As was foretold, we've added advertisements to the forums! If you have questions, or if you encounter any bugs, please visit this thread: https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/240191/forum-advertisement-faq-and-reports-thread/

[STO] Old thread is old

14849515354101

Posts

  • Fartacus_the_MightyFartacus_the_Mighty Brought to you by the letter A.Registered User regular
    Hevach wrote: »
    Last giveaway is back to lame - 2 specialization points, once per account.

    Well, I'm not gonna say no, but...

  • HevachHevach Registered User regular
    There is one small good thing about specialization point giveaways: They don't count towards the cap.

    Normally, once all you fill all the specializations completely, you get dilithium payouts instead of points, until a new specialization pushes the cap higher. However, giveaway points don't count. So every giveaway point you get is a point you can "bank" past the cap to get a head start on a new specialization.

  • Fartacus_the_MightyFartacus_the_Mighty Brought to you by the letter A.Registered User regular
    Is there a space ability called "Asshole Knockback"?

    Because I keep running into this thing in STFs where I line up an exquisite firing angle on an enemy group, pop my cooldowns... and have my Scatter Volley mostly wasted because some asshole activates a knockback ability that blows most of the ships out of my cone of fire.

  • SnicketysnickSnicketysnick The Greatest Hype Man in WesterosRegistered User regular
    A not insignificant number of people use Tractor Beam repulsors for dps, but yes it's very irritating. Even moreso if the group was nicely clustered in a gravity well or tyken's rift.

    7qmGNt5.png
    D3 Steam #TeamTangent STO
  • Fartacus_the_MightyFartacus_the_Mighty Brought to you by the letter A.Registered User regular
    Apparently some folks really max that out. I've engaged a group at near max range (~9km) and had ships blown all the way behind me. I'm thiiiis close to dumping cannons and running a broadside FaW build so I don't have to worry about positioning as much.

  • tastydonutstastydonuts Registered User regular
    edited January 2018
    You haven't lived until you've propelled a cluster of enemies several LY in every direction.

    they could just be running builds optimized for fighting the one faction in the game where the enemy being grouped together is bad though, and also not feeling like changing it?

    tastydonuts on
    “I used to draw, hard to admit that I used to draw...”
  • SnicketysnickSnicketysnick The Greatest Hype Man in WesterosRegistered User regular
    I'll admit I derived a great deal of cackles from running the Overwhelming Force trait (High Yield Torps cause photonic shockwave on target, knocking them back in an aoe) + the Romulan Rep torpedo that is a constant string of High Yield plasma torps.

    7qmGNt5.png
    D3 Steam #TeamTangent STO
  • HevachHevach Registered User regular
    edited January 2018
    Note I'm not actually sure if the Drantzuli show up in this mission, the servers seem to be fucked. I'm assuming it's a safe bet, though, as that hint has been at the core of the Tzenkethi conflict to which this mission is supposed to be the climax.
    My assumption is that we stop the Tzenkethi's planet destroying rampage and end up leaving the Drantzuli unchecked, and dealing with them will be the thing at least until Victory is Life comes out later this year.

    Hevach on
  • NyysjanNyysjan FinlandRegistered User regular
    I first started playing at launch.
    Picked engineer and my ships were cruiser on the theory that while they are slow and turn like a beached whale, they would also be though.
    Two out of three ain't bad, right? Sure they were slow, turned like a beached whale, but they also were though like a wet paper bag with a holes in it.

    Been playing again for the past couple weeks, and it's been fun, more story content, you can repeat the stories, and the writing ain't bad, not all that good either, but not bad.
    UI was, is, and will probably remain a mess, not the worst i've seen, but pretty bad, ground combat feels laggy lot of the times and space combat can be a mixed bag with the amount of damage you do, and receive, can feel downright arbitrary.
    But for the most part, the game is not hard unless you decide to play on harder difficulties, and provides enough challenge to keep you from falling asleep, and can be fun to see where things go.
    And The rep grinds are fairly simple, duty officer missions give an extra dose of feeling like you actually have a ship to run (though what missions you get feels too random), and being able to send your old ships to do missions is also fun (though those mission are way overtuned for someone who has not spent months to buy all tier 5 ships, or hundreds of dollars/euros for T6's).

