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Community => Other Games => Topic started by: hurple on January 18, 2016, 08:21:12 PM

Title: Star Trek Online
Post by: hurple on January 18, 2016, 08:21:12 PM
So, been toying around with STO for a few days... and I cannot figure out how to do *anything.*  I mean, I can fly the ship, and kill the baddies, but I don't know how to level, how to get more crew members, what good all these drops do for me, etc...  I don't even know how to find what level I am. 

HELP!

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on January 18, 2016, 10:28:26 PM
So, been toying around with STO for a few days... and I cannot figure out how to do *anything.*  I mean, I can fly the ship, and kill the baddies, but I don't know how to level, how to get more crew members, what good all these drops do for me, etc...  I don't even know how to find what level I am. 

HELP!
I will help you captain. To level all you do is hit the k button, then click on your captain, from there you allot the points into the skills you want. For the bridge officers there are different ways of getting them, one is from the z store, 2 is from the bridge officer request to ESD. Third is from the market on ESD or Kronos.
The drops if you do not want to keep them you can vendor them, this is pretty much the only way to earn EC.
The level part is you captains rank so if you see LT 5 you are in a way level 6.
Btw if you need bridge officers I can give you some, rares and very rares :). I wont be on until tomorrow. I can also invite you into the fleet I am in, called Paragon (I forgot the rest of the name)
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: hurple on January 19, 2016, 05:12:21 AM
I will help you captain. To level all you do is hit the k button, then click on your captain, from there you allot the points into the skills you want. For the bridge officers there are different ways of getting them, one is from the z store, 2 is from the bridge officer request to ESD. Third is from the market on ESD or Kronos.
The drops if you do not want to keep them you can vendor them, this is pretty much the only way to earn EC.
The level part is you captains rank so if you see LT 5 you are in a way level 6.
Btw if you need bridge officers I can give you some, rares and very rares :). I wont be on until tomorrow. I can also invite you into the fleet I am in, called Paragon (I forgot the rest of the name)

That'd be sweet... I got invited to a fleet, and joined, but I am a little uncomfortable with it and would gladly quit to join an ex-CoH cult, er, fleet.  (The one I joined has "Confederation" in it... Making me a little uncomfortable)

I got a mission to help train some cadets, with the reward being a bridge officer of some kind, but went off to do other things and it seemed to disappear from my choices.

Odd.

OK, this helps a bit, but this game has a pretty steep learning curve.  Well, to me, anyway.  Might be helpful if i knew anything about Star Trek at all.

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on January 19, 2016, 05:14:08 PM
That'd be sweet... I got invited to a fleet, and joined, but I am a little uncomfortable with it and would gladly quit to join an ex-CoH cult, er, fleet.  (The one I joined has "Confederation" in it... Making me a little uncomfortable)

I got a mission to help train some cadets, with the reward being a bridge officer of some kind, but went off to do other things and it seemed to disappear from my choices.

Odd.

OK, this helps a bit, but this game has a pretty steep learning curve.  Well, to me, anyway.  Might be helpful if i knew anything about Star Trek at all.
Your welcome :) You can reach me by @angelpheonix12, the fleet I am in is called Paragon Expeditionary fleet. I will be on around 4:00 pm est :)
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on January 19, 2016, 05:35:52 PM
I just started it myself last week.  It's rather confusing, though I'm level 14 already, which means I have a spiffy new ship that's not quite as terrible as the one I started with.  (I probably should have gotten an Escort, so that I could end space battles more quickly, but I went with a Cruiser instead, because I couldn't resist having a ship that looked like the original Enterprise)

Your XP are "Skill Points", and can be directly used to increase your captain's abilities.  There's also "Expertise", which is something similar to that, but for your crewmen.  I haven't figured out how to learn new abilities for them.  (Keeps telling me I need training manuals, with no indication of where to get such manuals)

What confused me the most is that the missions seemed to stop for a while when I hit level 10.  I had to do some PvE-queue things before I could resume doing story-ish missions.  And then I started fighting vampire ghosts in a spooky haunted basement.

I'm kinda enjoying the game, but I'm not really excited about it.

Anyway, I'm Lt. Commander Drakar (of the USS Righteous Indignation - well, Rgts Indignation.  The full name was too long) @ zazelby.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: hurple on January 19, 2016, 07:20:23 PM
I just started it myself last week.  It's rather confusing, though I'm level 14 already, which means I have a spiffy new ship that's not quite as terrible as the one I started with.  (I probably should have gotten an Escort, so that I could end space battles more quickly, but I went with a Cruiser instead, because I couldn't resist having a ship that looked like the original Enterprise)

Your XP are "Skill Points", and can be directly used to increase your captain's abilities.  There's also "Expertise", which is something similar to that, but for your crewmen.  I haven't figured out how to learn new abilities for them.  (Keeps telling me I need training manuals, with no indication of where to get such manuals)

What confused me the most is that the missions seemed to stop for a while when I hit level 10.  I had to do some PvE-queue things before I could resume doing story-ish missions.  And then I started fighting vampire ghosts in a spooky haunted basement.

I'm kinda enjoying the game, but I'm not really excited about it.

Anyway, I'm Lt. Commander Drakar (of the USS Righteous Indignation - well, Rgts Indignation.  The full name was too long) @ zazelby.

Oh, I want to fight Space Vampire Ghosts.   :)

After that comes Space Frankenstein Werewolf Zombies, right?

 :-*

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on January 19, 2016, 07:27:39 PM
Yeah, it was a VERY weird mission.  (This being Star Trek, they weren't really vampires or ghosts, of course, but
Spoiler for Hidden:
"slightly out-of-phase aliens who drain neural energy, plus one hologram with faulty programming"
doesn't sound as spooky)
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on January 19, 2016, 07:54:39 PM
Yeah, it was a VERY weird mission.  (This being Star Trek, they weren't really vampires or ghosts, of course, but
Spoiler for Hidden:
"slightly out-of-phase aliens who drain neural energy, plus one hologram with faulty programming"
doesn't sound as spooky)
Bonnie Kin, Bonnie Kin all dressed in red. :D
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: GamingGlen on January 19, 2016, 08:24:07 PM
I haven't played in years, but I liked the single away missions found on many planets once you orbit the planet.
I also liked the duty officers' mission assignments.  You felt more like a captain of a crew with that.

I stopped playing after reaching level 50 as a Federation captain and a Klingon captain, I found raids to be boring.  *snore*
I played the new Romulan expansion for a bit but lost interest and did not finish it.

I went the cruiser route for my main two captains.  I wanted to command the Klingon D7, my favorite space ship from any show.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on January 19, 2016, 09:01:31 PM
I am on now, at ESB, characters name is Emile Jade
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Mistress Bloodwrath on January 20, 2016, 03:37:49 AM
Yeah, it was a VERY weird mission.  (This being Star Trek, they weren't really vampires or ghosts, of course, but
Spoiler for Hidden:
"slightly out-of-phase aliens who drain neural energy, plus one hologram with faulty programming"
doesn't sound as spooky)

They're also from a TNG two-parter: the one with Data's head.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: hurple on January 21, 2016, 02:42:15 AM
They're also from a TNG two-parter: the one with Data's head.

Wasn't Data's head in *every* TNG episode?

Anyway, Angel Phoenix77, send me a mail in STO hurple@hurple (I like to keep it simple)  ;D

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Mistress Bloodwrath on January 21, 2016, 05:08:48 AM
Wasn't Data's head in *every* TNG episode?

Anyway, Angel Phoenix77, send me a mail in STO hurple@hurple (I like to keep it simple)  ;D

 :roll: Oh, my pardon, the one with Data's disembodied head.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: hurple on January 21, 2016, 03:19:02 PM
:roll: Oh, my pardon, the one with Data's disembodied head.

Crossover idea!  Data and Kryten accidentally switch heads.

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on January 22, 2016, 06:01:36 PM
Wasn't Data's head in *every* TNG episode?

Anyway, Angel Phoenix77, send me a mail in STO hurple@hurple (I like to keep it simple)  ;D
sorry i haven't been on, haven't been feeling good. :( I will send you an email tomorrow if that is ok.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: hurple on January 22, 2016, 09:22:22 PM
sorry i haven't been on, haven't been feeling good. :( I will send you an email tomorrow if that is ok.

That's fine.  I'm not in a hurry.  STO is just my latest attempt to find a game I enjoy anywhere near as much as CoH.  So far DCUO, CO, and Secret World have all failed.  Secret World seemed the closest, but it's too linear, and I found the leveling choices confusing.

CO is the closest in gameplay to CoH, naturally, but I made the mistake of choosing the Night Avenger class as the first I leveled to 40.  It was great fun!  But, then going back and trying another class... yeah, didn't like any other I tried anywhere near as much.  Now, I'm trying a Freeform, and have stalled at level 30.  It just seems so boring and lifeless now.

DCUO is fun, but too much button mashery going on throughout.

So far, STO is... OK.  Just too much wandering around, it seems.  And one more mission where all I do is go talk to this person, then go talk to that person and relay a message back to the first person just to get asked to go find three other people and talk to them and deliver their messages back to the first person so he can have me deliver a message back to the second person... ARGH!  BORING BORING BORING!


 
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on January 23, 2016, 09:25:40 PM
That's fine.  I'm not in a hurry.  STO is just my latest attempt to find a game I enjoy anywhere near as much as CoH.  So far DCUO, CO, and Secret World have all failed.  Secret World seemed the closest, but it's too linear, and I found the leveling choices confusing.

CO is the closest in gameplay to CoH, naturally, but I made the mistake of choosing the Night Avenger class as the first I leveled to 40.  It was great fun!  But, then going back and trying another class... yeah, didn't like any other I tried anywhere near as much.  Now, I'm trying a Freeform, and have stalled at level 30.  It just seems so boring and lifeless now.

DCUO is fun, but too much button mashery going on throughout.

So far, STO is... OK.  Just too much wandering around, it seems.  And one more mission where all I do is go talk to this person, then go talk to that person and relay a message back to the first person just to get asked to go find three other people and talk to them and deliver their messages back to the first person so he can have me deliver a message back to the second person... ARGH!  BORING BORING BORING!


 
ingame email sent :)
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Mistress Bloodwrath on January 24, 2016, 04:40:13 AM
That's fine.  I'm not in a hurry.  STO is just my latest attempt to find a game I enjoy anywhere near as much as CoH.  So far DCUO, CO, and Secret World have all failed.  Secret World seemed the closest, but it's too linear, and I found the leveling choices confusing.

CO is the closest in gameplay to CoH, naturally, but I made the mistake of choosing the Night Avenger class as the first I leveled to 40.  It was great fun!  But, then going back and trying another class... yeah, didn't like any other I tried anywhere near as much.  Now, I'm trying a Freeform, and have stalled at level 30.  It just seems so boring and lifeless now.

DCUO is fun, but too much button mashery going on throughout.

So far, STO is... OK.  Just too much wandering around, it seems.  And one more mission where all I do is go talk to this person, then go talk to that person and relay a message back to the first person just to get asked to go find three other people and talk to them and deliver their messages back to the first person so he can have me deliver a message back to the second person... ARGH!  BORING BORING BORING!


 

Interesting, which missions are these? I don't recall a lot that're like that. Most are pew pew pew.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on January 24, 2016, 06:33:34 AM
Interesting, which missions are these? I don't recall a lot that're like that. Most are pew pew pew.
there were some that came out where you had to go to memory alpha talk to o'brian he sends you to ds9 then you return to him. I think those are what Hurple was talking about.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: hurple on January 24, 2016, 07:00:12 AM
there were some that came out where you had to go to memory alpha talk to o'brian he sends you to ds9 then you return to him. I think those are what Hurple was talking about.

I've had two so far... some kind of diplomatic missions.  One was on Vulcan.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on January 24, 2016, 05:58:48 PM
From what I've gathered, those are specifically Diplomatic missions, and award special Diplomatic XP (which, in turn, raised your Diplomatic Level, which, in turn, does ... I don't know what)
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on January 24, 2016, 08:17:42 PM
From what I've gathered, those are specifically Diplomatic missions, and award special Diplomatic XP (which, in turn, raised your Diplomatic Level, which, in turn, does ... I don't know what)
it helps to level the diplo. ranks, and when you get to rank 4 in diplo you can choose a single bridge officer from the Klingons if you are fed, or a fed bridge off. if you are Klingon. :)
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on January 25, 2016, 12:28:22 PM
I've run into a weird sudden jump in game difficulty in the Romulan Empire story arc.  Enemy ships are suddenly tearing through me, and I'm getting destroyed literally three or four times for every enemy ship I destroy.

Up until now, I've only had to glance at my shields and hull every now and then, now if I don't watch it 100% of the time and constantly hit all my repair skills as soon as they come off of cooldown, I die instantly as my Hull drops from 100% to 0% in seconds, apparently without my shield even going down (as opposed to near-instantly if I do keep spamming my repair skills).

I'm using the same defensive set-up I've used to this point, with a level-appropriate deflector shield (a Type V that has higher stats than most Type VIs I've dropped), stats weighted towards shielding, Shield Remodulation constantly active, lots of repair skills, but it's not helping.

Edit: trying to level without finishing that particular mission, because I'm almost at my next tier of ships, which will hopefully solve the issue.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: hurple on January 25, 2016, 03:22:02 PM
I've run into a weird sudden jump in game difficulty in the Romulan Empire story arc.  Enemy ships are suddenly tearing through me, and I'm getting destroyed literally three or four times for every enemy ship I destroy.

Up until now, I've only had to glance at my shields and hull every now and then, now if I don't watch it 100% of the time and constantly hit all my repair skills as soon as they come off of cooldown, I die instantly as my Hull drops from 100% to 0% in seconds, apparently without my shield even going down (as opposed to near-instantly if I do keep spamming my repair skills).

I'm using the same defensive set-up I've used to this point, with a level-appropriate deflector shield (a Type V that has higher stats than most Type VIs I've dropped), stats weighted towards shielding, Shield Remodulation constantly active, lots of repair skills, but it's not helping.

Edit: trying to level without finishing that particular mission, because I'm almost at my next tier of ships, which will hopefully solve the issue.

Go. Hunt. Skuls.

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: hurple on January 25, 2016, 03:25:18 PM
ingame email sent :)

And received.  Thank you for the treat.  Unfortunately, right after accepting it, I had a "situation" pop up at home that forced me to log off and took the rest of the day to work out.  And it worked out in probably the worst way possible.



Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on January 25, 2016, 04:05:46 PM
I've run into a weird sudden jump in game difficulty in the Romulan Empire story arc.  Enemy ships are suddenly tearing through me, and I'm getting destroyed literally three or four times for every enemy ship I destroy.

Up until now, I've only had to glance at my shields and hull every now and then, now if I don't watch it 100% of the time and constantly hit all my repair skills as soon as they come off of cooldown, I die instantly as my Hull drops from 100% to 0% in seconds, apparently without my shield even going down (as opposed to near-instantly if I do keep spamming my repair skills).

I'm using the same defensive set-up I've used to this point, with a level-appropriate deflector shield (a Type V that has higher stats than most Type VIs I've dropped), stats weighted towards shielding, Shield Remodulation constantly active, lots of repair skills, but it's not helping.

Edit: trying to level without finishing that particular mission, because I'm almost at my next tier of ships, which will hopefully solve the issue.
yea the Romulans are no joke, they deal plasma damage, the good thing is you can negate some of the damage. Train one of your bridge officers, in hazard emitters. This skill will protect you for a few seconds. what rank are you? If I remember going into the Romulan arc you had to be a Captain, try getting MKVIII gear if you are not running that rank gear.

Sorry to hear hurple, hope everything will work out for ya. When you get back I have 4 purple ranked boffs for ya :)
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on January 25, 2016, 06:31:56 PM
And received.  Thank you for the treat.  Unfortunately, right after accepting it, I had a "situation" pop up at home that forced me to log off and took the rest of the day to work out.  And it worked out in probably the worst way possible.
fleet invite sent :) we have a tier 5 ship, tier 3 sci, everything else is tier 2 :)
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on March 05, 2016, 04:16:25 PM
Lieutenant Cmdr. Xev, of the U.S.S. Speedbump is born. Bio: 'To boldly go...... where am I?"

Sooo hey. STO would happen to be my first new game in over 3 years. 2nd new game since the shutdown.

I was due!

First off, it's a big deal here to download 10ish gigs of game client. It literally takes months due to bandwidth restrictions of my wireless ISP, which, is the only available broadband here in the bush. So, even though this was a casual choice I felt a little committed.

I had a forehead slapping moment in the beginning of play when I realized that 'I should have gone NWN'... And I still plan to try it. Due to I have CoH Hotrod mentality - which is, to build a hotrod, tune it, paint it, and lovingly place it in the garage with my collection where it can be taken out and rode however I please and whenever I want. Kinda like how I used to do in CO, too, until someone kept sneaking into my garage and stealing my stuff. Now my CO hotrods are more like rentals.

Variety *is* the spice... I'm a Star Trek fan since you could only fantasize about a game like STO. I've been known to get immersed in games similar to STO too. Soo I went in with an open mind and shelved the NWN regret.

The next doubts popped up when I saw the 3D modeling. Hmm. Ouch. What did they do to my precious. I mean, if you judge the game by the early 3d models you see you might think the game is much older than it is.

And then the real and actual Spock gives me some Intro.

OK I'm sold.

I had fun playing STO yesterday. All day and night.. I'm down with an injured hand  (mouse hand! eeeeeps! it'll scar but I get to keep my fingers) and the weather isn't wanting me to work anyway so I'm stuck in all nice and cozy for another day of play today.

One of the first things that struck me (that no one else will notice) is that the game used so little bandwidth in the hours I played it. But. In Sol, outside of Spacedock, where everyone congregates with their ships, it's like Netflix streaming in comparison. That had me worried how the PVE queues would go, but, asfaik, the 5-man's I was in were not bandwidth hogs and I hope to be in many more - only thing is: what's up with the 30 minute cooldown in-between queues?

Sooo many currencies... I mean, what game has so many! *ahem*.. *shrug* I'll figure them out.

The pace of the game up to this point (I think I'm level 13?) has been completely different than what I'm used to. I would describe it, at this point, as leisurely. It's pretty easy to come and go with STO, too. This is handy if you have needy animals or children..

I like that they have a separate fadeout for their chat text than their chat window - it's a little thing, just saying.. It's good that I can still see chat channels from CO and I can see what few people still remain in my CO friends list too. It was bad that I couldn't get rid of CO Trade channel spam (they complain a lot over there, ya know) but then I figured out that I just had to remove myself from that channel (vs. just checking a ticbox). I plan to monitor a couple CO channels for when players are doing stuff I want to try and join. Or maybe I won't but I have the option! With STO I can pretty much come and go as I please and pretty much pick up right back where I left off which also helps when game swapping. Until now I've been all STO tho and only using STO channels.

I went with the Escort as my first freebie ship.. It seemed to match my playstyle but now that I have one I probably will go Cruiser next due to I like the broadsides action of trying to get forward and aft weapons firing at the same time. The Escorts seem more optimized for forward fire. Cruisers are also more tanky and I like their combat bonuses and I imagine having a larger group of expendables, errrrr, Crew, is helpful too. Plus, like Thunder Glove I would like my own Enterprise.. ha : ) Escorts are pretty decent looking lil ships too tho and I like the look of mine. I wouldn't mind trying out a Science vessel at some point depending on how things go. All three ships have their draws and the big mommas look interesting too..

Tactical, Science, and Engineering bridge slots add spice to shipbuilding. Not only are the different ships built differently and have different capabilities but they can also handle different crews. For example, Escorts have an extra Tactical seat and Cruisers have an extra (Engineering?) seat and I think Science has an extra Science(?) seat..

I went Tactical with my first Captain. *shrug* Science and Engineering have their draws too.

Ground combat is not my thing in STO to this point. I'm much more into the space combat. The movement and the models are one detraction. Ground combat does have it's X-Comish appeal though and I look forward to fleshing out ground combat skills more. It's not that I don't like it, it's just that I'm more into Space combat at this point.

Anywayyyy. It's been fun. It did take me awhile to get into the game. More than a few hours. In the beginning it was a huge change of pace and gameplay to what I've become used to the past few years with CO. The tutorial seemed (as tutorials can) fairly excruciatingly slow and full of those 3d models models that make me cringe. But after giving the game some time it's not that different from other stuff I've played and enjoyed in the past. Really, the main inspiration to give it a fair shake was Leonard Nimoy... ha. His intro perked me up and his attaboy's kept me going.

Another doubt-giver was - I'm a Star Trek fan but what does that mean today? There are soooooo many flavors of Star Trek now. I was a Next Gen fan but to me that series did not age nearly as well as original Star Trek does. I sorta got into DS9 for awhile but I don't even remember it that well now. So I was like, am I gonna be lost in STO? No worries. STO is just fine for original Star Trek fans like me.

The only worry I have at this point is the bandwidth issue. The way things are now it's not a problem at all but seeing how the numbers roll outside of Spacedock has me cautious for what the future may hold.

Oh, and, have to mention... in contrast to the 3d character models I criticized there's some really nice and fairly detailed art work and 3d graphics in the game. (Whew.)




 
 
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on March 05, 2016, 07:37:27 PM
I haven't been playing it as much in recent weeks as I did at first, but I still log in every so often.  The problem is that I enjoy the ground missions (which, as an Engineer, is almost like playing as a /Traps Mastermind) much more than the ship-to-ship combat, but the ship combat is so common that there doesn't seem to be a way to avoid it.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on March 05, 2016, 08:39:47 PM
That sucks that space combat ruins it for you. I don't know how to avoid it either but I'll keep an eye out. There are PVE ground battle queues, I know that. Is there such thing as ground only player made mishes? I coulda swore I did some regular mishes that were ground only.

If you like ground combat, my Gorn is already entertaining. His dps seems pretty good and he's an engineer so his shields are good. One of the best things so far, though, is that he towers over Klingons like they're puny. The tailor options for Gorn are pretty decent too.

I wasn't that interested in one race over another until I saw (a cute blue cat lady, and,) we can play Gorn. Hrrrmm. Well.. Why not. May as well see how the other half lives, too.. starting with a Klingon bird of prey.

Reks of the I.K.S. Thrilla from Reptilla is born.. Bio: Kirk! I wanna rematch!

It was a little more hardcore intro than the Federation one, *I* ended up killing the captain to get his ship..

----

Reks says hi...


(https://app.box.com/shared/static/6brtxf6bwhhsaui6ap6j7p0ltcajpfwp.jpg]https://app.box.com/shared/static/6brtxf6bwhhsaui6ap6j7p0ltcajpfwp.jpg)




----

Xev and crew are way more sophisticurated:



(https://app.box.com/shared/static/vlgu0xjc50pdidowcqlebo4rdhfo5d95.jpg)

There is 1 free name change for the ship... Haven't come up with a better name than Speedbump (Xev's 1st ship) yet.


Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on March 06, 2016, 12:29:52 AM
I like space combat but I still have a hard time with ship maneuvering. Part of it is being a newb at space combat, part is being a newb at setting up my hotkeys and hud. I'm looking forward to getting it down not only because I like space combat but because, just look...

[Random cool screenie...]
(https://app.box.com/shared/static/j3zl6of9eq2mxp15f0gtx67w3x011g95.jpg)


That really is too bad about you and space combat, TG. My Xev mishes (not so many) today have all been *all* space combat  : /.

I've kinda assumed (with my next to zero experience so far) endgame in STO was about having the most badass ship but maybe you can be the most badass errr badass too/instead.  As in, maybe the game is flexible enough for both kinds of players, ground and space combat specialists, I dunno.. *shrug* I'll keep looking for ways to be selective about mishes. Maybe Angel knows?

---

(right after finishing the mish in the screenie Xev got a ground mish so there goes his Space Combat streak fwiw..)
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Exxar on March 06, 2016, 11:05:52 AM
Yeah the 90% focus on space combat was also what turned me away from the game. Pity, since it looked quite good otherwise.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on March 06, 2016, 09:02:43 PM
In the latest quest to find a go-to game I came real close to starting with NWN instead of STO and I have to at least try Marvel Heroes at some point.

Glad I went STO first. I seem to have found a new game.. Wasn't expecting that!

One of the reasons I wanted to try Marvel Heroes was that not only is it not another game with a Cryptic engine but it's also not on PWE servers.

Have to give them their due. PWE and Cryptic are highly entertaining me again. Got to say thanks, ya know..

Sorry Ground Guys! I'm with ya. If you don't like space combat, you don't like it. I like it more every time I try it and I suck at it. If I was *forced* to do it just so I could get to the fun part of the game... hrrrrmm.. No fun. I'm lucky I guess. I like progressing in both I just prefer Space a lot more at this point.

I'm still not convinced you can't progress in the game if you only do Ground Combat. There are Ground combat only mishes. I bet there are player made Ground only mishes too. I know there are ground only PVE queues due to I filter them out when I run Space combat queues.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Exxar on March 06, 2016, 09:41:12 PM
I would highly recommend you try Marvel Heroes too. Doesn't quite come to CoHs diversity in power combos, but with the boatload of different characters it's near the very top of variety you can find in an online game.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on March 06, 2016, 11:12:34 PM
In the latest quest to find a go-to game I came real close to starting with NWN instead of STO and I have to at least try Marvel Heroes at some point.

Glad I went STO first. I seem to have found a new game.. Wasn't expecting that!

One of the reasons I wanted to try Marvel Heroes was that not only is it not another game with a Cryptic engine but it's also not on PWE servers.

Have to give them their due. PWE and Cryptic are highly entertaining me again. Got to say thanks, ya know..

Sorry Ground Guys! I'm with ya. If you don't like space combat, you don't like it. I like it more every time I try it and I suck at it. If I was *forced* to do it just so I could get to the fun part of the game... hrrrrmm.. No fun. I'm lucky I guess. I like progressing in both I just prefer Space a lot more at this point.

I'm still not convinced you can't progress in the game if you only do Ground Combat. There are Ground combat only mishes. I bet there are player made Ground only mishes too. I know there are ground only PVE queues due to I filter them out when I run Space combat queues.
that is cool, Xev, that you like STO :). Most people think the ground is bad and space is good. I however, like both I love to see my bridge officers on the ground in a way it doesn't feel as lonely, whereas, the ground feels lonely. But it does have some great battles. Also btw if you need and rare or purple boffs, email me in game and I will send you some :)
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on March 07, 2016, 12:33:50 AM
I would highly recommend you try Marvel Heroes too. Doesn't quite come to CoHs diversity in power combos, but with the boatload of different characters it's near the very top of variety you can find in an online game.

Oh yeah, it's a must try. Errrmm how's their ftp? One thing that got me on NWN and STO is they are supposed to have similar/better ftp than CO and CO's is already about as good as what I could wish for.

that is cool, Xev, that you like STO :). Most people think the ground is bad and space is good. I however, like both I love to see my bridge officers on the ground in a way it doesn't feel as lonely, whereas, the ground feels lonely. But it does have some great battles. Also btw if you need and rare or purple boffs, email me in game and I will send you some :)

Tyvm.

I like both space and ground combat too I just prefer space at this point. Ground has its appeal too. It definitely does not bother me that I never even know if I'm going to be doing a ground mish next or not. I accept any and all mishes at this point.

As for gear....? No idea what's what. I've got like 25k of .... err... the blue crystals? saved I think just due to I seem to get decent enough equipment just playing, so far.

10-captains ftw! 5 man PVE's are just as fun. I must not be high enough level to do 20 player PVE's yet. I hope they aren't bandwidth munchers but even if they are I'm totally ok with doing the smaller queues.

Gah! I had some questions but now I can't even remember one....

That is really cool that I carry a Vendor around in my backpack... (Replicator). And I see I have this thing (temp device?) already that summons a floating bank and (auction house?) whatnot...ha.

Just got my second free ship at level 20 and decided to stay with Escorts still for now.. *shrug* I was leading some charges last night, baby! Well...sorta.

So, Angel, what is to stop a player from just doing Ground stuff? Does anyone do that? Is it even possible? I just pick whatever mish is in front of me to this point. Matter of fact I just now figured out the mish I was near to completing last night is Player made.. ha.

The space artwork is exceptionally nice in places. Windows wallpaper everywhere.

The game Can bring out the Star Trek in me, too.. Bonus : ) Xev. His sails unfurled.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on March 07, 2016, 02:27:10 AM
Oh yeah, it's a must try. Errrmm how's their ftp? One thing that got me on NWN and STO is they are supposed to have similar/better ftp than CO and CO's is already about as good as what I could wish for.

Tyvm.

I like both space and ground combat too I just prefer space at this point. Ground has its appeal too. It definitely does not bother me that I never even know if I'm going to be doing a ground mish next or not. I accept any and all mishes at this point.

As for gear....? No idea what's what. I've got like 25k of .... err... the blue crystals? saved I think just due to I seem to get decent enough equipment just playing, so far.

10-captains ftw! 5 man PVE's are just as fun. I must not be high enough level to do 20 player PVE's yet. I hope they aren't bandwidth munchers but even if they are I'm totally ok with doing the smaller queues.

Gah! I had some questions but now I can't even remember one....

That is really cool that I carry a Vendor around in my backpack... (Replicator). And I see I have this thing (temp device?) already that summons a floating bank and (auction house?) whatnot...ha.

Just got my second free ship at level 20 and decided to stay with Escorts still for now.. *shrug* I was leading some charges last night, baby! Well...sorta.

So, Angel, what is to stop a player from just doing Ground stuff? Does anyone do that? Is it even possible? I just pick whatever mish is in front of me to this point. Matter of fact I just now figured out the mish I was near to completing last night is Player made.. ha.

The space artwork is exceptionally nice in places. Windows wallpaper everywhere.

The game Can bring out the Star Trek in me, too.. Bonus : ) Xev. His sails unfurled.
for my first captain I too ran tactical, when I got to Commander rank and got the Akira class I was sold :) For the story missions the ground missions are unavoidable :(. A personal favorite zone is the Dyson's sphere, you will se why when you get there.
Player made missions can be fun or they can be angering :(, I mostly run those when there are bonus marks weeks.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on March 08, 2016, 04:02:22 AM
Also btw if you need and rare or purple boffs, email me in game and I will send you some :)

OK I'm ready. Lets talk loot.

hehe

I'm starting to get an idea of how gear works but ..

What currency do I want to go for as far as buying gear goes? Should I even bother buying gear before level (X)? I seem to get a lot of drops from PVE queue's.. I'll probably want to get the errrr whichever currency cap increase (Energy Credits?) at some point.. Is there anything like a hideout?

What are some things/goodies I should save/look for? Any QoL tips?

STO seems fairly huge to me still at this point but I'm getting a few things down.

I still suck at Space battle but I'm getting better. OH YEAH... Is there any kind of autofollow I can do with my ship? Sometimes I just wanna get my bearings, ya know? One trick I do now when I can't tell my front from my back or if I'm going up or down.... (lol..) is to hit the 'center camera' hotkey and then things make sense to me again as far as where I am and am headed.

Oh and how do retcons work? is it all or nothing or can I do partials, too? Is there more than one way to pay for them?

~~~

Hey I have something else, too. I think it was last night I couldn't log in - CO was down too. This morning I joined the queue while running a mish and when the queue popped I declined due to I was about to finish a long space fight. Afterwards I went to join the queue again and it said something like "Not from this map you aren't!' Soooo I flew back to Sol just due to I knew that I *could* join the queue from that map.

Anyway, I get to Sol, and I still can't join the queue, so, I log out and when I try to log back in STO and CO are down. I mean, I couldn't even run the patcher so that the launcher would load due to it would timeout.

Is this what happens when NWNboy strikes or was it just a coincidence the login server went down after I logged out?



Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Exxar on March 08, 2016, 06:11:14 PM
Oh yeah, it's a must try. Errrmm how's their ftp? One thing that got me on NWN and STO is they are supposed to have similar/better ftp than CO and CO's is already about as good as what I could wish for.
I can't really give you an honest first-hand account of their FTP since I always spend money on F2P games I play and when I was trying the game out before any investment, things were rather different. But, from what can say by just being aware of the current situation, I think it's pretty ok.

You get to try out all of the heroes except a few most recent ones up to level 10. After that, you may unlock one of them for free. I'm not sure if you can unlock any of them this way, or just one of the "less expensive ones".

Additional heroes you can unlock via an in-game currency called Eternity Splinters which is a time-gated mob drop I think, instead of being a... kill zounds of mobs gated drop. So your clear speed doesn't matter in that regard. The rate at which you can unlock heroes with them is decent I'd say, especially if you wanna go the random hero route. I think a random hero token is worth something like 175 ES, while the cheapest heroes go for 200 or 240, not sure. Most of them are 400 I think, and some "more expensive ones" are 550 or 600 or even 800 not sure about the latter though. About half of my heroes were unlocked via ES, and the other half I bought with cash.

Stash tabs you can only buy with cash I think, and while hero costumes do exist as drops, they are extremely rare. I've gotten only one and that was pretty early in my career (a year and a half ago or so, but I don't play the game regularly). I'd never buy cossies in MH with cash though, since you can only use them on one hero, unlike in CoH. I'm not sure if you can buy cossies with ES, can't check now since I don't have the game installed currently.

Other stuff in the cash shop... pets, but you can get those easy enough in-game pretty much for free, and the so called teamups, but you can get those relatively easy ingame too. Except if you're after specific ones (the in-game "for free" earnable ones are few), then you gotta splurge either cash or ES. Then there are the various exp/drop boosters, but you don't lose out on anything if you don't buy them.

Overall, not pay to win at all, and you can get by decently without spending a dime. Seems rather good to me.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Aggelakis on March 08, 2016, 06:18:13 PM
Stash tabs you can only buy with cash I think,
You can buy one extra tab (you start with one free tab) with ES. I think 400 ES.

I have been playing Marvel Heroes since it came out. Sometimes I take breaks when there's not much new (since I don't play male heroes unless they have a female enhanced costume, e.g. Lady Deadpool or Spider-Gwen). I have recently really gotten back into it, and the new chapter (ch10) and accompanying patrol zone are *amazing*. We have a thread here (http://www.cohtitan.com/forum/index.php/topic,9787.120.html) for MH, mostly about the various events, not very active, if further discussion is desired. Let's keep this thread about STO :)
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on March 08, 2016, 06:52:55 PM
OK I'm ready. Lets talk loot.

hehe

I'm starting to get an idea of how gear works but ..

What currency do I want to go for as far as buying gear goes? Should I even bother buying gear before level (X)? I seem to get a lot of drops from PVE queue's.. I'll probably want to get the errrr whichever currency cap increase (Energy Credits?) at some point.. Is there anything like a hideout?

What are some things/goodies I should save/look for? Any QoL tips?

STO seems fairly huge to me still at this point but I'm getting a few things down.

I still suck at Space battle but I'm getting better. OH YEAH... Is there any kind of autofollow I can do with my ship? Sometimes I just wanna get my bearings, ya know? One trick I do now when I can't tell my front from my back or if I'm going up or down.... (lol..) is to hit the 'center camera' hotkey and then things make sense to me again as far as where I am and am headed.

Oh and how do retcons work? is it all or nothing or can I do partials, too? Is there more than one way to pay for them?

~~~

Hey I have something else, too. I think it was last night I couldn't log in - CO was down too. This morning I joined the queue while running a mish and when the queue popped I declined due to I was about to finish a long space fight. Afterwards I went to join the queue again and it said something like "Not from this map you aren't!' Soooo I flew back to Sol just due to I knew that I *could* join the queue from that map.

Anyway, I get to Sol, and I still can't join the queue, so, I log out and when I try to log back in STO and CO are down. I mean, I couldn't even run the patcher so that the launcher would load due to it would timeout.

Is this what happens when NWNboy strikes or was it just a coincidence the login server went down after I logged out?
if it the same person using the ddos attacks then yes, the reason is all the servers are connected.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on March 09, 2016, 03:52:55 AM
Thanks guys. Good infos and thanks for the details Exxar.

I don't like asking about ftp.. If the entire FTP system went away tomorrow I'd still feel like I got way more than I deserved out of it. I hate to have to use it but I'm extremely glad it exists.

Angel, the main thing I was wondering was if his attacks were screwing up the PVE queues. That must have been it, though.

No tips for me? Why is my duty roster icon always flashing even when I have no slots available for research? It's keeps beeping and flashing and beeping... and flashing! errr just flashing. I need some rare materials too for R&d. Auction house, I'm guessing...

Still having fun. Playtime kinda evaporated but more coming up.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on March 09, 2016, 04:46:02 AM
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on March 09, 2016, 05:31:03 AM
I hear ya on the 'just have fun'. Just digging for anything that you thought might stick out as something handy to have/do. For example I saw a device that summons a bank or something like this that every one can use when it's summoned. I dunno how handy that is but I never would have thought to look for something like that. Well, and I stumbled on this part of the game to research different things like Shields, Engines, Weapons. It takes like 1 click and 20 hours to go up a level and I can make stuff too. I guess that's the tradeskilling?

The flashing thing is Duty Officer Missions....? Duty Officer missions.. Have to look again in the morning. I thought it was telling me to do some R&D and I'm like 'but I have no open slots' and I couldn't find anything else there to do.

Soooo blue/purple bridge officers. Ok. My favorite bridge officer 'powers' so far are the ones that suck shields dry. The ones that boost my own shields back up have saved me a few times.

---

Oh yeah and let me bug you about the ship autofollow thing again. Is there a way to autofollow another ship in combat? I know I can autofollow another player. Sometimes I get totally disoriented as to which way I'm facing or heading or turning when I'm chasing another ship to fire on them and they go evasive maneuvers. It's feels kinda like when I was learning how to drive backwards. Not because everything is backwards but if you start really messing up driving backwards you can start to lose the road. The trick with having the camera snap back to center behind my ship so I can get my bearings again seems to be working for now. There's no doubt I'll eventually get a lot better feel for it. Just takes practice.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on March 09, 2016, 06:07:02 AM
I hear ya on the 'just have fun'. Just digging for anything that you thought might stick out as something handy to have/do. For example I saw a device that summons a bank or something like this that every one can use when it's summoned. I dunno how handy that is but I never would have thought to look for something like that. Well, and I stumbled on this part of the game to research different things like Shields, Engines, Weapons. It takes like 1 click and 20 hours to go up a level and I can make stuff too. I guess that's the tradeskilling?

The flashing thing is Duty Officer Missions....? Duty Officer missions.. Have to look again in the morning. I thought it was telling me to do some R&D and I'm like 'but I have no open slots' and I couldn't find anything else there to do.

Soooo blue/purple bridge officers. Ok. My favorite bridge officer 'powers' so far are the ones that suck shields dry. The ones that boost my own shields back up have saved me a few times.

---

Oh yeah and let me bug you about the ship autofollow thing again. Sometimes I get totally disoriented as to which way I'm facing or heading or turning when I'm chasing another ship and they go evasive maneuvers. It's feels kinda like when I was learning how to drive backwards. Not because everything is backwards but if you start really messing up driving backwards you can start to lose the road. The trick with having the camera snap back to center behind my ship so I can get my bearings again seems to be working for now. There's no doubt I'll eventually get a lot better feel for it. Just takes practice.
That's the good thing about the bridge officers is that you can buy say a purple boff say a sci officer they can still get those powers :), I remember when I was trailing someone by esd, I was not ready for the camera switching, even though I had free camera on city of. :)
The reason I bring up purple and blue boffs is because they have better stats such as +covert %.
Yes the blinking is the doff system, letting you know you have doff missions ready or you are ready to participate in it
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on March 09, 2016, 02:59:21 PM
Ship movement/orientation might help me out if I could move like we can when holding both mice buttons down. But I don't like having both buttons mashed down while trying to hit other mouse buttons, and, I can't hotkey that function with any other mouse button. The closest I came is hotkeying right-drag + L Ctrl which is where my pinky usually sits when flying but that can be awkward too. Autofollow would be useful. I don't want to do autofollow combat, just want to get my bearings by tapping it once in awhile.

Ah well, I for sure will get it. I'm using a relatively tiny screen right now too and that doesn't help due to sometimes when I get disoriented I can't tell the front of my ship from the back..ha. Man it would be so great to play STO on the TV I played CoH on and CO too in the beginning.

Is R&D tradeskilling? Is it worth it? I'm like 1 rare component away from making mk 7 ship shields. Besides wanting one, they sell for a (relative) fortune in the Auction house.

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on March 09, 2016, 06:58:22 PM
Ship movement/orientation might help me out if I could move like we can when holding both mice buttons down. But I don't like having both buttons mashed down while trying to hit other mouse buttons, and, I can't hotkey that function with any other mouse button. The closest I came is hotkeying right-drag + L Ctrl which is where my pinky usually sits when flying but that can be awkward too. Autofollow would be useful. I don't want to do autofollow combat, just want to get my bearings by tapping it once in awhile.

Ah well, I for sure will get it. I'm using a relatively tiny screen right now too and that doesn't help due to sometimes when I get disoriented I can't tell the front of my ship from the back..ha. Man it would be so great to play STO on the TV I played CoH on and CO too in the beginning.

Is R&D tradeskilling? Is it worth it? I'm like 1 rare component away from making mk 7 ship shields. Besides wanting one, they sell for a (relative) fortune in the Auction house.
they are very worth it to make the shields, weapons, and everything else; until admiral. A word of advice though skip mk7 and make mk 8's. :) Think of this like odd numbers is the low end of the current rank you like captain and the even numbers is the high end of that rank.
For movement and combat I would recommend turtling, what this means is moving slowly this can also work in combat. When I tested this game, this is the tactic I used; all the way to launch. :)
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on March 09, 2016, 08:01:11 PM
Cool, I'll look more into tradeskilling then and thanks for the tip.

Finally looked at some new bridge officers at the auction house. Good stuff. I can't figure out how to add my new people without deleting the old ones, though. I can still get kinda lost in the interface sometimes.

Finally made that Duty Officer icon quit flashing too.. Had a level's worth of rewards waiting there.. ha

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on March 09, 2016, 08:45:09 PM
Cool, I'll look more into tradeskilling then and thanks for the tip.

Finally looked at some new bridge officers at the auction house. Good stuff. I can't figure out how to add my new people without deleting the old ones, though. I can still get kinda lost in the interface sometimes.

Finally made that Duty Officer icon quit flashing too.. Had a level's worth of rewards waiting there.. ha
yw :), you could replace white con bridge officers they are very basic and in the long run they could be a hindrance on away missions and or space fights. If you can you could buy more bridge officer slots via the zstore. :)
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Excidia on March 11, 2016, 08:32:05 PM
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Artillerie on March 11, 2016, 09:00:11 PM
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on March 12, 2016, 03:01:45 PM
Haha that's awesome.

Karma rep + 1


-----

I'm glad I didn't see this first or I'd have snagged it and it's nowhere near my birthday and my first captain is still 35ish.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Excidia on March 12, 2016, 08:16:49 PM
Glad it went to someone who could and would use it.

e-
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on March 12, 2016, 09:45:00 PM
STO seems like a real good candidate for a newbie guide. It seems like it would really cut down on the learning curve a lot. Even with all of Angel's help, tyvm, I probably should have/should google one at some point.

What sticks out about STO to me is that it's a good space game. I'd put that right up there with being a good comic book game and almost as rare.




Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Night-Hawk07 on March 13, 2016, 02:34:39 PM
To everyone getting into STO now, you're getting in at a good time. The first year or so in this game was rough, but I would say STO is probably the most improved game out there. I've been away for a couple years, and just got back into it. Just finished the Delta Quadrant missions, and now trying to upgrade my gear before diving into the Iconian stuff. Speaking of gear, of the two MMOs I frequent, this one at least doesn't require you to have "1337 everything" if you just want to play casually and have fun.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on March 13, 2016, 04:08:44 PM
Right before I took a break from CO, I mean like a week before, I came up with a treasured combat log that shows me outdpsing one of my dps heroes and someone who's name everyone who plays would recognize. Not only that I did it to their main who just upgraded their gear to top of the line and wanted to check their dps in a Rampage (team event).

That's a pretty fine leet moment, for me.

This week, I'm all STO.

*shrug* that must say something! Says to me I got lucky and found another game I like lots. I'm a sucker for a quality space game and haven't played one in forever.

I'm still barely one step up from newb in STO but so far I would have to agree with the pacing. So far, in STO there's plenty to do but it's all casual. The space battles, which are the core of the game to me, move at 1/10th the speed I'm used to playing but they aren't any less challenging. They make me feel like I've been living in 2d...ha.

There are some things that can throw off the new player in STO. Constantly makes wonder how many people have left the game before giving it a fair shot. I think a lot of my newb problems would have been solved if I would have just rtfm (like a decent down and dirty guide..) .. But who does that...?? hehe

On the one hand, at times I've been frustrated with getting used to finding things in the interface but on the other I can appreciate some of the qol things that are there. Like being able to see and manipulate my bank, ship, and personal inventory all in one place and be able to sell from Inventory. I would not be surprised if one of the game's developers responsible for things like this is/was into tradeskilling and farming as a player.


-----

Hey...  late Happy Birthday, Artillerie! Hope it just kept getting better. Sheesh I can't believe I forgot to say something *again*. For shame, for shame!  : )
 
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on March 13, 2016, 10:22:22 PM
How's this for a Romulan Empire name......

*Malien*

Similar to, but way better than, Manimal, due to there can be...

FEmalien!


/bow
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on March 14, 2016, 01:56:48 PM
Awwww not even a groan for Malien...? ha  : )

OK I give.. Two new questions.

First, what is 'Common Inventory'? I thought it was vendor loot due to I can make it myself with the Replicator and it doesn't seem to have any use. Well, and, it's called Common Inventory.. But then I got some fancy sounding Common Inventory I can't make myself this morning as a reward for a Rare Doff mish... Soooo I thought I prolly ought to check before I vendor too much more of it.

The other thing is with tradeskilling. I'm at level 5 Shields research. I have all the mats to make mk 8 shields but the Start Task button won't ungrey. If I try to make mk 10 shields, I get a note next to the greyed start button that says my skill is too low. I don't get this note for any shields Below mk10. But. I still can't make any shields above mk 2 - and I have checked and quadruple checked that I have the mats.

So, basically I can make mk 2 shields with level 5 shields research skill but nothing above that and I do have the mats.


Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Exxar on March 14, 2016, 06:02:28 PM
To everyone getting into STO now, you're getting in at a good time. The first year or so in this game was rough, but I would say STO is probably the most improved game out there. I've been away for a couple years, and just got back into it.
Could try it again then. The first time I tried it wasn't within the first year, but just after the first time they revamped the tutorial/new player experience I think.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on March 15, 2016, 08:54:37 PM
I can't stop playing this game.

There's still a lot to learn and I'm not getting the playtime I want but at this point it's one of the funnest games I ever played.


Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on March 16, 2016, 02:57:36 PM
Just in case you guys were actually serious that Space combat is what killed STO for you.. (Maybe you were just jiving me, I dunno!) There is a way to play all-Ground.

I get like 1 hour of STO bandwidth a day for the next 10 days so I have distilled my STO experience down to Space battles, tradeskilling, and, keeping that duty roster icon from flashing by sending those guys on mishes. You can do almost the same thing I do except swap in ground battles and take out space battles.

Spacebattlewise I've been doing Patrol mishes and those random battles that pop up on the space map. I was joining the PVE queues but they are bandwidth munchers so I have to give them up for a little while. Patrol mishes give better but less loot than the random map battles. I would imagine this is due to the random battles set you to level 30 and the Patrol mishes seem to be at my level. Patrol mishes are harder than the random map battles, to me. Patrol mishes are solo - the random map battles can be solo... or your screen can fill up with help from other players or maybe just one or two other people pop in. They both give plenty good enough xp for me.

You can do a similar thing, Ground version. First off, I've never seen random map battles that are Ground battles - all the ones I have seen are Space battles. So you may not get to do a ground version of this. You can do Patrol mishes to your hearts content, tho, and it fits in well with keeping your ... duty officers(?) busy on mishes (as you travel) that can sometimes give pretty decent rewards. That Admiral progression stuff can be all Ground, too. I do the all Space version.

I don't know how active the PVE queues are. The Space version ones aren't so active. Probably because people are running queues I don't even know about yet. There are queues, for example, that pop up at level 50 I think it was. Those queues and the random map battle queues seem more populated than the PVE queues.

*shrug*

Anyway.. fwiw..

You can Ground mish your way all the way to 60 (is that the cap?) as far as I can tell, and tradeskill, and do the Admiral stuff, and the Duty Roster stuff. Basically, play a ground version of the game.

It's working for me! The space version anyway. if I was limited to just Patrols (I mostly just do those anyway due to I want the drops for my ship atm, ha) for the Space battle part I would probably be satisfied... sooo.... I was thinking even if you guys are limited to mostly just Patrols for the Ground battle part, it might work for you.

Patrol-tradeskilling is kinda a lot of fun to me for some reason.

Btw If you decide to try Patrol trade-mishering, there will be Space battles you have to skip, and, some space mishes are not battles at all. I just fly around and scan stuff. Basically, how you do it, is fly from system to system until you find one that has a Patrol mish. Accept the mish, then find out if it is Ground or Space. If it's Space, Exit, and go on to the next system. Meanwhile you are picking up new mishes in different areas of space for your Duty roster guys, and, your duty roster mishes and tradeskilling stuff is completing.

On the Space side, and especially after level 50, there are more queues to join but I don't have the bandwidth until this billing cycle ends to join them anyway so I'm mostly just doing a Space version of the above and it's been pretty fun so I thought I'd share.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Night-Hawk07 on March 16, 2016, 04:03:08 PM
Could try it again then. The first time I tried it wasn't within the first year, but just after the first time they revamped the tutorial/new player experience I think.

It started getting better when they began doing the featured series (the Breen arc, the Devidian arc...etc), then it really picked up when they added the Romulan expansion. Since then, it seems like something gets better every time they make an update, whether it's better story-telling, or better QoL items. I can't speak toward your standard end-game raids and PVP, cause I don't participate in those. I'm not big on group content, however, the open world missions like the Undine Battlezone in the Dyson Sphere and the Kobali Homeworld in the Delta Quadrant are multiplayer missions/zones I do find fun. My one unresolved issue with this game (with basically every Cryptic game) is their servers are still pretty bad, though even they have improved significantly.

Right now, I go between this and another AAA sci-fi MMO. This one has only improved as time has gone on, whereas the other one only ever seems to get worse and is only worth playing because it's the only decent modern game related to its IP.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on March 17, 2016, 01:55:15 PM
Here's a first impression of the tute from a new player I know well..


Anywayyyy. It's been fun. It did take me awhile to get into the game. More than a few hours. In the beginning it was a huge change of pace and gameplay to what I've become used to the past few years with CO. The tutorial seemed (as tutorials can) fairly excruciatingly slow and full of those 3d models models that make me cringe. But after giving the game some time.... blah blah blah...

Yeah. Potential new players, as with many games, definitely do not judge STO by the tute. My new player experience was to hope the tutorial would be over sooooon.. hehe.

I'm uuuusually (there are exceptions) not big on soloing mishes or mishes in general since like King's Quest 5 (lol) so I'm glad STO seems chock full of active multiplayer content. For the mish inclined, STO does seem to be keeping people happy. The tradeskilling looks promising too. *fingers crossed*.

PWE definitely needs a new ISP. Been saying the same thing for years now. I came to hardly even notice rubberbanding anymore in CO. It's become more like...

newb: "is there lag, I can't play!'
seasoned CO player <rubberband combat mode: on>: 'newb'.


Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on March 18, 2016, 02:07:36 PM
STO must own the Internet. They've been shoving data at me by the near half gigabyte since I installed it. There was already a sucking sound on the Internet when I downloaded the original client.

It won't be as big a deal to me next month and it's already ate up most of my bandwidth to play with this month but I'm still curious if anyone has experience with the 'on-demand' option in the patcher. I googled it and came up with conflicting info.

One reason that's prompting me to question, is, I'm downloading 400 meg updates after scheduled server downtime even when nothing in the game is being updated. There was a small update last week and I downloaded the same 400 megs as this week when there was no update according to Release Notes.

It probably won't make a difference but I had the playtime to spare.... *ahem* .. hehe  : / *pout*

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Felderburg on March 20, 2016, 02:22:59 AM
I was in closed beta, and have a lifetime subscription, but I stopped playing around the time issue 7 came out. The end game was just too grindy and repetitive for me, and there wasn't enough variation in the story leveling up. I LOVED ground PvP, but I'm pretty sure it's fairly different now.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Night-Hawk07 on March 21, 2016, 05:05:38 PM
I was in closed beta, and have a lifetime subscription, but I stopped playing around the time issue 7 came out. The end game was just too grindy and repetitive for me, and there wasn't enough variation in the story leveling up. I LOVED ground PvP, but I'm pretty sure it's fairly different now.

The story's changed quite a bit since you left. They've now opened up the Delta Quadrant, fought the Iconians (I haven't gotten to that just yet), and now they're doing something involving time and the Mirror Universe. They've gone back and updated all the old story missions and streamlined everything (though there's some stuff that seems out of place; mostly regarding the placement of the "featured series" like the Devidian arc) missions.

They've also combined all the sector blocks into quadrants. So instead of having to fly through traffic control gates to go from the Vulcan sector block to the Tau Dewa sector block, you just fly straight through. The only gates/loading screens now are between the Alpha, Beta and Delta Quadrants. They've added specializations to further customize your character's performance, and they're about to drop a revamp to the original skill system.

The bottom of this page (http://sto.gamepedia.com/Upcoming_content) gives a brief description of what all has changed over the years.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Felderburg on March 22, 2016, 01:06:14 AM
Yeah, I've followed along... but 1. I try not to play too many video games anymore and 2. I'm not confident I won't end up in the same place, with only repeatable queues and repeatable open world quests to do. GPvP was never popular enough to do regularly, unfortunately.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on March 23, 2016, 02:46:30 PM
No one ever mentions the tradeskill system. It actually seems to be fully functional and useful and so far it even fits in with how I play. So far it seems pretty darn good. I'm still only making newb gear but I'm making very nice newb gear and my skill's going up.

Something I like about STO up to this point is that it doesn't lock me into one way to play and progress. I can run mishes, various multiplayer queues, Patrols (that offer Ground only & Space only mini-mishes), Tradeskill, play the market.. roam space.. The variety in ship design and function looks enough to keep me busy for awhile too.

The way I play has a Space Explorey feeling to it that I like. Kinda in the spirit of good ol' Star Trek: Rebel Universe. Rebel Universe isn't nearly as polished as STO but it still had a  huger feeling universe to me (I think I never saw it all) and manages to fit it on less than 360k.


Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on March 26, 2016, 02:19:49 PM
Woohoo!

It's a new billing cycle and Verizon has trickled me out some more bandwidth for another month and today even happens to be a relatively chore-free Saturday so it's Game On, baby..

Holy cra.. Geez. I went two whole days without logging onto the Internet. Since peasant access to the Internet was granted with Windows 3.0 I think this has occurred... twice?

I would compare it to quitting smoking.

Feels like kinda a sucky time to be learning the game due to they are about to totally change parts of it, it sounds like. Ah well, I'm spending most of my newb time learning flight mechanics and tradeskill stuff and that stuff isn't likely to change.

---

Are Omega, Romulan, Etc, Marks, that are rewards for PVE queues, worth going for if I'm not interested in the Ground benefits? Is Fleet Mark loot worthwhile?

I'm getting asked to choose for PVE rewards and they all look the same to me atm. Fleet Marks, I can't use. Omega, Romulan, Terran, etc, Marks, I don't see any immediate use for either.

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Night-Hawk07 on March 27, 2016, 03:37:45 AM
You use those marks to buy space and ground equipment which is usually some of the better equipment in the game. Fleet Marks are for fleet projects, and when you contribute to those projects you get Fleet Credits, which in turn allow you to buy fleet ships and fleet space and ground equipment; which is also some of the better equipment in the game.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on March 27, 2016, 01:25:16 PM
Thanks, it doesn't help that the different Stores are all greyed out until I can use them. Now I just have to figure out how to get more Admiralty ships. I'm guessing, the Shipyard. Didn't get around to looking yesterday. After that, I think I'll finally have figured out what my interface windows are for and do and have an idea of how to keep them busy.

Is there only one way to retcon or do I have to do a full one for Zen every time?
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on April 07, 2016, 08:21:35 PM
Sooooo.. Looks like time to game shop again.

As of this morning I'd gotten my tradeskilling up to a profitable level and was enjoying some nice reward unlocks from trading in PVE marks, and, was beginning to understand the PVE queues better. Got my screen resolution and some graphics options worked out so that the interface and battle screens were way more readable. Still a lot to learn but I had a nice routine going and was getting my stuff upgraded and things figured out... I even got over those 400meg+ downloads every week or two for what seemed like trivial updates.

This kills it for me though (6 gig update - 1 gig more than I used to get for a whole month..) http://www.arcgames.com/en/forums/startrekonline#/discussion/1213799/scheduled-maintenance-april-7th-2016/p4


As far as I can tell with my brief stint with STO they simply push out more data than I can download.

Damn  : /


-------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------

Hrrrrmmm.. OK. Sooo. I decided to see the download size for myself and... for me it's the average but manageably huge 400 meg.

I've felt like Dustin Hoffman in that movie where his whole lil world disappears until all that's left is the spot he stands on and then he poofs, this Spring, so far, so... I figured STO was just the next thing to poof. Not yet tho! Apparently. yay. ha.

I now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.

Oh and hey my next newb: A balding Saurian, 'Cap'n Stubing' of the U.S.S Luv Boat. Think I'm gonna go Fed/Science/Cruiser with him. I want to go Tactical but I already am trying that with an Escort. He may end up as an Engineer..  *shrug* I mainly just want to try out Cruisers for the first time without having to buy an expensive one with Admiral Xev at this point.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on April 07, 2016, 08:35:20 PM
Sooooo.. Looks like time to game shop again.

As of this morning I'd gotten my tradeskilling up to a profitable level and was enjoying some nice reward unlocks from trading in PVE marks, and, was beginning to understand the PVE queues better. Got my screen resolution and some graphics options worked out so that the interface and battle screens were way more readable. Still a lot to learn but I had a nice routine going and was getting my stuff upgraded and things figured out... I even got over those 400meg+ downloads every week or two for what seemed like trivial updates.

This kills it for me though (6 gig update - 1 gig more than I used to get for a whole month..) .http://www.arcgames.com/en/forums/startrekonline#/discussion/1213799/scheduled-maintenance-april-7th-2016/p4
(

As far as I can tell with my brief stint with STO they simply push out more data than I can download.

Damn  : /
I don't think the update is 6 gigs, I am downloading now and it shows 541 mbs :)
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Felderburg on April 07, 2016, 10:12:23 PM
Oh and hey my next newb: A balding Saurian, 'Cap'n Stubing' of the U.S.S Luv Boat.

The second (or so) character I made in closed beta was named "sexy pregnant saurian," because I wanted to see if you could use "sexy" in names, and because the stomach slider made people fat / pregnant looking. And the cutesy pose looked ridiculous. As far as I know, you can still use "sexy" in names, but not "sex," which I think is weird.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on April 08, 2016, 01:55:21 AM
I went for as cartoonish a look as I could go for on my first attempt with Cap S. To me he kinda looks like a cross between Captain Stubing and a blue My Favorite Martian. I dunno why some people had to download such big updates today. Glad I wasn't one of them. I'm just starting to get into the game.

Man... Someone parsed the team in a PvE queue last week and ... well, I can at least say I was Second to last and not last but wow did me and Lasty get blown away. I mean, up until then I really thought I was... contributing.. Lol! I was even joining Advanced queues. That was an eye opener. I think my build is decent and I'm playing it decent. I'm hoping it's just my ship and/or gear/level. I'm glad the guy posted the parse. Wasn't at the moment..

At this point, somehow, I tend to spend most of my time tradeskilling and learning to play the market. And then I go 'to play' and it's almost time to go to bed. ha.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on April 09, 2016, 07:24:29 PM
What's the difference between a Blue and Purple Boff?

It doesn't seem to be choice of powers or level of powers sooo am I wrong or what's left?

I like my Boffs but I just noticed some are blue, so, and especially since they are so cheap, I went to upgrade my Blues to Purple. But then I found I can't find a better Purple version of my Blues.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on April 10, 2016, 01:52:20 PM
Fwiw on that 3 - 6gig update that people said they were downloading after the last patch...

I accidently got myself into a ground PVE queue last night and as soon as I found out I ... well, I exited the game. Bad Xev, I know. When I went back in... the client said it needed to download 3+ gig. After I oh noed and exited, I went back in and there was no download at all.

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on April 10, 2016, 06:18:03 PM
What's the difference between a Blue and Purple Boff?

It doesn't seem to be choice of powers or level of powers sooo am I wrong or what's left?

I like my Boffs but I just noticed some are blue, so, and especially since they are so cheap, I went to upgrade my Blues to Purple. But then I found I can't find a better Purple version of my Blues.
Sorry for the late reply, rare boffs normally get 1 superior skill, such as operative + 75% or something like that. They also get 1 or 2 skill that can have III. Very rare boffs get 2 to 3 superior skills, and outside of player captains they can get powers that normally you would need someone to train your boff for.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on April 10, 2016, 10:48:27 PM
Sounds like a case of I don't know Superior Skills.

When I compare (w/o the above knowledge) blue and purple Doffs, they look the same to me. They both only have 1 default Space power that is level III and they have the same power Level spread in general.

At 50kish a pop, may as well go Purple if it's better. I just couldn't see the betterness! I spent a long time picking my Blues (how poor was I, then?? ha) and I like how their powers worked out but better is better so I must look at those purples again here in just a lil bit.

Tyvm  : )

-------------------

So I went back and looked and it's still kinda confusing. It seems like I can train my blues to do everything a purple can do as long as the blue has the same power choices. F/X my blue and purple tactical Boffs have (exactly?) the same power choices available for training and they also offer them at the same rank. Only difference between the two of them atm is they have different default things trained.

My purple Does have 2 level 3 powers by default but when I was looking in the exchange they seemed to normally have only 1, like the blues - and besides, I can train those same level 3 powers that my purple has, with my blue.

Hey I got in another PVE Ground queue by accident and this time I went for it. Omg I was lost but it was still more fun that I imagined. Luckily I had Xev dressed in Reputation gear which seems to be pretty decent but yeah, I was lost. Will definitely be paying more attention to gear and updating Ground hotkeys...... and trying that again.


Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on April 12, 2016, 08:31:19 PM
So there I was... 850 meg into the latest STO patch and ~ 33% done but with seemingly at least 2 gig worth of uncompressed update to go,, asking myself, "Do I really need this stress..?"

I already went a week and a half with nearly no Internet last week due to running out of bandwidth so I am hesitant to go further at this point.

That's kinda sad. I can play for free and still can't afford it. Can't say they didn't do their part. Ha.

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on April 15, 2016, 01:23:23 PM
So I bit the bullet and am continuing to ride out the waves of STO updates. I bit my tongue on this up until now but I have to say their update data sizes to this point have not matched their amount of new content/things patched.

"Made Ferengi ears slightly larger".... Downloading....400 meg.

Wha?

It puzzles me due to they seem to use the same patch system as CO and CO's updates are generally under 50 meg vs. STO's minimum 400 meg. Even when CO has a fairly substantial update it's well under 400 meg.

I'm not going to compare who updates their game more because we all know who would lose. I'm more commenting on how even minor updates result in 400 meg downloads.

Who cares, I know. When you can dl that much in a few seconds and do it every day without any penalties from your ISP, like nearly everyone can, it's irrelevant. Just commenting.

Maybe someone's forgetting to flip the /compression flag: on (jk : )



Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Samurai Cowgirl on April 15, 2016, 02:40:16 PM
Yes watch the season releases if you are on restricted bandwith they are large, and require multiple fixes. They also pre-send them, and the loader will manually pop back up to pre get it. (Don't walk away crash and get a big bill!)

Not sure if sometimes they use compression for large dumps, or append files (or check everything?), but there is some majic strangeness. As for 400MB ferengi ears, from another game I've found out that say when they would alter the merchant they needed to resend the all mercant files, for all the maps. 1 new item added up quick. I'd expect the reason is the same in STO, fix the ears .. get the whole ferengi (or the entire federation PC graphics)
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on April 15, 2016, 06:22:38 PM
One day people will look back and say 'Yeah, it was kinda dumb, My ISP bragged about their download speeds but then if I were to utilize those speeds I would run out of my MONTHLY allotment of Internet bandwidth in less than an HOUR.

Ah well. I feel better. Thanks. hehe.



Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on April 16, 2016, 07:14:07 PM
Ships..

Is the last free ship at lvl 50? Is that a T5? What's the main difference between that and a T6? Do I have to join a Fleet or pay zen for a T6?

I just saw someone mention in Zone that lvl 50's can get T6's and I'm lvl 57, so.... figured I better ask!
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on April 16, 2016, 08:13:34 PM
Ships..

Is the last free ship at lvl 50? Is that a T5? What's the main difference between that and a T6? Do I have to join a Fleet or pay zen for a T6?

I just saw someone mention in Zone that lvl 50's can get T6's and I'm lvl 57, so.... figured I better ask!
From what I remember the last free ship was a rear admiral, the main difference between a t5 and a t5u and t6 is the t5u and t6 gets powers such as +5% for acc. A regular t5 does not get those powers. The main defense for a t6 is they get another boff set. The easiest way to get a t6 would be buying it from the store, however, if you are a part of a fleet they do have t6 fleet ships which has far better stats but require more things then just buying them from the zstore..
A l50, can get a few lock box ships, they cannot fly say the new Odyssey class t6 ships.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on April 17, 2016, 01:19:11 AM
I don't have damage floaters on for other people and I haven't parsed but it feels like my dps is still really low. I'm Tactical, in an advanced Escort, running MK XII and Very Rare in about every equipment slot so I was hoping maybe my next ship would be the game changer.

It's really a shame that CO doesn't have even half the tradeskill system that STO has. I went to play some CO today for the first time since my first break from it. It's like, I'm good at CO and I LUV CO (felt good to be home), but, there's nothing to do there but get nerfed and retcon (the toon I logged in on after well over a month of absence had a Mandatory retcon waiting for him to pour a lil salt in the wound...) and when I get done with that I play at least 90% of the same content I have played since leveling my first 40 and it is just as hard/easy, so, the nerfs don't even have a point - they are just frustrating and take away from play time whenever they hit one of the builds I want to play.

I suck at STO but yet there's still tons to do and that's why I'm gonna go back and play it after finishing this.

I could tradeskill my brains out in CO. Just let the components drop in places where you want people to be - like Alurts, and mishes  and why not let them drop in outdoor zones too. Tradeskilling involves playing the market and fighting mobs. Done well, like in STO, It gives an ongoing, compelling, reason to do so. Fighting mobs and playing the market involves being involved with other players, too - even for solo artists. It's a good thing.

I know everyone who plays long enough has their own opinion on what would help CO and there is one of mine. Two of my most used buttons, the 'jump' (for barrel rolls) and 'block' (for terminating attack macros errrr and...oh yeah, blocking) mouse buttons that I have used since I started playing CO after CoH went away, fell off, today, too, so, that kinda killed it for me too.. lol


Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Artillerie on April 17, 2016, 04:56:31 PM
I don't have damage floaters on for other people and I haven't parsed but it feels like my dps is still really low. I'm Tactical, in an advanced Escort, running MK XII and Very Rare in about every equipment slot so I was hoping maybe my next ship would be the game changer.

I only recently caught on to how damage works in STO. The whole thing is quite complicated if you want to wring every point of damage out that you can but if you're fairly casual (like i am) then it comes down to power levels.

For example : At weapons power 50 your ships energy weapons will do standard damage but for every 1% increase in weapon power over 50 the damage increases by 2%. Similar stuff happens for other ship systems.

Also i assumed for ages that the weapon mods (dam, acc, critDam, critChance etc) would all be more or less equivalent in effectiveness. Since found out this is not the case. Ideally you're looking for Dam, CritDam and Pen. Seems Acc and critchance are much less effective.

There is a lot more to it all, enough to keep almost anyone occupied with their build if they like that kind of thing but these two points probably cover the majority of it.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on April 17, 2016, 09:15:25 PM
I'll check the power level thing.. I have no idea what my average power level is. I already kinda gathered that acc was a lesser stat to go for from tradeskilling but I didn't realize crit chance is. Seems to me that crit chance would be a good thing due to it seems harder to raise than crit severity and what good is a mondo crit severity if I never crit.

After the revamp I noticed from one of the new descriptions that range can make a difference in beam weapons. That's something I never considered up to now either.

I don't need to be a star (yet..) (hehe) I just wanna be more useful at this point. Don't want to be an anchor in queues due to I want to run them for mats and I just like running them. Just by watching and comparing the rate at which many other players make things go poof I can tell my dps is pretty bad. I did get parsed one time in a team and it was reeeeeeally low compared to all but one other newb.

Thanks for the tips. Sounds like I need to learn about power levels. I've been avoiding learning about power transfer up to this point too.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on April 20, 2016, 01:49:55 PM
How's weapons power 120, baby!

Or something like this.

That was a good tip. I'll be learning more about power levels and how gear works with them. I have another excellent newb tip for dps... Get into OFFENSE MODE.. Or whatever it's called I forgot to look it up. (duh..) I still don't do near the dps I want but at lvl 58 I'm finally putting out enough to grab agro sometimes.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Felderburg on April 20, 2016, 04:50:33 PM
I thought adjusting power levels was something shown in the tutorial?

When I played, I basically stayed between the offensive and defensive power presets. I recall maybe I went to the other presets between combat, to get hull repair going faster.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: SARobb on April 20, 2016, 09:54:30 PM
Some mods will let your Power Level go over 125%
And always invest in EPS skills... make sure you get your power transfer rate over 200%.  The trick with power transfer rate is that while your in ESD or sector space it will only show 100% - once you go into combat your true number will show.
It's great that you can get your weapon power to 120% but it doesn't do anything for you if you cant sustain 120% power.  The EPS skill contribute to transfer rate and that helps you keep that 120% power rating.

Hope that helps
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on April 22, 2016, 05:38:21 AM
Damn (my ISP) those huge patches!

I'm on rations again for a week...

I still can't believe crit chance is a bad thing to go for - it seems like a hard stat to raise and without it all that easy to get severity doesn't seem very useful.

My power level definitely doesn't stay pegged at 125 but it seems to mostly hover over it. Ok I give, what the heck are EPS skills? I'm guessing it has to do with (power) cost discount. 
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Felderburg on April 22, 2016, 05:14:34 PM
On EPS: http://forum.stoacademy.com/showthread.php?tid=2921

Also, on the show, it was how power was distributed: http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Electro-plasma_system
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on April 22, 2016, 06:10:39 PM
Thanks. I'll be sure to check those out... next week  : / I will.

Hey at least tradeskilling doesn't use much bandwidth. I can do some doffing and have some reputation marks built up for turning in hourlies too. That's how I spend at least half my time playing normally anyway..

The Netflix days seem so far off sometimes... lol

Hey while we're at it.. where can I get Admiralty ships? And what are these ships they are talking about at the end of the Tactical tree? The ones that get a bonus from the tree choice. I'll look the name up when I log in next time.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Felderburg on April 22, 2016, 07:42:04 PM
Did they ever complete the out-of-game portal, and make DOffs playable in browser?
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on April 22, 2016, 08:25:52 PM
Did they ever complete the out-of-game portal, and make DOffs playable in browser?
No they haven't just like many things they promised, seems as if those ideas where dropped. Just like crew death that many people an I wanted in game in closed beta.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Felderburg on April 23, 2016, 01:16:04 AM
No they haven't just like many things they promised, seems as if those ideas where dropped. Just like crew death that many people an I wanted in game in closed beta.

...I'm pretty sure I argued against it, in closed beta.....
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Noyjitat on April 23, 2016, 02:42:25 AM
One day people will look back and say 'Yeah, it was kinda dumb, My ISP bragged about their download speeds but then if I were to utilize those speeds I would run out of my MONTHLY allotment of Internet bandwidth in less than an HOUR.

Ah well. I feel better. Thanks. hehe.

it's 2016 and your isp still has bandwidth limits? Are you on the cheapest plan or something?
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on April 23, 2016, 03:37:25 AM
Did they ever complete the out-of-game portal, and make DOffs playable in browser?

Wow that would be pretty cool! For times like this.

it's 2016 and your isp still has bandwidth limits? Are you on the cheapest plan or something?

The cheapest plan or something? Does your ISP offer a cheaper plan but with bandwidth limits? Has it? Ever?

Naw, I use wireless atm due to it's the only broadband available here in the wild, wild west. Thanks for playing.

So how do I get Admiralty ships...? I don't even know what the rewards are but it seems like I don't have enough ships. Gah I forgot to look up the name of those ships in the Tactical tree..

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Felderburg on April 23, 2016, 05:55:16 PM
It does have some functions: http://gateway.startrekonline.com/
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on April 23, 2016, 09:03:36 PM
Well, it's ...... a start. Ha. : )

---------------

Hangar Pets, finally looked it up again from the Tactical tree, on the bottom. What are Hangar Pets? I still have 5 points to burn.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Felderburg on April 24, 2016, 02:22:57 AM
If I recall correctly, that's for use with carriers. So unless you plan on flying a carrier a lot, I would not put points there.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on April 24, 2016, 02:27:39 PM
Sweet. I can try carriers with a different toon sometime. Captain Stubing's Luv Boat could be a carrier someday, that seems fitting.. That means I can pick shield drain back up again and I'll get at least 1 more of those This or That choices by spending those last points.

They timed their skills revamp nicely for me. My newbie first build improved.

By the way, I said I couldn't see why crit severity was so great when crit chance is normally so low? Wasn't considering powers that give 100% crit chance.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Artillerie on April 24, 2016, 06:47:55 PM
You mostly get Admiralty ships by having the actual ship that you can fly around in. There are other ways - like completing an Admiralty arc...tree? The fed/kling/rom thing up to level 10. Sometimes there will be an event or something where you can get another.

As far as why crit chance is not a valued mod - and this is just from a non expert - i figure it's because that it is quite easy to get high levels of crit chance without using up a whole mod on a weapon for just an extra 2% chance. The same could also be said for acc. It's easy to end up with lots of bonuses for these through skills and gear.

The DPS folks love crit chance but hate to use it as a weapon mod.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on April 24, 2016, 10:55:25 PM
The Admiralty ship we just got for free is my best one. Then there are the two freebies that came with the Admiralty system. The freebie they gave everyone recently that has the real low stats is still useful for adding a few extra stats and it's also good for burning off Admiralty mishes that require stats that are way out there compared to the ships I have (virtual no-wins) - especially since it has no cooldown so I can send it right back out again when it's done.

I've gotten two one-use ships that are the best by far. One of them was a doff mish reward from... Delta? and the other came from an Admiralty mish.

I don't even know what good running the Admiralty mishes is but ... I .... Must ... keep ... Things ... beeping and flashing!

*whacks a mole*

STO builds, crit chance included, are fun. Looking forward to a Science/control/drain/heal type build after I'm happier with mr. dps.

Then I'll gear for Ground and run some queues, then, maybe, back to some mishes.

is kinda the 'plan'  : )

------------------------------------------

Oh hey.. What is an alternative to Space Dock for going to the Exchange and possibly grabbing mailed items returned from the Exchange? Something with less traffic and beaming?
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Felderburg on April 25, 2016, 05:08:47 PM
Oh hey.. What is an alternative to Space Dock for going to the Exchange and possibly grabbing mailed items returned from the Exchange? Something with less traffic and beaming?

Deep Space 9, Starbase 39. K7.

Rolling a Klingon, Qo'Nos.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Tahquitz on April 25, 2016, 11:39:38 PM
(Sorry, necro'd an old reply without paying attention to the page count.  Carry on.)
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on April 27, 2016, 11:04:25 PM
Ding 60, finally. Joined a small new Fleet for kicks. They seem nice. 'Blackened Skies'. The leader's name is Black something or something Black - it doesn't appear to be named after a depressing cult at this point.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on April 28, 2016, 06:05:26 PM
Damn these huge weekly patches  : / My usage just reset and I get pinged for 550 meg..

Is it me or does 400-600 meg a week seem a lil bit much? If that's the new average mmo update size I'm gonna have probs. I'm already having them! ha. I hope I'm not left sucking for megabytes again this month.. Would be a crummy reason to have to quit.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on May 07, 2016, 12:04:59 AM
I'm not real big on reposts buuuuuuut just in case there's an STO'r out there not playing atm... this seemed decent enough to pass along.

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/9937943
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on May 07, 2016, 12:23:44 AM
I'm not real big on reposts buuuuuuut just in case there's an STO'r out there not playing atm... this seemed decent enough to pass along.

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/9937943
if you like that take a look at http://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/game-pack/detail/918-temporal-special-agent-pack :D, while I personally do not care for the first 5 ships that four or so look awesome :)
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on May 07, 2016, 02:34:42 AM
Dang, now I feel even luckier we got Chekov for free!

One hundred and thirty bananas. Wow.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: TimtheEnchanter on May 07, 2016, 02:51:53 AM
I tried installing recently and it completely filled my SSD. I was NOT expecting that and now need to see if I can change the folder location in Steam for JUST that game.  :-[
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on May 07, 2016, 03:12:41 AM
I was jealous you have an SSD until I realized it is microscopic. (*snicker*) Or was it just full already... The game is 10 gig. It's a fat download but not so big of a size for a game.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Felderburg on May 07, 2016, 03:45:33 AM
I'm not real big on reposts buuuuuuut just in case there's an STO'r out there not playing atm... this seemed decent enough to pass along.

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/9937943

Holy ********. That... is incredible. I do have to wonder though... do you create a TOS character, and have to keep them in that era? Or do you create them, play through a short little TOS era story arc, and then temporal-magic-mechanics just stick them in the normal gameplay universe?
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on May 07, 2016, 07:15:13 AM
Holy ********. That... is incredible. I do have to wonder though... do you create a TOS character, and have to keep them in that era? Or do you create them, play through a short little TOS era story arc, and then temporal-magic-mechanics just stick them in the normal gameplay universe?
What I get from reading this is, it might be a separate l1-60 campaign. You create a TOS character then go through that timeline. From what little evidence that has come out, I would say they stay in that era.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: TimtheEnchanter on May 07, 2016, 03:48:18 PM
I was jealous you have an SSD until I realized it is microscopic. (*snicker*) Or was it just full already... The game is 10 gig. It's a fat download but not so big of a size for a game.

Yeah, it was pretty full already. The size of the game was a shock. Sadly, the main reason I ended up buying an SSD is CoH demo editing. Lots of trial and error with settings and relaunching the client thousands of times just took too long, and also destroyed my last hard drive.  :P
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on May 07, 2016, 05:53:32 PM
Whenever I can start upgrading again SSD is top on the list. No more slow, ancient, moving parts technology. They're (big shock, huh) getting cheaper and bigger all the time too.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Tahquitz on May 07, 2016, 05:55:35 PM
I'm curious to how they're doing this... is it just a different bank of missions that the rest of us in the 25th century keep cruising among them indifferently?  (We're in the past!  ...er, uh, just ignore those 25th century ships next to us in the same sector. *Handwave*)  Or are they in a new pocket of the past Beta Sector (not so much a new beta sector but an instance of it) only containing Federation TOS players? Or something else more clever that I didn't think of.

