[Star Trek Online] Space looks like space now! Everything is wonderful.

Basil · November 2010

Updated as of November 24th, 2010.
Patch Notes - Nov 12
Season 3 Notes

Starships? Oh, we've got a few.
(Warning, 56k) Federation / KDF

NEW - Feature Episodes are LIVE

Feature Episodes debut on Saturdays at 11 a.m. Pacific and remain available indefinitely for any character of any faction. Each Series is comprised of several episodes in a story chain. You must complete the first episode before you can move on to the next. To begin a Series, travel to the sector listed in the Contact section of each episode, and you’ll be prompted to talk to the Contact in the lower-right portion of your UI. This Contact will offer you any episodes you are currently eligible to play.

Series 1: The Breen
Beginning in late August, Series 1 introduces a fan favorite: The Breen. A longtime enemy of the Klingon Empire, the Breen have grown even more aggressive and have taken particular interest in the planet Defera. It's up to you and your crew to determine what's brought the Breen to Defera and to save the Deferi people.

Episode 1: Cold Call

Starfleet and the Klingon Empire both respond to call for aid after the Breen attack the planet Defera.

Episode 2: Out in the Cold

While searching for a lost ship, the crew uncovers a plot to enslave the Deferi people.

Episode 3: Cold Comfort

Breen slavers leave a ship and its crew crippled while they hunt for buried memories among the Deferi.

Episode 4: Cold Case

The crew must outrace the Breen in a hunt for information that stretches across the Orellius Sector Block.

Episode 5: Cold Storage

In the story finale, the crew comes face-to-face with Thot Trel as they struggle to protect their amazing discovery.

That's five, count them, 5 new episodes with attached repeatable quests in the new Orellius sector! This is quality stuff, folks.

Series 2: The Devidians
Thousands of Starfleet officers and KDF warriors have died in the battles in the Neutral Zone. The destruction has drawn the attention of the Devidians, unseen predators who use chaos as a cover for their kills. This time, however, their plans involve more than simple survival. You must stop them before they can change the face of the quadrant forever!

Episode 1: Skirmish

An unexpected enemy returns when your ship is called to battle in the Neutral Zone.

Episode 2: Spin the Wheel

A deep cover intelligence operative on Drozana Station needs your help. Dabo!

Episode 3: What Lies Beneath

Something more than Devidians haunts the lower levels of a 200-year-old space station. Will you survive long enough to learn the truth?

Episode 4: Everything Old Is New Again

Follow the mystery back to a place where everything is familiar, but nothing is the same. Get the help of a legend and find out what the Devidians have planned.

Episode 5: Night of the Comet

Even help from old friends may not be enough to stop the Devidian threat in time.

Taking place in the Eta Eridani Sector Block, this series is currently ongoing! Episode 4 debuts today.

New Dailies! One from your Eta Eridana contact, one near the Alhena system, and one from a freighter near Azha.

NEW - The latest batch of refit starships are now [strike]in testing.[/strike] here! KDF rejoice! Screenshots abound for your viewing pleasure. The Akira has also seen a somewhat dramatic visual update, while the Galaxy X is missing a wing.

Live:

* Varanus Fleet Support Vessel
o Gorn-designed Science Vessel with integrated subsystem targeting.
o 3 fore, 3 aft weapon slots.
o Lt. Tactical, Ens. Engineering, Lt. Engineering, Lt. Cmd. Science, and Cmd. Science officer seats.
o 2 Tactical, 2 Engineering, and 4 Science console slots.
o Crew: 750
o Special ability: This ship can launch up to 5 Repair Platforms that will deploy drones to assist itself or allied ships.
+ Each repair platform can only spawn 2 repair drones. So a full complement of repair platforms can provide healing drones for every member of the team.
+ If your drones get destroyed you can fly back to the platform and get more.

* Orion-designed Cruiser.
o 4 fore, 4 aft weapon slots.
o Lt. Tactical, Lt. Cmd. Engineering, Cmd. Engineering, Ens. Science, and Lt. Science officer seats.
o 2 Tactical, 4 Engineering, and 2 Science console slots.
o Crew: 1200 (from 800)
o Special ability: The player is able to deploy a wing of Orion Interceptor Fighters through a click ability. These fighters drop mines, disable subsystems, and capture crew from enemy ships.
+ Known Issue: The Icon for this special ability is currently a plain white icon. It will be fixed soon.