    So, all in all, a fun free to play game worth the price.

  • HevachHevach Registered User regular
    There's actually another day of giveaways for those people who can get into the game, it didn't end with the specialization points like everybody expected.

    Not that it's much better: Two universal tech upgrades, once per account. These are not as good as the Phoenix upgrades, they're the same as the best craftable ones but without the dilithium cost.

  • SnicketysnickSnicketysnick The Greatest Hype Man in WesterosRegistered User regular
    edited January 2018
    So, huh yeah that mission ends on a note eh?
    Drantzuli are Hurq forerunners, DS9 gets wrecked so it can be rebuild more accurately like Spacedock did and then fuckin' Odo shows up with the lads at the end? Last time there was a big shift like this it was right before Delta Rising, crazy!

    The set bonuses of the new gear look ok, at least for free stuff, 13% Pha/Dis/Pla damage is pretty decent for a 2 piece if you're not running anything better. Also, there's a non-laser mekleth for the week 4 reward if anyone's chasing that.

    Snicketysnick on
    7qmGNt5.png
    D3 Steam #TeamTangent STO
  • HevachHevach Registered User regular
    edited January 2018
    Well, since I screwed up and clicked that spoiler, might as well ask
    Like, actually Rene Auberjonois or did they cheap out like they did with Las and the lady Founder?


    Also, that *really* puts a new meaning on the Victory is Life teaser holy shit.

    Hevach on
  • SnicketysnickSnicketysnick The Greatest Hype Man in WesterosRegistered User regular
    Hevach wrote: »
    Well, since I screwed up and clicked that spoiler, might as well ask
    Like, actually Rene Auberjonois or did they cheap out like they did with Las and the lady Founder?


    Also, that *really* puts a new meaning on the Victory is Life teaser holy shit.
    Definitely sounded like him, but it was like 3 words and could have easily been ripped from the show. There's no real sit down or anything as of yet, but after all the other cast Cryptic has pulled in over the last couple of years, I wouldn't be shocked to find out they'd had him in the recording booth on the sly.

    7qmGNt5.png
    D3 Steam #TeamTangent STO
  • LucascraftLucascraft Registered User regular
    Did they ever add any sort of randomly or procedurally generated missions? Like if I want to pursue a goal of being a diplomatic vessel, making first contact with new species, doing ambassadorial work, and that sort of thing, or perhaps follow a route of science, discovery, and knowledge, can I pursue those kinds of missions? Or is this game still mostly just a combat game with a Star Trek coat of paint?

  • MasterOfPupetsMasterOfPupets Registered User regular
    I really enjoyed the latest episode. Good times, and it strongly implies the next expansion won't be what everyone expected.
    Looks to me like we'll be teaming up with the Dominion to fight the Hurq, instead of fighting the dominion

    XBL = MoP54
    PSN = PessimistMaximus
    camo_sig2.png
  • HevachHevach Registered User regular
    edited January 2018
    They actually removed the procedurally generated missions that were in at launch because... Well, to call them shit is putting it lightly. The closest replacement they've gotten has been indirect content in the doff and admiralty systems. The mix of combat and other content runs quite a range - at least two of the Lukari/Kentari/Tzenkethi missions were almost completely non-combat, though they did have an obligatory climactic battle. Probably the best was an extended mystery sleuthing story with a skirmish against Nausicaan salvage claim jumpers at the end. At the other end, you've got missions likes todays or Ragnarok from the AoY expansion, which were constantly escalating combat culminating with some massive set piece


    Thoughts on the mission:
    Still not officially confirmed, but I'm pretty sure that line from Odo is show-mined like some of the TOS crew.
    Mission has no minigames but does have some good dialog and interactions. Mostly an action mission, though.