If the instance thingy, I can see a few possibilities to how that would work.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on May 13, 2016, 06:52:51 AM
Looks like STO is going to be on the PS4 and xbox http://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/9956413
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Noyjitat on May 13, 2016, 07:18:27 PM
I didn't expect perfect world to ever really invest in the cryptic games at this point. Good for them
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: TimtheEnchanter on May 13, 2016, 08:52:08 PM
Looks like STO is going to be on the PS4 and xbox http://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/9956413

Given the age of STO.... holy cow! I guess they're not planning on closing up shop anytime soon.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on May 13, 2016, 09:02:01 PM
Given the age of STO.... holy cow! I guess they're not planning on closing up shop anytime soon.
I agree, when ever I login there are a bunch of people playing. Personally I am glad there are going to be more playing, I am just worry that the devs might opt to write for the consoles and port of the code to the pc. I have played 2 games that was made that way and to me they were not good.

@Noyjitat, Perfect world always did support Cryptic games Neverwinter and STO, they never bothered with co and now it shows.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on May 13, 2016, 11:08:12 PM
STO definitely has a larger playerbase than CO. I can tell by the queue times, Zone chat, how fast my stuff sells in the market, the number of Fleets recruiting (of all sizes..) and the amount of resources I see pumped into Fleets. I'm getting a feel for Fleets anyway, here, in my second Fleet - Go go Wolf Pack! Arrewwwww!

CO has an international playerbase but STO's is internationallier - for trivia's sake. I would rate the *average* age at around 3 to 400 years older, too.

On a scale of 1 - 10 I would rate STO's playerbase "strength" (I'll post my Zone Chat Mids when it's complete) at ~ 9.5.

CO has a strong playerbase, too, not putting it down, just using it for comparison since that's what I was playing.



Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Night-Hawk07 on May 15, 2016, 03:44:35 PM
It's kind of interesting seeing MMOs starting to migrate over to consoles. DCUO has always been available on PS systems, they just released an XB1 version a couple of weeks ago. Neverwinter, ESO, etc.

Although I seem to recall that STO and CO were both supposed to be released on the 360 when they first came out, but I can't remember exactly why they never did.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on May 17, 2016, 07:34:58 PM
It's probably not new to most of you but it's new to me...

Ohhh ahhhhh...

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/9968873
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: TimtheEnchanter on May 18, 2016, 07:23:41 AM
It's probably not new to most of you but it's new to me...

Ohhh ahhhhh...

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/9968873

 :) One of my favorite non-repeating alien creatures from all of the Trekverse.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Surelle on May 18, 2016, 05:44:14 PM
I didn't expect perfect world to ever really invest in the cryptic games at this point. Good for them

From what Christopher Bruce (Back Alley Brawler) said in his recent Reddit AMA, Cryptic (and so, by extension, PWI) tried to buy and rez CoX after the Paragon transfer failed (although Cryptic's attempt also failed), so it looks like they try to invest in more than you think.  Good for them! 
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on May 25, 2016, 09:04:33 PM
I know no one understood how this was going to work... I dunno who figured it out yet, though, so....

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/9983073

Aha!

Well it's a littler clearer anyway..

: )

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on June 01, 2016, 05:38:46 AM
I'm finally getting used to driving in space.

STO is a whole different game when you don't completely suck at it. Is it just me that had such a hard time in the beginning? Half the time I couldn't even tell the front of my ship from the back.

I really really want to play STO on a nice sized screen.

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on June 10, 2016, 02:25:35 AM
I can see myself cruising in a less pink version of this baby..
http://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/10001653-star-trek-online%3A-summer-event-2016-ship

Man, t6 ships are EXPENSIVE! (The cost of those fleet dock modules, or whatever they're called..) This one looks kinda sweet, too.

The summer event? Big deal? Looks promising.

If I'd have had more playtime during the Crystalline Entity event I would be swimming in marks right now...! Even without a lot of playtime I made out pretty well.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Turjan on June 12, 2016, 03:29:49 PM
Half the time I couldn't even tell the front of my ship from the back.

My main character still can't tell the front of the ship from the back...because he's flying last year's Risa Event ship, the Ferengi Nandi Warship  ???

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/9315723-star-trek-online%3A-ferengi-nandi-stats

Basically, that ships flies backwards.
To my eyes anyway.

Perhaps the Ferengi designed it that way to give them a split second edge to escape should a deal go sour  ;)
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Tahquitz on June 12, 2016, 09:14:14 PM
I can see myself cruising in a less pink version of this baby..
http://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/10001653-star-trek-online%3A-summer-event-2016-ship

Man, t6 ships are EXPENSIVE! (The cost of those fleet dock modules, or whatever they're called..) This one looks kinda sweet, too.

The summer event? Big deal? Looks promising.

If I'd have had more playtime during the Crystalline Entity event I would be swimming in marks right now...! Even without a lot of playtime I made out pretty well.

Like the Risian Corvette, I'm sure you can recolor it.

What's important to note about this year's summer event: Star Trek Online has stopped the practice of allowing prior event "merits" from working in successive years.  You have approx. 30-40 days to earn enough to get the ship, but in the past, if you didn't make it you could spend the following year's merits toward last year's project.

Now, that is not allowed.  If it looks like you're not going to make it (40 pearls able to be earned a day, with 5 days left and you have 600 collected), all you can do is drop the event because the 2016 Lohlunat Pearls will not work for the 2017 event to earn toward something else.  And dropping the event means you collected the pearls for nothing since you won't get them back.  (They did create a conversion vendor to turn unspent pearls into items to clear them off your inventory at least.)

They have done this as well for the Winter Event: the Q Commendations behave the same way starting this Holiday Season.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on June 13, 2016, 12:16:57 AM
My main character still can't tell the front of the ship from the back...because he's flying last year's Risa Event ship, the Ferengi Nandi Warship  ???


I was like, haha! And then I saw the ship and was like... Either end of this ship could be the front.


Like the Risian Corvette, I'm sure you can recolor it.

What's important to note about this year's summer event: Star Trek Online has stopped the practice of allowing prior event "merits" from working in successive years.  You have approx. 30-40 days to earn enough to get the ship, but in the past, if you didn't make it you could spend the following year's merits toward last year's project.

Now, that is not allowed.  If it looks like you're not going to make it (40 pearls able to be earned a day, with 5 days left and you have 600 collected), all you can do is drop the event because the 2016 Lohlunat Pearls will not work for the 2017 event to earn toward something else.  And dropping the event means you collected the pearls for nothing since you won't get them back.  (They did create a conversion vendor to turn unspent pearls into items to clear them off your inventory at least.)

They have done this as well for the Winter Event: the Q Commendations behave the same way starting this Holiday Season.

How Un-STOish. They normally seem to err on the side of generosity with their loot,

I feel a little like Spock from the episode where they go to Risa. I don't need a rest, I'm ready to blow more stuff up. Pillows are for resting!

Is there any way to earn event drops from ... Space?

Being in full body armor on the beach might be killing the spirit of the event for me some, too. I seeeeeem to stick out..

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Felderburg on June 13, 2016, 11:23:34 AM
My main character still can't tell the front of the ship from the back...because he's flying last year's Risa Event ship, the Ferengi Nandi Warship  ???

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/9315723-star-trek-online%3A-ferengi-nandi-stats

Basically, that ships flies backwards.
To my eyes anyway.

Perhaps the Ferengi designed it that way to give them a split second edge to escape should a deal go sour  ;)

It has a front mandible looking area and engines on the rear that are similar enough to the Ferengi Marauder from the shows that you can pick it out, but without those hints it does seem to naturally want to go the other way.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Turjan on June 13, 2016, 08:17:01 PM
It has a front mandible looking area and engines on the rear that are similar enough to the Ferengi Marauder from the shows that you can pick it out, but without those hints it does seem to naturally want to go the other way.

I used to fly the Breen Chel Grett as that toon's primary ship, but the Nandi has slightly better stats. Just better enough to keep me flying it, even if I am constantly saying "Grumble grumble...backwards flying, big-eared, latinum-pinching silliness...grumble grumble..." ;)

But then my Admiral cannot really claim to be free of silliness himself really, given that he looks like this -

(https://i.imgur.com/JhFbyEB.jpg)
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on June 14, 2016, 11:46:15 PM
Nice......pussyhat?
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Tahquitz on June 15, 2016, 12:11:53 AM
Either that or it's The Weeknd's new look.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on June 15, 2016, 09:33:53 AM
I've been wanting to get back to STO, but I can't get the client to open.  After a bit of fiddling with the launcher... now it doesn't open, either.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Turjan on June 15, 2016, 02:12:14 PM
I've been wanting to get back to STO, but I can't get the client to open.  After a bit of fiddling with the launcher... now it doesn't open, either.

That'll be the Arc game launcher thing probably - Perfect World introduced 'Arc' in 2014 as a launch platform for their games. To install and run STO now, you'll need to go through the Arc launcher, unless you happen to have an old STO launcher that still works (which is what I still use).
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on June 16, 2016, 01:25:00 PM
It seems like I needed ARC to install STO (I can't remember how I did it atm..).

You don't need ARC to run STO once it's been installed, though. Just make a shortcut to the edit: Client executable Launcher. F/x "F:\STO\Star Trek Online_en\Star Trek Online.exe"

CO works the same way.

This is assuming that you have no problems with the game going on ofc!

I really dislike Arc. Bloated bast.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Exxar on June 16, 2016, 04:52:26 PM
So you don't need Arc to patch the games?
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on June 16, 2016, 05:20:56 PM
You do not need Arc to play and patch STO or CO once it is installed.

You don't need Arc for anything but setting up a PWE account initially and(?) downloading the client.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Turjan on June 17, 2016, 10:12:00 AM
I just checked, and the 'last date modified' stamp on my Cryptic STO launcher is actually December 2014 (installed in 2009).

It seems to behave itself with patching the game (I did just visit Risa last week to look at 'Teh New Shiny' ) so I reckon Dec 2014 was the last compatible non-Arc version. They campaigned on the forum for ages at the time getting everyone to swap over to Arc (even dangling the extremely fancy open-chested Ceti Alpha V Khan outfit as an exclusive for getting the Arc updater) but it wasn't demanded to change over.

So it's possible that Dec 2014 version of the Cryptic launcher might work with a fresh install. My install has been on that hard drive since STO beta though, so in all honesty I can't say if the game's referencing any other quirky old files when it launches without the help of Arc.

Ah well, at least you might be able to get the Khan outfit by installing the Arc thing - as far as I know it's still not available in the ingame store. I certainly don't have it, so it may well still be exclusive to Arc users.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on June 17, 2016, 01:38:22 PM
Just in case anyone gets confused. I just installed STO a few months ago for he first time. I had to use Arc to set up an account and I think I needed it to download the client. Once the client was installed I promptly stopped using Arc.

Just make a shortcut to the launcher (f/x "F:\STO\Star Trek Online_en\Star Trek Online.exe) if you want to run the game without Arc. It works the same with CO.

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on June 20, 2016, 01:33:10 PM
I think one wall I'm running into now is my gear..

Take the Crystalline Entity event f/x.. That part where we are supposed to stop attacking and no one does so we all get mega damage-pulsed? I get one-shotted on that almost every time and almost every time I'm the only one.. or I'm at least in the minority.

I have or am close to level 5 rep with everyone but I still don't understand how gear sets work other than they exist and if I have a complete set then I get some kind of combat bonus(es).

I have mostly mk 12 purples.. 1 mk 14 just due to I wanted to see how to make a mk 14 and then I stopped due to it seemed like a lot of expense for one not knowing what he was doing..

BTW... having a wall sized (ok it's not THAT big...) TV helps a lot with the telling the front from the back of the ship issue... Man, was it worth the wait to see STO large ...   : )
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on June 21, 2016, 01:14:40 AM
I just did a test on how to make fast legal money :D, I deposited 21750000 ec into my account bank that left me. That left me with 250 k, which I turned into 2100000 in two hours :D.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Arcana on June 21, 2016, 02:44:43 AM
I think one wall I'm running into now is my gear..

Take the Crystalline Entity event f/x.. That part where we are supposed to stop attacking and no one does so we all get mega damage-pulsed? I get one-shotted on that almost every time and almost every time I'm the only one.. or I'm at least in the minority.

I have or am close to level 5 rep with everyone but I still don't understand how gear sets work other than they exist and if I have a complete set then I get some kind of combat bonus(es).

I have mostly mk 12 purples.. 1 mk 14 just due to I wanted to see how to make a mk 14 and then I stopped due to it seemed like a lot of expense for one not knowing what he was doing..

BTW... having a wall sized (ok it's not THAT big...) TV helps a lot with the telling the front from the back of the ship issue... Man, was it worth the wait to see STO large ...   : )

For something like the Crystalline Entity mission, until you're well-geared up (or like exploding) I'd stick to the easy queue instead of the advanced queue.  In the advanced queue nobody stops shooting because honestly pretty much everyone has enough resilience to survive the pulse.  If you're having trouble even surviving the pulse in the easy queue then when it says to stop shooting because the entity is absorbing energy, fly out to just outside 10km.  The pulse only reaches that far.  You'll be out of range, but so will it.  Then fly back into range when the pulse goes off.

In my opinion the quickest way to get a very sturdy ship is to get a high level cruiser and outfit it with the Kobali set, and plug a lot of armor into the engineering console slots.  You don't really need a ton of offensive firepower when you are running in team queues, just good enough.  But a lot of defense helps.  Think Scrapper or Brute: you want to build ships like strong Scrappers when you are starting out.  That means twenty purples in attacks is okay, but just a few in defense is much better.

Don't spend money upgrading past Mk12 until you know what you're doing.  It isn't necessary to run advanced queues, and I could solo Borg events in my Kobali cruiser with just mark 12 gear.

Also, your bridge officers, or rather their powers, can be just as important as gear.  In effect, bridge officers are like CoH powersets, and their abilities are like powers.  And because you can train them, you can in effect customize your build with something close to exactly the mix of powers you want, within the limits of how many (and what kind) of bridge officers you have.

Think of bridge officers as like the primary, secondary, and pool powers you picked in CoH.  STO gear are kind of like inventions.  Ships are like archetypes.  Ship tiers are like CoH levels.

Incidentally, I would get all your reps to level 5 because they unlock all sorts of goodies, but I wouldn't buy anything from the rep stores, again, until you know what you are doing.  Some of the best gear is stuff you can get for free just by running the appropriate mission arcs and choosing them as rewards at the end.  The entire Kobali set (http://sto.gamepedia.com/Kobali_Regenerative_Circuitry) except for the warp core, for example, you can get just by running Dust to Dust over and over.  I like this set because the deflector dish gives good defensive buffs (shield and hull regen and capacity), the shield is one of the bigger shields in capacity, and if you slot just the three easy to get pieces the set bonuses include a hull regen that gets higher as your hull gets lower, and an emergency heal that triggers automatically whenver you have less than 25% health.

This is just my opinion, but I think when you are learning STO you should start in cruisers and branch out to science and escorts as you get better and more knowledgeable.  Cruisers are the Scrappers of STO.  Escorts are the Blasters, and that's in a world without crazy inventions that can soft-cap you.  Science are like debuffing controllers without a lot of hard control.  In terms of how easy they are to pilot, I would say at high levels it is Cruisers are the easiest, then Science, then Escorts.  When leveling, I level with escorts until about the 30s.  Just like CoH blasters, in the early levels it is all about how much offense you can pack to kill things, then one day you discover oh yeah, the enemies shoot back and then Scrappers overtake Blasters in the good-enough offense but-actually-still-alive department.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on June 21, 2016, 10:53:27 PM
Cool, thanks.

Besides not having enough HP's to survive the Crystalline Entity on Advanced I also don't like 45 degree arc cannons (I'm using them at the front with rear turrets..). It seems like if I run an Escort it's a waste to not use the biggest cannons I can put in the thing. It seemed like I was doing better overall dps with 230 (ish?) degree arc phasers and firing off torpedoes from the rear when I needed to turn around or finish someone off, though. Also, with the cannons, it seems like, a lot of the time, I end up turtling in one spot - or trying to. So I can pew-pew in that narrow arc without having to turn around so much when I'm about to bump into the bad guy. With the phasers and torpedoes I was always on the move. Which, is a lot more fun to me.

I think a gear upgrade will get me through the Entity with my Escort. I've already been thinking about trying out a new newb.. Can't decide on Science or Cruiser. They both look fun and more survivable especially for a newb player. Klingon/Rom stuff is usually cheaper in the Auction house and I want to try Klingon and Rom ships too.

I should have lvl 5 rep with everyone soon with my Escort guy. I'm very happy with my Boffs but I would like to experiment. I'm happy enough with my Doff bonuses for now. I'm not going to mess with any more MK XIV upgrades or Rep gear until I have a better idea about things.

Once I get level 5 rep with someone.... I can get some kind of token with them to pass on to my newbs that gives them double xp with that faction? Is that right?

I looked around some for Dust to Dust.. I haven't ran mishes since like level 30.. Didn't find it.. Hint?

I'm missing out on the whole Summer Event thing  : / There still time to get the ship?

I usually run advanced queues just due to .. I figure I ought to be able to by now! They are way more active, too..  I won't run the Crystalline Entity one on Advanced again until I can survive the death-to-newbs-pulse.. Maybe you're right, though, maybe it's smarter to learn the game with an easier ship and to twink out my Escort with said ship. I want to try the different playstyles too.


Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Arcana on June 22, 2016, 02:50:39 AM
Besides not having enough HP's to survive the Crystalline Entity on Advanced I also don't like 45 degree arc cannons (I'm using them at the front with rear turrets..). It seems like if I run an Escort it's a waste to not use the biggest cannons I can put in the thing. It seemed like I was doing better overall dps with 230 (ish?) degree arc phasers and firing off torpedoes from the rear when I needed to turn around or finish someone off, though. Also, with the cannons, it seems like, a lot of the time, I end up turtling in one spot - or trying to. So I can pew-pew in that narrow arc without having to turn around so much when I'm about to bump into the bad guy. With the phasers and torpedoes I was always on the move. Which, is a lot more fun to me.

Important note: escorts are a bit glass cannon-like and they sucker you even more by giving you access to cannons.  They only fire forward, so the tendency is to not fly around so fast and just point at the target.  But in STO, unlike in CoH, movement helps: the faster you move the higher evasion you have.  If you stand still you get hit more.  Less health + standing still = dead escort.

Which is not to say a good escort driver can't make it work, but it took me a while to get reasonably good at driving escorts.

Quote
Once I get level 5 rep with someone.... I can get some kind of token with them to pass on to my newbs that gives them double xp with that faction? Is that right?

Yeah, you should drive one alt to level 5 first, then buy the reputation token.  You can buy as many as you want and give them to alts.  When you give it to an alt and they run the appropriate task, they start earning reputation XP twice as fast as before.  Not only are you progressing twice as fast you're using only half the marks.  So you end up burning less marks, and if you decide to buy things from the reputation shop later you have more left over.  Definitely worth it.


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I looked around some for Dust to Dust.. I haven't ran mishes since like level 30.. Didn't find it.. Hint?

Dust to Dust is the last mission in the Delta Quadrant series.

Incidentally, if you're farming marks to run through the reputation levels you are aware of the two repeatables on Kobali Prime, right?  The last two missions on the Kobali zone (or rather penultimate: the "last" mission is basically just a wrap up zero-combat story thing) grant Iconian and Delta marks, and they grant daily bonuses for the first run of the day.  So if you run them once per day each, you'll get about 60ish Iconian and Delta marks for about fifteen minutes of effort.


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I'm missing out on the whole Summer Event thing  : / There still time to get the ship?

I believe so.  I think the event runs until July 21.  You need to run the floater mission 25 times (once per day) to get the ship.  You only need to run it on one alt: as of last year they changed it so now when you earn an event ship on an alt all other alts can claim it.  So this is like ten minutes out of your day, every day, for 25 days.  It is cutting close though: you have about 5 days of margin for error at this time if you haven't started yet.  The ship is a heavy escort (http://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/10005843-star-trek-online%3A-summer-event-2016-ship-stats).


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I usually run advanced queues just due to .. I figure I ought to be able to by now! They are way more active, too..  I won't run the Crystalline Entity one on Advanced again until I can survive the death-to-newbs-pulse.. Maybe you're right, though, maybe it's smarter to learn the game with an easier ship and to twink out my Escort with said ship. I want to try the different playstyles too.

My main primarily runs the Kobali dreadnaught and its a monster, but I can run Crystalline Advanced on all my frequently played alts.  For example, I have an engineer that runs a T6 Operations Star Cruiser that has a hodge-podge of gear and runs Advanced ok.  Lets see:

I have a rainbow mix of weapons.  VR Chronometric Polaron Beam Array (Mk12) x2, Rare Withering Disruptor Beam Array (12), Unc Disruptor Beam (12), Rare Polaron Beam (12), Rare Tetryon Beam (12), VR Krenim Chroniton Torpedo (12), VR Withering Photon Torp (12).  In other words, a junkpile of stuff I've accumulated through drops and mission rewards.

I actually have, wow, an uncommon warp core.  I really need to get around to swapping that.  VR impulse, rare deflector, and a mkXI covariant shield.  Actually, now that I look at this I should give this alt more love, sheesh.  I do have three tetraburnium armor consoles, a shield amplifier science console, and some crap weapons consoles.  Its really my bridge officer powers that make this ship tough, its an Aux2Bat build, and it can survive Advanced Crystalline queues.  Every once in a while she blows up when I'm not paying too much attention, but its usually okay.  When you look at that gear, its actually kind of a mess.  There's a method to the madness, but its not really great.  I think its because I was leveling this ship to tier V and forgot to put strong gear in it.  But if this can do Crystalline at Advanced, that tells you how important MkXXIV gear is.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Tahquitz on June 22, 2016, 04:34:08 AM
My daily ship is a Risian Corvette, but I could easily substitute it for a Pilot Escort.  I don't go for rainbow, but I have three complements of weapons in storage... I think AntiProton, Tetryon, and Plasma weapons make a good complement, and I swap them out using the build system in the Character Panel.

I love cluster kinetics.  I have two torpedos on mine, the Breen Cluster and Vaadwaur Cluster (one in front, one in back).  That way, it's the typical Escort config: Cannons and Turrets on the ship for the front arc as the lead assault, get one facing down to zero, then tap a cluster torpedo within 3KM when the facing is down...

... it's sweet to watch when it works.  Low points of damage, followed by 4-8 hits around 2-5,000 each hit. (More if you buff with Torpedo: High Yield before releasing the Cluster, and you can have as many as 12 hits.  Then turn 180 degrees and let your turrets hit the reduced facing to keep it red or yellow for a second run.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on June 22, 2016, 01:30:17 PM
I swapped out my EPS Flow Generators for Engineering consoles that give + 20 to all Energy & Kinetic damage. This, combined with that Universal console we just got from the Crystalline event give me ~ 29%ish damage resistance (I forget already..) to everything but Exotic damage I think. I noticed a noticeable difference, Much fewer self-explosion animations... So, they will stay equipped until I find something even better.

I have three complements of weapons in storage... I think AntiProton, Tetryon, and Plasma weapons make a good complement, and I swap them out using the build system in the Character Panel.

I have been thinking about becoming educated enough to figure out who fires what and swapping gear at the appropriate time... I mean, if I am fighting someone who uses primarily Phasers and I have a ton of resist gear for Phasers I could build swap into...

Important note: escorts are a bit glass cannon-like and they sucker you even more by giving you access to cannons.  They only fire forward, so the tendency is to not fly around so fast and just point at the target.  But in STO, unlike in CoH, movement helps: the faster you move the higher evasion you have.  If you stand still you get hit more.  Less health + standing still = dead escort.


OH! I didn't know this.. So there's an actual incentive to fire wildly while flying around like an idiot as fast as I can.... The ever motion making min/maxer in me is pleased.

That's good news about the level 5 Rep, too. I'm almost there with everyone on my first toon and probably already have plenty of Marks. I run the queues for fun and tradeskilling components, Sooo, I've been building up marks np. And thanks for the tip on Dust to Dust I will look that up. I would really like to have a good set of gear just to see how sets work, and, to see what it's like to have a good set of gear..

Cannons just aren't working out for me. (I dumped a relative ton of EC into them and anti-proton damage consoles too... but oh well). But, Escorts are. But Escorts are supposed to use Cannons for max maxiness (I thought) .. so .. this was causing a short circuit. Tahquitz's strategy is interesting. I was thinking last night that dumping some turrets for torpedoes might make having to turn my ship around to line up that 45 degree arc more fun. I'm gonna play around with cannons some more just due to they have powah and I like that but I might switch back to some wider arc weapons to get my previous playstyle back. I'm fairly decent with the (1) 90 degree arc cannon I have that hits as hard as my 45 degree arc ones(it's a you- can-only-have-one-of-these, cannons, or I would have more..) so maybe I try some less powerful cannons with wider arcs instead of going back to 230 degree phaser arrays. Either way, torpedoes are probably going to make a comeback (I'm all cannons and turrets atm with the idea of focusing on that 45 degree arc).

I'll see if I can figure out the Summer Event. Seems a shame to pass up that ship. I don't have a lot of playtime lately so when I get on, I just press the Happy buttons I know about.

I kinda want to try an Engineer behind the wheel of a Cruiser, next. An Engineer/Escort sounded good too but I want to try a different ship.

I got a chuckle out of you (Arcana) inventorying your alt btw... "An Uncommon??" hehe...





Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on June 22, 2016, 04:21:16 PM
I swapped out my EPS Flow Generators for Engineering consoles that give + 20 to all Energy & Kinetic damage. This, combined with that Universal console we just got from the Crystalline event give me ~ 29%ish damage resistance (I forget already..) to everything but Exotic damage I think. I noticed a noticeable difference, Much fewer self-explosion animations... So, they will stay equipped until I find something even better.

I have been thinking about becoming educated enough to figure out who fires what and swapping gear at the appropriate time... I mean, if I am fighting someone who uses primarily Phasers and I have a ton of resist gear for Phasers I could build swap into...

OH! I didn't know this.. So there's an actual incentive to fire wildly while flying around like an idiot as fast as I can.... The ever motion making min/maxer in me is pleased.

That's good news about the level 5 Rep, too. I'm almost there with everyone on my first toon and probably already have plenty of Marks. I run the queues for fun and tradeskilling components, Sooo, I've been building up marks np. And thanks for the tip on Dust to Dust I will look that up. I would really like to have a good set of gear just to see how sets work, and, to see what it's like to have a good set of gear..

Cannons just aren't working out for me. (I dumped a relative ton of EC into them and anti-proton damage consoles too... but oh well). But, Escorts are. But Escorts are supposed to use Cannons for max maxiness (I thought) .. so .. this was causing a short circuit. Tahquitz's strategy is interesting. I was thinking last night that dumping some turrets for torpedoes might make having to turn my ship around to line up that 45 degree arc more fun. I'm gonna play around with cannons some more just due to they have powah and I like that but I might switch back to some wider arc weapons to get my previous playstyle back. I'm fairly decent with the (1) 90 degree arc cannon I have that hits as hard as my 45 degree arc ones(it's a you- can-only-have-one-of-these, cannons, or I would have more..) so maybe I try some less powerful cannons with wider arcs instead of going back to 230 degree phaser arrays. Either way, torpedoes are probably going to make a comeback (I'm all cannons and turrets atm with the idea of focusing on that 45 degree arc).

I'll see if I can figure out the Summer Event. Seems a shame to pass up that ship. I don't have a lot of playtime lately so when I get on, I just press the Happy buttons I know about.

I kinda want to try an Engineer behind the wheel of a Cruiser, next. An Engineer/Escort sounded good too but I want to try a different ship.

I got a chuckle out of you (Arcana) inventorying your alt btw... "An Uncommon??" hehe...
While Arcana, is very helpful and keep in mind that escorts can be a bit of glass cannons, especially in early game. The late game escorts such as the T6 Akira single deck carrier can be made into kind of tankish. This really depends on how you are speced out on your captain, and the type of gear you have.
There are ways to speed up getting the summer ship, try trading in your lobi crystals in the lobi store, I cannot remember the name but it is not the locknut items. When you trade in the lobi, you can  get anywhere from 1-4 items you can then spend on the ship event.
Making an engineer with an escort, is next to awesomeness, with the ship healing you get. You could take on harder enemies almost effortlessly. Same could be said with a tact in a cruiser, just would be slower.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Arcana on June 22, 2016, 08:31:23 PM
My daily ship is a Risian Corvette, but I could easily substitute it for a Pilot Escort.  I don't go for rainbow, but I have three complements of weapons in storage... I think AntiProton, Tetryon, and Plasma weapons make a good complement, and I swap them out using the build system in the Character Panel.

I'm only rainbow by laziness.  I'm partial to plasma weapons myself: I had a full complement of VR plasma with the Rom Experimental Array on my primary alt's primary ship (tactical captain, Kobali Cruiser) before I decided to try my hand at crafting.  A couple hundred AP arrays later I sold about 200 million worth and now have a full set of AP arrays.  I switched out all my plasma into another ship.  I don't like swapping builds myself, actually.  I tend to build alternate weapon/console sets in other ships instead and pull them out from time to time.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Arcana on June 22, 2016, 08:58:20 PM
Cannons just aren't working out for me. (I dumped a relative ton of EC into them and anti-proton damage consoles too... but oh well). But, Escorts are. But Escorts are supposed to use Cannons for max maxiness (I thought) .. so .. this was causing a short circuit. Tahquitz's strategy is interesting. I was thinking last night that dumping some turrets for torpedoes might make having to turn my ship around to line up that 45 degree arc more fun. I'm gonna play around with cannons some more just due to they have powah and I like that but I might switch back to some wider arc weapons to get my previous playstyle back. I'm fairly decent with the (1) 90 degree arc cannon I have that hits as hard as my 45 degree arc ones(it's a you- can-only-have-one-of-these, cannons, or I would have more..) so maybe I try some less powerful cannons with wider arcs instead of going back to 230 degree phaser arrays. Either way, torpedoes are probably going to make a comeback (I'm all cannons and turrets atm with the idea of focusing on that 45 degree arc).

Something else about cannons and weapons in general you might not know.  Weapons drain power in a complex way and it can actually *hurt* your damage to have too much firepower.

Short explanation (at least the shortest I can come up with).  Most weapons drain power in a specific way.  All weapons fire in a firing cycle.  That means when you fire the weapon, it doesn't go "pew" and that's it.  It goes "pew pew pew pew" like every second for a certain number of shots.  Then there's a short cooldown when it cannot fire again for a while.  While a weapon is firing, if when it starts firing it is the only weapon firing at that moment it doesn't drain any power.  That's the "first one's free" rule of weapon drain.  But every other weapon that fires at the same time that one is firing will drain power.  Each kind of weapon has a certain weapon drain listed in its info.  Some drain more than others, usually related to their damage.  Turrets for example do the least amount of damage and drain the least: 8 weapon power (it also fires 360 degrees: the wider the firing arc gneerally the lower the damage also).  Arrays and Dual Cannons drain 10 and Dual Heavy Cannons drain 12.

You might wonder since heavy cannons and dual heavy cannons have the same firing arc, but DHCs do more damage, why would anyone slot the lower damage cannon.  That's because it drains less weapon power.

Why does weapon drain matter?  Because the amount of damage an energy weapon does scales with weapon power.  So lets say you have 100 weapon power and you fire an array and it does 500 damage.  The next array you fire drains 10 power and your power drops to 90.  It will do less than 500 damage (about 450 if I remember the calculations correctly).  The next one you fire will do even less damage, and so on.  Power drain is complicated because it happens in pseudo-real time.  Your engines are adding power back in regular intervals (think endurance recovery) while your weapons are temporarily draining it (I say temporarily because when they stop firing they stop draining).  How much and how fast you can replenish that power is based on your EPS rating.  If you cannot recover power fast enough to supply your weapons, you can actually find weapon drain dropping weapon power so low you actually do a lot less damage than if you used less powerful weapons you can sustain.

So: do you deal more damage piling cannons into an escort?  It depends.  Even accounting for the limited firing arc and even accounting for the time cost of maneuvering, even if you just park in front of a target and dump your cannons into it, you *still* might not be dealing as much damage as you think you are if you did not build your escort for a high enough EPS and weapon power to supply those cannons.

It is because of this that many times escorts have torpedoes.  Its not just because of the tactical options Tahquitz mentions.  It is also sometimes because torpedoes don't cost weapon power and in effect "fire for free."  They are slow recharging, have limited firing arc, and often deal mostly kinetic damage (that is highly resisted by shields) but because it doesn't drain weapon power that torpedo's limited damage might be better than replacing it with a turret or array.

You don't have to know any of this to play STO, just like you don't have to understand the mechanics of recovery to play CoH.  But if you're going to make strong builds, just like you really needed to understand sustainability in CoH to make a really good invention build, you need to understand weapon power dynamics in STO to get to that next level.  But if you want a quickie way of looking at this, take a look at your ship stats (do this while in space: if you're on the ground all your ship stats will be off because all ship gear will be "turned off" while you're on the ground) and look for "Power Transfer Rate".  If you're trying to build an escort that, say, fires three DHCs forward and three turrets aft at the same time, you're looking at a combined weapon power drain of about 48.  If your PTR is 5/sec, obviously when you fire your weapons your weapon power is going to drop very fast.  If you have something like 15/sec, you'll be recovering that power back much faster.

Pretty much everything I know about weapon power I learned from watching this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_DmKQjWrcQ  However, I should warn you that the video is about a half hour long and the guy has a speaking voice that could put charging rhinos to sleep.  It is, however, extremely detailed and straight forward and easy to understand.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Tahquitz on June 22, 2016, 09:00:28 PM
Cannons just aren't working out for me. (I dumped a relative ton of EC into them and anti-proton damage consoles too... but oh well). But, Escorts are. But Escorts are supposed to use Cannons for max maxiness (I thought) .. so .. this was causing a short circuit.

Arcana beat me to the punch... I was writing about the same thing!

Overall, you should limit a ship to about 5-6 beam/cannon weapons in total (even if you have more slots to add additional weapons) at 100 weapons power level for energy (I typically set 80-100 weapons, 60 shields, 40 engines, and 20 aux... you have the presets to punch up shields or engines if you need it). 

Also, the types of weapons in use will drain your energy faster than others:

Dual Heavy Cannons are the worst to place. While their Damage Per Volley/DPS is high, they drain -12 power each. (There are wide arc varieties you can craft, but those have the same drain.)  I'd use one at most.
Quad Cannons are an odd beast.  Power drain is -10 each, four shots, but you can only equip one quad cannon per ship and there's three types: Disruptor, Phaser, and Plasma only. (I've never used them: they are levelless, and damage per volley is 50% of a Dual Heavy Cannon, or essentially the same output as a Dual Cannon.)
Dual Cannons and Single Cannons (just called "cannons": Plasma Cannon, Tetryon Cannon, etc.) drain -10 power each.
Beam Banks are the beam array version of cannons: narrow arc, two shots per fire.  Like cannons, Beam Banks also must be front mounted.  Like Beam Arrays, though, proximity is required for higher damage: firing these at 3km is better for damage than at 9-10km, which is why die-hard escort players tend to pass on these in favor of cannons.  (Like Blasters in CoH, Escorts shouldn't be close and personal with anything unless it's trying to fly right past it.) Those drain -10 power each.
Turrets are the weakest of the cannon weapons, but they are worth consideration for your back slots over mines or phaser banks because their radius is 360 degrees.  They constantly fire no matter what direction your ship is headed at: if you're facing forward, they can fire at the same time as your front weapons.  If you don't use turrets on the back slots, those weapons can't fire unless you turn around.  These drain -8 power each.
Better Weapon Info: http://sto.gamepedia.com/Ship_weapon (http://sto.gamepedia.com/Ship_weapon)

Why not Beam Arrays?  Beam Arrays and other high-arc/wide arc weapons are more useful on Cruisers and Science vessels where broadsiding a ship matters: Escorts fly and turn way too fast to make broadside attacks worth the trouble, and Cruisers have way more slots to make the lower DPS of Arrays not matter as much.  The higher flight speed and faster turning potential means I avoid wide arc weapons on Escorts typically: the port and starboard shield facings are better used to bend a 90 degree turn if your front and rear facings are zeroed out and you need quick defense from fore and aft targets.

Cannons do the same damage from 10Km away as they do from point blank.  Of course, your weapons energy available means your first volley of cannon fire will be the most damaging with repeat volleys being less and less powerful until the energy recovers.  With Beam Arrays and Beam Banks, you have both Weapons Energy Level as well as distance mitigating damage potential.

And like any glass cannon, you should go out of your own way to get out of a position where you take fire on all four sides in an Escort.  That's the best way to explode.

So an ideal weapon mix for DPS play (http://sto.necrobones.com/science-dps.html) is about 5-6 weapons to drain about 50-60% weapons power in a single volley facing forward in attack, with the "recovery phase" being when you are flying away from your target taking fire in the aft and positioning for another run at them.  Your turrets can't fire fast enough to drain your recovering weapons energy without the front weapons engaged.  The downside to this approach means that having them means you'll be 8-16% less in energy than the first volley unless you cease fire altogether when retreating.  (This guide was written for a Science ship, but it works on Escorts, too.  Escorts are just squishier and typically can't do control worth a damn.) 

Yes, Torpedos are free: don't worry about them draining energy.  Torpedos make excellent additional weapons if you have more slots than you need for beams and cannons.  Mix the front slots with any combination of Cannons you like, with one slot for a torpedo, and the back slots with turrets and a one slot torpedo:

Typical Tier 5/6 Escort --
Front (5 slots): 2 slots of Dual Cannons or Cannons, One Dual Heavy Cannon, One or Two Torpedos (one cluster, one standard as a fallback since recharge on cluster torpedos sucks.)
Rear (3 slots): 2 slots of Turrets, One Cluster Torpedo

The Breen Arc is the best way to get your first cluster torpedo.  Typically, you can only equip one TYPE on a ship, so the Delta Quadrant Missions are a place to pick up a second one. (I'm not 100% sure of the names, but you can't have two Breen Cluster Torpedos on the same ship.  You can, however, have one Breen and one Vaadwaur Cluster Torpedo.)  I like Clusters on Escorts because they turn the mine concept around on it's head: instead of dropping them and passively hoping a pursuer hits them, you're throwing them at a shield weakness directly to exploit it.  The downside of Cluster Torpedos are the same as using mines: they're practically useless on a small, fast craft like an Escort (or enemy equivalents like Fighters or Corsairs).  When the cluster unpacks into mines, 75% of the time an escort is too far away from the mines to trigger them, or they lock on but can't move fast enough to catch the ship and eventually fade.  Having a regular torpedo on hand mitigates this problem (a quantum overcomes speed issues readily.)

Hargh'peng Torpedoes (http://sto.gamepedia.com/Hargh%27peng_Torpedo_Launcher) are also sweet if you can nab one early on in the game.  If you do get one in the early levels, don't ditch it!  The crafting system means that a Mark III Hargh'peng can be upgraded to a Mark XIII and placed on your Tier 5/6 ship no problem instead of paying a ridiculous fee for one in the Exchange.  Especially on large ships, it's entertaining to watch it slap a Borg Cube with a purple Radiation DOT, followed by a secondary explosion that hits up to 10 ships in an AoE from the target.  (The consequence?  Hargh'peng Torpedoes can't be improved with consoles, take longer to recharge, and Torpedo Skills like High Yield doesn't affect it.)

And I'd set all the cannons/beams/turrets to autofire (right click them to outline them as green), so it's as easy as picking a target, flying up to them, then for the distance from 10-2km, watch your front shield and the enemy facing, and click on a torpedo if the enemy facing goes down.  If it doesn't, fly away, heal your front shield facing (or balance the remaining shield energy at the least), and come back for another go at it.

Arcana is right, every shot fired makes your next shot less powerful until your weapons energy is recovered.  But at least this way you're constantly firing and not worrying about running "dry" on subsequent runs. (Starting a run at below 50 weapons power is no place to be.)

Also: my captain is an Engineer.  "Miracle Worker" alone improves the survivability of an Escort dramatically when fighting something much more powerful than you, or a mob of 2-4 ships that are your level or close, but it's not a strategy that can keep an Escort alive in a mosh pit of 4-8 ships firing upon you at once.

(I'm an armchair player, not a min-maxer.  Corrections welcomed!)
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Arcana on June 22, 2016, 09:06:34 PM
I should also mention, with regard to the special event ships, I recommend even casual STO players spend the time to get them, particularly if they are tier 6 ships.  Even if you don't want to fly it, ships have something called mastery where all XP you earn killing things in space get credited to the ship itself (as well as yourself of course).  Tier 5 ships get up to four tiers of mastery which grant bonuses to the ship but tier 6 ships get a fifth tier of mastery.  Unlock that, and you get a special bonus power which you can slot in your ship trait slots and that will work for *any* ship.  So for example I'm unlikely to be flying the summer event ship regularly since it is a heavy escort (although you never know: I might like it).  But I will fly it long enough to unlock tier 5 because that trait is the harasser mine trait.  Slot that, and while flying any ship (not just the escort) all cannon scatter volley and beam fire at will shots will spawn chroniton mines near all of your targets, once every 20 seconds.  That sounds interesting.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Arcana on June 22, 2016, 09:10:28 PM
Also: my captain is an Engineer.  "Miracle Worker" alone improves the survivability of an Escort dramatically when fighting something much more powerful than you, or a mob of 2-4 ships that are your level or close, but it's not a strategy that can keep an Escort alive in a mosh pit of 4-8 ships firing upon you at once.

Here's a tip I didn't figure out until probably six months after playing.  If you haven't discovered it yet, find and slot the "Grace Under Fire" trait on your engineer.  Basically, if you take a big burst of damage all at once and you've already used Miracle Worker, it will instantly recharge.  This can only happen once every 90 seconds, but it can be a life saver when you're suddenly taking a ton of damage and you get to use Miracle Worker twice in rapid succession.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Tahquitz on June 22, 2016, 09:13:08 PM
Here's a tip I didn't figure out until probably six months after playing.  If you haven't discovered it yet, find and slot the "Grace Under Fire" trait on your engineer.  Basically, if you take a big burst of damage all at once and you've already used Miracle Worker, it will instantly recharge.  This can only happen once every 90 seconds, but it can be a life saver when you're suddenly taking a ton of damage and you get to use Miracle Worker twice in rapid succession.

Hmm... I didn't know that. :D Thanks!
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Tahquitz on June 22, 2016, 09:26:09 PM
I should also mention, with regard to the special event ships, I recommend even casual STO players spend the time to get them, particularly if they are tier 6 ships.

This isn't directed at Arcana, specifically, just advice in general.

Watch the news for events like this in Summer and Winter, and if you're serious about getting a ship for the Tier 6 trait unlock, start working on earning the ship from Day 1 of the event for the best chance at getting it.  June 9 to July 21 is the event window, and it costs 1,000 vouchers to get the ship from the event store.  You earn 40 vouchers a day from the Risa event.

Starting now, you need approximately 25 days to unlock the ship.  That means you have to play Star Trek Online once a day nonstop without missing a single day to earn it. The event itself isn't terrible: it takes 12-18 minutes to finish, and it resets every 20 hours, but you can't count on working the clock to "gain" an extra day (by shifting the event completion 4 hours earlier than the prior day... that is, unless you get on at really weird hours). 

If real-world issues prevent you from logging on like family, work, or internet outages, there's a chance you can't finish the event.  Also, consider Server Maintenance, which might prevent you from making a session on time, or doing a session later than you'd like.  Starting this year, if you don't make it the unspent vouchers cannot be spent next year for a starship prize, nor can an incomplete event be finished with next year's vouchers (https://www.cohtitan.com/forum/index.php?topic=11617.msg209248#msg209248).

I'd start immediately.  Starting today would give you a 5 day 'cushion' in case you have to miss a session or three.  Past June 27th, it will be impossible to earn the ship starting from scratch.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on June 22, 2016, 11:57:55 PM
OK I'm gonna admit it.. I'm a numbers guy but my eyes still kinda glazed over when I read the more detailed posts..

Then I followed the YouTube link and they did that spirally animation?

Now I'm back for what now actually seems like a summary.. but before was more like how to build a rocket.

LORD..

quarters of a tic..

Overcap...buckets?

THE SPREADSHEETS. Explained so excruciatingly slow in such detail.

It should be noted I'm more tired than normal...

Anyway.. hehe

I have to take some time to absorb.

First thing I'm gonna do is get me some pedoes again....! I'm going to keep that rear turret that I got from Rep that does as much damage as a forward Phaser bank array weapon.. and then probably fill out the rest of the rear with torpedoes. Next, will probably be something in the 90 -180 degree range that takes advantage of that anti-proton damage boost that is in the Universal Mod we (I?) just got from the Crystalline Entity as well as my other anti-proton gear.

Depending on my understanding of power flow up to this point... I might, for the first time, put a torpedo up front. There are times when this would be handy... And if I can toss some energy hog/high dps cannons up front to compliment it, then maybe that works out OK..

...Just to get me back in the (vacuum?) air again with something more fun/effective than what I'm running now.

Thanks! For the help. I'm kinda feeling like I goofed going tactical/escort due to this seems like about the worst choice for an Escort captain atm but maybe I can make it work for me *shrug*. For sure will be Alting eventually. Engineer/Cruiser seemed pretty meaty and with enough dps to not have to saw on things too long. Another Escort with an Engineer at the wheel sounds even more tempting now and Science ships look like they could be highly entertaining to me.

Oh hey.. Any suggestions on torpedoes? I always just go for what looks like the highest dps. For my Doffs on Active Duty? I have 3 (the 'cap' I guess) that have that bonus that gives a chance for faster torpedo recharging.

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Arcana on June 23, 2016, 12:46:34 AM
Oh hey.. Any suggestions on torpedoes? I always just go for what looks like the highest dps.

Actually, I tend to like "fun" torpedoes.  Unless you're building a torpedo boat, the dps out of the torpedo is going to be a nice to have icing on top, not a core component of your overall dps so I like torps that do funky things.  For example the gravimetric torp from the dyson set spawns a grav well at the target which is nice.  I crafted a Particle Emission plasma torp which also worked well: it spawns a plasma fire cloud at the target.  At one point when I was leveling up in my Vesta I had the Romulan Hyper Plasma torp.  That was a fun torpedo: it has a fast recharge and fires these triple barrages of torpedoes.  They are destructible which is why I stopped using them, but for a lot of content they work fine and do a ton of damage, especially if you can get a high yield boosted torpedo to land.  Especially in a science boat that you build with strong gravity well: grav well groups them up, then the plasma torps all land doing AoE damage in a cluster.  I used to vaporize whole spawns of attackers that way.

Quote
I'm kinda feeling like I goofed going tactical/escort due to this seems like about the worst choice for an Escort captain atm but maybe I can make it work for me *shrug*.

I don't know that there's a "worst" combination in general: tac/escort is like the Fire/Fire blasters of STO.  It can kill really fast, but it is a blaster.  Not everyone is going to solo well with that combination.  Eng/Cruiser are the Stone Tankers of STO.  Tac/Cruiser are the Scrappers, Eng/Science are the Dominators, Sci/Science are the Controllers and Defenders.  About the only combination I don't really know what to do with is Sci/Escort.  Better players than I probably smoke that combination, but I'm honestly not a fan of Science captains at all.  Sci/Escort feels like the Elec/Fire blasters of STO.

By the way, unless you are trying to find your way onto a watch list of some kind, I'd stick with calling them "torps."
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on June 23, 2016, 01:16:28 AM
Peedoes..?

Torps, it is.

I might just spoil myself and go for regular ol' cannons due to they have nearly top of the line dps and that nice wide 180 degree arc. I'm thinking to keep the Wide Arc (90 degree arc, can only equip one) Heavy Cannon just due to the dps is nice and 90 degrees is not so bad.

Bio-Molecular torpedoes are what I was using before.. They were free from opening a Rep box and seemed to have a decent bonus. I thought I banked them but... Oh well. I must have gotten recycle happy before they made it there. Plasma torpedoes kinda caught my eye and I definitely have to try the ones I see people spraying like Raid.

And awaaaay flies today's gametime but I'm armed for tomorrow and looking forward to it. GAH I missed the Summer Event thing again..


Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Tahquitz on June 23, 2016, 02:30:41 AM
I don't know that there's a "worst" combination in general: tac/escort is like the Fire/Fire blasters of STO.  It can kill really fast, but it is a blaster.  Not everyone is going to solo well with that combination.  Eng/Cruiser are the Stone Tankers of STO.  Tac/Cruiser are the Scrappers, Eng/Science are the Dominators, Sci/Science are the Controllers and Defenders.  About the only combination I don't really know what to do with is Sci/Escort.  Better players than I probably smoke that combination, but I'm honestly not a fan of Science captains at all.  Sci/Escort feels like the Elec/Fire blasters of STO.

I went with Eng/Escort because when I bought the game, nobody I knew wanted to play it (My supervisor asked me to make an account to join his fleet, then shortly after I bought Lifetime, he got promoted to management and "fraternization policies" prevented him from talking to us or playing MMOs online anymore where we could find him).  I knew I was going to be soloing a lot, and the autoteaming crap in thie first release was the first thing I shut off... after 6-10 missions with "zerg" players who kept getting everyone killed at the spawn point, I progressed much faster playing alone.

I'm a blaster through and through... Science is not my cup of tea (wasn't much of a controller/mastermind player).  I do have an Eng/Cruiser but I don't play it as often as my main.

Quote
By the way, unless you are trying to find your way onto a watch list of some kind, I'd stick with calling them "torps."

Especially in England. IT Crowd aptly explained why. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTaKDnSIb4c)

Plasma torpedoes kinda caught my eye and I definitely have to try the ones I see people spraying like Raid.

Might be this: use your favorite torpedo and use High Yield (http://sto.gamepedia.com/Ability:_Torpedo:_High_Yield) to multiply it.  There's also Torpedo Spread (http://sto.gamepedia.com/Ability:_Torpedo:_Spread)*, but to me that makes less sense to spread as an AoE on ships with their shields still up.  (If you're in one of those amazing Romulan or Klingon ships that throws like 100 cannon hits to everything then follow up with a Torpedo Spread, it could make a bunch of lowbie mobs disappear, but that's not my style.)

* Upon a second reading, it says it makes certain torpedos into a Heavy Torpedo launch.  Plasma included.  Perhaps it's a Romulan specialty? (http://sto.gamepedia.com/Romulan_Singularity_Harness#Romulan_Hyper-Plasma_Torpedo_Launcher)
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on June 23, 2016, 01:46:44 PM
I still have High Yield hotkeyed from before I went all cannons and turrets (I know, I wasted a power after I switched by not changing it to something I could use). Torpedo Spread didn't really interest me either at this point - I'm still dealing with single targets. I wouldn't mind getting to the point where I can round ships up and aoe them... no, not at all... but yeah, not yet  : )

In CoH my first toon was Xev who was Ice/Empath. I like playing control toons and healer toons at least as alts. In EQ two of the best support toons were Cleric and Shaman (heals and slows/debuffs/buffs...) so it seemed the logical choice for an uber support toon when CoH came out. My mains in Everquest were a ... well known Necromancer and a self centered Cleric (you could get away with that back in the EQ days). I reformed by the time CoH came out and was much more of a team player.. I made a couple servers worth of alts after Xev but none of them really stood out. Then I stopped playing anything online for a whole entire omg year and when I came back the game I went to was CoH. I saw this scrapper do stuff that would get you insta-nerfed in Champions Online. Unlike what seems to be The Way in CO - I wasn't jealous, I wanted to Be That Person.. And I was primarily melee ever since. I never was good with melee toons so it was a big stretch for me but then it happened... I didn't want to play anything else. Brutes were my favorite..

I liked blasters too but I wasn't as good with them. I was finally getting good with my Fire/MM blaster right before the shutdown partly due to inspiration from one of Liberty's top Blasters, The War Mage. He was a very impressive Fire/Fire blaster that gave me advice on what mouse to buy last (that I need to replace finally..) and showed me how Blasters can be played to their ultimate. I can still picture fighting side by side with him. it was an honor. Great player.

Anyway  : ) Morning!

Looking forward to play later.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Arcana on June 23, 2016, 07:08:25 PM
Might be this: use your favorite torpedo and use High Yield (http://sto.gamepedia.com/Ability:_Torpedo:_High_Yield) to multiply it.  There's also Torpedo Spread (http://sto.gamepedia.com/Ability:_Torpedo:_Spread)*, but to me that makes less sense to spread as an AoE on ships with their shields still up.

Grav Well + Torp Spread + AoE Torp.  All the targets end up in the same place, so all the three torp spread torpedoes end up in the same place, so all the targets get hit by all the torpedoes simultaneously.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Exxar on June 24, 2016, 05:07:36 PM
Damn, all this talk about mechanics sounds awesome, makes me wanna play the game, but then I remember how boring I actually found space combat back when I tried it :(
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on June 24, 2016, 08:48:28 PM
Damn, all this talk about mechanics sounds awesome, makes me wanna play the game, but then I remember how boring I actually found space combat back when I tried it :(

LOL!

: )

(I don't agree....... Just made me laugh.)
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Arcana on June 24, 2016, 08:55:52 PM
Damn, all this talk about mechanics sounds awesome, makes me wanna play the game, but then I remember how boring I actually found space combat back when I tried it :(

Somewhat like CoH, I find that knowing a bit of the metagame makes the act of playing the gamegame more interesting.  For example, this (http://sto.gamepedia.com/Universal_Kit_Module_-_Plasma_Feedback_Cascade) can make ground combat all kinds of interesting. 

In general, I find space combat to be a fun thing to do for a while, but a little boring to grind too much of.  I spend as much time metagaming STO as I do gaming it.  Which is to say, I play, but I also spend similar time thinking about what I want to do next to add that little bit of improvement to my main alts.  There's still a lot of stuff I'm learning, and while I'm on the learning curve it is still interesting to see what this does or that does.  There's nothing in STO like, say, the Magisterium trial that I liked running just to run it, as many times as it was being run.  But there's also enough diversity in content for now that I can scratch my STO itch by running a couple of fast Crystalline queues, a couple of mission arcs, a couple of specific missions to farm the bonus gear rewards, and set up duty officer offline stuff.  Sometimes, like this past week, I log an alt in, run the Risa event thing once, and then log out, and that's enough for me until I feel the urge to play more.

STO is not as interesting to me as CoH was, but it is interesting enough to keep my attention occasionally, and sometimes more than that.  But its gameplay basics in general are not quite as interesting as CoH's were to me as a personal preference.  There is, however, more for me to learn in STO than there was in CoH, where I basically saw everything, knew everything, did everything, went everywhere, knew everyone, and accomplished pretty much everything.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Tahquitz on June 24, 2016, 09:33:43 PM
I still loathe ground play for the most part.

Except for co-op zones like the Sphere Battlezone, Kobali Warfront, or the Breen Borg Invasion where tactics matter.  I dig those areas.  There's a few interesting areas like Nimbus, The Coliseum, or the end of the Iconian arc (sorry, no spoilers here).  But most of the time, it still feels like an interruption to space combat where most arc progress occurs.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on June 24, 2016, 11:09:05 PM
I've gone through different stages with how I play STO, already. In the beginning, I liked it just because it wasn't CO. Then I got hooked on playing a new (to me) space game.

I totally toooootally sucked at STO until now, and now, I just kinda suck. And I *still* have fun with it.

There's just all kinds of things to do... IN SPACE.

*shrug*

Trying to learn how to make a satisfying build has been a major draw, too. I see people doing things I want to do and it's complicated/involved/immersive enough trying to figure out how they do it to be fun.

I'm getting back into CO again now that I can see my toons in all their glory, again (new screen). *purrrr* I kinda get bored fast, though, and, I need to get a new CO mouse. So I don't play long before ending back up in STO, where, I can monitor CO chat channels in case something interesting pops up and I don't have to hang around in MC.

It all works..
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on June 27, 2016, 02:23:13 AM
I played the game for several months, but I never saw or even heard of half the items or skills you're talking about.  Maybe that's why I have so much trouble with space combat.  (The point's moot, though, since I still can't get the game to open.  It just bounces on my dock, opens for a second, then closes again.  No error message, it just stops)


Edit: So I wandered over to the official forums to see whether anyone else was having this problem, and I found the reason.  It's not a bug on my end, they simply ended Mac support for it months ago and I didn't know about it until now.  Crap.  I guess I'm done with the game, then.  :-\
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Tahquitz on June 27, 2016, 07:03:58 AM
I would have figured that from the fact that consumer Mac systems (those from the low-to-mid end from $700-$1,400) no longer have dedicated video cards without a premium upgrade.  (iMac systems start at $1,799 for Radeon R9 Graphics.  MacBook Pro with Radeon R9 graphics at $2,499.  Mac Pro, don't even ask.)  Comparably equipped PC Desktops and Laptops are far more affordable.

Intel Iris Pro may be the new entry in the Mac field, but it's midrange (not in the $700-1,200 range that most people buy), and Intel describes it as a replacement for "discrete low-end GPUs", so I'm not eager to find out more to be honest.

But it's really not related to that.  They had too many problems with the client (http://www.mmogames.com/gamenews/star-trek-online-cancelling-mac-support/) and keeping it operative for Mac players would take resources they clearly intend to spend on XBox One and PS4 use (https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/9956413-star-trek-online-coming-to-xbox-one-and-ps4), so if you have a console, you might have another choice available this Fall.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on June 27, 2016, 07:23:56 AM
I have a PS4, but playing MMOs on a console feels... wrong.  I used a lot of keys for STO (and a lot of mouse clicks), and there's not enough buttons on the PS4 controller to replicate that.

So unless I want to try to use Wine (which, judging by how badly CO runs in Wine, means taking a huge performance hit unless I turn the graphic settings down to the bare minimum, and STO has higher requirements, so it may not run at full speed even then), or unless money falls from the sky to allow me to buy a second computer, I'm out.

I didn't want to quit, but they don't want me.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Tahquitz on June 27, 2016, 07:35:22 AM
I have a PS4, but playing MMOs on a console feels... wrong.  I used a lot of keys for STO (and a lot of mouse clicks), and there's not enough buttons on the PS4 controller to replicate that.

So unless I want to try to use Wine (which, judging by how badly CO runs in Wine, means taking a huge performance hit unless I turn the graphic settings down to the bare minimum, and STO has higher requirements, so it may not run at full speed even then), or unless money falls from the sky to allow me to buy a second computer, I'm out.

I didn't want to quit, but they don't want me.

Or if your Mac ran STO well, how about Bootcamp and installing a copy of Windows on the machine?  It sucks having to switch between OS X and Windows, I know.  I hated doing that at work on my iMac (it was the 2007 model, 24" screen.) But with the school having software that insisted on Windows, native drivers always beats a Virtual Machine on older hardware.  If I wanted to use my SIS well, I had no choice.

In the past Bootcamp wasn't an option on Macs that didn't have the original install discs for the hardware-native drivers, but on OS X Yosemite, it worked 100% from the Apple website even with that system (because it was a Core 2 processor I was reduced to using 32-bit).

I know I'm about to say this in a website where our whole community was uprooted from an MMO we all loved, mostly for a nebulous business decision, but I wouldn't take the move personally.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Arcana on June 27, 2016, 08:22:28 PM
I have a PS4, but playing MMOs on a console feels... wrong.  I used a lot of keys for STO (and a lot of mouse clicks), and there's not enough buttons on the PS4 controller to replicate that.

So unless I want to try to use Wine (which, judging by how badly CO runs in Wine, means taking a huge performance hit unless I turn the graphic settings down to the bare minimum, and STO has higher requirements, so it may not run at full speed even then), or unless money falls from the sky to allow me to buy a second computer, I'm out.

I didn't want to quit, but they don't want me.

Unfortunately, I can't help with Mac issues directly, as I don't own one at the moment, but I have heard that some people have had some success with Wine being playable: https://www.reddit.com/r/sto/comments/4467ce/sto_mac_client_discontinued/

...For some definition of "playable."  Bootcamp seems to be the strongest recommendation, but Wine variations seem to work depending on precisely how it is installed and configured, and some have said things like Parallels and Fusion sort of work, but YMMV.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on June 28, 2016, 07:44:37 AM
Bootcamp is always the recommended setup, but I don't have Bootcamp, I don't have a copy of Windows, and I don't really want to set up an entire OS for one game while losing access to all the other programs I use for the duration.

According to that thread, Wine technically works, but it does bad things to the game's framerate (something which I already discovered about Champions Online, which never had a Mac client - the framerate is unplayable unless I turn the graphics settings down as low as they'll go, and STO has higher requirements than CO).

And I know it wasn't personal, but ... I can't remember any other MMO offering a Mac version for a while and then taking it away.  It's a real kick in the pants.  And "there's no more native Mac client, but you still have choices: massive inconvenience or massive underperformance!" is not a solution for me, I'm afraid.

So I'm going with the third option: support game companies that actually support my OS.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Tahquitz on June 28, 2016, 08:19:44 AM
Fair enough.  There are other options like GOG.com... And Humble Bundle.  I haven't bought a bundle in 2 years, and last I looked it appeared that they too hath succumbed to the Steam juggernaut like everyone else. 

It has been foretold that all gaming one day shall be Steam and our grandkids will roll their eyes when we tell them otherwise about GameStop, consoles, or box sales... For we'll be doddering grandparents telling them about a past they can't possibly understand.

But what I did enjoy about Humble Indie Bundle was that all three versions of a game (Windows, Mac and Linux, of course if available) were yours for one payment, usually DRM free.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on July 07, 2016, 02:07:44 AM
Those that like the TOS timeline, should make a character now. You can do a TOS arc now. It is not bad though.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 07, 2016, 01:24:47 PM
I like the new queues. They did OK on Scotty.. His son did OK on his voice although he really needs to work on his flamboyance.

New character slot!

I like the new splash screens. I know it's a small thing but when I log in now, it feels very TOSey, which I like.

That's about all I've checked out so far on this rather large expansion.

Oh yeah, new Sciencey rep! It's kinda sweet, too, as I recall, if you are dealing Sciencey damage.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 09, 2016, 03:14:29 PM
I don't remember the name of the new PVE queues... but, the one with Chekov's voice....? Why no Chekov?? They have Scotty with no Scotty voice (luv ya, R.I.P.) and Chekov's voice with no Chekov.

Oh, and, Chekov Voice! I thought that was cool, Missed it the first time, somehow. He did his own voice nicely, I thought. Well read. If that was not Chekov voice I heard then someone did a great job of it.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 21, 2016, 11:33:29 PM
Effing patches.....!!

Good Lord...

The only reason I've been able to keep up with them until now is ... I'm not playing. I just keep imagining this Winter when I normally look forward to having more playtime...and having no bandwidth to play with.

Blah  : /

I'm finally starting to get halfway good at this game but these patches stress me. Yay that they are making the updates, I know....

Ah well..

Thanks..

Now I don't have to go kick a kitten. In my mind.

People with real Internet: Rejoice...
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Arcana on July 22, 2016, 03:54:51 AM
People with real Internet: Rejoice...

Back in my day we used to type programs into our computers from printouts in magazines.  I dunno about you, but my typing speed doesn't quite make it to 300 baud.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 22, 2016, 12:58:04 PM
Baud rate isn't the problem it's wireless data limits. And weekly 1 GIG update totals. Bleh.

I spend a multiplicative amount of bandwidth downloading patches vs. actually playing, with STO. Every single month.

I can't see myself playing STO this winter  : / Gaming is pretty much 99% of my indoor entertainment and my work is mostly seasonal.

I'm even having a hard time downloading this latest patch.

Life goes on, huh  : )

STO free, possibly  : / Why torture myself.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Arcana on July 22, 2016, 09:18:23 PM
No Starbucks or McDonalds nearby you can leech free wifi to download patches?

Gaming is pretty much 99% of my indoor entertainment

So no pokemon go either, huh.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 22, 2016, 09:32:35 PM
Back in my day we used to type programs into our computers from printouts in magazines.  I dunno about you, but my typing speed doesn't quite make it to 300 baud.

When you consider that back then most games came on < one disk and that one disk was 360k.... 300bps wasn't sooo bad. For downloading patches. It could download those ascii bbs menus well enough... line by line.. hehe

Back then smaller was better. The smaller, more efficient your code, the more elegant it was. Now we have dvd's and broadband and multi-core processors and video cards that cost and compute as much as a pc. Bloat that code!


No Starbucks or McDonalds nearby you can leech free wifi to download patches?

So no pokemon go either, huh.

No laptop, otherwise that would probably solve all my bandwidth probs. The only thing you can leach from where I sit is maybe squirrel gossip.

Pokemon Wha...? *snicker*

My knowledge of current events ended ~ 2007


~~~~

This is one thing I like about CO's compiler. They can have a '500 meg' update but I only download 100meg. In STO a '500 meg' update is > a 300 mb dl.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Blondeshell on July 22, 2016, 11:33:18 PM
Back in my day we used to type programs into our computers from printouts in magazines.

I remember doing that!
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: eabrace on July 22, 2016, 11:48:58 PM
I remember doing that!
On my VIC-20!
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 23, 2016, 01:00:54 AM
To make things even more entertaining I don't have a meter on my exact usage anymore. (Don't ask...)

But I haven't been online so much so I figured, why not download the patch. May as well play while I can. At the end of it I got dinged with a 'you have used 90% of your data' message from my ISP. Yes, this is the first and only message I get from them now. Usage resets next Tuesday.

The next big patch they have is probly going to be my last. Even when my meter was working I had a hard time staying within data limits with the barrage of multi 100 meg downloads that STO likes to lay down. Matter of fact I feel dumb for downloading this one. I was kinda looking forward to playing with more than 10% of my bandwidth this weekend. My situation is so screwed up I don't even know if I'm sharing my bandwidth so I probly should turn off Internet pictures and just stick to checking the mail for the next few days.

Lord.

I keep clicking my heels but here I stay..





Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Arcana on July 23, 2016, 01:07:09 AM
On my VIC-20!

Uphill!
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Arcana on July 23, 2016, 01:09:37 AM
To make things even more entertaining I don't have a meter on my exact usage anymore. (Don't ask...)

But I haven't been online so much so I figured, why not download the patch. May as well play while I can. At the end of it I got dinged with a 'you have used 90% of your data' message from my ISP. Yes, this is the first and only message I get from them now. Usage resets next Tuesday.

The next big patch they have is probly going to be my last. Even when my meter was working I had a hard time staying within data limits with the barrage of multi 100 meg downloads that STO likes to lay down. Matter of fact I feel dumb for downloading this one. I was kinda looking forward to playing with more than 10% of my bandwidth this weekend. My situation is so screwed up I don't even know if I'm sharing my bandwidth so I probly should turn off Internet pictures and just stick to checking the mail for the next few days.

Lord.

I keep clicking my heels but here I stay..

I've heard of bad ISP caps, but this is the first time I've heard of an ISP that appears to charge by the electron.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 23, 2016, 01:12:01 AM
Now that I think of it, who knows when they dinged me with the message. I got it at the end of the download but there are delays, ya know. So, pretty much I'm done playing online until next Wednesday at which time I guess I will be in CO. (Edit: due to it's the only other game I've downloaded and am playing, and, I know I can play, when I play CO, and really, I just want to play. Something. Online. That I can download and yeah the good ftp is important too, I'm a dirt poor bastard in the making for some years now. Many will not be able to relate).

Such a great decision it was to download that 750+ mb patch! My last. Had too many STO weekends like this already. What a drag! I was really enjoying this game.

Ah well, have fun. Carry on. Sorry to interrupt. (edit: rly! hehe)

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 24, 2016, 12:19:11 AM
I feel like I should say sorry for spazzing out. Ya know how it is when you get tired. Weak moment.

If the worst thing that happens in a person's day is they lose Internet, it's still a pretty decent day.

Apols ya'alls. Just the stomach gurgles talking.

*makes a pillow out of chill pills for his widdle nappy*

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 28, 2016, 09:00:55 PM
550 meg patch day.. *stomachgurgle*

Well, I just couldn't go cold turkey.. Having too much fun. I just made a GREAT newb, too.. (Screenie, inc.. eventually).

This doesn't have to be black and white with the STO playing.. Up until now I've managed, barely. Soooo I could play for just two weeks a month, for example, and all my woes would probably go away.

CO could be my fix for the other two weeks to get me through the month of renting cyberspace.

Two weeks STOing is better than nothing!

STO doesn't use much data outside of teamplay. Doffing, tradeskilling, Fleet stuff, all use relatively tiny amounts of data, Teamplay isn't so bad either. Those patches are what's killing me. I have to find a way to get them from another source and then all should be golden.

*tree falls on PC*

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Arcana on July 28, 2016, 11:17:54 PM
I suppose you could find someone that plays STO, wait for them to patch, xcopy their STO directory to an external hard drive, and manually sneaker-net the updated game client back home.

Although now you have me wondering what's the most expedient way to get game patches on limited bandwidth.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 29, 2016, 12:34:02 PM
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 29, 2016, 04:54:37 PM
Specializations: Strategist vs. Intelligence Officer
Context: Space oriented dps

Thoughts..?

I like the defense bonus from Intelligence Officer and the tier 4 shield/armor pen. I like about everything from Strategist to some degree. They came out with Strategist after I put 6 points into Intelligence Officer otherwise had I started playing a little later, I may have gone Strategist. Still not so late to swap.. Nothing says I can't eventually get both, and use what I want when I want, either.

I've got time to think about it. I'm a few skill points away from maxing my active secondary Specialization. So I thought, hey, why not see if there was any kind of strong opinion towards one or the other..

 
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on July 29, 2016, 08:01:30 PM
Specializations: Strategist vs. Intelligence Officer
Context: Space oriented dps

Thoughts..?

I like the defense bonus from Intelligence Officer and the tier 4 shield/armor pen. I like about everything from Strategist to some degree. They came out with Strategist after I put 6 points into Intelligence Officer otherwise had I started playing a little later, I may have gone Strategist. Still not so late to swap.. Nothing says I can't eventually get both, and use what I want when I want, either.

I've got time to think about it. I'm a few skill points away from maxing my active secondary Specialization. So I thought, hey, why not see if there was any kind of strong opinion towards one or the other..
You can choice both, as a primary and secondary. I do agree with you though Intel. has some nice bonus'
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Arcana on July 29, 2016, 10:20:04 PM
You can choice both, as a primary and secondary. I do agree with you though Intel. has some nice bonus'

My main has strategist as a secondary, and if I recall correctly it can *only* be activated as a secondary.  So even if you like Strategist, you still have to pick a primary to go along.

I've been playing long enough to pretty much have everything unlocked on my main (except for temporal, because that just came out), but I'm currently running Command/Strategist.  I used to run Intel/* because I liked Intel, I'm only running Command as a primary because it was the last one I fully unlocked and played around with.  I'm actually thinking of going Temporal/Strategist, because I'm liking some of the stuff I see there (and I have about 20 spec points to burn on unlocking it at the moment).

For example, if you're currently getting blown up a lot in Advanced queues like Crystalline Entity, I wonder how well Continuity will work out for you.  Continuity is the tier 4 Temporal ability that causes you to be teleported out of danger and drop all aggro if you drop below 10% hull.  Sort of like an Omega-13.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 30, 2016, 01:29:34 AM
,,,Does it matter which specialization is Primary or Secondary? I see there are bonuses for the different Specializations being 'Active' but I don't see any advantage to having a Specialization as Primary vs. Secondary. Now that you mention it, I had forgotten Strategist is Secondary only.

Pilot is my current choice as Secondary and I've almost maxed it out. I worked on it first due to it seemed to be the best fit for this toon (Tactical) and his Escort. Finally got shield scraping which gives me a great excuse to sideswipe..

I could use some more survivability as a priority, and moar dps is always nice.. This is what made me think Strategist (+ Pilot).

Intel is a nice bang for the buck for only spending 5 points in it so far (I thought it was 6) but the rest of the trees in it aren't super exciting except for that tier 4 shield/armor pen.

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Arcana on July 30, 2016, 03:13:55 AM
,,,Does it matter which specialization is Primary or Secondary? I see there are bonuses for the different Specializations being 'Active' but I don't see any advantage to having a Specialization as Primary vs. Secondary. Now that you mention it, I had forgotten Strategist is Secondary only.

I believe the main difference now is that passive benefits work whether you activate a specialization as primary or secondary, but active benefits can only be used from the primary.  In other words, if the spec ability grants you a buff all the time then primary or secondary doesn't matter.  If its a clicky power, it has to be primary.

In terms of survivability, I think Pilot is your best bet.  Before I got enough survivability to basically solo the Borg events I used to love to use Rock and Roll to escape certain death.  And Turn the Other Cheek is a good tanking ability, although you have to be tough enough to get shot at from all sides to get the most benefit out of it (or be a really good escort driver that can keep turning to bring different firing arcs to bear on the enemy).
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 30, 2016, 05:35:45 AM
I think I might go Strategist, then. There's appealing things in both Specializations. Strategist seems like a guilty pleasure Spec for some reason..

I've got two newbs coming up now, too. I was going to try Cruisers on my Tactical guy but decided to just make a Tactical/Cruisers guy. I wanted to try out an Engineer and the only thing I want to fly with one at this point is an Escort so that made newb 2 easy.

I'd kinda like to try an Exotic damage Escort build if there is such a thing.

Xev needs to get himself a t6 ship. I've been saving up for Fleet Ship Modules. Iirc I need 4 and the cheapest I see them at is ~ 15 million EC. The Fleet ships themselves aren't that expensive... iirc. I don't know how Fleet Ship Modules interact with Fleet ships I just know I need to have them to get one.. I also don't know if the t6 Fleet ships are decent or not - I still kinda don't get t6's and why one is better than another.

The costume creator is not sooo bad in STO, really. I made a decent Doctor Smith and brought another idea I had in my head to life decently enough with it.


~~~~~~~~~~~~

Booo I just noticed that the Fleet ships are kinda gimped (no Starship Mastery, which I don't know a whole lot about). And require 5, not 4, 15-20 Mil EC Fleet Ship Modules..

soo 80ish Mil EC will get me a t6 wannabe... Holy geez.

Good thing I came up with some newbs!

So what do I need to do to get a Real t6? Can I just buy one outright for hundreds of millions of EC from the Exchange? What's the deal with Starship Masteries?

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 31, 2016, 09:46:15 PM
Quote
[GameplayAnnounce] You have been assigned an AFK penalty for not participating enough in this queued event.

Say wha..!

2 hour AFK penalty.. My guy may be a newb but he was far from AFK. He's got all purple gear that's at his level.. I was doing the easiest Fleet Marks queue. I've been leveling in the queues! Yesterday I was, anyway. This was the first queue I ran today.

2 hour lockout.. pfft.

-----

PS

The Computer Science professor from the local community college just happens to be a neighbor of mine... I've been doing some work for him this year, non computer.. is how I met him. Anyway... he's on a dish to tower wireless ISP that has a Normal monthly fee with Normal service. He was nice enough to do some pings for me today and voila:


PING patchserver.crypticstudios.com (208.95.185.41): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 208.95.185.41: icmp_seq=0 ttl=39 time=97.880 ms
64 bytes from 208.95.185.41: icmp_seq=1 ttl=39 time=94.255 ms
64 bytes from 208.95.185.41: icmp_seq=2 ttl=39 time=99.694 ms
64 bytes from 208.95.185.41: icmp_seq=3 ttl=39 time=94.546 ms
64 bytes from 208.95.185.41: icmp_seq=4 ttl=39 time=91.765 ms
64 bytes from 208.95.185.41: icmp_seq=5 ttl=39 time=93.170 ms
64 bytes from 208.95.185.41: icmp_seq=6 ttl=39 time=90.788 ms
64 bytes from 208.95.185.41: icmp_seq=7 ttl=39 time=92.891 ms
64 bytes from 208.95.185.41: icmp_seq=8 ttl=39 time=91.984 ms
64 bytes from 208.95.185.41: icmp_seq=9 ttl=39 time=92.433 ms
64 bytes from 208.95.185.41: icmp_seq=10 ttl=39 time=94.996 ms
64 bytes from 208.95.185.41: icmp_seq=11 ttl=39 time=90.517 ms
64 bytes from 208.95.185.41: icmp_seq=12 ttl=39 time=92.272 ms
64 bytes from 208.95.185.41: icmp_seq=13 ttl=39 time=90.828 ms


It's just a small sampling, and a single sampling, and it's just Pings... and 90+ms pings aren't the greatest in the world.. But... That's encouraging.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Arcana on August 01, 2016, 07:34:41 PM
Booo I just noticed that the Fleet ships are kinda gimped (no Starship Mastery, which I don't know a whole lot about). And require 5, not 4, 15-20 Mil EC Fleet Ship Modules..

soo 80ish Mil EC will get me a t6 wannabe... Holy geez.

Good thing I came up with some newbs!

So what do I need to do to get a Real t6?

I'm not a fan of the fleet ships.  They are basically really expensive upgrades of T5 ships that have only minor improvements.  Nice to have if you're rich and in a fleet that generates a ton of stuff, otherwise eh.  The easiest way to get T6 ships is to participate in the events that come up about every quarter, like the summer event that just concluded.  They usually have some task to perform that awards 40 somethings per iteration and require 1000 somethings to convert to an event starship, which these days is a T6 ship.  The events are typically like 40 days long and you have to do the whatever thing 25 times, so you don't have to do them every single day, and the thing whatever it is typically takes five to ten minutes to do, more or less, so 25 sessions of ten minutes each doing something that requires little to no actual in-game capabilities** is about the easiest way I can think of to get a T6.  What's more, if you do the tasks on a single character and unlock the T6, it becomes available to all of your characters, for free.


** Although, the task is sometimes aided by things you can buy or do during the event.  For example, during the summer event the required task is to fly through three aerial slalom courses with a jetpack.  The (relatively) freebee jetpck only lasts an hour (so you have to take the time to get one every day) and is slow: it can take fifteen minutes to run all three courses.  You can buy a permanent one, and there are better and better ones.  The max speed one can run all three courses in five to ten minutes depending on where they are located (it is randomized) on the map.  Those require separate currency you earn doing other things during the event.  It will certainly help to have a fast jet pack, but entirely optional if you do not want to do those other things.  Because they run that event every year, over time it is possible to eventually have the best everything (jetpack, racing board, etc) without much gameplay, just accumulated over time.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 01, 2016, 07:54:58 PM
I'd been saving up forever for one of those Fleet ships and then I saw they weren't full T6's. I see it in Zone chat all the time 'how do I get a t6". The general advice seems to be 'wait for an event', like you said.

T6's are in the Exchange, too, huh? I should look.. If they come from lockboxes they are probably sellable. I don't know much about them as far as which one I would want to buy, even if I could buy one, at this point. It does feel like time to move up, though..

I got another AFK penalty with Smitty last night! What's up with that.. Two in a row. Sheesh my gear is to the 9's for my level and I'm being as active as I can... If my dps is so low then why even let players my level in the queue to begin with, sheesh. I mean, I'm rockin' it for my level (19 atm) compared to my first newb.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Arcana on August 01, 2016, 08:23:29 PM
I'd been saving up forever for one of those Fleet ships and then I saw they weren't full T6's. I see it in Zone chat all the time 'how do I get a t6". The general advice seems to be 'wait for an event', like you said.