* B’rel Bird-of-Prey Retrofit
o Klingon Fighter.
o 4 fore, 2 aft weapon slots.
o 2 Lt. Universal, 1 Lt. Cmd. Universal, 1 Cmd. Universal officer seats.
o 3 Tactical, 3 Engineering, 2 Science console slots.
o Crew: 30
o Special ability: Enhanced Battle Cloak. This ship can use mines and torpedoes while remaining cloaked, as well as most Bridge Officer and Captain abilities.

Season 2: Ancient Enemies is LIVE

Our latest content update, Season Two: Ancient Enemies, will be available in July 2010. In Ancient Enemies, you'll encounter and do battle with even more of Star Trek's iconic races, enjoy all new Episodes and experience Star Trek Online in brand new ways. Here's some of what you can expect in Season Two: Ancient Enemies:
Congratulations, Admiral

We're raising the level cap from 45 all the way to 51. With the increase comes new ranks:

* Federation:
o Rear Admiral, Lower Half (41-45)
o Rear Admiral, Upper Half (46-50)
o Vice Admiral (51)
* Klingon:
o Brigadier General (41-45)
o Major General (46-50)
o Lieutenant General (51)

With the new distinction comes a new set of rewards and content:

* New Tier 5 ships for both the Federation and Klingon factions. The Federation will receive an Exploration Cruiser retrofit featuring saucer separation, a Tactical Escort retrofit with a non-combat cloaking device and a Long Range Science Vessel retrofit with ablative generators. The Klingon Empire will receive the Kar'Fi Carrier, a Fek’Ihri Tactical Carrier with kamikaze S'Kul Fighters.
* Level 51 versions of every Special Task Force mission and Fleet Action.
* Mark XI gear rewards.

Klingon Episodes

In Season Two: Ancient Enemies, the Klingon faction will feature eight brand new Episodes tailored specifically to the Empire.

These Episodes star the Fek'ihri, the fabled enemy of Kahless, founder of the Klingon Empire. In Season Two, the Fek'ihri have returned and have again set their eyes upon Qo'noS. It's up to you and your friends to protect the jewel of the Empire from occupation!
The Federation Diplomatic Corps

There's more to life than leading with the sword. The Federation Diplomatic Corps brings subtlety to galactic turmoil. To kick off the new gameplay option, we're introducing First Contact missions in which you'll meet and interact with brand new civilizations.

As you progress with your diplomacy, you'll earn special ranks and rewards within the Diplomatic Corps, so you'll be rewarded for leading with the olive branch rather than the arrow.
Now Entering: Fluidic Space

In Season Two: Ancient Enemies, you'll continue your interaction with the Undine, venturing into their native Fluidic space to learn more about the enigmatic species and their struggle with the Borg.

The Undine story continues with five new Episodes, a Fleet Action and all new Deep Space Encounters.
Introducing Mini-Games

Coming to a space station near you is the casino game Dabo. Play Dabo in social hubs to earn gold pressed latinum, which you can then use to buy all sorts of special rewards.

Along with Dabo is the Anomaly Scan mini-game.

Anomaly Scan is a new way to discover resources in-game. By playing this special mini-game, you'll be able to find more anomalies than normal. You'll improve your yield and feel more engaged.
Feature Episodes, Weekly

In addition to all the great story-based Episodes we've got on tap for you, we'll be releasing new Feature Episodes every week, starting in August. These Episodes will introduce a new neutral mission giving race, the Deferi. Players of any level from both factions will be able to aid the Deferi against a new adversary. Be sure to keep an eye out for these special Feature Episodes as you enjoy Season Two!
Customization And More

We've got some great quality of life features headed your way, too. Some new improvements include:

* Fleet Emblems: Fleets can customize their own emblems and display them on ships, giving a Fleet a unified appearance in space.
* Improved Klingon Customization: All new costume options for Klingon Captains, and we've redesigned existing costume options to look better.