    As far as action goes, it's pretty great, epic in scope but without decaying into spammy bullshit like Ragnarok did by the time all the various factions assembled on both sides. It's easy to miss that the biggest engagement of the mission only involves about 16 ships, the scale comes from DS9 squaring off against a mega-dreadnought probably twice its size.

    The H'urq so far don't seem very impressive, but we only fight a single class of ship that appears to either be a heavy fighter of some sort, and some ground units that... It's not clear if the spiders are the H'urq themselves, a client race, or nonsentient war beasts.


    The whole Tzenkethi war seems... Sad. For most of it, it felt like the Tzenkethi were just being evil for the sake of it, killing because that's evil and evil is best because good is stupid. But now I think that was on purpose, because in this mission we find out it's because the Tzenkethi were fighting a different war than we were. And as the player's done over and over, we've now fucked up good and the galaxy is doomed and we just shot all the people who know how to stop it.

    Hevach on
  • MasterOfPupetsMasterOfPupets Registered User regular
    I think it's been heavily implied the whole time that the Tzenkethi were doing horrible things possibly for a good reason. I think we would have been fighting them regardless because we would never sacrifice millions though. We operated in ignorance, but end result is the same.

    XBL = MoP54
    PSN = PessimistMaximus
    camo_sig2.png
  • Commander ZoomCommander Zoom Registered User regular
    Lucascraft wrote: »
    Did they ever add any sort of randomly or procedurally generated missions? Like if I want to pursue a goal of being a diplomatic vessel, making first contact with new species, doing ambassadorial work, and that sort of thing, or perhaps follow a route of science, discovery, and knowledge, can I pursue those kinds of missions? Or is this game still mostly just a combat game with a Star Trek coat of paint?

    the latter, I'm afraid.

    They used to have such a system, but it was "not up to the standards of the rest of the game", so it was removed (and never replaced).
    Note that if they applied that to all the features that Cryptic has half-assed over the years, you basically wouldn't have a game at all.

  • Fartacus_the_MightyFartacus_the_Mighty Brought to you by the letter A.Registered User regular
    The exploration cluster missions were bad. The system generated a random tileset/layout, picked a random objective (scan stuff, click blinkies, kill all the dudes), and then chose either an existing species or a randomly generated one to fight against.

    Being a giant pile of shit, by itself, is generally not enough for Cryptic to get rid of a game feature, so maybe the procedural generation was stressing the servers or something. They killed it with extreme prejudice the minute they'd filled all the progression gaps with story content.

  • see317see317 Registered User regular
    To be fair, the exploration zone missions where extraordinarily shit, even by Cryptic standards.
    Having to go to an unexplored sector and fly around in circles until a random mission popped up was an awful way to stretch game time and cover XP progression gaps.

  • HevachHevach Registered User regular
    The worst part of the exploration missions is that they we're pre-generated, not on the fly. Something like 75% of the original download size was tied up in them, and constantly fixing them took up more dev time than anything else in the game.


    This isn't a matter of "the rest of the game sucked too hurr hurr" it's a matter of scanning a plant and getting back "Captain this is an artifact of Emperor %ERRnonamegen% of the Borg Third Dynasty. How it ended up so far from %ERRnodata% before the Borg developed warp travel is beyond me!"

  • BasilBasil Registered User regular
    Man, those messages were the best.

    9KmX8eN.jpg
  • NEO|PhyteNEO|Phyte They follow the stars, bound together. Strands in a braid till the end.Registered User regular
    Hevach wrote: »
    The worst part of the exploration missions is that they we're pre-generated, not on the fly. Something like 75% of the original download size was tied up in them, and constantly fixing them took up more dev time than anything else in the game.


