The Photon Dump

One of the things I really like about Star Trek Online (STO) is the degree to which tactics matter. You can come up with some pleasantly unorthodox maneuvers that are nevertheless effective. For my part, I think I’ve just about perfected what I’m calling the “photon dump”.

The tactic is designed for use against large, heavy, slow moving ships, and it’s very effective against the larger Klingon vessels in various sector-block guard missions. The short version is that I hang back while the rest of my team opens fire on the biggest warship in a given group of enemies. Their job is to absorb fire and weaken the warship’s shields before I get there.

Once I see the warship’s front shield is faltering, I adjust my power-curve for weapons, engage impulse engines and pilot my ship straight at him (skipping the maneuvers worked well enough for Lord Admiral Nelson, after all). When I get to maybe 2k from his forward shield, I hit a lot of keys in rapid succession:

1. I hit the all-stop button to screech to a halt maybe 1k off his bow.
2. I click the tachyon beam skill icon so my science officer will drain the enemy’s shields.
3. I click the high yield skill icon so my tactical officer will pump up the next torpedo salvo.
4. Once I see the skills engage, I hit the button to begin firing all beam weapons, launch torpedoes, and activate my aft photon mine launcher all at once.
5. Within half a second all my weapons begin pounding him, I give the order to go to full speed, and I start veering off above him.

The result can be awesome. If my teammates have chewed up his front shield enough, which they often do, the combined tachyon beam/phasers are enough to drop the shield just before the photon torpedoes impact and blow the crap out of his hull. That doesn’t usually destroy a big warship but it sure hurts, and then the entire group of photon mines will plow right through the downed shield and often finish the job.

It takes quick and highly precise execution, but when I pull it off it’s quite the rush. Even when it doesn’t work, I typically find myself behind the warship in relative safety while I smash his rear shield and drop more photon mines every twelve seconds or so. It’s the quickest way I’ve found for an underpowered light cruiser to take down one of the big boys in a hurry.