Recruit-A-Friend Program

Details:

Once your friend has purchased Star Trek Online, you’ll receive a brand new title – Courier – as well as an exclusive Holographic Tribble Pet! What’s more, you both can enjoy:

* A special power to instantly travel to your friend (first 30 days).
* A 5% Captain and Officer skill point bonus when you’re teamed up (first 15 days).
* A 5% damage bonus when you’re teamed up (first 15 days).

Once your recruit has subscribed to the game for a month, you’ll earn:

* A new title: Recruiter.
* An exclusive Holographic Bridge Officer (works with Federation and Klingon players).
* 400 Cryptic Points.

For each additional recruit that subscribes to the game, you’ll receive an additional 400 Cryptic Points. Once you’ve recruited five subscribers, you’ll receive these great rewards:

* A new title: Master Recruiter
* A special ship: The Tier 5 "All Good Things" Galaxy Class.

Recent Changes

Taken from The Season 2 state of the game update:

Stuff! [strike]Coming Soon[/strike] (That Isn’t Part of Season 2)

* The Accolade System – I know how much you guys have been wanting this, and I have to admit, I’m pretty stoked about it, too. Track your achievements. How much phaser damage have you dealt in your career? How many Federation officers have you shuffled off this mortal coil (assuming you’re playing a Klingon. No killing your allies, guys!)?
* The Squad System – This will let you team up with other players who aren’t in your level, and lets your effectiveness match so you can play together.
* Balance Adjustments – We have those DPS/recharge/global-ability-cooldown adjustments that many of our high-end players have been requesting. Log into Tribble and check them out. Give us your feedback! We’re testing it out now, so this is when we need to hear from you the most. Also – don’t forget to log into Tribble to “play with the devs” early next week. We’ll be there, will you?
* UI Improvements – We’re working on a window that will show you when rewards happen during normal character advancement (powers, unlocks, bridge officer reqs, etc.).
* Bug Fixes and Improvements – We’re always working on fixes and improvements, because a game developer’s job is never done.

But I’m betting a lot of you know this already, because you all read dStahl’s engineering reports, right?

Just so you know, though, we’re going to have to put out those reports without dStahl’s help for a little while, since he’s off becoming a dad right now.
Season 2

Season 2 is nearly upon us, and we’ve been working on a ton of content for that release:

* Minigames – Yes, ThomastheCat, there really is a Santa Claus. Or, at least, there really will be minigames in STO. As of update 1.3, you’ll be able to play Dabo at Quark’s. And we’ll be adding several more minigames throughout your ship and the galaxy in Season 2. There’s a great thread about minigames on the forums. Jump on board and chime in!
* Federation Diplomatic Corps – Federation players will be able to focus more on non-combat content and gain rank within the Diplomatic Corps. There are some very cool rewards in there, and some new diplomatic/exploration Episodes and missions. In fact, I played through a new “First Contact” scenario yesterday …We see a lot of potential for future diplomatic updates.
* Faction Free Episodes –The majority of Episodic content we’re adding to STO will be faction-agnostic. Both Klingon and Federation captains will be able to play through this content (although, probably not together – unless you really want to). The Breen Episodes and the high-end episodes in fluidic space will be available to Klingons.
* Klingon Exclusive Episodes - Because everyone loves Klingons, right? Season 2 has several Episodes just for Klingons. (The Fek’Lhri are scary, but I so want to fly one of their ships …)
* Bumping the Cap – We’re moving the cap up 6 grades to Vice Admiral 1. There will be more rewards and more content for those of you up at the end of the game.
* Ship Interiors – I have walked the curved hallways of my crew deck on the way to MY ten-forward …
* Weekly Content – We’re looking to start rolling out an Episode every week. Like a “STO Tuesdays” sorta thing (it may even happen on Tuesdays, but no promises on that one). We’ll start rolling out weekly Episodes after Season 2 goes live.
* Fleet Logos, High End Content, and Beyond … all before the end of July.

Play with us!