T6's are in the Exchange, too, huh? I should look.. If they come from lockboxes they are probably sellable. I don't know much about them as far as which one I would want to buy, even if I could buy one, at this point. It does feel like time to move up, though..

Technically you can't sell the T6 ships themselves, but when they show up in lockboxes they show up in a "box" themselves sometimes that is sellable.  Generally, they are very, very expensive to get that way.

Quote
I got another AFK penalty with Smitty last night! What's up with that.. Two in a row. Sheesh my gear is to the 9's for my level and I'm being as active as I can... If my dps is so low then why even let players my level in the queue to begin with, sheesh. I mean, I'm rockin' it for my level (19 atm) compared to my first newb.

Sounds like a bug of some kind.  You don't get the afk penalty for doing low damage, you get it for being idle.  I've heard of players getting hit with the afk penalty while not being afk from time to time, but I am not an expert on that bug and do not know how it is being triggered by non-afk players per se.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 01, 2016, 10:33:25 PM
Define: very, very, expensive..

hehe

I could have looked! Was just online.. I don't know which one to buy, anyway. That's another hurdle.

Getting to level 15 in all R&D pools is expensive, timewise, too, but, it happens, eventually.. I don't need one right now, chop chop, I just would like to see one in my future.. It would be nice to choose my own, too, vs. getting what is from an Event. It's cool they do that. I couldn't get online regularly enough during the Summer event to even attempt it otherwise I would have snapped that one up.

No idea what is up with Smitty and his perma bans! Sheesh.. Two in a row. That's 4 hours banned. I was hopping, too! Just the day before I got like 2 levels or more with him in queues.

Hey, to totally go off topic within the topic... Have you read through that History of STO? They're not showing any signs of slowdown, either. I was impressed. Shades of CoH. Good on them. It *is* Star Trek.. ya know. So, good on them.

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/10095363

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 04, 2016, 12:20:48 AM
If you're any kind of TOS fan the new mishes are kinda a must. Shame on me for skipping them until now! In my defense... I really did not like one of the first mishes I ran that had me crawling all over the place with a flashlight and a pinpoint of light, lost... Kinda not as thrilling as Space Battle..

The character 3d models and lighting seem better now, too - this was the first and only letdown about STO for me, was their 3d character models. And they didn't raise PC requirements to make the improvements.

I'm in my first Cruiser past the newbie one and I have to say... yay! I like cruising. Little broadside action... Maybe toss in a couple torpedoes.. I fly my cruiser totally different than my Escort, have almost completely different Boff skills, use some different gear, I do pretty decent dps and am stealing agro in earlier levels than I did in my Escort and I also blow up less..

I saw someone's reaction to first finding out there is an AUTOFIRE in the game and I have to say I have had a similar reaction. WHY oh WHY did no one tell me..

Save yourself some keyboard/mouse wear, newbs, and learn about Autofire..

You may also want to learn about Keybinds at the same time.. They work similarly to how they work in CO, so far, to me. They can be handy things to use while you are..... autofiring..

While we're on the subject of newb tips. Remember we were talking awhile back about not knowing the front of our own ship from the back, in battle? Here's a couple newb tips.

1) If it fits your build, get you an Autoturret... Use it on the bad guy you want to fire your space ray guns at. Line up your ship with the line coming from your turret, leading to your target...FIRE!
2.) Hotkey "Reset Camera' in 'Movement and Camera'... Whenever you get disoriented... hit this button and it will line the camera up so that you are facing your target. For the most part.. You can keep tapping it as often as you like, by the way..


SMITTY!

I have to work a little on his round belly and his face/head ... and maybe his hair color, but, I am pleased with this start  : )

(https://app.box.com/shared/static/0ah6e2bc9rpwix85fag0iyoblrgaa5kp.jpg)

Oh, and how cool is it that you can rename Boffs? Smitty is flying with John, Will, and Judy...and the blue girl that I can't rename who will become Don or Maurine or Penny at some point.


~~~ Moar Smitty - note the exquisitely narrow shoulders, pursed lips, receding hairline..  and kinda flared eye thing. I could get his nose and chin and head shape just right if I stared at a picture and the costume creator at the same time for long enough. It's not so bad, the costume creator, really.

(https://app.box.com/shared/static/tynrvpsqz3w2q892b2656hvrcfkyynps.jpg)
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Arcana on August 04, 2016, 01:49:19 AM
Save yourself some keyboard/mouse wear, newbs, and learn about Autofire..

You may also want to learn about Keybinds at the same time.

I use one of those spacebar keybinds that simultaneously fires weapons and distributes shield power so I can just keep tapping to keep shields balanced.  There are much more sophisticated ones out there that do things like rotate through Aux2Bat firings or emergency power builds, but that's good enough for my purposes.  I recommend googling around for those, however, as they can really reduce finger strain.  STO is a much more clicky MMO than most, if you want to play actively.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 04, 2016, 02:34:58 AM
This gives some basics and was good enough to tell me how to string commands together with one key.

https://ufplanets.com/showthread.php?30768-Dark-s-Guide-to-Being-Lazy-Multiple-Command-Keybinds-and-You!

It's pretty simple, what little keybinding there is in this guide. Very similar to CO which also has lots of whack-a-moles that get smacked easier with keybinds.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 04, 2016, 12:43:14 PM
PATCH DAY!!!!!!

*cringe*

hehe...
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 05, 2016, 02:10:09 AM
I survived another patch... Servers down again tomorrow! Wha?

*shakes head*

See, now here is the thing with me and mishes... It's kinda like the thing with me and CORDS. I just don't do well with cords. So, there I am, really enjoying the mishes with the original Star Trek crew. I mean, really enjoying. Good stuff. But even on the simple stuff I have probs...

Return to Babel? First, I find out I didn't know how to use the scanner all this time.. It took me awhile to figure that out. Then, the Mess Hall bit bugs on me - there was no scan the delegates part, so I was running around with nothing to do until I restarted the mish. Ugh... mishes!

Then... I take a close look at John... And see he got himself a gender change..!

(https://app.box.com/shared/static/96tu0ma3b6tuhiij829kzfgui4k43raq.jpg)

I mean, I really like the AOY mishes so far... When I first watched Star Trek it was just a fantasy to do stuff like this - be in a video game where you star in your favorite TV show and that TV show is the awesomeness that is Star Trek.. But... it seems like I always have probs with mishes..

And yes, I know my combat tray is weak and under populated but Combat has been easy enough to this point that it's not been a prob.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Tahquitz on August 05, 2016, 05:01:53 AM
Then... I take a close look at John... And see he got himself a gender change..!
(https://app.box.com/shared/static/96tu0ma3b6tuhiij829kzfgui4k43raq.jpg)

If I remember correctly, ST:TNG was initially Trans-friendly, allowing female officers into pantsuits and men to wear the regulation "spacedresses".  Of course, that stopped early on.

All the same, interesting glitch. :D
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 05, 2016, 08:59:51 PM
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 07, 2016, 01:05:20 AM
Today has turned out to be sit and do mishes day. There are some neat toys in some mishes.. Mishes with useful rewards??? noooooo can't be! Can too!

I can see my loot up front and skip mishes with loot I don't like, too! Now this is my favorite feature of Episode mishes, so far.. and I can come back to loot I may want at a later date, too..! I can just lewt ho away... when I'm in that mode. Like right now. The XP and change of pace has been entertaining, too.

I could run mishes for the immersion....the STORY.... the dedication a true MMO'er would give to their game... But nah, I'm pretty much in it for the loot  : ) and something different to do. So, the way their system works, once again, works for me.

There is a lot to do in STO!

And for the most part you don't have to do it in any form or fashion.. Just dive in and start doing stuff.. String the probably many things you do together into your own version of the game. Make some newbs... And play them very differently.


Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 07, 2016, 02:28:41 PM
I like my first alt experience. Due to how tradeskilling works it gives me a reason to stay active with my main, yet, be in newbie mode.

Making an alt in STO has been its own mini game and I can see how I can expand on this game with at least 1 more toon. I like how my first alt is working out. It's hard to explain.. It doesn't feel so much like I'm dumping one toon for another due to I can see how the few alts that I have planned can work together and the two I have already do. I can never seem to stop playing both the toons I have, either, due to one is making gear for the newb and the newb is leveling and then sometimes when I'm on the gear making one I decide to go for some fast and easy Fleet Marks that I didn't have to wait on the Cooldown for, for example.. In CO, once I got past Q farming, my alts felt more shelved. Creating Alt guilt..

*shrug*

: )

Who can explain the mind of a video gamer...
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 08, 2016, 10:09:28 PM
Here's a newb tip I could have used and so I pass it on to You...

Bridge Officers.

As far as I can tell, as long as your Bridge Officer is not White/Common, it doesn't matter what color he is. The only reason you don't want him to be Common is that you can't promote him very far and at some point you may want him to be more promotable.

So, who cares if your Boffs are Very Rare or Uncommon, as long as they have the skills you want them to have in the end. You can give them the skills you want them to have by training them. You can train any color Boff just as easily as another.

The only exception that I can think of is if a really rare skill is only available on a Very Rare/Purple Boff and you happen to see that Boff for less than the cost of the Training Manual for that skill or maybe you can't even find the Training Manual for the skill the Boff has. There isn't a Training Manual in the Exchange for every trainable Boff skill in the game.


 
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Arcana on August 09, 2016, 12:34:28 AM
On the subject of newb tips for bridge officers:

1.  You can take bridge officers out of your inventory and place them in a stand by inventory just for bridge officers.  You can put up to 15 bridge officers in there if you want to hold onto them but can't use them yet and don't want them taking up valuable inventory space.

2.  You can convert bridge officers into training manuals for bridge officer skills.  If the BO has the skill, you can convert them into a training manual for that skill.  Its a little easier to manage training manuals than bridge officers in terms of moving them around, trading them, etc.  Of course, you can also use the training manual to train another bridge officer in that skill.

3.  Higher rarity *usually* indicates having more skills, but higher rarity is not necessarily always better.  For example, there are some romulan bridge officers you can purchase in fleet bases, but on the federation side it is actually the *blue* romulan ones that people want not the purple (very rare) ones, because they have the better skills (specifically: they have superior romulan operative (http://sto.gamepedia.com/Trait:_Romulan_Operative/boff)).

4.  Bridge officers are also landing party officers, and they have their own gear including armor, weapons, and items.  You can use bridge officers as "mules" to hold stuff you don't want to sell but don't want to take up inventory space.  Besides the four you equip as desired to go down on landing parties normally, the rest can still take armor and weapons you want to keep, and each has four item slots you can place things like batteries and such.  One very useful thing you can put in BO inventory slots are tribbles if you also want to keep food-stuff in your inventory.  Tribbles eat food, so keeping both food and tribbles in your personal inventory eventually leads to having lots of tribbles and no food (tribbles "multiply" as they eat food).  Put tribbles you want to keep in BO inventory slots, and problem solved.

5.  Bridge officers also have skills, and most of the time those skills affect ground combat.  Much less frequently they help space combat (see: superior romulan operative above).  Those tend to be the more useful ones, just because you tend to be in space more often and ground buffs are easier to get.

6.  As a default rule, don't buy bridge officers except in two situations.  One: you're rich, you're constructing a very specific build, and you know what you want exactly.  Two: you're buying them with special currency under special conditions - for example, some events like the summer event allow you to buy special bridge officers with luhlunat favors: that's a special currency you can only use on Risa and only during the summer events and you can only buy certain things anyway.  You should still spend on things like fast boards and floaters first, but eventually it makes sense to buy those since what else can you buy?  Also, there are some really good bridge officers you can buy in fleet starbases with fleet currency.  If you know what you're doing, go for it.  But in general, bridge officers fall from the sky as rewards (particularly in duty officer missions).  Eventually, you'll be just plain throwing them away because you won't know what to do with them and can't sell them fast enough, or converting them into training manuals for skills you don't even want just to play black-out bingo with your bridge officers. 

7.  Don't forget duty officers.  They are different things.  Bridge officers are the ones you slot into your bridge officer slots: you use their abilities in space combat and they beam down with you on landing parties.  You have a separate set of duty officer slots and they specifically provide space and ground buffs to you.  They don't get inventory, gear, none of that.  They just have one specific skill, like speed up the recharge of torpedos, and if you slot them you get that one buff.  You get to activate five space and five ground to start, and there are ways to earn one more of each.  Novice players sometimes mix up BOs and DOs or think they are the same thing because the terminology is similar, but they serve different functions.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 09, 2016, 03:35:24 AM
6.  As a default rule, don't buy bridge officers except in two situations.  One: you're rich, you're constructing a very specific build, and you know what you want exactly.  Two: you're buying them with special currency under special conditions - for example, some events like the summer event allow you to buy special bridge officers with luhlunat favors: that's a special currency you can only use on Risa and only during the summer events and you can only buy certain things anyway.  You should still spend on things like fast boards and floaters first, but eventually it makes sense to buy those since what else can you buy?  Also, there are some really good bridge officers you can buy in fleet starbases with fleet currency.  If you know what you're doing, go for it.  But in general, bridge officers fall from the sky as rewards (particularly in duty officer missions).  Eventually, you'll be just plain throwing them away because you won't know what to do with them and can't sell them fast enough, or converting them into training manuals for skills you don't even want just to play black-out bingo with your bridge officers. 

If you know exactly what you want it is not Always so expensive to buy the manuals and Boffs to make the manuals to put together what you want. I just did it for Smitty when he got his final T5 ship and it was fairly painless to have All Boffs with almost Exactly what I wanted. I used all newbie Boffs that I started the game with (I have only 2 purple Boffs)  except 1 white one and I used a Very Rare that I stumbled across when I was making Training manuals that I just happened to like to replace him.

If you Don't know exactly what you want.. It's real easy to find out.. Just check the Skills page for each Boff you have - (fill up all your Boff stations if they aren't already filled for some reason, like if you just got a new ship) - and look at each and every skill available for that each and every Boff station at each and every level they can get a skill and see what appeals to you. All Boff skills are right there for you to scroll through at your leisure and pick and choose a theme from. You can change your mind later, too... and train a new skill that you want to try. Can swap back and forth between skills if you trained more than one for a particular level, too, if that is desirable.

The only exception to the above, as a Fed with my particular build and needs, has been, there were a couple of Skills that I was interested in that I either couldn't find or were too expensive to be worth it to me.

Other than that, Boff building was fairly easy! It just took me time to decide what I wanted and go get it. It helps to have your Roster window open that shows the Skills you want and the Exchange window at the same time and then just shop away and cross your fingers that the stuff you want is there and not too expensive.

I had pretty good luck! Real good luck... I got almost exactly what I wanted for .... It had to be under 2 million EC. I shopped the Training Manuals first, and if the Skill I wanted was too expensive, I tried to find it on a Doff and then make a Training Manual out of them  : )



Here is another newb tip.... Don't start out Tactical/Escort... Unless you are just a natural Mozart at STO.. you are just asking for pain..

I am leveling a Cruiser right now (lvl 41 and dinging like a pinball macheen) and it already shreds.. Sometimes I *feel* like I am doing Escort or even better dps for my level and I ALWAYS outsurvive my Escort by a long shot.

It's 10x easier leveling a dps oriented Cruiser than a survival oriented Escort..



Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Arcana on August 09, 2016, 04:25:05 AM
It's 10x easier leveling a dps oriented Cruiser than a survival oriented Escort..

As we used to say in CoH, death is the strongest DPS debuff.  You can't DPS if you're dead.

Although just like CoH, I think its faster to level an escort to about level 15ish, just as it was faster to level blasters to about level 20ish.  Up to that point, it is rare to face a genuine threat so pure DPS is where it is at.  But once you start facing things that can actually kill you, first the Scrappers start outleveling you, then the Defenders, then the Controllers, then the Tankers, then the civilian purse-snatch victims.  In STO, when all else fails broadside Cruiser tactics will usually work when things get rough.  The only thing that is a real serious threat in the standard content is the Romulan warbirds with high yield plasma torpedos that can ruin your day.  Beam Fire At Will is your friend here.

When I'm leveling new alts, I start in the escort, then transfer to a cruiser in the high teens.  That seems to work the best for me.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 09, 2016, 03:15:01 PM
Why you closet min-maxer..!

hehe *purr*

I can appreciate where you went with changing toons to level.. I guess I do the same thing in CO sometimes.. I'll put together a build I know I can level fast and then swap it later for what I really wanted.

I'm not to that level yet with STO. I still have to play my toons from level 1 to 60 'as intended' to get a feel for how to best play them.

I am not dumping my Escort btw! I will pwn that bish  : ) I'm finally getting almost good with Tactical/Escort.. I just noticed yesterday that I picked the 'wrong' Escort for how I play...! (Two Science chairs vs. Two Engineering - I wouldn't hesitate to pick the other Escort if I was making the decision today) but I'm gonna stick with it anyway. My Boffs are what I need to fine tune now, and gear.

Smitty and his Cruiser, though... He is already nasty..

Xev's Escort got me shredded all my first months of STO and I still loved the game.. that must say something...

I want to say again how cool I think it is we can rename Boffs but not only that - we can make them look how we want! My virtual Lost in Space crew is continually taking shape... It's cool! If you have a theme in mind.. of course.. Ahhh and the greedy Dr. Smith is at This helm.. Searching for the base necessities in life... You know...... power, jewels, and lots of moneymoneymoneymoneymoneymoney.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Arcana on August 09, 2016, 08:22:43 PM
I can appreciate where you went with changing toons to level.. I guess I do the same thing in CO sometimes.. I'll put together a build I know I can level fast and then swap it later for what I really wanted.

I'm not to that level yet with STO. I still have to play my toons from level 1 to 60 'as intended' to get a feel for how to best play them.

I dunno, I think in STO it is different because it isn't a question of changing builds: as you're leveling you're practically compelled to pick a new ship at regular intervals.  Whether that ship is an escort or a cruiser (or a science vessel) isn't as significant a departure for me as it would be to swap a build.


Quote
I want to say again how cool I think it is we can rename Boffs but not only that - we can make them look how we want! My virtual Lost in Space crew is continually taking shape... It's cool! If you have a theme in mind.. of course.. Ahhh and the greedy Dr. Smith is at This helm.. Searching for the base necessities in life... You know...... power, jewels, and lots of moneymoneymoneymoneymoneymoney.

There also seems to have been a major affirmative action movement to get green Orion women into Starfleet.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Night-Hawk07 on August 09, 2016, 09:14:24 PM
Finally played through the new expansion, and not going to lie, the TOS portion of AoY was disappointingly short. I figured it would be like the Romulan expansion; a whole new story for the first 20 levels, then you get warped to the 25th century through weird time-travel magic. Instead, you go through basically a slightly extended tutorial using the STO crew's favorite TOS episodes as a backdrop....then get warped to the 25th century through weird time-travel magic.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 10, 2016, 12:30:01 AM
It was really, really, short! The AoY arc. Surprised me too. I thought it was just getting warmed up...and then it was over. I don't normally do mishes but I figured when they made all this fuss about Agents of Yesterday that the story arc was going to be (this long...difficult...me crawling around in caves..) more.

And why no Kirk...! Sheesh.. I mean he was there but faceplanted...

There is one thing, though - the costume pieces and sound effects are now a part of the game and they weren't before. Some skills say 23c. now, too. I dunno if that is just different sound effects or what. I liked that Chekov was cool enough to contribute as much as he did, too. That'll be in the game 'forever' too.

I like the way they took old TOS stories and tweaked them into something a little different for the mishes. I got major warm fuzzies right off from the first mish seeing some of the original Star Trek crew. And I sure liked the AoY Episode a lot more than the tutorial...! But yeah, I was surprised when all the sudden the arc was over.


I'm doing more Episode mishes with Smitty right now and he went and picked him up another nice toy that Xev never got because he didn't run mishes. There are some really nice (I mean, not super amazing... but it gets used...) loot in the story arcs. It is nice I can skip through mishes, too. I mean, Smitty is a loot ho and already level 42.. He has like 10 billion Episode mishes in front of him.. It's kinda nice to be able to cherry pick..

At 50 I can finally run that Delta Arc to see what that uber set gear is I was told about... I've yet to get more than 1 piece in any set.

STO keeps me busy. It's nice. My mind has plenty of places to get lost.

Anyway. Yeah. Short AoY arc!

There also seems to have been a major affirmative action movement to get green Orion women into Starfleet.

A new theme is forming.........
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 10, 2016, 01:36:08 AM
Seemed like too late to edit ^^ and level 50 is coming up...

sorry to spam, but,..

I goofed somehow and am going to end up with two level 40 ships. The final freebie ships. Is there some voodoo magic that makes copies of my old ships into Admiralty ships when I turn 50..? I thought I read something like this in Zone...? It will help me to decide which second ship to get is why I ask.

Too bad we can't trade those ships between toons. I'd try that other Escort out with Xev.

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Arcana on August 10, 2016, 08:48:12 PM
I goofed somehow and am going to end up with two level 40 ships. The final freebie ships. Is there some voodoo magic that makes copies of my old ships into Admiralty ships when I turn 50..?

If I remember correctly, if you have the ship actually in ship inventory you'll unlock the Admiralty ship automatically.  I think if it is in drydock or if you have it unlocked but don't actually have it, you have to acquire the ship to unlock the Admiralty ship, even if you technically have rights to it.

In other words, if you dismissed the ship to make room, you'll have to buy it again (or fetch it again) to get the Admiralty ship.  Once you have the admiralty ship, you can dismiss the actual ship again.  You don't need to maintain possession of a ship to keep the Admiralty ship.

Incidentally, if you are going to use the Admiralty system - and I would recommend you do because the rewards are pretty good for something that takes very little time investment - there's no such thing as a bad Admiralty ship.  Some tasks require strong ships, some only need weak ships, but no Admiralty task costs anything but having ships to attempt the task.  You can't lose anything running Admiralty tasks, but you can only run them if you have Admiralty ships to run the tasks, and the more ships you have the more tasks you can run simultaneously.  So there's no such thing (to me) as an Admiralty ship that's not worth the time to unlock if you are entitled to it.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 10, 2016, 11:00:51 PM
R&D materials is one good reason to run Admiralty stuff. There are some mats that I don't see anywhere else but when doing Admiralty, too. Like you say, it's just a few clicks after logging on to run the 'mishes'.

Cruisers have high Engineering, I'm guessing, when they turn into Admiralty ships. Escorts are high in Tactical when they copy over so that gives me another reason to try out the Escort I haven't tried yet. I'll snap it up the next time I hit Sol.

I like that freebie ship we got awhile back that bypasses Event penalties. It also has no maintenance cooldown so it's decent for using as a Pass sometimes too.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Arcana on August 10, 2016, 11:48:23 PM
I like that freebie ship we got awhile back that bypasses Event penalties. It also has no maintenance cooldown so it's decent for using as a Pass sometimes too.

Pro-tip: pay attention to maintenance bonuses.  Sometimes you'll get a mission that has really high requirements and you don't have enough Admiralty ships of sufficient strength to guarantee success.  But, you may have ships that have maintenance bonuses.  There's a mission I recall that comes up from time to time that has an intrinsic -50% maintenance bonus.  That means your ships recharge and become available in half the normal time.  Put two ships each with -25% maintenance bonus in that task and those bonuses stack, meaning -100% maintenance, which means your ships will recharge and become available *instantly* after that task completes, whether you succeed or fail.  Which means there's no harm in trying, even if you fail.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 11, 2016, 02:37:07 PM
*grabs abacus*

Patch day...

My own special mini-game. Neener neener.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 11, 2016, 05:12:37 PM
What..! No patch...!

They hit us with a Friday one, last week. I better shush...

Or its.....

(https://app.box.com/shared/static/ukuw1hgg62z13486bl8aqqzaa9kc0ydq.jpg)

Time again.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 13, 2016, 02:59:51 AM
Check this bad boy out!

(https://app.box.com/shared/static/1873iktwho64j56736r3ofm90gum9cqb.jpg)

It's The Doctor! The Hologram dude..

They did really nice with the Voyager crew in the Delta quadrant mishes. Good likenesses and voice.

I can honestly say that having relevant loot in mishes makes them just 100x more fun.. Champions Online has a lot of great mishes but almost all the loot sucks. It's been so long since I played mishes with good loot...

Already knowing the characters is pretty cool, too. It's been forever since I've watched Star Trek Voyager but it was pretty decent when I was watching it. The Doctor has to be one of the best Star Trek characters outside of the Original series.. And now he's in my crew!

It is really cool having Original Series sound effects and costumes now. That's my favorite flavor of Star Trek. I'm glad I started playing when I did.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Arcana on August 13, 2016, 03:48:29 AM
They did really nice with the Voyager crew in the Delta quadrant mishes. Good likenesses and voice.

I did like the Delta arc.  There's a side mission in the Delta Quadrant called the Gerren System Patrol (http://sto.gamepedia.com/Mission:_Gerren_System_Patrol) that has an insidious accolade (i.e. CoH badge).  You're forced to decide whether to grant asylum to Vaadwaur refugees or not.  And like every MMO where you have to make this choice, nothing seems to change in the game regardless of what you choose: the plot moves on.  But if you happen to replay the mission, something interesting happens.  If you grant asylum, the next playthrough the refugee fleet is smaller.  It is as if granting asylum previously causes there to be less refugees.  If you don't grant asylum, on the next playthrough the refugee fleet is larger.  Depending on what you decide, the refugee fleet will get larger or smaller up to some maximum and minimum.  There are two accolades associated with this mission: one for playing through with the smallest possible ally fleet (the refugees fight on your side) and one for hitting the minimum and then going all the way back up to the maximum.  It takes something like five or ten playthroughs to hit the max and the min.

Unless you read the wiki or follow the forums or otherwise badge hunt (ahem: accolade hunt), you might never notice.  But I thought it was an interesting tiny touch.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 14, 2016, 07:52:34 PM
I'm liking The Iconian War so far, 'House Pegh' was actually a decent story and where I left off last night. I'm still rooting for that fat Klingon that I'm glad I got to see on TV before.

STO puts a lot of production and story and maybe even a lilt bit passion into their mishes. It's totally old school. Or gives me that feeling, anyway. Like back when I'd do mishes because they were fun and engrossing and the rewards were the shiny cherry on top.

That generous XP and worthy loot is old school mish material, too. The escape has been really nice. Good timing.

I'm ready to start looking at Klingon and Rom ships soon.

Like 6 months into the game....

Finally...

hehe

I've had pretty much no altism up to this point. My first guy still feels like my main but I'm finally starting to know the game well enough to get the inevitable altism.

STO is a lot of game! I hope it's around for decades to come. And I hope we get more TOS people in there while they still CAN be! Come on Mr. Kirk... Show'em how it's done! We need way way way way wayyyyyy more TOS mishes. Who started it all, anyway....??


Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on August 14, 2016, 11:00:00 PM
House Pegh, was the last Matt Miller mission for STO.
The only part I do not like of the Delta expansion is that the patrols is required for the temporal faction, the delta recruits could skip it. This almost made me quit, all of these patrols are the same, not one ground mission.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 15, 2016, 01:27:12 PM
It was a really good mish. I'm surprised I haven't jinxed myself yet. Usually my mishes get bugged and/or I end up running around lost.

Coming from CO, STO Ground combat seemed really sub par and was one of the reasons I dumped doing mishes right off. Now it's .... *shrug* .. part of the game, the story? Breaks things up a little. I've actually found myself mini-groaning 'awwww a Space mish' in the middle of a story arc when one comes up and have even been considering Ground queues again..

I had to have some action, yesterday, though. After a full day of mishing. So I queue'd it up. My Escort is starting to get just a lil mean. Finally. Smitty and his Cruiser have a long way to go to catch up with Rep and some gear but are already doing respectably.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 15, 2016, 08:53:36 PM
Quote
Smitty (aka Dr. Smith from Lost in Space):

*pats round belly*

"A tribute to my inspiration!"

(https://app.box.com/shared/static/9r64g8w9gkmqg6we3irdqcnzo8m49ejf.jpg)


Quote
'at's nawt a knife....

Quote
Phaser Shmaser...
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 15, 2016, 09:04:21 PM
With The Doctor on Double Duty, Smitty scrapes by...

(https://app.box.com/shared/static/cxc3u5144x0e8e7echvotu92wvpqs8p6.jpg)

And The Universe is saved, once again, by an aging out of shape Courage Challenged guy backed up by balding guys made of air.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Arcana on August 16, 2016, 12:35:15 AM
It was a really good mish. I'm surprised I haven't jinxed myself yet. Usually my mishes get bugged and/or I end up running around lost.

Coming from CO, STO Ground combat seemed really sub par and was one of the reasons I dumped doing mishes right off. Now it's .... *shrug* .. part of the game, the story? Breaks things up a little. I've actually found myself mini-groaning 'awwww a Space mish' in the middle of a story arc when one comes up and have even been considering Ground queues again..

I had to have some action, yesterday, though. After a full day of mishing. So I queue'd it up. My Escort is starting to get just a lil mean. Finally. Smitty and his Cruiser have a long way to go to catch up with Rep and some gear but are already doing respectably.

I think most of the missions, space and ground, are a little light on design.  Space missions tend to be more fun because space combat itself is more fun: it is a genuinely unique addition to the MMO vocabulary that MMO players haven't seen a million times before.  But I think there are ground missions that are fun and interesting in their own right when the devs actually spend time on them.  Time in a Bottle comes to mind (its the mission right after House Pegh, in fact).  The Dragon's Deceit in the Delta Quadrant story arc was also an interesting one.  It is just a question of the mission designers actually taking the time to make the missions something more than waypoint combat spawn points.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on August 17, 2016, 05:14:49 AM
This has not been a good day for me :(, first people were rushing the objects of braking the wall open mission and ignoring the current objective, then not more than a few minutes ago, I was told how wrong I am when it comes to fleet projects. how this started was someone asked a question about how to get "white con bridge officers" I told him he was confused and he had to get duty officers. He then told me how wrong I was, again I told him that I was a part of a fleet for a better part of a year and have done many fleet project, at which point, he told me" he played since mail game codes came out" and then ignored me.
I know I am not "pro" but I do know a few things, and try to help, this is almost as bad as a experience I had in City of. but I will still try and offer my help.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 17, 2016, 07:44:00 PM
You have to give the species time, Angel. It wasn't sooooo long ago we were killing off everything on this planet that bothered us.

Niceness is a mutation. It's un-natural for the average human.

Seek mutants such as yourself. Be thankful for all things good.

My best advice.

I think most of the missions, space and ground, are a little light on design. 

Light, as in....? They are relatively easy if that's what you mean.

Productionwise, sheesh, it's like being in a movie. (video cutscenes galore, and then I do something goofy that's designed purely for dramatic immersion like catapult worry free down a zip line while checking myself out). I can participate about as much as watching a movie, too...(lol).

Hey, sometimes that's good.. I've posted before about being too tired to play CO. You always have to be UP, playing CO (if you're me..and..relatively speaking - relative to... watching TV).

In an STO mish I can be guaranteed tons of cutscenes and other breaks in the action. I dominate the Space mishes when they pop up and zerg the Ground ones with my lack of real effort in ground gear and ground hotkeys ..hehe.

It always takes ~ an hour, and I always win. Mostly I just sit and watch, it feels like.

Kinda like a movie  : )

That's mishes to me, anyway.

It is just a question of the mission designers actually taking the time to make the missions something more than waypoint combat spawn points.


"waypoint combat spawn point mishes"... lol. Nice imagery. As old a style as video games themselves! I always blamed it on the fact that technical people and artistic people are not so often the same and sometimes technical people are expected to do it all.



Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 17, 2016, 08:31:30 PM
I have to re-run house of Pegh and I will soon enough due to that nice reward if nothing else. The Iconians seemed to talk less, and impose more. Wouldn't mention it if I didn't learn there was a different author. The whole series is good I just thought the Iconians seemed scarier and more mysterious earlier on which is what made the cowardly lion turning into the inspiration of his people (instead of what could have happened...ha!) all the more impressive. *shrug* Maybe I was just in the mood for a good surprise ending that delivered..

Iconians just seemed to talk too much after that.... explaining their feelings and situation just a lil too much vs. being this mysterious power... maybe it's just me.

Time to try some Future Proof(?). Lucky me, it's all been new to me. I still have Rom and Klingon mishes to do too neener neener!  : )

Hey I'm no Siskel and Ebert.. I'm not savoring all the nuances. I spacebar through lots of stuff.. They have to work to get my attention long enough to tell me a story. So far, so good. My frustration level has been pretty low throughout, too.

~~~~~

Ooops! duh.. I hadn't done the Iconian War Finale. Nice movie : ) Decent set gear rewards. I snagged and am using the Space Trait for now.

Bad Rom man-chick, bad! But there's still time for her to change her ways according to the prompts I had available  : D Nice job on the Iconian city. I'm glad they turned out to be mostly nice folks at heart. Watch out for Lefty, tho!
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 18, 2016, 03:55:25 AM
Future Proof's second mish gives nice new ship gear.

(https://app.box.com/shared/static/5q07jwp3q1uaphm3di20n05j48pmomfp.jpg)

Decent 3 piece set gear from that mish too. Looks Sciencey.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 18, 2016, 07:19:37 PM
What kind of ships do Klingons and Roms have?

I want another Escort type ship and was thinking maybe there was something similar in a Klingon or Rom flavor. The Klingon ship I flew in a recent Fed mish seemed Escorty but that was a mish ship *shrug*.

Do Klingons/Roms have anything that's significantly different from Feds?


Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Arcana on August 19, 2016, 12:33:51 AM
Do Klingons/Roms have anything that's significantly different from Feds?

Romulans use a completely different warp drive, instead of warp cores they use singularities.  So there's a gear difference when it comes to starships: you cannot slot warp cores you have to slot singularity cores.  But there's also an ability difference.  Romulan warships have special singularity powers that you charge up by attacking and then can discharge when you have enough power.  One of the abilities fires a shockwave that is basically a PBAoE around your ship, another buffs weapon damage for a short time.  It is vaguely like charging up Domination, but you can choose different effects.

Romulans also by default have cloaking devices that have special properties; in particular you have a damage buff as you come out of cloak and you can recloak while in combat (this kind of cloak is, I believe, called a battle cloak to distinguish from other less versatile cloaks).

Romulans also have interesting signature ships; specifically the Scimitar class ship is supposed to be an offensive monster (i.e. the Romulan weapon from the movie Star Trek Nemesis).

Klingon ships I think are less distinct from Federation ships than Romulans, although there are some differences.  Their battle cruisers in particular I think are a bit tougher.  But they aren't a radically different kind of starship like the Romulans.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 19, 2016, 01:40:15 PM
I deleted the tutorial mish (that I was in the middle of..) for my Klingon, thinking I could just start up wherever else I wanted. Also thinking, hey, they wouldn't let me delete this mish if something bad would happen.

Now he seems perma on The Edge of Klingon Space..

So I made a Rom... T'hee (Formal name: MR. Higgle Giggles)

As soon as I could I went directly to the first Shipyard to check out t5 ships but I didn't gather the info you gave me.. That makes it more interesting. He stays. On the surface, the ships look pretty similar to Fed flavors. I'll have to play T'hee some more! I'll see if I can do anything with that cloak.. I'm already kinda enjoying pbao'ing so that part interests me.

There's not nearly as many Roms or Klingons as Feds.. Besides pvp, does this ever matter?

Oh hey! Chekov makes a comeback at the end of Future Proof, I didn't know that. And jerky face - SPOILER - (Daniels) spaceplants  : (

----

Had to add... I didn't finish the final Future Proof mish yet, soo.... maybe things turn out different for ^.

Oh! And! .. Why don't I ever use the wiki? Good question. (A good question because the wiki is visually kinda awesome, so, why not use it?) The answer is, due to they pump out tons of data. Tons. I can play in PVE's and use less bandwidth. It does look nice and nicely organized from what I saw of it.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Arcana on August 19, 2016, 09:22:06 PM
Oh! And! .. Why don't I ever use the wiki? Good question. (A good question because the wiki is visually kinda awesome, so, why not use it?) The answer is, due to they pump out tons of data. Tons. I can play in PVE's and use less bandwidth. It does look nice and nicely organized from what I saw of it.

I'm not sure if this is sufficiently helpful, but one thing you could try is to browse STOWiki (and for that matter lots of other things) using Chrome and its text mode extension (just search "chrome text mode").  When you activate that extension, the browser stops downloading or rendering graphics, flash, and plugins, and just puts big empty boxes where they would be.  I just tried to browse STOWiki with it on, and if I switch from white background to black background (right click the big T for options) the site *seems* to be basically readable.  This may significantly reduce the amount of bandwidth you use even in day to day browsing.  Since we've established you are paying by the bit, this might help in other areas as well.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 20, 2016, 01:12:22 PM
'By the bit'... hehe.

I should do that. I've gotten to where I don't switch browsers anymore but I probably should. IE has an option to not download pictures or sound that keeps me from having 30 meg downloads whenever I check the weather but ever since I mentioned that option here those switches don't work anymore in Outlook to block ads and they never worked with STOwiki that I remember.

Down to the wire again this month. I stopped getting messages telling me how much data I use a couple of months ago (they still ping me at 90% usage..) but if my math & record keeping is decent I should be running out soon.

This isn't anywhere near the most ridiculous thing in my life at this time....  : ) But it's another thing I won't miss about this period.

Thanks for the tip. I (should) might try it next cycle. My normal surfing does OK with those IE switches but it would be nice to use the wiki.


Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 20, 2016, 07:52:01 PM
I think it was the right time for me to try a Rom.. So far I am liking them anyway. I guess I have to delete my Gorn and start over to try Klingons due to the being stuck thing and no slots left. I just didn't want to lose his costume but I want to try those fast ships - my newb one was fast anyway.

Man, here is a newb tip worth repeating: Check what battle mode you are in - in Space..

Smitty was getting to the point that I wanted to tweak his dps because it just wasn't there. 'Oh hey, what's THIS button'.. *foreheadslap*

I can't tell you what mode he's been in up until now. None were highlighted. All of his stats shot up when I hit Attack(mode)... He's level 55 .. *whistle*

*eyeroll*

I'm not a Cruiser guy anyway, I think. They are cool (they must be decent, I got to 55 modeless and didn't even realize..) and I'll still level/play mine but I think I'm more Escorty.

Anyway... yeah... check your Battle mode... newbs...
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 20, 2016, 11:40:56 PM
Think I goofed again. Why did I pick Fed alignment? I'll get Fed mishes(?)... the same prices for Doffs...

There's fewer KDF fleets, but... so?

: /

I'm gonna reroll. May as well see how the other half lives finally, too.

*sigh*

Ah well.. I was only lvl 12 and just now thought to start crafting purple newbie gear so I wasn't too deep in..



Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 21, 2016, 04:54:13 PM
I re-rerolled but used a different slot. Kinda missed my old name (New name T'hee D'snicker'r was just too long). Deleted them both. Rerolled again...

On my 3rd go I decided to tradeskill twink with all Plasma including Ground weapons but excluding torpedoes. And I'm going to choose KDF due mainly to I haven't before.

I have a good feeling about Rom ships. Do Klingons get anything cool at all like the Rom pbaoe? Or are they Roms sans pbaoe? Rom dps seems to favor beams over cannons at this point but *shrug*

Instinct said go Antiproton but Plasma seemed themey for Roms and I haven't tried Plasma yet.


Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 22, 2016, 02:09:00 PM
Well, T'hee (KDF) is going to have to work harder for his Fleet Marks due to no fast Fed Fleet Alert queues but oh well.

I really like my Rom ship already. They look good, have a built in toy, decent dps and maneuverability. And.. *shrug* cloak..

Speed. That's what Klingons have. I just browsed their ships last night but I saw some fast ones in there. Have to try that for sure..

So, from a dps perspective, Feds have cannons, Roms have Singularity, Klingons have speed. And, KDF Fleet mark only queues are barren. Is what I've learned so far this past week.

My Rom newb mishes are bugging but are still decent although not overly exciting so far but the new ships more than make up for that. I can see 3 main alts coming out of what I've seen from playing this past week or so. Can't get enough playtime lately... Just too fun.

As far as not being in a battle mode in Space.. I think this happens when you first get a new ship? Maybe you're in some mode but it's not highlighted. I noticed it again last night. Then I hit Attack (mode) and watched my stats shoot up.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Arcana on August 22, 2016, 08:37:40 PM
As far as not being in a battle mode in Space.. I think this happens when you first get a new ship? Maybe you're in some mode but it's not highlighted. I noticed it again last night. Then I hit Attack (mode) and watched my stats shoot up.

I think you are referring to energy balance.  You can balance energy between shields, weapons, auxiliary, and engines.  There are presets that prioritize shields and weapons, just engines, and a couple of other versions, or you can fine tune them yourself (which I never do).  The amount of power you divert to those systems affects you in obvious ways - more power to engines means you are faster, more power to shields means they regenerate faster - but power to weapons is singularly important.  The way energy weapons (but not torpedos) work is that the more weapon power you have at the instant you fire, the more damage you do, and it is a big difference.  "Base damage" is when your weapon power is at 50%.  At 100% your weapons are doing twice the damage.  Depending on ship and equipment you can often go past 100%, to something like 125%.  At that point, you are doing 250% of base damage.  That's like the difference between totally unslotted City of Heroes attacks and almost fully slotted attacks.

There's the complexity of the fact that actually firing weapons drops weapon power for a brief time, so the actual damage you pump out is a complex varying thing, but weapon power is something you should in general always have set to maximum when in space combat.  The interesting exception is the torpedo boat.  Some players deliberately put nothing but torpedoes, or nearly all torpedos, into a ship and then specifically build to optimize that.  It is not easy - think a petless mastermind in terms of how odd it is - but it has some very interesting advantages when you can make it work.  Consider that if you have all torpedoes, you don't need weapon power at all.  And that means all that power can be diverted to shields and engines.  Or if you are using exotic powers, shields and auxilliary (aux power affects things like, say, gravity wells).  A ship running with maximum shields and auxilliary that drops a super-strength gravity well that sucks everything into a tight space and then unleashes a chained sequence of AoE torpedoes on that spot can be devastating.  If you can make it work.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 23, 2016, 01:33:42 PM
I didn't know I could custom balance energy levels..

How's this for a merry crew?

(https://app.box.com/shared/static/umfsc3zazgr3d8ywzomk42hribe18rml.jpg)

Quote
Walk softly and carry a purple crafted plasma assault mini-gun
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Arcana on August 23, 2016, 06:08:52 PM
How's this for a merry crew?

L'laff probably has one too many L's.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 23, 2016, 08:03:03 PM
L'laff probably has one too many L's.

That's an I! I'laff.. I and l looks the same  : /
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 24, 2016, 11:00:33 PM
I was about to start up some more Rom mishes when I felt (punished..) compelled to mention how much I don't like them. I would say that I don't like them equal to the amount that I *did* like doing Fed mishes with Smitty.

Tasha Yar is the shining star of Romville so far. That mish where she makes you do evil stuff (that I think I dropped.. Borg implants? nahhh), she just seemed into. At least they have her to kinda 3d things up.

Those AoY mishes, although few, are pretty good newbie mishes. I'm really glad we have (more of?) those sound effects in game now too. Every time they fire off I smile at least a little bit. Now we're playing Star Trek! I'm thinking... ha. I want allllll tos sound effects plx.

Anyway... back to the mines... *kawhip!*

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Castegyre on August 25, 2016, 12:02:13 AM
I re-downloaded the game. I have like 8k zen saved up. I haven't even decided if I want to play yet, but I do want to buy something...
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 25, 2016, 02:51:59 AM
LOL!

thanks.

I don't know what to suggest other than shared bank slots and the EC cap raise. If you're going to be subbed then you don't need either of those. Haven't really shopped much beyond that.

I can think of 2 of my toons I would get 400 extra Doff slots for,

I saw a level 20 ship in the shipyard earlier when I was leveling that I could buy for like 200 zen that I would probably snag if I had zen to burn just due to it has 1 extra Boff slot and 1 extra Console too I think vs. the freebie.

Hrrrm I have to look what else's for sale that I would buy if I could.

A T6 for sure if I saw one that said Buy Me. I would definitely snag a T6 or two..

---

On second thought.. I don't know if I would get all those Doff slots or not. My eyes glazed over the first time I saw them for sale when I first started playing (I can buy WHAT??) but now I am wondering what I would do with them all. I 'only' have 100 per toon now and half of them or so are still not purple on my tradeskiller. How long would it take me to get 1000 purples on the two toons I mentioned...

I would surely snag a T6 ship if I saw one I liked, though, May as well be all you can be. I would max everything with slots, too.. Banks, bags, whatever. If I had infinite Zen I'd grab everything from ToS, too. And XP boosters. Those things are expensive in STO...

What else... hmmm...




Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 28, 2016, 07:55:00 PM
A good captain knows how to keep morale high with a little humor...

(https://app.box.com/shared/static/e785c2zfr7of2ytvk6gvnix70pedpkip.jpg)

Quote
In nasally Robotic Voice.. "I am the @sshat 5000. Take me to your leader."
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Night-Hawk07 on August 28, 2016, 08:25:50 PM
In nasally Robotic Voice.. "I am the @sshat 5000. Take me to your leader."

For some reason, that reminded me of this (language): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99G_ZHVbEXo
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on September 04, 2016, 11:57:06 PM
Lawdy...

These Rom mishes...

Make them stop.......

What's even worse is my MMO super power for breaking mishes. I ran this mish that was already boring me, twice, last night before giving up on it as I waved goodbye to the Final Boss after 10 billion steps to get to him, who, stared dumbly at me behind his glass holding tube that never released him.

Normally I only have to rerun mishes Once after I break them..  : /

I wouldn't stick with it if there was any decent alternative for low level leveling and I want a level 60 Rom ship. I think I can't even get Patrol mishes yet, Assuming Roms even get those.

Ah well, back to the mines! *kawhip!*



Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on September 05, 2016, 02:23:54 PM
I just couldn't do it..

Xev got some playtime instead. Sticking with tactical/escorts has paid off for me finally.

I did one Rom random map Space battle thing to ding T'hee 35 so now he can move on to Cardassian mishes. I kinda want to just Space out with him, though. I'm kinda mished out. Seriously, I break like 1 out of 3 mishes and have to rerun them and I wasn't really enjoying the mishes all that much to begin with. I was having a lot of fun Fed mishing with Smitty even when his male Klingon BO's would start cross-dressing (how appropriate?) and am glad I ran those first.

Ah well.

Fire at Will is fun. Beams are fun. I like Rapid Fire(?) and Cannons with Xev, too. A lot. I'm hoping T'hee will be my AoE Xev someday. Have no idea what Cloak will add. I never use it but it has to be useful, right! Rom's Singularity seems like a freebie power up to this point. Oh, and, Rom ships are cool. Even though we can't really customize them much for free, it works.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on September 06, 2016, 07:28:40 PM
Cardassians to the rescue. Rom mishes finally start to heat up

(https://app.box.com/shared/static/t2g5rryk9qmdq92q9ipw97n6cmgj50x1.jpg)


First I was fighting one ship...then the saucer popped off and I was being double teamed! 'Bravo!' I yelled, and then happily destroyed them both.

(https://app.box.com/shared/static/00ytm7q2op81f2drgcvw50emn8h8egka.jpg)



Yup, finally starting to heat up...
(https://app.box.com/shared/static/2bbgephbi2k1qfyda7g5lxl4l4997mla.jpg)


This mob must have enormous visual aid to activate his special ...err attack
(https://app.box.com/shared/static/0kfn25g48pswist1oy8xhyjvdfvibpbf.jpg)
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on September 06, 2016, 11:20:28 PM
I'm not sure if this is sufficiently helpful, but one thing you could try is to browse STOWiki (and for that matter lots of other things) using Chrome and its text mode extension (just search "chrome text mode").  When you activate that extension, the browser stops downloading or rendering graphics, flash, and plugins, and just puts big empty boxes where they would be.  I just tried to browse STOWiki with it on, and if I switch from white background to black background (right click the big T for options) the site *seems* to be basically readable.  This may significantly reduce the amount of bandwidth you use even in day to day browsing.  Since we've established you are paying by the bit, this might help in other areas as well.

I finally tried this and had mixed results. I like Chrome better than IE. It's more readable (Titan looks way better) and it's a lot faster. None of the image blocking extensions I used worked, though, and on some sites I was using a lot more bandwidth than with IE. When checking mail, for example. I tried 4 extensions with similar results before I gave up on the idea.


--------

Hey this ended up being a good tip after all! My IE is way more readable, now. Somehow some of my settings were off.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on September 08, 2016, 10:06:58 PM
Newb tip of the week: To send mail to yourself without touching the keyboard, hit reply to any previous mails you sent to yourself and you won't have to type in your @.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on September 09, 2016, 01:26:10 PM
Just in case anyone's not logged on lately... There's a TOS giveaway that ends today. Get your free 23c costumes and shuttle.

Quote
This bundle includes the Class F Shuttle, the entire Original Series Ship Interior, the Command Tunic Uniform, the Medical Officer Uniform, the Formal Dress Uniform, as well as a TOS phaser weapon.

Speaking of ship interiors... Did you know you could access certain things from inside your own ship? I don't even know what they are. Just recently stumbled onto it. It's kinda handy to be able to access my shared bank from anywhere in space vs. having to dock somewhere or wait for my Nimbus Trade Freighter to recharge.

---

I just remembered.. The shared bank isn't accessible from the Trade Freighter for some reason. But mailing with attachments works from the Trade Freighter.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on September 09, 2016, 03:36:18 PM
Newb tip of the week: To send mail to yourself without touching the keyboard, hit reply to any previous mails you sent to yourself and you won't have to type in your @.
I used to do this in City of Heroes, too.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on September 09, 2016, 07:35:46 PM
One less minor annoyance in life for the keyboard challenged.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on September 12, 2016, 11:22:39 PM
Every good thought Smitty gave me about mishes, T'hee undid.

I started hitting random map events in Beta sector ~ lvl 36. I used zone swapping. It worked better than I thought it would. T'hee's now happily PVE'ing his way through 52.

Luv my Rom ship. Plasma seems ok but I miss antiproton. Rom ships are good in Mirror Invasion  : ) All my ships are, but, I get to practice cloak in a minorly useful way. Nice place to have decent AoE too.

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on September 12, 2016, 11:28:57 PM
Could always put in antiproton on your ship :), you do not have to stay with plasma, if you do not want to.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on September 13, 2016, 12:12:30 AM
Yeah, I hear you. It was my choice. I didn't invest too many millions into it either. I think I was hoping someone would tell me how great plasma can be and not to change to give me a reason to go with anything other than what gives ... +crit chance and severity boost. As non-set gear.

I tried plasma energy weapons just to try something different that was also Rom themey and with the thoughts that the DoT might be useful against the largest hp bosses.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Arcana on September 13, 2016, 02:09:18 AM
Yeah, I hear you. It was my choice. I didn't invest too many millions into it either. I think I was hoping someone would tell me how great plasma can be and not to change to give me a reason to go with anything other than what gives ... +crit chance and severity boost. As non-set gear.

I tried plasma energy weapons just to try something different that was also Rom themey and with the thoughts that the DoT might be useful against the largest hp bosses.

Honestly, my main still uses Romulan Plasma weapons.  RomPlasma are rep store weapons from (of course) New Romulus rep.  Cost dilithium of course but probably a hell of a lot less than what good AP weapons will cost.  I also use the experimental romulan plasma beam which has the benefit of not draining weapon power (which means in effect it is free damage).  I also use the Preserver set Resonant Disruptor Beam.

Rom Plasma does plasma dot *and* debuffs resistance.  I like them even though I was ignorant when I bought them and bought CritHx2 instead of CritDx2.  Still, only the best AP weapons will beat these, and that means crafting upgrades over and over and over and over again and throwing away a lot of Acc/Dmg/Snare weapons.  It takes a lot of crafting to get the magic CritDx3 weapons that make them fully crit damage monsters.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on September 13, 2016, 02:35:08 PM
I thought it was another flavor of energy weapon that debuffs resistance...? That makes Plasma a lot more appealing. Are you sure your Disrupters aren't doing that? Or is there something special about Rom rep gear?

*scribbles*

"experimental romulan plasma beam"...


Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Arcana on September 13, 2016, 09:05:51 PM
I thought it was another flavor of energy weapon that debuffs resistance...? That makes Plasma a lot more appealing. Are you sure your Disrupters aren't doing that? Or is there something special about Rom rep gear?

*scribbles*

"experimental romulan plasma beam"...

Standard disruptors debuff resistance as their standard secondary effect.  Plasma weapons have a DoT as their standard secondary effect.  Romulan Plasma weapons are special weapons that have both debuff and DoT.

Special note.  By default, normal (i.e. non Epic) weapons have up to four "modifiers."  The "standard secondary effect" generally counts as one.  So when you have a special weapon like the Romulan Plasma weapons that have two special effects, they can generally only have two more modifiers.  So no CritDx3 Romulan Plasma, because that would be five modifiers (debuff, DoT, and three Crit Damage).  If you upgrade and strike Epic class, you get one more modifier (I believe it is always "Ac/Dm"on weapons which is essentially a single modifier that is equivalent to one Acc and one Dmg modifier).

The interesting thing about Romulan Plasma weapons is that because you buy them from the reputation store, you can in effect chose the other two modifiers and not have to rely on random chance.  A CritDx2 RomPlasma is basically a CritDx2 / PlasmaDoT / Debuff weapon.  That's maybe not as good on paper as, say, a CritDx2 / Dmg Antiproton weapon, because that's effectively CritDx3 / Dmg (Antiproton has CritD as its "intrinsic modifier") but it is still pretty good.

If you want to know what each "flavor" does and don't want to burn all your data looking at the wiki: here we go:

Phaser: chance to disable subsystem for 5 seconds
Disruptor: chance to debuff resistance -10%
Plasma: chance for (non-stacking) plasma DoT
Tetryon: chance to deal extra damage to shields
Polaron: chance to debuff subsystem power for 5 seconds
Antiproton: +20% crit severity (i.e. +20% crit damage)
Proton: on critical 50% chance to deal bonus proton damage
(all "chance to" are 2.5%)

Also:

Romulan Plasma: chance to debuff + chance for plasma DoT
Torpedoes: generally deal Kinetic damage, which is 75% resisted by shields (thus, they do four times damage to hull as shields)

Some common weapon modifiers:

Acc: +10% accuracy
CritD: +20% critical severity (i.e. damage)
CritH: +2% critical chance
Dmg: +Damage (not sure exactly, it's something like 3% I think)
Over: 2.5% chance to upgrade next beam attack to a beam overload attack
Pen: attack ignores 10 points of armor (it is like being partially unresistable)
PvP Dmg: bonus damage vs other players.  Outside of PvP its worthless
Rapid: 2.5% chance to trigger rapid fire mode on all cannons (does nothing to beam weapons) for 2 seconds
Snare: -5% speed and turn (i.e. the modifer everyone hates to roll)

I'm going partially off of memory, but I think that is mostly right (I did double check the modifiers).  Also, because the proc chances are pretty small, the differences in overall damage output are not dramatic between weapon types.  They tend to be more flavor than substance unless you really try to optimize them.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on September 14, 2016, 01:16:43 PM
This is good info for anyone new to gear. Thanks. I knew bits and pieces of this but now that I see it all together I have a hard time seeing myself in anything but AP newb gear (pre-Set gear).

2.5%... That's how many shots...? How many shots does it take to take out the average mob...?

Set bonuses are still a mystery to me other than I know they exist. The only set gear I ever get is Cutting Beam (Omega rep(?) kinetic/high damage turret) due to it pumps out nice dps no matter what other energy weapons I'm using and then I don't get anything else in the set.

Haven't had a Set bonus or... a.. what is it... Starship Mastery? yet. So I still have that stuff to look forward to and am already fairly happy with how things are turning out. Finally... I sucked at STO for so long...lol.. but I still tortured the queues (sorry, ppls!) and had fun. I think the Mastery comes from T6's? Somehow? Have those to look forward to still too.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Arcana on September 14, 2016, 09:41:32 PM
Set bonuses are still a mystery to me other than I know they exist. The only set gear I ever get is Cutting Beam (Omega rep(?) kinetic/high damage turret) due to it pumps out nice dps no matter what other energy weapons I'm using and then I don't get anything else in the set.

So you have the Kinetic Cutting Beam.  So do I.  Look at its info to look at its set bonuses.  The first one, for having two pieces of the set, is a 2.5% chance to get a) +10 weapon power, b) +500 current weapon power resistance, and c) +500 maximum weapon power resistance.  Parsing that, what that means is that for every shot you fire (not just from the cutting beam) you have a 2.5% chance (1 in 40) of getting a buff that increases weapon power, resists decreases in weapon power, and resists anyone trying to debuff your max weapon power.  In City of Heroes terms, think of this buff as if you got +10 endurance, made you impervious to endurance drain, and made all your attacks cost basically nothing (ala conserve power).  Except in STO, that comes with increased damage because your beam damage increases with weapon power.  You're usually firing about once per second or once every 1.5 seconds in heavy combat, so this buff happens about once a minute for 3 seconds.  Not bad.

The second one says for every hit you take there's a 1% chance to reduce all incoming damage by 99% for 2 seconds with a minimum cooldown of 30 seconds.  In other words, for every hit you take there's a 1% chance to basically become invulnerable to damage for 2 seconds.  If you are fighting normally you might get hit once per second or so, but if you're tanking or in combat many vs one you might get hit as much as two or three times per second.  This buff might trigger once every two minutes, or as much as once every thirty seconds.  Its not fantastic, but its not bad either.

So how do you get these?  Well, the other two items in the three item set are the Universal Assimilated Module and the Omega Plasma Torpedo launcher.  The Omega launcher is an interesting torpedo.  Torpedos normally recharge slowly.  It can take eight to ten seconds to reload a torpedo launcher.  The Omega torpedo can actually "store" up to five torpedos.  So when you aren't using it, every six seconds the Omega torp adds one torpedo to the launcher, up to five.  When you want to fire torpedos, you can rapid fire all five at two second intervals.  You still have to wait for the torps to recharge, but its one of the few torpedo launchers that can burst fire a lot of torps.  It is not the best torpedo launcher out there, but it is a relatively cheap torp to get (it is a rep torp in the Omega rep, 30,000 credits, 15,000 dilithium, 500 omega credits) that works well especially for newer players that maybe aren't used to balancing fast beams and slow torp firing rates combined with things like High Yield torpedo buffs.  Its a nice bang-the-keyboard torp.

The console is a universal console meaning it can go in any console slot.  When slotted it offers the following buffs:

+0.92% crit chance
+9.2% crit damage
+5 weapon power
+5.1 Hull regen
+22.9 control expertise

Even if you don't know precisely what +5.1 hull regen is (honestly, even I don't have the formula off the top of my head) its basically a regen buff for starships.  And even if you don't care about control, the rest of the buffs sound pretty good and they are: I still run this console actually.  So if you keep the Kinetic Cutting Beam and take this console, you get all those console buffs and get the 2-piece bonus basically for free.

That's how you start.  Find something you like - Kinetic Cutting Beam.  Look at its set bonuses.  See if any sound interesting.  Look at the rest of the set pieces.  See if any of them look like something you'd want to have either way.  If you find something else you like, and the set bonus you get for adding it also sounds good, try that.  Over time how I got familiar with set bonuses was that every time I encountered something new that was a set piece, either through unlocking reputation gear or by basically getting set gear for free by running the featured mission of the week, I would look at what a) the gear did and b) what the set bonuses were.  If any sounded interesting, I spent more time thinking about them.  If they seemed good enough to replace what I had, I tried it out.  Nice thing is if you're wrong, you can always go back and reslot.  And if you're learning with the set pieces from the featured mission of the week, you aren't even spending any dilithium or reputation credits on things you later don't want.  Your initial learning curve is basically free just for playing and reading.

The important thing to note about set bonuses is that none of them are game changing, but they start to add up.  You have lots of opportunities to have them, and you can easily have three or four.  At this moment my main is running the Experimental Romulan Beam and the Zero Point conduit module, which means I get the Plasma Conductive set bonus, which is +8.9% plasma energy damage (remember: I run Romulan Plasma weapons) and +17.8 Electro-Plasma Flow (basically energy flow) which improves how fast I can recharge my weapon power - in effect, more damage.  I'm running all three Resonant Preserver items: the  Resonant Transphasic Torpedo, the Resonant Disruptor Beam, and the Harmonic Resonant Tactical module.  The two set bonuses I get for that are +3.6 weapon power for two-piece (i.e. more damage) and for three-piece I get a special power with 2 minute recharge and 15 second duration that, while it is up, speeds up all my weapons firing rate by 4% per second up to +40%.  If you have enough weapon power to drive this and you use something like Beam Fire at Will when you trigger it, you can get a really good amount of burst damage going in all directions (I like this when taking on Borg clusters in Borg events).  And I have all four of the Kobali set (warp, impulse, deflector, shields).  That gives me a hull regen that gets stronger as hull gets lower, an emergency temp hull heal that auto triggers when I'm hit at less than 25% hull, and a 2 minute recharge power that auto-heals nearby allies as I take damage.

That's seven set bonuses in one ship.  Each one small, but collectively it can have a lot of overall impact.  And they weren't hard to get for the most part.  A lot of people recommend the zero point module and the assimilated module, and it is not hard after taking those to take one weapon each to get their two-piece bonuses.  The entire Kobali set was not hard to get because all of the items except one come from just running one mission (Dust to Dust) and getting the reward (the last one came with the Kobali cruiser itself) Except for the one item that is now impossible to get because you could only get it with the cruiser (the warp core) the other three are things that would be decent to have without the set bonuses, including the Kobali shield which has one of if not the highest shield hit points in the game.  If you don't know what shield, impulse, and deflector you should be running, my recommendation is run Dust to Dust three times, take those three things as rewards, and use them until you find something better.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on September 15, 2016, 12:01:24 AM
It would really help if they showed the set bonuses. Without owning any pieces in a set the only info I get is what pieces I need to complete the set. There's nothing about what the bonuses are for partial/full completes.

It would have been nice to know about the torpedoes in that set too. It would be nice to have more detail on All special weaps!

I looked at that Omega rep set awhile back but I normally don't like plasma torpedoes and I like all the consoles I have already. I had no idea the torps would be good and I would like some special/better torps on my Cutting Beam guy so I likely would have gotten them already had I known. I had no idea what the set bonuses were so I wasn't going to even consider giving up any of my consoles. Now I have the complete picture to consider.

I mean, I guess that's what the wiki's for but it's too bad we can't get that info in-game as we're shopping for gear.

I'll probably get those torpedoes. Tyvm. I might get that console too. I give up +22ish% maximum shields is the main thing I think and a(nother) 25% chance that when a hull heal completes that I get a 6% energy weapon damage boost.

I'm running all Fleet stuff on my Escort except Cutting Beam and my other weapons which are all store bought or drops. It's pretty decent for having no set bonuses and not having to invest a lot of thought or currency when getting it. Some gear, like the above console, has useful effects too.



Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Arcana on September 15, 2016, 12:10:02 AM
I mean, I guess that's what the wiki's for but it's too bad we can't get that info in-game as we're shopping for gear.

Ordinarily I would say there's the wiki and there's the test server, but both of those are bandwidth-eating options for someone with low data caps.  If you're interested in something in particular, just let me know and I can try to post the info.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on September 15, 2016, 12:53:10 AM
Tyvm. They DO leave a lot to imagination, in-game.. I mean it's not a Mountain of Dil and etc, but, it's enough that more detail would be nice.

All those little bonuses add up. I already have a ton. That one where I don't blow up when a bad guy next to me does - Must have. The one where I get healed when I do damage is another must have. When there's 100 things with a 1% chance to go off there's almost always something bound to go my way. I'll take all those little bonuses I can get.

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on September 15, 2016, 01:09:07 PM
Have you tried those newish Temporal Chroniton torpedoes? I forgot I recently stocked up on those, the drop (rep reward) version. They are pretty darn decent. I didn't remember to check the recharge time last night but it seems about average.

When fired off after Torpedo: Spread (what I normally use on my Warbird) or High Yield (what I normally use on my Escort) it sends a luverly stream of torpedoes towards my target(s).. The bonuses are very nice, too. I wouldn't appreciate them as much in my Cruiser but I do in my Escort and Warbird. There's a 33% chance to get a stacking (to 5) 3% resistance buff to shields that lasts 60 seconds - it also gives a non-stacking 5% boost to turn rate and speed in that 33% chance.

The set they are in includes a decent universal console and ... an AP beam or cannon I think.

I was going to hop on that plasma torpedo last night but this tossed a monkey wrench in things due to these Temporals have been pretty good so now I have to rethink.

OH YEAH..! Check this out.. I only had 2 toons that could run Mirror Universe when it started and I am 1 drop away from completing it with my second and when does the Event end...? About 7 hours before I can run it again. DOH! *sigh*  : )
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Tahquitz on September 17, 2016, 05:31:12 AM
Kind of a cool compilation infographic...

Star Trek Online released a picture (https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/10159922) detailing all of the episodes and movies that contributed to the game's timeline of 2409/2410.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on September 17, 2016, 01:31:59 PM
Kind of a cool compilation infographic...

Star Trek Online released a picture (https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/10159922) detailing all of the episodes and movies that contributed to the game's timeline of 2409/2410.

I'm tempted to click this but it will probably cost me a play day! ... lol.

Spent almost all my gametime looking at gear last night. I'm having a hard time finding what I want. Why don't they show the gear set bonuses..? I mean, how hard can it be. It would sure help when shopping for gear. I know I can pop in and out of the game every time I want to scout a new set...but... WHY.... (ha).

When your gear gets to a certain level those bonuses can make or break the set.

Ah well.

Fleet gear is very nice to have while figuring things out and is easy enough to shop for - it Shows what effects it has right on the label. Between this thread and last night's scouting I came up with some ideas for my only Fleetless toon (KDF... so I don't get autoinvites hourly) so that worked out nice  : )
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on September 17, 2016, 06:20:32 PM
Juuust in case someone finds this useful... It's Mid's Lite.

http://skillplanner.stoacademy.com/
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on September 17, 2016, 10:28:59 PM
You know what another thing is that's always throwing me on gear is when there is set gear, like that Kobali set, that has a piece missing. And it's like... WHY? Where is it? Whooo knows. *saves Fleet marks*

After re-scouring mishes and Rep stores, for my lvl 53 Warbird, I've decided to go for the Solanae set....minus one of those mysteriously missing pieces.. Which I guess was once available with the Fourth Anniversary Event Ship............ But....... It no longer seems to be the fourth anniversary... But... the mish still seems to be here!

oi..

It seems like a pretty decent set for a level 50 mish. Like lil digital presents, I'm looking forward to unwrapping what set bonuses there may be.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on September 18, 2016, 12:04:21 AM
You know what another thing is that's always throwing me on gear is when there is set gear, like that Kobali set, that has a piece missing. And it's like... WHY? Where is it? Whooo knows. *saves Fleet marks*

After re-scouring mishes and Rep stores, for my lvl 53 Warbird, I've decided to go for the Solanae set....minus one of those mysteriously missing pieces.. Which I guess was once available with the Fourth Anniversary Event Ship............ But....... It no longer seems to be the fourth anniversary... But... the mish still seems to be here!


You are partially  correct the full solanae was a part of the anniversary event, however, I think there is still a way to get the last item and that is if the ship is in the zstore. I have not checked it out myself however.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on September 18, 2016, 01:12:56 AM
You are partially  correct the full solanae was a part of the anniversary event, however, I think there is still a way to get the last item and that is if the ship is in the zstore. I have not checked it out myself however.

Does it have to do with getting the other 3 pieces first...? And then hitting the Z Store? Or something similar? I read something like this when googling but don't want to get my hopes up.


Oops doh, I read that wrong... OK. I read something about being able to buy it in the Z store after running the mish (and clicking my heels?) three times and was thinking of that when first reading your post. Sorry about that.

Check this out!
(I ninja-wiki'd)

Solanae:
Set 2: Cyclical Shield Conduits
+3.6 Shield Power Setting+2.2 Shield Power (Bonus increased at low power)
Set 3: Structural Integrity Leech
Grants all of your Energy Weapon attacks a 2.5% chance to repair your hull for 100% of the damage they deal. May only trigger once every second. Max 1,283.3 Hull Restored. Min 320.8 Hull Restored

When googling After getting the first two pieces I saw something about + Polaron damage or something like this and I was like 'wow, how dumb was that I just ran this twice without even knowing the bonus'. The two pieces were an upgrade no matter what the bonus... but still. And now I see they are shweet!

I see now why Arcana is recommending Kobali.. (It's level 56, I can't get it yet anyway)

Miracle Worker.

(Maybe?)

Anyway, I am really glad that I had a Temporal Marauders queue from Hell.. It drove me right to a mish break and this one is not so bad to run, re-run, and I got lucky on the loot due to one or more of the bonuses could have been completely useless but they turned out nice. 

Yippee. I'm gonna run it again. I can't use the Control Expertise in the Deflector but I can use the Drain Expertise and I lost some when I swapped engines (but gained some aux/weapon power).
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on September 18, 2016, 02:43:47 PM
I sure learned a lot about gear the past few days. I still don't know what I want but I do have a few things picked out and a better idea of how things work.

I'm not going for the uberest, yet...., but I am trying to build some themes.

Just wanted to say Thanks for the help. It dissolved a lot of mystery and I have a better idea what directions to go now.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on September 18, 2016, 03:48:52 PM
Well, I downloaded the game for the PS4, and... now I have a brand-new Klingon captain.  Hurray for starting from square one.

I'm not even entirely sure how the controls work on the PS4 compared to the PC.  I have no idea how to activate my Kits unless I use up all of my items first, since they all seem to be activated by the same key, with no way I'm aware of to switch which item or Kit takes precedence.

I have a long way to go just to catch up to where I was, let alone actually hit the level cap.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on September 18, 2016, 05:02:47 PM
If you send mail to @toonsquad I'll trickle some gear your way.

I'm not even entirely sure how the controls work on the PS4 compared to the PC.

You're ahead of me. I don't even know what controls are available on the PS4. Hopefully there's a way to make keybinds. Just started making them and am already hooked on them.

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on September 19, 2016, 01:30:41 PM
I just have to mention... that at lvl 54.... I soloed Borg Disconnected...

I didn't even know STO would let you solo a queue. What happened was, I got punted from the game when Borg D started - I had the PC on all day anyway, so, I took the chance to shut things down for awhile. When I leisurely logged back on later and saw myself still in Borg D.. I assumed I'd be punted ight out. I've had that happen before, didn't even make me raise an eyebrow.

But then.. the narration continues and the next thing I know I'm solo, deciding what ring to take.

The xp sucked! I mean, compared to Red Alert Borg, which is kinda uber XP in STO. But the coolness factor was off the charts. hehe

I think you can't fail Borg D btw.. It's just a matter of how many bonus marks you get.

I have to also mention... Warbirds are not OP, Escorts seem a tad UP. I mean, look at what you can do in a Warbird and then jump in your Escort. I'm currently looking at this through the eyes of a lvl 60 Escort Tactical pilot with maxed rep, maxed Pilot spec, and decent gear who shreds and doesn't explode nearly as often as he used to and a lvl 54 Warbird Engineer pilot with mostly generic gear and lvl 1 - 3 Reps and a few Spec points, and, I can only see the trend of my Warbird luv increasing.

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Arcana on September 19, 2016, 09:13:05 PM
I just have to mention... that at lvl 54.... I soloed Borg Disconnected...

Heh.  I remember the first time I was able to solo a Borg alert.  To me, that's comparable to the day you discover you can solo a level 50 AV in CoH.  Don't think I've ever actually been in a position to try to solo Disconnected before.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on September 20, 2016, 11:44:20 PM
Kobali Deflector is mine.. Couldn't pass up those stats. I'm keeping the other 2 Solanae pieces.

Picked up a Cutting Beam.. Not enough Rep for anything else yet but have a few pieces in mind. I plan to get probably everything mentioned here from Rep.

Now my Warbird needs console and weapon planning. That's what I'm mostly playing until it gets leveled.



Poor conehead copy of Harry Kim... But hey, at least he gets the smexy conehead babe in the end.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on September 22, 2016, 01:40:09 AM
Ahhhh my Internet cup runneth under once again.. I was going to skip a typically mondo STO patch tomorrow and play some CO for the last week of billing but Verizon left a present in my inbox this morning that said I better just stick to checking mail.

Too bad GOG doesn't have Command HQ.. Steam does but I think I have to install DosBox again and remember how to use it and that kinda seems like a ripoff and a hassle for 7 bucks and a 1990 game.

I could hunt up a shareware Risk... that might keep me entertained for a week..

Maybe some backgammon..

*sigh*


Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on September 28, 2016, 10:25:37 PM
Remember when I was complaining about data limits? I had that problem eliminated with my 'equipment upgrade' this month.


Pinging patchserver.Crypticstudios.com [208.95.185.41] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 208.95.185.41: bytes=32 time=2204ms TTL=41
Reply from 208.95.185.41: bytes=32 time=119ms TTL=41
Request timed out.
Request timed out.

Ping statistics for 208.95.185.41:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 2, Lost = 2 (50% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 119ms, Maximum = 2204ms, Average = 1161ms

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Pinging patchserver.Crypticstudios.com [208.95.185.41] with 32 bytes of data:
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Reply from 208.95.185.41: bytes=32 time=3929ms TTL=41

Ping statistics for 208.95.185.41:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 1, Lost = 3 (75% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 3929ms, Maximum = 3929ms, Average = 3929ms


Who needs data.

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on October 01, 2016, 10:34:17 PM
Yay not only can I log on, but, I think my connection may be more solid than ever. Possibly, even, very good. So now it appears that I can go hurtling headlong into my data limits in even more style than ever.

Hadn't been able to really test things until now but it seems I'm going to not only get to continue enjoying the wonderful world of online gaming... I also didn't miss the double XP weekend so I can try and grind out those last Rom/Warbird levels that I've really been wanting to get.

There were some tense moments there when I thought the new wireless to wireless connection was going to go down in flames but it rose like a..... Phoenix. Lucky me! We all know how it is to lose our online gaming....! Glad I still have mine.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on October 03, 2016, 11:02:54 AM
I'm up to level 26 on my new character.  I'm surprised that I've had three story arcs (including one I'm just starting) that are the same as the Federation side. Nobody seemed to notice that Klingons were running around a Federation base in the 23rd century, meeting up with McCoy and Scotty (who should DEFINITELY know what a Klingon is).
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on October 03, 2016, 03:19:25 PM
Now that my connection is solid I just want to say.... All you people with sucky connections, quit ruining my queues!

hehe

I really wanted to level this weekend. Of the ~ 3 hours I managed to be online... probably 2 of them were in a Temporal Marauders queue.. Good Lord... We were finally down to 3 people and fighting the last Dreadnaught and not even scratching it. After all that time.. Unwinnable.

I want to make a Klingon and fly at least a T5 Bird of Prey, and, still have at leeast one Science build to try.

I'm thinking Warbird is going to end up being my main. Not sure how the Escort fits in.. It's kinda a beast at this point and only T5 so I can't see abandoning it. I'm thinking it's going to be my new Jooc, and the Warbird would be the new Deeps/Senge at this point.

I seem to keep ending up with two dps mains.

Anyway.... Go go TG. You have to tell us some Bird of Prey stuff. The they are the fastest turners thing is what I want. They seem extra papery and I don't see what their specialty is as far as POW. Warbirds have Singularity/Fire at Will and Escorts have Cannons and Rapid Fire.

Birds of Prey have (turning) Speed and....?


Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on October 05, 2016, 01:46:58 PM
Sooooo I was stocking up on Rep gear last night.. For some reason I had it in my head that the Experimental Romulan Plasma Beam *Array* was a *Turret*.. I've been building around that, somewhat.. So now I have to rethink things a little.

Very happy with my new Torpedoes! A few dozen replies back... I had this fantasy of spraying torpedoes like I saw other people doing. Well, it's fantasy no more...  : )

But now I have to move one or both of my forward launchers to make room for that free ERPB damage, or, dump a forward Dual Plasma Beam..

Not too far from Fleet Admiral.. 1 level and a little bit more to go. My Escort still has more punch and it needs some upgrades. I'm glad. The early levels with Warbirds make Escorts look ,,,, less attractive. We'll see how things look when they're both the same level and similarly geared. Warbirds have enough utility to make up for any small loss in DPS so I don't mind if my Escort can outdeeps my Warbird a little.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on October 05, 2016, 11:01:34 PM
... you're actually playing?  Maybe it's just the PS4 version that's been unplayable for over 24 hours now, then...
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on October 06, 2016, 02:19:42 PM
My play has been smoother than ever. Grinding that XP/Rep on my Warbird.. Wondering what flavors of T5 Science ships there are. I see Gravity Wells and trails of radioactive gas in my future.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on October 10, 2016, 12:46:32 AM
There was a major bug in the PS4 version (and, I think, the Xbox1 version) where every character was inadvertently marked as being from the other faction.  It took them nearly two days to figure out what was wrong and fix it.

So I couldn't complete or even start my KDF missions, because the game thought I was with Starfleet.  I got Starfleet missions, but unless they auto-completed immediately (like the "Promotion" ones), I couldn't do those either.  I couldn't even beam down to Qo'noS (I'd beam in, and immediately be beamed out again), nor could I beam down to Earth Spacedock (the option didn't appear).  Currently, I have an auto-completed Starfleet mission that I can't turn in.

They didn't even run an update to mess it up.  It was a maintenance that did it.  Then, when they finally figured out what was wrong, the game had to download a full 1GB+ update to fix it.

It's working now, though (I spent a good portion of the day yesterday playing it), and I'm now the very model of a modern Major General.  Or maybe Lieutenant General.

I'm kinda sorry I didn't choose a Carrier for my T5 ship.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on October 12, 2016, 10:11:12 PM
Now I'm level 51, and for some reason, the missions have gotten a lot longer but are awarding me only half the amount of XP they used to (10k vs. 20k).  Instead of gaining one or even two levels after every mission, it's taking me three to five missions to gain one level (and those missions are very long, taking a half-hour to an hour each due to being composed of literally dozens of steps).

I also can't seem to figure out where to see how many XP my captain needs to level.  I found it once by accident, but I can't seem to find it again, or the list of what perks you get at various levels (which was in the same place).

Nor does "Scan area" ever reveal elements I can pick up.

The PS4 version is also missing the Foundry and Duty Officer missions, which is disappointing.

Edit: After three missions, I went from level 51 to... still level 51.  Yeah, leveling has become a LOT slower.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on October 13, 2016, 02:27:06 PM
Pffft my notifications for this thread aren't... notifying.

I dunno about the PS4 version but in the PC version, XP vastly slows at level 50.

The best way I found to XP, as a person who likes Space battle and doesn't mind grinding to get his levels, is to instance hop. I picked a part of the map in the Beta sector that seemed to have the easiest/best XP random space battle ..thing.. and if it wasn't up, I would instance hop until I found it.

The idea is to park yourself next to where a 'Random' space battle will always randomly occur on the map and instance hop until it pops and then run the thing and collect your XP.

