EDIT: My "final" build - as in when I stopped talking about it and just upgraded stuff - is...
(And, read the afterword - I would NOT recommend building this precisely, though it IS cheap!)
Ship: Fleet D'Deridex Retrofit, with an Engineer Captain.
Weapons Fore: 2x Caustic Plasma DBB Mk XIII [Acc]x2, 1x Romulan Plasma DBB Mk XII [Acc] [CrtD], 1x Romulan Hyper-Plasma Torp
Weapons Rear: 4x Caustic Plasma Turret Mk XI [Acc]x2
Deflector: Adapted KHG (KDF) / MACO (FED) Mk XII
Impulse: KHG Engine MK XII (KDF) / Adapted MACO (FED) Engine MK XII
Singularity: Elite Fleet Reinforced Singularity Core Mk XII [SingA] [OLoad] [WCap] [AMP] [SSS]
Shield: Adapted KHG (KDF) / MACO (FED) Mk XII
Devices: Subspace Field Mod, Deployable Turret of the Week, Shield Battery and Weapon Battery
Engineer Consoles: Plasmonic Leech, Enhanced Neutronium Alloy Mk X [+Turn], Enhanced RCS Accelerator Mk X [+AllRes], Zero-point Energy Conduit Mk XIII
Science Consoles: Emitter Array Mk XII [-Th] [Pla], Bioneural Infusion Circuits, Assimilated Module Mk XIII
Tac Consoles: 2x Vulnerability Exploiter Mk XIII [+Pla], 1x Vulnerability Locator Mk XII [+Pla]
DOFFs: 2x Damage Control Engineer(Reduce recharge on EptX), 1x Warp Core Engineer (Improve power on EptX), 2x Energy Weapon Officer (30% Shield Pen on Beam Overload)
BOFFS:
Com Eng: EptS 1 / ETeam 2 / EptW 3 / A2SIF 3
Lt. Com Sci: HE 1 / STeam 2 / HE 3
Lt. Com Tac: BO 1 / BO 2 / APDelta 2
Ens Tac: TacTeam 1
Uni Tac: TacTeam 1
I get 11k DPS*, before upgrading this build further into MK XIV Epic gear.
Afterword: This is, of course, my build when I stopped posting here about it. It's quite comfortable, and I'll be upgrading the various parts of it. My goal is 20k DPS, which I'm fairly confident I can reach.
In summary, Beam Overload is a fun and more than viable build for elite STFs, but it doesn't reach to the best. However, I think you could make a better build than a 60k FAW build with Overload, because of the shield pen - if you used one DBB to spike Overload and then used CRF or CSV with a DHC build. You will need at least 7 tac slots to do so; more research is required.
Point 1: Caustics are bad, even if they are 'free'. This build was started before the upgrade/crafting system, which is part of why it uses them. If you want to go green, use Rom Plasma. If you're looking for a generic Overload build, antiprotons are definitely the way to go, and make room for some AP-boosting stuff like the Ancient Obelisk Technology set. If you're set on plasma, use ONE caustic, and one only. Even just on your turrets; the effect is the same. The order that you right-click your weapons to autofire is the order they will fire in, so as long as you set your Caustic plasma weapon to proc before the others, you should be fine. Either way, the caustic proc is garbage.
Point 2: The shield pen on overload doofs are important. Most people do 1 damage to shields, 2 damage to hull, or 1:2. This build does 1:7, meaning you wipe out ships a lot faster than your raw DPS numbers might suggest. This, however, is situational - in STF's like ISE or CSE with a lot of structures to bash against, your shield pen isn't worth much. However, when facing down the clusters of spheres that spawn, your single-target focus is a definite bonus. On the other hand, in STF's like Borg Disconnected where the enemy flagship shields almost never go down, you are as a god, and it will feel amazing.
Generally speaking, you hit well above your weight and you should have zero problems transitioning to PvP if you like.
Point 3: This build is tanky as hell. I routinely run CCE (for the radiogenic particle, of course) with it and I can tank the Pulse no problem, the most I drop is to 50% hull. This translates into more DPS, of course, because you don't have to run away and escape the pulse like a puny Escort.
Point 4: The mix of tac consoles is incorrect. At last check, my crit stats are 30% crit with 120% severity, which should be less crit chance and more severity. Using [acc] weapons gives a HUGE bonus to crit chance as well as (patch-dependent) severity, and if you go with [acc] weapons, you need to use Exploiters, not Locators. [Acc] is still a useful modifier; don't get sucked into Reddit-think. Reddit is great for build suggestions like CrtD/Locators, but they take one idea and then immediate discard anything contrary to the gospel du jour.
Point 5: I also have up to the second tier of Pilot mastery specialization maxed out. Turn rate is important in a D'D, as it translates to Time on Target, which translates into DPS. My D'D has a turnrate of 16 and rising as I upgrade stuff. Similarly, the D'D has only 3 tac console slots., you should be able to get a lot more out of an Overload build with 4 or 5 tac slots in a different ship and reach your DPS to 30k.
Point 6: Unless you are being very deliberate about which weapon you fire for your Overload, DO NOT use omni arrays with an Overload build. You don't want to "waste" an overload on a weapon that does so little (comparatively) base damage, as Overload will use whatever Beam weapon is next to initiate a firing cycle after you trigger the Overload. If you want to run an all-beam build, you might want to practice timings. Personally, as you can see, I'd rather just use turrets to match the DBB's.
Original Post:
I'm working up a pretty canon-appearing Derpidex build with Plasma beams.
It's also peculiar in a few ways, that are relatively unimportant.
I'm a little intimidated by the number of new rep sets that are available, and I don't know what to put on it.
While the spreadsheet guide I posted up a year or so ago is helpful, it doesn't help me contrast the new sets. I was thinking of updating it, but I'm not sure anyone else actually used the thing, so why bother...
Anyway, I'm just a little boggled by options right now, which is a really nice state to be in for a game.
But my real question is, what rep set/non-rep items should I be gunning for, for my shield/singularity core/impulse engine/deflector?
My priorities are:
#1 Turn rate
#2 Weapon Power
#3 Weapon Crit Severity (not chance, the pecularities of this build make chance irrelevant)
#4 Hull Regen/Strength
#5 Shield Regen/Strength
I don't care about any science skills or anything else, as to my knowledge, particle generators does not do anything for the plasma burn DoT's. This build is peculiar, but relatively straightforward. I do use an Energy Syphon on it, so FlowCap is appreciated, but far from a concern. And I'd actually love to swap the Syphon out for something else if I can get my weapon energy consistently at 125 without it.
I took first place at CCN with mark X and XI (non-rep) gear earlier today, so I'm pretty confident in my build already... Just need something other than common and uncommon gear low-level gear on it.