I was just palying with my Mk XII Tholian ground set from the Lobi store and it has an ability after taking X amount of damage to release it in a massive discharge. Apply this to a Space set. As you take damage it builds to a crit point then you can release it like a shock wave or re-route it to Eng for a burst of speed longer that of IM or a Duterium tank. Or reroute it to Weps and you can choose cannons or beams for a lance like attack. Or use it for a shield stripping Deflector attack. Or you can use it to heal your hull. So the shields would wear down like any other set but as you recieve crits you build up power and you can use a little here or there to boost or heal, or let it max and when it is full you can resease a special attack.