Penny Arcade has a fleet. The "Wangs On The Edge Of Forever" are still active and running five mans every weekend.

We have a chat channel setup, this is where we Arcadians chat. To join, type the following:
/channel_join "Penny Arcade"
The quotation marks are important, don't forget them.

There is also a PA Klingon Fleet, called the "House of M'rch." Everyone uses the same old Penny Arcade channel no matter their faction.

NEW - Just joined the KDF? Been here all along? Feeling lonely? Worry no more!

A community movement to bring newbies up to speed and have a good time has started. Larger numbers of players pop up here on Saturdays.

To join, again, type the following:
/channel_join "KDFassistance"

NEW - Wondering what's up on the Tribble Test Server? Need to ask questions? Just want to chat? We've got you covered. The TTS global chat channel is here to help.

/channel_join "TTS"

Game Resources

NEW - Graphical Ship Tier Charts for all your viewing needs: Federation KDF
NEW - Space Texture Modifications and First-Person Modes from STO-Advanced
NEW - The unabridged contents of the Cryptic Store.
Suricata's Star Chart
Official Forums Information Index
Character Planner
"The Engines Can't Take It" information blog
Memory Alpha Crafting Info Thread
Trek DB

Newbie Info

FAQ

Q: How do I go faster in space?

A: Toggle Full Impulse by pressing Shift + R or else click the Up Arrow button on your throttle display. Warning: Going into full impulse drains all power from shields, weapons, and aux to allow you to go faster. It is unwise to blast straight into combat from full impulse. A wiser course of action is to drop out of full impulse a short distance outside of combat range and let your power levels readjust themselves.

Q: When do I get a promotion and a new ship?

A: You get new ships at levels 11, 21, 31, 41, 45 and 51. This corresponds with your promotion to Lt. Commander, Commander, Captain, and Rear Admiral.

Q: How do I access Fleet controls, PVP Queues, the Bridge, and other options?

A: There is an icon to the right of your mini-map which is a down arrow. Clicking this down arrow will give you a drop-down menu which has several important features on it. Yeah, its fairly well hidden.

Q: What is the difference between Patrols, Exploration, and Sector Defense missions?

A: Patrols are a one-time-only mission in which you are tasked with visiting 3-5 planets and completing an objective there. Exploration missions are repeatable but have a cooldown timer between repetitions. Typically you will be asked to beam to a planet and scan a few things, or else fly in space and scan anomalies, or sometimes defend a starbase from waves of enemies. Sector Defense missions are also repeatable. These are very simple combat missions in which you are supposed to kill 9 or 10 squads of enemies on a Deep Space Encounter map. All players on the map share the same objective.

Q: How do I turn-in quests or acquire new ones?

A: On the bottom left of your mini-map is a Starfleet icon. If you click this icon, it opens a window with all of your available mission contacts. From this window you will be able to turn-in and pick-up new missions. You do not have to fly back and visit your contact in person between each mission.

Q: What are Fleet Actions?

A: Fleet Actions are the same thing as Public Quests in other MMOs. They are a combat zone in which all players are working towards completing the same goal. The top 4 performers on a map are awarded good loot items, and everyone else is given vendor trash. Even if you don't score in the top 4, these are still a lot of fun and are worth running at least once to get quest completion. Scoring is based upon damage done to the enemy's hull. Shield damage does not count.

Q: How do I adjust my power settings?

A: The button on your power control window that looks like two sheets of paper will bring up a small menu with a 1, 2, and 3 on it. If you click button 3, it will change your window to allow you complete control over your power settings. This is the only way you can raise your aux.

Ship Info

Cruisers: Designed to be played by circling your enemy. These have a slow turn rate and are intended to be used as "tanks" and damage soakers. The common consensus seems to be that players should stick with beam arrays -- this will give them the largest firing arcs and weapon overlap as they circle their enemy.

Escorts: Designed to be played as a "hit and fade" style of attack. These are very fast and maneuverable ships. They are intended to make multiple passes on their target, unloading all the firepower they can on each successive pass. They have the lowest crew population and the smallest shields. This means they have lower survivability and low repair rates. They must rely on other ships to soak the damage and repair them when necessary.