For spice, always run Borg Red Alerts when they pop. Borg cubes can cough up 1k+ xp if you can solo them. This Alert is probably the best xp in the game but it has a cooldown of course and sometimes you'll pop in right as it is ending.

I don't think the Tholian Red Alurt is as good and don't even bother with Temporal Mauraders unless you just haven't been frustrated or wasted your time in the recent past and would like a good opportunity to do so. TM can just drag out foreeeeever in a too low level team (which I invaaaaariably end up in when I'm trying to xp) and nearly every time at least one person will bail without a word before it's over. I shred it in my level 60, geared, repped and spec'd out Escort and it's an easy way to farm any rep I want - it's not been good for leveling, though..

There are some mishes that give items that are just nice to have. I sprinkle those in as I level.

I was getting into full time mishing there for awhile but then I started breaking them over and over and over again so I stopped. Plus, the Rom mishes kinda turned me off. I'm really really glad I ran the AoY and further Fed mishes before making a Rom. That, was actually fun. But I still couldn't make it to 60 just by mishing. I went to the grind..

You may as well queue up for all the bonus Rep you can handle when you log on, too. That rep can really help out, and, the queues not only have other people to play with in them but they give that XP.

Would be my tips.

My Warbird finally made it to 60 this way. It wasn't too bad. But yeah, it's a definite gear change after level 50. Things move lots slower.

Good time to get started on that Rep (if you can already..) and get that out of the way for the buffs and gear. Not a bad time to start stocking up on Fleet Marks either if you can do that for Trait slots and extremely nice gap filling gear.

That sucks that there's no Doff mishes!

I think the main reason the CoH foundry was so successful was that it was highly farmable. (I didn't mind fighting huge crowds of sexah mobs, either...). Errr.. I mean... Some of the mishes had nice themes, too..

I just don't see those rewards in STO's foundry and I think this is one reason why it seems to be a lot less popular than CoH's was. I personally wouldn't miss it and never have used it since I first started playing and just wanted to run annnny mish.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Arcana on October 13, 2016, 08:47:15 PM
I just don't see those rewards in STO's foundry and I think this is one reason why it seems to be a lot less popular than CoH's was. I personally wouldn't miss it and never have used it since I first started playing and just wanted to run annnny mish.

There are farmable missions in the foundry, but you have to hunt for them and I haven't in a while.  But there are people who make, say, missions that just spawn a megaton of high value ships in basically ambush waves and if you have the moxie to take them down the XP, and more specifically the drop rate, can be very good.  As in CoH, the actual value of individual kills is not bad, but what usually makes progress slow is that you are only fighting a few, or even one at a time, and there's significant time in between fights.  Farmable CoH missions tended to have giant swarms of herdable critters.  Herding is not as profitable (or survivable) in STO, but having waves of attackers is the STO analogy.  At a rapid clip, fighting a lot of "boss" ships can rack up a lot.

Also, I don't think people even tend to farm XP per se.  Once you reach 50 (or 52 really, to unlock stuff) getting higher XP is not as valuable as getting a lot of EC, dilithium, and valuable drops.  60 doesn't unlock as much as 50 did in CoH.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on October 14, 2016, 01:45:31 AM
Megatons... Ambush... Farmable.. STO...?

Huh. Go figure.

I thought Foundry mishes were all kinda long and drawn out Space/Ground combo Sagas that went mainly unused and didn't reward anything special. You have supremely piqued my interest.

My interest needed a good piquing in general.. thanks.

The final Starship and Ground Trait slots are unlockable at 60. This is the main thing I wanted when I was grinding out my last levels and it's not That big of a deal that it makes the grind that urgent. My dps/survivability Feeels stronger at 60... And I of course must be 60 if it's a toon I like. But yeah, the Trait slot thing is the only tangible thing that comes to mind about dinging 60. Before that the most important stuff to me is Admiralty and Rep which is well before the main grind to 60.

Well, I have to try the Foundry out again... I could seriously get into some shades of CoH farming. I loved the CoH Foundry and playing the market. Right up to the last days when it was in Frenzy. I made a fortune.. Spent it.. Made more!  : ) *bzzzt* then they unplugged us  : / They actually, really did it.. And it's STILL unplugged.. Actually, really, still. Crazy world.

Anyway...  : ) thx for the tip & sorry about your PS4 growing pains TG. The PC version didn't have Doffs originally either. I dunno about the Foundry.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on October 14, 2016, 03:47:50 PM
I don't like to go on about patch sizes, but, I will.....

I had to download 520 meg, for ... this?

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/10201933

Seriously..

I just updated my CO client earlier this week. Since I last logged on they have added a sluuuuue of powers and power changes and A...Whole...New...Zone.. and whatever else. I downloaded like... oh... just over 100 meg?

These patches are going to be the death of my STO career. Patches! Sheesh. I don't even want to Guess how much they are going to try and shove at me when that update on the 25th hits.

I must be the only wireless STO player. Who else would waste 2 gig+ every month just Updating A Game Client.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on October 15, 2016, 01:10:22 AM
So.... after stomping off in my virtual huff over my crummy Internet situation I tried some Foundry mishes.. At first I thought I found a whole new world but even before my smile could fade... so did my xp! I got maybe.... 30k max?

Ah well, it sure looked like the Foundry was going to be my new home there for awhile!

They could make some of those contacts easier to find, too...  "A potted plant next to some npc in all of Starfleet Command that you will never find" type stuff.. oi..

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on October 17, 2016, 02:40:25 AM
I never did get the hang of the Foundry as far as getting XP.

So, I decided to kit out my Escort. The result's a mish mosh of Rep/Fleet/Mish gear that I'm pretty happy with. Nothing storebought is left. Some of my Fleet stuff I really like, some Rep stuff I like, and a mish that I would recommend checking out is Stormbound from the Future Proof series. It's level 60. The pieces are nice, the bonuses are nice, and the mish is pretty nice too - mostly Space battle and the Ground stuff goes fast. Just thought I'd pass that along since I like my (2) pieces from it so much and the mish is nice to run too. I have a good Admiralty ship named after a ship in the Mish... not sure if I got that from the mish or somewhere else.. The first time I ran it was awhile back.



Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on October 19, 2016, 01:11:11 PM
If I could customize difficulty to press the limits of my build while farming phat lewts/Spec xp I think I would be spending a lot of time in the Foundry. The material seems to be there but it's either broken or I don't know how to use it.

Sooooooo you think we're going to get a gig's worth of patches in the next two days? Then another gig at the end of next week?

Even if we don't I'm tired of stressing it. I am totally enjoying the game but it's sucking all of my Internet.

I leveled a Warbird and (almost...) a Cruiser just to confirm I was happy with what I already had...  : ) That was a tough first toon to level! Tactical/Escort. Tactical/Cruiser was a cake walk in comparison and Engineer/Warbird *seemed* downright OP but I prefer my Tactical/Escort at 60. I didn't make any Science builds... That was going to be next.

I have to think about these next patches. The game is being a lot of fun but they just shove too much data at me. Blood Moon is going on in CO, which I neeever miss, and I can't even keep my CO client up to date lately.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on October 25, 2016, 06:18:34 PM
Lawdy...

I just have to ask...

Did anyone download the latest patch yet and how big is it to download, actually?

I actually managed to save up 2 gig of data this month, which, is phenoooomenal for me, but then I (finally steel myself and) log into a .... 4 gig Patch?

Holy geez, now I know who owns the Internet.

You know, even Microsoft can manage to patch an entire operating system for a full year for under that.

lol..

Anyway, actual number, please? I just want to consider my options, and thanks..

The update looks very nice btw and so do the disrupters.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on October 25, 2016, 07:09:02 PM
Lawdy...

I just have to ask...

Did anyone download the latest patch yet and how big is it to download, actually?

I actually managed to save up 2 gig of data this month, which, is phenoooomenal for me, but then I (finally steel myself and) log into a .... 4 gig Patch?

Holy geez, now I know who owns the Internet.

You know, even Microsoft can manage to patch an entire operating system for a full year for under that.

lol..

Anyway, actual number, please? I just want to consider my options, and thanks..

The update looks very nice btw and so do the disrupters.
I downloaded it and logged in, it is around 4 gig to 8 not really sure though. It shouldn't be the patch you should worry about, it is the graphic, it will make the original NES games look like a PS4 game.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Arcana on October 26, 2016, 06:00:23 AM
4014 MB according to my client.  I actually didn't even get a chance to start patching until just now: been extremely busy with work.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on October 26, 2016, 02:54:57 PM
Tyvm. Had to check, ya know. Thanks for All the helps and adviceses.

Very fun game. Great theme. STO feels very Space Game and is an excellent example of this gem of a genre that is one of my all time favorites. it's equally good to see Star Trek getting luv and living on and I'm glad I got in on part of the 50th anniversary experience.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on October 28, 2016, 05:15:47 PM
Holy cow do I have withdrawals already...!

I started this game with a barely functional mouse and a screen the size of my behind and now .... I'm in techno heaven and I can't download the dang patches. This is the time of year for me to play, too. Monsoon season.

I've been trying to get back into CO and there is plenty going on but I've been unable to find the old magic up to this point. They even managed to screw up Athletics (<3) while I was away by giving even newbie zone mobs Nailed To The Ground - which pretty much does what it sounds like. It's like they've gone down a checklist since I left "Xev used to like This, that's next".

Miss you, MegaPatches Online!





Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on November 05, 2016, 04:35:43 PM
Well, I'm having weird issues of my own.  Somehow, STO causes my TV to shut off, and it won't turn back on until I shut the TV entirely off (rather than putting it on standby) and wait a few minutes before turning it back on.  No other game does that, just STO.  It's something about the cutscenes in particular that does it.

So, once again, I'm STO-less.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on November 05, 2016, 09:24:55 PM
Sucks, huh!

I'm really looking forward to seeing the updated graphics and playing with an unbroken mouse for the first time. I was like 100k XP to get the last Pilot spec point needed for Pedal to the Metal II.. finally. Got a promotion from the first Fleet I joined just ... because. I thought that was nice of them. They had those disrupters up for grabs that I missed! And some more TOS material.



Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on November 26, 2016, 04:36:18 PM
I felt dumb for not downloading 2 gig of that 4 gig patch that kicked me out of STO last month when I had the data. I saved up nearly 2 gig again this month but then when I thought how they patch 400 meg+ weekly and I've already missed a few patches all I could do is picture that guy pushing the rock nonstop up the hill.

This is a very fun space game. I'm glad I got to play when I did, during the 50th anniversary stuff. If I had to choose that would have been my choice of when to play and I'm glad I got in on some of it.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on December 26, 2016, 08:55:07 PM
Santa did a neat trick and showed the patcher how to slide a months old 4 gig update (so, add some 400 meg+ updates to that too I would imagine) down my 2 gig chimney. Matter of fact he only needed 1.5.

I was then left with Too Much Internet on my last day of billing which led to panic and then gaming frenzy.

It's been so long since I've seen a graphics update attempted for a game I can't even tell you what kind of game it was. Is it me or do graphics updates never seem to work so well? It's probably me. Anyway, yeah. The STO graphics update was pretty successful, huh? I was perfectly happy with how my space battles looked already but they did manage to kick things up a notch AND they didn't even up the system requirements as far as I can tell. I still have everything cranked up on *pats luvingly* Old Bessie and it runs smooth as silk.

Anyway, yay. : )

So, I probably never had to stop playing. Or the download has somehow drastically shrunk (Santa).

I'm glad for how things turned out. I was really into STO and would not have gone back to CO anytime soon. Had I not been forced to either play CO or nothing at all, basically, I probably would not have *stuck* with playing CO long enough to .... forgive it. Which would have been a shame.

I'm still in my 'main' Fleet! That's cool. Made sure to contribute so they know I'm alive and maybe I don't get kicked for awhile. Wolf Pack is a good Fleet for me and the U.S.S. Arrewww.

I don't know how much STO I'm going to be playing in 17' but I know I'm going to keep saving up for a new ship. I think that's where I'm hitting the wall right now on my main. I hope, anyway. My gear and specs seem almost as good as I can get them and I'm happy with my Boff abilities. Normal queues usually seem too easy but Advanced queues are still making me explode too much, basically.

Awwww we have to sit in a queue for Borg Red Alerts now.. I always liked being able to pop right into them whenever they were available. Oh well. Probably works out better for the newbs that used to unwittingly pop in there solo and be real unhappy with the results.


Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Arcana on December 28, 2016, 12:36:19 AM
I'm currently on a bit of a break from STO, really busy with other things.  But you just reminded me I ought to log in and make sure my fleet doesn't think I've been assimilated by the Borg or something and kick me.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on December 28, 2016, 01:59:23 AM
I got the impression inactive people were getting kicked from Fleets if space was needed and I also got the impression Fleets were always needing space, so, it's probly a good idea to at least log in long enough to contribute to something or say hi. I dumped a fair amount of resources into that new K something (?) thing.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on January 29, 2017, 03:18:44 PM
I actually managed to play a lot of STO last month. It was like...how? And then I had a day I blew a gig of data in one day and then right after, the Season 12 mega-patch hit. Thus ended my spacial glory.

Ugh the giveaways! I'm missing the Season 12 giveaways.

I think that must be where I got this really great Epic console on my first guy.. A previous giveaway. Thanks that it had an AP damage boost because that made me turn that guy to AP and I am very happy with his AP build, and, that console.

The graphics update is really nice. I wonder if they could do something like that for CO.. I'm ok with CO's graphics as-is, but, better is always better.

STO gets a lot of dev love. I would say they are on par with CoH at the end. It's like... 'this is kinda an old game, how can they keep making it fresh?' but they do.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Arcana on January 30, 2017, 08:34:00 PM
STO gets a lot of dev love.

There are a lot of Star Trek fans on the dev team.  And in many ways, STO is the only place where official commercial Trek action is happening.  That anyone can actually see.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on February 04, 2017, 05:13:40 AM
I think I am done with sto, why you might ask; well lets see. Before the new graphic "update" my sto game was awesome, nearly like the cinematic fmvs in Star Wars Tor. Now no matter what kind of tweaks I do, I cannot make it look like it did. Now it just looks like pancake; and  that is after 3 months of working on it.
Then just today, I found out they binded streaming with the damned run shift button. Which is hard coded on the left shift key as well. So you cannot even change the run from the shift to something else.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on February 04, 2017, 04:15:40 PM
I had to re-hotkey due to a new mouse and haven't had any problems with Run or anything else yet and my graphics have improved with the last two updates. Sorry, Angel, I've got nothing useful.

I'm starting to look at the Zen and EC purchasable T6's. All I know so far is I'm going to get an Escort with my Zen but I haven't picked which flavor yet. I don't know much about the EC purchasable ones yet except their price range but I'm thinking to try one of these too when the EC's pile up high enough.

Oh yeah! Have to mention Sho'nuff! Nicely done, sir. What a coup for STO.


Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on February 08, 2017, 11:41:21 PM
Is it (still? even?) possible to level a newb and grab that anniversary Science T6 just by mishing?

I was already unsure and then *boing* the servers went down for an "unscheduled maintenance" for a Thursday style patch. What a random patch! I had just finally decided to level my Science guy and was a half a mish away from running 'Of Signs and Portents' with him for the first time.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on February 09, 2017, 04:49:45 AM
I never go to Earth Spacedock so I never saw Q... until I dinged 10 and was sent to ... Earth Spacedock.

(https://app.box.com/shared/static/uhbmlvoym251ltmwn5y1jydnxb19rs9w.jpg)
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on February 10, 2017, 12:50:36 AM
Hey I just noticed that due to the sale I can buy a T6 with Zen.

I want to get an Escort due to that's what I play most now. That's about all I've narrowed it down to. It seems like I saw 1 ship that had a better than average shield rating and at least 1 ship with a better than average turn rate.

The Temporal escorts are kinda interesting due to they are Warbirdlike but I'm not so much interested in the Temporal BO slot and I think it only had + 10 power to weapons.. could be wrong.

The Phantom Intel Escort looked worthy..

*shrug*

Any tips/suggestions? I think I pretty much can't go wrong.. It's my first 'big purchase' though so I thought I'd fish for any advice.


Btw.. Science ships are fun! Secondary deflectors are an interesting addition.. I'm still just level 10 but it's a fun change of pace so far. I can see leveling this guy to be my 4th and latest Fleet Admiral.

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Arcana on February 10, 2017, 03:05:41 AM
I'm probably the worst person alive to offer suggestions on T6 escorts.  I think cruisers are great, science ships are interesting, and escorts are like jogging in bad neighborhoods with your pockets full of bullets.  In one sense, you're the most heavily armed person around.  But in another, probably more important sense, not really. :p
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on February 10, 2017, 02:01:01 PM
That's kinda interesting. My Cruiser was the easiest to level but what I play least. I thought Warbirds were OP at first and that I'd just wasted time with an Escort until I leveled the Warbird up and then I went back to my Escort's punch.

The science ship is a whole other beast so far. It's not pew-pew.. It's drain, debuff, devastate. Which can be kinda fun. Maybe someday I'll be healing Escorts and dubuffing for Cruisers on the side.

Maybe I should get something I haven't tried yet, but then, what if I don't like it? Carriers/Dreadnaughts (?) have small craft (?) I can launch (?) and tons of hp (?). I think? Or something like this? They are the cheapest EC ships... I think.

It's good we don't all like to play the same thing. I liked playing all my ships best, once. Right now the two I'm most interested to play are my first and my latest. If I could only have 1 toon and ship and had to choose today it'd be a tactical/escort.

P.S.
Sho'Nuff makes about the best Klingon ever next to Worf. I think he may actually be part Klingon.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on February 11, 2017, 03:13:02 PM
Soooo with only a day left to decide... I think I've found a winner. Well, 2..

They're from the same series so I thought I'd look at buying a bundle. They only come in a 10k megabundle..

They're both from the Pilot Escort series. At first look I preferred the Science Pilot Escort due to the console and trait are about perfect for my playstyle...

However, the Tactical flavor preserves my delicate balance of Tactical BO (that sounds Wrong..) powers.. It preserves my entire build and then gives me a couple of extra consoles and abilities as far as that goes. OH and, also very important, it has 3 Engineer console slots and the Science version has 2. I could use an extra Engineer console slot... I only have 2 now.

I think what is probably best for me is to get the Tactical version and save up for the Science version and then swipe the console and trait from the Science version for use with the Tactical version.

What I like about the Pilot series is that it matches me pretty decent at this point. It has a higher than normal shield rating and I concentrate on my shields more than my hull in my build. And it has a nice turn rate that I like. The bells and whistles match me pretty good too (traits/consoles). I also like that I get another torpedo (weapons) slot up front. I lose a rear weapons slot, but, I think I don't care.

The only red flag is Weapons power. Instead of the usual 15 power to weapons and 5 to engines they have 10 to both. Which means I lose 5 weapons power. Which means... ummm.. I'm not entirely sure, actually.. I don't know what 5 extra engine power does for me (as compared to what I have right now) either.

(https://app.box.com/shared/static/eiy2dtfv2enohdloq86skh86tlpvx22n.jpg)


Escort Carriers also look entertaining. Might have to try one of those at some point too.


---------

The Science Pilot escort might work for me if I can just tweak my Tactical BO powers chain (...lol) to be as satisfying with 1 very nice power less.

With diminishing returns I'm not sure how much more resistance the extra Engineering console will give me, and, my power transfer rate is already good.

On the other hand, extra shield size on a shield focused build with a ship that has a shield modifier bonus, and, having more shield drain on a shield drain specced build might be good too.. And then I get the trait and console I want, too..

That only leaves the thing with Weapons and Engine power..

hmmmmmm


Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Tahquitz on February 11, 2017, 06:38:35 PM
The Pilot Escorts have additional maneuverability controls that no other ship has.  Positional thrusters allow you to rapidly get 10KM closer/further from a target, and to strafe left or right just as quickly.

I think that's what the extra engine power is for.  The thrusters do have a cooldown.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on February 11, 2017, 06:53:11 PM
Well that sounds like another bonus I'd get a lot of light yearage out of. Thrusters and the plethora of other extras would probably make up for a loss of 5 Weapons power.

The shield modifier bonus looks significant. I was drawn to that, too. Higher shield base stats seems like a good thing for my build.

This is a kinda fun process.. I can see myself buying more ships : )

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on February 12, 2017, 06:17:23 AM
I ended up with nearly zero playtime today and about the same amount of energy when I was playing.

But.. I did look and relook and look & relook... And the Pilot Escort series seems like the obvious best first ship purchase for me. I can keep my exact same build and even gain a Boff power. (I know why they're called Boffs now.. all I could think of was BO this morning...lol... gaining a Boff power sounds way better than gaining a BO power..) Turn rate is also important to me and the Pilot has that covered. More shields? Yes plx. I also basically gain a console of my choice. I've even been wanting that extra fore weapons slot.

Even the console bundled with the Tactical version that I didn't like so much at first *is* a good fit due to .. well, I Do have 3 nice rep torpedoes in this build already.. Omega, Rom, Temporal ... and the console *does* give a 'moderate' boost to projectile damage. As well as firing projectiles. The starship trait fires projectiles too when the target is in my 90' arc *and* I *do* try to keep things in my 90' arc all the time already... That's not as juicy as armor penetration but it's themey and still satisfying in a min/maxie way.

All the planets seem aligned.

I'm gonna sleep on it but I bet I end up with the Tactical Pilot Escort.

I can see two real good reasons to save up for Bundles now that I didn't realize before.. Consoles and Traits.

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on February 13, 2017, 04:08:08 PM
Well I ended up with the Tactical Pilot escort. The Carrier escort tempted me at the end..

As soon as I decided to buy a new ship my free time evaporated. I haven't had a chance to do much more than pick the thing up and put on a fresh coat of paint. I also got my Cutting Beam to MK XIV and my main cannon to XIII (XIV looks so sweet...) just in time before the bonus weekend ends. Rom Admiralty upgrade kits ftw!

The only bad thing and it is kinda a biggy, is... I would like to try this new ship with two of my toons, but, one's KDF and it's a Fed ship.. Another reason to Not make a KDF toon. Now I understand why they have crossfaction bundles and how they work... It never dawned on me that I'd run into this someday when I was (painfully) leveling a KDF toon to Fleet Admiral. It seems obvious now but buying ships wasn't on my mind then.

So, I pass this info on to any other newb that might benefit. If you want to share your Zen purchased ships between toons they have to be of the same alignment.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on February 14, 2017, 07:16:02 PM
So.. after... triggering.... All pve cooldowns with my new ship.. and.... taking a moment to reflect..

*choke*

*sniffle*

                          ~~~
    ~ <3                                    <3 ~
~ <3    Happy Valentine's Day...  <3 ~
    ~ <3                                    <3 ~
                          ~~~
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Power Arc X on February 21, 2017, 03:16:09 PM
I hope you were able  to  get  the  Lukari  Dorito  ship. It's a very good ship and there are You  Tube  videos  out there for high and low end budget  builds. A guy named Timberwolf   has one for each and his low budget  build does
40-43 k dps with free mission reward drops being used. I believe  he uses the Sol  Defense  set on his build. I'm  in love with my Quantum  Phase set so that's  what I  have  been  using  lately.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on February 21, 2017, 04:07:51 PM
This is such a fun game..

I was having a good enough time playing CO again (sans Rampages being neutered) but then some weeks ago I was able to patch STO up and play it again and without running out of Internet. With the record floods we've been having since weeks there's been the maximum amount of playtime, too. I never get bored. My Science guy is a Rear Admiral now and I am planning to roll up an engineer/escort guy next. That'll give me 2 escort guys - 1 Tac and 1 Eng, 1 Cruiser who is Tac, a Science ship guy who is .. Science, and... my mistake .. errr Rom .. KDF Eng/Warbird Fleet Admiral.

When I found out I could trade my Zen ships between toons I thought about converting my Cruiser guy to Escort because the Escort is uber and the Cruiser is not, but, he ended up just Being a Cruiser guy. So I bought him a new Cruiser. I got totally lucky because it just happened to be a ship I like that cost next to nothing and I can upgrade it to a fairly decent t5U - which means I can have all the consoles and HPs of a T6 for a bigillion less. When I first saw the ship out of the box I thought my luck had ran out.. A floating SQUARE/flat cube! basically.. How in the heck do you know which way a SQUARE is facing...? Anyone reading this probably knows I already have 'which-way-is-my-ship-facing' issues. It works though. Somehow. There are just enough visual guides that I don't get too mixed up. I haven't got a chance to fly it much yet due to leveling the Science guy and tradeskilling and admiralting and Doffing and... but, Smitty finally has a ship that isn't blah and I look forward to flying it again.

This new Science guy has to be my favorite newb. My tac/escort is my favorite toon but the Sci/Sci is my favorite newb, I'm glad I didn't play one until now because until now I was spending a lot of effort getting used to 3d space and moving around in it while targeting things in an ever narrowing cone. Now, I can focus more on what Boff powers I can cram together to make the most mayhem.

Secondary deflectors on Science ships are fun. I just got lucky and crafted one early on that added an effect to my Sensor Scans(?). It basically allows me to tag a target until he dies or cloaks and buff myself while I debuff him. This seems to create a lot of agro (as well as being fun..) - which is nooo problemo because I'm tanky in normal queue level stuff.

Science's Photonic Fleet at level 37(?)ish seems really weak compared to Tactical's Go Down Fighting which is weak compared to Engineering's Miracle Worker. This is the worst thing about a Science toon, to me. Miracle Worker is that good and Photonic Fleet is that bad. But... after re-reviewing things.. a Science toon in a Science ship, works. I probably wouldn't give my Sci toons any other ship, though. Whereas I can give my Cruisers and Escorts to Tac or Engineer captains and they do very well either way. The reason why a Sci toon works on a Sci ship is that it's team focused vs. player focused and the energy weapons buffs are mostly wasted on me due to I focus on everything But energy weapons in my Science ship.

Anyway....

It's been a lot of fun being able to play so much. I've gotten 3 new ships in the past week and look forward to playing them all. After this 18 hour (or however long...) *SURPRISE!* patch is done.. I've got 2 toons to level.. new ships to fly.. the tradeskilling (or my knack with being useful with it..) has been picking up.. I'm going to start shopping/drooling over a Z-Store Sci ship soon...

fun fun  : )

Hey, btw. That Braydon engine from Of Signs and Portents isn't so bad for a newb. If you've got nothing better, the effect it has of letting you hit the turbo button once in awhile is kinda nice. It's not that useful really (to me, at this point..) but it's nicer having it there than not...


I hope you were able  to  get  the  Lukari  Dorito  ship. It's a very good ship and there are You  Tube  videos  out there for high and low end budget  builds. A guy named Timberwolf   has one for each and his low budget  build does
40-43 k dps with free mission reward drops being used. I believe  he uses the Sol  Defense  set on his build. I'm  in love with my Quantum  Phase set so that's  what I  have  been  using  lately.

I never get the Event ships... It just never works out. : / That ship would have been perfect timing for me I think, too. Oh well.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Power Arc X on February 21, 2017, 07:08:18 PM
You should  really  try to get the event ships. The traits you get can be very useful  and the trait (Protoatter Capacitor)that came with the Lukari  ship is awesome, along with  the console ( Console-Universal-Protomatter Field Projection) it comes with. My engineer is flying  the Lukari  ship as a beamscort  and with Miracle  Worker  added it let's you take a beating  without  getting  a scratch. Combine  that with a Tykes Rift, Gravity  Well II and a Tachyon  Beam that reduces their shields  and increases my ships hull/shield  regeneration.
  Now back to why you should get the event ships. They are T6 ships and can have an awesome  console like  the Kobali  ship did.  But you also get the Admiralty  Ship Card which can let you make several k of dil every day.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on February 21, 2017, 08:50:43 PM
You should  really  try to get the event ships. The traits you get can be very useful  and the trait (Protoatter Capacitor)that came with the Lukari  ship is awesome, along with  the console ( Console-Universal-Protomatter Field Projection) it comes with. My engineer is flying  the Lukari  ship as a beamscort  and with Miracle  Worker  added it let's you take a beating  without  getting  a scratch. Combine  that with a Tykes Rift, Gravity  Well II and a Tachyon  Beam that reduces their shields  and increases my ships hull/shield  regeneration.
  Now back to why you should get the event ships. They are T6 ships and can have an awesome  console like  the Kobali  ship did.  But you also get the Admiralty  Ship Card which can let you make several k of dil every day.

Well, just rub it in why don't you!

hehe

That's where the best stuff comes from is Events. My best console came from some event from when I first started playing. I've watched several nice event T6's float by since I've started playing and not snagged even one. Just never works out. The last Event I tried to get the ship for (don't remember which one..), I ended up needing one more daily and I would have got it. This one, I misunderstood how the weekly reward for Of Signs and Portents worked. I was thinking, for some reason, that we could get those 400 points (whatever they're called..) every week the same time that the new Of Signs and Portents mish rewards were available so I wasn't sweating the Dailies. Didn't figure out I was wrong until it was too late.

There's an Admiralty ship coming up in the next Event I think.

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on February 23, 2017, 04:47:45 PM
*Ding* 50 and my first Borg Advanced with a Sci ship. Too fun.

Man they are hard nerfing Ground. I guess Space will be not so far behind. That's how it started in CO, with me, was the CDR nerfs. Then it progressively got worse to the point where I lost the point. It kinda feels like deja vu. Hopefully this won't happen in STO.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on March 03, 2017, 03:58:53 AM
Holee gee willikers...

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/10407393

It's really great how they did it. I was hesitant at first so I just bought 1 Prize Pack. The thing you buy with the Pack is bound to your character. Buuuut, the good part is how the tokens from the Prize Packs work.

The tokens from the Prize Packs are random (Very Rare, Rare, Uncommon..etc) but you can pick Any rare thing if you get a Rare token - Any Very Rare thing if you get a Very Rare token... And you can give the token to Any of your toons!

So, you can buy a Prize Pack or a bundle of 10 of them or however many with any of your toons, open them for the tokens, and then give the tokens to any toon of yours that you desire, and they can pick out what they want from the store for themselves.

Even if you get a bunch of Uncommons (the lowest) tokens like I did they are still redeemable for worthy things like .." special Phoenix Upgrade Tech (equivalent to multiple Universal Superior Tech Upgrades, with no Dilithium cost to apply!)"

Zen is cheap.. (if you can part with any Dil..).

It's double XP weekend..

I have to admit my fun circuits overloaded, briefly.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on March 03, 2017, 07:47:44 PM
Do humans really get a 30% hull regen bonus..? I was going to level an Andorian until I saw that. I mean, variety is one thing (all my other toons are human), but, a 30% hull regen bonus is kinda hard to pass up.

On the character creation screen I was looking at Andorian innates and all I saw that was special was something that said 'Human' and then it gave the Human bonuses in the description (hull regen bonus..systems offline resist(?)) so I was like "oh, cool. they did away with the humans are the only ones with a decent space Innate thing" and made an Andorian.

Now that I've made him, I see Andorian Ground Only innates. Sooo I thought I'd look up the Human hull regen bonus thinking it must be tiny. 30% sounds fairly significant!

I guess I'm going to have to reroll. I can't pass that up.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on March 04, 2017, 03:30:20 PM
If the description would have been correct for Andorians in the 23c character creation screen I wouldn't have even bothered with an Andorian but it wasn't, and I did.

Apparently Human innate hull regen is something that's been nerfed more than once (and it's nerf season). Also, it's not just human Captains that add to hull regen bonus - human Boffs can, too. I can also tell you that different ship types have different hull regen rates. And there are obviously skills and gear to modify hull regen rate, too.

Beyond that, it gets into guesswork.

My cruiser toon, with minimal effort and partly by accident, has a hull regen rate of over 200% (per minute) in combat.. Or was it my Science ship... it was getting late.. Both my cruiser and science ships have very high hull regen rates compared to my escorts and warbird (I forgot I had a non-human toon already... I try to forget my KDF toon, it seems to have worked.)

Speaking of my Rom KDF toon... I was thinking 'here is another reason to regret rolling him" I mean.. he's obviously not human but not only that... try getting a human bridge crew to board a KDF ship.. but, his warbird with 1 piece of gear that gives him a mere +5 to his hull regen skill pushes his ship right up to > 90% hull regen. That's not 200% like my cruiser or sci ship, but, it IS 20% better than my (T6) Escort that has Three Human Boffs.. Yes, my escort only gets ~ 70% hull regen in combat.

As far as I can tell.... Human Captains And Boffs add (~?) 5% hull regen, each. If they are in an Escort piloted by someone with no hull regen Skills, Gear, or Specs. I came to this conclusion by checking my hull regen in sector space and then checking it again in ... err... combat space. I was in a t6 Escort and a max level Human with no hull regen Skills or Gear or Specs for this testing.

I didn't spend nearly as much time checking the higher regen ships as I did the Escort due to the escort has a max level human pilot with zero gear or skills that give it hull regen, and, he just happens to have 3 human Boffs. Also, my Andorian is an Escort pilot.

In sector space my human piloted escort gets 52.5% hull regen no matter if he has any Boffs in any station or not. In 'combat' (I cannot remember the term..) space with No boffs at all in any station, (just his Humanly self) he gets 57.5% hull regen. In combat space with 3 human boffs at their station he gets 72.5% hull regen. If I remove a human Boff from its station, he has 67.5%... if I remove another he has 62.5%.. (so, no DR..for up to 3 Boffs)

Fwiw.. The Andorian is still in a newb ship and is a newb still in the 23rd century and has no gear or skills that add to hull regen - his hull regen in both Sector and Combat space is 50% per minute.

Anyway.... for what it's worth... I pass this on to anyone it might help. Min/maxers want to beat their head on a wall when they find out this type of info After they max their toon's level. It's a lot softer blow in the newb stage  : )

I still might keep the Andorian. I like his name and I like being Andorian. It feels....ALIEN. in Space. Which has its appeal. Plus, he looks like an EQ dark elf which is nostalgic. Will I make another non-human? Not until they change things so another Fed race has a decent space innate. Oh, that reminds me. I don't really care for ground combat that much, still. But. Andorians do have seemingly very nice Ground innates. So, to calm my inner min/max, I've told it that An`d O`rion (Andrew Belt'o O'rion) can be my 1 go-to Ground guy for Events and whatever.

Also, if you're going to have a toon with any amount of lower overall hull regen, may as well go with the one that has the lowest amount of hull hps due to you're regenning a %. My (t5 atm..) Cruiser already has a comparatively huge regen bonus with little effort and has by far the most HPS of my ships. Had I planned to pilot this type of ship with my latest newb it would be time to reroll for sure. I would not pilot that ship, the way things stand today, with an Andorian. I plan to throw all the regen at it that I conveniently can.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on March 09, 2017, 04:55:51 PM
Just in case this helps anyone...

I was in a Breach event thing a couple of nights ago with my MK IV Braydon mish engine.... crawling to the end... and I was like, hummm, maybe I should finally upgrade this thing.. I checked out Fleet gear, the AE, thought about running the mish again... and then I randomly hit the "upgrade" button on the engine..

Multiple times.. For free.

I now have an upgraded for free MK XII Braydon mish engine.

Didn't know we could do that!
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Arcana on March 16, 2017, 08:33:49 AM
I think most gear upgrades to a level-appropriate mark level up to 12 for free.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on March 17, 2017, 10:52:35 PM
Most mish gear, you mean? I haven't had a chance to put that theory to the test. I'd always assumed that I had to re-run mishes to get gear upgrades so I just went straight to the 'endgame' mk xii gear for the few pieces of gear I have that's mish gear other than the Braydon.

I really don't like re-running the same mish for an updated version of loot (hence the 'endgame' strat, above..), so, I think free mish upgrades is a great idea. I'd probably not have bothered otherwise. It's not *that* great. Although... it does get me through Breach the fastest (from being the slowest with the MK IV..) - tied with my warbird.

P.S.
I think STO has made its place into my Best Games of All Time list. I would rank it right up there with my all time favorites. I hope the nerfs are painless and go away fast but other than that, yay.

I luv this game. It's Star Trek. It's an mmo.. that is Star Trek. The Real Mr. Spock gives me Grats all the time... And it's true to what I think is a tradition with Star Trek games and Star Trek itself - it's very explorey and open endey. I ding all the time without firing a single weapon.

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on March 28, 2017, 05:23:07 PM
Escorts Vs. Megaships in PvE..

Dog those back shields.

Get in back of them, real nice and close, and don't let them shake you off their exhaust stack. Unless you're about to explode into a ball of fiery doom. If that happens, bravely run away and come back to those rear shields.

Yum!

I always end up playing in your ... err face style with glass cannons.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on March 30, 2017, 02:36:58 PM
Season...13. Major? rebalancing. Why did I take a break from the last online game I was playing and that I really like a lot....?

Good thing I'm not superstitious.

*rubs rabbit foot*

Something I thought was worth mentioning and definitely sounds like worth trying in Season 13 is the new PvP via PvE, thing. This is one thing I liked about Guild Wars before I found out they were owned by... some crummy company, I forget who. They had PvP with PvE and in teams. 

The beauty of it is that players still work as a team and are PvE'ing but are scored against other players who are trying to do what they are doing, better.

It's PvP with less in your faceness and I still get to play against the computer. I like playing against computers. Ever since they were called pinball machines. So it's still us against them. Wo/Man vs. macheen. But it's more unpredictable because teams are scored against a more unpredictable opponent.

You get it..



Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on April 02, 2017, 02:30:39 PM
uuuuweeeeeeuuuu!

Artisanal Audio. Too funny...
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on April 09, 2017, 03:05:52 PM
AFK PENALTIED!!! again.. My second time ever. It was in that shuttle queue with the walkers. I guess my MK XIV Rep weapons and Braydon engine zooming me from place to place just weren't doing it...

Puhleeease!

2 hours penalty!

Luckily it's actually not that big of a deal due to.. alts. But still, that was uncalled for.. Atmosphere Assault. That's the name of the queue. Good queue, normally.

It's hard to get too worked up over things when I'm *cha-chinging* 250ish marks every 10ish minutes. That's what this shuttle event is good for. Lots and lots of marks. And learning about Loadouts.. And redoing hotkeys..

The queue is (normally..) fun. I didn't think I would like it at first due to the limitedness of shuttles but that can work to your advantage. You don't really have to be that uber for the queue and you can cherry pick the uberest gear from your main ship(s) to use in the shuttle for maximum domination. *ahem* normally.

I ended up liking and finding a use for this event.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on April 13, 2017, 07:15:40 PM
I keep meaning to ask this and forgetting and I don't want to ask in Zone, for some reason.

I got an ... APU? cruiser from a rare reward pack. It turned out to be a t5u.. T5u's can be kinda very nice after being upgraded. Most rare Reward Pack ships are just t5's..

Are there any other t5u rare reward pack ships that anyone knows of...? Any that are Science or Escortcarrier flavor?

I'm leveling my 5th lvl 60 btw (he's 57 atm?).. That makes 2 Engineers, 2 Tacticals, 1 Science - 2 Escorts, 1 Warbird, 1 Cruiser, 1 Science ship. 1 Andorian, 1 Rom, 3 Hull Bonu....errr Humans.

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on May 12, 2017, 02:37:45 PM
No one complained about Season 13. Go us. Or me, at least. I'm still playing!

They've already fixed the stuff I would have complained about. It's amazing that the new Queue interface went live as it was. It makes me wonder if the players on Tribble actually liked it enough to say 'oh yeah, lets push this baby live!'. If so... eeeks. ha  : )

One reason I'm happy I didn't complain (about the obvious) is that they've really turned around on their patch sizes..! The game updates aren't any smaller but the patches sure are. It really makes a difference not losing 1.5 - 4 days of playtime every week on Patch Day...

Thank you S T O...

P.S.

My recently pimped out Iconian style Pilot Escort ~

(https://app.box.com/shared/static/sgcf9sc3cjv4c5khon7xss8ee0efb3p8.jpg)
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Tahquitz on May 14, 2017, 06:10:58 PM
Nice ride.  :)
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on May 18, 2017, 11:23:16 PM
Nice ride.  :)

Tyvm I'm happy with everything about this ship. The console and abilities fit my Escort playstyle right out of the box. I didn't even know I'd get visuals (that are disable-able) with the Iconian Rep set. I like the glowy deflector - it's kinda like getting an aura in Champions Online. Kicks things up a notch. The new paintjob works just fine, too.

So, there's another ship sale up.. I regretted not getting the Pilot Escort bundle instead of just a single ship, last time. But now that I look at that bundle again it doesn't solve the worst regret I had - my Rom couldn't fly my new ship. And the cross-faction bundles don't impress me on first glance either.

If there's a bundle that has really good consoles that work well together then I can see getting a bundle. The multi-mission Science ships looked like they could have more than one console that I'd use on the same ship, for example. Otherwise, getting a single ship isn't sooo bad. What do you really lose? Consoles, pretty much. I dunno.. I already have pretty decent consoles. There has to be 2 or more pretty good consoles that I'd actually use to justify buying a bundle, to me, at this point anyway.

Anyway..... I've got exactly enough Zen saved up for a bundle or 2 ships while they're on sale.. Any suggestions for a Science ship? Those multi-mission ones looked pretty decent and that bundle did look tempting. I'd like to have maximum turn rate and.. a bonus to auxiliary? *shrug* It's a Science ship  : ) Maximum shield modifier and/or tons of hps is always nice.

Consoles is what seems to set Science ships apart more than anything, except maybe turn rate, for me so far. Oh, and, the Number of consoles... 11 plx..
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on May 21, 2017, 12:18:19 AM
Buying ships ......... could be a more pleasurable experience. I mean, buying a new ship is about the biggest deal in the game and it is kinda a pain in the butt.

First of all they aren't organized very well and their descriptions could be more consistent and...descriptive. Actually, most complaints that come after that one stem from that one.

Did you know that the T6 ships that only have 10 consoles can be upgraded to Fleet versions that have 11 consoles? I didn't. Until I found out in a conversation about buying ships just minutes ago.

Ugh.. ships..

I nearly found the perfect bundle for what I'm looking for right now, and, it seems kinda unique and extra good in it's own way, so, it seems worth mentioning here. The 31st century ship bundle. Not only does it have a Sci ship, a Cruiser, And an Escort, (T6 of course..) that are all good ships and all have 11 consoles right out of the box - it's cross-faction! What else could you want? The only thing that makes this bundle not perfect in my situation is that I was told by someone who has it that the Raider (it's an Escort with cloak) won't take a Singularity Core. Which kinda takes the fun outta playing a Rom, to me. And is what ruined the perfectness. I still might get this bundle... It *would* give the 3 guys I want to give ships to, ships... I just have to give up my Warbird.

BUT... I don't want to give up a Warbird for a cloaking Escort, and, my Cruiser guy already has a pretty decent t5u...  So if I keep my old Warbird then I may as well just not get a Cruiser and get a good Warbird and Sci ship that are Not bundled..

*sigh*

(ha : )

The search continues.. I'm probably going to sleep on it one last time.. I might just pass on this sale. I'm playing my Escort all the time anyway and am perfectly happy with the one I have.

If you have trouble picking a 'perfect' ship or bundle of ships, it's not just you.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on May 21, 2017, 05:37:01 PM
My vote for Best Value has to go to that 31st Century bundle.. Just about whatever toon you can make can get a good T6 out of this bundle and it's only 4800 Zen when on sale.

All the other bundles either don't have ships for all playstyles (sci/cruiser/escort) or they aren't cross faction - except for the bigger version of the 31st century bundle that costs twice as much.

What they need, now, is a WARBIRD version of this bundle. sci/cruiser/Warbird.

And a version for whatever Klingons get..

Not having a Warbird is the negative in this bundle for me because my Rom loses his Singularity Core. My Escort captains gain a ship with battle cloak, though.. The Cruiser and Sci ships in this bundle are as effective/mean/cool/nice as any other as far as I can tell.

No single bundle has everything but this is (the most?) one of the more solid bundles in the game for T6's when you're just starting out buying ships, and, it's not at a megabundle price. You just have to give up your Singularities..
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on May 23, 2017, 02:25:41 AM
Buying ships is complicated business! I still don't understand it all.

First of all, there's more than 1 way to get a T6..

You can get a Zen T6 ship. Ships you buy with Zen in the Z-store. The Zen ships are the primo ships. They give you a Starship Trait and Console (many times, at least one or the other is good and good Starship Traits and Consoles are hard to come by) and can be used by all the toons on your account that are able to use the type of ship you bought. Zen ships are the Only ships that are Bind to (characters of the correct faction, if applicable, on your..) Account - not Bind to Character. What is still confusing to me is that apparently some Zen T6 ships ALSO require that you essentially buy the FLEET T6 version of the ship ON TOP of the Zen purchase, if, you want the 11th console and I dunno what else.

You can get a Fleet T6.. Buy them with Fleet Marks and EC or Zen. It's EC Or Zen because you have to buy Fleet Modules - Fleet Modules cost either Zen (400?) or EC (currently < 20 Million) and you need 5 if buying a Fleet T6. So, you can currently buy any Fleet T6 for under 100 million EC and some Fleet Marks.  Fleet T6's are the same ships you see in the Zen store. Thing is, they are Bind to Character, and, they have no Starship Trait or Console like the Zen Store version does.

Also, not all Zen T6 ships have Fleet T6 versions

And then there are the T6's you can buy from the Exchange. These are also Bind to Character and currently cost ~ 120 million+ EC for Cruisers/Dreads and ~ 220 million+ for everything else. They are about on par with Zen ships in that they have everything a Zen store T6 would have. Good stats, 11 consoles, Starship Trait, and a console. But, they are Bind to Character. And saving 220 million+ EC takes awhile..

I ended up with the Z-Store 31st Century Multi-Mission sci ship and the Tactical Pilot Warbird on this sale.. I only have 1 toon that can fly a Warbird, and, I think I actually like the Fleet Warbird that has enhanced battle cloak better or at least as well(buyer's remorse), but, oh well.. The Warbird version of the very nice Fed Pilot Escort can't speed boost while cloaked! And it loses that nice shield bonus the Fed version has  : /. They kinda gimped it. The Sci ship was the ship I thought would just be 'OK' but it turned out to be the ship I was really glad I got.

Another nice thing about that 31st century bundle, btw.. ALL your toons can have allllll the ships as (nice t6) Admiralty ships.. no matter what faction they are. I only ended up getting the Sci ship out of the bundle but really, it was the only standout to me. I'm glad it turns and looks better (after a paintjob) than I thought it would. So far, I couldn't be happier with it.


Ships!




Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on May 23, 2017, 08:05:56 AM
Buying ships is complicated business! I still don't understand it all.

First of all, there's more than 1 way to get a T6..

You can get a Zen T6 ship. Ships you buy with Zen in the Z-store. The Zen ships are the primo ships. They give you a Starship Trait and Console (many times, at least one or the other is good and good Starship Traits and Consoles are hard to come by) and can be used by all the toons on your account that are able to use the type of ship you bought. Zen ships are the Only ships that are Bind to (characters of the correct faction, if applicable, on your..) Account - not Bind to Character. What is still confusing to me is that apparently some Zen T6 ships ALSO require that you essentially buy the FLEET T6 version of the ship ON TOP of the Zen purchase, if, you want the 11th console and I dunno what else.

You can get a Fleet T6.. Buy them with Fleet Marks and EC or Zen. It's EC Or Zen because you have to buy Fleet Modules - Fleet Modules cost either Zen (400?) or EC (currently < 20 Million) and you need 5 if buying a Fleet T6. So, you can currently buy any Fleet T6 for under 100 million EC and some Fleet Marks.  Fleet T6's are the same ships you see in the Zen store. Thing is, they are Bind to Character, and, they have no Starship Trait or Console like the Zen Store version does.

Also, not all Zen T6 ships have Fleet T6 versions

And then there are the T6's you can buy from the Exchange. These are also Bind to Character and currently cost ~ 120 million+ EC for Cruisers/Dreads and ~ 220 million+ for everything else. They are about on par with Zen ships in that they have everything a Zen store T6 would have. Good stats, 11 consoles, Starship Trait, and a console. But, they are Bind to Character. And saving 220 million+ EC takes awhile..

I ended up with the Z-Store 31st Century Multi-Mission sci ship and the Tactical Pilot Warbird on this sale.. I only have 1 toon that can fly a Warbird, and, I think I actually like the Fleet Warbird that has enhanced battle cloak better or at least as well(buyer's remorse), but, oh well.. The Warbird version of the very nice Fed Pilot Escort can't speed boost while cloaked! And it loses that nice shield bonus the Fed version has  : /. They kinda gimped it. The Sci ship was the ship I thought would just be 'OK' but it turned out to be the ship I was really glad I got.

Another nice thing about that 31st century bundle, btw.. ALL your toons can have allllll the ships as (nice t6) Admiralty ships.. no matter what faction they are. I only ended up getting the Sci ship out of the bundle but really, it was the only standout to me. I'm glad it turns and looks better (after a paintjob) than I thought it would. So far, I couldn't be happier with it.


Ships!
A slight correction, the z-store ships used to be the primo go to ships, then they decided that the lockbox ships where not powerful enough. Now it is the lockbox ships that have become overpowered, and all you have to do is look at the t6 Constitution for the prime example.
There is no pancake way a 23rd century should be better then a 25, 26, 31st century.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on May 23, 2017, 01:52:40 PM
The special thing about z-store ships that no other has is they are bind to account. All other ships in the game are bind to character. There may be lockbox ships that are more OP than the OP Z-store ships but they don't have anything that z-store ships don't have. Both lockbox and Z-store ships are the only ships in the game to come with starship traits and a (hopefully) uber console but only z-store ships are bind to account.

Lockbox ships are also the most expensive thing in the game, by a lonnnnngshot, huh?

Having said that, I still seriously considered that Na-kuhl sci ship (for 300ish million EC...). It's like... 300 millllllion EC per Toon or 2.4k zen per Account... hmmmmm... So I got the Temporal Multi-Mission (that I'm Very happy with!) and all my toons got a great Admiralty ship out of the deal.

The lockbox ships aren't *always* better, either! Sometimes they suck. Like some Zen & Fleet t6's do.

Buying ships isn't an easy process for beginners unless buying solely by looks and on an unlimited budget.




Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on May 25, 2017, 09:24:05 PM
T5U's! T5 Upgrade ships.

Can't talk about T6's without at least mentioning T5U's. Another topic I know just enough about to know a little.

Not all ships can be a T5U. I'm guessing that any Zen T5 or Fleet T5 can be upgraded to T5U. I've only bought one T5 from the Exchange out of a half dozen or so (my Admiralty phase) that turned out to be upgradable to T5U.

The bad thing about T5U's is that they only have 10, not 11, consoles. Other than that they are pretty close to Fleet T6's. When I upgraded my T5 from the Exchange it got extra hps and all the Cruiser Masteries, like a Fleet T6 - just no Starship Trait, like a Fleet T6.

I don't know what's the best ship to upgrade to T5U or if it's even worth it. For < 20 million EC, when I was using all newb ships still (the ones you get as a reward for leveling) I thought my T5U was semi-awesome. Now.... hmmm.. Yeah, I need to at least get a Fleet T6.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on May 29, 2017, 02:25:15 PM
Mirror Universe....

I just minutes ago finally had the revelation of how easy and .... fun, even, this event can be. Man, the amount of times I flubbed my way through this thing! A lot of people do and even worse than I did.

All you have to do, if you don't know already... is hover around one of those power transfer stations and make sure it Stays On. When it goes off, turn it back on again.

This will make your progress bar progress to the end boss fight nicely.

If you can close rifts that open near the station you're protecting (those floating dish things that have a beam shooting towards the station when they're on) then that's all the better. Especially if that rift is Real close to the station because it will make it that much harder for you to keep that station powered up with a rift that's flowing ships out of it nearby.

If you get overwhelmed, try and find someone else that knows what they're doing and go help them if no one shows up to help you. I ran a few queue's after learning The Secret (that is detailed in the Intro..) and did have a prob holding a station, once, but got lucky and someone showed up to help.

I actually look forward to playing this later, now!

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on May 31, 2017, 06:36:03 PM
I've been spending a lot of time with builds/new ships lately.

Once your toon is 60 and has all its innates, traits, Reps maxed, and, is sitting in a T6 with at least Fleet level gear, it's kinda endgame time. The time where you look at all you've got and can get and try to find the pattern that fits best for what you want to try and do.

For me the build bug started out with getting new T6's for everyone that didn't have one already (3toons/5). Then there was the ISP data limits removal. Then I noticed an.... anomaly. I had 1 ship with just far out regen for both Hull and Shield, and, oh joy, it already had abilities (Doff powers + ship Masteries) that boost both of these things. So I was like "how far can I take this..?". And that's when the loss in combat (actual Play) time started. A little tweak here, little tweak there. What if I do this..

Now if I could remove some shadow and mystery from Captain Skills.. Like, does EPS flow affect Exotic damage..? Is +2 to all subsystems power or increased Turn rate or Shield pen for a shield Drain build really worth spending points on? Lemme grab my list, it's way longer than that..

There is more endgame to STO shipbuilding than I had originally thought. It's about Captain Innates... & Traits, Consoles(gear), Ships(gear), Reputation (Traits/gear), Boff Innates.., Boff power selection and Boff Ship seating (who can sit where and how many/what powers can they use) and adding Specializations like Temporal or Pilot to Boffs when possible/desireable, and... consumables and... accolades(is this what they call them?)... and... stuff I'm not thinking about or don't know about right now, and..... it's pretty cool.

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on June 01, 2017, 08:37:45 PM
If you ever agonized over your Skill choices.. It may make you feel better to know that you have a LOT of room for error. How much? Well, hmm.. I'm managing to get agro in PVE queues with a blank skill list. As in, I wiped out all my old skills with a retcon and chose no new ones, yet.

This isn't saying Skill tree choices don't matter. Just saying, don't agonize too much..

I decided to go this route due to I'm deciding what gear and Traits I want to use, first. Then I plan to use the Skill choices to round that out. I didn't think this approach would work but I'm running Mirror Universe queue's, no problemo. And some Advanced queues for components. No Skill choices. Blank slate.

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on June 07, 2017, 05:51:51 PM
Sooooo... I already have a Sci ship I'm pretty happy with and haven't even fully broken in, but... the Summer Event ship does look nice. Fat hull, nice mastery package, nice console, And nice trait. +10 to Aux and Shields.  I dunno about the color choices in the screenie but its looks are decent enough. Basically all good. Could have a smidge better turn rate but there's always consoles and traits and skills for that.

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/10525893

It's not entirely free... Playing Is required..

I can never acquire all the tokens needed by the end of these Events for one reason or another, but, on the good side - only one toon has to unlock the ship and all toons on the account get to use it. Not that I want to trade for the one that I just got... but to me it looks as good as about any Sci ship in the game. Which are, about the best ships in the game.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on June 08, 2017, 06:08:07 PM
With today's patch they've not only successfully repaired the new Season 13 PvE queue layout so that .. it's as good as the old one .. they even added some functionality. Once again I can survey all the Advanced queues at a glance and now even filter out Normals if I wanted to.

I can protect/lock items in my inventory that I want to Stay in my inventory, too. So I don't lose them when vendoring or whatever. This is a good feature. Not played around with it much yet but I like the idea. Who hasn't wanted to lock particular items before so they didn't have to even think about them accidently poofing when emptying out bags at a vendor or whatever.

Anyway, it's good to see whoever's in charge of the interface is back from vacation...hehe.

I think I would make a good game interface guy. I can usually look at an interface for a game I'm familiar with and tell you right off what I would change about it to make it more useful. They could turn me loose on the Auction houses for CO (especially) and STO. And half or more of the player population, too, probably.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on June 09, 2017, 06:00:37 PM
Summer Event..

Here's a neat tip. If you put a Risa tribble together with Risa food for long enough they're supposed to make a tribble that gives you + 5 airspeed for the race I can't remember the name of right now that gives the vouchers you need once a day to complete the Summer Event.

Also, Favor is purchasable in the Exchange if you want it but don't want to farm it. I bought 10 million EC worth and am not even sure what I'm going to do with it I just knew I didn't want to farm it.

And, if you didn't know already, if you want the Event ship, all you have to do is run the race I can't remember the name of right now once daily until you've got enough Vouchers.

Before you do that.. you have to have (1) (purchasable) Favor to turn into the Rep system that will then ask you for 1000 Vouchers to complete the Summer event.


Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on June 10, 2017, 08:54:50 PM
Holy geez how easy is it to win this thing (The Summer Event T6 ship).. Even I might manage to complete a T6 awarding event this time.

For some reason I thought you had to run the Powerboard race every day (that only runs once every 30 minutesish, and, that I ALWAYS get disqualified from.. Still.. Powerboards *are* fun)..

Anyway, all you really have to do is talk to the Event coordinator on Risa and do "Flying High" 25 times in the next month and 10 days, turn in the Vouchers you get to the Rep system, collect your ship.

"Flying High" can only be ran once every day (20 hours) and it's in the Cooldown List that they put back in the PvE queue. You can't hardly flub it, it's halfway entertaining, and it doesn't take long to complete. There's lots of arrows showing which direction to go and you can go completely off course and still pick back up and continue on to the Finish. Err.. I tested that out for everyone just to make sure.

I also have no idea why I thought this was a Sci ship.. It's a Cruiser. Which accounts for the 6.5 turn rate and 65k hps.. I think I saw the +10 to aux, and, also, saw Subsystem Targeting and read Sensor Analysis, and, that just read as a Sci ship. Oops. This ship has No secondary deflector.

I just happen to be in the market for a t6 Cruiser... lol. Glad someone posted this!
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on June 16, 2017, 12:14:48 AM
On your marks, for Marks!

There is a plethora of farming available in STO. Luckily for us they have an Event or Sale for about anything you'd want to farm and if you take advantage of the ones that award what you want when they roll around you can save a lot of time and coin.

Right now, it's Marks farming timesaving time. No waiting for the queue that gives the marks you want to pop.. and when it's over, which doesn't take so long, you get triple or so the reward. I also happen to enjoy Atmosphere Assault as one of my favorite queues and that queue is normally lit up like a pinball macheen all throughout this event.

I like shuttles, too! The first time I ran this 'Event' I was like, wha.... why? But I've come to appreciate it. First of all, don't look at it like 'I can't use all my toys' - look at it like 'I get to use only my Best toys'. And then, remember how easy the queues are to complete.. with your best toys. Second... All your toons are FAST! No slow ships.. And you get to swoop down on huge Walkers performing a planetary assault - the only other goal, being, - Kill All. It's pretty straightforward and satisfying, and, rewarding.

The only thing I don't like about this Event is redoing hotkeys! Ugh this is annoying.. I've saved all New and Up to Date Loadouts for each toon... We'll see what mess I have when the event's over and I switch everyone back to their normal ships. Hopefully none.. It's a small gripe but worth mentioning what a pain in the butt this can be. Save your Loadouts..
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on June 21, 2017, 10:26:30 PM
The Ferengi finally show up to illustrate how farming is done:
https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/10542693

An overdue but perfectly sensible update.

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on June 22, 2017, 11:57:43 AM
For a moment, I was excited, since I have a Ferengi captain and I like the storyline idea of having him help out the Ferengi Trade Alliance.

Then I remembered the Ferengi captain is on my PC account, which I can no longer play due to removal of the Mac client. :(
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on June 22, 2017, 06:15:36 PM
For a moment, I was excited, since I have a Ferengi captain and I like the storyline idea of having him help out the Ferengi Trade Alliance.

Then I remembered the Ferengi captain is on my PC account, which I can no longer play due to removal of the Mac client. :(

I'm happy to at least have brought a Moment of excitement!

If it makes you feel better, my first/main Should have been Ferengi. He has outfitted more newbs than.. most. Too bad we can't retcon Races. Nobody usually lets you do this, though, so, no surprise. And besides, Ferengi don't get an innate Space bonus which offends my min/maxiness. I already let an Andorian Fleet Admiral slip through! On the premise that he is my Ground guy. But then I found out I don't need a Ground guy..

Anyway!

More news that gave Me a moment of excitement...
https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/10546163

Maybe next year  : /

Ice still too thin here this year.

/em skateaway
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on June 23, 2017, 05:42:39 PM
Not to be link spammy.... but, this is another kinda cool new addition to the game.

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/10549024

Something I've always liked about STO is that it's open ended. Like a Good space game. I can spend an entire play day doing something completely different than last time I played and both things I did most likely gave some kind of useful reward. I also like how they have Events and Sales for the most sought after stuff (everything?) to Drastically cut down on farming time/cost to get the things I want. And, I like how they encourage diversity with different weapons & gear. The above, kinda expands on that. Good stuff.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on June 24, 2017, 09:51:38 AM
Not to be link spammy.... but, this is another kinda cool new addition to the game.

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/10549024

Something I've always liked about STO is that it's open ended. Like a Good space game. I can spend an entire play day doing something completely different than last time I played and both things I did most likely gave some kind of useful reward. I also like how they have Events and Sales for the most sought after stuff (everything?) to Drastically cut down on farming time/cost to get the things I want. And, I like how they encourage diversity with different weapons & gear. The above, kinda expands on that. Good stuff.
na, I will wait for the next hot mess of a recruitment drive. The delta recruit was great. The lat drive was nothing but a hot mess.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on June 24, 2017, 01:12:31 PM
na, I will wait for the next hot mess of a recruitment drive. The delta recruit was great. The lat drive was nothing but a hot mess.

Huh?
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on June 26, 2017, 03:42:28 PM
Does anyone know of a good log parser? Preferably one that's being updated? I was in a team last night with my rape the map build and they parsed me at 17k dps.. Dead last in the team. I'm like... No... Freakin'... Way!

I doubt log files will pick up all data from all players if they're out of range. I'm guessing this is what happened. We were clearing the map so fast (Infected: The Conduit - Advanced) that I can't imagine there were two people with such low dps and there was another player with a score just barely higher than mine. Who I am guessing was out of range, too.

There are two main targets in that queue - on opposite sides of the map... I bet me and the other low scoring player were just out of range of the person who doesn't know how to use their parser  : p

If I can ever lay down triple the amount of dps (as the High Score log poster was, supposedly) I was laying down in that queue I won't even need a team much less care what their dps is..

/mini-rant: off

: )

Anyway, links plx.

~~~~~

Just an update... I found what seems to be a good parser and I seem to know how to use it and.. my dps is not nearly as amazing as I thought. I mention this because I thought my dps was pretty good in STO. After a lot of effort.. And I do get in the top 2 a lot. But. Man, some people are just way out there compared to me. I'm talking, 1 of them is like 3 of me. And, if iirc.., I saw some posts of people's dps that is 3x what the people that are 3x of me is.

Apparently the above queue is famous for parsing deeps. I thought I was OK at laying them down but I bow to the experts and will kindly eat my own words, above. As soon as I finish removing my foot from my mouth.

That's pretty amazing toonbuilding - I don't care How they did it... Grats to those ppl.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on June 27, 2017, 07:56:46 PM
I think I haven't ran this before, yet...

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/10548964
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: cmgangrel on June 28, 2017, 07:06:37 PM
Does anyone know of a good log parser? Preferably one that's being updated? I was in a team last night with my rape the map build and they parsed me at 17k dps.. Dead last in the team. I'm like... No... Freakin'... Way!

I doubt log files will pick up all data from all players if they're out of range. I'm guessing this is what happened. We were clearing the map so fast (Infected: The Conduit - Advanced) that I can't imagine there were two people with such low dps and there was another player with a score just barely higher than mine. Who I am guessing was out of range, too.

There are two main targets in that queue - on opposite sides of the map... I bet me and the other low scoring player were just out of range of the person who doesn't know how to use their parser  : p

If I can ever lay down triple the amount of dps (as the High Score log poster was, supposedly) I was laying down in that queue I won't even need a team much less care what their dps is..

/mini-rant: off

: )

Anyway, links plx.

~~~~~

Just an update... I found what seems to be a good parser and I seem to know how to use it and.. my dps is not nearly as amazing as I thought. I mention this because I thought my dps was pretty good in STO. After a lot of effort.. And I do get in the top 2 a lot. But. Man, some people are just way out there compared to me. I'm talking, 1 of them is like 3 of me. And, if iirc.., I saw some posts of people's dps that is 3x what the people that are 3x of me is.

Apparently the above queue is famous for parsing deeps. I thought I was OK at laying them down but I bow to the experts and will kindly eat my own words, above. As soon as I finish removing my foot from my mouth.

That's pretty amazing toonbuilding - I don't care How they did it... Grats to those ppl.

Kinda like those who threw together builds (or badly planned/optimised) and those who used MIDS to the fullest. The difference in performance levels was amazing even in CoX
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on June 28, 2017, 08:22:09 PM
Kinda like those who threw together builds (or badly planned/optimised) and those who used MIDS to the fullest. The difference in performance levels was amazing even in CoX

Point taken. I don't didn't consider *myself* a person with a thrown together build that was badly planned or optimized! I put a lot of thought and time and as good as gear as I know of (I still have a shopping list but it's small) into my builds that I am nonstop optimizing.

Something Else that had me in disbelief at the beginning is that I very often have agro in queue's and I usually hold on to it and I'm in DPS mode. I'm not trying to get agro but I do which generally means I'm either using an agro magnet power or laying down the most dps. I haven't parsed that many fights yet but I seem to normally score in the top 2 which backs up my theory that in the average team my DPS is ... where it should be for me to be happy. So... I've kinda been coasting, ya know? I figured I won the game already.

Nuuupe.

Oddly, I'm still happy with my builds even after the rude awakening! That is very odd, for me. I'm not nearly as motivated to achieve the level I saw in that parse as I was in CoH when a regen/claws Scrapper inspired me to finally become a good melee player in an MMO and enjoy it so much I didn't hardly want to play anything else, and, that inspired me to tune my builds until I was running PL teams in RWZ and Architect (+4/x8 ofc) and farming places like Architect and Cimerora. You know! Like people who know how to use beloved MIDS, did.

STO: Where finally achieving just above average even after a lot of effort and expense, is not so bad.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on June 29, 2017, 03:19:53 AM
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: cmgangrel on June 30, 2017, 02:31:39 AM
Point taken. I don't didn't consider *myself* a person with a thrown together build that was badly planned or optimized! I put a lot of thought and time and as good as gear as I know of (I still have a shopping list but it's small) into my builds that I am nonstop optimizing.

Something Else that had me in disbelief at the beginning is that I very often have agro in queue's and I usually hold on to it and I'm in DPS mode. I'm not trying to get agro but I do which generally means I'm either using an agro magnet power or laying down the most dps. I haven't parsed that many fights yet but I seem to normally score in the top 2 which backs up my theory that in the average team my DPS is ... where it should be for me to be happy. So... I've kinda been coasting, ya know? I figured I won the game already.

All depends on how Aggro skills work in STO. CoX had punchvoke/gauntlet for *everything* a tanker/brute did (IIRC, never played them so just purely going off memory) (even if it dealt no damage)

Quote
Oddly, I'm still happy with my builds even after the rude awakening! That is very odd, for me. I'm not nearly as motivated to achieve the level I saw in that parse as I was in CoH when a regen/claws Scrapper inspired me to finally become a good melee player in an MMO and enjoy it so much I didn't hardly want to play anything else, and, that inspired me to tune my builds until I was running PL teams in RWZ and Architect (+4/x8 ofc) and farming places like Architect and Cimerora. You know! Like people who know how to use beloved MIDS, did.

STO: Where finally achieving just above average even after a lot of effort and expense, is not so bad.

That is not strange in the slightest to be honest. I personally have spent more time optimising ship fits in Elite Dangerous/Eve Online than I did building characters in MIDS (and I played CoX for a few years longer).

In CoX, what I had was "good enough", to get "much better" involved a complete respec and THEN several billion in inf costs....
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on June 30, 2017, 02:17:05 PM
That is not strange in the slightest to be honest.

It is, for me! I have to win, the game.

(https://app.box.com/shared/static/9i3yw3omckzqogiughbgwdtkgsf3toqx.jpg)

Jooc was slightly mainier than Senge but I think I have no Jooc screenies anymore. I only have this one of Senge due to I put it online and posted it on the CO forum before my hard drive filled with more ancient screenies than that that I have dragged around from machine to machine over the years, died. Sad day.

One thing about STO in this regard (the race to be uber) is that I don't even know what the best gear is. I've got the new Polaron stuff, Rom plasma, and AP of course. None of them really stand out from each other except that Plasma doesn't seem to be the quick kill weapon of choice but it sure can be expensive. I mean, there's nothing in the game that I look at and say "ohhhh I gotta have that". Which appears to be a major goal for them - feel free to pat yourselves on the back, STO..

Now that I'm actively parsing I'm getting the bug to overachieve more, a little. It's not the driving desire like I normally always have in MMO's, though. I'm not sure what being a Star in STO even gets you. Maybe that's been part of my lack of motivation to overachieve, too. I rarely see (that I notice) the same players in queues so there's no one to try to impress because they won't remember me anyway. STO also has Tons of Distractions that have nothing to do with fighting... *click* *click* *click* *shuffles STO windows like a double deck of cards*

I mean, putting together a toon like Senge is motivated almost purely by profit and the ability to show off.

I haven't felt the need to show off in STO and I'm already profiting. I mean, there's ~ 500 million EC's in the bank and climbing daily, all the rep/mish gear I want...  I can get any available ship in the game with a little patience. I can run any Advanced queue I want and often get agro up to and including the Boss fights. And I'm only putting out like half the deeps of the top 1% - and like 1/3rd of the Elite. Still been happy. So odd. For me!
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Tahquitz on July 01, 2017, 08:18:55 PM
I know this may be a facepalm to the better informed players of STO, as I'm at best an armchair captain and not a min-maxer, but last night I had a revelation of sorts...

My Risian Corvette isn't anything that turns heads.  Yes, there's better ships that are just as maneuverable if not more so (Pilot Escorts).  Yes, there are Tier 6 ships with slightly better stats and a Ship Ability unlock that is more worth a Level 60 Captain's time.  But I like it.  I earned it, it's kind of cool looking, and different than the "two warp sticks and a pizza cutter" tradition.

Then last night, I saw a curious blank in my ship's slotting.  "Heavy Weapons".

Now, it's not what I first thought.  They made a slot to stick a Heavy Dual Cannon inside of... neat!  And wrong.  The Heavy Weapons slot is in the rear (Aft) arc, so no cannons will mount there as they are all Ship Fore Weapons.  So I hit the STO Wiki.

Back in March, the developers wanted to add capability to Escorts as most of the damage/DPS play have left the class in favor of Science and other ship types that blur the line from Science to Escort.  The Heavy Weapon slot first made it in for the three escorts that accompanied the change, but now, it's in a variety of Escorts.  The official type:

Quote
"Tier 5, Tier 5-U and Tier 6 Raiders and all Tier 5, Tier 5-U and Tier 6 starships with a Tactical Commander seat, 7 weapons, and 1 or fewer Hangar Bays will receive a Heavy Weapons Slot and access to a basic upgradeable Heavy Weapon."

What's more?  Heavy weapons are not affected by ship firing modes.  This comes as a downer, as certain abilities won't faze the weapon or increase it's output.  And the weapon itself is as bad on Weapon Energy drain as you might expect, at -10.

But the upside?  First, if you can't get a Heavy Weapon from the ship promotions (last one was tied to the R&D promo in June: the Smuggler's Escort) you can get a free one to give it a spin.  Check this little guy out. (http://sto.gamepedia.com/Heavy_Escort_Hyperexcited_Ion_Stream_Projector)  It delivers 1,200 damage per shot at Mark XII that fires once every 5 seconds if you use autofire... and with the Ultimate Upgrades from the Key Ring promotion right now, that's kicked up to 1,600 damage at Mark XIV.  AND it fires in 360 degrees.  Nice for that squirrelly ship that likes to change shield facings exposed to you every few seconds.

So, for a boss-type ship, it's not an advantage, as those shield facings are much higher in damage resistance.  But with the Heavy Weapon equipped, you can cut through groups of smaller ships like a hot knife through butter.  It doesn't do spread targeting like the Torpedo or Cannon volley abilities, but it does fire in a straight line.  You can hit the ship, and its friend right behind it.

If you have an escort, give it a spin.  Your Borg and Tholian Red Alerts alone will be much faster with it, in any case.

(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4281/35487276882_ea70fba721_o.jpg)

Fun on a bun.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 02, 2017, 03:55:56 AM
I claimed the freebie awhile back when they added the heavy weapons slot. I saw someone using it before then and was thinking, man, I wish I had one of those.. and then someone in Zone said how to claim one. Which I immediately did.

It's nice to have another turret/Omni (on a kinda long recharge) that's even a cone cylinder, but, what I've always wondered is how efficient they are energy use wise. I stopped using mine for awhile because of that but I'm using it again now due to.. how much can 10 (?) energy every 5 seconds really hurt. Still wonder, though.

... and with the Ultimate Upgrades from the Key Ring promotion right now

those things look yum.

I have two fleet mates/leaders that have like Eeeeeverything at mk xiv and gold. I showed one a K-13 console he hadn't seen before and in like 2 minutes he was posting a mk xiv/epic version. If they weren't such nice players I'd insert a dirty word at this point, like, 'bastards'...  : )
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 02, 2017, 03:52:35 PM
Looked at my hyperexcited cannon again.. It looks like it's plenty efficient enough to have slotted and if mobs are like me, they have less Electrical resistance than they do the normal forms of energy weapon damage. So it should be a good bang for the buck. I've just always wondered if the added energy cost of a weapon slot that didn't exist when I put together my build would throw off my energy use when weapons cycle. At 9.1 energy use (with redux) every 4 seconds... probably not.

Those numbers posted will vary, by the way. I show 2.2k+ dmg with mk xiv ultra rare in non-sector space.  I also show a 4 second recharge, not 5.

Anyway! Just to muddy the topic... Shows you what I know about power management. Not much - I just try and keep weapons redlined at 125. That was a surprise how they magically added that slot and dumped a free weapon in the ... errr D-Store? for us to claim
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Tahquitz on July 03, 2017, 01:14:14 AM
To be honest, I made eyeball guesses from what I was seeing on mine.  On a proper build with increased damage output, 2K is probably more likely. 

And in most Borg/Tholian Queues, I've been lucky to find groups that have 2-3 decent hitters.  I would usually be the slouch who deals damage in the 100's for every hit when others were dropping 1,000s per hit, with my Cluster Torpedoes getting the occasional and lucky 10K hit when shields were down.  Without a good offensive team, it's easy to see a Red Alert fail.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on July 03, 2017, 01:33:07 PM
I think I got STO working again without shutting the TV down! ... still not sure what I'm doing, though. :D

I can't figure out for the life of me how to get a T6 ship, aside from actually giving them real money.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 03, 2017, 01:41:08 PM
I'm curious what the attraction is to Red Alerts? They're probably the busiest queues but don't they give the smallest reward? I think they offer any mark you want - that's probably it, huh? They end fairly fast, too.

I tell you what. If most players are like I was before using a parser - they have no idea who is putting out more dps than anyone else. Another thing: to me, when I was a newb in STO, I was happy just to have my ship facing the right direction...lol Still am, sometimes!

I got some 80k parses last night. 80k...

My Rom plasma build is mostly torps. It's just fun and I don't plan on changing it much. It's probably my lowest dps build, by far, presently. I had no idea before the parses. And now that I know... it's still fun and I don't plan on changing it much. But I will ofc quintuple its dps over time (the years?) if I can.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 03, 2017, 01:49:44 PM
I think I got STO working again without shutting the TV down! ... still not sure what I'm doing, though. :D

I can't figure out for the life of me how to get a T6 ship, aside from actually giving them real money.

I don't know how rich you are in EC's but some Fleet T6's are pretty good for the money. Otherwise, just use the plethora of farming tools available to you in STO for farming Dil and save save save/wait for a sale. Orrrrrrr get an Event ship like I'm about to finally do in .. 4 days? It honestly is not that hard to get a T6 if you put your mind to it and just play the game. There's probably a dil farming method that fits in with your playstyle without having to go too far out of your way to do it.

Grats! That you're back. Too bad console and PC are separate games  : /
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Tahquitz on July 03, 2017, 05:59:20 PM
I'm curious what the attraction is to Red Alerts? They're probably the busiest queues but don't they give the smallest reward? I think they offer any mark you want - that's probably it, huh? They end fairly fast, too.

Bingo.  I have two rep projects left after spending a year away.  Once they're done, that's it for red alerts for me.  Battlezones offer far more Dil for 30 ish minutes of play.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 03, 2017, 10:08:51 PM
Hehe see Battlezones wouldn't be my first choice, either. I've tried Tzenkethi and whatever that one is in Delta(?). There is a metric f-ton of flying around for what seems like a trickle of Dil - when I do them! It's all Space and no waiting for queues or anything like that, so, they're perfect otherwise. Probably I just haven't been in them at the right time/completed them properly. I have barely a clue what I'm doing there besides trying to take over the map.

As a quick, reliable, way to get daily bonus marks for any faction you want, Red Alerts are hard to beat. I guessed right!  : ) Those queues are always so busy I always wondered if there was something else to them.. but, that's enough, huh. Wham, bam, 5 minutes later you have any mark you want.

The Shuttle Event and some other Events that award any mark are amazing for stockpiling marks when they roll around.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on July 04, 2017, 01:49:00 AM
I don't know how rich you are in EC's but some Fleet T6's are pretty good for the money. Otherwise, just use the plethora of farming tools available to you in STO for farming Dil and save save save/wait for a sale. Orrrrrrr get an Event ship like I'm about to finally do in .. 4 days? It honestly is not that hard to get a T6 if you put your mind to it and just play the game. There's probably a dil farming method that fits in with your playstyle without having to go too far out of your way to do it.

Grats! That you're back. Too bad console and PC are separate games  : /

I have a couple of hundred thousand ECs (the standard Energy Credits, I assume you mean?), but I don't see any T6 ships that can be bought for EC.

I accidentally spent most of my Dil (Dilithium Crystals, I presume) in the Upgrading interface, because I didn't notice it was using them until it was too late.  But I only had around 8000-ish when I'd started, not the 600,000+ I'd need to convert to the 3200 Zen required to buy a T6 ship.  I also don't know what those farming tools are to get more.  (But since you can only refine 8000 Dil per day, it'd take months to refine enough to get a ship, even if I farmed a million unrefined Dil right this second)

And all the T6 Fleet ships seem to require a large number of a multiple credit types I have 0 of, and don't know how to get (I guess they're Fleet Credits and Fleet Marks, but they all just look like little playing cards to me).

And I have no idea how to get an Event ship.  Or even if you can get an Event ship on the PS4 version.  I assume there's a mission chain somewhere, but I don't know what those missions are.

Mainly, I don't know how to get a T6 ship because I don't know what the steps are or even how to begin.  The full extent of what I know is "T6 ships exist.  Some can be bought with Zen which I can't easily get a hold of.  Some can be bought with playing cards I don't know how to get", and that's as far as it goes.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Arcana on July 04, 2017, 03:42:59 AM
I have a couple of hundred thousand ECs (the standard Energy Credits, I assume you mean?), but I don't see any T6 ships that can be bought for EC.