    This isn't a matter of "the rest of the game sucked too hurr hurr" it's a matter of scanning a plant and getting back "Captain this is an artifact of Emperor %ERRnonamegen% of the Borg Third Dynasty. How it ended up so far from %ERRnodata% before the Borg developed warp travel is beyond me!"

    To be fair that sounds like a perfectly reasonable borg name.

    It was that somehow, from within the derelict-horror, they had learned a way to see inside an ugly, broken thing... And take away its pain.
    Warframe/Steam: NFyt
  • LucascraftLucascraft Registered User regular
    I just started this up on PS4. Man... gameplay is WAY different than I remembered. Or maybe it's just different for console...

    Anyway, on a loading screen on my PS4 I saw an ad for a lifetime subscription. It loaded by too quickly, however, and I wasn't really able to read it. But! Seeing those words on the screen jogged my memory. Way back in 2010 I bought myself a lifetime subscription to STO, back when it was NCSoft or whatever. I even searched through my email archive and found my purchase receipt for it.

    I have emailed Arc product support, or Perfect World, or whoever runs this shindig now, and I'm trying to get my old account restored with all my day 1 perks and rewards tied to it. I had like the Star Trek 2009 film outfits and stuff. And all the other perks that came with being an original member. Hopefully they'll be super cool and I can get my original account back.

    I used the same email to sign up for an Arc account that I used in 2010 for my Cryptic/NCSoft account. In fact, before I went through the hassle of making a new account, I tried to recover my original one, but apparently it didn't merge in their company change.

    Fingers crossed.

  • SnicketysnickSnicketysnick The Greatest Hype Man in WesterosRegistered User regular
    Just to head off your hopes somewhat... Lifetime subs do not transfer to console in any form, nor do any store purchases from PC either. However if it does come through, you'll be sitting on a veritable mountain of stuff on PC.

    7qmGNt5.png
    D3 Steam #TeamTangent STO
  • HevachHevach Registered User regular
    edited February 2018
    The super-special-secret-tier 5 unlock for the Colony has been revealed:
    c48e33b92acf76ab32f3d44e79ba20c11517422305.png
    The Lukari Dranuur-class Scout Ship. Basically a tier 6 version of the tier 5 saucer ship. Full fledged tier 6 ship - fleet level, mastery trait (heals cause radiation damage AOE around the healed target) and console (links you with an enemy and pulls both ships towards each other, while the link is active healing done to you is copied as damage to the target, and damage on the target is copied as healing to you).


    This was the third place winner in the Lukari ship vote, continuing the pattern all six entries in the contest had of following the commonly reported UFO shapes.

    Hevach on
  • LucascraftLucascraft Registered User regular
    I did get my old Cryptic account restored. Got my original main back.

    Of course, the game has changed so much in the 7 years since release that I don't know what's going on anymore or even what to do. I logged in and was completely clueless. I mean, it has been probably 6 years since I have played. I don't remember what I was doing previously. I don't know if that content even exists anymore. And I don't know where to get my bearings to even figure it out.

    Probably I'll just start a new character. Heck, I'll probably just play on PS4. I can earn trophies over there. And while it's just meaningless fluff, I like it. I like earning trophies.

    Does anyone else here play on console?

  • LucascraftLucascraft Registered User regular
    How do TOS characters work in the long term? Do they auto convert to regular Federation characters after the Agents of Yesterday quest chain is over? or do they remain TOS forever?

    Does the washed out 1960's TV effect go away after Agents of Yesterday?

  • Commander ZoomCommander Zoom Registered User regular
    TOS forever, with their own UI and FX, even when using 25th century equipment (which is... kind of weird, but probably unavoidable, and/or to the taste of most who'd play one). As I understand it, on a technical level, they're a stub faction of their own, allied with "regular" Fed.

    Yes; it's a part of the maps involved.