Science Vessels: These ships are intended to be support ships on the battlefield. They have some incredibly strong buffs and debuffs at their disposal. They are also fairly maneuverable, although not as much as the escorts. They have the smallest amount of weapon slots and their primary strength lies in the usage of their abilities, not in their phaser banks or torpedoes.

The Borg are Scary

Missions for the 41+ crowd:

The Hive Mind Is Everywhere

The Borg are invading! Just in time for many of you to reach the rank of Admiral, we've got three new high-level Episodes centered around the classic Alpha Quadrant menace, the Borg. Here's what you can expect:

* Collateral Damage - Help save civilians caught in a battle between the Borg and Undine.
* Recovery - In this follow-up to Collateral Damage, Rescue colonists infected by the Borg virus and fight Undine determined to destroy them!
* State of Q - Q transports you back in time to do him a special favor.
* More to come!

Raid Episodes Are Here!

If you're looking for a challenge, look no further than our fantabulous Raid Episodes. Raid Episodes are available to both Federation and Klingon players.

* Infected - Investigate a federation station that Starfleet has lost contact with.
* The Cure - A planet has been completely taken over by the Borg. Fight them for control of the planet.
* Khitomer Accord - Travel back in time and uncover and participate in the events that led to the release of old Borg you encountered in the Tutorial Episode.
* Into the Hive - Track down a missing Starfleet captain and come face to face with the new Borg Queen.

Miscellaneous Information

Wrath of Khan Admiral Uniforms --

All you have to do is enter JIH MUSHA SOH into your STO profile page.

Old Thread Archive:

Open Beta Thread
Retail Thread I
Retail Thread II

Nakatomi2010 · November 2010

Hey new thread....

So we finally had a run through The Cure that finished with Success, which means we also have a system, as such as people need to be run through Infected or The Cure and you see your admirals online, let us know.

My new goal is to get a bunch of you through The Cure so that we can attack Khitomer Accords, which Voodoo and Hadrian can both confirm for you, starts out like a bitch....

I will be online again tomorrow night, however I will be playing with my engineer through The Cure this time. In order for the the system to work properly, the runner needs to be a medic, so we'll need to keep that in mind going forward.

That being said, if anyone wants to group up for tomorrow's weekly, just hop on around 8 or so.

Ceno · November 2010

Just got this, so I'll probably be trying to join the fleet pretty soon. Had a good time with the free trial.

VoodooV · November 2010

If there is anyone that needs buddy keys, I still have all 5 so send me a PM if you want them.

I suppose one of these days I should roll a new toon..either a Science officer or a Klink.

Hevach · November 2010

I also have all five invites and want a hologram.

If you want to roll another fed or a Klingon, you could do what I did and roll both. Get the Klink to level 6 for the current featured missions, which will probably get you to 10 for the first batch of Klingon story missions and the Breen ones. After that, I kind of back-burnered my Klingon and plan to mostly level him using featured episodes, since I get bored pretty damn fast with the grind in between story batches.

Are the Eta Eridani dailies actually available yet, or will they probably have to wait until the weekly episode to unlock them? I'm guessing the two or three new star systems in the block are related to them, but I couldn't do anything with them.

VoodooV · November 2010

Thanks to whoever put a bunch of crafting materials in the bank. I should be able to max out some of my crafting skills thanks to that.

And since it looks like I need a lot more badges of valor for some of purple X gear, I guess ill be doing some more STFs. So I guess I'm up for another STF tonight.

I do have to admit that its quite the bummer that only one person gets loot for the STF.

I'll be online in a little bit, gonna get some crafting done and maybe get the next devidian mission done. should get me up to RAUH4 hopefully. I need to do some of the diplomacy skills too. I need a lot of better equipment. I miss my quantum torpedoes and I want to get some more antiproton weaps

So what's the thought on the retrofit cruisers? Excelsior or Galaxy? I have to admit it's going to be tough going to a slower turn rate than my Sovereign

Hevach · November 2010

If it was the stuff split between the all ranks and tribble pages, you're welcome. I traded all my low and mid level stuff for a few 99 stacks of the high level stuff.

