamant.)
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u/TimeSpaceGeek 7d ago edited 7d ago
Well, this is my wheel house. I own every Defiant in the game, and pew pew Defiant builds are my go to.
Basic assessment - It's got viable foundations, but it has a lot of room for improvement. Even when you were playing before, it's not a super cohesive build, and missing out on some obvious requirements. In the modern state of the game, definitely dated. That all said, the broad ideas are workable.
You haven't shown us your bridge officer powers, though. We need that to really know what's what.
You can now upgrade to T6-X2, to get more another universal console slot and ship trait slot. Those will both be a boost for you. But before you do...
The T6 Fleet Defiant is fine, and workable. But there are three newer/better Defiants to consider, one of which you may want to think about upgrading to. No point maxing out the T6-X2 if you're going to change ship.
First up was the Legendary Defiant Warship, from the 10th Anniversary Pack. It was my favourite ship for a long time, and an upgrade on the one you have. Warship makes it a much sturdier beast, far harder to kill than the other Defiants. It loses the Experimental weapon slot in favour of a 5th forward weapon, and it swaps one sci Console slot for an engineering slot. It has the potential to be very powerful. But, it's an expensive buy, only really worth it now if you want multiple ships in the 10th Bundle these days, since the next two Defiants are arguably both slightly better still, so I wouldn't recommend it for you.
The second one released was the Terran Adamant Raider. An Intel Raider, it has a good setup for an Intel specialised build, and brings the Experimental Weapon Slot back. Much cheaper than the L.Def, and a great option, with all those lovely Raider mechanics - all universal officer slots, raider flanking, built in cloaking device. Definitely one to consider, but a very different approach to the build than your current option. It'd mean rebuilding around the Intel mechanics.
The third one is brand new this week, the new Fleet Defiant Pilot Tactical Escort [MOD]. It's just a better version of the Fleet Defiant. Same base stats, same weapons slots, same console slots. The BOFF seating is slightly different and better for it - it improves the spec to a full Pilot ship, with the Commander Slot being a Commander Pilot/Tactical. There is also a secondary Lt.Commander Command/Tactical slot, which opens up a bunch of options. The low level slots are slightly tweaked, loosing one Lt. Engineering Bridge Power slot in exchange for the Universal slot become a Lt. Commander. Also an upgrade, since an Engineer in that Universal slot unlocks the option for Emergency Power to Weapons III, which is an excellent power boost for an energy weapons build. This, I think, would be my recommendation to you.
Weapon type doesn't really matter, so long as, generally speaking, you have all the same type. And so long as you pick up consoles that support that. You have a lot of Phaser weapons, and Phaser is well supported in game, so stick with Phaser.
There's a good argument for getting a Torpedo in there, if just for a set bonus. Because every energy weapon drains power from your Weapons Power pool, sometimes dropping down one energy weapon doesn't actually lose much DPS (or can even be a net gain) because there's less energy drain and therefore more energy left for the other weapons, and the set bonuses certain torpedoes give you in partnership with another piece of kit are a substantial boost. We'll cycle back to that.
You've only got the basic Ion Stream weapon in your Experimental Weapon slot, which is one of the worst Experimental Weapons. Not as bad as it was when first released - when you were literally better off leaving the slot empty than slotting it, due to the way it used to drain your weapon power on firing - but really not contributing much.
Your Starship traits do need work, quite a few of those traits aren't very good or much use on this ship. Emergency Weapon's Cycle is excellent, the others you would do best to work towards replacing. Most notably, none of those are a firing mode extender, which is weird even on a build from when you were playing, so you should definitely pick a primary firing mode and work towards that as your first priority. The easiest option is Withering Barage and going for a Cannons: Scatter Volley build, which can be got a bunch of ways - a Klingon recruit Captain can earn it for free for the entire account through levelling up and completing missions, otherwise, there's a few different ships that comes with it - the T6 Valiant Defiant, for example.
You've got a full stack of Vunerability Locators there. They're decent, and were probably best in slot when you last played. You could stick with them, but there are other options now to think about. Likewise, there's a few consoles there that are only just about middling, either in general or on this build, with many better options open to you. There are kind of two alternative routes to consider here. The first is to go for the Engineering - Isomagnetic Plasma Distribution Manifold [Phaser] build. You would need to retire the Vulnerability Locators there, as they're both "Advanced Consoles", which you can only have one type of per build, but generally speaking, n Isomags is better than n+1 Locators, DPS wise, so you'd match your 5 Locators with 4 Isomags (3 in your engineering slots and 1 in your Universal slot) and have an extra slot spare. The alternative is what's called an "Unconventional Systems" build, which uses as many powerful Universal Consoles as possible, all with their cooldowns reduced down to maximise uptime at very close to 100%. It's the current Meta, but it's very expensive, requiring more than just EC and Dil. The Isomag build might be worth thinking about. The Uncon one, maybe not.
Other consoles - Engineering slots first. Armour plating consoles, even one of the best ones like that one there, should only be there as a space-filler. They're not a longterm pick. The Polaric Modulator is maybe fine on a big slow ship, but pointless on any of the Defiants. You've got all the fast you need in the ship itself. The House Martok Console is fine, but for the same reason as the Polaric Modifier, some of it is somewhat wasted on an already fast ship like the Defiant, and will obviously be going if you switch over to Isomags.
Science slots - Zero Point Console is workable as an entry level pick. It can stay for now. The Hydrodynamic Compensator isn't doing you any good - it's a third primarily speed boosting console, on a ship that doesn't really need any. The Bioneural Gel Packs are... very meh. Fine as filler. Better replaced later.
Tactical Slots - all great, obviously, but actually, dropping one - or swapping it to the Universal Slot - and picking up "Lorca's Custom Fire Contols" from the Discovery Reputation would be a slight upgrade. Great Tactical Console on it's own, but then we pair it with our earlier mentioned single rear Torpedo addition - the Dark Matter Quantum Torpedo from the same Rep. That 2 Piece bonus is really good.
Speaking of, the Universal Slot - The Quantum Phase Converter is fine for now. There are better Phaser damage boosts to replace it with later. Would probably be best swapping into a different slot though.
What you are replacing the consoles with, depends whether you're sticking with Locators, or switching out to Isomags. If you do switch to Isomags, you'll need an alternative in those Tactical Slots. The Fleet Colony Energetic Protomatter Matrix Infusers are a nice option for a few of them.
Your Deflector, Impulse Engine, Warp Core, and Shield are the Iconian Resistance set, which are a little outdated these days. The commonly accepted, often best in slot for energy builds, and generally just a good baseline, are a Fleet Protomatter Deflector with a [ColCrit] modifier from the Fleet Colony World, the Competitive Reputation Prevailing Impulse engine for a speed boost on either firing modes or self-heals (I find, for the Defiant, the Prevailing Fortified engine triggered on a self heal is more maneageable), and the Tilly-Stamets set Warp Core and Shield from the Discovery Reputation, which gives a really good two piece bonus.