STO Torpedo Guide

I have always enjoyed heavy weapons in video games, whether it be a 2-handed weapon, to a large missile launcher, to torpedoes in Star Trek Online. There was always a feeling of satisfaction when the heavy weapon(s) were used in a precise manner during a team engagement. Sometimes, though, there's that part of you that enjoys firing off a barrage of heavy firepower upon your adversaries, and relish in the wholesale digital destruction that you've caused.

When I returned to Star trek Online, it was a few weeks before the release of Delta Rising. I saw players using only energy weapons, and qualifying for the DPS channels. I took to my Defiant, upgraded my [Borg] DHC's and [Borg] Quantum torpedo, and decided to jump right in... and failed hard. I asked people questions so I could understand what has changed so much from the core mechanics. While I tried the all-beams approach and did decently well with them, it wasn't fun, and it felt wrong on my little Defiant. When Delta Rising launched, I looked at what the reputation had to offer, and decided to play around with one of my fun builds, a torpedo-heavy Defiant bomber. As I started to acquire the pieces for the build, I noted several mechanics flaws and bugs, and tried to find ways around them. When I was satisfied with the results, I took the build into a DPS run, and made a few more adjustments before asking the DPS Chanels' leaders what would make this build perform better. The answers ranged from the virtual shoulder shrug to scornful. Noting that barely anyone knew anything about torpedo mechanics other than, "beams are better", I decided to document my builds, and ask game mechanics questions from those wo reversed-engineered the game.

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This is for the people who want to play at the edge of STO DPS:

If you do not enjoy playing games at the highest difficulty setting, this is not for you. If you get frustrated easily, and are prone to quitting, this is not for you. If you cannot handle being laughed at or ridiculed by your weapon selection, this is not for you. If you do not want to strive to be a better pilot, this is not for you. If you cannot accept the fact that the current mechanics are intentionally stacked against you, this is not for you. If you cannot accept the fact that most of the bugs with kinetics may never be fixed unless enough people put the proper pressure on the Devs to get them fixed, this is most certainly not for you.

If the above does not apply to you, you're most likely part of the 5% of the gaming community that wants a challenge, and can deal with shortfalls and disappointment. You take defeat in stride, analyze what happened, and come back stronger than before, regardless of the odds. For what it's worth, you have my respect.
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What classifies a ship as a torpedo starship? Why would I build one? What role would it serve? In answering thiese question, I will reference the original guide[sto-forum.perfectworld.com] to show what has changed and why it has changed, both in definition and tactics. By no means should my opinions be a hard and fast rule, as what works for some may not work for others. Instead, take them as suggestions from those of us who have "been there & done that". For example, if I had followed that guide to the letter, I would not use a Defiant as a torpedo ship, as the guide stated that it would not be a good torpedo starship. I have encountered some very imaginative minds who have designed some unique, yet well-performing ship builds, so don't be afraid to experiment after being informed of the mechanics and synergies. If you have any insight to share, by all means, share it.

Referencing the original guide (where the author used "strong" and "weak" to describe the builds), I will throw in my own thoughts on what a "strong" and "weak" torpedo build is. A ship that uses torpedoes to suppliment its damage capabilities, but does not use torpedoes as one of its main attacks is not a torpedo ship. It just has projectile(s). A ship that utilizes energy, torpedoes, and Sci/Engineering abilities in equal ratios with respect to damage output is a very special snowflake. A ship that has 40% or more damage dealt via torpedoes (and torpedo abilities/triggers), WITH torpedoes being the leading source of damage for that ship, can be classified as a Torpedo Starship (EX: 40% torpedoes, 30% energy, 30% Sci/Eng/Temporal damaging abilities).

Why build one? For fun, of course! You can deliver spike damage to big targets, augment Science/Temporal abilities with specialty torpedoes, or blanket an area with a spread of destruction and secondary effects. With the release of Season 13 and the Great Balance Pass of 2017, torpedo builds will see a resurgence in both popularity and performance for EPG-based Sci-Torp builds (looking at you, Gravimetric torpedo) in runs like Korfez & CCA. Those who are using a Sci-Torp hybrid focusing on EPG will see very large gains via fixes and improvements to Gravimetric Photon Torpedo, and the Particle Emission Plasma Torpedo. Those who play a Siege Ship will enjoy the Targetable Torpedo flight speed increase, so long as you have Torpedo Pre-Fire Sequence slotted. The lockout changes will hamper performance in short ISA runs, HSE runs when facing the Boss targets, and in PvP Alpha Bombardments (no more massive spike damage for a weapon meant to do spike damage).