The Excelsior is pretty popular. You see a lot of tac captains with it especially. That LC tac slot lets you get high yield 3.

The galaxy retrofit has a low turn rate on it's own, but remember the saucer separation. I'm not sure what it actually is, but the stardrive section has a higher turn rate than the combined ship. You can get one for free at VA, so you don't really lose anything trying it out like you would buying the Excelsior off the c-store. LOT of engineering slots on that ship, too.

I really didn't like the Defiant retrofit. Didn't feel like I was getting anything really worth it over the shield heal I lost going from either of the RA escorts. The cloak doesn't really bring anything to PVE, and there's not much a pure cannon escort can do with ensign tac powers as it is.

Ceno · November 2010

Man there is a lot going on in this game. A thousand different types of points and commendations and god knows what else.

LogicReason · November 2010

So, the new mission was fun. The mission reward I'm kind of 'eh' about. The daily was actually pretty nifty and had some puzzle work in it, it seemed.

Rikidou Hyuuga · November 2010

new thread smell yessssssssssss

Hevach · November 2010

Just got back on and heading to the neutral zone. Apparently from chatter in zone chats, though, every fight except the very last one in the weekly can be avoided by sneakery, trickery, or uh... diplomery.

Edit: Made it through with only one fight, too. That was pretty fun. Screwed up one of my BO's positioning, otherwise I wouldn't have had that one, either. Actually a pretty well done mission if you don't go into it shooting everything that moves and looting everything that doesn't.

Is the reward just a blue phaser bank? That kind of sucks. I was hoping for a unique proton space weapon at some point this mission.

Anyone who hasn't done it, fly around the neutral zone. There's a freighter with a distress call style patrol that you don't see unless you get close. Just seemed to be fighting off a series of true way waves there. I ran into it down near Starbase 157. The Alhena system at the top middle of the block also has a distress call. Drake doesn't give you the missions like he does with the satellite repair one.

Anyone found the fourth patrol the patch notes mentioned?

VoodooV · November 2010

new mission was pretty fun...be prepared for more puzzles. easy puzzles mind you. I needed some new phaser banks anyway so I kinda like the reward...but the TOS phaser sound will get old after a while im sure.

Hevach · November 2010

I used it for a bit doing the dailies. It's awful loud compared to normal phasers, are the TOS Constitution blue phasers like that, too? Doesn't bother me much, though. It can't be mounted in a rear slot, so there's no chance of me using it. I only use an array in a rear slot if I'm using my Defiant anyway, and then it's just for beam overload.

On the subject of the dailies, answering my own question there was actually a dev in zone chat a bit ago. The fourth patrol unlocks after next week's daily (they're changing the patch notes to say there's only 3 now). If you get computer core fragments while doing the dailies, save them:

In the Alhena Refuelling Station there is also a chance you will find Computer Core Fragments dropping from True Way vessels. Collecting these unlocks the "True Intentions" accolade which may unlock a future daily after the Devidian Series is concluded.

VoodooV · November 2010

I kinda want to get the Excelsior refit for the tactical slots...That transwarp special ability seems rather worthless though.

Im just not a fan of how they do these BO stations. Maybe I just don't understand the tactics of the game enough..but it just seems to be that many of these skills are mostly useless/gimmicky. I've got a ton of Engineer BO abilities like power to auxiliary or power to engines or eject warp plasma that I just don't really use very often. power to weapons is useful...power to shields is SORTA useful...

I only get three tactical slots..two of them (overload 1 and high yield 2 are very useful, but the other skill I have is fire at will and well sure it looks pretty to watch phaser fire go everywhere...especially against clusters of fighters...but fighters aren't exactly a major threat.

I've heard of some people having BOs with duplicate skills so they can use one while the other cools down...is that the way to go?

Hevach · November 2010

It usually is the way to go to duplicate skills you use a lot, at least to an extent. I find with three ranks I rarely use them all, but with two they get used pretty consistently.