I accidentally spent most of my Dil (Dilithium Crystals, I presume) in the Upgrading interface, because I didn't notice it was using them until it was too late.  But I only had around 8000-ish when I'd started, not the 600,000+ I'd need to convert to the 3200 Zen required to buy a T6 ship.  I also don't know what those farming tools are to get more.  (But since you can only refine 8000 Dil per day, it'd take months to refine enough to get a ship, even if I farmed a million unrefined Dil right this second)

And all the T6 Fleet ships seem to require a large number of a multiple credit types I have 0 of, and don't know how to get (I guess they're Fleet Credits and Fleet Marks, but they all just look like little playing cards to me).

And I have no idea how to get an Event ship.  Or even if you can get an Event ship on the PS4 version.  I assume there's a mission chain somewhere, but I don't know what those missions are.

Mainly, I don't know how to get a T6 ship because I don't know what the steps are or even how to begin.  The full extent of what I know is "T6 ships exist.  Some can be bought with Zen which I can't easily get a hold of.  Some can be bought with playing cards I don't know how to get", and that's as far as it goes.

I honestly am taking a break from STO for a bit so I haven't logged in a while, but unless they radically changed things recently your best shot at T6 ships is to get them by grinding out the special events that come along a few times a year.  Log in and do some stuff at least 30 days out of 45 or so, bingo T6 ship.  Not all T6 ships are equal, some are great some are not so great, but still they are usually worth going for either for the ship or the special consoles that come with them.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on July 04, 2017, 12:53:54 PM
That's just it - I don't know what the "some stuff" I have to do to get a new ship is.  The only things on the Event Calendar are Mirrors and Smoke (which i already finished), and going to the Summer Resort on Risa.  Is there something on Risa that will grant me a T6 ship?

Edit: Wait, wait, looking through menus, I see "Claim a Vorgon Xyfius Heavy Escort (T6)" project in the Reputation menu, of all places, but doing that requires "contributing" 1000 of yet another currency I have 0 of and don't know how to get because the game doesn't tell me.  So, again, it's just "this ship exists" rather than a way to actually get it.

Edit again: further research says that (a) the Lolwut Voucher currency I need 1000 of is connected to Risa, though I'm still not sure exactly how, and (b) the Vorgon Xyfius Heavy Escort was last year's prize, so I don't know why the game is offering me a ship that isn't actually available right now.  (And when I hit "Info" at the bottom of the Events page, it just tells me all about the Winter Event that ended months ago)

Edit edit edit: Okay, now I found it.  I just have to do a mission involving precision flying through hoops using a sub-standard jetpack, and I have to do it every single day for the next three and a half weeks to earn enough Lolwut Voucners to get the ship.  Ugh.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 04, 2017, 01:35:15 PM
That's just it - I don't know what the "some stuff" I have to do to get a new ship is.  The only things on the Event Calendar are Mirrors and Smoke (which i already finished), and going to the Summer Resort on Risa.  Is there something on Risa that will grant me a T6 ship?

(Wait, wait, looking through menus, I see "Claim a Vorgon Xyfius Heavy Escort (T6)" project in the Reputation menu, of all places, but doing that requires "contributing" 1000 of yet another currency I have 0 of and don't know how to get because the game doesn't tell me.  So, again, it's just "this ship exists" rather than a way to actually get it)

It's ok... Be calm... Don't move your arms or legs, just relax or you'll sink faster.. Welcome to the wonderful world of the STO Interface. The multitude of windows and currencies closing in on you are a normal part of the newb experience. See! I knew it wasn't just me that got lost gets lost in all those windows.

OK so.. First, you are going to need a ton more EC's for Fleet T6's because you have to buy Fleet Modules and they cost in the tens of millions. You will eventually have 10's of millions if you keep playing and make some effort to earn/save EC's.

Event ships.. You're too late for this one. There'll be more.. I wanted that Dorito ship! The Science ship that looks like a flying Dorito that you may have seen in game. WHen the next Event rolls around, do what it says (do thing X for X amount of days) and turn in what you get for doing what it says (in the Rep window you got LUCKY and found) for those X amount of days and you will get an Event T6. This is the first time I've had a shot at one - I never ended up logging in for enough days in the past, or, I was ... sinking in windows and learning my way out or whatever. Anyway, *anyone* can easily get these Event ships and they are normally pretty decent to really nice - you just have to wait for the next Event, do what it says to do, and dump your daily loot into the Rep window that you discovered.

As for farming Dil,... I'm going to leave you out in the wilderness just like everyone did with ME. I will tell you that you can find plenty of ways to do it and that getting Dil isn't that hard OR time consuming once you find a method that fits your playstyle. Posting Dil/Questionite/other important currency farming methods just seems bad juju. No matter how you do it, it's not a fast process to get a Z-store T6 if you aren't paying cash. It takes 300 +/- Dil for 1 Zen and it takes 2.4k(on sale)/3k (normally), Zen, for a ship, and, 4.8/6k Zen for a ship bundle, and, you can only refine 8k of Dil a day max even if you are rolling it. It takes time. The GOOD news is.. Every toon on your account can use these ships - Same with Event ships. Only 1 toon can use Fleet T6's or T6's that are in the Auction Exchange for amounts of EC that you won't see for a lonnnnng time.

No matter how you do it, if you aren't paying cash to instantly get what you want, it is going to take time. Even the event ships take like 4- 6 weeks of patience, and, you have to wait for the next Event to roll around. The GOOD news is... You don't need a T6 to learn the game or to run any Normal queue in the game. With some practice you can probably run all the Advanced ones, too. It's not bad learning on a T5.. I think it's a good thing. I don't regret the months I spent in mine.


~~~~~

Here's some more food for thought.. When I first started the game I made 5 newbs. I'd level a toon and then make a newb to find out how the different builds play. By the time I got done leveling 5 newbs I had a LOT more resources than when I started the game. I also had a much, much, much much better idea what I Wanted.

It IS all about getting a T6... but that isn't anything you have to be in any kind of hurry for.. ya know?
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on July 04, 2017, 01:53:26 PM
... wait, what do you mean I can't get the current event ship now?  I just spent an hour running around the game and searching the Internet looking for the actual steps to get that ship.  Are the Lolwut Voucher missions going away before I can spend the next month doing them?  (Edit: Oh, I see it.  Ends on the 20th.  I can only do 16 more days worth rather than the 24 I need)

... gah.

I don't know where I'm going to get tens of millions of ECs.  I thought I was doing pretty good for myself with the half a million I already had (which is down to 200k, because I had to replace some way outdated gear on my ship and character, which I hoped would help with the exploding, but didn't).  I have 7 Fleet Marks, but I have no idea where I got them.  Even if I had the tens of millions of ECs, I don't know where to get Fleet Modules or how they relate to Fleet Marks and Fleet Credits.

I just checked the Dil/Zen exchange for the latest numbers: to get enough Zen for a T6 ship at the current prices, I need to get over 700,000 Dilithium, which will take me over three months to refine even if I had enough Dil right now).  And at 1000-ish Dil a mission, 738,000 is an absurdly large number.

I understand "taking a while", but ... gah, there doesn't even seem to be a clear path from here to there.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 04, 2017, 02:13:10 PM
Meanwhile, I guess I'll "just play", where "just play" means "my ship keeps getting destroyed in every single space battle, making missions long and frustrating and aggrivating, which is why I want a new ship in the first place."

You are playing the game EXACTLY correctly. Now toughen up and find out where you're going wrong  : p By the time you learn that, you should be ready for a T6.

: D

Honestly, you can do eet. In a T5. And be wiser when you get your first T6.

Getting a T6 doesn't automatically make the game easy, by the way. You'll probably explode just as much in a T6 right now if you are even high enough level to pilot one.

If anyone can walk into the game and get a T6 right off without paying cash, hats off to them for sure.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on July 04, 2017, 02:18:58 PM
My character is level 58.  I have mostly XI-XIII defense-oriented gear on my T5 defense-oriented ship.  What more do I need to not explode all the time?  "git gud noob" is not advice I can work with.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 04, 2017, 03:07:16 PM
I am pretty sure I saw posted right here on Titan, somewhere, that STO is an 'easy' game. So, what's YOUR problem??

Teasing.. ofc..

STO is Not an easy game. I didn't think it was as a newb and I don't think so now. I have no idea how people are getting some of the parses I see. But, I breeze through Any mish or Normal queue and most Advanced queues - something I often Exploded doing in the past. Just read back in this thread! I couldn't even figure out the front of my ship from the back sometimes.

Encouragement aside.. If you want written directions on how to win the game... Here is a tip. A real solid build that can take damage and put it out would include a Science ship and this equipment: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:wQRf6X8KeNIJ:sto.gamepedia.com/Quantum_Phase_Applications&num=1&hl=en&gl=us&strip=1&vwsrc=0

Next, pick any rep gear weapons/console combo that looks fun to you and get the marks/tokens for them, buy them, and then equip them.

If you want added safety, play an Engineer so you get Miracle Worker.

That link is the cached, Text version, btw... I dunno what they're doing at STO wiki but it sucks the bandwidth otherwise..
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 04, 2017, 03:56:46 PM
Also, check this out:
https://ufplanets.com/showthread.php?30768-Dark-s-Guide-to-Being-Lazy-Multiple-Command-Keybinds-and-You!

Keybinds are your Friend..

This is the most important part of that thread:
Space "GenSendMessage HUD_Root FirePhasers $$ +trayExecBytray 6 0 $$ +trayexecbytray 6 1 $$ +Power_Exec Distribute_Shields"

'Space', above, is meant to be the Spacebar key - it can be any key you want. The 6 0 and 6 1 are tray locations - 6 0 equals tray 5, location 1.. It's Cryptic, don't ask... FirePhasers fires alllll weapons AND torps.. Distribute shields does what you think it would - it distributes powers to shields when they are damaged - a good thing to have hotkeyed.

Here is a pr0h tip.. Only have 'GenSendMessage HUD_Root FirePhasers' on ONE hotkey your finger is used to hitting most. Ditto for 'Power_Exec Distribute_Shields'. This will result in your hotkeys firing off faster and your weapons cycling most efficiently. The idea is to not have them interfere with firing off powers when they pop - so you can fire off your powers asap, and, you want your weapons to cycle as efficiently as possible.

For example.. I always want to hit my damage enhancing hotkeys that are on low recharge - as soon as they pop. So, I put them all on one (or more, depending on who I'm playing) hotkey(s) and I spam that/those hotkey(s). On that/those hotkeys - I don't have anything but Space(or whatever key) "+trayExecBytray 6 0 $$ +trayexecbytray 6 1" (6 2, etc)

Just copy/paste $$ +trayexecbytray 6 1 - until you have all your hotkeys defined, or, you run out of space. You can fire off, like.... 6 hotkeys from your trays with this custom hotkey? Max? Something like that.

Examples:

Space "GenSendMessage HUD_Root FirePhasers $$ +trayExecBytray 6 0 $$ +trayexecbytray 6 1"
When I hit Spacebar, all my weapons activate and so does whatever is in tray 5, slot 1 and tray 5 slot 2. This is good for if you can't fit all your tray hotkeys you want to activate on ONE hotkey and just have a couple of your slowest recharging fast-recharge powers leftover. Hit this whenever you acquire a new target. Or a version of it that doesn't activate anything but weapons.

f/x:

Space "GenSendMessage HUD_Root FirePhasers"

I really don't know how much spamming FirePhasers interferes with weapons cycling most efficiently. Not much to not at all, I think.

+Power_Exec Distribute_Shields is the one that will suck your hotkey speed down. It pops often and takes time to activate and nothing else happens until it's done. So... you want to have it all by itself OR with stuff that doesn't pop as often/isn't as time crucial to fire off.

f/x

Space "+Power_Exec Distribute_Shields"

or

Space "+trayExecBytray 6 0 $$ +trayexecbytray 6 1 $$ +Power_Exec Distribute_Shields"

6 0 and 6 1 in this example are not fast popping powers. Why would you even add anything to Distribute Shields? Maybe for the same reason as combining something with FirePhasers - you couldn't fit everything on... the hotkey below. AND you want to minimize the number of hotkeys you're spamming.


AnyKeyboardKey "+trayExecBytray 6 0 $$ +trayexecbytray 6 1+trayExecBytray 6 2 $$ +trayexecbytray 6 3+trayExecBytray 6 4 $$ +trayexecbytray 6 5"

...Which is the primo fast way to fire off the maximum amount of powers at once.

... If that makes sense.

It will, in game, if it doesn't now.


That's not the greatest hotkey guide in the world I tried to somewhat quickly write, above, but, I hope it beats  "git gud noob"  : )
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 04, 2017, 04:03:07 PM
I also have 2 of the below for all my toons (the number of trayExecBytray in them varies...).

AnyKeyboardKey "+trayExecBytray 6 0 $$ +trayexecbytray 6 1+trayExecBytray 6 2"

In one of them I place all of my < 2 minute recharge Shield heals.

In the other I place all of my < 2 minute recharge Hull heals.

Spam as needed.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 05, 2017, 02:13:43 PM
My character is level 58.  I have mostly XI-XIII defense-oriented gear on my T5 defense-oriented ship.  What more do I need to not explode all the time?  "git gud noob" is not advice I can work with.

Did the hotkey thing help at all? They really do make a difference. In about every game I've played and this one's no exception.

There's a lot of relatively fast repopping buttons to mash by 60 and by grouping them into logical groups that your fingers can find fast it will boost your efficiency and probably make things more fun, too.

That gear in the link (that you likely can't use and don't want to make a new toon for and that probably doesn't interest you, otherwise) is the best (or pretty darn close) non weapons mish gear in the game, I think. Overall. Both of my Science ship guys use it.

In case This helps... I'm going to get that Event T6 tonite, finally.. I don't even have a captain for it..lol. I have no Cruiser captains anymore. The one I had I rerolled into Sci. Right before the Summer Event.. I used to be just like you.. gimme a T6! Now, I have them laying around in the garage unused. You'll get there.

I don't know if the sale will be going on when I log on next, but, if it is I guess I better pick up at least 2 more toon slots so I can use that ship..

Here's some more tips.. There are a lot of Duty Officer buffs that can be useful and you get up to 5 - some things you can stack up on, in other words, you can have 3 of the same benefit and it stacks. Like torpedo recharge redux .. Science Team redux, Engineering Team redux. I have Engineering team (hull heal) and Science team (shield heal) recharging in like 15 seconds due to Duty Offficers in one build.

Batteries.. Use batteries. Weapons, Shield, Hull heal. Whatever flavors are your preference.

Bridge Officers also May have Space Innates that give you bonuses in Space. Get those. When you can. An easy/cheap find is Humans. They all get Leadership.

Set bonuses on Rep gear can be good. Fleet gear can also be good. Mish gear can be good. My highest parsing build has all Fleet and Mish gear in his Non weapons slots and mostly Rep gear for weapons. With stuff like event consoles sprinkled in.

It's just whatever makes sense to You. when it comes to gear.

What else....

STO has DR. Usually 2 consoles of one benefit is the max you want otherwise diminishing returns will kick in. A lot of people will probably tell you to only use (1).

Hmmm... what else..

Spam that Distribute Shields from that hotkey thing I posted. (Assuming consoles get hotkeys..). It really makes a difference. Just don't add it into a hotkey with stuff that you want to fire off FAST because it will slow down whatever hotkey you put it in. Do use it though, and often.

Make sure you keep your shields as high as possible. Once they go down you're in trouble. Keep an eye on hull, too. Don't wait until you smell smoke to hit your heal hotkeys... hehe.

There are Doff mishes that give various Space buffs. You have to hit the Personnel tab to find those mishes and only some of them are of this kind. It's just an icing on the cake kinda thing.. buttons to hit while you're thinking what else you can do to stop exploding.

That's it for now! If I think of anything else...


Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on July 05, 2017, 05:21:17 PM
I'm on the PS4, so there's no way to keybind anything.  All weapons fire with the touch of a single button by default - R2 toggles on all beam and cannon weapons, so you don't even have to keep hitting it, and R1 fires any torpedoes or mines that are ready.  Plus, all my Shield and Hull resturation powers are set to auto-exec when my Shields or Hull hit certain levels (mostly 50%, though Miracle Worker is set to 25%).  Most of my Ship Traits and Equipment are geared to giving defensive bonuses.  Despite all that, it's hard to keep alive against bigger ships.

Also, I made it to level 60 since I last posted, partially through Duty Officer side missions (which were only added to the PS4 version recently - they weren't there last time I played).  So except for getting a new T6 ship, there's very few "big" things to look forward to.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 05, 2017, 06:26:59 PM
I was wondering if you'd get keybinds or not. Yay for that wasted effort. That sucks! that consoles don't get that. Somehow. You don't have to hotkey FireAllWeapons on PC, either, a single button will already to it, but, it's a good thing to be able to Add to hotkeys.

The shield/hull autoexec doesn't sound like something I'd like, either, and I don't want my Miracle Worker popping on it's own for sure.

You didn't mention DistributeShields. On PC there is a premade hotkey for this and there's something on the screen I can click for it, too. Spamming this really makes a difference in keeping your shield strength up.

One trick I used to use on Large ships in my tiny Escort was to get behind them and dog their rear shields. Don't let them shake you off (this requires you micro manage your speed and turns) - stay on those back shields until they fade and you're chewing hull - meanwhile that big lumbering boat in front of you is trying to get his best weapons turned around to point at you. Good clean fun.

The console version of STO kinda seems is unappealing to me from everything I've read about it. The first worst thing about it to me was that console and PC players can't interact.

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 05, 2017, 07:08:07 PM
Accidental keypress Random Screenie..

OK so, there's probably no Lost in Space fans here.. I never was either but I happen to have watched the entire series about 8 - 10 billion times and it's grown on me. STO doesn't seem to get much character creator recognition but I think this is a pretty decent representation of Dr. Smith in the Star Trek universe:

(https://app.box.com/shared/static/noi0xt5x5n15ikqk4yqv3jgiv2fix8pv.jpg)

Note the exquisitely narrow shoulders.. pot belly.. receding hairline.. the double chin kept at bay..

Is Tarsi a hottie or what? The correct answer is: Yes. Maybe due to she reminds me of a sexy dark elf I once knew.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 06, 2017, 03:19:18 PM
The first worst thing about it to me (ed: console play) was that console and PC players can't interact.

TG, if you were in the Fleet several of my toons are in (I would gladly invite you) the leaders would love to whisk you away into their Elite Ground game farming world until you were rich and then show you how to equip your ship. It would probably be good advice, too. They both get 50k+ parses.

It's too bad that Console and PC can't play together. I dunno if they can even chat.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on July 06, 2017, 06:09:06 PM
Probably not.

I'm technically in a fleet already, but it's always inactive when I log in.  I'm usually the only person on.  (And the chat system is awkward at best anyway.  The only time I used it was when the game bugged out last year and nobody could actually do their missions)

Without getting a new ship as a short- to medium-term goal, I'm not quite sure what to do with myself in the game.  I guess I can finish all the stories now that I'm level 60.  For some reason the game once again started giving me XP the way it had prior to 50 -i.e., one level per mission, more or less - so I leveled from 52 to 60 in only a couple of days, much more quickly than I'd expected.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 06, 2017, 07:15:45 PM
For some reason the game once again started giving me XP the way it had prior to 50 -i.e., one level per mission, more or less - so I leveled from 52 to 60 in only a couple of days, much more quickly than I'd expected.

!!

Nice.

I didn't think that whole keyboard thing through. Obviously.

My Rom is in a pretty dead Fleet but it's an ancient one in STO terms and somehow we almost are tier 3 in K-13. My mainiest main and first toon is in a not very active fleet but it has a fair amount of nice people as regulars and so I stay. The last Fleet I got into is the most active. They're fairly ancient too and have some friendly people in it who when they are online are nonstop trying to get new players into Ground Elites which they say will pay for their Space Game.

I dunno what to do in STO either. Goof off. Try new weapons and other ship gear. Try other ships. Try other Captain builds. Try other Captains. I've already got Sci/Eng/Tac captains who are piloting warbirds/escorts/sci ships/soon to be cruisers again and who are using 3 completely different sets of gear and who don't all have the same Skill/Boff choices. I'll probably try more powers and I want to try a Klingon and a bird of prey at some point but he won't be KDF. I have tried KDF and FED, while we're on that subject..

Then there is tradeskilling and playing the market... which is good for when you're too tired and braindead to do much else or is good to do over some early morning caffeine, or, whenever boosting EC's seems convenient.

What else..

STO is probably about as winnable as any other mmo. Some people play just to be in the STO Universe. Like with CO.

*shrug*


Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 06, 2017, 07:38:54 PM
Ohhh here's a tip for you in regards of something to do. Don't just save up for your T6... Start shopping now. They aren't organized all that great, is one reason...lol

Another reason is, you don't want to be a dummy like me and save your Zen for a sale and then the sale comes and you have enough Zen but haven't picked a ship out yet.. Not something you want to decide at the last minute..

What can you look for? Consoles is one main thing. Some will do things you have no interest in whatsoever. If you get lucky you might get one that says to you 'that's Exactly what I was missing'. Consoles are a good thing to shop for in a new ship, assuming you are not getting a console-less Fleet T6. (Fleet T6's not only come with no special console but they also are only usable by ONE toon on your account - this is why, in STO terms, they are so 'cheap'. They should Not seem cheap to you now but they will someday, in comparison to the other T6's).

Weapons slots.. This is another good thing to look for. Pilot Escorts get FIVE (yum) forward weapons slots and the one I got just happened to have the Perfect console for me at the time and it's still a pretty darn good one for me. *cha-ching* I was sold.

How does it look? The Fleet T6 Sci ship I probably like most, statwise, is butt ugly. To me. And I probly wouldn't fly it just based on that.

Hrrrmm.. Then there are things like Turn Rate.. Extra power to  ... shields/weapons/auxillary.. hull size, shield size..

If you're anything like me it takes a fair amount of time to choose a ship. So it's not a bad idea to start now.

AND THEN...

Do you get a ship, or do you get a whole bundle? If you get a bundle, you get 3 ships for the price of 2 that all your (properly aligned...) toons can use. You get 3 consoles that work on all 3 ships. For me, it has worked out so far, that I only like 1 ship in a bundle so I have not gotten any bundles yet.

There's tons of stuff to shop for too depending on how immersed you are in the game and where that immersion lead you.


Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 06, 2017, 10:45:57 PM
My first Event ship, finally. Thanks, Risa.

(https://app.box.com/shared/static/t2g5rryk9qmdq92q9ipw97n6cmgj50x1.jpg)
(https://app.box.com/shared/static/00ytm7q2op81f2drgcvw50emn8h8egka.jpg)


Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on July 07, 2017, 08:50:36 AM
The Fleet Ships don't look like the easy ones to me.  While the regular T6s cost a lot of Zen (which will, in turn, cost a crapton of Dilithium), at least I know where to get Dilithium.  I don't even know where to begin getting Fleet Marks and Fleet Modules and Fleet Credits and Fleet Tsotchkes.  (I mean, I guess they come from the Fleet?  Somehow?  But I only joined this Fleet because they invited me out of the blue.  And that's probably why it's now dead, just filled with people who didn't really want to be there, either.  So there's no Fleet activity to be able to get Fleet Euros and Fleet Lolwuts from)

I do already know what ship I want, so that makes things easier, there's just no clear (and relatively short, or at least medium) path from where I am to get that ship.  There's only The Very Long Path (farming Dil), The Ridiculously Long Path (hoping the Fleet wakes up enough for me to start collecting Fleet Strokens), and The Literally Impossible Path (the Event Ship which I can't get anymore, which isn't even the ship I want).

I'd play the market more, but I don't like the Auction interface.  Specifically, I don't like that there's apparently no way to see average or lowest selling price from the Selling interface.   It makes it incredibly awkward to be competitive.  I have to either just guess randomly at prices, or spend a lot of time going in and out of my inventory, the buying interface, the selling interface, and a Notepad program on my laptop (and/or an actual piece of paper).

(Also, SOMETHING is draining my ECs at a fantastic rate.  From over 500k, I'm down to under 20k, and I didn't actually consciously spend them on anything.  Do Admiralty projects cost ECs?)
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 07, 2017, 04:32:54 PM
I dunno what's draining your EC's. Maybe you're warping to mishes and that's the cab fare. I can't think of any other thing that will automatically deduct EC's, right now.

If you don't like your Fleet, try another one. The three I'm in have some fairly significant differences that are worthy additions to the STO experience in their own ways. The most active Fleet I'm in and the one that I probably like the most spam invited me - and then they gave me the ability to spam invite anyone else AND (best part) my alts. Console STO is new so you have that to deal with - there's a lot of 'old' Fleets in STO.

Pricing in STO's Auction is like all others, in time you'll be pro. Just give it time. As with many of the problems you're experiencing. Tradeskilling is a source of EC's in STO. If you're into that at all, get a skill up that interests you and start selling stuff. People buy my stuff every single day. Took me a LONG time and a LOT of effort to get started. But. So what. I was playing the game already, anyway. The last few times I've logged in that's all I've done is a lil R&D to keep the shelves stocked.

If you want to know what gear everyone else is using just get a parser and it will tell you. It will even tell you what powers they are using.

All the secrets to this game are right there you just have to play. Maybe do a lil googling. I'll keep trying to help out. Others may try and sprinkle you with their wisdom, too. As long as you like being in the STO universe and you're having fun, all will come. Like ANY game. The secret to being the best player is liking the game the most.

Get out there and fire phasers, mister! Arm those photon torpedoes. Grab a fire extinguisher, I smell smoke....

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 08, 2017, 07:33:36 PM
Random Space tip..

On PC you can adjust your preset ship power levels (shields/weapons/aux/engines) manually. Usually I (ymmv - the point is, you get a Choice so why not use it) like to set mine so I have Full power to weapons and then put whatever is left to shields, for example. For my Sci ships I have Aux cranked up, and then power to shields.

Something else about power levels... When you get a new ship, on PC, you have to set the power levels to what you want at least once otherwise you get what they picked for you.. On PC that means about half power to weapons or so (going from memory..) and most likely you don't want half power weapons. Always hated remembering that tip after X amount of pve's where I was wondering why my dps was so crummy after getting a new ship.

Hey, here's another Random Space tip...

Mines.

Mines are great for when you have things next to you that you don't want to have next to you and they don't even have an energy cost. Put that saved energy towards bigger/more Cannons.. or Beams.. Unlike torps you don't even have to aim them. They won't give you (a) constant (trickle of) dps like a turret/omni, but, they do pack a decent punch when they do hit and some of them have effects. I'm using Bio-Moleculars from Rep on one of my guys. They were fun to use when I was doing those Random Space battle things and even managed to be useful. While waiting for the next wave to pop... circle around and make a minefield. This was during my 'dog the back shields of the huge cow ships' phase. Good times.

Do you have 5 Doffs on Active Space Duty, giving you helpful boosts? There are all kinds of boosts to be had this way. I'm constantly tinkering with mine.

Anyway, carry on!

ewww-EEEE-ewww

queue pop!



Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 09, 2017, 04:59:18 AM
Traits...

Another thing to help keep you from exploding is everything under the Traits tab.

There's more choices available as they're earned. There's some nice choices in the Rep system that you get as you level up through that system and Starship traits can be Bought and earned that can be very helpful. Also, every time you unlock 15 points in a new Specialization - you get a new Starship Trait.. I'm working on Temporal for one of my Escort guys just so he can get that 'you get buffed while going backwards' Trait.

Trait choices can really make a difference. They're right up there with getting a next tier level ship.

They can Also Reset Themselves when you get a new ship. Like with Power Levels... So, be careful of that, too.

~~~

Oh, and on the subject of Specializations...!

You just about cannot go wrong by maxxing out Pilot. There are so many goodies in there to help keep you alive and some damage buffs, and a nice turn rate buff, too. Maxx out Pilot and you will be much harder to kill.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Tahquitz on July 09, 2017, 07:01:41 PM
The Fleet Ships don't look like the easy ones to me.  While the regular T6s cost a lot of Zen (which will, in turn, cost a crapton of Dilithium), at least I know where to get Dilithium.  I don't even know where to begin getting Fleet Marks and Fleet Modules and Fleet Credits and Fleet Tsotchkes.  (I mean, I guess they come from the Fleet?  Somehow?  But I only joined this Fleet because they invited me out of the blue.  And that's probably why it's now dead, just filled with people who didn't really want to be there, either.  So there's no Fleet activity to be able to get Fleet Euros and Fleet Lolwuts from)

I do already know what ship I want, so that makes things easier, there's just no clear (and relatively short, or at least medium) path from where I am to get that ship.  There's only The Very Long Path (farming Dil), The Ridiculously Long Path (hoping the Fleet wakes up enough for me to start collecting Fleet Strokens), and The Literally Impossible Path (the Event Ship which I can't get anymore, which isn't even the ship I want).

I'd play the market more, but I don't like the Auction interface.  Specifically, I don't like that there's apparently no way to see average or lowest selling price from the Selling interface.   It makes it incredibly awkward to be competitive.  I have to either just guess randomly at prices, or spend a lot of time going in and out of my inventory, the buying interface, the selling interface, and a Notepad program on my laptop (and/or an actual piece of paper).

(Also, SOMETHING is draining my ECs at a fantastic rate.  From over 500k, I'm down to under 20k, and I didn't actually consciously spend them on anything.  Do Admiralty projects cost ECs?)

Admiralty and Duty Officer projects MAY cost Energy Credits to engage in.  The price is usually listed in the mission card before you accept it.  (You might have to scroll sideways to see all of the costs for a Duty Officer mission.)

Another thing that costs ECs is the Transwarp button in the Mission Planner on the right side of the screen.  Use Auto-Navigate when in the same Sector block, or fly to the border of the Sector block and navigate there yourself to save on EC.  (The sector and list parts of the map are clickable.)

If saving EC is important to you, put the bulk of what you want to save in your Account Bank.  EC sitting in the Account Bank cannot be used, but remember to give yourself a modest "walking around" purse (200,000 EC should be enough to keep you going for Duty/Admiralty and Transwarp use.)  When you collect a million EC on top of the 200,000, deposit that million and keep going.

Also, I've read your other posts... have you considered using a Starship Upgrade Requisition?  It boosts your Tier 5 ship to near Tier 6 stats, adds the ability to equip Tier XII-XIV equipment, and adds Starship Mastery slots you can unlock with continued use (but not the 5th slot that grants a free Trait.)  With a T5-U ship, you're 80-90% of the way to a Tier 6 ship.  Nothing that can be gained in a couple of weeks, but far easier than the 3000 Zen for a ship or 6000-12000 to pull down a bundle.  They cost 700 Zen -OR- someone can sell you one on the Exchange for EC.  They're in the tune of 15 million or so, but at least it's something that can be had with EC.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: ZeeHero on July 09, 2017, 07:32:41 PM
Last I checked you could equip any level of gear, Mark XIV included to any tier ship, I remember running content in a t1 ship equipped with endgame gear as a challenge. We did a t1 and t2 only CCA and won.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Exxar on July 09, 2017, 08:31:58 PM
So what would you guys recommend for a brand new player, what should I roll? How are the TOS Starfleet, Starfleet, Romulan and Klingon starts different? Is any of the careers easier or harder for first-time players? Anything I should beware of?
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on July 09, 2017, 08:38:25 PM
I did look into upgrading my ship to T5-U, but I'm pretty sure that Negh'Var Heavy Battle Cruiser is not one that can be upgraded, only Fleet T5s and Zen-store purchased T5s.  (The Fleet Negh'Var can, but I don't have that version)

I never use Transwarp (at least, not to missions - does Transwarping to Q'onoS cost EC?  It doesn't say it does, and I've been double-checking everything I do), so that's not where it's going.  Might be Admiralty and Duty Officer missions, but I checked and I don't see any costs for those, let alone tens or hundreds of thousands of ECs)

My traits are - and, for the most part, always have been - all set to the most defensive things I can set them to: Defense, Resistance, +Max HP, +Max Shields, etc.  My Engineering Consoles are likewise defensively-oriented.  I usually set my power levels to emphasize shields, followed by weapons.   I just feel... fragile... for some reason.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 09, 2017, 08:53:40 PM
have you considered using a Starship Upgrade Requisition?  It boosts your Tier 5 ship to near Tier 6 stats

T5U's are pretty decent. They don't have the number of consoles you have in a T6 (they have 10, Most T6's have 11) and they don't have as good as stats but they are the closest thing you can get to a T6 without having a T6. They aren't cheap to a newb, either, but they are cheaper than any form of T6. And then, in ascending cost, there are Fleet T6's, and then Zen store ones, and then Auction house ones. Zen store ships being the only ships that are Bind to Account, not Bind to Character.

Thing is, can you upgrade your ship? Can all T5's become T5U's? I don't think so. Only 1 purchasable one I have is T5-U upgradeable (I upgraded it when I was not super EC poor, it was worth it) and the free T5 you get as you level up I don't think is T5-U upgradeable, either. I hope I'm wrong!

Last I checked you could equip any level of gear, Mark XIV included to any tier ship, I remember running content in a t1 ship equipped with endgame gear as a challenge. We did a t1 and t2 only CCA and won.

I was going to mention Upping your Marks..

Mark XIV weapons are kinda a lot better than Mk XII or anything below.. It's a no-brainer upgrade. Experimental upgrade kits are good for Mark upgrading as far as ones that cost you Dil to use. And then there's the Rom upgrade kits you get from Admiralty and those Event ones I forget the name of atm - neither of those cost dil to use and add a lot of research points towards a Mark upgrade. I upgrade Weapons to MK XIV before anything else. Also, it's a good idea in the beginning, when Mark upgrades are super expensive to you, to take advantage of Double Research weekends. So you spend half as much.

It's worth re-mentioning that MK upgrading is expensive no matter how you do it. So, be relatively sure you're happy with what you have before you upgrade. I didn't go from MK XII to XiV for a lonng time but I do it asap, now.

Also, kinda like Zee is saying, there are lots of things that make a tough ship - not just the ship. Trait choices make a big difference as well as your equipment which includes what MK it is at (especially weapons), your Active Space Duty Doffs and.... the stuff already written up there and stuff not mentioned yet - all makes a noticeable difference.

While you are busy figuring out all the things you can do to kit out your T6, you're putting back some Dil to buy one, hopefully. It will likely take you about as long to figure out how to properly kit a T6 as it will to save for one.

Honestly, don't be in a hurry. The better you kit out your T5 and the more you learn about the game before you finally get your First t6, the happier you will be with that First t6. Meanwhile, save. Everytime you run a Normal queue - it gives you like 480 dil and Anyone can do Normals. If you can't, you can be carried... and likely no one will notice.. Every time you run a queue you get marks, too - Hourlies, Dailies, and Trading in 500 marks for 5,000 zen are all ways you can use the Rep system, (which you should be progressing in, anyway!) to gain easy marks/dil/Space Combat practice. Do them daily and you'll not only get the Traits you need but the Dil you need AND the Practice you need.

You have a lot to chew on. I just hope playing the console version of the game isn't what kills it for you. STO seems very keyboardy and Very 1,000 interface windowsy. [quote


My traits are - and, for the most part, always have been - all set to the most defensive things I can set them to: Defense, Resistance, +Max HP, +Max Shields, etc.  My Engineering Consoles are likewise defensively-oriented.  I usually set my power levels to emphasize shields, followed by weapons.   I just feel... fragile... for some reason.

You get more Traits as you level in the Rep system. Way better ones. (Is there anything else that gives new Traits as you level, anyone?) You can see what they are in the... Status? window. The window that shows what you get from the Rep system for every tier you attain.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 09, 2017, 09:01:11 PM
My traits are - and, for the most part, always have been - all set to the most defensive things I can set them to: Defense, Resistance, +Max HP, +Max Shields, etc.  My Engineering Consoles are likewise defensively-oriented.  I usually set my power levels to emphasize shields, followed by weapons.   I just feel... fragile... for some reason.

Also, I highly doubt you have Any starship traits yet. Those also help.

And Max Pilot!
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 09, 2017, 09:06:15 PM
So what would you guys recommend for a brand new player, what should I roll? How are the TOS Starfleet, Starfleet, Romulan and Klingon starts different? Is any of the careers easier or harder for first-time players? Anything I should beware of?

It's hard to make a bad choice EXCEPT for do you play Klingon Defense Force or Federation.. I wouldn't make a KDF toon as my first toon. Fed is easier.

Other than that I would read all the advice we're trying to pour onto TG. It's a lot more than I got when I started! hehe

STO can have (did for me!) a learning curve that makes one seek help.


---

The main difference between Tac, Eng, Sci, is their innate powers which you can wiki or see in game. Sci is more team oriented (especially in the sense that it's less You oriented), Tac is more DPS oriented, and Engineers get the best 'oh crap' button as an innate.

Other than that they're pretty much the same asfaik. Check their Innates for what looks best to you.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 09, 2017, 11:37:10 PM
There are a lot of little things in STO that can add up. Here's another little thing...

Recharge..

Go someplace like outside your Research Lab and fire off your Boff abilities. Any surprises? You might find a power or two that you don't want anymore solely based on how it recharges. I'm going through some of mine, again..., lately.

For example, I wanted to have a lot of Attack Patterns to fire off due to I get a buff for them - plus, I just like Attack Patterns. Then I noticed they timer share. For example... My Attack Pattern Omega is about to fiiiiinally pop, Beta pops first, I hit it, Now I have to wait another 15 seconds for Omega. When I could have instead been popping a Kemocite III. For example.

'Attack Upgrades' share a timer, too.. So... you can't cycle 2 Fire at Wills (beams) or Rapid Fires (cannons) and 2 Target Shield Subsystems... for example.

That toon I have that has the fast recharging Science Team? As far as I can tell.. It doesn't do any good to give him more than 1 copy of Science team. Due to, Science Team repops for him in 15 seconds - no matter how many Science Team copies his Boffs have active at the time. None of them will repop faster than 15 seconds. The one he fired off to begin with will repop in 15 seconds.

I've found Boff powers that are redundant or rendered not nearly as useful as I wanted - once I looked at how they Recharged in a calm setting. So, it seems a tip worth passing on.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on July 10, 2017, 06:02:08 PM
Also, I highly doubt you have Any starship traits yet. Those also help.

And Max Pilot!

I'm a long way from getting any Starship Traits.  I need 10 Specialization points for the Intelligence Officer Starship Trait; 22 for the Strategist Starship Trait.

... and then 30 more to max Pilot.

And I'm not getting 62 faux-levels any time soon.

And, of course, I don't have any Traits that come with T6 ships, due to not having a T6 ship.

Honestly, don't be in a hurry. The better you kit out your T5 and the more you learn about the game before you finally get your First t6, the happier you will be with that First t6. Meanwhile, save. Everytime you run a Normal queue - it gives you like 480 dil and Anyone can do Normals. If you can't, you can be carried... and likely no one will notice.. Every time you run a queue you get marks, too - Hourlies, Dailies, and Trading in 500 marks for 5,000 zen are all ways you can use the Rep system, (which you should be progressing in, anyway!) to gain easy marks/dil/Space Combat practice. Do them daily and you'll not only get the Traits you need but the Dil you need AND the Practice you need.

I've never run a Queue.  I've tried, but every time I try to join an existing queue, it tells me "The map you queued for is full", even when there's only four, three, or even zero others in the queue.  When I try to start my own, nobody ever joins me.  So I just gave up on them some time ago.

Edit: I tried it again right after writing this post.  After a dozen "The map is full" error messages, I finally got into a queue!  Then a 30-second countdown started.  Then it disappeared from the list before the 30-second countdown ended, and nothing else happened.

Quote
You get more Traits as you level in the Rep system. Way better ones. (Is there anything else that gives new Traits as you level, anyone?) You can see what they are in the... Status? window. The window that shows what you get from the Rep system for every tier you attain.

I have no idea how the Reputation system works.  I spent all my Undine Marks (as well as Expertise and ECs) to complete the "Submit Battle Reports to 8472 Counter-Command".  All it did was increase a bar by a tiny amount.  (Not the main bar, mind you, the one that actually gives Traits, but a different bar, and I don't know what that bar does)  And I have no idea where I got those Undine Marks in the first place.

And I can't complete anything else in the Reputation system, due to not having any of the dozen different types of required Marks or any idea where to get them.

That's my biggest problem - this game doesn't explain anything.  I don't know where to get Undine marks.  I got them somewhere, but I can't go back and check where.  (I didn't get them in the PvE Queue, that's for sure)

You're telling me all these things to improve my ship, but you're starting at the last step, leaving me to bumble around trying to figure out where and what Step 1 is.  "Max pilot" means nothing when I can't find the training manual to teach any of my crewmen the Pilot skills in the first place.  "Raise your reputation level" means nothing when I can't find the dozens of different Mark types I need to complete Reputation projects.  And so on and so forth.

(And I'm STILL losing ECs like crazy for no reason that I can see.  I went from over 500K to under 15K just today, without spending any of it.  And, no, I'm not randomly Transwarping from place to place)
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on July 10, 2017, 06:41:22 PM
So what would you guys recommend for a brand new player, what should I roll? How are the TOS Starfleet, Starfleet, Romulan and Klingon starts different? Is any of the careers easier or harder for first-time players? Anything I should beware of?
It depends on what you like for both star fleet's. they are the same. The Romulan faction has a powerful storyline, one of the best I have ever seen. Klingon's wouldn't know, I do not play them.
For your first Officer, I would suggest playing the tank class otherwise known as engineer. I would say read the tutorial popup's they can and will help. The next thing is to just have fun, and don't compare what you do to someone else play style.
But I would suggest start playing as regular Starfleet.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 10, 2017, 09:39:19 PM
You're telling me all these things to improve my ship, but you're starting at the last step, leaving me to bumble around trying to figure out where and what Step 1 is.

If it makes you feel any better you're getting way more beginner's advice than I did.

Queue's should be a simple matter of joining one and waiting for it to pop. What I often do, when I'm in pve mode, is join Alllllll the queues. Then I get into one the fastest way possible. As I get my Bonus Marks, I start getting more selective. I.E. I only join queues that give bonus marks that I didn't already get for the day.

The Rep system is pretty simple on PC. The way I do it is, I queue up for all the PVE's I need, run them when they pop, then deposit the marks into the Rep window. I usually don't do Hourlies - I almost always just do dailies for leveling in the Rep system.

No idea where your EC's are going. I've never had a problem figuring out where my EC's went.

I know you don't have any Starship Traits (which you Can use with a T5) or many if any Rep traits - it's something to work on, though, and is about as important as getting a new ship.

The Romulan faction has a powerful storyline, one of the best I have ever seen.

I had the opposite reaction and couldn't get myself out if (the storyline) fast enough. Personal preference..

I would say read the tutorial popup's they can and will help.

In this same vein... on the Character Creation screen you can scroll through all the innate powers for Sci, Tac, Eng. Even if they don't make sense to you, you can at least read through them there to see what they are : )

I started with Tac and don't regret it one bit. Engineers get the best 'oh crap' button. I'm not remembering anything distinctive about Sci atm... Except that it has some team oriented defensive buffs (doesn't it?). My Sci ships kick so much butt it doesn't really matter who pilots them. I do have 1 Sci/Sci captain and I can't tell you what's so special about him due to his innates don't really matter so much.


Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on July 10, 2017, 10:40:31 PM
If it makes you feel any better you're getting way more beginner's advice than I did.

Queue's should be a simple matter of joining one and waiting for it to pop. What I often do, when I'm in pve mode, is join Alllllll the queues. Then I get into one the fastest way possible. As I get my Bonus Marks, I start getting more selective. I.E. I only join queues that give bonus marks that I didn't already get for the day.

The Rep system is pretty simple on PC. The way I do it is, I queue up for all the PVE's I need, run them when they pop, then deposit the marks into the Rep window. I usually don't do Hourlies - I almost always just do dailies for leveling in the Rep system.

No idea where your EC's are going. I've never had a problem figuring out where my EC's went.

I know you don't have any Starship Traits (which you Can use with a T5) or many if any Rep traits - it's something to work on, though, and is about as important as getting a new ship.

I had the opposite reaction and couldn't get myself out if (the storyline) fast enough. Personal preference..

In this same vein... on the Character Creation screen you can scroll through all the innate powers for Sci, Tac, Eng. Even if they don't make sense to you, you can at least read through them there to see what they are : )

I started with Tac and don't regret it one bit. Engineers get the best 'oh crap' button. I'm not remembering anything distinctive about Sci atm... Except that it has some team oriented defensive buffs (doesn't it?). My Sci ships kick so much butt it doesn't really matter who pilots them. I do have 1 Sci/Sci captain and I can't tell you what's so special about him due to his innates don't really matter so much.
Sorry I was referring to the video, you know which one I mean. I am being vague for a reason, due to not wanting to spoil anything.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Exxar on July 11, 2017, 05:26:24 PM
Thanks for all the advice. I'll be rolling my guy tonight.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 12, 2017, 01:28:21 AM
Thanks for all the advice. I'll be rolling my guy tonight.

I was just playing and it made me remember that in the beginning, Science ships seemed really advanced. Now I wonder if they wouldn't be a great beginner choice. You probably already chose, and it was probably something else, but, maybe for your second toon. May be of interest to TG, too.

First of all, your ship is fairly durable, and, they have secondary deflectors which can add some options.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong but you want high Aux to do damage with a Sci ship, and, high Aux will also help by supplying you with larger heals and add sprinkles of other defense benefits.

Sci ships can do all kinds of single target stuff but you can get away with AoE'ing and survive. If I'm wrong, go back to single target stuff - there is tonnnns of single target stuff on a fast recharge to mess up other ships with as the numbers scroll away on their shields and hull.

Who cares what weapons you choose, basically. Until you get to the point where you're fine tuning your builds. Another reason why Sci ships may be good beginner ships.

Welcome to STO. Hope you have fun. I think I am going to go play some *gasp* CO. Where all my toons are nerfed but I somehow have fun playing them still anyway. In small doses.

All my STO shelves are stocked and you can thank me or not for at least a segment of the newb gear industries prices being Way down. From what it was before I was selling it.

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Exxar on July 12, 2017, 05:33:38 PM
I ended up rolling a tactical, pretty much down to RP reasons. Kinda like when the feel of the theme and costume is more important in CoH than actual build power. Having good fun for now, just finished the intro and ready to pick up my next mission on Earth Spacedock.

As far as I can tell, manually controlling your ship, specifically turning it around your targets properly to get maximum weapon coverage and best shield orientation is a big part of space combat? Unlike for example in EVE where you just set your ship to automatically circle the target at a given distance?

Is there any way to set up the controls so that the camera follows the orientation of your ship? Right now my ship turns fully independently of the camera and I must follow it with it which causes me to not have a proper feeling for the orientation of my ship relative to the targets.

How does the leveling system work? Do you mess your character up if you choose a "wrong" combination of abilities, for example because you can't buy all of them and respecs are nonexistent/exorbitantly expensive?

Which activities can you do while leveling? Can you just level doing missions, are there dungeon-like activities available (I assume queues fill that role)?

Anyway, I'm having more fun than I expected. Enough to have trouble balancing my time between SWL and STO.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 13, 2017, 01:17:12 AM
I ended up rolling a tactical

A fine choice. The only bad thing about Tactical to me is Go Down Fighting. Even with the advantage.... it sucks. It should not suck, looking at it in game *shrug*

As far as I can tell, manually controlling your ship, specifically turning it around your targets properly to get maximum weapon coverage and best shield orientation is a big part of space combat? Unlike for example in EVE where you just set your ship to automatically circle the target at a given distance?

Yeah, and Energy Usage is important. When it comes to Weapons - not Exotic abilities. To make a lonnnng explanation that I wouldn't half understand either, shorter... Try and get your Weapons power level to 125 (in not-sector space - where combat is) and try and keep it as close to there as possible while you are firing weapons..

For example.. Why not use the biggest cannons you can find and put them up front on an Escort and then kit the rest of the ship out with omni's/turrets/Heavy weapon? Energy use. It will suck you down and then your weapons do less damage. That's why tossing some torpedoes in is usually a good idea - that, and, once you get shields down, torpedoes shred.

More to your question: Yes, you will have to manually control your ship with some amount of skill that will generally include both throttle and movement controls to get all the things you want to fire in the cone/arc they need to be in.

If you can hammer the Same Shield (back shields, maybe...?) repeatedly, that's good. Once you chew through Shields, then your Torps (if any) can chew hull along with everything else your throwing at your target. Burning through a single shield side to get to Hull can be very good, if you can manage it. And if that shield just happens to be their back shield.. it may make it hard for them to get at You.

How does the leveling system work? Do you mess your character up if you choose a "wrong" combination of abilities, for example because you can't buy all of them and respecs are nonexistent/exorbitantly expensive?

This is an extremely good and insightful question...

Yes, you can screw up your character! First of all, you don't get a Space Point to spend every level.. You get.... 46 total? Google it or someone correct me but I think there are 46 Space points to spend. So budget those points. Also.. You have to have at least 20 of any of the things in the various trees (tac, eng, sci) to get the Ultimate ability for that tree. Also... there are 3 advantages for Ultimates that cost 1 point each - so, a Maxed Ultimate is going to cost you 23 points in that given tree.

Also.... What's the rush? I have a toon right now that is level 60 and only has half of his Space abilities picked. I played him for quite awhile with Nothing picked after a retcon. And then I chose based on whenever I sat and said "I really wish I had thing X". One time X was more Defense.. One time X was bigger shields.. The first time it was maxing Torpedo damage. So don't be in a hurry. The choices are important but they can wait.

ALSO.. retcons are expensive, dangit  : / so, yeah, be aware of that. As you insightfully sensed you might need to be.

Which activities can you do while leveling? Can you just level doing missions, are there dungeon-like activities available (I assume queues fill that role)?

There are so many....activities.. Where to start.. Here is a good one.. If you are not in a Fleet, join one. Now that you are in a Fleet - go to the Research Lab and do the Daily there that gives you a nice chunk of R&D XP + good tradeskilling components. One component commonly sells for 20-40k and sometimes you get 5 - you can use them or sell them. And you get Dilithium - 1.2k? just for doing that.

Fly around and do Doff mishes while you're cooking....?

Hrrrm.. Tradeskilling often requires juggling your time between leveling.

Sometimes I get so stuck in the .... activities ... that's all I do! Often. I just found a new one last week that I do almost daily.

Anyway, I'm having more fun than I expected. Enough to have trouble balancing my time between SWL and STO.

Good post. Glad you're having fun. I like space games and think sto is a pretty good one, too. It's good to have at least 2 games! I enjoy CO, a lot, again. But. Man am I glad it's not my Primary game.. I would look too deep at what's been going on (my nerfed toons and how nerfed they really are, for example) and get too peeved. As is, I can just pop in CO and do simple stuff and have fun and then try and keep up with STO, which, I could probably Live in.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Btw - Z-Particle is the name of the tradeskilling component from that Research Lab Daily that sells for the highest price (20 - 40k)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One more thing! Tac captains work well in all ships - Escort, Cruiser, or Sci.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 13, 2017, 01:46:57 AM
On the subject of doing queues while you level.. just wanted to point out that most queues don't open up until level.... 50? It's been awhile, I forget. Only mentioning in case you look at the few rarely popping ones that are available and wondering "is that, it?" Nope, there's lots more to come. Like, 30? and they come in Advanced and Normal flavors.

Learning how the queues are even ran was half the game, to me. Now I often queue up for them allllll. Advanced flavor.

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: ZeeHero on July 13, 2017, 02:23:16 AM
Go down fighting used to be really OP, it looks like they nerfed it too much.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 13, 2017, 05:10:33 AM
Go down fighting used to be really OP, it looks like they nerfed it too much.

It looks good in-game. Especially with the extra resists that the advantage gives. I never expect it to make a difference between me exploding or not when I hit it, though. I'm thinking of dumping the advantage that comes from Traits, even, for that reason.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Exxar on July 13, 2017, 08:34:35 PM
For example.. Why not use the biggest cannons you can find and put them up front on an Escort and then kit the rest of the ship out with omni's/turrets/Heavy weapon? Energy use. It will suck you down and then your weapons do less damage. That's why tossing some torpedoes in is usually a good idea - that, and, once you get shields down, torpedoes shred.
So uh, how do I see if my energy is getting sucked away? I haven't noticed any energy meter, just the power distribution between the systems.

There are so many....activities.. Where to start.. Here is a good one.. If you are not in a Fleet, join one. Now that you are in a Fleet - go to the Research Lab and do the Daily there that gives you a nice chunk of R&D XP + good tradeskilling components. One component commonly sells for 20-40k and sometimes you get 5 - you can use them or sell them. And you get Dilithium - 1.2k? just for doing that.
What exactly am I missing out without a fleet? What's the Research Lab?

Fly around and do Doff mishes while you're cooking....?

Hrrrm.. Tradeskilling often requires juggling your time between leveling.
When and where do I get access to Doffs and Tradeskilling (wooo I even know what Doff stands for)?

Good post. Glad you're having fun. I like space games and think sto is a pretty good one, too. It's good to have at least 2 games! I enjoy CO, a lot, again. But. Man am I glad it's not my Primary game.. I would look too deep at what's been going on (my nerfed toons and how nerfed they really are, for example) and get too peeved. As is, I can just pop in CO and do simple stuff and have fun and then try and keep up with STO, which, I could probably Live in.
I remember my time goofing around in CO rather fondly. Pity the game is basically in the bin, has already been when I played it for that little bit.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on July 13, 2017, 10:35:17 PM
... the game is taunting me, I swear.  During the mission "Sphere of Influence", I was temporarily put in command of an Obelisk Carrier, and ... now I know exactly what new ship I want.

BUT I DON'T KNOW HOW TO GET IT.

Taunting me.  So much taunting.

Edit: Oh, I see, I have to raise the Fleet Spire to at least level 1.  That would be easy, if I weren't in a completely inactive Fleet.  Gah.

Edit Edit: I can get an even better one through Lobi Crystals, but I have no idea how to get Lobi Crystals.  SO MUCH FRIGGIN' TAUNTING.  (Edit Yet Again: Or not, since I don't see the Advanced Obelisk Carrier in the Lobi shop.  Maybe it's not there anymore, or not in the console version, or something)
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Tahquitz on July 14, 2017, 12:23:06 AM
That one, I feel your pain.  Other than a fleet membership, it was an event ship that ended in December 2013.

Be thankful for the fleet option.  There are plenty of awesome ships that are now retired (no way to get one if you didn't earn it in the past.) 
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on July 14, 2017, 12:31:36 AM
That one, I feel your pain.  Other than a fleet membership, it was an event ship that ended in December 2013.

Be thankful for the fleet option.  There are plenty of awesome ships that are now retired (no way to get one if you didn't earn it in the past.)

Yeah, it's nice that it's out there, but given that my Fleet is all but dead, it's still going to be extremely difficult to get.  All of my Fleet's holdings are at level 0.  Including the Fleet Spire that needs to be Level 1 for me to even unlock the ship for purchase.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 14, 2017, 01:21:51 AM
Yeah, it's nice that it's out there, but given that my Fleet is all but dead, it's still going to be extremely difficult to get.  All of my Fleet's holdings are at level 0.  Including the Fleet Spire that needs to be Level 1 for me to even unlock the ship for purchase.

TG for the luv of gawd, remove yourself from your Fleet and hang out at Earth Spacedock until a decent one spam invites you!

hehe I'm joking, but not. That's how I got in my 3 Fleets. Console is way younger is the only kink to that. There seems to be an abundance of Tier 3 Everything fleets on PC.

Your edit: edit: post made me laugh.. I mean that in a good way!
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 14, 2017, 01:45:43 AM
So uh, how do I see if my energy is getting sucked away? I haven't noticed any energy meter, just the power distribution between the systems.

What exactly am I missing out without a fleet? What's the Research Lab?

When and where do I get access to Doffs and Tradeskilling (wooo I even know what Doff stands for)?

I remember my time goofing around in CO rather fondly. Pity the game is basically in the bin, has already been when I played it for that little bit.

Weapons energy is the power distribution thing you speak of - specifically, the vertical bar for weapons. It's kinda an advanced topic I guess. But, you want that number to go to at least 125 if you can manage it (through gear and other choices, over time) and you want to keep it as close to that as possible when you're firing weapons. You should notice a drain on your weapons energy level as the bar gets shorter as you are firing weapons in a battle. The more drain, the less available weapons power there is. Less available weapons power, less deeps. Is how I understand it.

Fleet. That one's easier. Hang out at Earth Spacedock (in the Exchange was Gold for me) and get a spam invite or get an invite from any Fleet in Zone advertising they are Tier 3 in everything and looking for members. Then decide if you want to stay. Rinse, repeat. Once you are in a Fleet you will have access to it's Research Lab, among other Holdings, and you'll be able to Transwarp there and use the Exchange, Bank, Mail, do that Daily, and, there are nice Consoles there..

This reminds me. Getting access to Fleet consoles, alone, is probably a good enough reason to join a good Fleet. I still use a fair amount of Fleet gear on my main and highest dps toon. Plus, you can't get your final Trait slots or R&D slots without a Fleet. Fleets are definitely a good idea to join for all of the benefits as well as the people. A good Fleet will also answer all your questions and more.

When do you get access to Doffs and Tradeskilling... Hrrrrmmm.. I don't remember! Tradeskilling I didn't think was very high level. Like 5 or 10. I can't remember at all atm what the level requirement is for either of these things.. Admiralty isn't until like 50... Hey, I think we can check in game.. Look at your Progression thing in the upper left part of the screen - the little thing that flashes in the corner over there when you ding. I think it should tell you, there. It says when the Admiralty stuff and queues start and pretty much all the major milestones, I think, too.


Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 14, 2017, 02:08:25 AM
Tada
(https://app.box.com/shared/static/pneubdyvqgbvzu49vf3oaqapf8z3r6wv.jpg)

It was in that progression window thing that's accessible next to the flashy button thing that flashes when you ding. You know!

(Brace for Impact is pretty decent btw. Fire on My Mark is better than decent iirc)
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on July 14, 2017, 02:47:01 AM
TG for the luv of gawd, remove yourself from your Fleet and hang out at Earth Spacedock until a decent one spam invites you!

hehe I'm joking, but not. That's how I got in my 3 Fleets. Console is way younger is the only kink to that. There seems to be an abundance of Tier 3 Everything fleets on PC.

Your edit: edit: post made me laugh.. I mean that in a good way!

I can't even get into Earth Spacedock.  My main is a Klingon...  And accepting the first blind invite I was offered was how I got into this mess of a Fleet in the first place.  Dropped out of it now, though, once I was sure I'd keep my Fleet Credits.  Maybe I'll get more blind invites next time I'm hanging around Qo'noS.

You'd think from all my complaining that I'm not enjoying the game.  I am really enjoying it, more than any other MMO I've played since CoH went down.  Just some of the more esoteric ways to get more powerful ships and other items are frustrating at times.  And this topic is as good a place as any to vent :D

Still coming down from the Obelisk Carrier high, I checked the exchange to see if there were any there, and I instead wound up buying the Mirror Universe Vo'Quv Carrier, which was going for surprisingly cheap - only 190k - so I figured it was worth the risk to buy it.  (Now that I remembered that the Tour The Galaxy daily mission exists, 190k is pocket change) It feels a lot sturdier than the Battlecruiser I was using, with a higher base hull, an extra Science console slot (in which I put a +Max Shields console), and the launched ships acting as distractions.  Unfortunately, it's also T5 and can't be upgraded to T5-U, either.

There's a bunch of them on the Exchange for 200k-ish (which is a pittance compared to the tens or even hundreds of millions other ships on the Exchange go for), not just the one I bought, so I imagine it's not in high demand.  Maybe it's that abysmal turn radius.  Or maybe not a lot of people play Klingons.  Or maybe the ship is just old and everyone who wants one already has one.  But I still like it a lot.  I'd meant to try out a Carrier earlier, but I didn't have a chance until now.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Tahquitz on July 14, 2017, 03:57:36 AM
I can't even get into Earth Spacedock.  My main is a Klingon...  And accepting the first blind invite I was offered was how I got into this mess of a Fleet in the first place.  Dropped out of it now, though, once I was sure I'd keep my Fleet Credits.  Maybe I'll get more blind invites next time I'm hanging around Qo'noS.

Hit up the "CoX" channel (case sensitive) on chat.  Someone will let you into Paragon Expeditionary Fleet or Paragon Vanguard Fleet, and we can help you. (Used to be Paragon Fleet, but the original owners fell silent.  Expeditionary filled so fast, Vanguard was made for alts and new folks.)

Others:
Task Force Fenrir
Virinat Detachment
Paragon Dawn
(They have a website: paragondawn.com to gain entry to their SG, I think they have a group in STO too.)

All of the above are ex-CoH players, and would love to have another veteran among their ranks.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on July 14, 2017, 12:29:21 PM
I'm also playing on the PS4, since they discontinued the Mac version last year.  Are those groups also on that version?
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Tahquitz on July 14, 2017, 01:49:39 PM
After additional reading, I just learned that PS4/XBox players and PC players are "firewalled" apart.  There's no LTS/Subscriptions possible on Console servers, and I don't see it explicitly spelled out, but it seems there's also no way for us to talk to console players if we're on different servers.

Damn.  That sucks.  I'm sorry, Thunder Glove.  :(
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on July 15, 2017, 01:58:17 AM
I made a few other characters, one of whom is a Romulan.

Interesting that it's pretty much analogous to City of Heroes - Starfleet is Blueside, Klingon is Redside, and Romulan is Praetorian (where you start out on a third side, but eventually have to choose Blue or Red).  I think even the colors are the same.

Frankly, I'm not sure which side to pick.  Maybe I'll just quit playing that character for a bit until I decide. :D
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 15, 2017, 02:22:42 AM
After additional reading, I just learned that PS4/XBox players and PC players are "firewalled" apart.  There's no LTS/Subscriptions possible on Console servers, and I don't see it explicitly spelled out, but it seems there's also no way for us to talk to console players if we're on different servers.

Damn.  That sucks.  I'm sorry, Thunder Glove.  :(

Yeah, huh!

I can't even get into Earth Spacedock.  My main is a Klingon... 


Ouch... I dunno what it's like on Console, but, I had a more difficult time getting into a KDF fleet. And it is the least impressive one I'm in. Console... Klingon.. You started the game on Hard Mode! Some good battle hardening. Starting as a more difficult for beginners Klingon, and, the I-was-there-firstness of Console.


I can't even get into Earth Spacedock.  My main is a Klingon...  And accepting the first blind invite I was offered was how I got into this mess of a Fleet in the first place.  Dropped out of it now, though, once I was sure I'd keep my Fleet Credits.  Maybe I'll get more blind invites next time I'm hanging around Qo'noS.

You'd think from all my complaining that I'm not enjoying the game.  I am really enjoying it, more than any other MMO I've played since CoH went down.  Just some of the more esoteric ways to get more powerful ships and other items are frustrating at times.  And this topic is as good a place as any to vent :D

Still coming down from the Obelisk Carrier high, I checked the exchange to see if there were any there, and I instead wound up buying the Mirror Universe Vo'Quv Carrier, which was going for surprisingly cheap - only 190k - so I figured it was worth the risk to buy it.  (Now that I remembered that the Tour The Galaxy daily mission exists, 190k is pocket change) It feels a lot sturdier than the Battlecruiser I was using, with a higher base hull, an extra Science console slot (in which I put a +Max Shields console), and the launched ships acting as distractions.  Unfortunately, it's also T5 and can't be upgraded to T5-U, either.

There's a bunch of them on the Exchange for 200k-ish (which is a pittance compared to the tens or even hundreds of millions other ships on the Exchange go for), not just the one I bought, so I imagine it's not in high demand.  Maybe it's that abysmal turn radius.  Or maybe not a lot of people play Klingons.  Or maybe the ship is just old and everyone who wants one already has one.  But I still like it a lot.  I'd meant to try out a Carrier earlier, but I didn't have a chance until now.

It sounds like you're on your way, to me. I started off with Exchange T5's too. I know of (1) T5-U on the PC Exchange (dunno Console prices.. they sound like they're pretty decent if you got a 200k T5..) and I think I got for under 2 million. It's a Carrier. It's boxy. But the overall shape of a smallish box seems to make it turn easier than other Carriers and I like it. I'll have to look up the name and see if Klingons can pilot it.

There's plenty of Zone auctions for Fleet members on PC in Beta quadrant. Not as many KDF Fleet auctions, but there's enough of them. I should probably swap fleets with my Rom but I haven't been playing him much anyway. Not because he's Rom, just been more focused on other toons.

I wrote a post that I need to re-read, on ship pricing.. I can't remember right now how much more a Fleet T6 is than an Exchange T5-U. I've barely played anything this week. Big new irrigation project for a neighbor has kinda wiped me out.


(Now that I remembered that the Tour The Galaxy daily mission exists, 190k is pocket change)

190k is pocket change... hehe. Yeah, sounds like you're progressing. Wait... How much does that thing payoff, anyway!? I never bothered with it. I know a lot of other players do because they want that buff that makes them travel faster for running it.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 15, 2017, 02:28:35 AM
Thanks for all the advice. I'll be rolling my guy tonight.

Oh hey btw... I might be able to shoot you some newb gear and/or a Fleet Invite if either of those things would be handy. @toonsquad. I'm so used to TG being on Console... I didn't even think to offer until now.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 15, 2017, 03:09:58 AM
I instead wound up buying the Mirror Universe Vo'Quv Carrier, which was going for surprisingly cheap - only 190k - so I figured it was worth the risk to buy it. 

There's a bunch of them on the Exchange for 200k-ish


Wait... wha? That's CHEAP! It's 4.5 *million* on PC....

I found that T5-U... But it doesn't say who can fly it in the description and I gave it to one of my Fed toons so I dunno if KDF can fly it but on the Exchange it's called .. APU Cruiser, and, on PC it sells for half what your Vo'Quv goes for.

~~~~~

Also.. The Starship Upgrade modules to make a T5-U upgradeable ship into a T5-U cost 15 million on PC.. I think the cost for a Fleet T6 ends up at ~ 60 million on PC after buying Fleet Ship modules.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Tahquitz on July 15, 2017, 03:47:40 AM
Interesting that it's pretty much analogous to City of Heroes - Starfleet is Blueside, Klingon is Redside, and Romulan is Praetorian (where you start out on a third side, but eventually have to choose Blue or Red).  I think even the colors are the same.

2 out of three.  Romulan Republic is "Greenside". :D
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on July 15, 2017, 12:56:00 PM
Wait... wha? That's CHEAP! It's 4.5 *million* on PC....

I found that T5-U... But it doesn't say who can fly it in the description and I gave it to one of my Fed toons so I dunno if KDF can fly it but on the Exchange it's called .. APU Cruiser, and, on PC it sells for half what your Vo'Quv goes for.

~~~~~

Also.. The Starship Upgrade modules to make a T5-U upgradeable ship into a T5-U cost 15 million on PC.. I think the cost for a Fleet T6 ends up at ~ 60 million on PC after buying Fleet Ship modules.

There's some more expensive Mirror Carriers in the Exchange - they start at around 200k, go up to 500k, and then there's a huge gap before you hit the ones that are tens of millions.

And the Fleet Ship Modules on PS4 are ridiculously expensive.  I'm in a new Fleet, an active one with T2 and T3 buildings, and I have more than enough Fleet Marks and Credits to buy any ship I want... but no Modules.  And they cost 70 million and up in the Exchange.

2 out of three.  Romulan Republic is "Greenside". :D

Yeah, there's also the TOS Federation, which appears to literally be Goldside, but they likewise just get shunted into the regular Federation storylines, without even being given the choice the Romulans get.  My Federation character is actually from there (and I refuse to change him out of the 23rd Century uniform, even if some NPCs were giving me weird looks and wondering where the costume party was).

I technically have one character in each faction, but my Blueside character (a Ferengi) is on the PC version, which I can no longer play.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 15, 2017, 01:29:21 PM
There's some more expensive Mirror Carriers in the Exchange - they start at around 200k, go up to 500k, and then there's a huge gap before you hit the ones that are tens of millions.

The cheapest T5's on PC are ~ 2 million. You might want to look up Starship Upgrade Modules (pretty sure that's it..) on the Exchange and see how much they are. One of them + that APU Cruiser = a T5-U.

Something uber about T5's being so cheap for you, is... they can be fairly decent Admiralty ships. You get them for next to nothing.

In my limited ship buying experience... T5 buying was worth it for the experience, and, I could fly something I picked. The T5-U was worth it (it cost me ~ 17 million, total). And now I have little desire for anything but Z-store T6's. There is at least 1 Fleet T6 I'm considering. I don't even consider the lockbox ships. They aren't out of my reach but on PC they are 125 million++ And... bind to Character.

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on July 15, 2017, 02:05:11 PM
I don't have the game open in front of me to check right now, but I'm pretty sure that everything is more expensive than you're describing on the PS4 Exchange, except for that one ship.

Edit: I checked.  Fleet Ship Modules start at 7.5 million.  Upgrade modules start at 5.5 million.  The cheapest APU Cruiser is 1.4 million, but most are 2 million and over (which means that 1.4 million one will probably be gone before I have 1.4 million).  T6s ship start at 58 million and rise dramatically from there.  So I guess things are a little cheaper, but I also don't have that sort of money to toss around yet.

Basically, getting that one ship for so cheap was an aberration, not the normal prices of ships on the PS4 Exchange.  Even now, the cheapest Vo'Quv is 300k, and prices are rising.

... also, though, I've gotten hooked on Carriers.  I don't just want any old T6 now, I want a T6 Carrier. :D
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 15, 2017, 03:43:42 PM
Edit: I checked.  Fleet Ship Modules start at 7.5 million.  Upgrade modules start at 5.5 million.  The cheapest APU Cruiser is 1.4 million, but most are 2 million and over (which means that 1.4 million one will probably be gone before I have 1.4 million).  T6s ship start at 58 million and rise dramatically from there.  So I guess things are a little cheaper, but I also don't have that sort of money to toss around yet.

That's more than a Little cheaper.

You can get a T5-U for Half the price of what it cost on PC.
You can get a Fleet T6 for Half the price (!)...
Your Exchange T6's are Half...

I have alts that can buy Fleet T6's at that price.

It seems we've discovered a console gem.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on July 15, 2017, 09:10:27 PM
... holy crap, someone put an APU Cruiser on the Exchange for 100,000 EC.  I snagged it.

I'm honestly not sure whether I should unpack it or put it back on the exchange for 2 million.

I think I'm just going to hold onto it for a little while to see whether the person who sold it put it up at that price by mistake.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 16, 2017, 02:45:01 AM
The only way I'd not unpack it is if you couldn't use it. I'm not sure if KDF can. Most ships say who can use it but that one doesn't and I know Fed can.

That's as good a ship as I know of that you can get before a T6 without spending zen. The Zen T5's are T5-U upgradeable I think. But if you're gonna spend Zen, why not save for a T6. If the looks don't turn you off it's a pretty decent little ship.

Having said all that...

... holy crap, someone put an APU Cruiser on the Exchange for 100,000 EC.  I snagged it.

Holy Cow!

You might have gotten a Mistype Sale. I've gotten some good ones of those..., but, I get the feeling ships are just cheaper on Console. Even at 1,000,000 that's a good price on PC.

If I knew for sure I could use it I'd open it - especially if I was in Cruiser mode. Just be prepared to pilot a flying box with lights. That turns pretty decent, I thought.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on July 16, 2017, 03:03:19 AM
According to the STO Wiki (and the fact that non-Klingon ships don't show up on the Exchange unless I specifically turn off "show only usable", and I didn't turn that off), I can use it on my Klingon (it's cross-faction), so I might just unpack it after all, if only to give it a spin.

But, holy crap again:  when I switched to my Fed character and checked the Exchange, I found a bunch of Mirror Universe Advanced Escorts and Mirror Universe Patrol Escorts for 150k-ish.  I bought one of each. o_O  He's only Level 20 so he can't even unpack them yet, but ... yeah, going to have to give those a spin when I can.  (In this case, I *did* turn off "show only usable", otherwise no ships show up at all for him)
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 16, 2017, 05:55:02 AM
The T5-U will give you more hull, shield, and some Masteries to gain as you 'level the ship up' .. iirc..

Oh yeah.. you still have to buy the upgrade module to upgrade it! Well... at 100k... you can at least see how it drives first.

All ships your toons own are/will be Admiralty ships. Pretty nice for the prices you're paying.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on July 16, 2017, 12:53:38 PM
Yeah, I don't have anywhere near enough money to get an Upgrade module yet.  And I'm really happy with my Carrier, but ... yeah, I kinda want to try the APU out.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 16, 2017, 04:03:32 PM
I can't imagine you getting the Ship any cheaper!

A few more chores to do and then it's Bonus Marks time. There's a Featured story coming up... after the next patch? Those tend to have nice newb gear that levels with you. There was a recent one that had Uber ground gear. I've not been playing enough lately to remember the name of it. Good stats and Stealths you and give you +runspeed when you take damage. The mish is pretty decent to run/re-run too.

If you don't mind/like tradeskilling I hope you're raising one of your R&D schools on a regular basis. It takes forever to get started but tradeskilling can help pay for stuff. It pays to check the market before raising a school so you can get an idea of what you might sell.

I always raise 1 school to 5 that can make Weapons or Aux batteries and usually follow that up with raising Shields up so I can make my own shield batteries. I started with someone that can make hull patches, too. Then, just pick a school to raise to 20 and check the market for what to sell. Your Fleet's Research Lab may help. The tier 3's have a Daily that gives like 6 - 9k (depending on buffs and if you crit) of R&D XP in whatever school you choose every 20 hours - along with some components and dil.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Tahquitz on July 16, 2017, 04:22:25 PM
Yeah, there's also the TOS Federation, which appears to literally be Goldside, but they likewise just get shunted into the regular Federation storylines, without even being given the choice the Romulans get.  My Federation character is actually from there (and I refuse to change him out of the 23rd Century uniform, even if some NPCs were giving me weird looks and wondering where the costume party was).

Yup, blueside with a different tutorial, more or less.  That, and I like the teleport and scan animations better for 23rd Century characters, which is thankfully permanent. :)  The "23rd Century" styled Tier 3-6 ships to me are kind of bleh looks-wise, but that is more opinion than anything.  I'm sure someone liked them.

Still, opens up possibilities for other sub-factions.  Maybe we could play as someone from the Orion Syndicate, who is shunted to the Klingon storyline... now that would be a hell of an intro.  Or maybe as a Reman, who has the same choice to make at Level 10 like a Romulan Republic character.  After the changes to the Romulan storyline, I wouldn't mind a little more of Obisek's story.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on July 16, 2017, 04:41:37 PM
Tried out the APU, and ... kinda regretting not selling it for 2 million instead of opening it.  I mean, yeah, it's a good ship, but I like my Vo'Quv a lot better.  It will be good for Admirality missions, of course.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 16, 2017, 05:34:47 PM
Tried out the APU, and ... kinda regretting not selling it for 2 million instead of opening it.  I mean, yeah, it's a good ship, but I like my Vo'Quv a lot better.  It will be good for Admirality missions, of course.

I told ya it was a flying box with lights!

You don't get the full stats of the ship until you upgrade it. And then you get 4 Masteries...

I  Absorptive Hull Plating  +25 Physical Damage Resistance Rating. +25 Kinetic Damage Resistance Rating. 

II  Rapid Repairs  Regenerates 1.25% of your maximum hull every 3 seconds in Space. Twice the amount is regenerated out of combat. 

III  Enhanced Hull Plating  +25 All Energy Damage Resistance Rating. +25 Radiation Damage Resistance Rating. 

IV  Armored Hull  +10% Hull Hitpoints. 

Plus extra hull, extra shield(?).  At that point I wouldn't say it blows away T5's but it's a significant upgrade. Without the T5-U upgrade it doesn't have any better stats or abilities than any other T5.

I still think you made the right move. Assuming the looks/feel doesn't turn you off (RCS modules help a lot with the turn rate). The upgrade for that ship costs less than a quarter of what it costs to buy any next level ship (a Fleet T6). Sorry you're bummed with my suggestion, though!
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 20, 2017, 12:07:33 AM
I've not been able to log in much lately to anything, but.... I did notice that the APU also gets an extra (10th) console with the T5-U upgrade and that it costs 5 Fleet modules, not 4, for a Fleet T6 - so those Fleet T6's are going to be a lot more expensive than a T5-U.

None of that will change the fact that the APU's a flying box with lights. That turns pretty well with a little turn rate buffing.

The Featured Episode definitely looks worth doing. The fastest Spec point in the game.. Or a good tech upgrade. The console (mish reward) looks good. The omni looks.. like an omni. It's purple set gear that's attainable at level 10 and is free to upgrade all the way to MK XII.. I dunno what the set bonuses are but I'm going to run this on at least 1 toon that's currently running partially upgraded Rom Plasma and see how it turns out. I'm sure I can find some other Disrupter gear to combine with it if the bonuses are decent.. It looks like good Cruiser/Sci gear, so far.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on July 20, 2017, 10:12:53 PM
I might upgrade it at some point.  I don't have enough EC or Zen for that yet, though.  (2.5 million EC in the bank, about 300 Zen)

Also, I am still seriously digging my Mirror Vo'Quv.  I wanted the Obelisk Carrier when I first played it in Sphere of Influence, and considered the Vo'Quv a consolation prize of sorts, but after going back and re-playing Sphere of Influence, the Obelisk carrier is only very slightly better.  Looking at the STO Wiki, the Obelisk has 1500 more base hull points, one extra Bridge Crew slot but one less rank on the Science Bridge slot, Bonus +10 Shield/+10 Aux instead of +5 Weapons/+10 Aux, and different specialized Hangar pets, Obelisk Swarmers vs. B'Rotlh Bird-of-Prey.  But they have the same Shield multiplier, the same Impulse Speed multiplier, the same Inertia, the same Console slots, the same Device slots, the same Weapon slots, and the same crappy Turn Radius of 5.  The biggest difference is the Warriors Way ability you only have in the Sphere of Influence mission which makes the Obelisk Carrier seem a lot more powerful than it normally is.  So my "consolation prize" is not bad at all, and I'm not in as much of a rush to replace it.   (The Advanced Obelisk Carrier is a definite improvement over both, but I have no idea how to get that on the Console version.  It's not in the Lobi store where it's supposed to be.  Maybe it's not on the Console version at all)

The only T6 I really want at the moment is the Herald Vonph Dreadnought Carrier, but that is absurdly priced on the Exchange - 500+ million ECs - and there's no other way to get it at the moment. I'll just keep saving ECs and Zen for the time being.  Alternatively, I may look into the price of the Quas Cruiser or the Durgath Battlecruiser on the Exchange, too.  (I remember checking that everything with "Carrier" in the name was ungodly expensive, but I'd forgotten that not every Hangar-capable ship has "Carrier" in the name, including those two)  Edit: checked the Exchange, and the Quas is less than the Vonph, but still way out of my price range, running tens of millions.  The Durgath isn't on there at all.

STO has been the first game I've enjoyed this much since CoH went down.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Castegyre on July 20, 2017, 11:40:34 PM
I made a 23c Vulcan just to kick around for a bit. Then I discovered that, for some reason, I have to re-do all of my controls/UI because apparently my save file is awol. The tutorial mission was a nostalgia bomb, though.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 21, 2017, 04:55:41 AM

STO has been the first game I've enjoyed this much since CoH went down.