What role do they serve? Torpedo builds can deliver a massive volley of torps (via Concentrate Firepower), or a short burst of extremely high damage to unshielded targets. If you are facing shielded targets, the Neutronic and Quantum Phase torpedoes will eliminate shields so long as you have enough DrainX to support the weapon procs. In a team scenario, you take out the biggest target, and leave the small stuff to the FaW boats. You can also serve supplemental roles, depending on your loadout; from shield stripper, to debuffer, to straight-up Nukes-Xpress, the only limitations are your own skill, and outdated game mechanics.. which you can overcome with even more skill and the right loadout!

This section will be lighter on written text, as most of the work I have completed via Reddit posts and video guides. More will be added here based on user feedback and Q&A.

My Federation Build Guides are there for you to look at. They serve two purposes:

1. To show a build history and evolution (corrections to mistakes, or building off of a mistake to make a viable thematic build).
2. To serve as a template for future builds.

The attached image shows my rationale for the first iteration of my torpedo boat, the "Fleet Defiant - Kinetic Heavy Fire Support". The logic is sound, but the actual execution in game had some mechanics issues that were dealt with in future builds.

e30Ernest is the expert on Sci-Torp builds, and should be consulted first if you are dedicating your ship builds to Sci-Torp. His Starter Sci-Torp build will get you going as you work on your Reputations and build your resources for future builds and upgrades. I would add the Particle Emission Plasma Torpedo to his build, as not only is it cheap, but extremely powerful and useful vs Normal level difficulty NPC's.

The video series will give you an audio-visual record of mechanics, builds, and in-game performance.

The premiere video of the series:
With Season 13, not much has changed in the core mechanics, and most builds will continue to function as-is, but with minor adjustments. The major highlights are:

1. Gravimetric Photon Torpedo procs a Gravimetric Rift for each eligible target in Torpedo Spread (TS). Rift damage now properly scales with EPG, and Rift pull now properly scales with ControlX.
2. Quantum Phase High Yield (HY) proc now properly drains the main target's shields.
3. Omega Kinetic Shearing (OKS) now does 10% of torpedo damage over 6 seconds, down from 40% over 6 seconds.
4. Targetable Torpedoes now fly slightly faster, but ONLY with Torpedo Pre-Fire Sequence active.
5. You cannot have two torpedo BOff abilities active at the same time. There is a lockout period between TS and HY activation, preventing a player from chambering a TS after activating a HY. This is a severe nerf to Alpha Strike tactics. The April 25, 2017 patch notes quote:
   "The Bridge Officer Abilities Torpedo High Yield and Torpedo Spread can no longer be activated while the player has a Torpedo High Yield or Spread available to fire, or if the player has fired a torpedo as a High Yield or Spread within the last 5 seconds."

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Builds, Concepts, and Mechanics (Pt 2)

To excel as a torpedo Captain, you have to understand our biggest adversary; shields.

“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles." - Sun Tsu

A detailed discussion on shield mechanics and resistances will help you understand not only what you are up against, but how you can overcome them.

Discuss shield bleedthrough mechanics
Shields ignore 75% of torpedo damage
Reference shield weakening
DrainX, Quantum Phase, Neutronic, & Pizeo torps.
The importance of subsystem drain & Neutronic:
"Neutronic HY is so nasty because you have the radiation damage (per torp) hitting shields FIRST, the subsystem power drain (per torp) weakening shields, and the high kinetic damage per torp hitting the remainder of whatever shields are left before punching through hull."

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If you're looking to do an advanced kinetic (torp) build, you will want to make sure that you have the right platform (ship) that works for your piloting style, as well as support the build for the torps that you want to use.

If you have DrainX sources, you will want to use Neutronic (Quantum), Piezo (Photon) and Quantum Phase (Quantum).

If you have EPG sources, you will want to use Gravimetric and Particle Emission Plasma (PEP).

For hard hitting kinetic damage, you want Neutronic, Enhanced Bio-Molecular Photon (EBM) (HY), Gravimetric (HY), TriCobalt, Delphic, and Temporal Displacement Device. When the target is below 40% health, the Terran Task Force Photon Torpedo (especially under HY1 crits) does competitive damage.

For debuffing your targets by lowering the target(s) hull resistance, the following torpedoes can be used: Delphic (Lobi), Resonant Transphasic (mission reward), Disrupting Photon (Romulan only mission reward), Corrosive Plasma (Lobi), Naussican Energy (mission reward).

You can have a mix of torps that can compliment each other, especially with the BOff ability, concentrate firepower. Ex: Two shield-drain torps + one heavy kinetic torp vs weakly shielded targets | Debuffing torps + one heavy kinetic torp vs unshielded targets/structures.

Transphasics are OK for Normal difficulty, but vs most Advanced and any Elite STF's, they don't have the punch needed to deal with hull bloat. they're great for leveling, though.

Unlike most energy weapons, the Rep/Special Reward torps are usually far and away better than crafted torps (with a few noteworthy exceptions). Learning how to make them work with each other, as well as boosting them, is integral to being an effective torpedo starship captain.
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Any questions, please feel free to ask, and they will be answered.

Reserved for User Q&A