About power to shields: It's a pretty good shield heal to start with, but it's also a shield regen and defense buff. At low levels it doesn't matter, but at higher levels defense really starts to make the difference. In my escort it was around the Romulan levels that I found I really couldn't work without power to shields, and now I run with 3 shield heals and one hull heal (hazard emitters, though I use it more to put out hull fires than actually heal damage).

VoodooV · November 2010

I've used power to shields in emergencies mind you...so it's not like I think it's useless...I think it's just because I tend to use it when im being really hammered on so that in many cases, power to shields is just delaying the inevitable for a few seconds.

reverse shield polarity on the other hand has saved my bacon so many times.

Basil · November 2010

The trick is to hit power to shields before you start getting destroyed. Shield hardening is important!

see317 · November 2010

Random question here for you guys, I was watching some old TNG last night and the episode with the rogue Borg colony was on. Made me wonder if the borg ship from it was in the game anywhere.

this one

Nakatomi2010 · November 2010

No it's not. It is in Star Trek Armada though, but in this one. We get Probes, Spheres, Cubes and Tactical cubes...

Ceno · November 2010

Oh god I did nothing but play this all day. Made it up to Lieutenant Grade 6, and I'm so weary of my dinky little Miranda-class.

Things I love:
- The space combat feels right. Just complex enough to be fun without being overwhelming.
- It's solo-friendly.
- it's gorgeous.
- Great customization options.

Things that need work:
- The UI is clunky something awful. Making that map useful should be priority number one.
- It's too instanced to feel truly massive.
- There is way too much combat. I'm not sure if there is more variety as you progress, but anytime I have a mission where I just scan stuff it's a welcome relief.
- Way too many currencies/emblems/badges. I have no idea who charges what for where.

Having a great time though. Will contact the fleet shortly to join up.

Basil · November 2010

/channel_join "Penny Arcade"

To get in touch with us the easy way!

Just_Bri_Thanks · November 2010

I am using the TOS light cruiser. Just a little bit better, but just the traditional design makes it more visually appealing than the standard light cruiser. Plus an extra eng console and phasers that scale.

Hevach · November 2010

VoodooV wrote: »

I've used power to shields in emergencies mind you...so it's not like I think it's useless...I think it's just because I tend to use it when im being really hammered on so that in many cases, power to shields is just delaying the inevitable for a few seconds.

reverse shield polarity on the other hand has saved my bacon so many times.

Like Basil said, power to shields is one to use early - as soon as you've lost enough shields to get the bulk of the heal, hit it. I have both of my engineering powers with different ranks and basically rotate them, giving me an almost always-up defense boost.

Keep your shields up and you're just about invincible in PVE. Undine plasma torpedoes are the only thing that'll do an appreciable amount of damage to you through shields, and hazard emitters will clear those. Since they really cranked up the cooldown on RSP, that's the "oh shit I'm dying" shield heal, use it when you're about to lose shield arcs and let your enemy recharge you. Other ones (science team, transfer shield power, power to shields) are better to use early and often.

VoodooV · November 2010

yeah I forgot about damage resistance buff on power to shields...So I was basically using Rotate Shield Frequencies as you describe. If I recall correctly Rotate shield freq reduces damage by more...but power to shields adds more to your shield boost and regen....Ive been alternating them more instead of just using it when I need it and that's been working out better

EDIT: That's part of why I get annoyed with all these weak ensign skills..I'd gladly trade most of them in for one additional higher level power.

Or maybe I just need to chose a different commander skill. I was using eject warp plasma III for my cmdr skill but admittedly I just haven't used it lately. If I get rid of that and replace it with reverse shield polarity III...I could have both power to shields III and power to weapons III

Invisible · November 2010

If you need any Science skills, I can train a lot of them. Gravity Well III and Tractor Beam III are especially good, but I think GWIII is Commander only, but TBIII is LTcmdr.

Which reminds me, I need to ditch Tachyon Beam III since it blows. Tyken's Rift I drains more shields than it does.

Just_Bri_Thanks · November 2010

So I am out of the loop a bit on this: You can't trade Bridge officers that are part of your crew, but you can only train bridge officers in your own career track. What mechanism did they put in to get around that?

