What’s tanking? The basics
In video games, especially MMOs, “tanking” is the act of attracting enemy fire to more efficiently defeat the enemy and to protect weaker players who sacrifice their HP for damage output. Tanks ideally have high HP and aggro. High regeneration is also a good idea so you can keep up with all the extra attention.
This website is a guide on to how to make a tank build in Star Trek Online.
Given the complexity of the game, there are many ways to increase your max HP in STO. The most straightforward way is to use equipment (typically engineering consoles) that either directly increases your max HP by a certain percentage, or equipment that adds to your Hull Capacity skill.
You can also use the Command specialization, which increases your max HP by a small percentage for every point spent. There is also the Miracle Worker specialization, which increases your regen for every point spent. Keep in mind you can only have two specializations active at a time – one primary and one secondary. The secondary specialization only uses half of its abilities if it is a major specialization, and all abilities if it is a minor specialization such as Commando.
There are also several traits you can activate that will increase your HP. These include personal traits, reputation traits, and starship traits. Don’t forget that certain bridge officers provide certain bonuses from their traits, but only if they have a station on your ship.
Of course, the type of ship you’re flying also plays a major part in how much HP you have. Larger ships like dreadnoughts and cruisers have higher base health, while escorts and science vessels have lower base health. Different kinds of ships specialize in different playing styles. The best kind of ships to use for tanking, obviously, are the ones with higher health.
Hangar Pets
If your ship has hangar bays, you can deploy smaller ships that can help you fight. In the case of a tank, Support Frigates are the way to go. They have quite a few abilities (more if you get the Elite version from your Fleet Starbase), such as healing abilities, buffs and debuffs. These frigates can only be deployed from a ship with two bays, however.
Threat Generation
While there are not that many ways to increase your threat, the ways you can are powerful enough to make up for that (quality over quantity!). Every character has the Threatening Stance ability, which increases your aggro by 300% and has a chance to add a stacking buff that temporarily increases your max HP. You can also equip the Weapon Signature Amplifier science console, obtainable from the Fleet Embassy, which increases your threat by a percentage that depends on its mark and rarity. There is also the Imposing Presence trait, which increases your threat by 25%. The starship trait “History Will Remember” also provides up to thirty stacks of 10% threat.
Hull Capacity
There are several different types of equipment that can increase your hull capacity. Since Hull Capacity is an Engineering skill, Engineering consoles may increase your skill. Some Universal consoles may provide a passive increase to your hit points.There are also some traits that can increase your hull as well.
Damage Control
Regeneration is also an Engineering skill (called “Damage Control” in-game), so Engineering consoles may increase this as well – oddly, however, a type of Science console called “Nanite-Reinforced Circuitry” can increase your regeneration rate. Certain personal, reputation, and starship traits can increase your regeneration rate as well. Your regen rate is generally doubled when you are not in combat.
Damage Output
While a high damage output isn’t necessary to be able to tank (the point of tanking is to be able to take a lot of damage, not dish it out), it’s a plus. There are several ways you can increase your damage, both your general damage and damage specific to an energy weapon type. Of course, there is the cloak ambush damage bonus, though this is temporary (though the duration is increased if you have the Infiltrator trait) and is only available on ships that can cloak. Another way is to upgrade your weapons to maximum mark and rarity. You can obtain Ultimate Tech Upgrades from various sources; the cheapest way is to get them from Red Alert events when they run. You can also get them from choice packs and items from Mudd’s Market, though this is not recommended as they cost Zen and are generally quite expensive (although they periodically go on massive discounts), plus you need to buy an item to get the upgrade, you can’t get the upgrade by itself. Another way to increase your damage is, like with your hull cap, through consoles and traits, such as the ones below.
Deflector, Impulse, Core, and Shield
Every ship needs a deflector, warp core or singularity, impulse engine, and shield in order to function. While there are many different kinds of these from many different sources, it is generally a good idea to use a set. These can be from reputations, events, or missions. In the case of a tank, the “Stamets-Tilly Field Modifications” set from the Discovery Legends reputation is a good choice, as it provides extra HP and regeneration. Furthermore, the four-piece set bonus active ability, called “The Power of Math,” increases your hit points for every enemy hit in a bonus that persists until you leave the map.
Weapon type-specific damage
In the case of weapons, players should try to stick to one energy type and avoid “rainbow boats” (called so due to different energy weapon types’ different colors). If you’re looking for a high damage output, certain consoles, such as Protomatter Matrix Infusers, can increase the damage of whatever energy weapon type you’re using. Each energy weapon type has its own unique weapons, each with a different programmed random occurrence (“proc”). Basic Plasma weapons have a chance to deal damage over time. If you’re focusing on regeneration, Assimilated plasma weapons (from certain lock boxes or the Exchange) have a chance to heal you over time and also increase your damage. Another good choice is the Piezo (polaron or plasma) energy weapon from the Lukari Restoration Initiative reputation, which also has a chance to heal you and nearby allies over time, for both shield and hull – however, you can only equip one of these. If you want to get all the increased hull you can get, Integrity-Linked phasers are a good choice. They add to your Hull Capacity and Damage Control skills by a small amount.
Consumables
Lastly, there are some consumable items that can increase your hit points. One of these is the Prototype Ablative Jevonite Hardpoints, which increase your Hull Capacity skill by 100 for fifteen minutes.
Example and Conclusion
From consoles to traits to specializations, there are many ways to increase your hit points and regeneration and be the punching bag of the team. In my case, this was the amount of hull I was able to get to from flying around in the Gon’Cra battlezone:
Not too shabby! This was after using Threatening Stance and The Power of Math, both with the maximum amount of stacks. I neglected to use the Jevonite hardpoints, since I don’t have many of them and want to save them for rainy days. I also didn’t have the “History Will Remember” trait at the time. In other words, my hull could have gone above 300k if I had done more. Either way it’s an impressive number – most players I team with average at around 150,000 hull.
I hope this guide was helpful for you. Happy tanking!