CoH was the game that got me back into gaming the one time that I was *completely* out of it. The closest I came to gaming at that time was to check what inactive gaming accounts of mine had been hacked. Not that I planned on using them again, just didn't want them hacked for some reason. CoH was just going FTP (never heard of such a thing besides Demos), then. They told me I had all these Veteran Bennies waiting for me and somehow I got sucked back into playing, subbed up, and stayed subbed until the final You Have Been Disconnected.

STO is the first really good Space game I've played in forever and Space games have always been some of my favorite type to play. The first PC game that I ever bought was Star Trek: Rebel Universe. Huge game, thousands of planets to explore, came on a 360k disk.

The tutorial mission was a nostalgia bomb, though.

Props to Chekov, huh. He put the most into STO during the 50th anniversary when they added 23C stuff. And we got Scotty's son, Uhura's legs, and Kirk's back.

All my toons are 23C ever since they introduced the option.

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on July 22, 2017, 04:18:00 PM
I find it hilarious that Kirk is the only one of the captains to appear, but when you meet him he's unconscious and crumpled on the ground, so you never talk to him or even see his face.

And that's more than the other captains get.  Picard is talked up a lot, Archer and Janeway get a few references here and there, mostly in the Path to 2409 history files, and Sisko gets absolutely nothing.  He's not even mentioned.  It's like the game wanted to forget he even existed.  (His baseball is on his old desk in DS9, though)

As for the game itself... still ship-hunting.  Now that I have 500 Zen and 3.5 million EC, I'm not sure I want the Obelisk Carrier at all, at least not for my Klingon main.  I could possibly win a T6 in the Phoenix Prize Pack, but I'm not holding my breath.  I have gotten a couple of Rares, though, which gave me a nice Admiralty-only T6 and a fun Universal Console.  But I'm mostly leveling up my Romulan alt, who just got Level 40 (and her first T5 ship) today.   For her I'm getting fast and mobile Tactical-based ships rather than the slow and tanky Engineering-focused ships that I'm using on my Klingon.  (And my level 23 Fed is Science-heavy, so I have all the bases covered)
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 22, 2017, 05:54:17 PM
I was reading your post with a wistful smile, thinking, ahhh, this is almost as good as playing.... when suddenly.. WHAT..WHA?

I could possibly win a T6 in the Phoenix Prize Pack

Oh damn... now I know I have to log in this weekend!!! I've been saving up for those.. I hope those are what I think they are and have what I think they have and I'm thinking of the right thing.. Will have to find out later.. They cost dil, right? Tell me it's not Zen..
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on July 22, 2017, 07:38:49 PM
It's Dil, yeah.  And you get one free box (per account, not per character) a day.

I barely have any Dil, due to trading it all for Zen (I'm up to 550!), so I've just been getting the free boxes.

This weekend is also the new Kobayashi Maru event - once a day you get an event reward, and three of those rewards earns a pair of weapons that get stronger as a fight goes on.  You don't even have to survive to get the reward.  (I haven't gotten past the fourth wave. It ramps up very quickly)
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 22, 2017, 07:44:16 PM

BOO..

Curse you, Console & PC Differences! There are no Phoenix Prize Packs on PC yet... This is probably my favorite STO loot due to even if you 'lose' you win due to you can get those uber Phoenix upgrade kits that require no Dil and that give tons of upgrade xp to items. Turn your rares into commons for them when you run out of rare stuff you want.

Hey, and.. if you can get one of those Chrystalline Epic Consoles... those are... epic. Maybe that's the console you were talking about. Even if you aren't running AP weapons it can be a good console due to the effect and that it is a Universal Console that adds resistance.


I find it hilarious that Kirk is the only one of the captains to appear, but when you meet him he's unconscious and crumpled on the ground, so you never talk to him or even see his face.

Star Trek's 50th gave us some great Chekov, Scotties Son, Uhuru's legs, and....  ^^  Kirk's back..


It's Dil, yeah.  And you get one free box (per account, not per character) a day.

I barely have any Dil, due to trading it all for Zen (I'm up to 550!), so I've just been getting the free boxes.

This weekend is also the new Kobayashi Maru event - once a day you get an event reward, and three of those rewards earns a pair of weapons that get stronger as a fight goes on.  You don't even have to survive to get the reward.  (I haven't gotten past the fourth wave. It ramps up very quickly)

I was caught short on Dil the first time Phoenix boxes came around. I save up for them now!

The Kobayashi Maru gear will become available in the Event Store when you get it. Which is kinda cool, because any of your toons can grab it from there, anytime.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Tahquitz on July 22, 2017, 07:48:51 PM
Curse you, Console & PC Differences! There are no Phoenix Prize Packs on PC yet... This is probably my favorite STO loot due to even if you 'lose' you win due to you can get those uber Phoenix upgrade kits that require no Dil and that give tons of upgrade xp to items. Turn your rares into commons for them when you run out of rare stuff you want.

Probably their way to compensate for Console players not being able to sub or buy LTS.  I remember sub fees were a major hangup for XBox and PS terms of service when CO was first aiming for XBox release.  Now CO is so dependent on MT it couldn't hope to go that route.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 22, 2017, 08:00:59 PM
Probably their way to compensate for Console players not being able to sub or buy LTS.  I remember sub fees were a major hangup for XBox and PS terms of service when CO was first aiming for XBox release.  Now CO is so dependent on MT it couldn't hope to go that route.

Sometimes it's like Console is a whole other game. We already had the new KM on PC. I've seen Phoenix boxes twice already since I started playing. Someone in Fleet said recently that we're due for another round of Phoenix boxes soonish is why I got all excited.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on July 23, 2017, 04:19:22 PM
Just bought another APU Cruiser on the Exchange for 125k, so this time I immediately put it back up for 2 million (the lowest price on there otherwise, though one weisenheimer put one up for 1,999,999).  If it doesn't sell, I'll give it to my Romulan alt.

Oh, and, yeah, it was the Crystalline Absorption Matrix (http://sto.gamepedia.com/Console_-_Universal_-_Crystalline_Absorption_Matrix) console I picked.  (I kinda like the idea of the one that just shoots at everyone - the Automated Defense Turret (http://sto.gamepedia.com/Console_-_Tactical_-_Automated_Defense_Turret) but it's really not that powerful-looking, so I decided to wait until when and if I get a third Rare token.  Today's was only an Uncommon)

Edit: Also, Console does actually have lifetime subscription.  It's 16,750 Zen ($167.50) right now, though that's a sale price.  I'm not sure it's actually a "subscription" so much as just unlocking all the vet awards and other bonuses, like inventory sizes (including dry dock and banks), number of characters, and so on.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 23, 2017, 08:31:51 PM
Just bought another APU Cruiser on the Exchange for 125k, so this time I immediately put it back up for 2 million (the lowest price on there otherwise, though one weisenheimer put one up for 1,999,999).  If it doesn't sell, I'll give it to my Romulan alt.

Oh, and, yeah, it was the Crystalline Absorption Matrix (http://sto.gamepedia.com/Console_-_Universal_-_Crystalline_Absorption_Matrix) console I picked.  (I kinda like the idea of the one that just shoots at everyone - the Automated Defense Turret (http://sto.gamepedia.com/Console_-_Tactical_-_Automated_Defense_Turret) but it's really not that powerful-looking, so I decided to wait until when and if I get a third Rare token.  Today's was only an Uncommon)

Edit: Also, Console does actually have lifetime subscription.  It's 16,750 Zen ($167.50) right now, though that's a sale price.  I'm not sure it's actually a "subscription" so much as just unlocking all the vet awards and other bonuses, like inventory sizes (including dry dock and banks), number of characters, and so on.


I'm glad you got another cheap Cruiser.... Console ship prices are Nuts. Compared to PC.

I got that Crystalline Console not too long after I first started playing from some Event, not the Phoenix boxes. Duh.. it must have been the Crystalline one..!  I thought it was the uberset thing ever there for awhile and it's still one of my favorites.

Hope you're getting those Phoenix item upgrade kits! I forget the name... I'd look it up but.. dangit.. gotta go get laundry. Hopefully you know what I mean. The things that give you tons of item xp and cost no dil to use and that you should use on Double Item XP upgrade weekends if you don't have many.

PC just had a sale on LTS's and so did CO. $167 is Nothing for a lifetime STO sub... if you're not having money problems. Pays off in less than a year.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on July 23, 2017, 09:15:28 PM
I was going to say that finding an APU Cruiser for that cheap seems to be pretty rare, and ... well, it is, but that didn't prevent me from just buying yet another one for 150,000.  I'm starting to feel guilty.  (But, hey, three characters, three APU Cruisers...)
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 24, 2017, 12:28:03 AM
I was going to say that finding an APU Cruiser for that cheap seems to be pretty rare, and ... well, it is, but that didn't prevent me from just buying yet another one for 150,000.  I'm starting to feel guilty.  (But, hey, three characters, three APU Cruisers...)

When you sell one for 2 million is when you should feel guilty...lol

I mean.. they sell that for that much on PC.. It's not a ripoff from what I'm used to. I would never expect to find Any T5 below 2 million. But you're getting them at 150k!

You won't be in your T5-U(s..) long. It's a good upgrade from a T5, ships' Masteries are introduced, and I think it is a good ship. But. You already have ~ 600 Zen and climbing... When you start buying T6's you'll never look back. I didn't learn about the APU until I almost had enough for my first T6. Would have liked to have gotten it sooner like you did. x3.. for.. 150k.. and.. Half the T5-U upgrade cost...
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on July 24, 2017, 10:08:49 AM
The problem with that is that I don't see any Zen-buyable ships that I want for my Klingon main (because there are no T6 Klingon Carriers).  All the T6 ships I want are all cross-faction ships from old lockbox prizes or event prizes, and those can't be bought for Zen.  The only way to get them is to spend tens of millions (or hundreds of millions) of EC on the Exchange.  Even the KDF-only Durgath Temporal Heavy Dreadnought Battlecruiser, which isn't technically a Carrier but still has two Hangar Bays, is still not buyable for Zen (or anywhere on console, from the looks of it).

So if I sell those APUs for 2 million (which is the lowest price for most of them; the 150kks are aberrations), that's just going to go towards funding the cheapest T6 Carrier I can find on the Exchange, the Jem'Hadar Dreadnought Carrier, which starts at 60 million ECs.   The Herald Vonph Dreadnought Carrier that I really want starts at 500 million ECs.  I have about 4 million ECs total right now, so I still have a long way to go.

Basically, I don't just want to buy random T6s just for the sake of having a T6, I have my eye on specific ships, and I'm not looking to start a collection of dozens of T6 ships, I'm looking for a single T6 to be My Ship.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 24, 2017, 05:56:04 PM
Basically, I don't just want to buy random T6s just for the sake of having a T6, I have my eye on specific ships, and I'm not looking to start a collection of dozens of T6 ships, I'm looking for a single T6 to be My Ship.

Yeah I'm kinda the same way. Only difference is, the lockbox ships don't interest me at all and I still have a few Zen/Fleet T6's I want to try. and ... the ship that is My Ship can change. I mean, I might really like a ship today, but, that doesn't mean it's permanently attached to my toon. He's flying it because it's the best thing I could find for him up to this point. I tend to buy based on stats/abilities more than looks but I did turn down a tempting Fleet Sci ship due to it was just too... ugly for me.

If I was buying ships just to start a collection I'd be buying bundles. I can never find a bundle with 2 or more ships in it that I like, though, so I always end up just picking out the 1 ship I do like.

One thing nice about the Bind to Account thing is that there is a lot of flexibility. For example, I have two Escort pilots that are in the same ship - but they are flying with completely different gear and a different look (one is in full Iconian that has an aura and gives your ship a new paint job) and one is Tac and one is Eng and one is Andorian and one is Human and... So, it's not a carbon copy thing. Also, this is just the funnest/most fitting to my playstyle Escort I've found to this point - so I have no problem letting my two Escort toons fly the same ship. I have a very similar story for my Zen Sci T6. My Rom got his own ship. Which is just the Warbird version of my Escort. This one I ended up not liking as much due to it just doesn't seem Warbidy enough. I've got my eye on a Fleet T6 Warbird with battle stealth to replace it. (Who cares if I can't share KDF ships... he's my First and Last KDF toon!).

I never plan to have all my toons fly the same ship - but... it's sure nice to have the option! To be able to have any of my toons fly any of my ships (except the KDF one.............).

But yeah, if you have your eye on a ship you have your eye on a ship. 500 million... whew.. That's a lotta coin! Would almost wipe me out.

I've not hardly been able to play lately. Too pooped. Just been tradeskilling mostly when I do play. Wanted to do the Featured Episode this weekend with one of my Sci pilots but never did. I did do an Endeavor thing, finally, though.. Those things pay off kinda decent! 1k dil and like 50k EC and some mats just for running a pve queue that gave rewards that I also wanted and that was busy due to they are giving rewards to people running it.

They have Brushfire (Featured Episode) and the Endeavor system on Console, yet? That Brushfire gear looks like decent cruiser/sci gear so far but I haven't looked up the set bonuses.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on July 24, 2017, 08:04:08 PM
Gah, now I'm annoyed at the game.  I just finished the Midnight mission (the final one in the Iconian War arc), and picked the Nanite Repair Matrix Trait (a passive that heals your ship automatically whenever it drops below 50% Hull, with a 90 second cooldown) as my reward for the mission.  I got the box, opened the box, and ... no new Trait.  I moved to a different place, I logged in and out, and still nothing.  I don't know if I have to re-run the mission all over again to see if I can try to get it again, or if it's just permanently glitched, but I really wanted that Trait.  >:(

Edit that is after the edits below: Oh, THERE it is!  I was looking for it under Starship Traits, but it's a Personal Space Trait.  I feel dumb.

Edit: I've looked to see if anyone else has had this problem, and it seems that, yes, some people have had it at first, but the trait appeared as soon as they switched maps.  I've switched maps loads of times but ... still nothing.  Someone else said that it took a couple of days for it to appear on their list, though, so I'll wait a bit.

Double Edit: Bleah.  Earlier today, my Romulan character's game froze on a loading screen.  Even when I quit the game and re-opened it, the character was still frozen.  I had to close the game, reopen it, switch characters, play a mission on that character, and then go back to the Romulan before it worked again.  And as I was typing this post, the same thing just happened to my Klingon.  There weren't any updates today, so I'm not sure why it's suddenly bugging out all over the place.

Edit edit: And the freezing thing has happened twice more.  Seems to happen when I go to Sector Space.  I don't know why it suddenly started happening today, but now it's happening all the time.  Maybe the game's just laggy.  I do keep getting logged out quite frequently.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on July 25, 2017, 01:12:45 PM
... just won a Voth Bulwark Dreadnaught Cruiser from the Phoenix Prize Pack.  It's not a T6, but it's a T5-U (with no Token required to upgrade).   It's not a carrier, but it comes with one Hangar Bay and the Ward Repair Ship console.  And it kinda looks like a shark.  It's not the ship I wanted, but I'm definitely going to give it a whirl, if only to unlock its Traits.

So that's exciting.

Game is still randomly freezing, though.  Hopefully today's maintenance will fix that.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 25, 2017, 09:28:46 PM
I can't tell you how many times I


Edit that is after the edits below: Oh, THERE it is!  I was looking for it under Starship Traits, but it's a Personal Space Trait.  I feel dumb.


got an STO reward and then freaked out because I couldn't find it.. Usually ends up being something I have to open in my Inventory..


... just won a Voth Bulwark Dreadnaught Cruiser from the Phoenix Prize Pack.  It's not a T6, but it's a T5-U (with no Token required to upgrade).   It's not a carrier, but it comes with one Hangar Bay and the Ward Repair Ship console.  And it kinda looks like a shark.  It's not the ship I wanted, but I'm definitely going to give it a whirl, if only to unlock its Traits.

So that's exciting.

Game is still randomly freezing, though.  Hopefully today's maintenance will fix that.

I played for Months before I had a T5-U and felt lucky when I got the one I got. You have me beat.

STO will kick me to desktop sometimes when I swap toons 'too much'.. That's been about my only technical prob.

Just keeping up with tradeskilling has seemed like a challenge lately. I was going to say I haven't been playing but tradeskilling counts!  : ) My shelves stay stocked.. And I usually get at least 1 Infected Space queue dps parse to confirm it still sucks. hehe.

Waaah  I want *my* Phoenix Prize Packs, now..
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on July 26, 2017, 12:20:14 AM
There was apparently an update today.  No new real content (still no Brushfire), but they swapped out the Privateer Lockbox for the Infinity Lockbox, and added new ships (well, "new" to console) to the Lobi Crystal Consortium, including the Advanced Obelisk Carrier.  New ships are appearing on the exchange, and the two T6 Carriers I want have dropped in price ever so slightly (since both are in the Infinity Lockbox, and one is now at the Lobi store) - the Jem'Hadar carrier is 55 million (instead of 60), and the Herald Carrier is down to 350 million (instead of 500).  I hope that trend continues.

The prices on the Exchange are weird right now.  The top-priced stuff is going down, but the lower-end stuff (the Mirror Vo'Quvs and Mirror Escorts, which I got for under 200k) are all 500k and rising.

And the Phoenix Prize Pack guy is gone again.  Ah well.

Oh... and as I'm typing this... there's another APU for 175,000!  Grabbing it and unpacking for the Romulan it this time (the other two sold for 1.5 million each, ten times what I paid for them, so I'm up to over 7 million ECs), if only for the Admiralty bonus.  (Though I might actually use it for her)
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 26, 2017, 12:59:33 AM

Oh... and as I'm typing this... there's another APU for 175,000!  Grabbing it and unpacking for the Romulan it this time (the other two sold for 1.5 million each, ten times what I paid for them, so I'm up to over 7 million ECs), if only for the Admiralty bonus.  (Though I might actually use it for her)

lol what a racket....!

I've heard of Lobi and the Lobi store but that's it. I always assumed Lobi came from lockboxes and have no idea how to access the Lobi store. Did we just switch roles? You know other stuff about the game I dunno, too. Like that Captain stuff (I knew Kirk's back) and I never really paid attention to Mish ships before - as in, trying to get one.

Hey, that reminds me.. Where'd Exxar go? I offered him some gear and a Fleet invite here and then didn't log on for like 3 days (or something like this... sorry!) but I did accept his Friend's invite and sent him some mail in-game.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Tahquitz on July 26, 2017, 01:24:44 AM
I've heard of Lobi and the Lobi store but that's it. I always assumed Lobi came from lockboxes and have no idea how to access the Lobi store.

Yup, like Tarmalune Trade Bars in Neverwinter Online, and Drifter Salvage in Champions Online, Lobi Crystals are a lockbox-only currency designed to reward people for opening lockboxes consistently.  You can only get Lobi Crystals by opening lockboxes with Master Keys (MT or off the Exchange.)  In STO, you can open the Lobi Store by double clicking on the Lobi Crystals themselves as an item.

Lobi in the 100's and less is only good for consumables.  For a Tier 6 ship, expect to collect 600-900 to earn that.  You typically get Lobi in small amounts (most often 10 or less, rarely up to 40) per lockbox opened.

Like Dilithium, Lobi is locked to your account.  Can't trade it or sell it on the Exchange.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on July 26, 2017, 03:06:07 AM
There's also a shop on Drozana Station, so you can look over the wares even if you don't have any crystals to trade.  That's how I know they added new ships to its selection.

Also, my Romulan Tactical Officer is now Level 60 (and still wearing the civilian outfit she had on her home planet).  Next, to get my TOS Vulcan Science Officer (he's totally different from Spock - he's blond!) to level 60, too. (My Klingon main, for the record, is an Engineering Officer)
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 26, 2017, 01:59:44 PM
Variety is a good thing. Although, I didn't get as varietist as you when it comes to races. The only Fed race that gets a (very small..) Space bonus is Humans so I've stuck with them 3 out of 5 times so far and probly will, going forward. I like playing my Andorian most, though. I mean if we're going to fantasize, why be human.. Because of the bonus. Only reason.

Roms and Klingons get a Space bonus? I forget.. I think Roms do. I know you can get ... gah.. what's it called.. Bridge Officers with... Superior Operative? Covert Operative? An even better Space bonus than Leadership (humans).

Who doesn't like Engineer's Miracle Worker. Photonic Fleet from Science is decent and even decenter since it got buffed recently but I can't think of anything else noteworthy in Sci. Tac? Deeps. My tac toons feel deepsier. More deepsy?

Should be smooth sailing for some solid playtime this weekend. Looking very much forward to it. Drozana Station.... I had no idea.. Learned another something new.. And the whole story on Lobi, as far as that goes, is new. I always assumed it was lockbox swag so I tuned it out but it's interesting to know how it works, now.

By the time I run Brushfire it'll be on console! Passing up that easy spec point... shame on me. I think we're on week 2 rewards, starting today, on pc. Depending on what the set bonuses end up being I might try that gear on a sci ship I'm retooling. With maybe some Nausican mish gear or some rep gear.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Exxar on July 27, 2017, 05:54:19 PM
Hey, that reminds me.. Where'd Exxar go? I offered him some gear and a Fleet invite here and then didn't log on for like 3 days (or something like this... sorry!) but I did accept his Friend's invite and sent him some mail in-game.
Still here, well at least lurking the forum :)

I was in the game for a couple of days after your offer, but I'd say I hit your period when you were not in the game (remember such a post from you a couple of days back) and then SWL snagged me again. Will definitively get back once SWL lets go.

Thanks for the offer! (don't remember thanking you before)
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 27, 2017, 08:39:41 PM
Still here, well at least lurking the forum :)

I was in the game for a couple of days after your offer, but I'd say I hit your period when you were not in the game (remember such a post from you a couple of days back) and then SWL snagged me again. Will definitively get back once SWL lets go.

Thanks for the offer! (don't remember thanking you before)

I was playing and posting like every day, until then.. Things picked up with work and I just totally got out of game mode. Such crummy timing! Sorry about that. I'd have shot you a Fleet invite but I had to have a toon name and I just had an @, and, I didn't know what level newb gear to send ya.

You're welcome for the offer and it still stands just sorry I missed you.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 28, 2017, 05:59:28 PM
I'm not nearly as active with STO lately but I have been actively playing the Railroad Tycoon version of it.

I'm currently up to ~ 500 million EC (I never can seem to break this..) and nearly 1 million Dil (hellloooooo Phoenix Boxes).  I even have 1k Zen socked away.

On the subject of currencies... When I was actively playing CO I never would consider spending Q on anything but buying Zen. In STO, they have gotten me to spend quite a lot of Dil... (their version of Q).
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on July 29, 2017, 01:31:19 AM
Man.  I wish I had that much.  I have 11 million EC and 1000 Zen, but the ships I want are still so far away.

I've been told that the secret to making money fast is crafting, but nothing I craft sells for anything at the Exchange. (And I mean anything.  They don't sell at all, regardless of how low I price them)
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 29, 2017, 01:53:15 PM
I don't buy much and have been at it a long time (relative to those totals) is my secret when it comes to EC. I get a trickle from the Exchange but it's a constant trickle.. I probably sell my stuff too low and am probably selling the 'wrong' stuff but I get my trickle. Started out by making 1 piece of gear that I knew I always wanted to have in my ships at the time, cut the price to 1/5th what I saw in the Exchange (and was still selling things for ~ double what they cost me) , sold a few, and went from there.

I've been impressed with your Zen farming up to this point. You're already almost halfway to your first Zen T6 when they're on sale. I know Zen ships aren't your thing, but, that's still pretty good.

One thing I liked about STO from the start is that I can do no-brainer/non-action stuff like playing the market. One step up from vegging out in front of the T.V.. I have to be at least somewhat in the zone to do queue's or play CO or even running mishes. Sometimes I'm not in the zone at all but I don't want to TV veg either. STO's still got plenty to do on those days, too.

Sounds like Console's Exchange has it's own quirks and will take it's own figuring out. I mean, look at the ship flopping you've been doing. Anything less than 2 million for any T5 on PC is cheap. PC's Exchange is consistently active is one thing it has going for it. Sometimes more than others but I can't remember a 24 hour period going by that hasn't sold me something on the Exchange, for some months now.

I was going to scroll down to find it but I can't atm. I seem to remember 11 million EC being a Lot, to you, recently! hehe. You're doing ok..... 1k Zen for how long you've been playing seems a lot to me.

If you ever get to the day where you're plunking down a half a billion for lockbox T6's on a regular basis then that would be a feat.. I can afford (1) but .... nooooo way. Took too long..
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on July 29, 2017, 11:04:45 PM
There are a few Zen-buyable ships that I've been considering, but I still need 2000 more Zen to get them.  That's probably another couple of weeks worth of Dil grinding.

They're doing the Tholian Red Alert event this weekend, so I tried it, and ... I can't say I enjoyed it.  Fought a bunch of really, really powerful ships, died a bunch of times (though this was on my Romulan, whose ship is more of a glass cannon than my Klingon's), all for the reward of Literally Nothing.  (Then again, we did fail.  But I thought there'd be at least some partial rewards for completing the 1/1 objective and 4/5 of the other objective, instead of ... nothing).  Unless the reward for Full Success is really, really, REALLY good (thousands of Dil, hundreds of Marks of my choice, or something along those lines), it's a waste of time to try and aaaaalmost succeed.

Edit: Gave in and bought one Lockbox Key.  Got... crap out of the lockbox (a ground trait that I don't really care about, though if I'm lucky I can sell it for 10 million EC)  And now I'm down to 970 Zen.   Ah well.   I've just confirmed my hate of gambling.

Looks like Vonph Dreadnoughts are coming down in price, so that's good.  They now start at only 300,000,000.  ("Only", he says)
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Tahquitz on July 30, 2017, 03:59:08 AM
There are a few Zen-buyable ships that I've been considering, but I still need 2000 more Zen to get them.  That's probably another couple of weeks worth of Dil grinding.

They're doing the Tholian Red Alert event this weekend, so I tried it, and ... I can't say I enjoyed it.  Fought a bunch of really, really powerful ships, died a bunch of times (though this was on my Romulan, whose ship is more of a glass cannon than my Klingon's), all for the reward of Literally Nothing.  (Then again, we did fail.  But I thought there'd be at least some partial rewards for completing the 1/1 objective and 4/5 of the other objective, instead of ... nothing).  Unless the reward for Full Success is really, really, REALLY good (thousands of Dil, hundreds of Marks of my choice, or something along those lines), it's a waste of time to try and aaaaalmost succeed.

I believe if you fail, it doesn't trigger a 30 minute cooldown, so you're free to enter another Tholian Queue.  If you do succeed, that's it for a half hour.  But yeah, Star Trek Online isn't too big on consolation prizes.  (On the PC version they tend to give away a lot of stuff over the course of the year, so it's forgiveable.)  Losing at a PvE queue (Red Alerts, Featured Missions, and other queues) grants nothing.

Quote
Edit: Gave in and bought one Lockbox Key.  Got... crap out of the lockbox (a ground trait that I don't really care about, though if I'm lucky I can sell it for 10 million EC)  And now I'm down to 970 Zen.   Ah well.   I've just confirmed my hate of gambling.

Looks like Vonph Dreadnoughts are coming down in price, so that's good.  They now start at only 300,000,000.  ("Only", he says)

Lockboxes are the bane or blessing of most folks.  The drop rates are unfortunate, as to make sure people keep 'buying' they have a lot of junk.  But on the flip side, there's a healthy market in selling Master Keys on the Exchange because of that.  (Some think it's exploitative, but if you cut your price 10-20% cheaper than the lowest asking price, they sell quickly and keep eagle eyed Free players happy.  And a 10-20% cut is still a few million ECs if you're short on those.)  But regular weekly play of Daily Missions at Level 50-60 gains a million or two Energy Credits anyway per week (what you'd get on the Exchange if keys aren't selling well), so... whatever works.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 30, 2017, 05:10:11 PM
Edit: Gave in and bought one Lockbox Key.

These have no allure whatsoever to me. I can't imagine spending any stipend on them and they cost 5 million EC (each) on PC. These things *seem* targeted at 1.) People with plenty of disposable cash 2.) Gamblers that don't mind losing sooo much cash in STO or CO due to it's not as much cash as they could be losing elsewhere. 3.) People that have no idea they are likely going to have to open a ton of boxes to get anything they want.

I'm not criticizing you for buying one stinky key (that you probably got for at least half the price that's on PC) - just commentary.

But yeah, Star Trek Online isn't too big on consolation prizes.  (On the PC version they tend to give away a lot of stuff over the course of the year, so it's forgiveable.)  Losing at a PvE queue (Red Alerts, Featured Missions, and other queues) grants nothing.

You can lose a normal PVE queue and get no rewards? Interesting. I used to solo Borg Disconnecteds before they fixed the you can re-enter into the queue solo after getting kicked offline bug. How? It's un-losable. You literally cannot lose. The worst thing that can happen is you get less Marks than if you completed more of the objectives. I can't remember ever finishing a Normal pve queue and getting no rewards. Diminished rewards, yes.

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Castegyre on July 30, 2017, 05:45:24 PM
I bought a couple of packs of keys when they were on sale recently. I'm not at all a fan of lock boxes in games, but I also had over 12k currency saved up from my LTS with no idea what to spend it on. I felt a little dirty, but only a little.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 30, 2017, 07:48:27 PM
I bought a couple of packs of keys when they were on sale recently. I'm not at all a fan of lock boxes in games, but I also had over 12k currency saved up from my LTS with no idea what to spend it on. I felt a little dirty, but only a little.

I felt a little dirty, but only a little.

lol...

Were those the packs that came with the "Ultimate" item upgrades? If I had currency laying around everywhere and had nothing to do with it, I might have been tempted by those. Instant upgrade to mk xiv and gold, I think? I have Fleeties.. errr Fleetmates that have like Eeeeeverything of theirs mk xiv and gold. I wouldn't mind having ONE piece.. or two... ha.

I've devolved to depression era type values, in general, and, I don't have currency laying around that I don't know what to do with, so, they don't tempt me at all. I'm surprised that not only are they as sellable as they have been but that they continue to be. It's been a kinda curiosity to me since awhile.

I can't/am not trying to say anything bad about you or TG for buying them. I bought CO keys once too just to try it due to I could get a bunch at the time and everyone was telling me the junk I could sell from them would even out for what I was spending if ... I just bought enough keys.. Yeah..

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on July 30, 2017, 08:47:29 PM
I bought the one key with Zen. They're on sale, so I decided to see what the fuss was all about (and those "So-N-So@So-N-So has won a T6 ship!" messages keep popping up on my screen every two seconds, so I thought my chances were... better than they were).

Also, I completed the 10 Tour of Duty missions for the Klingon faction, which means it's going to take me days to refine all the Dil I just got, so I'll be able to replace that 100-ish Zen pretty quickly.  (Edit: in fact, I'm back up to over 1000 again already)

And with any luck, I'll be able to sell what I did win in the Exchange for a decent amount.  I got a ground trait, and I chose Molt, because (a) it goes for about 10 million in the exchange, and (b) in case it *doesn't* sell, it actually sounds useful.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 30, 2017, 11:06:39 PM
I bought the one key with Zen. They're on sale, so I decided to see what the fuss was all about (and those "So-N-So@So-N-So has won a T6 ship!" messages keep popping up on my screen every two seconds, so I thought my chances were... better than they were).

Also, I completed the 10 Tour of Duty missions for the Klingon faction, which means it's going to take me days to refine all the Dil I just got, so I'll be able to replace that 100-ish Zen pretty quickly.  (Edit: in fact, I'm back up to over 1000 again already)

And with any luck, I'll be able to sell what I did win in the Exchange for a decent amount.  I got a ground trait, and I chose Molt, because (a) it goes for about 10 million in the exchange, and (b) in case it *doesn't* sell, it actually sounds useful.

Well.... the currency that's important to you is EC, for those hundreds of millions of EC costing ships.. 100 Zen buys you 1 key that's worth a semi-astronomical 5 million EC (on PC..) (for *1* key!). Soooo if console key prices are similar and you get 10 million EC out of your 1 key I'd say your flip mastery skills have triumphed once again  : )
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Tahquitz on July 31, 2017, 05:33:13 AM
Well.... the currency that's important to you is EC, for those hundreds of millions of EC costing ships.. 100 Zen buys you 1 key that's worth a semi-astronomical 5 million EC (on PC..) (for *1* key!). Soooo if console key prices are similar and you get 10 million EC out of your 1 key I'd say your flip mastery skills have triumphed once again  : )

The same with any MMO, there are three levels of selling loot.  (Example: 4 million avg. sale price for a Master Key on the Exchange)

Short the Average Price -- You take a hit on the sale by undercutting the lowest price and selling it for less than everyone else. (Sell your Master Key for 3.75 mil EC...)  However, you can turn out a sale in minutes.  Great when you have a quantity of items and looking to turn over quickly.

Set a Fair Price -- You price your item the same as everyone else.  (Sell yours for 4 million or a little higher, maybe 4.25.) When demand gets short and someone needs a quantity of items at any price, that's when you make the sale, but it'll take a few hours, maybe a day.

Go for Full Price -- You set a price on an item that costs more than a typical sale.  (Sell the key for 5 mil EC.)  Here, you'll wait a few days before it clears.  If you only have one item to sell and time isn't an issue, this may be your best tactic if you need a specific amount.  THAT, and you've done enough homework to know this is where the average price CAN hit when demand increases.

There's a fourth approach, but it doesn't work very well...

How does I Exchange? LULZ If you are unreasonable with your price, (Want key? 12,000,000 EC) then no one will buy it and the Exchange will return your listing unpurchased in 72 hours.  You're free to relist it for that much, of course, but it's wasted time. 

This also happens with items that are 1-5 in quantity listed on the Exchange, so folks set the price to something ridiculous (the Exchange ceiling is 1.5 billion EC), then when it fails to sell, come down from that incrementally until a sale does happen.  Slightly more reasonable, but a lot of work to clinch a sale, for example, that recent Tier 6 Escort drop from an R&D Sale event that just ended recently.  Price? 1 billion EC.  But it's still gouging.  ("Because of scarcity, they'll pay what I ask" only works when folks have that many ECs to toss on such a thing, and to be honest, EC is simply not as useful in large quantities as Dil or Zen.)
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on July 31, 2017, 04:04:53 PM
Keys are only about 3 million on console, but severe undercutting is how I generally like to sell things on the Exchange, along with using non-round numbers, to make them stand out more.  Rather than 200,000, for example, I'll price something at 222,222 or 155,555.

What you said about really wanting EC more than Zen made me realize that buying a bunch of keys (especially right now, when they're on sale) and selling them would put me most of the way to a Jem'Hadar Carrier (I'd have well over 40 million).  Or I could use them to open Infinity Lockboxes and sell whatever I get - which may sell for more, but will probably also sell more slowly (but also has a slim chance of just getting me a ship directly).

It's all kind of a moot point right now, though, because my wife just bought Fortnight, so I don't know when I'm going to get to play STO again. :D
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 31, 2017, 08:28:50 PM
Yeah, when I hit Post, earlier, it dawned on me that you made out even better due to keys being on sale. "Only" 3 million EC for keys is still a lot (5 is nuts..). When I consider that people who are in the lockbox game consistently say that they are opening 100, 200, 300 lockboxes at one time..


It's all kind of a moot point right now, though, because my wife just bought Fortnight, so I don't know when I'm going to get to play STO again. :D

Well, I'd say that you gave STO a very fair trial! You were kinda ripping it up. When I'd been playing as long as you I was still having a hard time coming up with Rep EC's for leveling. You know, the paltry (and mostly refundable when you sell the gear you get) contribution amount of EC's that's required for Rep Dailies. I was even scraping for those funds, sometimes. You found your niche with ships, learned some game lore I didn't know.

Man, I had really been into STO before/when you and Exxar started up and then IRL just started sucking the life out of me.. Crummy timing! Too bad that console and PC can't join the same queue's, or send mail, too.

It's been fun watching you progress. I could play without playing  : )

Well played, sir. I'd say your knowledge of the game and acquisition of funds to this point earns an A+
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on July 31, 2017, 09:16:24 PM
For quick cash I usually just do the Tour The Galaxy daily.  I still haven't worked out the best route to take to hit every system in the Beta Quadrant, but I can usually get all but one on my Klingon, who has faster recharge on the Slipstream Drive, so I often get over 600k with him, and 400-500k on my Romulan.  I'll start doing it with the Vulcan when he gets to Level 50 and unlocks the Slipstream, but at level 30 it's just not worth it.

So I'm getting a decent amount of money in every day even when I don't managed to sell anything on the exchange, more than enough to afford Reputation Dailies and Hourlies.  And since the gear I get from filling in a Daily/Hourly Reputation is usually worse than what I have at this point, I tend to just sell it, which more than makes up for the cash I put into it.

(THE STUDENT BECOMES THE MASTER!)

I hope I can get back to STO soon.  Fortnite is kinda fun, but I feel all fumble-fingers when I play it (and you actually have to gain around 20 levels to unlock the character class I want to play as), so I'm going to head back to STO as soon as I can :D
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 31, 2017, 11:49:32 PM

(THE STUDENT BECOMES THE MASTER!)


I don't know if You read those words from My mind or if *I* projected them onto You. I just know that I thought them more than once and you wrote them  : p

hehe
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on August 01, 2017, 09:29:18 PM
I played a little last night, and I blew all my Zen on keys, and I'm now up to 45 million EC in the bank.  (I would have about 51 million, but I kept two of the keys and used them to open Infinity Lockboxes, which both gave me crap - just a Duty Officer and a 150 Fleet Credit Voucher, neither of which sell for anything significant on the Exchange, so I just used them.  That was a mistake I will not repeat.  I'm done with lockboxes.  I haven't even managed to sell the Trait I got from the first one yet, despite lowering the price to literally 40% of what the next-highest one on the Exchange is)

And, unfortunately, the Jem'Hadar Carrier has increased in price to 60 million, so I'm still quite a way away from being able to buy one.

Going to just keep grinding for Dil/Zen and selling those keys.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on August 02, 2017, 03:14:40 AM
I haven't been allowed to login, in over a week. arc is being stupid. I uninstalled and redownloaded, and still it wont get updated.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 02, 2017, 01:08:23 PM
That was a mistake I will not repeat.  I'm done with lockboxes.

Yeah, this was my experience with them, too. Unless you can buy flowing amounts of them and don't mind any losses, they're probably going to make you unhappy.

I haven't been allowed to login, in over a week. arc is being stupid. I uninstalled and redownloaded, and still it wont get updated.

Arc is... I like Arc about as much as lockbox keys.

If you want to get to STO directly try something like "X:\STO\Star Trek Online_en\Star Trek Online.exe"

X, being your drive letter the game is on and the rest are default directories and the executable. The idea is to access the client directly - bypassing ... Arc.

Can do the same thing for CO.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on August 03, 2017, 08:09:07 AM
Yeah, this was my experience with them, too. Unless you can buy flowing amounts of them and don't mind any losses, they're probably going to make you unhappy.

Arc is... I like Arc about as much as lockbox keys.

If you want to get to STO directly try something like "X:\STO\Star Trek Online_en\Star Trek Online.exe"

X, being your drive letter the game is on and the rest are default directories and the executable. The idea is to access the client directly - bypassing ... Arc.

Can do the same thing for CO.
I would have done that but I deleted the entire games folder when I uninstalled arc. :(. Someone on the sto facebook page said to use steam. I am crossing my fingers in hope that this will work.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 03, 2017, 05:59:31 PM
Um. Yay  : )

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/10599084

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 03, 2017, 11:13:12 PM
I just bought 220 PPP's... Why not a new Zen ship? Because I highly support Phoenix Prize Packs.

As a connoisseur of fine loots I think PPP's are nicely thought out loot. For example, I can always get something useful from them and they have the added excitement of maybe giving me an uber new T6. But the loot is bind to character! You may say. No... More genius.. Like Lobi, (I recently learned...) you can activate the PPP store with the *Account Tradable* tokens that the PPP's give. Meaning... Toons I haven't even rolled yet can get PPP loot at their leisure due to I can stuff tokens into my Account Bank and then any of my toons can grab the tokens, open up the Phoenix Prize Pack Store, and grab the loot they want. GENIUS! I can even open up all 220 Prize Packs right now to see if I get any T6's and my unborn toons still have access to PPP Store loot, whenever they want it. Even.. more... Genius.

It's a good lewt.

*nod*


----

argh, I failed my Ninja Edit roll! I was gonna say that these are like the opposite of Lockboxes but decided I'd kicked lockboxes enough lately.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 04, 2017, 02:36:29 AM
The results are in...

(https://app.box.com/shared/static/6m4t1ijrcczzpz3x9l65vp3wdhw3aycg.jpg)

I opened every PPP like a mini Christmas present, hoping every single Pack would have a T6 (Epic) token until, like, the last 30 something, when I thought, naaahhhh, not gonna happen. Then I got one.

Worth noting.. I opened 230 PPP's and got (1) Ultra Rare. TG opened... 3?
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Tahquitz on August 04, 2017, 04:31:03 AM
The real unnamed faction of Star Trek Online... the random seed.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on August 04, 2017, 11:58:01 AM
I opened... five or six, I think.

Next time I think I'll get more than the one-a-day that you get for free, because Phoenix Packs are a lot better than Lockboxes.  Even the worst prize is incredibly useful.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on August 04, 2017, 03:34:28 PM
I finally have 50 million ECs! ... but T6 Jem'Hadar Carriers are back up to 65 million.   The lowest T6s are 59 million.

Keep on truckin', I guess....
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 04, 2017, 06:51:09 PM
50 million... Lawdy.

59 million... Lawdy!

Are we playing the same game? I distinctly remember sucking for EC's around the point you are at and most of my posts revolved around "I'm having a hard time figuring out which part of my ship is the front". I was on a tiny screen at the time, in my defense. Plus, when I was saving up for auction house T6's the *cheapest* ones were ~ 200 million. Then I saw how long it takes (me...) to come up with 200, 300...400+.. million and I've been a Zen ship man ever since. With a bonus PPP ship recently tossed in  : )


Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on August 04, 2017, 08:09:12 PM
All I can say is that the prices on Console seem... very different.  (Also, since I'm getting 1 million EC a day easy just from Tour the Galaxy - and that will be 1.5 million a day once I get my third character to level 50 - it's not exceptionally difficult to have some money, just not the money I need)

... 200 million is still what I need for my Vonph. :(
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on August 05, 2017, 03:23:28 AM
I got the Jem'Hadar Carrier!  One popped up on the Exchange for 55 million, so I snagged it.  2 million left in the bank.

Now to start saving for the Vonph.... :D

Edit: Heh, you know, I like this ship's stats, but as far as appearance goes, it's one of the most generic-looking ships I've ever seen.  I kept having the nagging feeling I'd seen it before (and not in Star Trek), and then I got it.  It's from Galaga:

(https://sto.gamepedia.com/media/sto.gamepedia.com/2/2e/Shipshot_Jemhadar_Carrier_T5u.png)
(https://68.media.tumblr.com/avatar_d99f745f260f_128.png)

(That particular image of the Carrier doesn't really show it very well, but it's really noticeable with the default hull color and configuration)
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 06, 2017, 12:18:47 AM
I got the Jem'Hadar Carrier! 

That got an lol..

Man, I beat you in getting a bind to character T6 by like 5 seconds.

Think I'm going to save mine for a Cruiser/Tac newb that's yet to be rolled up. That Ferengi Warship looks kinda tempting. Because it has "Ferengi" in it, mostly. I used holo images of a Ferengi ship before and liked flying around in that.

I might just save my ship token like The 40 Year Old Virgin did with his Oscar Goldman doll. Take it out of the bank every once in awhile and shine up the box.

There was news from the Las Vegas convention in Fleet chat, earlier. Something about a whole new quadrant.. faction.. Fleet holding (that's a planet) and that's just the little bit I got in on.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on August 06, 2017, 12:29:17 AM
That's awesome.  Now that I have a T6 ship, I need something to use it in (other than replaying missions and doing PvE Queues), so I'm looking forward to new content. :D  I do still want the Vonph, but it'll have to wait.

I'm also looking into a slightly better ship for my Romulan.  I don't necessarily "need" a T6 for her yet, but I want a better T5, probably a T5-U, because the Ha'feh Warbird is pretty darn fragile, even for an Escort.  I have an APU for her, but I want her to have an Escort or Raider.  I should be able to grab one for under 10 million (under 5 million, even), but I'm trying to figure out which ships have the Heavy Weapon slot.  (If the Klingon is the Carrier Engineer, she's the Heavy Weapons Tactical Officer) Supposedly, all the ones I'm looking at - the Tholian Meshwaver, the Nihydron Destroyer, the Kazon Heavy Raider, and the Sphere Builder Arehbes Destroyer - have the slot, but I can't find direct confirmation of that.

If they all have it, then I have a choice to make.  The Nihydron Destroyer has the highest Hull Health (11,000 higher than the Ha'feh), but the lowest turn rate of the four.  The Kazon Raider has the best turn rate and Boff layout, with three Universal slots, one of which is a Lt Com, but only two aft weapon slots, the lowest Shield multiplier, and the lowest Hull (though still 5,000 higher than the Ha'feh).  The Sphere Builder has all-around decent stats but only one Engineering Console slot and no Tac Lt Com Boff slot (just a Tac Lt).  And the Meshweaver has the highest Shield multiplier (and my favorite design of the four), but it has fewer Boff slots than the other three ships and is tied for lowest Hull with the Kazon Raider.  (And I'm mostly writing this out so I can see the advantages and disadvantages for myself more than trying to explain them to you) :D  Decisions, decisions... I guess it'll also depend on what their prices are when I check the game again tomorrow.

One goal is reached, new goals emerge.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 06, 2017, 10:17:21 PM
Now that I have a T6 ship, I need something to use it in

This is the point where I started looking more seriously at gear and at upgrading the gear I settled on. Still do this.

Then I moved to parsing Advanced Infected Space queueueue's. Still do this, too.

Mostly I'm now in Ferengi mode and since awhile now. Haven't fired a single weapon the past I dunno how many times I've logged in. This is what I was saying to STO critics, before - STO isn't all about Holy Trinity. It's about whatever you want it to be about, within the bounds of what's currently available in the game. Like a classic Space Game.

I want to play some CO this weekend but there is what seems to be a huge patch waiting for me, there. Just playing CO for variety and because of the players and because it's been fun the past few times I logged in. When I log into STO there is no shortage whatsoever of things to occupy my mouse clicks. I've had periods since I started playing where I was wondering what things to do next but .. I've found them. Now it's more a matter of, 'I really would like to get in at least one Space battle before I log'..
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on August 07, 2017, 08:04:11 PM
Yeah, I'm pretty much just gathering gear now - upgrading what I have, trying to track down unique pieces, mostly with an eye on survivability. Particularly for my Romulan glass cannon, who I'm trying to make a little less glassy and a little more cannon.  Romulan Tier 2 Reputation (+10% Shields) and Nukara Tier 2 Reputation (+10% Hull) both help with that, so I'm also working on that.

My Klingon has been in a good place survivability-wise ever since I picked up the Vo'quv, and it's only gotten better with subsequent ships, so I'm no longer worried about him. I'm just cleaning house with him now.  Incidentally, I've re-named my Jem'Hadar Carrier the IKS Gha'laqa.

My Vulcan is stuck.  He's up to the Nimbus III arc, but Nimbus III is broken on consoles right now (probably something similar to the Alpha Quadrant bug - the loading screen just hangs)  Edit: they're going to be fixing that this afternoon (well, afternoon where I am), so I'll be able to run through that arc tonight or tomorrow!
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Power Arc X on August 08, 2017, 06:08:16 AM
  I can't  access STO atm  to verify  but I  believe  you can purchase the Obelisk  Carrier  from the ship requisition  officer in earth space dock, DS9  and the  shipyard for KDF. I think they cost 100-500 k dil.
  Another  easy way to make EC is to sell doffs  on the exchange. There are a few doff missions that can reward you with additional  doffs which can be exchanged  for 3 doffs of a lower tier. 1 very rare doff an make 27 common doffs, rare doffs can make 9 common doffs  and 1 uncommon  doff can make 3 common. The common  doffs are used  for Fleet projects  and sell pretty  quick.
   You can also do the Lore daily  on Star fleet Academy  or the Klingon Academy  for 480 dil which takes about 20 seconds  to do if you go to the STO GAMEPEDIA  website. Just Google  STO Gamepedia  Lore and  it'll  lead to the  correct page with all the answers for the daily  quiz. There's  also a lot of good information  there.
   There is  also a ton of good videos  on YouTube. Timberwolf , Oden Knight,  Brent Justice have their  own channels  and also look up this video  STAR TREK ONLINE - EPS, THE SECRET  TO  DPS(it's by Sarcasm  Detector). It's a 35 minute  video but it will help  you  understand  how to get to 125+ in weapons  power  and how to keep  it  there. I know  the nerfs earlier  this year changed plasmonic  leech but it will help.
   When you  buy a T6  from the C-store  the trait that  comes with  the ship has to be unlocked  through  leveling  in the Ship Mastery. A couple  of  Borg Red Alerts  will unlock the trait.
  I hope  that helps  you.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on August 08, 2017, 11:49:10 AM
I'm long since past wanting the Obelisk Carrier (https://sto.gamepedia.com/Obelisk_Carrier) (which doesn't cost Dil at all, but Fleet Modules and Fleet Credits - I have loads of Fleet Credits, but no Modules), since I have my T6 Jem'Hadar Dreadnought Carrier (https://sto.gamepedia.com/Jem%27Hadar_Dreadnought_Carrier_(T6)), and I'm working on unlocking its Traits, so there's no rush to get him other T6s right now.  In fact, I was kinda over the Obelisk when I bought the Mirror Vo'Quv Carrier (https://sto.gamepedia.com/Mirror_Universe_Vo%27Quv_Carrier), which has only slightly lower stats but better Hangar pets.

I spent most of today on my Romulan, getting the last few (hundred thousand) ECs I needed to buy a Ship Upgrade from the Exchange, and that really boosted her survivability, thanks to an eleven-thousand-point jump in the ship's (https://sto.gamepedia.com/Nihydron_Destroyer) base Hull (and that's before the buffs from my skills, traits, and gear passives).  The extra Tac Console slot and the new Traits are nice for the DPS, too.  I'll probably eventually get her a T6 Warbird (I'm thinking about the Jhu'ael (https://sto.gamepedia.com/Jhu%27ael_Tactical_Carrier_Warbird), but that can wait.  Frankly, getting the Vonph for my Klingon is still a higher priority, though neither is a top priority

Now that I'll finally be able to start seriously playing my Vulcan again, I'll have to start looking at T5-U Science ships for him to replace whatever freebie I get at level 40.  (I know you don't have to match ship to career, but it amuses me to do so)

I started another Fed character, a Benzite, but I haven't even gotten him through the first Academy mission yet.  I was going to remake my Ferenghi from the Mac version, but changed my mind at the last second.  Considering deleting him and making a Gorn instead.  (Or not deleting him and making a Gorn as my final character)

The Doff boosting requires spending Dil that .... I don't have.  Oh, I *make* a good amount of it, but I trade it for Zen constantly.

I've watched some YouTube videos, but mostly to drool over the Vonph in action.  Most of my info I'm getting from the STO Wiki and the STO Builds Reddit.  (What I really need to do is consolidate my weapons so that they're all doing the same type of damage, and then equip a Tac Console that boosts that type of damage)

So a sincere thanks for the advice, but I think you're about... two pages too late :D
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 08, 2017, 09:03:12 PM
 
  Another  easy way to make EC is to sell doffs  on the exchange. There are a few doff missions that can reward you with additional  doffs which can be exchanged  for 3 doffs of a lower tier. 1 very rare doff an make 27 common doffs, rare doffs can make 9 common doffs  and 1 uncommon  doff can make 3 common. The common  doffs are used  for Fleet projects  and sell pretty  quick.
   You can also do the Lore daily  on Star fleet Academy  or the Klingon Academy  for 480 dil which takes about 20 seconds  to do if you go to the STO GAMEPEDIA  website. Just Google  STO Gamepedia  Lore and  it'll  lead to the  correct page with all the answers for the daily  quiz. There's  also a lot of good information  there.

Everyone has their own secret for becoming rich in STO. TG has his ship flopping & Tours of the Galaxy and.., I have my tradeskilling, Fleet mates are making a mint from doing Ground Elites... And so on.

STO's a rich game. No Pun intended, but I'll take credit for it  : )

On the subject of farming... Farming seems to be my Summer playstyle. Winter can hopefully be the time to play with new toys.

I've got a bigillion Phoenix tokens, a T6 token is waiting for me that I haven't even decided which ship to choose from it yet, and I just cha-chinged enough Zen to get another (when on sale..) C/Z store ship that I haven't decided on yet. Oh yeah (edit..), there's also at least 1 Fleet T6 that I want to try and I could get like 6 Fleet T6's right now if I wanted.

Dunno when I'll play with any of the new toys, maybe not until Winter. Gonna farm some more, tonite. Make some newb gear.. The newb gear thing makes me feel like I'm contributing to the game, somehow.. as well as making some EC's.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on August 09, 2017, 12:39:29 PM
With Nimbus III unbugged, my Vulcan is finally level 40, and has several Tier 5 Mirror Universe ships that I picked up for super-cheap  some weeks back.  They were 150k at the time, but the price has jumped up considerably since then.  None of them are upgradable to T5-U, so I plan to only use the free Science Vessel, but the two Mirror Escorts and the Mirror Star Cruiser will help with Admirality missions when those unlock.  Or if I want a change of pace.

I realized that a game I've been looking forward to for quite a while finally releases tomorrow, so I may get distracted from STO for a while.  Probably not forever, though.

(The game is called West of Loathing (http://westofloathing.com/), a single-player follow-up but not-really-a-sequel to the long-running online game Kingdom of Loathing (http://http//www.kingdomofloathing.com).  I'm buying it sight unseen, based on the strength of KoL and their other game, Word Realms (http://wordrealms.com/), which I love. And, yes, this is a bit of Buzz Marketing for all three games, as Judge John Hodgman would say.  In fact, John Hodgman appears as a powerful optional boss in the original Kingdom of Loathing, and an optional costume for the main character in Word Realms.  Anyway, back to STO discussion!  And playing!)
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 09, 2017, 05:43:00 PM
I realized that a game I've been looking forward to for quite a while finally releases tomorrow, so I may get distracted from STO for a while.  Probably not forever, though.

I never expect to stay with the game I'm currently playing. This is probably enhanced by the fact that I started out in the 'golden age' of PC gaming, when, your gaming PC was obsolete in months and nearly useless by the end of a year, and when games were aplenty, and, is probably further augmented by the fact that I used to give a lot of gaming reviews in my job therefore I felt it my duty to try and play every game that hit the shelves where I worked, therefore, I learned PC gaming by playing tons of games. My goal was to try and tear through a respectable amount of most new games in a weekend's time and my weekends could basically occur every 3 days due to work was just a place to pick up new games (..and paycheck) and talk about the ones I just finished playing..

There's games I know I'll always come back to (CO...STO...), but, I never expect to stay full time with any one game for all eternity.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 11, 2017, 01:07:08 AM
A new PhysX is here! A new PhysX is here! (no, it's not suuuuuper new)

I have no idea what this means (yes, my Google works) but this rarely gets an update when Nvidia video drivers get updated.

I'm always crossing my fingers for a PhysX update, though! I mean come on... It has PHYS.... and an X... It must be good. And I'm always hoping that a video card driver update actually makes some kind of noticeable change. I think I got both today.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 12, 2017, 12:11:27 AM
Wheeee back into Space. And not as a trader.

Either it's been too long or that video driver update really was a decent one or the last patch was good or... some combo of the previous or maybe just a whole other thing, like, aliens lasered the video game perception part of my brain. Nooooo wait, I know there is something different because the paintjob on my Iconian geared ship looks a little different. The Borg Sphere's seem more 3d..

*shrug*!

I read a dissertation in Zone once that Advanced queue's aren't worth it. I have to disagree. If your ship can handle them to the point where they are fun to run, they give like 720 dil and a component to turn in for even more dil or for Rep gear. A lot of people are trying to get Rep gear. So, when you run an Advanced queue you're probably helping at least 1 person in the team get some endgame type gear and you are doing some fine gear or Dil farming for yourself. Good stuff.

I like running queue's, in general. Ever since CoH invented the modern queue. I liked CoH queues... A lot of people playing CoH, didn't - just like a lot of people playing CO look down on them. STO's attitude towards queue's seems to be fairly neutral.

Oh hey, there is a featured article in the PC launcher about a player that's so famous for giving build advice that his name made it into the launcher. If I read it right, his main ship is an... APU...! lol.. go figure. He surely must be talking about another APU than the one we know. Seems like the build advice guru would have a top of the line hotrod as his main!
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on August 12, 2017, 09:56:51 PM
Well, the game I got turned out to be a lot shorter than I thought it was going to be - I bought it on Thursday night, beat it yesterday, and started and finished a second playthrough (as a different class) today.

And the Mirror Universe event is running on the console version for the next three weeks (it started on Thursday, actually), and I definitely want to do that.  If nothing else, the reward of 30,000 dil is too good to pass up.

So I'm not out yet.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 13, 2017, 01:44:22 AM
So I'm not out yet.

I'll take the company!

IRL is taking most of my mind and body energy lately. I put a lot of effort into IRL and am really glad for the chance to play and am grateful for all that my toon has to be thankful for but I do feel like I'm really sucking at it lately. Have an LTS, though, and the thing requires I log in daily no matter how bad I am at playing it. Lately I can never seem to get logged off and even when I do I'm all distracted in my other games.

Think I'm going to get some character slots when they go on sale again. At least 2. I have no Cruiser captain! Cruisers are fun and I could get an uber one or two I just don't happen to have a cruiser captain ever since I retconned mine into a Sci ship cap'n.  I want to eventually look at some Birds of Prey, too, due to I haven't flown any of those outside of a couple of newb ships from when I first started playing.

Sure don't need another dil/zen/EC farmer.. Could probably spend an entire play day farming with the toons I already have. Seems like I do that a lot already!
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on August 14, 2017, 06:45:09 AM
Now I knew it was arc that was messed up, due to me being able to load into sto that way, just today.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 14, 2017, 01:07:52 PM
I tried Arc for one entire login to CO. It then got wiped out and I found a way to run the launcher directly.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 17, 2017, 02:47:52 PM
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 18, 2017, 05:26:58 AM
https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/10609334-the-arena-of-sompek-returns-for-three-weeks%21

Ok, so.. STO Ground isn't the most fluid and graceful ground combat around, but, it's not so bad and this Event can be fun. Just don't be like me and decide 'hey, I want to try this before I grab my pillow for the night'.

54 rounds later....

54!

That, was fairly epic.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on August 18, 2017, 02:44:16 PM
It hasn't reached consoles yet, it appears.

I'm not a huge fan of ground combat, particularly on console.  (I enjoyed it a lot more on PC)  I tend to use more turrets and drones than real strategy.

... that includes Universal Kit turrets and drones for my non-Engineering characters.

This week I've actually been focused mostly on non-video-gamey stuff.  I play a tabletop RPG called Scion (where you play as the son or daughter of a god), and in our last session our characters got a huge boost in power (going from Heroes to Demigods), with includes an entire set of eleven personalized "spells" (for lack of a better term) we have to create from scratch, so I've been doing that all week in my free time.

I'm still making sure to do my Daily Mirror Invasion, though.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 18, 2017, 07:38:41 PM
I've pretty much came outright and posted I don't like STO ground combat, more than a few times, right from the beginning, as I remember. It's just so clunky.. And then I was mobbed by people posting that was the only reason they played STO was for the Ground combat and I was like wha...

And then I got in a Fleet that was nonstop trying to get me in Ground Elite's and I was like wha... Maybe it *is* just me... I honestly thought that everyone who played STO played it for the Space stuff and that I was being Punk'd by anyone saying otherwise.

Anyway, yeah. I don't recommend trying the untimed version of Sompek...on a whim...for the first time...minutes before you'd like to be getting ready for bed. 54 effing rounds! lol. and they can even go for twice that long or more..


... that includes Universal Kit turrets and drones for my non-Engineering characters.


Universal who's? There's Universal Kit stuff? I paid a mint for some Tac stuff last night that fairly well sucks. Under my use. Plasma Grenades? These, I like.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 20, 2017, 03:37:23 PM
That was a good tip! Two of my best ground Kit Modules are now Universal (epic, mk xiv). I dunno why I didn't imagine that since ships get Universal mods, why not ground Kits.

More EC's to the wind. And Phoenix upgrade kits. Outside of Sompek, and the occasional mish, I don't see doing much Ground. But.. I do see myself playing a lot of STO. Soooooo... Why not upgrade at least 1 toon. I upgraded his gear to mk xiv, too, it's good enough.

The thing that is getting me killed, now, (duh), is I have no Specialization points in *anything* Ground. I do just happen to be at the point where I have to choose Ground skills to get a Starship Trait I want upgraded, so.. there's that. My 'Ground toon' (which should be my Andorian! but I picked Xev..) was just about to run out of things to spend Space Spec points on, and he's my main, so, he's a valid choice as my (first?) Ground guy.

Here would be My more random STO tip of the day. That maybe everyone knows already. I just found out that we get 40 slots on the Exchange to sell stuff in. I also just found out that any mail that the Exchange sends back to you with an Attachment (item was unsold and returned) shares those slots. So, for every mail you have from the Exchange with a returned item in it - that's one less slot for you to sell something on the Exchange. If you have 10 mails from the Exchange, you have 30 sell slots - otherwise if you have no mail from the Exchange, you have 40 slots to sell stuff in. For example.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 23, 2017, 02:06:38 AM
One of the best and simplist STO updates to date -- Now, when looting after a PVE queue.. it tells you right there in the loot window which choice will give Bonus Marks and which won't.

I've been running PVE's with my Rom ever since he got his Epic mk xiv Omni (plus, he's the Dil poorest) and now it's super simple what marks to choose afterwards.

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on August 23, 2017, 11:50:44 AM
I didn't realize the PC version didn't have that.  The Console version has had that since I started doing PvE Queues.

I'm a little disappointed - I got my Vulcan up to level 50, which means he can do PvE Queues now, but I got him there just a little too late to get the rewards from the current event.  (He can only do, at most, 11 of the 14 days required).  Unless the console shows up on the Reclaim tab, he's out of luck for that (and he's definitely out of luck for the 30,000 dil).
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 23, 2017, 09:50:52 PM
I didn't realize the PC version didn't have that.  The Console version has had that since I started doing PvE Queues.

The change is so sensible I didn't even notice it at first.


I'm a little disappointed - I got my Vulcan up to level 50, which means he can do PvE Queues now, but I got him there just a little too late to get the rewards from the current event.  (He can only do, at most, 11 of the 14 days required).  Unless the console shows up on the Reclaim tab, he's out of luck for that (and he's definitely out of luck for the 30,000 dil).

I was 'a little disappointed' when I passed up at least 1 or 2 really nice looking Event T6's.. (The Dorito ship! And I had just gotten into Sci ships..) I have enough T6's to keep me (me, as in, The Easily Amused) busy for awhile, now, though.

Dil is easier. If I sacrifice a significant portion of a regular play session I can come up with my 40k for the Day. As in: I don't have to log in and grind my brains out for it, but, if I want to max out my refined Dil for the day I do have to devote a significant portion of a not eyebrow raising, timewise, play session, to do so.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 23, 2017, 10:00:37 PM
Oh hey, duh.. (duh, me). Your Event loot should show up in the Event tab in the Event Store. For all your toons. Even ones you've not made yet.

!!

Go go STO.

(I finally have stuff in there..)
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on August 24, 2017, 05:12:46 PM
Assuming it's an account-wide reward, that is.  I have the Prolonged Engagement weapons on all my characters, but nothing else.  Yet.

Edit: Having gotten my Vulcan to 60 (by doing the daily, no less), I remember one big reason I love my Klingon...

Rom Level 60: Fleet Admiral
Fed Level 60: Fleet Admiral
KDF Level 60: Dahar Master
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 24, 2017, 09:32:31 PM
I guess I just got lucky. I have those weapons you mention, plus that ship I just got, and they are available to all. As I imagine you know, there are other account-wide Reclaim areas in STO, too. It's a pretty cool feature.

One thing that struck me about STO right off the bat was that they don't punish you with getting your rewards. It's a fairly generous game. They could do many things with loot more stingily. I choose to think that they chose to take the high road by concentrating on the fun of STO keeping you playing, not the farming..

Roms get called different things than Feds all the way (?) to Fleet Admiral, and then at the level you get the title you are stuck with forever, they give you Fed's Fleet Admiral. The different lower level titles makes things more confusing when using the Exchange... yet, there's no distinctive title at max level.

Roms... *sigh*

Rom Boffs ftw, though.. with Superior Operative..
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on August 25, 2017, 10:05:03 PM
I just blew some ECs and Zen on Fleet Modules, so I bought my Vulcan the Obelisk Carrier I'd originally wanted for my Klingon.  I was going to go all Science ships for him, but that... really wasn't working out for me.  By which I mean "explosions.  Too many explosions".  I'm just a better Mastermind than a Defender.  (Or Corruptor?  Controller?  I'm not sure.  But whatever Science Vessels are most like, I'm bad at it)

And since Science officers get the ability to call a holographic mini-fleet, now he's kinda like a Thugs Mastermind.  I also got the hidden Advanced Obelisk Swarmers from the Sphere of Influence mission, so I already have the second-tier Hangar Pets right out of the gate.

I named it the USS Wuh'rah Ashaya.  (I leave it as an exercise for the reader to divine why I called it that)

Regardless, I'm immediately infinitely more excited about playing my Vulcan.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 26, 2017, 04:04:53 AM
You beat me to getting a Fleet T6!

I've been wanting to try that Warbird Fleet T6 with battle cloak ever since I got my second T6 but have yet to get it. I got the Pilot Warbird (*yawn*) instead. If it could speed burst while I was cloaked then it might be a more interesting ship/more Warbirdy. As-is, I fly it just like my Pilot Escorts. So I'm thinking to garage it and try the battle cloak. Thinking.. as in, you beat me to doing..

Ohhh you bought the Fleet Modules with Zen... I was like, how did you spend Zen for a Fleet T6? But yeah, Fleet Modules are in the Z-store too. Humm. I guess I'd use EC's just due to I don't have much of anything else to spend EC's on that I don't recover the cost from and I buy Z-store ships with Zen.

Bag space has been something tempting me lately.. Man extra slots are pricey! Ok, I'm cheap. Xev is always, always, always out of bag space.. Or about to be out.

"explosions.  Too many explosions".

hehehehehe

so vivid
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 28, 2017, 10:51:57 PM
Round 39 in Sompek!

You have to try this...

Tips:
use the map to your advantage.. I tend to stand out in the middle of everything and 'unleash' (it's not a mighty unleash) and then fairly quickly pay the consequences. Bad plan. Get them Alone if possible or at least have a place to duck out of fire.
change your Active Reputation so that you have all Ground powers..
make sure your Active Specializations are Ground friendly.. (No Pilot, for example..)
make sure you have Active Ground Doffs that you're happy with - if you have none, get some!
there are mishes with good ground gear (I have the gear that makes you go invis nonstop..) - I dunno what is good Rep ground gear.
If you can upgrade your ground gear to mk xiv..
Kit Modules! Kit out your Kit Module Kit.. And don't forget you can search for Universal Modules! (that was a good tip..) It's not uncommon to find affordable Epic Kit Modules, so, don't exclude those in your search.

I was the weak link that last Sompek, probably, but, I think I contributed, some. Those marathon ones can be fun. Well, and afterwards we got like 200+ marks, 600 dil, and I dunno if there was anything else. The rewards of course scale up with how many rounds you can last.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 31, 2017, 05:42:02 AM
I hit the Unlimited queue by accident, somehow, when I was just wanting to get my token and then hug a pillow..

I just say.... Round 54!

It takes quite awhile to get to round 54..

Good team. Good fun. Good night! Man, never hit that thing before bed..

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on August 31, 2017, 04:32:16 PM
Unfortunately, the console versions don't have this event right now.  Today's the last day of the Mirror Invasion, and there's a Bonus Marks weekend coming up.

The consoles do finally get Season 13.5 on the 5th.  (That's... next Wednesday, if I haven't forgotten how numbers work?)   It'll be nice to finally see what Brushfire is all about.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 31, 2017, 04:49:19 PM
I kept meaning to do Brushfire but never did.

Any time there are bonus marks is a good time to stock up. Marks Good. Always.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on August 31, 2017, 05:13:21 PM
I'm probably going to miss most of it.  Saturday is an annual gigantic flea market that my wife and I want to try to get to, and Sunday is my regular tabletop roleplaying session.  (And I'm also not feeling well, so it's kinda a one-two-three punch)
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on August 31, 2017, 08:31:31 PM
Oh!  There's a Phoenix event going on right now on the consoles!  It was only announced for the XBox version (and by "announced" I mean "I saw someone make a Reddit post about it"), but it's happening on the PS4 version, too.

I've actually been saving Dil for this.  (I don't have much, but I have enough for maybe a dozen extra boxes over and above the free ones)

Edit: Holy crap.  Before buying any, I decided to get the daily free Pack first... and it had an Epic token in it.  I have no idea what I'm going to buy with it.  I'm just going to stick it in the Bank for now and ponder, while I do the rest of my Daily Stuffs.  There's no rush.

If I'd gotten an Epic token during the previous Phoenix event, I knew exactly what I was going to buy with it (the Breen Sarr Theln Carrier), but my Klingon already has a T6 Carrier, so now I don't have any specific wants or needs.  And since the Phoenix Event tends to make the Dil-to-Zen conversion rates a lot better, now would probably be the best time to trade all my Dil for Zen.  Oh, decisions, decisions.

Edit 2: Decided to buy some packs anyway, because even the worst prize is still pretty useful (unlike Lockboxes).  I now have the VSS Tanius Admiralty ship on all three characters, and the Crystalline Absorption Matrix on two of them.

Might still get the Breen Sarr Carrier for my Vulcan.  Or for the Klingon anyway.  SO MANY DECISIONS.

Edit 3: I really wish you could trade ships between your own characters, because I'd kinda like the clean-lined Jem'Hadar Carrier for my Vulcan and the more monstrous Breen Carrier for my Klingon.  (I haven't used the Epic token yet, but I have looked at pictures)
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on September 01, 2017, 04:17:47 AM
Seriously TG, you are one lucky, rhymes with Kastard...

lol

That's pretty great.

Edit 3: I really wish you could trade ships between your own characters

This is why I like Z-store ships.

Well... you got a T6 token (!) and some Phoenix Upgrade kits and some consoles and some Admiralty ships already. It would tempting to turn some dil into zen at this point if it were me, too. I'd probably be in upgrade-all-my-best-stuff-to mk xiv mode.

Oh hey, on that subject! If you do not know it already.. There are ... I forget the name and am about to log.. Upgrade Accelerators! you can buy in the Exchange. You can up to double (I think that's as high as you can go) the amount of upgrade points that your Phoenix Upgrade kits give. The ones that give double the amount are expensive on PC so I usually just use the ones that give 1.5x the amount that cost ~ 1/4 as much. There are also ones that give a boost to your chance for a quality upgrade but the boost seems so small that I ended up selling mine back on the Exchange and buying more of the 1.5x boosters.

Sheesh I hope you know about these! They make those upgrade kits stretch a fair amount farther.

Grats on your luck! And the other nice Phoenix loots, too.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on September 01, 2017, 06:14:16 AM
That's a thought.  I've been saving all my Phoenix Upgrades for the next double Upgrade weekend, but there hasn't been one yet.  (But the Event Calendar hasn't updated yet, so it doesn't go past the second week of September.  I suppose they'll update it when they add episode 13.5)

Still haven't decided what to buy with the Epic token.  I kinda want the Lukari science ship just for the looks, but I don't like its stats much.  Ah, no rush, no rush....
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on September 01, 2017, 05:33:23 PM
  Ah, no rush, no rush....

This is the mode I'm in right now. I've got a stack of ships piling up for me to try, too. However, .... RL (I like to always call it IRL to make it sound even dumber/more like a game title but I've decided to conform and use proper abbreviations) demands are ruining my fun factor, lately.

This is what makes STO farming/tradeskilling so good. I can zone out for hours without devoting more than 5 - 10% of my brainpower to what I'm actually doing at the time and by the time I log off I still feel like I accomplished something/had some escape time.

By the time I can actually enjoy playing, again, I should have farmed up all kinds of new goodies to have fun with.