  • HevachHevach Registered User regular
    edited February 2018
    It comes back in 23rd century time travel missions. AOY goes with the Trials and Tribbelations conceit that the 23rd century really looked like that, it had nothing to do with being made in the 60s (likewise the excursions into the JJ-verse are full of overdone lighting and lensflare). Like your grandfather telling as a kid that cameras were always color, but the world used to be black and white.


    Functionally at the end of their intro campaign, TOS characters progress in the Fed campaign (starting from the SS Azura mission), join Fed fleets, use Fed hubs, and buy Fed ships. The exceptions are:

    -different UI theme
    -different rank pips in the target frame
    -different effects for scan and beam in, and different animations for tricorders and communicators
    -can't buy the tier 1 Miranda, like regular Feds can't buy the TOS starter ship.
    -Early access to special TOS-effects versions of many kit modules and training modules
    -Access to special TOS bridge officers as well as regular Fed officers (regular Feds can get TOS officers through the fleet system).


    All of these add up to cosmetic differences, really. Their tutorial is drawn out accross several missions like the Romulan one, but at the end you still end up going to rescue the Azura*.

    *-spoiler
    Agent Daniels pulls you out of time when you were "supposed" to die. He inserts you into 2409, taking over the identity of a fresh cadet who died a hero at Vega. So to Admiral Quinn, you're the same character as a regular Fed, the hero of Vega. Everything after level ten plays out as if you came through the Fed tutorial, except you get a boost of 8 or so levels compared to someone who did.

    Hevach on
  • SnicketysnickSnicketysnick The Greatest Hype Man in WesterosRegistered User regular
    The anniversary tie-in ships are a Pilot Bundle http://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/10804774-the-allied-pilot-escort-mega-bundle!

    With Andorian

    79875dad0ba7e56c0f267332b85de8fb1518438934.jpg

    B-Wing

    764816f4a56bc96d86ce2b624a10aeac1518439037.jpg

    and Fish..???

    bb94479323b24caf29e6b6a227c02a7d1518439159.jpg

    ships for each faction, 3 variants each.

    Consoles don't look particularly interesting, but the traits..oh boy if the numbers are right, 2 of these will be absolute winners
    Starship Traits


    Painful Memories

    Cause a psionic energy resonance within the EPS of enemy ships when activating any Foe-affecting Engineering Bridge Officer Abilities. This is reflected by an Electrical Damage-over-Time effect that also Slows the afflicted foe's engines.

    This console comes standard on these starships:

    Kuthar Andorian Pilot Escort [T6]
    Oniros Lethean Pilot Escort [T6]
    Dynnasia Dewan Pilot Escort [T6]


    Improved Gravity Well

    While this trait is slotted, your Gravity Well anomalies last twice as long, and recharge much faster. Additionally, the primary foe targeted by your Gravity Well activation will have their damage resistance rating reduced for the duration of the anomaly.

    This console comes standard on these starships:

    Chimesh Andorian Pilot Escort [T6]
    Nemosin Lethean Pilot Escort [T6]
    Ikkabar Dewan Pilot Escort [T6]


    Promise of Ferocity

    While this starship trait is slotted, activating Tactical or Pilot Bridge Officer Abilities will provide a bonus damage buff as long as you remain in combat. This buff stacks up to 5 times, but all stacks are lost immediately upon leaving combat.

    This console comes standard on these starships:

    Thozyn Andorian Pilot Escort [T6]
    Xechas Lethean Pilot Escort [T6]
    Vandros Dewan Pilot Escort [T6]

    Not a fan of the Romulan designs at all, which is a bit of a U-Turn on the normal state of affairs. But might be tempted to spend some of my Dil->Zen haul for the traits alone.

    7qmGNt5.png
    D3 Steam #TeamTangent STO
  • see317see317 Registered User regular
    I do like the look of the Lethean ship, like a cross between a B5 Starfury and a B-wing, with just a touch of asymmetry.