Hevach · November 2010

Just_Bri_Thanks wrote: »

So I am out of the loop a bit on this: You can't trade Bridge officers that are part of your crew, but you can only train bridge officers in your own career track. What mechanism did they put in to get around that?

You can trade officers that are on your crew in person. You can't mail them or put them on the exchange.

You do have to take all their gear and devices off, and special officers (anything off the C-store or the Breen, for example) can't be traded.

Just_Bri_Thanks · November 2010

So I can never get my Liberated Borg bridge officer trained?

I guess that is OK...

Librarian's ghost · November 2010

So I smartly started the new episode after I changed my whole away team to TOS uniforms. It felt pretty awesome running around that setting I wish there was a way to have a TOS style bridge and ship interior. Also I want a TOS hand phaser after seeing the station security using them.

VoodooV · November 2010

One more level to go to Vice Admiral!...just finished all the Undine missions...think all ive got left are dailies and diplomacy missions

Fartacus_the_Mighty · November 2010

I find it slightly lame that the reward item for this episode is the exact same thing that a lot of players already have by virtue of having the TOS Constitution.

Just_Bri_Thanks · November 2010

Yes, but now you can get a third one.

Librarian's ghost · November 2010

Just_Bri_Thanks wrote: »

Yes, but now you can get a third one.

Which is freaking awesome, by the way.

Hevach · November 2010

Somebody mentioned in the other thread you could claim, strip, and decommission your TOS connie over and over and get as many as you want.

Librarian's ghost · November 2010

Hevach wrote: »

Somebody mentioned in the other thread you could claim, strip, and decommission your TOS connie over and over and get as many as you want.

Fuck, must try this.

see317 · November 2010

timspork's ghost wrote: »

Hevach wrote: »

Somebody mentioned in the other thread you could claim, strip, and decommission your TOS connie over and over and get as many as you want.

Fuck, must try this.

Why? For most of the game the TOS ship phasers do less damage then you could be doing.
I mean, at Cmdr1 they do slightly more DPS then a MkIV bank. At Cmdr5 they do about the same as a MkV and they don't start doing MkVI damage until you're nearly a Captain.

However, you can buy MkVI weapons from the exchange and use them any time after you hit Cmdr. God knows I don't spend money on anything else, so long as I feed my junk to the ship replicators on a regular basis I'm not likely to go broke anytime soon. Well, maybe if I can't find a way to fight this raging dabo addiction...

Unless you just like the blue beams. That I can totally understand and get behind. PEW PEW PEW!

Librarian's ghost · November 2010

At VA These do more damage than X level and I've yet to get an XI level phaser array.

Fartacus_the_Mighty · November 2010

Hevach wrote: »

Somebody mentioned in the other thread you could claim, strip, and decommission your TOS connie over and over and get as many as you want.

Yup. I have six of them on my refit Excelsior. I can't log in to check now, but I believe they removed the "forward" and "rear" versions and converted them all to normal arrays you can place anywhere, which I suppose is kind of nice.

Edit: regarding their effectiveness, yes, they're slightly weaker than the best weapons you can get. However, they are incredibly useful while leveling up, since you won't need to replace your beams to stay relatively effective. You'll probably want to replace your weapons with blues and purples when you hit VA, though.

Nakatomi2010 · November 2010

I enjoyed the mission, and as interesting as the retrofit beam banks are I still prefer my anti-proton weaps... Plus only having one of those looks kinda weird... I'll keep it on my Galaxy refit, but all my other characters wont have a need for it...

can't a trade items that are bound to me between characters?

Edit: Also, I'll be online a bit early tonight.... Don't know what I'm going to do though....

The Cow King · November 2010

Just waiting on the support to get back to my ticket and hopefully I can resolve my connection issues and continue to play.

I want to get my tac officer to Lt. Cmdr I must have the escort!

VoodooV · November 2010

I like the weapon bank only because with the exception of one or two weapons...all of my guns on my ship are mark X commons so right now...the forward bank is currently my best gun.

Now eventually, yeah that won't be the case, but right now, I is happy.

BTW...anyone got any Mark X poloron beam arrays they don't need? I'd like to get the ship damage dealt accolade associated with it.

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