STO, the game for all seasons.

~~~~~~~~~

That's a really negative post, but, it's true! It's nice to have something to veg out with. Sometimes vegging out can be very therapeutic.

I don't even want to *name* a ship when I'm not totally into it. That's like making a new toon and having no name or concept for it.

So, I'm just saving my resources for now. Doing the occasional really fun marathon Sompek... (those, require 120% of my brainpower i.e. I have too little to make it past being the weak link in a 54/100+ round Sompek). Etc. It's not allllll farming.

I want to get a Fleet T6, some more Zen ships, and... that covers it. The lockbox ships just don't lure me at this point. There is a Fleetmate in my more active Fleet that has tried every ship in the game that he wants to try, already. For him, lockbox ships are all that's left. I'm not anywhere near the point that I'm considering lockbox ships, yet.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on September 05, 2017, 07:06:02 PM
One of the best 'Events' in STO isn't until well into next year. I don't want to give away what it is... but, when I first experienced it.. I thought I'd been hacked.. and then when I realized I hadn't been, I was highly annoyed. And then... well, now I can't wait for it to come back around, again!

I already probably gave away too much.. It's probably way more fun and memorable when you don't see it coming.

It's a Spring Event. Already looking forward to it since awhile : )
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on September 05, 2017, 07:54:26 PM
The Events calendar is completely empty on the console version.  Even the Phoenix event going on right now isn't shown on thre.  I think they were planning on updating it with the game update, but that's been delayed a week.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on September 05, 2017, 11:09:24 PM
The Events calendar is completely empty on the console version.  Even the Phoenix event going on right now isn't shown on thre.  I think they were planning on updating it with the game update, but that's been delayed a week.

If I may, I think he was referring about "something" on the PC version.
Kinda makes me wonder, on the console, how many weeks or months does the weekly events showed? I honestly do not know.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on September 06, 2017, 12:46:27 PM
If I may, I think he was referring about "something" on the PC version.
Kinda makes me wonder, on the console, how many weeks or months does the weekly events showed? I honestly do not know.

It should be on console the exact same day! I shouldn't have even said anything hehe. It's probably better when you don't see it coming. I'm looking forward to it and want to mention "it", but, don't want to ruin anything for anyone at the same time.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on September 11, 2017, 10:12:37 PM
... is it that Hearts and Minds thing?  That's been on the Event Calendar for a while.  If not... well, I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

I haven't been playing much.  There's a bug on the console versions that resets all your auto-attacks every time you transfer from ground to space and vice-versa.  It's supposed to be fixed tomorrow, though.  (I did play enough to finish Brushfire on all three characters and get the first week's award, which isn't anything special, though the console is nice)

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on September 11, 2017, 11:12:39 PM
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on September 15, 2017, 04:44:35 AM
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on September 15, 2017, 11:11:05 AM
All I know is that I finally got my hands on the Vonph Dreadnaught Carrier I've wanted for months.   (And it's so shiny and backlit-glowy with the Reman Prototype Covariant Shield in the Shield Visuals slot)

What I really need to do is pin down what type of energy damage I want the Klingon to be doing, and then start getting a bunch of purple cannons of that type (I love cannons, and turrets are almost a must-have given carriers' low turn rates) and the appropriate Tactical Console.  Right now, it's sort of a mish-mash.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on September 15, 2017, 04:23:28 PM
Cannons were my first and still my favorite. I never got the Fire at Will hype, even before the nerf. Rapid Fire ftw.

Auras ftw! The non-weapons Iconian set has some nice visuals, too. That's the only thing I have with visuals. There's a deflector aura + arcanish paintjob.

The weapons set that's the reward for Beyond the Nexus looks decent. It has an Omni... and a turret... and a nice console. I think there is weapons haste....? as one of the set powers..? I don't know the set powers. It wouldn't fit your Klingon too well, though, probably... due to the weapons are phasers.

Xev has purple cannons, among others, but I don't know if they're Temporal, Iconian, or if he has something else not in those sets that is purple. They're AP, I know that! The torps in the Iconian and Temporal sets are decent, too. The Crystalline universal console from the Phoenix Packs is an easy console choice for AP.

I have 1 AP build. and 1 Polaron. Somehow I ended up with 3 plasma builds even though Plasma is only fun to me for the torps and I am more into cannons. Two of the plasma builds are pretty different from each other - the third I am in the process of replacing with something else... I'm leaning towards phasers at this point due to the Beyond the Nexus rewards, and, I think I have a mish saved with a really nice phaser weapons set to go with the BtN set. I don't like those slow torps in BtN, tho.




Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on September 16, 2017, 10:03:06 PM
So... they had a 'flash sale' on bag space and I finally caved in and got 36 more slots. So luxurious..... Can get... 84 more slots? Total? I think?

Now there's a sale on ships. I've got the Zen if I sell off just a little Dil, but... I'm kinda not in ship mode, still. Plus, I already have that Phoenix token waiting for me that I plan to cash in for a new cruiser or any other T6 in the list, depending on how things look. And there's that Fleet T6 Warbird to try out..

Shiny brand new t6 ships just never makes it to the top of the list of things to get.... unbelievable. I always thought I'd be farming for ships most of the time in STO.

Now that I finally have all this luscious bag space for my main tradeskilling toon who never ever ever had enough and now is swimming in it... I think what I want next is either a retcon or another toon or both.

Meanwhile, gear upgrades are eating up Dil which could alternatively be used to buy Zen with which to buy shiny brand new t6 ships. That I'm not buying!

I guess what I'm saying, is.. I started out the game like TG.. "How do I get a t6? How do I get a t6?" but now ... I still farm, but, I'm just spending my resources on whatever looks good at the moment. Fleshing out toons and their main ship once I find a main ship for them. Buying bag space if they need it.. Not saving for the holy grail of lewts, the whole time. Like I thought I would be. Like it seems everyone starts out the game doing - "how do I get a t6?"

Zee t6, she will come. As will all else. j00 must only play zee game. I seem to remember laying down that advice awhile back and then someone picked it up and flew with it...!

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on September 19, 2017, 06:21:44 PM
A new Specialization, and, it looks worthy..

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/10644254


Quote
Miracle Worker is a Primary Specialization, but captains may instead choose to slot it as a Secondary if they only wish to benefit from the first 15 abilities offered.

Soooooo remember I was not able to figure out what happens when you make a Specialization a Secondary - in regards to what benefits are gained from a Secondary Specilization? I wonder if this is standard... That, whenever you make a Specialization a Secondary Spec, you only get the first 15 abilities from that Spec...

The exception would be Strategist, I guess, due to it is Secondary Only.

If true, that's good info to know. I've been clueless up to now about what is active when a Spec is made Secondary. I just knew.... 'not everything'.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on September 20, 2017, 04:12:32 AM
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on September 22, 2017, 06:08:33 PM
Free Stuff to claim:

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/10645474
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on September 23, 2017, 10:13:45 PM
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on September 25, 2017, 10:35:11 PM
I stumbled across another T5-U lockbox ship for sale in the Exchange. They're pretty rare, so, seemed worth mentioning. It's on my KDF Rom but I think they're cross-faction.

Malon Battlercruiser

Quote
These ships have been retrofitted by the Lobi Consortium to be safe for use in populated systems and are now available to ship commanders in the Alpha and Beta quadrants.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on September 25, 2017, 10:37:33 PM
Edited, because I'm not using a Malon Battlecruiser at all, I'm using a Nihydron Destroyer, and I don't know how I got those two confused.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on September 26, 2017, 03:26:00 PM
I got a Wargames impulse engine for my Rom and I have to say.... yum.

I'm like 50 Rep away from the shield, which, doesn't look as impressive as others out there, but, it's probably better than what he's using now and I get another set bonus and it's a good one for this toon. I'll likely get the Singularity for the same reason.

I haven't had fun playing my Rom since... I leveled him. Gear really can make the difference. Superior Operative + Wargames Engine = crit joy. More maneuverability on my most maneuverable ship + tons more survivability for my paperiest ship would also be plusses.

The deflector aura unfortunately looks not so great enough that I turned it off. The Engine aura barely survived getting turned off. I've not seen the shield aura yet. At least there Are three auras.. Maybe they look better on a different ship.

On the subject of kitting out ships... Up to now I've overlooked a lot of Rep gear just due to who knew what the Set bonuses were without going to the Wiki.. And I don't like the wiki due to it creates a loud sucking sound within the Internet whenever I go there. Set Bonuses sure can be game changers, though, and I have some more Internet to play with, now, so..... hang on to your arm rests, I'm putting some Rep Gear info into a Reference or two that is faster and easier to check than the Wiki. I might just do Set Bonuses, just due to that's the only thing you can't look up In Game.

I know there's a plethora of lists on the wiki but I'm aiming to have a Quick Reference. or two. If I manage to come up with any I'll share.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on September 27, 2017, 07:32:20 PM
Huh.  Just learned that the Fleet I'm in, the one I've been in for months, has set me to the second-lowest rank, which lets me... give them stuff, invite other people, and talk in chat... and that's it.   I tried to buy something with the 200k Fleet Credits I've accumulated over the months, and the game said "Nope, nope, can't buy stuff."  I need to get Rank 3 for that, and I don't know how.  (And chatting on the PS4 is awkward at best)

I've figured a lot of this game out, but, as usual, the parts I can't figure out are the ones that involve other people. >.<
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on September 28, 2017, 04:06:09 AM
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Tahquitz on September 28, 2017, 06:47:36 AM
You might be missing part of that:

Quote
With the retirement of Reputation Projects for Weekend Events

Weekend Events won't use the Reputation System to make players turn in "merits" for completion rewards anymore.  Event Reputation (such as Risa Summer Event and Q Wonderland), as well as Faction Reputation (Borg, Species 8472, New Romulus, etc.) projects will continue as always.

First guess, weekend events would be more accessible to those under Level 50 by removing the Reputation system before they can really use it in the first place.  Second?  The Event Reputation area is really a lot of wasted UI Real Estate since only a few projects can be worked on at once in parallel, and the 2 reasons to have an ongoing rep project (Risa/Q) no longer allows event rep across years anymore. Eight slots is a bit much.

The second one's more of a nitpick than an actual hurdle.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on September 28, 2017, 07:43:16 PM
The Event Reputation area is really a lot of wasted UI Real Estate

I believe STO has an unlimited amount of UI Real Estate and is ever expanding the infinite.

hehe

I dunno, that whole thing just didn't read real clearly to me last night.

Hey, we get a free shuttle and it's not too bad.

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/10645594

I must have at least a half a dozen different shuttles now between toons, and, this is the only one that I've seen that has 2 Boff slots.... but, it has 1/3rd less hull than the shuttlecraft that I normally use for Events.

It also has 2 slots for engineering consoles.... but 0 slots for science consoles.

Nice Admiralty ship!

(https://app.box.com/shared/static/80e7iw51ssdkh19xun2fyloo8dsuynky.jpg)



Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on September 28, 2017, 09:34:45 PM
You might be missing part of that:

Weekend Events won't use the Reputation System to make players turn in "merits" for completion rewards anymore.  Event Reputation (such as Risa Summer Event and Q Wonderland), as well as Faction Reputation (Borg, Species 8472, New Romulus, etc.) projects will continue as always.

First guess, weekend events would be more accessible to those under Level 50 by removing the Reputation system before they can really use it in the first place.  Second?  The Event Reputation area is really a lot of wasted UI Real Estate since only a few projects can be worked on at once in parallel, and the 2 reasons to have an ongoing rep project (Risa/Q) no longer allows event rep across years anymore. Eight slots is a bit much.

The second one's more of a nitpick than an actual hurdle.

Here's the deal.

Once again, STO is the lewt innovator.. What they've done is not only make weekend event lewt Account bound by default... they've made it so you can buy Any previous or present weekend event lewt you want and may have previously missed, with tokens, gained by running .... Weekend Events..

Or.. you can grab a quick and handy 2k in Dil. Not bad.

(https://app.box.com/shared/static/uvje544ke4zgv380v5ytyvtz8haj3pwj.jpg)

----------------------------------------------

Technically Speaking... the Weekend Event loot is Character bound, but, Any character on your Account can claim it by going to the Weekend Event store once purchased.

You can also only get 1 token per Day, per Account.. But, tokens are Account bound, so, even though you can't collect more than one a day - you can collect your 1 daily token with whatever toon you want.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on September 29, 2017, 06:04:10 PM
I honestly do think that it's cool that STO obviously puts some considered thought into how to handle loot in a pleasant way. With the above (and it is just the latest example), I still have the incentive to run Weekend Events with my Alts, due to .. 2k dil. I have Weekend Event loot that is essentially Account Bound due to it sits in a Store waiting for Any of my toons to grab it - even toons I haven't made yet. Oh, and while I'm running the Event - I'm in a queue that pops instantly and pays off any marks I want - even marks that may normally be hard for me to get.

Oh, and while getting my Weekend Event loot and Marks.. an Endeavor paid off *cha-ching* due to I was healing my hull a lot... lol.

win-win-win

That's how I like to do things iRL.. Hopefully it continues to work out better, for them. /salute /cheer
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on October 02, 2017, 11:49:31 PM
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on October 03, 2017, 12:26:35 PM
I thought I'd read that the new queue is supposed to give a choice of Fleet and Lukari marks.

I've just started collecting Lukari marks, and ... I never want to do Gravity Kills ever again.  They give you a half-hour timer, and it took us half of it just to destroy the first station (at which point, I thought "Oh, finally, that took forever", before realizing there were still two more stations to destroy, and then a boss who literally took no damage at all for several minutes).  The timer had long since run out before we actually finished the mission.  My ship blew up more times in that one mission than it had in all the weeks since I got that particular character his T6 ship (possibly more times than that character's ship had blown up, period).  It was the most frustrating experience I've ever had with the game.

I quite like The Tzenkethi Front, the other Lukari Mark Space queue, though.  Hopefully the new one will be more like the latter than the former.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on October 03, 2017, 05:56:28 PM
It was the most frustrating experience I've ever had with the game.

This got an lol.. Yeah, when I first ran that queue I was like... w  t  f... Now, if I ever run it, I just blame myself...hehe. It does get better with practice, but, yeah, the other Tzenkethi queue is way better.

On thing that I like about the Tzenkethi storyline and makes me glad to see more of it, is: They got a RL Klingon to do narrations. You know what I just found out? I thought that was Sho'nuff! The shogun of Harlem.. That's not Sho'nuff?? I'll be.. It must be way too long since I saw that movie. I really thought that was Sho'nuff narrating the Tzenkethi queues.. Well, I still think he's RL Klingon...

Looking forward to trying the new queue!

Here's the Starship Trait for Miracle worker, btw...:
(https://app.box.com/shared/static/zer34k3f6rjon8ygxnpx5ntvw94flxop.jpg)

The Specialization itself looks tempting to try. My Rom has at least 5 or 6 Spec points saved up (I was waiting for Miracle Worker in case it was cool), and, as it works out, Miracle Worker looks like it might be a good fit for him so I'll probably be trying it. The passive is Hull Regen, btw. It starts at 5% and scales up as you put points into MW.

2 gig update! ouch.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on October 03, 2017, 08:18:26 PM
Last week I decided to comeback after a year off. I like that they added more VO in the mission briefs as well as the reports.
I am disappointed that there isn't another recruitment drive this year. I do understand why they did add one. The last drive was a hot mess.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on October 04, 2017, 01:50:44 AM
Last week I decided to comeback after a year off. I like that they added more VO in the mission briefs as well as the reports.
I am disappointed that there isn't another recruitment drive this year. I do understand why they did add one. The last drive was a hot mess.
Just as this Phoenix has returned, the Phoenix Prize Packs have returned http://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/10671264-the-phoenix-prize-pack-returns%21
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on October 04, 2017, 12:58:22 PM
Just as this Phoenix has returned, the Phoenix Prize Packs have returned http://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/10671264-the-phoenix-prize-pack-returns%21

Can you believe.... like 1 day earlier... I just bought 1k Zen....? Aaaaaargh! (The price of Zen, has, of course, plummeted since then).

I had a ton of Dil laying around, and prices were stable, and Phoenix packs had just been here recently.... sooooo... I decided I better buy some Zen while things were stable. And then *zingo* here come PPP's out of the blue...

It's hard to complain tooo much since I have 'plenty' (there's never enough..) of Dil and Zen laying around, and, an unused T6 token and a hundred or so Phoenix upgrade kits sitting in the bank from the last PPP's. But. I'm human, and therefore greedy and never satisfied, so, the situation did get an 'aaaargh' out of me.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on October 06, 2017, 05:20:29 PM

One thing that I like about the Tzenkethi storyline and makes me glad to see more of it, is: They got a RL Klingon to do narrations.

.....

Looking forward to trying the new queue!



They did not have this guy back.. No way! The people they have doing VO in these 2 new queues are (wonderful, I'm sure, in many other things...) just flat and 2d compared to that guy (who's name I should take the time to look up).

Bring back the REAL Klingon for Tzenkethi queues! I'm spoiled already. He's the real deal.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on October 07, 2017, 09:03:59 PM
I thought I'd read that the new queue is supposed to give a choice of Fleet and Lukari marks.

I've just started collecting Lukari marks, and ... I never want to do Gravity Kills ever again.  They give you a half-hour timer, and it took us half of it just to destroy the first station (at which point, I thought "Oh, finally, that took forever", before realizing there were still two more stations to destroy, and then a boss who literally took no damage at all for several minutes).  The timer had long since run out before we actually finished the mission.  My ship blew up more times in that one mission than it had in all the weeks since I got that particular character his T6 ship (possibly more times than that character's ship had blown up, period).  It was the most frustrating experience I've ever had with the game.

I quite like The Tzenkethi Front, the other Lukari Mark Space queue, though.  Hopefully the new one will be more like the latter than the former.

I still never run this, btw.. it's like you say. Murder.

You know what, though.. I bet there are people in the game that can beat that thing in a team of T5's (or lower..) with Blue gear (or lower..). Because they know what works well with what and how to implement their plan of destruction.

That's cool. I am actually inspired by people like this, not intimidated. There's people like this in every game I've really liked. People that ...know the game. And can play the game, very well. I wish I knew the player's name in CoH that got me to finally play a good melee toon to the (my) max. I mean, he just inspired me how he wiped out.....everything. A regen/claws Scrapper. When I saw people like that in EQ, they inspired me. They inspire me in CO - they inspire Nerfs, in CO, too - and at an agonizing trickle.

Anyway, your post made me think of this train of thought and this train of thought brings me to my latest attempt to be a good regen/claws scrapper..

Zee Wargames Kitted Warboid:
(https://app.box.com/shared/static/6f5fq6sqzpgvbhjhvr4g4iuyd9u83gq7.jpg)

I did not get the final piece in the set... But I still might. I opted for the Iconian Singularity and all of its goodies over the final Set power and not impressive Singularity in the Wargames set.. I say this because I don't know if there is a graphic for the full set, like there is for Iconian. There's a stylish arcane type paint-job for getting a full Iconian Set - which, I highly recommend if you ever considered it. It's a great set. So is the Wargames set.

Even though I was happy with the paint job this Pilot Warbird looked kinda plain, before, really.. Nice look now I think. All the blue lighting is Wargames graphics. The engine in back crackles with electricity and the deflector in the nose has a kinda disappointing Flashlight graphic that you are spared of, above.

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on October 08, 2017, 08:47:14 PM
While I'm sharing screenies....

A Lucky Vein:

(https://app.box.com/shared/static/l1f3txemd2a5lwjdiv6sivbu9uwbqras.jpg)

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on October 08, 2017, 10:46:57 PM
This Phoenix box event I didn't waste. I am now over 119 Phoenix upgrades :) With more chances to get more later.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Tahquitz on October 08, 2017, 11:56:21 PM
Zee Wargames Kitted Warboid:
(https://app.box.com/shared/static/6f5fq6sqzpgvbhjhvr4g4iuyd9u83gq7.jpg)

There's no drool smiley on here, is there?
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on October 09, 2017, 12:38:29 AM
There's no drool smiley on here, is there?

It's a whole other ship! There are So many options when it comes to the overall build in STO. Gear and Powers and Traits and.. etc. I've been in Gear mode lately. And Build tweaking mode, in general. That reminds me.. TG should have no problem getting his Lukari marks and tokens once the new queue hits Console.. It's nonstop busy on PC. So, he should be getting his Lukari gear soon.. Lol everyone should be.. Due to that's where the new Colony tokens drop, too.. I get in a rotation with my toons and run it nonstop. Colony Tokens + Rep Tokens + Marks + Fast popping queues = I'm there. I just minutes ago heard someone in DPS 10,000 complain that there's nothing but dead queues in STO. Wrong. You just have to know what queues to hit if you're looking for ones that pop fast. Currently the new queue is very busy. As are several others..

This Phoenix box event I didn't waste. I am now over 119 Phoenix upgrades :) With more chances to get more later.

OK so... just due to I was thinking about buying a bunch of PPP's... and then you brought this up.... I looked up what my results were, last time, and there they are below... TG's results don't count because he's a lucky rhymes-with-Kastard. I think I won't open less than.... 300 PPP's in the future.. 250 minimum.. That way, I shouuuuuuld get a T6 token. Hopefully. If not, I'll raise that minimum number for the next round..

The results are in...

(https://app.box.com/shared/static/6m4t1ijrcczzpz3x9l65vp3wdhw3aycg.jpg)

I opened every PPP like a mini Christmas present, hoping every single Pack would have a T6 (Epic) token until, like, the last 30 something, when I thought, naaahhhh, not gonna happen. Then I got one.

Worth noting.. I opened 230 PPP's and got (1) Ultra Rare. TG opened... 3?
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on October 09, 2017, 12:47:55 AM
It's a whole other ship! There are So many options when it comes to the overall build in STO. Gear and Powers and Traits and.. etc. I've been in Gear mode lately. And Build tweaking mode, in general. That reminds me.. TG should have no problem getting his Lukari marks and tokens once the new queue hits Console.. It's nonstop busy on PC. So, he should be getting his Lukari gear soon.. Lol everyone should be.. Due to that's where the new Colony tokens drop, too.. I get in a rotation with my toons and run it nonstop. Colony Tokens + Rep Tokens + Marks + Fast popping queues = I'm there. I just minutes ago heard someone in DPS 10,000 complain that there's nothing but dead queues in STO. Wrong. You just have to know what queues to hit if you're looking for ones that pop fast. Currently the new queue is very busy. As are several others..

OK so... just due to I was thinking about buying a bunch of PPP's... and then you brought this up.... I looked up what my results were, last time, and there they are below... TG's results don't count because he's a lucky rhymes-with-Kastard. I think I won't open less than.... 300 PPP's in the future.. 250 minimum.. That way, I shouuuuuuld get a T6 token. Hopefully. If not, I'll raise that minimum number for the next round..
How did you get an UR and an Epic? I have opened over 200 and the best I got was VR quality :(
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on October 09, 2017, 03:40:30 AM
I opened over 200 before I got my epic, too. Was in my last 10-pack. Had I not bought that last 10-pack.....

You can never have too many PPP's, but... when you open that many it would be nice to get a T6. Sorry about your bad luck! That's why I never gamble with stuff that can wipe you out. At least with PPP's you always get something useful.

Now you make me want to save up for like 300 as a minimum.. If I don't get a T6 in 300 packs then I might rethink my strategy of saving up to buy big and just buy however many I have the dil laying around for whenever the packs roll around again.

The main thing to me is the Universal Upgrade Kits. But, yeah, why not try and get a T6 too while you're at it. That was the main reason I saved up last time and I almost didn't get one. I wouldn't have bought any more PPP's! Not after like 240.... Not after over 1,000,000 dil.. So that was pretty lucky to find one in the last 10-pack. Even though for SOME people it only takes like 6 singles to get an Epic..

Sorry Angel!
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on October 09, 2017, 03:57:03 AM
It's all Xev :). Looks like I am going to have pool my dilith for the next Phoenix event.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on October 11, 2017, 07:05:43 PM
i got to thinking about it and... hey, you really never can have too many PPP's, so, in the last minutes I got a couple of 10-packs. No T6 (ha) but, not too shabby...

(https://app.box.com/shared/static/8p5klkhgiw67lowidhd9fn41ulv0kygg.jpg)


Still enjoying the new queue. Mostly nonstop pew-pew. It goes way better when I attack from behind instead of wading into the oncoming waves... It's surprising how well my escort/warbird pilots do in comparison to the normally way tankier Sci ship pilots. I'm kinda glad to be in a few different fleets at this time because they are all scraping for Colony components except the one I have the most toons in and it's nice to be able to pitch in components I enjoy collecting.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on October 13, 2017, 01:37:06 PM
I'm kinda glad to be in a few different fleets at this time because they are all scraping for Colony components except the one I have the most toons in and it's nice to be able to pitch in components I enjoy collecting.

The thrill is gone.. After pitching in most all of the Provisions from the last 3 Colony Projects in one of my Fleets I dropped from a solid 2nd in the Leaderboard to a distant 3rd. All it took was someone adding the projects and then contributing most everything Except Provisions.

Provisions give way too tiny amount of reward for the effort.

Ah well.

It's still a decent queue to run.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on October 20, 2017, 06:41:51 PM
So I see the news about the free shuttles returning:
https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/10684324

And I think, oh yay, they realized that KDF toons can't claim it and have rectified the situation.

Nupe. It's the same promotion as before. As advertised.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on October 21, 2017, 05:18:21 PM
KDF toons get shafted on T5 lockbox ships from the AE, too. Just look how many Fed ships there are to KDF.. I did, again, yesterday, when I was shopping for Admiralty ships for my Rom..

KDF is cool for theme and all that but if you have no real preference .... save yourself heartache.. roll a FED. And then go turn in some Contraband at your Starbase..

Anyway, that rambling isn't what I came for. This is about a whole other rambling. Toon Slots! How great is it that toon slots are less than 1/10th (closer to 1/15th - or even less if you factor in... factors) the price of what they are in CO?

I was just now staring at the option to buy 2 more slots and thinking... Do I really want to blow the 625 Zen on slots that aren't even on sale... And then I thought what it would cost me in CO and I had to chuckle and then make a nonsensical post.

Yes, Ships are their moneymaker. But still, I think that's cool that extra toon slots are so accessible. I think they cost about the same as buying extra BAG slots... now that I think of it. Then again, holy geez are bag slots expensive.

I shall carry this rambling forth, into Space. *pew-pew*

Carry on  : )
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on October 21, 2017, 06:33:12 PM
Yeah, the only Mirror ship I can find for KDF at even a semi-reasonable price is the Mirror Vo'Quv Carrier.  The Mirror K'tang, Somraw, Negh'Var, Vor'cha, and Qin are all 25 million or more - much more in the case of the 100 million EC Qin.  And they're all just basic T5 ships (not T5-Us).

(These are PS4 prices, incidentally.  I don't know what the PC market is)
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on October 21, 2017, 08:36:56 PM
Yeah, the only Mirror ship I can find for KDF at even a semi-reasonable price is the Mirror Vo'Quv Carrier.  The Mirror K'tang, Somraw, Negh'Var, Vor'cha, and Qin are all 25 million or more - much more in the case of the 100 million EC Qin.  And they're all just basic T5 ships (not T5-Us).

(These are PS4 prices, incidentally.  I don't know what the PC market is)
I remember when all mirror ships cost 25 k :(
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on October 23, 2017, 01:36:40 PM
Yeah, the only Mirror ship I can find for KDF at even a semi-reasonable price is the Mirror Vo'Quv Carrier.  The Mirror K'tang, Somraw, Negh'Var, Vor'cha, and Qin are all 25 million or more - much more in the case of the 100 million EC Qin.  And they're all just basic T5 ships (not T5-Us).

(These are PS4 prices, incidentally.  I don't know what the PC market is)

I can't even use the Vo'Quv! On my Rom.. The only 2 T5 ships from the AE I can use on my Rom are the Malon Battlecruiser and the APO Cruiser.. The 2 cross-faction T5u's..

Superior Romulan Operative (Boff innate) is the only saving grace I can find for Roms. And their Singularity cores can be handy. And, I can name a toon T'hee and it's perfectly acceptable. Other than that.. Fed all the way.

It's like someone had this great idea to add Roms to the game and then ... dropped it.

I mean, I can't even claim the FREE shuttle with my Rom from the last promotion that ran twice already.. Cheesy..

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on October 23, 2017, 01:51:27 PM
Romulan ships aren't much better, with some Mirror Ha'pax warbirds at 600k, but most Rom Mirror ships are over a million. (I grabbed a few back when they were cheaper, but that was months ago.  And, again, PC prices are probably very different)

My Rom is currently using a T5-U Nihydron Destroyer, though I have my eye on a C-Store T6 for her.  (I'm just waiting until the next Phoenix Promotion, when the Dil-to-Zen ratio improves)

Only Fed Mirror ships are plentiful and relatively cheap (200-400k), though mostly only Patrol and Advanced Escorts.

Edit: Though I was able to claim the Type 7 Shuttle on my Rom.  Maybe you have to be Fed-aligned.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on October 23, 2017, 08:41:38 PM

Edit: Though I was able to claim the Type 7 Shuttle on my Rom.  Maybe you have to be Fed-aligned.

Yes, I do.

Romulan ships aren't much better, with some Mirror Ha'pax warbirds at 600k, but most Rom Mirror ships are over a million. (I grabbed a few back when they were cheaper, but that was months ago.  And, again, PC prices are probably very different)


There are Rom T5's on the Exchange??

Well, duh.. Just because I'm KDF doesn't mean that I can use KLINK ships, now does it.. All I Was looking for was 'KDF' when I went Admiralty ship shopping. I didn't even see any Rom ships.. hmmm.. I'll have to look again.

BTW....

Those prices you quoted are all whack. I wouldn't pay more than... maybe 5 million EC for an Admiralty ship, or, a T5 that I want to fly as far as that goes.. T5's and T5u's (all 2 of them) are going for ~ 3 million or less on PC. A little more...., sometimes. For 600 million I'd be looking at T6's! Or nothing at all..

oi!
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Night-Hawk07 on October 23, 2017, 08:46:23 PM
Anyone playing on XB1 having issues with starting the "In Shadows" Romulan arc? I'm above the minimum level, completed all the arcs leading up to it, and I don't have anything else that says I need to do something before starting it.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on October 24, 2017, 06:20:31 PM
Yes, I do.

There are Rom T5's on the Exchange??

Well, duh.. Just because I'm KDF doesn't mean that I can use KLINK ships, now does it.. All I Was looking for was 'KDF' when I went Admiralty ship shopping. I didn't even see any Rom ships.. hmmm.. I'll have to look again.

BTW....

Those prices you quoted are all whack. I wouldn't pay more than... maybe 5 million EC for an Admiralty ship, or, a T5 that I want to fly as far as that goes.. T5's and T5u's (all 2 of them) are going for ~ 3 million or less on PC. A little more...., sometimes. For 600 million I'd be looking at T6's! Or nothing at all..

oi!

No, they're 600k, as in thousand, not 600 million.  That would be ridiculous.  (There are ships at that price, but I don't think they're priced to sell)
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on October 24, 2017, 11:59:25 PM
No, they're 600k, as in thousand, not 600 million.  That would be ridiculous.  (There are ships at that price, but I don't think they're priced to sell)

LOL!

umm..

wow.

*600k* is ridiculous!

K??

That's nothing..

I donate that, in Doffs (that I buy in the Exchange), to Fleets, all the time... just to do it. To make the little Project timer kick off on stuff that I have no idea what it is - for fleet Marks I don't need.

600k.... wow. For 'over a million' and less, I just *might* T5 shop for a ship to actually fly. For a few levels.

Hey, what do you guys think of dogfight/strafing-run-Pedal-to-The-Metal tactics?

I have that Iconian Singularity in my Warbird that gives hps and shield at full throttle, too. And, a Wargames engine + fast recharge heals. Having a build fairly reliant on Torps (that recharge as I turn around..) for dps also seems helpful for this kind of fighting.

Started trying this, just for kicks, in Dranuur runs. It's a 40% damage bonus with Pedal to the Metal when maxed and I keep it maxed.. I didn't get the numbers for the shield and hull heal from the Iconian Singularity but they are significant. I also can run out of range of even mobs of mobs with my Wargames engine + possibly a panic button or two, fairly easily.. most times.

What I do is pretty simple. I pick the biggest target I can find (usually) and then I strafe it to death. I buzz back and forth, in and out of the mob's range, and... the mobs not only manage to go down in a reasonable amount of time (I know I'm not solo!), but, even on Juggernauts/Dreadnaughts/Etcnaughts, I'm getting a plethora of (presumably) DPS agro.. I usually have enough agro to stay in the mobs target whether I'm in it's range or not.

*beeeeyowwwwwwnnnnn* *beeeeyowwwwwwnnnnn*

I just buzz back and forth until they explode.. lol. Its kinda fun! There must be a biggilion things in-game that give a bonus for going Full Throttle. I have to do some parses and see if I'm actually doing any damage.. ha.


Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on October 26, 2017, 09:55:48 PM
A new Specialization, and, it looks worthy..

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/10644254
Quote
Miracle Worker is a Primary Specialization, but captains may instead choose to slot it as a Secondary if they only wish to benefit from the first 15 abilities offered.

Soooooo remember I was not able to figure out what happens when you make a Specialization a Secondary - in regards to what benefits are gained from a Secondary Specilization? I wonder if this is standard... That, whenever you make a Specialization a Secondary Spec, you only get the first 15 abilities from that Spec...

The exception would be Strategist, I guess, due to it is Secondary Only.

If true, that's good info to know. I've been clueless up to now about what is active when a Spec is made Secondary. I just knew.... 'not everything'.


I still don't get how this works, exactly. Because.. I don't know what this means, exactly:
Quote
the first 15 abilities offered.

Is that counting the 5 Tier 1 Ground Abilities? If I have them? Or even if I don't? Is that why Strategist is good/unique, because not only is it Secondary only, but, every single Ability (all 15...) is a Space ability?

If 'the first 15 abilities offered' means... what it says... then... I don't get Tier 3 Miracle Worker Abilities, if, I have Miracle Worker as my Secondary Specialization. Due to there are 5 Tier 1 Ground and Space Abilities in 'the first 15 abilities offered.' So if they're counting all 10 Tier 1 Abilities - Ground And Space, and, the 5 Tier 2 Space/ground Abilities. That's 15. Which means I get no Tier 3 Abilities.

If 'the first 15 abilities offered' means... the first 15 Abilities in the Mode I Presently Am In (Space or Ground), or, if it means The First 15 Abilities I *Chose* (and I chose No Tier 1 Ground Abilities) - then, I do get to use Tier 3 Miracle Worker Space Abilities.

So what does it mean? What 15 Abilities do I actually get to use when a Specialization is set to Secondary?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Btw...

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/10691254-20%25-services-sale%21

Forgot to mention that I finally grabbed 4 more slots! And a few thousand more bag slots for my main/main tradeskiller. Or so. Yay  : )
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on October 27, 2017, 11:46:19 PM
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on October 29, 2017, 11:18:11 PM
Because I know everyone is on the edge of their seat about how Primary and Secondary Specializations really work, I shall share my latest tidbit of info that I have gleamed through in-game testing with Miracle Worker on a toon that has no Tier 1 Ground Skills chosen and has chosen all Space Skills up to and including those in Tier 3.

Basically, what they could have said instead of 'you get to use the first 15 Skills (I chose? within Space and/or Ground? or what?) when you designate a Specialization as a Secondary Specialization', is, 'When a Specialization is designated as Secondary - all skills you've selected up to and including those in Tier II are available'.

The first 15 selections. And only those that you have earned/selected that are in that first 15 (of course).

So, those Optional 5 Ground or Space skills that are in Tier I count towards 'the first 15 Skills' whether you want/selected them, or not. I could not use any Tier III Miracle Worker Skills, even though I had no Tier I Ground skills chosen and had earned all Tier III skills - when I had Miracle Worker designated as my Secondary Specialization. It was easy to test with 'Simplified Plumbing' - the first Skill Choice in Tier III.

This was probably confusing to no one but me - but, there ya go anyway.

Now what I wonder, is, if we get the *Innate* Skill for BOTH Specializations, or, just the primary...

Hang on to your seats, more info to come...!

(If you don't know this info already and are into tweaking your builds, it actually can be very useful.)
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on October 31, 2017, 04:27:47 PM
PS4 finally got Hearts and Minds!

... and I'm surprised at how un-creepy it was.  I found both "What Lies Beneath" and "Mindscape" to be far creepier.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on October 31, 2017, 09:29:57 PM
PS4 finally got Hearts and Minds!

... and I'm surprised at how un-creepy it was.  I found both "What Lies Beneath" and "Mindscape" to be far creepier.

Is that the one where you need a flashlight...?

I really need to get a newb rolled up while they are making all these Featured Stories... They give endgamish gear that's available at level 10 and upgrades to mk xii for free.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on November 01, 2017, 12:39:48 AM
Is that the one where you need a flashlight...?

I really need to get a newb rolled up while they are making all these Featured Stories... They give endgamish gear that's available at level 10 and upgrades to mk xii for free.
What lies below you need the flash light. Mind scape is the one with Tuvak
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on November 01, 2017, 01:47:19 AM
Yeah, What Lies Beneath is part of the Spectres arc, where you go deep into the bowels of Drozana Station in the dark and deal with a ghostmalfunctioning hologram.  Mindscape is part of the Delta Rising arc, where you have to mind-meld with Tuvok to chase an Undine intruder through a weirdly distorted and uncanny version of Voyager that represents Tuvok's mind.

Hearts and Minds... well, it's atmospheric, yeah, with the at-first-abandoned station and the weird medical logs, but it ends before it has a chance to get to "creepy".

Reminds me of the PS4 game Asemblance in that respect.  That was an atmospheric and weird game that ended just as I thought it was going to kick into high gear, which is exactly how I felt about this mission.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on November 01, 2017, 07:51:47 PM
What lies below you need the flash light. Mind scape is the one with Tuvak

The flashlight one is the first STO mish I can remember running. And quitting. Crawling around, lost, in caves/tunnels with a torch/flashlight was pretty darn cool the first time I played.... King's Quest. And now it just annoys the crap out of me. I wanna pew-pew! Or tradeskill. Or play the market. Or... anything but crawl around lost.

You guys are Mish aficionados (ty spellchecker)!

That's cool. I'm not into mishes, in general, nearly as much as I used to be. Sometimes. House Pegh was pretty awesome. There are some good mish rewards, too.

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on November 01, 2017, 08:29:17 PM
The flashlight one is the first STO mish I can remember running. And quitting. Crawling around, lost, in caves/tunnels with a torch/flashlight was pretty darn cool the first time I played.... King's Quest. And now it just annoys the crap out of me. I wanna pew-pew! Or tradeskill. Or play the market. Or... anything but crawl around lost.

You guys are Mish aficionados (ty spellchecker)!

That's cool. I'm not into mishes, in general, nearly as much as I used to be. Sometimes. House Pegh was pretty awesome. There are some good mish rewards, too.
When I made my most recent character to run it the flashlight bugged out on me half way through. Which left me bumping into every corner of the mission :)
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on November 02, 2017, 05:20:55 PM
When I made my most recent character to run it the flashlight bugged out on me half way through. Which left me bumping into every corner of the mission :)

See! This, too. If there is a way to make a mish bug.. I'll find it without trying.

I'm all for mishing and still enjoy it sometimes. Used to enjoy it more, but, in recent years I mostly get Rat In A Maze syndrome when running them. Now I'm more into stuff like we had with Incarnates in CoH, and, running queue's/tinkering with builds and then running some more queue's.

If they'd (developers) put more stuff in queue's, I'd run it. They were starting to do that in CoH. Adding more and more stuff we could queue up for to get into a team.

(I tried to ninja edit extraneous data but failed...)

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on November 02, 2017, 05:25:03 PM
I use missions a lot to level up (since I run multiple characters), especially now that they fixed the 50-60 slog.  The later missions also give very nice gear, for both ship and character (I guess until you start getting Reputation Set gear).

I've probably done What Lies Beneath way too many times, since it's such an early story arc.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on November 03, 2017, 01:48:07 PM
The later missions also give very nice gear, for both ship and character (I guess until you start getting Reputation Set gear).


Some mish gear works good with Rep gear, too. My main (who has slogged though most mishes) has mish/fleet/rep gear. There's some nice endgame type mish gear/stuff.

As far as that goes I don't know if any gear type is superior to another. Rep gear's starting point is Endgame, is the main thing that makes it easier to pick through when endgame shopping. (Lower level mishes don't generally give endgame type rewards). Fleet gear can be really good, too. One nice thing about Fleet gear is they typically will pack a lot into a single piece of gear in lieu of the gear having Set Bonuses. So, for example, if your gear has a hole in it that can't be satisfactorily filled with a Mish/Rep set piece... a single Fleet piece can be good due to it is generally powerful all on it's own and can even have innate abilities to make up for the lack of Set Bonuses (Fleet Shields, for example).
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on November 03, 2017, 10:45:44 PM
Well, the console is having the Phoenix Event again, so I traded in all the Dil I'd been saving for Zen (since the price crashed), and got my Romulan a T6 Warbird at last.  I combined her glass cannon playstyle with my own love of Carriers and got a Jhu'ael Tactical Carrier Warbird.  Only slightly better stats than my T5-U Nihydron Destroyer, but it's nice to be flying a Warbird again, with all the Singularity powers and the Battle Cloak, and the Hangar pets are a nice addition on top of that.  Mmmm, new ship smell.

I still have 1500 Zen left over.  I'll probably just hang onto it until I see another ship that catches my eye.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on November 04, 2017, 12:57:19 PM
It sounds like we're in (were in) sorta similar situations. I just rolled up a Rom/Fed that doesn't fly Warbirds. I created him purely for the ability to have Rom Boffs/SRO and fly a Cruiser.

I only have two problems with him so far at lvl 15ish.. My only other Rom is named T'hee... I'm kinda wishing I woulda went with T'nee, for the new guy now.. lol.. (2 Rom Bros fighting on opposite sides..) I know, it's dumb.  He ended up as T'pwn, (think: T-Bone) instead.. I know, it's kinda dumb... hehe.. I also am kinda wishing I wouldn't have put two Skill points into Torps damage already, too.. I think I might want to try all Beams and Broadsides with this toon. All his purple/crafted gear is Bind to Account... so... at least I won't have to re-gear the new toon if I re-roll.

However it works out I'm looking forward to finally flying a Cruiser to 60, and, finally flying a T6 Cruiser.

Grats on your Score! Glad you had funds to take advantage of this round of PPP's  : )
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on November 04, 2017, 11:49:44 PM
Sooooo, since I really only went Rom for SRO I figured, hey, why not go Reman? Those guys look pretty spacey/less normal/more fantasyish. So I rolled one up.

Smial'e:
(https://app.box.com/shared/static/0e4k92wbdyovw3pma8yv69xajz29bf7t.jpg)

I've learned some things, already. First thing I learned is that this toon has really, really, really expensive Boffs. There are only < 30 on the Exchange to begin with.. So feel lucky that they start at a measly > 2 million EC. (On PC...) And there's 2 million+ EC Reman Boffs that don't even have the Space Trait you want...

They DO have an nice Space Trait..
(https://app.box.com/shared/static/ejzklmrhnzumoodfkv9vzjs2tfqgzljv.jpg)

I'm a Defense fan, so, I might look into Remans again.. Someday. For now, Smial'e is going onto the shelf with T'Pwn, and I'm making T'nee, my non-torps crit-monkey Cruiser pilot. Who I suspect will be as short as I can make him....  : D

That reminds me. The costume creator in STO is not all that bad, really.. You can for sure make a fairly unique toon.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on November 05, 2017, 06:45:00 PM
Ultimates...

We get 46 skill points to put into 3 categories - eng/sci/tac - and if we want an Ultimate, we have to put at least 24 points into one of those categories - 27 points, to have a maxxed Ultimate. If you manage to put 24 points into something, you'll likely be tempted to go ahead and put in a few more just to get the thing maxxed that you were going for, to begin with..

That leaves 19 measly skill points to put into 2 categories. Well, and, do you really want 27 or even 24 points in any single category? Or do you end up picking stuff that you hope is better than useless just to get those 24 - 27 points? Meanwhile, there's all kinds of tempting choices left in the other categories.

But are they tempting enough to give up your Ultimate...?

Most (all? except Drain Infection? maybe another exception or two?) Skill choices can be compensated for with gear. There's not gear that can give you your Ultimate, though...

The Ultimates are good, too. The sci one is about as good as Miraculous Repairs + Beam: Overload... The Tac one is not only good but can buff the entire team as if they just fired off *their* Ultimate.

And then there's the Eng Ultimate. It doesn't seem as good as the others, to me, but, having to spend at least 24 points in Eng is probably less painful than having to spend it in any other single category. And, having an Ultimate is better than not having one.

Or is it?

*sigh*

New builds..

I still say 24 - 27 out of 46 skill points to get an Ultimate is too much. There's just not enough leftover points for the other categories, plus, who can find 24 - 27 points of usefulness in each category? How many points do you put in before you just start 'picking anything' that looks better than useless. Meanwhile there's all kinds of goodness you're passing up in the other categories so you can have your OP Ultimate.

That's how it works for me anyway, ha  : )

The easiest to pick Ultimate, for me, is the Sci one for a Sci ship captain. It's a lot easier to find the 24 - 27 useful skill points in Sci when you're a Sci ship captain, and, the Ultimate is sweet.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on November 06, 2017, 11:08:00 PM
I ran into some more possibly interesting info tidbits in my quest to roll up a new newb so I thought I'd share... I'd say these are observations of an Intermediate builder.. due to I didn't have them when I was a newb, and, I still have a lot of questions that I don't know the answers to.

First, Roms are going from my Least favorite choice to my Favorite choice. One reason is that they have Racially Restricted Boffs with a very useful Space Trait.

It also must be a Fed Rom, due to, that way it can fly the most ships in the game - tied with Klingons and the races that can fly Klingon ships. Fed Roms and Klingons can fly all Fed ships PLUS their own Racially Restricted ships..

So, for example, not only can a Fed Rom fly all Warbirds, it can fly all Fed/Starfleet ships, too - whereas a KDF Rom can only fly KDF Warbirds - which is a way smaller selection of ships.

Reman Feds are my second choice due to they offer a useful Space Trait of their own, and, I can also use Rom Boffs... Those Reman Boffs are expensive, and, I'd only want to go Reman if I was going to take advantage of their Space Trait/Boffs which I currently don't. So they are currently my #2 choice.

Human Feds would be tied for #2 due to they have a useful Space Trait and are Starfleet. Being Starfleet gives you fairly active queues that can be nice as a newb, and, as a Fed (can they even be anything else?) I can fly more ships. Humans of course have no special Racial ships - they just get to fly whatever ships their allegiance is with, Fed or KDF - this is assuming you can even join KDF as a Human..

Klingon Feds would be next due to they can not only fly Fed ships.. as with Roms/Remans, they can fly the ships of their race, too. (I am assuming.. I don't know this first-hand. But I do know that Rom/Reman Feds can fly both Rom and Fed ships, so.... it seems like a safe assumption). Klingons don't have anything useful for me in Space as far as Traits, go, though... so... actually.... I might go Alien (from the Klingon character creation screen choices).. just so I can fly Klink ships and Fed ships, plus, I get an extra Personal Space and Ground Trait choice.. Or maybe Gorn.. They have to be good Ground toons.. Plus, they're Gorn!

I'm sticking with Fed due to all my toons can share all Fed rewards. Fed has the most ships and the most shareable ships. We just had that Fed-only shuttle giveaway.. Fed even gets better newb PVEs (Federation Fleet Alert). STO is pretty Fed Focused. KDF is kinda The Red Headed Stepchild. Besides maybe being able to better RP being a Bad Guy.. I dunno what being KDF does for you. You can't even turn in Contraband...!

Now.. having said all that about KDF, I have to say that the toon I play the most of lately, by far, is KDF... Due to my KDF Fleet needs a lot more help with Provisioning the new Colony Fleet Holding than my Fed fleets do. And I like scoring high on Leaderboards  : D

Oh, and, I have to announce that T6.5 ships have (fairly recently..) arrived. The new Miracle Worker ships... Not only do they have an extra console Slot (12), but, for the first time, we see a Universal console slot. They also have 60k (in my shopping window) hps.. As compared to, what? 57k? Tops? from earlier ships? I saw a lot of tanks with ~ 53k. 53k...57...now 60? 10..11..and now 12 consoles?

I mean come on, there are tons of TEN console ships and 10 console/53kish hp tanks still for sale as a T6.. 12 consoles? A Universal console slot? 60k hps? That's a T6.5...

I just happen to be in the market for Tanks, too.

My new Rom Warbird is going to be a Miracle Worker, baby...

Also.. It seems at least slightly useful to pick out your T6 the same time as you're planning your new build to get a better idea of what stats need boosting more than others due to what that ship's particular console layout is. I mean, for example, if you never flew an Escort before you might be shocked to find out the ship you gotta have has 5 Tac consoles but only 2 Eng. It might make a difference in what you choose from the Skill selection screen. Or maybe the T6 has a Console or Starship Trait you want to take advantage of via Skills.. I already know what ship I want to fly with my level 10 toons, so, picking out a T6 and a couple of alternates wasn't too hard. Just a thought, to try and avoid console/trait-shock later on when you 'wished you woulda known sooner'.

Anyway... some additional thoughts from me as an Intermediate Builder, to you. May they be useful and bear fruit. And be mostly accurate! : D

It's not about making an 'optimal' toon and all the 'right' choices.. But, it's always good to know more. I'm currently in crit-monkey tank build mode, and, haven't tried that many ships. Your perspective will vary. Awhile back when I was rolling up a new toon all I wanted was to be blue and have antennae come out of my forehead  : ) That guy is in Lukari set and Iconian set and Fleet MK XIV gear now and I've played him as much as any of the others I got to 60. The above is my latest attempt at some min/max, and, build-regret-control..



Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on November 06, 2017, 11:17:03 PM
If you're into planning...and don't already have it.. this planner can be useful: http://skillplanner.stoacademy.com

I use the Skill Points planning part.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on November 06, 2017, 11:23:17 PM
I ran into some more possibly interesting info tidbits in my quest to roll up a new newb so I thought I'd share... I'd say these are observations of an Intermediate builder.. due to I didn't have them when I was a newb, and, I still have a lot of questions that I don't know the answers to.

First, Roms are going from my Least favorite choice to my Favorite choice. One reason is that they have Racially Restricted Boffs with a very useful Space Trait.

It also must be a Fed Rom, due to, that way it can fly the most ships in the game - tied with Klingons and the races that can fly Klingon ships. Fed Roms and Klingons can fly all Fed ships PLUS their own Racially Restricted ships..

So, for example, not only can a Fed Rom fly all Warbirds, it can fly all Fed/Starfleet ships, too - whereas a KDF Rom can only fly KDF Warbirds - which is a way smaller selection of ships.

Reman Feds are my second choice due to they offer a useful Space Trait of their own, and, I can also use Rom Boffs... Those Reman Boffs are expensive, and, I'd only want to go Reman if I was going to take advantage of their Space Trait/Boffs which I currently don't. So they are currently my #2 choice.

Human Feds would be tied for #2 due to they have a useful Space Trait and are Starfleet. Being Starfleet gives you fairly active queues that can be nice as a newb, and, as a Fed (can they even be anything else?) I can fly more ships. Humans of course have no special Racial ships - they just get to fly whatever ships their allegiance is with, Fed or KDF - this is assuming you can even join KDF as a Human..

Klingon Feds would be next due to they can not only fly Fed ships.. as with Roms/Remans, they can fly the ships of their race, too. (I am assuming.. I don't know this first-hand. But I do know that Rom/Reman Feds can fly both Rom and Fed ships, so.... it seems like a safe assumption). Klingons don't have anything useful for me in Space as far as Traits, go, though... so... actually.... I might go Alien (from the Klingon character creation screen choices).. just so I can fly Klink ships and Fed ships, plus, I get an extra Personal Space and Ground Trait choice.. Or maybe Gorn.. They have to be good Ground toons.. Plus, they're Gorn!

I'm sticking with Fed due to all my toons can share all Fed rewards. Fed has the most ships and the most shareable ships. We just had that Fed-only shuttle giveaway.. Fed even gets better newb PVEs (Federation Fleet Alert). STO is pretty Fed Focused. KDF is kinda The Red Headed Stepchild. Besides maybe being able to better RP being a Bad Guy.. I dunno what being KDF does for you. You can't even turn in Contraband...!

Now.. having said all that about KDF, I have to say that the toon I play the most of lately, by far, is KDF... Due to my KDF Fleet needs a lot more help with Provisioning the new Colony Fleet Holding than my Fed fleets do. And I like scoring high on Leaderboards  : D

Oh, and, I have to announce that T6.5 ships have (fairly recently..) arrived. The new Miracle Worker ships... Not only do they have an extra console Slot (12), but, for the first time, we see a Universal console slot. They also have 60k (in my shopping window) hps.. As compared to, what? 57k? Tops? from earlier ships? I saw a lot of tanks with ~ 53k. 53k...57...now 60? 10..11..and now 12 consoles?

I mean come on, there are tons of TEN console ships and 10 console/53kish hp tanks still for sale as a T6.. 12 consoles? A Universal console slot? 60k hps? That's a T6.5...

I just happen to be in the market for Tanks, too.

My new Rom Warbird is going to be a Miracle Worker, baby...

Also.. It seems at least slightly useful to pick out your T6 the same time as you're planning your new build to get a better idea of what stats need boosting more than others due to what that ship's particular console layout is. I mean, for example, if you never flew an Escort before you might be shocked to find out the ship you gotta have has 5 Tac consoles but only 2 Eng. It might make a difference in what you choose from the Skill selection screen. Or maybe the T6 has a Console or Starship Trait you want to take advantage of via Skills.. I already know what ship I want to fly with my level 10 toons, so, picking out a T6 and a couple of alternates wasn't too hard. Just a thought, to try and avoid console/trait-shock later on when you 'wished you woulda known sooner'.

Anyway... some additional thoughts from me as an Intermediate Builder, to you. May they be useful and bear fruit. And be mostly accurate! : D

It's not about making an 'optimal' toon and all the 'right' choices.. But, it's always good to know more. I'm currently in crit-monkey tank build mode, and, haven't tried that many ships. Your perspective will vary. Awhile back when I was rolling up a new toon all I wanted was to be blue and have antennae come out of my forehead  : ) That guy is in Lukari set and Iconian set and Fleet MK XIV gear now and I've played him as much as any of the others I got to 60. The above is my latest attempt at some min/max, and, build-regret-control..
Actually that is wrong. A fed rom can only fly some fed ships not all.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on November 07, 2017, 08:43:14 PM
Actually that is wrong. A fed rom can only fly some fed ships not all.

I bet they can fly a lot more than KDF Roms can.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on November 07, 2017, 10:46:35 PM
I bet they can fly a lot more than KDF Roms can.
I would lose that bet :), outside of my original KDF Orion I haven't touched the Klingon faction :(.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on November 08, 2017, 10:08:43 PM
I would lose that bet :), outside of my original KDF Orion I haven't touched the Klingon faction :(.

They can't fly any! KDF Roms cannot fly a single Fed ship. Feds get a lil fussy about that...

Fed Roms, on the other hand.. can fly every Fed ship available. Up to my level. A whopping 15ish atm .. hehe.

My info above is likely not 100% accurate on all accounts and I tried to point that out. It was kinda a brain fart (mine smell like butterfly bush flowers, don't panic) after a weekend of trying to wrap my head around a new build after not really making one since being a newb.

MAN I hate making some of the Skill Point decisions.. And you have to make a lot of choices real early on.

It's good for people to at least know that there are issues with Factions and Races, and to know that there are choices with Space Traits based on your Race, and to think about what T6 they want to fly when they're putting together their build. And to know, in my experience, KDF has been less rewarding as far as game rewards go. The game seems a lot more Fed focused, to me.

I'm very happy to announce, by the way, that I've put together not 1, but 2! Eng/Tact/Cruiser (they're both Eng and both have 27 points in Tac Skills) builds that I'm halfway happy with. In the Skill Planner. And put into practice up to level 15ish. I finally figured out where to put 19 points out of 60 selections. Twice. And can now finally level 2 captains into my first Cruiser T6('s).

What must-haves are there in Skill Choices? I dunno if there are any must-haves, but... there Are some can-only-get-them-here's.. 1 would be Long Range Targeting Sensors. Mostly for Sci, there is Drain Infection and Control Amplification. These all grant abilities that you can't get through gear. There are some hard-to-gets, too. Defense is one. Crit chance is another.

I currently feel like the only newb in the world that can fly a Warbird and is flying a Cruiser and lovin' it. What makes it feel even more odd is I'm finally flying Kirk's ship (I always took the Escort or Sci..) and I'm Romulan..
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on November 11, 2017, 02:19:28 AM
Actually that is wrong. A fed rom can only fly some fed ships not all.

I can still fly all freebie and Z-store Fed ships up to.. T3.

60k hps was impressive on the Miracle Worker ships. Still is, due to I can't find another Fed or Rom ship with >/= 57k hps.

I can find another Klingon ship with > 60k, though... The Klingon Miracle Worker ships have 62k.. All numbers come from my shopping window, of course.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on November 14, 2017, 04:36:17 PM
on a personal note....

My 2006, built by me (as ever, since I gave up my Tandy 8088 and then Tandy 386 with SCSI (THE BEAST)) and started building my own 386's on up) PC gave me the BSOD yesterday. The BSOD was named the BSOD due to when you see it... death usually follows. I was lucky and the machine recovered with some superficial teching (I unplugged, blew things out, checked cables, drew a circle around the PC and sacrificed a winter Rodent, clicked my heels 3x and then plugged back in and rebooted) but then this morning I woke up to a frozen PC (this PC has been waking me up on a timer since... 06').

This tells me that unless an actual Can of air (vs. my turbolips) that I normally use but don't have handy, helps, I probably have a component that is on its deathbed. My Super Tech Senses tell me it is likely something on the fairly ancient mainboard and I don't have any components except the monitor that are worth/would survive migrating to a new one.

It's kinda nailbitey around here lately. I haven't gone without a PC since the 80's, Internet since the 90's (there was one Brief, very unpleasant, period, when I first moved to Europe..). I'm currently living in the middle of nowhere and fairly shut this time of year when there's no work or I'm not getting in plenty of miles a week in hilly bike riding for excersize and.. groceries. All foreseeable dollars (we're talking, until late Spring, at least..) I get are already spent on even more necessary necessities.

So, if I go poof, it wasn't You.. it was Me... lol..

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on November 15, 2017, 03:51:36 PM
I've only been doing Duty Officer/Admiralty missions lately, due to Steven Universe: Save The Light.  Also, my wife and I are moving to a new city next month so things are getting hectic round here.

I did do the new Melting Pot mission with Season 14, but only on one character.  It's rather... uninteresting.  A whole lot of "scan this.  Now scan this.  Now scan this.  Now scan this.  Now scan this.  Now beam down to the planet.  Now scan this.  Now scan this.  Now scan this.  Now scan this" before anything actually happens.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on November 16, 2017, 05:49:47 PM
I've moved plenty of times and I think I never enjoyed it once. Moving sucks! Being moved can be good.. but the process is never fun.

I've also had periods where all I had the energy to do in STO was to run Doff/Admiralty.

That other Geordi mish is pretty decent. The newb one that rewards that set including a slow recharge torp, an omni, and a real nice console that has leveled up with me since level.. 10? Even though the set bonuses were very appealing, the other gear in the set wasn't, so, I just got the console, which, is a very nice newb console at the least. Still haven't ran Melting Pot, though. It must not have any rewards I want right now.

I'm kinda back into full tilt STO mode. You know, where you want to play all toons at the same time while rolling up a new one?

Now I just need to get Mr. PC to hold together. Nearly 12 years is a pretty decent run for a homebuilt PC that's gone through 2 moves and plenty of blackouts. Only the (most important part..) video card's been upgraded (but I wouldn't migrate it due to I question if it isn't what is/was having problems). 4 gig of (PC) memory was a lot in 2006 and it still squeaks me by today. Pretty decent run.. I could probably even squeak a few more years out of this thing if it decides to keep working. This, will be my last PC... to have hard drives. The end of an era. Goodbye, to the majority of moving parts and mechanical failures in PC's. (Hello, new problems!) We do still have fans. (And cords...*grumble*)

I didn't have a hard crash yesterday but I did get a couple of DX(9..?) crashes during gameplay. I played a lot, yesterday, too. And did plenty of toon swapping. STO (PC) crashes a lot all by itself without any help... I know it's not just me because it seems like everyone at least mentions this same problem at some point. So, STO crashing doesn't really raise any red flags. It's been crashing on me for at least a good year now. I don't remember getting a DX crash, though.

I get more client crashes, undoubtedly, when I play my Roms.. Even if I just switch back and forth between my Roms and other toons. I can play for hours at a time and won't have a crash for weeks if I just play non-Rom Feds. If I play my Roms or even just swap between them and my non-Rom Feds, I am almost guaranteed to get at least 1 client crash before I log off. Thankfully *knock on plastiform* it never happens during battle..

I picked up some extra work this week but that's just going to pay for the stuff I had no idea how I was going to pay for....lol. Ya gotta laugh. Or cry. Too much crying makes your face ugly. Pro tip  : )
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on November 17, 2017, 05:53:03 AM
Actually that is wrong. A fed rom can only fly some fed ships not all.

Well that is dumb! The faction thing, in STO..

So, I have a KDF Rom and a Fed Rom with access to T6 ships and below, now.. Here's the deal. My KDF Rom doesn't have access to any Fed ship from the Z-store or the ships you can choose while leveling up. My Fed Rom only has access to Fed ships from the Z-store and from the ship vendor who has the freebie ships that are T4 and below - which is like.... who cares?

So I now have 6 toons and still no Cruiser Pilot!

I did get to finally unwrap the T6 I got from the Summer Event.. I don't know how to classify it except as a tank due to it has no Singularity and it has no Cruiser Abilities but yet it does have a lot of hps, is more Eng focused, and turns slow. I'd been saving it for my Cruiser captain to try out is why I never used it until now. My builds until now have been all escort type warbirds/escorts/sci so they either rely on Exotic damage or Narrow arc weapons. No broadsides battle builds.

Anyway... the cool thing about this ship? Other than it has pretty darn decent hangar pets and a good console, 11 console slots, and good Starship Trait.. It's available at..... *40!* A T6.. If this is true of all Event ships then this is another good reason to get them. Uber twink gear.

I dunno what I'm going to do with T'nee now that I know he can't fly a Cruiser... I'm not real interested in a heavy warbird toon and I already have plenty of escort/fast warbird toons. His build would work for either. I'll probably end up putting him in a heavy warbird... like the Miracle Worker one.. Then again.. I haven't invested in weapons for him yet...

I guess I could use him as another fast warbird toon and give him my other Rom's (z-store) warbird... And finally take my own advice from the beginning and stop rolling damn Roms. And roll a Human (only Fed race with a Space trait) ... Fed (only alignment that can fly Cruisers) ... Cruiser (the thing I wanna try...) captain...

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on November 19, 2017, 03:53:36 AM
When I first started playing I wished I knew a way to level by just doing Space. The last toon I leveled (to 51) I leveled pretty much all in Space.

All I had to do was craft some purple gear and run PVE's. While I was waiting for PVE's to pop, I'd run random map battles. By the time I could use MK X gear, I hit the Fleet Dilithium mine and got my first piece of Fleet gear. By the time I could use MK XII gear I could kit out the majority of the rest of my ship in Fleet gear..

So, no gear buying.. No gear farming. I just cashed in the Fleet marks that piled up while I leveled and got about as good as gear as you can get before Rep gear becomes available. Gear that will help me to be able to run those Rep gear queues.

All - Space leveling. With a few mishes that have special gear sprinkled in. Mishes that can be dominated in purple Crafted that is Bind to Account for superior Rinsing and Repeating..

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on November 23, 2017, 05:29:25 PM
25% off everything right now, hmmm..

Well... I've got my eye on a Miracle Worker ship.. thing is, they have so many ways to buy the thing... First of all, all three flavors have enough useful Traits and Consoles to make it worth getting a bundle. Second of all, I rolled up toons that must fly 2 different race specific ships that are shopping for tanks, so, now I'm looking at getting 2 bundles.. Oh wait, for the same price as 2 bundles I can get 3...

So now, I'm thinking to buy 9 ships.... when I really only want 2, and some Traits and Consoles..

Now that is freaking marketing at its FINEST.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on November 24, 2017, 02:07:17 AM
The Miracle Worker ships won't go live on console until after the sale ends, so booooo to that.

There aren't any C-Store ships I really want anyway.  Waiting for a T6 Vo'Quv variant that will never arrive. :D
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on November 24, 2017, 03:17:07 AM
I dunno what I'm gonna do. I might just get the Fed bundle so I can get what I want out of those three ships and then call it a day. I don't have enough Zen for the mega bundle anyway. They make you feel like you're losing out if you have captains from at least 2 of the shipbuilding .... race groups and don't get the mega bundle. I'm glad, besides cool look/RP factor, that Klingons have no real appeal to me yet otherwise I'd really be screwed when it comes to buying ships. It's a pain in the butt enough already with 2 different race restrictions.

That thing with race restriction really helps them sell ships.. or helps us have less useful ships... or both. Is what it feels like, anyway. I mean... I guess you could look at it as more options to have ships that operate differently. More variety. But why couldn't they do that without us having to buy 9 ships to get 1 or 2..

I really only want a single good Cruiser at this point.. not 9 ships.. But I'll eventually want a tanky Warbird (Miracle Worker Warbirds look as good or better as any for this..) and don't want to end up paying double or more in the end, plus, I can use most of the traits and consoles in each bundle - but, will only end up flying ONE ship per bundle of ships.. I won't fly ANY ship from the Klingon bundle in the foreseeable future.

They've really got a handle on marketing. I mean, to take a guy that's really only interested in a single ship and sell him 9, 3 of which he can't even use.. is pretty impressive. They haven't sold them to me yet but I'm a cheap bastard and seriously considered it, so, I know they have to someone else in a similar situation.

On the subject of ships.. there were at least one or two T6's I never saw before in the list when I went shopping last. I dunno where they came from. Must have missed the announcements for them somehow.




Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on November 24, 2017, 02:10:45 PM
Personal note update: I'm gonna risk all and go ahead and be happy about my PC... And praise the power of a well aimed can of AIR..

I normally keep my PC blown out due to I live in an extra dusty place (we get not a drop of rain all summer) and have an old PC but I haven't been able to get any air lately so I've been using my turbolips to blow the thing out and it seemed dust free, enough, to the naked eye. But. When I aimed a shot of compressed air beneath my video card fans yesterday a (thoroughly satisfying) nice thick cloudy grey puff appeared.

Anyway... all seems good again. Nearly 12 years and this PC (knock on plastiform...) is still kickin' booty. As a tech, I didn't run into a whole lot of 12 year old machines and when I did they ran like complete crap, so... I'm gonna go ahead and be proud. This thing plays my games perfectly (my video card is the newest thing in this rig, that helps..) and movies too and I can surf just fine... what else is there in life...?  : )

*pats Old Faithful luvingly*

*Smells Smoke*

O.O

hehe anyway, yippee *hugs PC*

I say this every year.... but, hopefully, finally, NEXT cyber Monday... (covers PC's ears) I do some replacement shopping. it's just time. I have to catch up on what's the latest stuff to build with, too. I'm glad to be able to do that with a working PC and (hopefully! one never knows for certain..) plenty of time..

I know right now SSD drives are in my future. And AMD processor. Nvidia video. And a meaty Megabyte mobo. And a (probably Logitech cordless) keyboard without the letters rubbed off the keys...lol

I've not done a whole lot of 'testing' since yesterday afternoon when I blew this thing out so hopefully I'm not speaking too soon! But everything feels right, again.. so I'm gonna say yay  : )
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on November 29, 2017, 04:41:25 AM
One thing that had me mixed up on how Faction works, is, when I made my KDF Rom, I had no options for Fed ships. Leveling up, there are no KDF Cruisers or Escorts to chose from. As a Fed Rom, up to like... tier 4?.. there are Cruisers and Escorts to choose from.

Faction still has me screwed up. I just got the Miracle Worker warbird flavored bundle. (yum.) It has 3 consoles in it. In the description it says they can be used in either Miracle Worker Warbirds or Cruisers. Um. How?? How can you claim a Z-store console and not the ship? How can you claim a Warbird Console if you can't fly Warbirds? So, how can the Miracle Worker Consoles be used in either Warbirds or Cruisers?

I just got some Space Starship Traits, too. Fed Only. Hey, I have a Rom who's Fed that these'd be perfect for. Ooops. No. He can't use them. When they said Fed Characters Only - what they meant to say was Fed Default Races Only... These are two different things. My Rom is a 'Federation Character', but, he is not a Fed by default.

Only toons who are Fed by default can use the Traits for sale in the Exchange that say 'For Federation Characters Only'. Only toons who are Feds by default can fly Cruisers or Escorts.....past Tier 4.

What I still don't understand, is, if no toon can fly both Miracle Worker Warbirds and Cruisers, unless there is some Reclaim thing I haven't found yet, I have no idea how Miracle Worker Cruiser Consoles are supposed to work on Miracle Worker Warbirds and vesa virsa.

Faction. It can be annoying. I don't even have any KDF default race toons yet and it's already been annoying. I can see how it adds some variety to the game, so, I'm not entirely against it, I'm just saying it can be annoying. Like today when I found the perfect looking Fed only Trait for my Fed Rom who couldn't use it and for which there is no R.R.W. (?) default race equivalent.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on November 30, 2017, 08:56:27 PM
Ended up with 5 new ships, recently. The Miracle Worker Warbird bundle, the Kobali ship from the Phoenix Prize packs, and, a lockbox ship - the Na'kuhl Acheros.

Only have Miracle Worker screenies so far...

(https://app.box.com/shared/static/wdb7stmvcgj7gsigwooajntzr09ig3gg.jpg)

(https://app.box.com/shared/static/vxb5jw85ozfwtp0efi229h79wz7vxsji.jpg)

(https://app.box.com/shared/static/n6qno8gbs2rhdh310llxucon5rahair4.jpg)

(https://app.box.com/shared/static/ndko4qu3p7m9ypwfqhx64yv6n1wep9m2.jpg)

(https://app.box.com/shared/static/azadijvz7sf6lr204cwbuxw7x2kspo8i.jpg)
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on December 07, 2017, 08:22:04 PM
Point of possible interest... They moved the STO executable (gameclient.exe) and also made a x64 version..

I had my 15 gig installation of STO go *poof* yesterday after trying to do a re-install to a different drive using existing files. I had to do a regedit to get the installation directory moved to even get the game to install to a different drive. So, either I'm special, or, the 100 googles I read on how easy it is to move your installation directory to a different drive (people are even running off of thumb drives..) are no longer valid. Whenever I moved the install directory and its files, Windows did not change its registry setting for the install directory and therefore continued to try to find/install the game in this directory.. I'm glad they didn't move the exe until this patch due to I already don't like fooling around in the registry. And, now you know how I spotted that they moved the exe - that, and, my Logitech Gaming Software couldn't find the game anymore until I updated it with the new gameclient.exe location.

I've been doing a lot of tune-upping on my macheen, lately, (no hard crashes since .. a week?) and, really, the game looks and plays great. I was rejoicing, yesterday, after a lengthy 'testing session' and then promptly (as I had instantly dreaded when I had invoked .. badness.. by celebrating to soon..) the game crashed. lol..

So, there went all my theories on having a fresh install on a different drive than Windows fixing things.

Having said all that... I've played smooth as silk Wargames 10 player queues with a throttled (due to the 15 gig download..) connection on a 11 year old machine.. which, fairly well impressed me.

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on December 08, 2017, 08:51:58 PM
Ship Bundles mini-review..

I never could find at least 2 out of 3 ships worth of a bundle to make a bundle attractive, until getting the Miracle Worker bundle. Now I have a first hand opinion on them, and, some surprises.

Some things I've enjoyed with having the entire bundle of a .. bundle of ships, so far, are...:

All 'costume pieces' are free/included. When you go to modify how your ship looks there are no pay options.

The obvious - there's 3 Starship Mastery Traits, and 3 Consoles. In the case of the Miracle Worker Bundle, if you use all 3 consoles the recharge time on the powers from all 3 consoles are reduced to 1 minute from 2.. which, I'm glad I got to try.

The different Boff layouts are the real game changers so far with my first bundle. There's always an Engineer Commander (the highest rank), but, everything else is shuffled depending on which ship in the bundle I'm flying. It makes for some real interesting combo changes.. that work with my theme and without having to change any gear.

On paper, I assumed the Tactical MW Warbird would be the best fit for me but now that I've actually floated this tub around... I dunno... I might just fly all 3. I've got fairly distinctive builds for each with the only real constant being.. Fire at Will .. and other agro grabbing AoE. The overall theme, so far, being, try to stay alive while aiming Boff cones and broadsides Beams at everything on the map, while, also trying to pump up enough energy to power 7 Beam Arrays to a respectable level so that stuff goes down in a respectable amount of time.

The only thing I'm sold on that comes with a single ship in this bundle, so far, is.. the look of the Sci Warbird. No matter which ship in the bundle I fly, they all look like a barely altered version of the Sci ship.

I haven't seen an entire bundle that I like enough of until now, to get. I hope I find more. Even if I only end up flying one ship out of the bundle it's been well worth getting all three ships that are in this first bundle I've gotten, and, even if I only end up flying one ship out of the bundle.. it's going to have parts from the other ships cherry picked out (I'll get the exact console layout and look I want) so that I get the best fit for me - which, so far, is different than what I thought it would be when looking at things on paper. So far, it's looking like I'll probably end up flying all three! Which, I totally didn't expect to happen.

Being able to slide around between three builds without having to change gear or anything (just swap some Boff abilities around and redo a few hotkeys or use loadouts..) is a pretty good ability. None of my other toons have it.

So, yeah. Thumbs Up on my first bundle experience.



Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on December 09, 2017, 10:29:50 PM
I'd been wanting to try the new Na'Kuhl Acheros Battlecruiser (lockbox t6) I got awhile back. The price was right and I wanted its Trait were about the only reasons I got it. Finally took it out for a spin today, just to level up the ship some... and... I really, really, really like this ship! The modeling seems...older.. but otherwise it's a fairly cool looking ship and it has some key features that make it a surprise find. Things like 5 weapons up front (and 3 in back), which the toon that got the ship is already geared for (except that I gained a rear weapons slot!), and, it has a very nice turn rate for a Cruiser. It has 3 good Cruiser abilities - I would like to have had the 4th.. (taunt/dmg resist) but oh well..., I'll take the Battle Cloak on this Fed ship as a consolation prize.. The Boff layout is fairly ... robust, too.

It's been a very fun ship to pilot. More like a beefy Escort than a boat-like Cruiser.  The only reason I'm even taking the time out right now to gush about it, is.. I got a 2 hour AFK penalty for trying to run the Winter Event with a throttled connection. I'm lucky I haven't had more - my STO install is fresh, too, soooo, I have to download stuff every time I do something for the first time. Otherwise, for a really crappy 100kps+ connection that I now enjoy,  the game runs surprisingly well.

This ship might actually replace my first T6 that my first toon/main's been flying - the Tactical (?) Pilot Escort. I still need to see how it parses.. I'm getting agro and not even using all my abilities due to slight newhotkeylayoutconfusion. I have 5 trays with no empty slots (maybe 1?) that are filled with things I want hotkeys for. 5 trays..lol.

Anyway.. Screenie:

(https://app.box.com/shared/static/kfb8c37a4ngqrm1p2hdpg6yzvcpkvl82.jpg)

: )
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on December 10, 2017, 02:50:34 PM
Haven't been playing as much lately, and probably won't for another couple of weeks, due to moving to another city, and all the hectic scrambling my wife and I have been doing to get everything (including three cats) from here to there, hopefully without anything getting lost or exploding along the way.

So I'm probably going to miss getting the Winter Event ship by thatmuch.  I'll count the remaining days once my living situation is stable again.  (It's nice that you only have to get it on one character, though)
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on December 10, 2017, 09:31:23 PM
Haven't tried to run the Winter event since I got the 2 hour AFK penalty for trying. I never end up getting the Event ships, either, for one reason or another. I'm really glad I got the Summer ship. It has a better looking Trait than the one on this Winter ship. Having an account-wide usable at level 40 T6 is a pretty nice thing about Event ships.

I moved from coast to coast with 2 cats and a wife so I can relate with that kind of situation at least a little bit. The cats did pretty well except for the massive panic attack they had at the Hoover Dam. Why? I dunno. Heat maybe.. They were wide-eyed, panting, like they saw their worst lil nightmares. For like an hour.. It was kinda tense/intense but they eventually snapped out of it and fully recovered and in the end they got to walk on two coasts on a whole different continent from where they started.

If you miss this Event ship, there'll be more... I might end up missing out on it too. A Raider *does* sound interesting, though.. Don't have one of those. 25% bonus damage to rear attacks or something like this. And they lose a weapons slot. But it has 5 weapon slots up front, I think. Which is nice for a ship that's dogging rear shields.

GL with the move! Hope all goes as fast and smooth as possible.

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on December 13, 2017, 02:24:46 PM
So I'm probably going to miss getting the Winter Event ship by thatmuch. 

So far, I'm thinking... no big loss. It's not one of the more impressive Event ships, for one thing. Another, is, after running that race last night for tokens... 5 times.. and losing each time to a spider, or wolf, or whatever else.. I'm not very motivated to run it again for tokens. So I probably won't get this ship either.

Event ships Are good things to have. They're (my 1 Event ship is, anyway) usable at lvl 40 and account bound like you said. Great ships for getting from 40 to 50 properly twinked.

I still want that Dorito (sci) Ship! Someone told me I might still be able to get it due to I have the project slotted still. (Hope it wasn't a Winter ship! I have to look, now..) The Trait on the Summer ship I have from last summer is pretty good. That's another thing T6's can be useful for and their Admiralty versions are usually pretty decent.

Hey, I heard someone in Zone ask if they could fly FED ships with their Rom if they picked Fed faction. A couple of people told them Yes, no one disputed it.. So, I feel better that I'm not the only one that had to level a Rom to 60 to find out that's not true.... past Tier 4. I wouldn't have even rolled that guy had I known this little tidbit of info .. due to I have to buy double the amount of ships, now! .. for everyone to be (mostly) equal with Admiralty and access to what ships there are to fly (and Traits..). Yes, I did pass that info on to Zone. And, I like playing my Rom, so, I guess I'm not sorry I leveled him and gave him a bundle of T6's.. But really, I wouldn't have done it if not for SRO (with Infiltrator as a decent bonus..). Warbirds don't really excite me over Cruisers enough for the sacrifice. I don't like this thing with Faction and having to buy 2 of everything. I leveled and play this guy for 1 reason: SRO.

Happy Moving TG! again.. btw..  : ) Gawd I really don't like moving. Some days there's nothing I'd like to do more. I kinda have nowhere to go, though. I'm where I always wanted to be.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: DocHornet on December 15, 2017, 10:15:50 PM
There's a trick to running the Fastest Game On Ice race for the ship tokens. When you come up to a curve, either double-tap roll or jump up in the air and take your fingers off the movement keys. When you alight, you'll brake to a stop and have traction back temporary. Turn and start running again. Repeat on the next curve etc. 

(Doesn't make much sense, but it's the way their slippery ice physics engine works.)

I use the 'bunny hop' method myself and won last year's ship with no problem. Before that I couldn't win a single race.

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Lycantropus on December 16, 2017, 10:03:50 AM
There's a trick to running the Fastest Game On Ice race for the ship tokens. When you come up to a curve, either double-tap roll or jump up in the air and take your fingers off the movement keys. When you alight, you'll brake to a stop and have traction back temporary. Turn and start running again. Repeat on the next curve etc. 

(Doesn't make much sense, but it's the way their slippery ice physics engine works.)

I use the 'bunny hop' method myself and won last year's ship with no problem. Before that I couldn't win a single race.

As far as I can tell, this works in Neverwinter, too.

Lyc~
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on December 17, 2017, 01:35:14 PM
There's a trick to running the Fastest Game On Ice race for the ship tokens. When you come up to a curve, either double-tap roll or jump up in the air and take your fingers off the movement keys. When you alight, you'll brake to a stop and have traction back temporary. Turn and start running again. Repeat on the next curve etc. 

(Doesn't make much sense, but it's the way their slippery ice physics engine works.)

I use the 'bunny hop' method myself and won last year's ship with no problem. Before that I couldn't win a single race.

This works. I still barely won (lol..) but I did, first time  : ) Thanks!

The summer event was way easier. Just fly around a track within like.. 15 minutes. I nearly goofed that one, too, though. I was running the ... wrong race. I said something in Fleet about 'I'll never win this damn thing' and luckily someone pointed out my error..

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: DocHornet on December 17, 2017, 08:23:36 PM
Glad I could help. :) You'll get better with practice. By the end of the event you should be able to run it without too much problem.

Run as much in a straight line as you can, clipping the edge of small turns (while staying in the track) where possible. The fewer times you need to bunny hop, the faster your race time will be.

Another thing that helps is getting the ice boots from the Winter Event vendor and practicing throughout the rest of the year sprinting around ground missions with ice turned on.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on December 18, 2017, 12:35:04 PM
So my wife and I are in our new temporary apartment, and... the TV here is from 2006.  There's no way to hook my PS4 up to it, and so no way to play STO until we find and move into a new apartment of our own sometime in the next month (so we get our own TV out of storage).

Gah.  I was really looking forward to a relaxing day of STO-ing after all the hassle of getting here.  instead, I'm going to miss the entire Winter Event.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on December 18, 2017, 07:52:29 PM
So my wife and I are in our new temporary apartment, and... the TV here is from 2006.  There's no way to hook my PS4 up to it, and so no way to play STO until we find and move into a new apartment of our own sometime in the next month (so we get our own TV out of storage).

Gah.  I was really looking forward to a relaxing day of STO-ing after all the hassle of getting here.  instead, I'm going to miss the entire Winter Event.

Grats! Well, you're there at least.. My wife and I lived with my favorite uncle about 200' from where I am now, for awhile. Here's where we moved west, to. 2 cats and 2 people in an average sized bedroom. I of course immediately set up my PC and got us on EQ. Priorities, ya know. Then we moved to the Midwest and got a small place and I then of course immediately set up what was now our 2 PC's and got us on EQ. Priorities, ya know. Then we moved to her country where I promptly learned how to build a PC using parts from entirely new distributers who used an entirely new (to me..) language and got us on EQ. Ya know.. ya gotta have priorities..  : ) Lucky me I had a wife as addicted as I was to gaming. Am? This helped a lot. With prioritizing..   hehe

May your new connection to the cyberworld arrive asap..


Glad I could help. :)

Much thanks, I'll probably get to try a Raider, now  : ) Of the ships I have now I think would rate the Summer Event ship in the top.... 2? 3, if you say that the Pilot Warbird and Pilot Escort are different ships. These Pilot ships were my first and still my favorite. They just have it all.. well.... 'all' enough  : ) That Vorgon (Summer Event) ship is sweet, too. I can fly it with as much AoE as I want and rarely explode. When they 'level up', the hangar pets (hangar pets?? yes, the hangar pets are actually noteworthy) can be pretty tough. They can even steal team agro.. which can be handy for some of those 'click the glowie' situations. The Starship Trait on it is good. The deeps is respectable, but, as with every ship I fly that isn't a Pilot escort or warbird or Temporal Sci ship (this is a good ship..), my deeps suffers.

I can't figure out why my deeps is so low (16kish) in a Na'kuhl Acheros Battlecruiser (name memorized from Auction searches..).. This ship should be right up my alley. I never explode in it, it has all the right stats and Boff slots and the console layout is fine. I can even use all the same gear I use in my deepsiest Pilot escort and use Battle Cloak as a Fed.. But I never break like 16k in it..

Anyway, yeah, cool  : )  I have a toon that seems to gravitate towards rear shields, so, maybe he'll be good in that thing. Now I have a lot better chance of finding out.

You'll get better with practice. By the end of the event you should be able to run it without too much problem.

It was already easier this morning. I smoked whatever it was I was up against. And then went about my morning. Ty...
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Power Arc X on December 20, 2017, 02:28:12 AM
There are sections  where you can run over small hills on the sharp U  turns. The final turn with the big hill can be run over the top just try to be closer to the right side than up the middle. I don't  use the ice boots and on several occasions  passed the toon that started  just before  me.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on December 20, 2017, 04:43:31 PM
It's definitely good to find something that works. After the first round of fails I was perfectly fine with not ever running that race again. Thing is, next year they'll probly do the same thing. Now I don't have to sweat it.

The Summer event was super simple. Just buy or rent a floater and take your time getting to the finish. I'm glad I have a trick for the Winter one, now. The more ships the merrier. I sure like the Summer ship.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on December 22, 2017, 05:57:38 PM
Well, the apartment complex sent a new TV, so the PS4 is all hooked up and I can play!

.... and I don't understand how to win the race.  I tried it twice, and the first time I apparently slipped a quarter-inch over the line, so I was instantly disqualified, while the second time I was able to keep control of my character fairly well, but my opponents just blew past me at twice my running speed (and unlike me, they had perfect traction, so they didn't have to stop at every corner in order to not slide off the track).
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on December 23, 2017, 02:25:05 AM
Well, the apartment complex sent a new TV, so the PS4 is all hooked up and I can play!


Life is good!

.... and I don't understand how to win the race.

Bunny Hop ftw! There's more than one way to win but so far bunny hopping seems to be the most foolproof for me.

There's a trick to running the Fastest Game On Ice race for the ship tokens. When you come up to a curve, either double-tap roll or jump up in the air and take your fingers off the movement keys. When you alight, you'll brake to a stop and have traction back temporary. Turn and start running again. Repeat on the next curve etc. 

(Doesn't make much sense, but it's the way their slippery ice physics engine works.)

I use the 'bunny hop' method myself and won last year's ship with no problem. Before that I couldn't win a single race.



Maybe it works different on Console.. On PC, just like it says above, when you hit a tight corner that you don't want to chance, jump and then stop running for a second and you'll come to a dead halt. Take off again as fast as you can and when you think you're going to lose control and run off the track... bunny hop and come to a complete stop.

I've had (1) fail since learning this method due to I was just being a spaz. It seems to pay to try to not overthink it. Just go full out and do a full stop at any point you feel you might lose control and then go full out again and keep doing that until the Finish. That's what I try to do anyway and I totally sucked at this thing before to the point I wasn't going to run it anymore. Thanks again, Doc Hornet.

GL, TG! Run..jump/stop...run.. try to only whip out a bunny hop when you need it.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on December 23, 2017, 10:14:49 AM
The problem is not losing control, the problem is that the other racers are zooming around the track at twice my speed, easily blowing past me.  I didn't lose control once during my second attempt, but I still lost the race long before I got to the end.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on December 23, 2017, 02:11:18 PM
The only other thing I could think of is that it's not unusual to get passed before the end of the race. I usually seem to get passed at least once but I always end up passing them back at the end. They seem to (be programmed to let you win if you get that far) go slower at the end than they do at the beginning of the race. I.E. don't even pay attention to getting passed unless it's at the very end.

Maybe it's a Console thing you're experiencing. Sucks to keep losing that race, I know that!

Only other other thing I can think of, is.. I think bunny hopping mayyy even be faster than full out running and sliding around the corners. I've tried both ways and it seeeems to be faster to come to a dead stop and start again than it is to sliiiiiiiiide your way slowly around the toughest corners. I think I never won without bunny hopping.

You know what a great tip, might be...? Especially since I dunno if anyone else here plays on console and things might have changed on console. Ask ZONE! When I first ran the race all kinds of tips were scrolling up my chat box but I ignored them in my frustration to win this silly race (that I have called names that cannot be repeated, here..  hehe).
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on December 24, 2017, 10:19:49 PM
Decided to just use the combination of the Phoenix event (and the resulatant Dil-to-Zen rate) and the 20% off ship sale to buy the three-pack of KDF Command Battlecruisers.  So now I have three new ships to play with (on two different characters, one of whom didn't have a T6 yet).

So I'm not really worried about the event T6 anymore.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on December 25, 2017, 02:56:15 AM
lol..

If you scroll up a few replies, I had pretty much the same exact attitude. I mean, you have to run that race like a hundred times.. or 25ish. and when you're losing...every...single...race.. Yeah. I had the same attitude..lol.

The most exciting looking thing about this Raider, to me, is that it is a Raider. Haven't tried one yet. And, it can be a cross-faction Admiralty ship..

I didn't really care when I wasn't going to get the ship but now that it looks like I probably will I'm glad I was given a tip to that works for me. Thanks again for that. Sorry it didn't work for you, TG! I never get those things either, ya know.. 1 so far. 1. Looks like maybe 2, soonish.

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on December 26, 2017, 06:10:39 PM
So... I've been pre-occupied with a very sick doggie lately and this morning I thought... Hey! I didn't buy any Zen or PPP's...!

With ~ 30 minutes left to buy myself a few Phoenix Prize Packs so I could add to my stock of upgrade kits... well, a picture tells a thousand words..

(https://app.box.com/shared/static/7ith7m00c9pnwmh318qvjt1owp9ukdow.jpg)

And then I bought a ton of Zen... : D
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on January 13, 2018, 06:58:18 PM
Next new ship..

(https://app.box.com/shared/static/zuumkhg21x6vkhwei5ljdluatcr6b37a.jpg)

(https://app.box.com/shared/static/mhrnuhsf4o76tl74owq1tbhfqihukvw4.jpg)

(https://app.box.com/shared/static/aeoyyfexk6xb6tl4biqz9tusvd8yodfy.jpg)


This would be the Winter freebie ship. The toon that earned it just happens to be decked out with polaron weapons and consoles and this ship (I was oblivious/dumb luck) just happens to have a +polaron damage console. He's also decked out in full Iconian gear as you can kinda see, above. Not expecting to use this ship longer than to try it and snag the Trait, but, am looking forward to trying it out after a little more tweaking of hotkeys and gear placement. The starship Trait seems more worthy than I remember it being when the specs came out. Among other things it applies a stacking damage resistance debuff when firing energy weapons - which, is exactly when I normally want such a thing  : )

Bunny hopping ftw. I'm really glad DocHornet piped in with that tip on how to run the ice race not only due to I got a new Admiralty ship for my Roms... and I can try out a Raider.. but, next year.... when this event comes up, I will be pr0h. With enough practice, that tip really paid off. Also heard of/saw people using a forward roll technique and I'm sure there's got to be others. I found mine! It sounds a lil silly, looks a lil silly, feels a lil silly, but, it worked. I pretty much despised and was going to skip that race before I found a way to run it that worked for me, so, thanks for the tip.

I dumped my Miracle Worker warbird already btw.. It's a nice ship, no real complaints. I mean.. with 11 consoles and one of them being a Universal console, and, the ship having a ton of HPs.. It's kinda hard to go wrong.

I think I'm more of a cannon/escort (type) ship guy, though. That's what I started with and what I seem to always go back to. So I hopped out of that big tub filled with beams I was floating... and into a Pilot Warbird, with a Wargames Engine for speed and the + crit chance Deflector (which I found out is actually a pretty small '+'...) and I'm in the process of hybriding that with Iconian for some tankiness and a nicer paintjob  : ).  It's been fun. My main concern is that I'm becoming addicted to Wargames engines. Once I tried them it's kinda hard to go back.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on January 14, 2018, 10:43:46 PM
Well, today started Move Part 2 (last month was moving into a temporary apartment, today was moving most of our stuff into our permanent apartment, but some of our stuff into a second temporary apartment).... the upshot of which is that the PS4 is packed away and I can't play for a couple of days.  I'm not even sure when we'll have Internet again at the new place.  (I have my laptop and the internet at Temporary Place 2).

I'M JONSING FOR SOME TREK, MAN.  (And also for Killing Floor 2, which I've started playing again the past week or two)

... also, I just heard a weird moan.  I think this place might be haunted. YAY.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on January 15, 2018, 04:05:51 AM

... also, I just heard a weird moan.  I think this place might be haunted. YAY.

lol.. Hurry back online!

Soooo I tried out the Raider with the above gear, which, seemed pretty good for this ship... and I never exploded so much since I was flying T5's as a semi-newb in Advanced queues. At first it was .... scoffable, and then it was .... head shakable... and then it was just downright embarrassing as I kept exploding in the Borg Disconnected (Advanced ofc..) I was in. Still, the ship seemed worthy enough for a second try so I shipped it over to one of my Roms who's using plasma energy weapons and torps, and, Wargames gear. I cheaped out and got a Fleet Warp Core due to I couldn't use my Iconian Singularity from the Pilot Warbird I was previously flying.

The console in this ship is OK (1 minute recharge on an aoe Placate & +Polaron dmg) but it is very losable. I traded it for a Fleet vulnerability locator Tac console for more crit chance and to replace the torp damage I lost from the Pilot Warbird console I was previously using.

So far.... I have to say the results are Very pleasing.. No explosions yet and when I find the sweet spot, enemy ships seemed to melt nicely.

Anyways, here she be in 3/4 Wargames gear and I used the second template available for this ship, this time. I'll probably plunk an Iconian Warp core in it at some point if I decide to keep flying it.

(https://app.box.com/shared/static/fl7g6td549i7ivsit8h94qc02kswzac4.jpg)


-------

Update: Still no explosions *knock on plastiform* and I just got done tanking a morning wake-up tzenkethi red alert.. The deliciously melting dps and lack of exploding has led me to keep this ship in service..
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on January 16, 2018, 12:28:26 AM
I have my laptop and the internet

If the laptop was from this decade and was an x86, that'd probably be all you need.. Add a cable to run to your TV and an external keyboard for extra joy.

iirc you have an Apple.

Hey, at least you still have Titan and my uber screenies to get you by...! And the build planner... This might be a good time to work on some builds.

http://skillplanner.stoacademy.com

For reasons of my own I would also hit the Wiki and make a list of all Rep Gear Set Bonuses. No other info. Just the name of the Set for reference, and, the Bonuses. Due to all the other info is in-game, so, why waste a bunch of space on info you can easily look up in-game. Set Bonuses is the only info Not available about Rep Gear in-game and I'm constantly having to look them up due to I never take the time to make such a list, and, poor memory.

Video games are well known to soothe/bust ghosts and such, btw. Even single player ones. So once you get hooked back up all should be good.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Night-Hawk07 on May 01, 2018, 04:55:50 AM
For anyone on here that's part of the Paragon Fleet on PC, do we have a console fleet as well (specifically XB1), or is everyone exclusively playing on PC?
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on May 01, 2018, 06:31:07 AM
For anyone on here that's part of the Paragon Fleet on PC, do we have a console fleet as well (specifically XB1), or is everyone exclusively playing on PC?
I am a part of the Paragon Fleet, but honestly I? do not know if there is a console fleet. :(. I never heard anyone talk about it.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Tahquitz on May 05, 2018, 02:21:25 AM
Star Trek Online has separate worlds (and separate game versions) for Console and PC users.  It's not possible to have a joined fleet across Console and PC.  A disjointed one (same fleet name, different members, management, and channels) is possible though.

Night-Hawk, Paragon Expeditionary Fleet and Paragon Vanguard Fleets are on the PC Version.  Just hop on the [CoX] channel and ask for an invite. (Or [CoX-STO] if the first one is really quiet.)
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Night-Hawk07 on May 06, 2018, 07:44:22 AM
A disjointed one (same fleet name, different members, management, and channels) is possible though.

That's actually what I was asking about. I knew the PC and console worlds were separate, I just wasn't sure if a CoH-vet fleet had formed on the console side or not.

And I'm actually part of PEF on PC, but I've been playing the console version more, lately.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on May 11, 2018, 02:20:35 AM
It might be a point of interest to someone out there: STO subs are gone. You can't sub to STO anymore unless it's a Lifetime Sub..

What have they replaced subs with? I honestly can't tell you. They have a new pack you can 'buy' (with real money or not..) for 1500 zen, now, under Services, that gives you a bunch of shared bank slots and some retcons and whatnot and then if you buy that, you can 'buy' a recurring Services item that isn't really all that special, either. I mean, they aren't selling anything that wasn't available before and what they are selling in a bundle... is nice but it isn't overly appealing and unlike a sub, I can get it with funny money.

Well, and, I didn't sub to STO but if I was subbed I think I would have liked to have kept my sub..

Odd decision from them, I thought. I mean... Why throw away subs? People who were subbed seemed happy enough about it - and now that there are no subs - who is Leet, now? Who gets the perks? Who am I supposed to be jealous of and who is going to feel superior to me because they have a sub and I don't? I am not even compelled to buy that new Service, whatever it's called. Until it goes on sale maybe. And then when I do buy it, I surely won't do it with real money...

Are they really making that much money off of the Z-store? And even so.. lol.. why throw away good, easy, money (subs)?

*shrug*

There is plenty of development going on in STO. I can't say as I've ever seen a decline since I started play a year or two ago. They even have Star Trek TV actors on the payroll.

Anyway, there ya go. The STO news that is news. And, we're getting a new Rep and queue, soon. And Mirror Universe started today. There's this new crafting thing, too.

OH! and the new Romulan whatever it is called, queue (you only get the most accurate info from me). This is a pretty big deal if you play like me.. Because.. You can get in it at like level 10 and it has no cooldown... and it's about as hot as the Crystalline Entity queue. And.. with an expensive (to some *ahem*) XP booster (these have been upgraded to add 50% XP recently, btw..),  I am dinging nearly every time the queue finishes... Means: All Space Levelling With No Hassles Annnnd a Dil reward (780 for a Delta Recruit, not bad! - Oh yeah, btw, I think you just missed Delta Recruits or are about to), even. It's a fun enough queue to repeat a bunch of times, too. Without cooldown.. Excellent addition to the game.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on May 12, 2018, 04:50:33 PM
Romulans being able to fly nearly every ship in the game, soon.... is an interesting development. I started making only Roms since a few newbs back due to I play deeps and I like SRO. Now you tell me I can fly nearly every ship in the game with my Roms? Hmmm... Well. I can see myself sticking with Roms for awhile.

The second thing I thought, was.. Wow, Klingons sure got not loved. I mean.. Isn't the best thing about playing a Klingon, Spacewise, the Raider? I haven't even tried their other ships, but, since trying that Event Raider they were giving away awhile back, I was seriously tempted (to try a Real Raider), for the first time and on a regular basis thereafter, to play a Klingon (or other race of their faction).

But now.. I don't have to give up my SRO. I can stick with my Roms and fly a Klingon ship if I pick their faction, which, I have once already and probably will again, now.

I mean, there are other reasons to play Klingons than what ships they can fly and if they have a useful Space innate. But those would be for other people.. lol. They have effectively removed any desire for me to play Klingon, now. Other than they are Klingons. I mean, I made an Andorian, once.., due only to he is Andorian and I wanted to be blue and have antennas. He's one of my best equipped toons and his ship's in the garage and he makes weapons for my newbs, sometimes, now.

Well, anyway.. All Most of the teasing aside.. It was a controversial decision, and, one that is going to require more un-diversification in the future, I'm imagining. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I always thought their faction stuff was kinda screwed up anyway. And it still is, just in a different way that happens to favor me atm  : )

I can envision an STO future in which you can have Any space innate in (nearly) Any ship. This is what un-diversification boils down to in the Space game and with Roms we see it beginning. Possibly.

Again, not necessarily a bad thing for the game to add some vanilla in this case. It should get people flying or at least trying more ships due to they can keep their preferred race(s) and fly ships from other races. It should speed along my test drive of a Real Klingon raider.. I hadn't planned on making a Klingon for at least 2 more newbs. Now I don't have to and I can still try the ship I want to try. A Zen costing ship... AHA!
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Night-Hawk07 on May 14, 2018, 09:57:17 AM
I must not have been paying attention over the past several years, because I always thought Romulans had access to their chosen ally's ships....I just always "chose" to stick with the Romulan ships.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on May 14, 2018, 10:12:08 AM
Romulans have had access to their chosen ally's T1 through T4 ships, but only Romulan T5s and T6s.  Until now.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on May 14, 2018, 12:56:10 PM
I must not have been paying attention over the past several years, because I always thought Romulans had access to their chosen ally's ships....I just always "chose" to stick with the Romulan ships.

Hey, don't feel bad. I made an entire lengthy post awhile back ago about how great Roms are, and, one reason, was, "they can fly all ships". My Rom wasn't high enough level at that time to have found out I was wrong.

I was in Cruiser & Rom mode at the time is the only reason I got in that situation.

I'm kinda looking forward to trying a Rom in an Escort as well as a Raider. My latest newb just shredded his way from 40 - 50 in that Bajoran Event escort.. very nicely.



Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Tahquitz on May 15, 2018, 05:26:37 AM
Odd decision from them, I thought. I mean... Why throw away subs? People who were subbed seemed happy enough about it - and now that there are no subs - who is Leet, now? Who gets the perks? Who am I supposed to be jealous of and who is going to feel superior to me because they have a sub and I don't? I am not even compelled to buy that new Service, whatever it's called. Until it goes on sale maybe. And then when I do buy it, I surely won't do it with real money...

I think it was the opposite.  Subs were falling since Lifetimers are buy-once, play forever, and most folks who play go free to play/MT, so they made the Sub privileges MTs instead.  See if more folks would pay to boost their free accounts forever rather than pay monthly for the same perks.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on May 15, 2018, 04:47:51 PM
What about veteran rewards and whatnot? There's no prestige in buying a service from a menu. Very generic way to sub to me.

Plus, with a sub, they were already collecting money from people that had the sub in their budget. Was anyone complaining about sub prices? I never heard any. Why toss that money away? Now.. these people who were subbed have to go to an extra effort to spend cash - make an extra decision to do so... Before, it was an automated decision that only had to be thought about if someone's budgeting was tight.

Why not offer the Service in parallel to subs..? Why not have an extra way to get cash instead of only a completely different one?

This decision only adds another bundle to the Z-store, to me. But I used..... to sub a lot to games and I used to like my veteran awards/prestige and whatever other perks came with being subbed. That, and, I just can't imagine a company telling the entire subscriber base "nahhhhh just pay us when ya want, thanks for those subs all those years tho".

There is still a LTS.. And, if you were subbed for 'all those years' you probably should have bought an LTS by now... But that's other nits to pick.

Having said that, though, I guess the New Leet/Subscriber, would be an LTSer. An Uber Leet/Uber Subscriber would be an LTSer who regularly buys bundles... Right? The rest of us are Glorified Silvers. So, again, nothing's changed for me.. hehehe. But I still think it was an odd/Bold decision to kick people out of their subs.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on May 16, 2018, 01:56:44 PM
We didn't mention one of the more noteworthy side effects of this Bold (sounds better than Odd) decision to end monthly subs. Everyone will have Tribble access. "Unless there are probs" (loose quote..).
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on May 17, 2018, 11:15:09 PM
This would be my "8 Beams and no Ultimate" build.

I didn't put any points into Projectile or Energy damage, due to, I plan to fly a Miracle Worker w/5 energy weapon Tac Consoles (with plenty of +Energy Weapon +ness) and will have no projectiles.

I have lots of +Power yumminess in there. There's like +10 15 to Weapons/Shields, and, +8 10 to Aux/Eng, once you factor in Unlocks. There's max +EPS, there's Crit Chance/Severity, there's Defense, there's Long Range Sensoring, there's all kinds of Shield and Hull love - about the max.

There is no Ultimate.. I don't plan to Deeps. This is for my (Expensive!) Reman who is going for Defense and if I have my way, just firing FAW with a-thor-i-tie, will draw me plenty of agro. I decided awhile back ago that the power of Ultimates outweighed any benefits that a half dozen or less Skill choices could offer, but, today, that order got rescinded for some reason. Wanted to try something new.. It all started with wanting all the Eng goodies after depriving myself for so long due to always going for a maxxed Tac Ultimate lately. Due to I always usually spend nearly that many points in Tac anyway, sooooo.., why not.

I didn't work Sci like I could have with +Drain and/or +Control.. But, I didn't put points into Sci Recharge, either, like I did for Tac and Eng, and, I plan to use as little Sci as I can get away with - which, is probably driving against traffic when it comes to the more pr0h builds. As-is giving up an Ultimate.

Oh, and I left 1 point open. This point will likely remain open for... months after he levels. I seem to do this often.. I always wait for that day I say "man I wish I had a little more...." *click* and then I have it. But that day never seems to come. But if it does...I'm ready!

Anyway, there ya go. It probably sucks but maybe not! I think I'm gonna try it. I should have renamed it to "More Powah". That's what I was kinda going for, and Defense stuff.

https://skillplanner.stoacademy.com/cc74df6f1a822d16dfce44476cf96551


-----

Must add: Never have stuck with my Cruiser type builds, and, usually go for Escort type builds. As far as that goes... I have no go-to Beams oriented builds. I started with Cannons. Every toon I pew-pew with regularly, uses Cannons.

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on May 18, 2018, 01:15:59 AM
I usually use something close to this:

https://skillplanner.stoacademy.com/e0f50735272f4d80e61bd341794f2860

Tac is where I usually want to spend most of my points, and, a maxed Tac Ultimate is a good thing to have. Is how I end up with that type of build.

Things I don't like about this build, are, I don't think the + to energy weapons and torps does that much for me due to my consoles already probably put me heavily into DR territory. I don't normally have hangar pets. And, everything that's level 3 in Tac, I'd probably be OK with, if it were at level 2.. scooping me up at least 5 points that I would be perfectly fine with spending elsewhere. 1 more point in Accuracy would probably not be a bad idea due to I like to use scatter volley. I like Rapid Fire, too.. and used to use it exclusively, but, have been using more Scatter Volley, lately. So, I could lose 4, and re-arrange 1, in Tac, and wouldn't mind trading it for something like control expertise for round-up with Gravity Well, and I wouldn't mind Shield Drain being maxed, with Drain Infection. I know Drain Infection isn't much, but, where else can you get it? It's a direct damage boost to something that can be useful when spammed *shrug* I have it on my first Rom who uses Romplasma and have let him keep it. I would really like to have the +10 to +15 Subsystem power from Eng, like in the previous build, too.

Anyway, there ya go, now you can feel better about YOUR builds...hehe. I think about anything can work (I.E. you can run advanced queues fairly easy and breeze through Events) if you have a theme. I would be perfectly happy playing 100k+ builds, but, I don't want to copy someone's and I can't make my own, yet.


Anyway, this isn't an exact copy of anything I'm flying right now I don't think, but, it's pretty close to the general theme.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on May 18, 2018, 09:56:57 PM
They forced Retcons on my Delta Recruits.... so....

https://skillplanner.stoacademy.com/e6791e2b2af210abf1b603b5b3cb46c3

I get my tac ultimate with 2 points in it and all the rest of tac I want and more. I get +8 (7.8...) to Weapons and Shields power from Eng. I get + 10 to hull and shields from Eng and Sci Unlocks. I get a lot of love for shields and a respecable amount of love for hull.

We'll see how it does with some new Gold dual heavy cannons in a Pilot Warbird on this Marks Weekend.

About average, I'm imagining.. : ) With a little more power to shields than normal.

And now I quit spamming my very non-meta and nothing earth shattering, builds.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on May 23, 2018, 12:40:11 AM
There are so many combos of things you can do in STO. I just started using that Bajoran Space trait that gives a nice buff whenever I fire off an Emergency Power To Engines (yuck..) or a Pilot Boff power (previously thought of as, kinda yuck).. Well, once every 20 seconds it does. Good enough.

Anyway, now I have become kinda hooked on this Pilot buff that I never would have tried, before. And, now I have a whole new power that I never even knew existed with the Trait and Boff powers merged. As can often happen in STO.

This brings me to the only reason I wanted to post..

Why are my Escort type Warbirds so weak in the subsystem power department as compared to an actual Escort?

I've been flying that Bajoran Event Escort (no Faction restriction) they were giving away recently with my Pilot (!) Warbird captains, and, the power levels are through the roof in comparison. I mean, I can nearly max (125) weapons *and* Shields is at, like... 80ish, if I put all power to Weapons and Shields. There is more bonus Aux and Eng power, too.

Why? Why so *much*?

OK, I didn't take the time to get screenies or even take down actual numbers, so, this is more of a general question. I have like nearly Twice the subsystem power in that Bajoran Escort than I do in my Pilot Warbirds.. My Warbirds feel like paper, now.

Which brings me to another question which I just remembered!

If I want the Rom Cloak Damage bonus (I should know this, and I should be able to figure it out easily enough, but, I'm asking you instead...)... just how long do I have to be cloaked...? For the other cloak buffs, I have to be cloaked for like 3 seconds... but the tooltip doesn't say how long I have to be cloaked to get the damage bonus...

A millisecond?

That would be the reason for me to stick with my Warbirds.  Otherwise.. Sheesh. Escort Me.

I have to do some more testing on that cloak thing if no one knows. It seemed to work that way (millisecond) but I kept getting in high dps teams so it was hard to tell! I used to not use cloak that much due to I thought I had to be cloaked for 3 seconds, and, shields drop when I cloak - which is bad, for, ya know... combat. Watching enemies melt after I insta cloak/de-cloak, is, kinda, ya know... fun  : ) Again, I was in huge dps teams every single time I tested... so it was hard to tell.. but.. I sure like the idea of it working and will be trying this out more : )

Where's my Warbird Subsystem Powah?? I'm using identical gear in both except that one ship has a Warp core and the other the same version of Singularity. We're talking about 3 different builds, too.

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on May 25, 2018, 10:46:31 PM
Warbird cloak does Not give damage boost if you aren't cloaked for 3 seconds or more. 3 seconds is a full round of Heavy cannons or 3 full rounds of Dual Beam Banks. Well, and my Shields are down for 3 seconds.

So as far as combat goes, that leaves Singularity buffs. Singularity buffs in my Warbirds can be nice when the Singularity is charged.. and nicer when fully charged.. but... I mean.. wow. I get way more subsystem power piloting an Escort. I have less power in all subsystems except Weapons (125), in my Warbird.

Comparing Pilot Escorts to Pilot Warbirds.... You get exactly *grabs calculator* a lot more subsystem power in the Escort. Even the Bajoran event Escort makes my Pilot Warbird feel like paper. I mean, like 50 less shields power is fairly significant.

I'll have to come up with better numbers... but you get the idea!

So, yeah. I'm looking forward to flying Escorts with my Roms/Reman. Raiders, too.



Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on May 26, 2018, 12:36:33 AM
Keys were on sale.  Bought 50 keys.  Sold 50 keys.  Now my Klingon has Baltim Raider pets for his Vonph.  i have barely any Zen, but I'll just trade more Dil when the next Phoenix Box event comes around, so that's no problem.

(I don't play this game as much anymore, but I really wanted those Baltim Raider pets) :D
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on May 26, 2018, 03:19:07 PM
Keys were on sale.  Bought 50 keys.  Sold 50 keys. 

For EC's? That's a lot of EC's. I'm trying to reach cap (it's not *that* cappy...) on my main tradeskill toon just to say I reached the cap, which, is something I never did in an online game with currency. The newbs have been draining funds, lately, though.. Those gold weapons just are usually never very cheap.. Luckily the crafted ones are tradable and pretty darn good to use while waiting to upgrade to sets.

Speeeeking of newbs.. OK, here's a tiny bit less boring Build. This is for Reman/Eng/Tank/GravWell Roundup/in an 8 beam boat:

https://skillplanner.stoacademy.com/c69e696426c264015e800f28e7b03d01

Next one is going to be Rom/Tac/Escort/Torps (5 up front!)/Drain. and then I'm done for awhile I think.

It's nice to have some variety.. Sometimes one toon scratches an itch the others can't.

Grats on the Raider pets! Good hangar pets are what make that Vorgon Event ship special. Those suckers even seem to grab dps agro from a team sometimes when their 'stars' are maxed.

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on May 27, 2018, 04:23:26 AM
I hate that last build...

So I rerolled and came up with this..

https://skillplanner.stoacademy.com/2dd50e867d91289c716f36c26eb70582

There is no EPS Flow or Long Range Sensors due to this is a torp build with Sci thrown in to substitute for energy weapon damage and for variety, basically. I didn't max control expertise or EPG due to, consoles. I put 2 points into energy weapon damage due to, Omni/Cutting Beam, which, are just some easy supplemental damage. Kinda like pets. Tac gets 26 points due to I want the Boff Recharge bonus and Team Frenzy so I can share it, on my Ultimate. The carrier pet buffs can be decent team buffs but I plan to ultimately put this build to work in a Pilot Warbird and then move to a Pilot Escort when Remans can fly Escorts.

I really liked the *idea* of a Defense (Reman Boffs and etc) Tank with FaW and Gravity Well for agro, mainly, and dps too, in the build before this one, but... In practicing that build with Tractor Beam (Grav Well is a level 3+ Boff Power and I can't use those yet), I saw that I was nonstop switching power back and forth from aux to weapons.

So, I gave up my beams and mega aoe agro and roundup theme but kept the idea of flying a Not Science ship, using Sci abilities, having a lot of Tac and still relying on weapons for dps. And, now I can dump all my power to aux and shields without sacrificing power to weapons because I'm using torps for the vast majority of my weapon dps.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on May 31, 2018, 02:49:00 PM
Sooooo I finally saw that I would use the shared bank slots enough, and, that I needed at least 1 retcon (and, they just had a Pack sale and they didn't include this Pack..)...so... I got the Elite Starter Pack.

Surprise #1

I totally misunderstood how these things work. Once you buy one, you get the Reclaim, once....for Free, for allllll your toons.

!

I was like, wow! Not only do I get the retcons I'll use, and the shared bank slots that I used right away and will use often due to trading tradeskill stuff around... all my toons get a boost! No more Roms that are stuck with that Boff I Can't Discharge and so therefore don't have enough Boff slots for my needs in the newb levels.. More inventory slots! wheee.

Surprise #2

My most slot happy toon cannot use the Reclaim... Due to he has the max number of bag slots already I get the message that 'I am already at the limit' and therefore can't claim the bank slots or Boff slots (and whatever else there is, if that isn't it.. yes, I have a memory like a Steel Trap - and a meticulous mind for details. ok, not.)

I still rate this Pack as: Yippee!

~~

Forgot to mention that I thought the Reclaim was just another pack to *purchase*, and, I thought the purchase price was 1500 Zen... Sooooo when I found out that the Reclaim (it's kinda a weird term to use in this  case due to you aren't RE claiming anything, and, you cannot (RE) claim it again. I'd call it more of a... 'Claim'. Recurring claim? AHA! REclaim  : )  ..sorta.) is Free, and all my toons get it - new and old - that, was a nice surprise.

Hope they get the bug worked out that my slot happy toon ran into, soon! It is for sure a bug.

bye  : )

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on June 03, 2018, 08:40:32 PM
I must have this torpedo and console and the set bonus they give..

https://sto.gamepedia.com/Contractual_Agreement_Set

How hard is it to come up with 400 lobi? From 0?
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Night-Hawk07 on June 04, 2018, 04:29:29 AM
I must have this torpedo and console and the set bonus they give..

https://sto.gamepedia.com/Contractual_Agreement_Set

How hard is it to come up with 400 lobi? From 0?

In the words of Dex from AOTC: "....depends on how big your...pocket book is. Huehuehue."
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on June 04, 2018, 11:22:17 PM
In the words of Dex from AOTC: "....depends on how big your...pocket book is. Huehuehue."

Wellllll I read that I should get ~ 4 per lockbox...soooo I guess that's ~ 450 - 500 million EC.. or.. a bunch of Zen.

That's a nice set : ) Was shopping for plasma torpedo stuff and kinda stumbled over it.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on June 05, 2018, 02:09:22 AM
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Night-Hawk07 on June 05, 2018, 05:36:23 AM
Wellllll I read that I should get ~ 4 per lockbox...soooo I guess that's ~ 450 - 500 million EC.. or.. a bunch of Zen.

That's a nice set : ) Was shopping for plasma torpedo stuff and kinda stumbled over it.

I think you get more Lobi than that. I got up to 900 real quick by opening Kelvin lockboxes with the keyring bundles to get the NX-refit.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on June 05, 2018, 01:45:55 PM
I think you get more Lobi than that. I got up to 900 real quick by opening Kelvin lockboxes with the keyring bundles to get the NX-refit.

Define: 'real quick'... hehe. Was it because you were getting keyring bundles that I forget how they work, exactly?

The big patch is here the big patch is here! : D

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/10918643-pc-patch-notes-for-6%2F5%2F18

ok I guess technically it's better called an update.

Something that you don't ever see is in this update. Jem-hadar toons start at lvl 60. They also have their own ships, and, like Roms (now!), they can fly mostl of the ships of their chosen Faction. I forgot all about the cap increase to 65 until now.

Too bad Jems have no Space Trait. They look nasty on Ground though.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on June 05, 2018, 08:25:46 PM
So... As far as taking player's money/game currency, goes... If this is any indication how they plan to handle things now that Subscriptions are gone.. I say... yay  : )

I mean, hey, I have to spend Zen to play the new race and fly their ships.. but.. It's not much, and, alllll my toons can fly the new ships once they're unlocked.

They gave me that feeling like CoH did towards the end. "ohhh I want that". And they didn't do it greedily. They gave me a cheap Starter pack that gives me a T6 along with the new playable race, and, the ability to buy the big pack with allll the ships (and whatever), for a price that has my Starter price subtracted from it.

*clap*

Am I gonna spend, on any of the new stuff? No plans. I want to get my Rom in an Escort and go Raider shopping.. And make a new.... Rom or Reman.

Still, though.. *clap*. They just came out with a ton of new content in an effort to fun people into spending. Bravo. And hey, all those people have their sub money laying around collecting dust, sooo, I bet they do sell a few or more of those packs for cash.

If you can't tell - I'm rooting for them. Not only did they drop subs but they just put a ton of effort into development in a grand and creative effort to entertain us into spending. That's pretty cool.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Just to add.. You don't have to buy anything to play a Jem.. The new packs they offer say you get them as a playable race, sooooo, I thought you had to buy them. But you don't. I just made one to find out. My bad!

The new splash screen is very nice..

And now, finally, I get to go blow things up. In the new queue! In a Pilot RomScort.. And then, probably work on getting that +3% crit chance bonus with a 2-piece set from Dyson Rep. And see what else I missed that's in this big update.


Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on June 06, 2018, 01:28:24 PM
Didn't get a chance to play much after all, but.. did play long enough to ding 61 and get a free T5-u.. I'll take it  : ) Won't fly it but I'll sure Admiralty it and would have liked to have one as a newb. The new queue is .. busy, targetwise and otherwise. Good queue to run with scatter volley or fire at will.

The new Jem-hadar ships were getting pet agro last night. They look cool. And there is a Raider version.

Jems start out with decent Space gear and at level 60.

Oh, and, my RomScort is everything I hoped it would be. My Roms dumped their Pilot Warbirds for Pilot Escorts. I dunno why Warbirds have such lowwwww subsystem power. If I understand correctly, Singularities are supposed to add to your subsystem power as they charge (and then you lose the bonus when you fire off a Singularity power, as I understand it) - but I never see this happening. So I either don't understand how Singularities work correctly, or, they suck  : ) but have shiny buttons.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on June 07, 2018, 05:38:06 PM
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Night-Hawk07 on June 08, 2018, 09:56:49 AM
Define: 'real quick'... hehe. Was it because you were getting keyring bundles that I forget how they work, exactly?

"Real quick" being over the course they were running a keyring promotion (20 keys and insta-MkXIV upgrade), so maybe a week. And probably 100 or so boxes.... :-[
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on June 08, 2018, 05:48:56 PM
"Real quick" being over the course they were running a keyring promotion (20 keys and insta-MkXIV upgrade), so maybe a week. And probably 100 or so boxes.... :-[


soooo I guess that's ~ 450 - 500 million EC..

Doesn't your item not only go to MK XIV, but, it also goes Gold? I seem to remember that was why I was jealous of them in Fleet (chat).

MK XIV is of course Old School, now that MK XV is out... I wonder... Surely they'll update the promotion when it comes around next time.

Speaking of MK XV... Someone in DPS-10,000 (yeah, I'm in the weenie one, still...(it's cool)) said we're getting a double-item XP weekend... this weekend? Or was it next..

Speaking of DPS-10,000... Now that one of my toons is all Gold (no Rep Traits and still newbiesh, though) and MK XV (couldn't wait...)... I must parse..
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Tahquitz on June 10, 2018, 03:24:55 AM
Why are there cooldowns? So you don't fly through Rep? Then why remove the Swarm cooldown?

If a mission has Dil as a reward, cooldowns keep players from farming dil by repeating missions ad nauseum.  (Free dil = free Zen if it's not controlled.)  But the various activities that offer it, and the small amount that most give you, it wouldn't be a huge crime if something that issues 200 dil for 30-45 min of play isn't cooled down anymore.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on June 10, 2018, 03:32:53 PM
If a mission has Dil as a reward, cooldowns keep players from farming dil by repeating missions ad nauseum.  (Free dil = free Zen if it's not controlled.) 

I hear you. Some mishes are pretty simple to complete, too.

Queues and mishes are kinda two different animals. I mean, queues are pretty much *designed* to be ran multiple times due to you need a stack of what they reward to get what you want.

Queue cooldowns also aren't hard to defeat if your purpose is to farm dil. All you have to do is rotate toons into and out of Crystalline Catastrophe (the queue that is always full and takes ~ 3 minutes to complete) and you can nonstop farm 720 dil. If you want an easier version that even your level 10 toons can do - Repeat Romulan Minefield into infinity. It takes longer that CC but it's... level 10, and, no cooldown. Yup, it's 'only' 480 dil but it's not a very long queue to complete and you can start running it on the first day you start playing even if you didn't make a Jem-Hadar (that starts at lvl 60) and even if you only have 1 toon.

As far as that goes.. It is so easy to farm dil in STO.. All you have to have, is... time. The more toons and time (and the lower the boredom threshold) you have.. the more dil you can get.  If you want Dil, just do some 30 second mishes on multiple toons (research lab.. contraband..). It's not hard. It just takes a small amount of time to warp from here to there and to click some buttons.

But the various activities that offer it, and the small amount that most give you, it wouldn't be a huge crime if something that issues 200 dil for 30-45 min of play isn't cooled down anymore.


It's 480/720 dil for queues, and, some of them take 3 minutes or so and some take 20 or so. You can already farm a 3 minute, 720 dil, queue. Now.. If they make.... Undine Assault queues suddenly active by removing cooldowns, you have to play for a good 20 minutes to get your dil, if dil is what you're after. You're not going to do that. You're going to keep doing what you were doing.

Some Rep is harder to get than dil. Queue cooldowns don't really keep people from farming Dil as much as they do, Rep, due to your desired Rep isn't going to be available in every queue (like dil is) and some queues are pretty inactive. I don't want to call them dead - I would just say that their rewards aren't currently as popular.

By removing queue cooldowns in a rotating fashion it gives (more than none) incentive for players to get into allllll queues. Better to have to wait until your queue's cooldown removal day comes than to see the queue you want to be in, dead, allll the time.

*shrug* was just a thought. I don't really see the need for our current queue cooldowns except that they didn't want people to have the (theoretic, based on the queue being busy..) ability to (relatively..) fly through the Rep system to get the gear they want. Some queue's could use some life breathed into them. That's why I was thinking to rotate the cooldowns out rather than to remove them completely. To kinda highlight each queue (or group of queues) and give them a reason to be busy when they might normally otherwise never be.


Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Tahquitz on June 10, 2018, 08:57:37 PM
*shrug* was just a thought. I don't really see the need for our current queue cooldowns except that they didn't want people to have the (theoretic, based on the queue being busy..) ability to (relatively..) fly through the Rep system to get the gear they want.

Compromises never get agreed upon between devs and players, but they could try "diminished returns" in a fashion.  First queue of the day gets rep reward and rare item pack with a 20 hour cooldown (queue can still be played again, but not for rep points), then subsequent queues give dil/EC/blue or lesser rarity item packs, so there's still a reward to keep doing them.  That way, queues don't need a cooldown anymore.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on June 10, 2018, 11:48:15 PM
Compromises never get agreed upon between devs and players, but they could try "diminished returns" in a fashion.  First queue of the day gets rep reward and rare item pack with a 20 hour cooldown (queue can still be played again, but not for rep points), then subsequent queues give dil/EC/blue or lesser rarity item packs, so there's still a reward to keep doing them.  That way, queues don't need a cooldown anymore.

Nuuuuuu.

Give us all of our Rep!

(For that sometimes long-ass (sometimes short), sometimes difficult (sometimes easy), often empty if it's not what's currently popular - but still probably Pretty Fun, queue),

But. Only remove the cooldowns in rotation.

That way.... we still have to wait to get Rep gear - it's still on cooldown - because we only get the cooldowns removed on queues one group at a time (Omega Rep.. Iconian Rep.. Maybe even Random Rep + Random Rep... just to mix things up!).

But then.. when the time comes to pharm.. we can do it up! *pow* *excitement*

Full Rep.. Full Dil... Full Queues. No OP Zen = $$ (or whatever your current currency, is) Pharming.

*bow*

Cryptic/PWE, I am available for further consultation for moderate fees... F/X Freee LTS's to all Cryptic Games (The Best (TM))..

And

Small amounts of "golly you are great's" on a regular basis based on how many fabulous ideas I provide.

Trivia Answer:EGO, was my favorite Stat in CO.

*waves goodbye to the weekend and further frivolity and a pretty decent bottle of 2 Buck Chuck*
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on June 15, 2018, 10:52:16 PM
Faction is still not great, even if you're a Rom who can fly more ships than anyone in the game.

There's a ship sale.. I've been wanting to get that Starship Trait that gives advantages to Gravity Well.. and.. I've been wanting to get an Escort for my KDF Rom. It just so happens that the Trait I want is in a ship bundle I want that includes the Escort I want.

However... The toon I want to give the Escort to is KDF (Rom) and the toon I want to give the Trait to is Starfleet. All my other Roms are Starfleet, but, I don't want to give them this Escort,  want it for my KDF Rom.

BTW. Isn't there, like, a lot more Starfleet ships than Klingon?

I am nearly always regretting the one KDF toon I have. He's a fun and unique (compared to my others) build, too. Some of my builds/toons I rarely play and wouldn't care about the faction thing nearly as much due to I never play them and don't care as much what they can or can't fly. 

I don't know what the solution is, roleplaywise. But it would sure be nice if faction was just, gone. As-is it's already unbalanced in favor of Roms (no complaints!). They can fly more ships than anyone now.

It's not about spending less Zen or whatever, it's about buying stuff I know I can use whenever I want to use it. As-is, I look at stuff to buy and I start out with a ship... move on to a bundle (if there's Traits/consoles that make it worthy)... move on to a megabundle (so allll my toons can have the potential to get new ships/traits if I think that that might be a good thing at some point..) if there is such a thing.. and then move on to "too many decisions and the easy ones cost to much for a lot of ships I will likely never even fly" and then I usually don't get anything. Like this time. I'm tempted to get the Fed bundle to get all the goodies for my Feds and get the single Escort I want for the single KDF toon I have. It's paining me in my spending logic circuits, though. So I probably won't get anything.

I can't be the only one! Boggled by choices.. Buying for 2 factions, so far, for me, has sucked.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on June 16, 2018, 01:17:54 PM
A lil update..

Sooooo I finally saw that I would use the shared bank slots enough, and, that I needed at least 1 retcon (and, they just had a Pack sale and they didn't include this Pack..)...so... I got the Elite Starter Pack.

.
.
.

Surprise #2

My most slot happy toon cannot use the Reclaim... Due to he has the max number of bag slots already I get the message that 'I am already at the limit' and therefore can't claim the bank slots or Boff slots (and whatever else there is, if that isn't it.. yes, I have a memory like a Steel Trap - and a meticulous mind for details. ok, not.)

I still rate this Pack as: Yippee!


Quote
Hello,

 

Thank you for the report. While we apologize for the inconvenience, this is unfortunately working as intended. However, we have gone ahead and credited your account 1500 Zen so that the remaining slots can be purchased manually for this character. Thank you for understanding, and please let us know if there is anything more we can do for you.


Wellll that's a kinda crummy bug, really.. I mean, you lose a lot of bank slots and the 2 Doff slots if you don't complain about the bug ("As intended", my patootie). However... I can't complain about the service. I got what I wanted in the end and they were prompt and polite about it *shrug*

P.S. Thanks STO
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Tahquitz on June 19, 2018, 06:07:55 AM
A lil update..


Wellll that's a kinda crummy bug, really.. I mean, you lose a lot of bank slots and the 2 Doff slots if you don't complain about the bug ("As intended", my patootie). However... I can't complain about the service. I got what I wanted in the end and they were prompt and polite about it *shrug*

P.S. Thanks STO

So, if this is right, the Elite Starter Pack can't be used to fill out an existing character's slots past a given amount? 

May as well make it only available for new players.  At least they refunded you at the onset of the pack, I can imagine later on it'll be caveat emptor once everyone knows how it works.  Good to hear they at least treated you fairly Xev.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on June 19, 2018, 05:43:44 PM
So, if this is right, the Elite Starter Pack can't be used to fill out an existing character's slots past a given amount? 

The Starter Pack and the Reclaim are two different things. The Reclaim, which only becomes available After you purchase the Starter Pack, allows any toon you already have and any toon you make in the future to have more inventory slots, bank slots, and Boff slots. It's a pretty sweet deal. Roms get needed Boff slots (Curse you Tovan Khev!) and they didn't skimp on the bank or inventory slots.

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/10883424-the-elite-starter-pack

What the bug apparently is, is, if you are at or near (near enough that the starter pack Reclaim would put you over the cap) the cap for inventory slots on any of your characters, then that/those characters won't be able to Claim the Reclaim. This may also be true if they are at or near the limit on the other slots you'd get - Doff, and Bank - I dunno, inventory slots are the only thing I've purchased out of the three.

All my other toons can get the Reclaim. All my newbs will get it. It's still very worthy as is the Starter Pack itself. The worst part, for me, is, the only toon that I have that can't use the Reclaim... would get the most benefit from it - due to I'm on him the most and he's my main tradeskiller and always out of slots.

I can't complain at all how they handled the situation in my case, though. I mean.. They basically refunded me my purchase price. I almost hesitate to post their generosity due to you know how people like to take advantage of such things and I would really not like to be the one to help such people.

The Starter Pack is good stuff. Highly recommended upgrade for virtually all of your toons. Sorry STO, I didn't realize I could respond to your trouble ticket! Until it was closed.. I have sent in the customer service satisfaction survey you sent me and gave it all the highest marks, though.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Power Arc X on June 21, 2018, 06:59:52 AM
Yeah I   think the starter pack is a must have purchase. If   I  remember  correctly  it also increased  the EC  cap to 2 billion  which I'll  never get to.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Power Arc X on June 21, 2018, 07:08:46 AM
I use my KDF toons just for doffing. The  six KDF  toons I   have can make me 4k  -7k  dil a day for the 5-7 minutes  of it take to start the doff missions  and do the daily  Lore question. That makes me at least 24k  dill for 30-40 minutes  of work.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on June 21, 2018, 06:19:47 PM
Yeah I   think the starter pack is a must have purchase. If   I  remember  correctly  it also increased  the EC  cap to 2 billion  which I'll  never get to.

Yup. And Yup.

Luckily, unlike already purchased bag slots - having already purchased the EC cap raise doesn't affect your Starter Pack/Reclaim purchase.

I use my KDF toons just for doffing. The  six KDF  toons I   have can make me 4k  -7k  dil a day for the 5-7 minutes  of it take to start the doff missions  and do the daily  Lore question. That makes me at least 24k  dill for 30-40 minutes  of work.

I have a story like this that doesn't list the same methods but ends in the same results. I'm sure at least a few other players do, too. If you want to farm currency you can do it fairly effectively in STO without a lot of grind.

Even those 30-40 minutes start to feel grindy to me, though, and I find myself just joining queues to blow up stuff for the sake of blowing it up. I mean: I'm not really farming anything, not even Rep or Fleet marks (although I can always put them to use if they fall in my lap while playing..). With the same amount or less effort I could be farming my brains out but for some reason I mostly don't do it except when I get pangs of 'I really should farm some easy dil now and then...'. I've got a lot of farmer in my blood, too.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on June 23, 2018, 09:45:16 PM
I'm still hung up on blowing things up in STO.

We mentioned, here, before, about where to allocate our power.. For me, this is kinda off the wall - I have a Bajoran Escort (ditched his Pilot Warbird) build going right now that has all power to Aux and whatever is leftover, goes to shields. His only beam weapons are rear Omni's that I consider to be, like..., low power usage Pets. 5 torps up front in his half Wargames/Iconian kitted ship. After a recent retcon he still has a whopping 3 Skill points unspent and no points in Control and no plans to get (gravity well) a control power (even though he is all Aux) and still he dominates. I mean, I don't outdps everyone but I rarely explode and I rarely don't make what's in front of me explode and it is a highly entertaining and different build for me.

Drain those shields and send in the torps, baby!

Sci builds.. got 2 I'm playing with. Tac and Sci captains. Mostly the Sci due to my Tac needs luv and I'm not in Sci mode atm when it comes to builds/gear. Sci is so easy. I mean, really.. You can't swing a 5km range tractor beam without hitting some nice Sci gear and the powers are so OP - Sci's great.

Escort Builds... The best for last. And first - first build ever was tac/escort.

I can be really slow with some things in life... Omni's and turrets are a good example. I finally realized that if you are running heavy cannons... you probly want to run turrets (puke). What the more interesting thinking at that time, was... if you're running Beams... (in an Escort) then you probably want to run those luverly Omni's.. like Kinetic Cutting Beam and any other Omni that has the stats you want and in Gold plx.

I have a new(ish..) Escort beam build running right now that will outdps keep up with my veteran Escort Heavy Cannon builds that are in full Rep/Mish/Whatever(Fleet..) gear and have all kinds of nice Traits, including the Rep Traits that this toon hasn't even gotten to yet.. This toon? He's using so simple gear (ok, the Gold weapons cost a small fortune), too. All Fleet and Store Bought Gold. He regularly parses over 30k in ISA. He's just fun, too. Rom Critmaster..

My 'old' Escort Pilots are trying some new tricks. Constable Secondary on a beefy (Human *puke*) Escort Pilot can make up from some loss in DPS due to lower crit chance. That's been entertaining.

Yup, STO has a good variety of ways to scratch the Blow-sh@t-up, itch. Soon as I can stop fidgeting with Ways to do it I want to start with different things to do it In. Need more ships. Have the Zen. Can't stop fooling with builds or just plain logging in and blowing stuff up long enough to figure out what to buy. Except that fairly new Escort with the Grav Well trait. Will be getting that. Or the bundle. Or the mega-bundle. Oh yeah, that's why I haven't bought that ship yet..
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on June 26, 2018, 08:09:59 PM
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on June 28, 2018, 12:09:56 AM
Someone has to keep you entertained...

This is my contribution to a sub-thread entitled: Random Babes at the Romulan Exchange


(https://app.box.com/shared/static/2jcexrt6eulctofpxo4wnzlqcm2l7qd6.jpg)

T'hee, my first Rom and only KDF, is lurking in the background. Kind of like CO - once you have some costume pieces you know what to do with - you really have some pretty decent control in the costume creator. I mean you can specify all kinds of body part dimensions besides the boob slider, as demonstrated, above. There must be like 6 different ways just to shape your NOSE..

I think it's a pretty under-rated costume/character creator. I didn't give it very high marks in the beginning but I didn't have hardly any costume pieces or much practice with the creator yet either.

Among other places like the C-store and mishes (and ?) Costume pieces can sometimes, not always, be available at Tailors themselves. Kinda handy. Found this out by hitting the ... Store button, at a Tailor. Found some pieces for 8k dil at the Fleet Spire Tailor recently that just happened to be wearable. A jacket... I think..
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on June 29, 2018, 05:04:13 PM
5 minutes... I'm sitting on a hill of Z and I missed this by 5 minutes..

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/10936493
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on June 29, 2018, 05:51:45 PM
Another contribution to the Romulan Exchange Screenie sub-thread:

(https://app.box.com/shared/static/cake9x3mao2mn5gdfyqei1chb8g4qr9f.jpg)

See! cool costumes. (It's even way better, animated.)
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 02, 2018, 08:17:41 PM
How do I get a T6?

This has to be the first 'big' question I asked and the first one I answered. Everyone has to have a T6.

How do I get a T6 I will Luv...

That's a tougher question.

The reason no one can answer that question for you is because no on plays like you do unless they're your weird cyber-twin. You're going to have different Traits, different Consoles.. different gear and abilities that you know about in general, and, your own playstyle of course.

The more Traits and Consoles and Game knowledge in general I have, the more picky I start to get with what ships I'll even consider buying. Things like how many console slots I get, where, and what Specialization (Pilot, Temporal..) seats if any are available, and what Boff seats I have (this has been a biggy, recently) start to actually become important and the question is no longer "How can I get a T6" - it's... "How do I get *this* T6" and I start browsing.

In the beginning it was all about stats. What has the most console slots? What has the most HPS? Biggest Shields? Fastest Turn Rate?

And so I got a Miracle Worker bundle..

They were the beast at the time. Most HPS of any ship. Most consoles of any ship. Plus it did bonus things if you spammed enough powers during battle. Can't lose, huh? I never fly those cows.. They don't fit my current needs or knowledge of the game, at all, apparently, because I don't enjoy flying them and even with all that power I explode a percentage of the time that is too close to the same as what I see when (unintentionally) tanking with deepsy Escorts.

So, don't sweat stats. And, the reason there are 10 billion ships and yet people still clear the shelves when new ones come out makes more sense to me now. Not only is it because they are new and shiny it's because there's a lot of little ways to make 'the perfect' ship. For example.... I have like 3 (warbird/raider/escort) ships right now that are real close to perfect for what I've been trying to do with my main torps/drain guy but they just now came out with the Escort that would fit him significantly better than all 3 near-perfects I already have. So I want it : )

STO: 10 billion and 1 ships and still room for more.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on July 03, 2018, 01:56:12 PM
All of this.  Still love my Herald Vonph Dreadnought Carrier.  There's probably better ships, but it's still my favorite and none of the newer ships I've seen have changed that.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 04, 2018, 01:27:35 PM
All of this.  Still love my Herald Vonph Dreadnought Carrier.  There's probably better ships, but it's still my favorite and none of the newer ships I've seen have changed that.

I could have had that ship for like 60 = 80 million (no more) in the Exchange, for weeks.. At least 1 week anyway. Na'Kuhl ships were definitely going for 60 million and I snagged one.

I've kicked myself to no end for not getting that ship and definitely not just due to price. It's well over 200 million, again, now.

Pilot Escort was my first T6 and the one I always go back to. The Rom Warbird version, I don't like. Too little subsystem power for shields.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 04, 2018, 01:34:57 PM
Ooops, forgot why I came!

This is the biggest overall STO sale I've seen, sooooooo, passing it on.

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/10917143

I see a new Pilot Escort bundle in my future... and stuff.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 04, 2018, 08:12:49 PM
It sucks playing 2 factions..

There is a newish Pilot Escort out.. I really want to try it with my one and only KDF toon.. I have at least 4 Fed toons I can think of right now that can and probably would use it.

So.

Do I just buy the ship I want? Do I buy the bundle (yes, likely, due to history has shown that it can be fun to try the same ship with different Boff seats/consoles and that it's not always bad to have more Epic consoles laying around). Do I buy 2 bundles so all toons get all creamy goodness? Or do I buy 3 bundles (the mega bundle), due to, why not, it costs the same as 2 - well, and, that way all of my toons get 6 ships. Even though only 3 of them are different from each other and the other 3 are copies with different ship skins.

I really only want 1 ship and after playing awhile I am OK with getting a bundle due to the above. Now... I'm up to 9. 6 of which are just copies of the 3 I'm OK with buying due to they are actually functionally different from each other and offer some value for getting all 3 (more Traits, consoles, different Boff layouts to fit your builds into).

So what do I do? Keep buying 9 ships every time I want 3 due to Faction? Do I clone and stop playing my only KDF?

I think I'm going to clone my KDF and play him like I always did - except as a Fed.. with a much larger ship selection...

My KDF.. I am only going to buy ships for when they are Uniquely KDF.. Like some mega-raider or some ship you cannot get as a Fed, that really interests me (none so far)..

It's not a perfect solution. My KDF is my second toon and has all Rep, good gear.., accolades.. all that stuff. But, as-is with faction, it seems the way to go. I'm not buying 9 ships to get 3 when I barely want 3 over 1. Better to just nip that little situation in the bud (OK a little past it..), right now.

As-is, after my Fed clone is geared and built like my KDF, I no longer see any reason other than to pop into Fleet once in awhile, to play my KDF.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 05, 2018, 07:21:22 PM
Finally got the Andorian Pilot Escorts.

I just now, this second, realized why someone would want those butt-ugly Rom ships in the Rom bundle.. They are cross faction.. Sort of.. I mean.. ALL of your Roms can fly them... whether they are Fed or KDF.

Damn..

All my active Escort pilots are Roms.. Including the KDF that didn't get a ship..

OK wait.. I'm still good.. My Fed Sci guys want the Trait from the Sci Escort..

*whew*

Damn that Faction! See, now I know I'm cloning my KDF for sure. It's just less confusing..

Anyway.

First impressions coming from one whose first T6 was an old version Pilot Escort:

The old Pilot Escorts have better consoles. I thought surely there'd be a console in the new bundle I would use, but.., none are (seeming, so far..) as nice as that cone of death console (combine that with the new Tac Captain power for much added AoE yum) in the old bundle. That console is so good that it makes the ship a better ship. The +25 to mines and torpedoes is normally pretty usable too - meaning, I'm not giving up stats for a power.

I *do* like the new Pilot Escort console with the 60 second (invul...?) hangar pets. I dunno what their deeps is but it seems nice enough to make losing the cone from the old Pilots less painful. You can have them PERMA! too (default is that you can summon them for 60 seconds, every 2 minutes). I heartily would like to do so, but.. man.. To give up 3 console slots to the 3 consoles you get in that set (also, oddly, the D.O.M.I.N.O. console we got awhile back is a set console) seems just too painful. It's too much to give up for the fun of the pets. Except... maybe for my yet to be rolled KDF clone who doesn't have as many nice consoles to choose from. That may make re-rolling my KDF as a Fed less painful and more fun - having those pets, perma.. in a high deeps Escort.

Everything else, except a slight loss in turn rate (but we get +5 more power to weapons..) is better, in the new bundle. The hull is bigger, shields bigger. Better Traits. Last and definitely not least, it's like they read my posts about the old ships: f/x "I can't tell the front from the back, sometimes..'. In the new ship, it could not be more clear, except, if the ship was unnaturally big for an Escort (they are all small). I mean.. everything in the Front of the ship says "Front" and the same for the back. I didn't especially like the '+' shape I had in the back of my ship, at first, and then.... I noticed... when I follow another ship to line up for a cannon attack... it's like having crosshairs! I mean, these babies are contoured. They took all my old complaints and made them vanish. There also seems to be a lot (more than average) of versatility with all the Universal Boff seating.

Now I just have to see if I can live without my cone.. That baby shreds (especially when combined with the new Tac power..).

I've tried other Escorts but I always end up back in a Pilot. This update to the line seems pretty decent so far even though the (not tested very much at all) consoles are initially disappointing. Sure do like what they did with the skin in the Fed version. The Rom and KDF versions Both are kinda butt ugly (to me, of course...) now that I think of it.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 07, 2018, 04:54:42 AM
I'm not even gonna tip-toe around the issue anymore.. If you are new to the game and don't know already - if you want to not throw away the highest crit chance you can get in the game.. Make a Rom. Make a Rom and then go buy Boffs with Superior Romulan Operative and put them in your ship.

If you don't care what your Deeps is (I dunno anything that beats SRO) you can make any other race. Or you can still make a Rom.

I don't know what to tell you about faction. All of my toons except 1 are of the same faction and I still have problems. I bought a Pilot Warbird so my KDF toon could try the equivalent of a Fed Pilot Escort and I really don't like the Warbird. I just now bought a bundle of ships and one of the toons I want to fly them most, the same toon as before, is the wrong faction. So now he has a Warbird I don't like and I have an escort that's perfect for him but is the wrong faction, so, he flies an Event Ship.....

The toon I want to fly the new bundle second most is a crappy Human.  So now I need to clone the crappy human as a Rom, and, the KDF Rom as a Fed Rom before I can get the 2 builds I want most in these ships. I would have cloned the Human much sooner had it dawned on me at some point before now that crit chance is just as important to my favorite Sci build's dps as it is any other.

It's kind of a mess. I was staring at my character creation screen of 8 level 60 - 65's earlier, thinking "man, I'll only play 2 of these.. 3, when I can get the KDF a ship I like".

Probably the smartest thing to do in my case is to buy Rom bundles going forward so I don't have to worry about Faction. I'll only be playing Roms, so, that solves the Rom-only part of the ship, too : ) Thankfully I really didn't care for the Rom version of the Pilot Escort bundle I just got or I'd really be kicking myself. more.

I mean, all of my toons don't have to be able to fly all of my ships... Sometimes I've found it's handy when they can. Even when I don't stick with the ship I wanted to try - at least I had the chance to find out. Without having to buy more ships..

If I can help someone else not have this issue after spending quite a few hours playing and gearing their toons, that is the point of this. What you pick at the character creation screen does matter. What you pick when you have to pick a faction matters too.

Be prepared for some heartache in STO unless you know about SRO (and care about Deeps) and Faction (and care about how many ships you have to buy/your toons have access to).

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 08, 2018, 05:38:41 PM
I actually am re-rolling the two toons and I stick by all I said before. I'll chalk the experience up to that huge learning curve I said STO has when I started playing.

Never realized how un-original Roms can allow me to be with naming, until now! You have no idea what a treasure that is to someone who sucks with names. D'Xev (Sci powers & gear & traits/Tac/Escort Pilot) is born.. I can't decide if I want my Torps clone (T'Xev...) to convert from Engineer to Tac... or Sci.. during the cloning process.. I think I'm going to make him Sci. If he ends up sucking then I'll re-roll him as all - Sci, in a Sci ship, which I already know works well, and then roll up a new Tac/Torps/Escort toon to satisfy my main torps build requirement. If that's too papery then I'll do a direct clone, which would be, Torps/Eng/Escort.

It does pay to map things out, some, if you are a min/maxer. At least I never gold-geared my Humans that I'm abandoning.. They do have some gold equipment.. but most all of the gold they have is thankfully... account bound.

I LUV my new Pilot Escort bundle btw.. It's not perfect (consoles..) but it scratches some nice itches. The consoles are actually sweet.... if you're Sci. Flying an Escort. My all-sci/torps toon that I rarely play became by far my favorite toon soon after sitting in the pilot seat of the first Escort that his build fit perfectly into. Oh, and, the 'hangar pets' DO perma and are NOT invul, and, they do seem pretty decent.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 14, 2018, 07:10:14 PM
OK so I have to take some time to brag a little.

T'Xev made it to 50... He's got a split focus on torps (Fleet mk xiv) and sci (err 2 mk xii Fleet sci consoles so far and my superior choice of Boff skillz).

*ding* 50. So, naturally, I hit up the CC queue for some fast and easy Fleet marks to buy more Sci consoles and.. stuff.

*POW* 3rd place.. Not only did I not explode.. 3rd place.. 1st try.. Level 50.

OK, fine, I had an easy team. It couldn't have been that low of a dps team though because the fight went fast..

I run the queue for the second time ever *POW* 1st place..

*bow*

Liking the Faction re-roll so far. I'm re-rolling the toon that always had faction issues.. This time, he is Sci instead of Eng, too. It's been an acceptable amount of defense so far as well as nice DPS buffs, and, for the whole team. I always run queues so I'm always in teams so that's a nice bonus.

It's an interesting build not only for the shreddage but due to it works well with completely different types of gear. Torp focus or sci focus.

Anyway.. Cool stuff. Was a long haul there for awhile to get him to 50 and the Rep system, but, an XP booster and Romulan Imperial Minefield got me through with a level ~ every 2 runs with the runs getting progressively easier.

If you're an Escort pilot, primarily, you really have to get the Bajoran Event T6 ship when it rolls around. It makes getting to 50 so much nicer.. It's a pretty decent ship! Vanilla, but a nice vanilla.

Anyway... had to brag. Wasn't so many posts ago I was complaining how my ..main kept ..exploding in CC advanced. Now my newbs are placing 1st! Go me.

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 22, 2018, 03:40:29 AM
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 25, 2018, 11:15:09 PM
Random Tip of the Day:

Romulan Marks (and decent XP).

If you want some fairly easy Space battles (check your difficulty..) that you don't have to queue for and give pretty good XP and some (10ish) Romulan Marks... Go to New Romulus and hit these systems that I shall now paste from a list that was gathered from another source and that I keep in a text file, and then enter them for Patrol Mishes..

Japori, Beta Thoridar, Archer, Narrenda, Gamma Eridon, Starbase 234, Carraya, Acamar. They're in the New Romulus area.

I'm in need of Romulan Marks and the XP is pretty decent too. (Think: Starship Masteries/Traits and/or leveling)

Meanwhile, I can stay queued for Breach. It doesn't pop often but it's fairly easy, too, and gives out a plethora of any marks. In this case I want to run it for Romulan marks. I can also queue/run Red Alert: Tzenkethi for 50+ marks when that timer runs down.

That's it for Random Tip of the Day: Romulan Marks & good XP that's fairly easy and fun to get in Space.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 27, 2018, 08:25:38 PM
That Romulan Tour is actually fairly decent. I don't have to be in my best ship, so, it's a good chance to work on Starship Traits. The XP per second is on par with RA: Borg and there is no wait time, and, due to if I don't collect your rewards at the end of the Patrol mishes and instead do another run and then collect *2* rewards... I can get 20 Romulan marks in the same time or less as I can get 10 in a RA: Borg.

So, all in all, fairly decent. The Patrols are varied so that it's not the same thing every time and I can queue up for other stuff in the meanwhile (RA: Tzenkethi, Swarm.. whatever). 1 of the Patrols goes by super fast - it's the one with all the dialog - just skip the dialog and then there's a 1 minute battle. *cha-ching* 2k+ xp and 10 Romulan marks x2. Other Patrols in this tour are more XP, btw - like 4 - 5k. None are quicker, though.

I plan to Rom XP Tour with my next newb(s).

Speaking of Swarm... Swarm: Revisited. This is a great queue for Fleet Marks. 100+ per run? It has no cooldown and pops fairly fast. Run it when CC is on cooldown... pick up that 720 dil per run, too. Fun to run FaW in a high(ish..) dps build in this queue and pick the Swarmers off of people fleeing for their lives (not that I know that that is what they are doing from first hand experience or anything.. *whistle*)...lol
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 02, 2018, 06:49:50 PM
As you may have guessed, since there are Marks involved, you can't do the Rom tour until you're high enough level to be in the Rep system (50?). Which I think sucks but oh well.

I've finally got a tank build worth keeping! Hurrah! I mean... it's been a long time coming. Still have 20 levels to slog through to 65 but it's been a fun slog, even in that freebie COW I flew to level 40 from 30. Man I was cursing that thing but I didn't explode in it and was pulling agro off of lvl 65 Tac Escorts with my Reman Eng in it, which, is more than I can say for my previous tank attempts, and, kept the cow cursing to a minimum.

Well over a quarter billion EC in twinkage on Gar'd'n so far.. Closer to a half billion. Most of it hand-me-down Bind to Account gear.. so, that helps a lot. Took me months to gather the Boffs. And then I finally flew him directly onto the shelf. But he's back! With a fun vengeance. I can tell this build is a keeper. Finally.

I'm going to make a healer toon! In STO?? Yes. Why? Because I can. And haven't, yet. : ) That'll be awhile, though.

You know what's funny is I have an urge to pass on all this newb knowledge, like it's some huge helpful thing, but compared to a lot of people in the game I don't know a thing. I've been playing fairly regularly for, it must be, ~ 3 years now. Maybe I'm just that slow! Could very well be... *epiphany's*
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 03, 2018, 05:52:02 PM
Dang I thought we were getting another new queue but it's just a limited time thing:
https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/10963943

It's not as good as the last 3 new queues so I'm kinda glad it's not a new permanent RA but while it's here, it's like running RA: Tzenkethi in both time and reward. That, is a good queue - as are all the new queues. Swarm is probably my favorite new queue. Romulan Minefield is by far the one I'm most thankful for. *ding* *ding* *ding* and my feet never touch the ground except to occasionally collect rewards.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 07, 2018, 10:50:22 PM
That Elachi queue was funner when I got the hang of it

Am up to 10 lvl 65's now..

(1) torps (2) exotic (1) exotic/torps (3) beams (3) cannons

(3) FaW w/Trait (so it permas) agro-the-entire-map-and-can-(usually)-live-through-its

(3) Rapid Fire/Scatter Volley shred macheens.

(8 ) dps
(1) Reman/Eng/Beams tank
(1) Mostly abandoned human tank w/beams

(1) Andorian (4) humans (4) Roms (1) Reman

(5) main alts - (4) Rom (1) Reman

(1) Poppa toon. Has all Specializations but sits at the Research Lab Exchange as my #1 tradeskiller and 1st toon and first toon in a Fleet, that, he's still in. He's human or I'd still fly him - otherwise, he's perfect. Tac/Cannons/Escort. All Specs/Rep maxed.. and a million Fleet marks.

Toon #11 is a Rom/Tac that I'd planned to make Cannons/Escort. Then I got this healer idea... Then I saw that with 3 toons (2 now, finally maxed Gamma..) going through the Rep system there was no time to level another newb.. I'm not sure what I want him to be. I'm leaning back towards tac/cannons/escort.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 10, 2018, 09:45:20 PM
Well, for reasons unknown, my data limited data has been getting drained. Hopefully it was due to my now hopefully spambot unhacked Internet Mail account. Yesterday I was keeping a fairly good eye on Network Activity and didn't see anything unusual but then when I looked at my usage, today, 3 Gigs had *poofed* from yesterday. Should have been closer to maybe 300 megs. Soooo, not playing so much STO for awhile...

One small update on the Romulan Tour from above. It really is a good way to get Starship Masteries. You don't need to have nearly as good of gear to get through the patrol mishes as you do, queues. So, like a recent situation I was in, I didn't have good consoles to fill all the slots of the ship I was in and I didn't really want to fly the ship I was getting the Mastery from in a queue either, so, Patrols worked out pretty great.

No queue wait times, either, just take a short flight from planet to planet and start pew-pewing.

Another fairly important note is that I found out that it doesn't matter at all what your Ending XP is for completing the Patrol Mish when it comes to Starship Masteries. What matters, is the XP you get inside the Patrol. The ending xp has no effect on your Starship Mastery XP bar.

A related note on end rewards is that Patrol Mishes have cooldowns of 30 mins. If you don't collect the reward at the end... the cooldown doesn't start. What this means in our situation is that you can find a Patrol that has lots of mobs... and run it repeatedly for Mastery XP until the you-must-choose-a-reward timer expires. At that point you have collected a reward and the cooldown starts. You get 2 end rewards in the end if you do this, too - the auto chosen one and a 'buffered' one.

You can also... run a Patrol Mish twice, don't collect the first end reward, collect 2 rewards after you finish the Patrol mish for the second time, and then go to the next planet in the patrol.. Then you get two end rewards (Marks, Dil, Toon/Spec XP) for the travel of one. End XP ranges from ~ 2k to 6k+ per run with an XP booster. 12 Rom marks with a Booster.. and a small Dil reward. 240? 480? All x2


Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 13, 2018, 01:25:17 AM
Someone is hacking my Wi-Fi!

I saw over 400 megs poof yesterday when all I did was send a mail, check weather, and post here. Today I didn't even turn my PC on except when it woke me up this morning due to it comes on by itself. I turned it off and have been doing chores and watching the modem in the meanwhile.

~ noon my usage was completely reset. I thought, hurrah, maybe Verizon found their mistake! Then, my old usage number came back up plus, possibly, a few megs or so - maybe not. I could be wrong. Anyway.. Then.. between 4:00 and 5:00 (maybe 4:20?) I get dinged for 420 megs and I haven't turned my PC on once since very early this morning..!

Nice, huh? This is a pretty unlikely area, I thought, to see that kind of thievery. I wonder if the ISP itself isn't getting hacked. I had that happen the one and only other time I had metered Internet and all his customers got charged for it, for months, before the guy who was the local ISP figured out *he* was getting hacked. Somehow.

Anyway. Blah. I have one of those accounts now that won't charge me for going over my limit, but... I share this account and apparently there is a per-device data limit - any device that goes over the limit throttles allll devices on the account. Which isn't going to make me very popular. Especially if it starts to be a regular occurrence.

I'm just glad it wasn't my PC! I was locked out of my ancient Internet e-mail account recently and my backup account, too. And then my data (monthly data limit data before throttlation) starts poofing.. So, I'm glad it's not someone using my PC to spam ... spam. It's someone hacking this modem - or, they are hacking Verizon. Either way, they ain't hacking me personally, apparently, so that's good. I've not been doing anything even remotely high risk except using the STO (black data hole of the cyberverse) wiki..

Good news is, CO plays perfectly, throttled, the last time I checked and STO doesn't play so bad either. Mostly it's just extended load times and exponentially extended patch times. haven't got throttled yet but it looks to be guaranteed to happen.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 16, 2018, 12:23:51 PM
It's baaaack https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/10978353-the-crystalline-entity-re-materializes.

More AP account bound twink gear? Yes plx. Hopefully it's beyond decent.

Interesting changes, on paper.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 18, 2018, 01:29:20 PM
It's easy to avoid the new CC DT (Death Touch) in a Pilot escort. Just be ~ 6 - 9 km away from your target and when the absorption phase is about to end - tap Pilot Maneuvers to go backwards 5km.

In a Miracle Worker cowbird... Well.. I'll have to get back to you on that.  So far I've been employing the crawl-away-early-or-explode method.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Super Firebug on August 19, 2018, 10:55:39 PM
I've been wondering: Is there a difference between a game (such as STO or CO) installed from a commercial disk, and the same game downloaded from Arc or Steam? I mean, does Arc/Steam add anything of theirs to the software - launcher, data collection, anything - that you don't have when installing from a bought DVD?
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 19, 2018, 11:19:19 PM
I definitely don't recommend using Arc. Tried it once for some reason. I've got no hard data or facts - it just triggers my Hinky-Alert fairly hard. I run the client directly via a desktop shortcut due to I want to click and then have STO simply load and run. Same story with CO. I downloaded both directly from PWE but it's been years ago so I dunno how the download works, now, but it was pretty straightforward when I downloaded.

After a year or two or so of effort I finally managed to get an invite into DPS 30,000 - the Bronze.... channel. The DPS League is pretty cool. Kinda mysterious. Huuuuuuge ranking lists, of which, I think my best placing is ~ 2,000,001th.

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 20, 2018, 12:57:01 PM
Just in case you don't know about the DPS League... You can google them and download their parser and then run the Infected Space Advanced queue, parse your run, and upload it directly from the same parser you parsed yourself with.

There's a DPS 10,000 - 30,000 - 50,000... and I dunno what else. Based on your parse, you'll get an automatic invite into the appropriate channel. It's pretty easy to get into DPS 10,000. The DPS channels I'm in are well populated with knowledgeable players and the parsing is a fun minigame. Often there is someone in ISA teams that'll parse for you if you don't want to do it.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Super Firebug on August 21, 2018, 06:22:38 AM
I run the client directly via a desktop shortcut due to I want to click and then have STO simply load and run. Same story with CO. I downloaded both directly from PWE but it's been years ago so I dunno how the download works, now, but it was pretty straightforward when I downloaded.

If the plain files were still downloadable, I'd do so, and write them onto a CD/DVD to preserve them for future use. I hated it when I was forced to accept NCSoft's launcher. I don't know how it happened this way, but, after installing the launcher, I was still able to run Guild Wars I independently of it, and I definitely did so. I don't like the feeling that Steam, Arc, NCSoft, etc., might be keeping tabs on my game play.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 21, 2018, 01:34:19 PM
I forget exactly how the install worked but Arc was already around when I downloaded CO and STO last.

I do remember what I did in the end. I just ferreted out the .exe (Star Trek Online.exe - Champions Online.exe) and made a shortcut to it. This made my installs exactly like they were pre-Arc. I think I then un-installed Arc due to I think it made me install something in Windows to get the game clients installed..

It wasn't a very memorable event, apparently. I do remember that I didn't like Arc, at all, (the idea of keeping track of friends in other games was interesting, but... Global chat channels/Friends lists do that too..) and that it was easy to bypass.

I've got no scraps of Arc left around now and my games run exactly like they did Pre-Arc. *click* ~password~ ...LOADING.

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on August 24, 2018, 01:01:34 AM
I used to run STO from Steam just to avoid Arc.  Even if it's not actively malicious (and I wouldn't swear to that), it's a resource-hog.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 24, 2018, 04:07:01 PM
I used to run STO from Steam just to avoid Arc.  Even if it's not actively malicious (and I wouldn't swear to that), it's a resource-hog.

It does seem like more of a mining tool than anything..

I'm pretty sure you can still download both games from PWE and just uninstall Arc and then make a shortcut to run the games directly, like they did originally. I'm pretty sure I heard this advice in CO Zone fairly recently and I haven't heard/read anything about the PWE install changing since I dl'd it.

If some thought was put into it I might be able to figure out how to make an install dvd from an Arcless install and PWE download. Something along the lines of starting the install, stopping it at the point it's installed into Windows and then copying the Arcless install over.

I think you have to install Arc before the game client installs itself into Windows is the only kink.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on September 03, 2018, 06:02:49 PM
Now here is a worthy update!

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/10993603

Quote
Reaching Tier V of any reputation will now automatically sponsor that reputation for your account.

They could have stopped right there and I'd have called it a worthy update but there's even more.

Quote
In addition to all of these rewards, the reputation UI will be undergoing improvements to make it clearer to understand and display the information you need in a better fashion.

Does this mean I finally don't have to rely on the STO WIKI or my cut and pasted together lists..... for STO info (like Rep set bonuses)...? on STO items... IN STO...? Geez.. I mean, really, it would be nice.. to have in-game info.... about in-game items...

Anyway, looks like a great update. That sponsorship thing was getting more and more tedious with each new Rep - was nice of them to streamline the process that they know we want to do and I'm looking forward to checking out all the rest.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Power Arc X on September 04, 2018, 11:56:07 PM
I  like that they're  finally  making the  Rep system  a little  less tedious  but I' m still trying  to figure out why  I  can only claim four of my account  wide items but not my Zephyr in Cochran  Shotgun, Crystalline  Spike and a few others from Mirror Invasion and Crystalline  Event.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on September 05, 2018, 08:35:44 PM
Well, and they're updating the Set Bonuses/Weapon Damage.. It was getting time, I mean... I have a toon right now who is mostly in Colony/K13/Spire.. Fleet Gear and I'm looking at Rep Gear and going.. "why bother".

Different damage types available for each Rep Set...?? That's kinda huge.

Quote
?Reduce the project costs for all future Reputation Gear projects for every character on your account (does not affect Elite Mark requirements).

Yes plx!

And more. It's a worthy update.