  • HevachHevach Registered User regular
    edited February 2018
    Pilot is an interesting choice, since we got a pilot megapack already. The Romulan ships look so goofy. I guess you can't expect much skill in starship design from an extinct prewarp civilization.

    It is nice seeing something of a return to the faction affiliate ships after quite a haul of just core faction ships for everybody.

    Hevach on
  • PoketpixiePoketpixie Siege Registered User regular
    That Romulan ship looks like someone tacked a quiff roller/brush onto the back end.

  • Fartacus_the_MightyFartacus_the_Mighty Brought to you by the letter A.Registered User regular
    Poketpixie wrote: »
    That Romulan ship looks like someone tacked a quiff roller/brush onto the back end.

    "As you can see, our proposed design is high-performance while also remaining compact."

    "Yeah but what if we need to clean a giant space bong?"

  • PoketpixiePoketpixie Siege Registered User regular
    edited February 2018
    I just noticed that at some point they changed the skill trees and I didn't notice. Oops! I've been reading some stuff on Reddit's STO builds trying to figure out skills and items and build strategies. My brain hurts now. And I need like a billion dilithium because I've never really bothered buying rep gear or upgrading anything.

    I noticed some of the builds I was looking at skimp on defensive space skills. Are they just not that good? As far as Specialization trees are there any in particular that stand out? I'd been using the Command and Pilot trees but they're not entirely filled out.

    Poketpixie on
  • SnicketysnickSnicketysnick The Greatest Hype Man in WesterosRegistered User regular
    I expect that a lot of builds skip defensive stuff because they are glass cannons chasing dps rankings, rather than anything else. I've got quite a lot in engineering as a "Generalist" build as you can see here

    BLc9bbk.jpg

    This is pretty much what I use on most characters, but obviously slightly tweaked so some might have the electric damage talent if they are a bit more drain oriented for example.

    As for Specialisations, Intel as Primary is pretty standard, there's some good stuff there. I don't really like Pilot, but I don't fly many escorts either, so most of the manoeuvrability stuff is of limited use to me. Don't worry too much about Dilithium, you'll get a bunch from just finishing out the reps, which will give time to have a look at the various items and see what you want to spend it on.

    7qmGNt5.png
    D3 Steam #TeamTangent STO
  • PoketpixiePoketpixie Siege Registered User regular
    Oh I've already finished out most of the reps at least on my main and quite a few alts as well. The dilithium has long since been spent(on ships). Fortunately it seems easier to come by then ever with doffing and admiralty stuff. I should probably get around to filling out the doffing capabilities of my alts at some point just to maximize dilithium farming.

    I appreciate the answers. :)

  • SnicketysnickSnicketysnick The Greatest Hype Man in WesterosRegistered User regular
    Admiralty is great for Dilithium if (as it sounds) you have a good sized ship stable, gets even better with a couple of alts as well. Plus there's no flying around and fishing for colonist missions like there is with Doffing, so it's easy to just set up a batch and go do something else nice and quick.

    7qmGNt5.png
    D3 Steam #TeamTangent STO
  • HevachHevach Registered User regular
    Season 14.5 has been announced formally now, first content announcement is a 15-point secondary specialization, Constable. Constable talents apply to both space and ground, and revolve around the Antagonist trait. Once you've maintained a target for 4 seconds, it's designated your Antagonist as long as you remain locked onto it.

    Talents:

    Close the Gap: Increased movement when facing your antagonist
    Confiscate: Weapon attacks strip buffs from your antagonist
    Wear Down: Antagonist health regen drops the longer you remain locked onto them
    Tear Down: Increased damage against antagonist
    Singular Focus: While you have an antagonist, increased damage resistance from every source *except* the antagonist.

    Trait unlock for filling the tree: Arrest: Significantly reduces cooldown for all bridge officer abilities when you kill your primary target (note: Not antagonist, as traits aren't tied to the spec that unlocks them. If this triggers before the 4 second lock on for Constable powers, this could be very powerful indeed).

This discussion has been closed.