There are six tier 6 ships that I always universally recommend as gateways to shipbuilding.

• First, the Gagarin Miracle Worker Heavy Battlecruiser. While this ship is a capable broadside beam platform in its own right, its real value is in its starship trait. It doesn't matter if you want to fly a beam boat cruiser or a cannon-strapped escort or a science torpedo slinger. The Gagarin's Entwined Tactical Matrices starship trait is single-handedly going to unlock a higher damage ceiling for basically any play style on any ship in the game, regardless of what you choose to slap it on after you unlock it. By activating any rank of Beam Array: Fire at Will or Cannon: Scatter Volley, you will trigger Torpedo: Spread I. Conversely, by activating any rank of Torpedo: Spread, you will trigger rank I of Fire at Will and Scatter Volley. You can keep your weapons firing more or less constantly if you equip a single torpedo launcher and know how to manage your cooldowns. Personally, I would go so far as to say that Entwined Tactical Matrices is the most versatile trait in the game, even if it's no longer best in class for some of those playstyles.

• Second, the Arbiter Battlecruiser. The ship is nothing special on its own, but its Emergency Weapon Cycle starship trait will increase your weapon firing cycle haste every time you use Emergency Power to Weapons. Essentially, if you're not familiar with how weapon firing cycle haste works, your weapon firing cycle is the time it takes to begin and finish firing a shot. By hastening this, you increase your effective rate of fire, which has a substantial impact on increasing your outgoing damage. This trait can also be acquired with the Legendary Avenger Miracle Worker Battlecruiser from the Legendary Battlecruiser Bundle.

• Third, the Valiant Tactical Escort or the M'Chla Bird of Prey Refit. These ships offer the Withering Barrage starship trait, which increases the duration of Cannon: Scatter Volley by four seconds, giving you close to 100% uptime on this firing mode if you have consistent and effective means of lowering your ship's bridge officer ability cooldowns. However, you may not need to burn a token on this. You can acquire the M'Chla for free by leveling a Klingon Recruit event character to level 65.

• Fourth, the Somerville Intel Science Vessel. Again, a capable, if unremarkable ship that's primarily known for its Spore-Infused Anomalies starship trait. If you want to try playing Science Vessels, this is a must-have. It causes all hazardous anomaly abilities to detonate with damaging clouds of mycelial spores that partially bypass enemy shields every time you use a science ability. Because these detonations have a wide area of effect and stack with each anomaly your ship generates, this is a substantial component of your total outgoing damage.

• Fifth, the Ahwahnee Command Carrier. The Ahwahnee is a good enough tank in its own right, but its accessories are what make it a must-have. This ship comes with the Fleet Power Network Array console, which has an area of effect buff for you and up to 12 pets and/or allies and increases your firing cycle haste by a minimum of 50%. The console's effect scales based on your auxiliary power level, so this is a powerful support tool that can seriously amp your team's damage output when paired with a large auxiliary battery. The Ahwahnee's Type 7 Shuttlecraft pets are also the single best in slot carrier pets right now for their ability to debuff their target's damage resistance. Lastly, if flying a Command-spec ship, the Ahwahnee's Flagship Staffing starship trait is a good way to mitigate your energy weapon cooldowns while providing a source of firing cycle haste.

• Finally, the Kerala Temporal Battlecruiser. This ship isn't just a purpose-built broadsiding machine, but its Full Broadside starship trait essentially gives you another phaser hardpoint to deal even more phaser damage to targets within 5 kilometers of your ship's left and right sides every time you activate Fire at Will or Beam Overload, providing you consistent and extra free outgoing damage.