~~~~~~~~

I  like that they're  finally  making the  Rep system  a little  less tedious  but I' m still trying  to figure out why  I  can only claim four of my account  wide items but not my Zephyr in Cochran  Shotgun, Crystalline  Spike and a few others from Mirror Invasion and Crystalline  Event.

didn't that shotgun come from a Weekend Event? I don't think all my toons can claim it, either.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Power Arc X on September 06, 2018, 05:44:33 AM
The Zefrem  Cochrane  Shotgun  was from a Mirror  Invasion  Event and Crystalline  Spike was from a Crystalline  Catastrophe  Event like we currently  are on til 10 am tomorrow  morning. They are account  wide unlocks except  for my Jem  toons for some  reason.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on September 06, 2018, 01:29:44 PM
The Zefrem  Cochrane  Shotgun  was from a Mirror  Invasion  Event and Crystalline  Spike was from a Crystalline  Catastrophe  Event like we currently  are on til 10 am tomorrow  morning. They are account  wide unlocks except  for my Jem  toons for some  reason.

It's probably a Jem thing, then. There's been no shortage.

Not to be a link spammer, and, it's not as impressive as the Rep update, which, kinda, really needed to happen the more I think about it, but... this update looks pretty decent too:

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/10993953

Some Klingon love and sorting of mishes. Mishes could use some luv and it's good to see them going back and ... modernizing things. I mean, it's kinda a large game so there's lots of room for things to lag behind and get jumbled.

Mishes and Rep needed some polish and yay that they get it.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on September 06, 2018, 03:55:29 PM
Being on console means I'm about three to six months behind the PC version (so it's possible I won't actually get to play this until early 2019), but that all looks very interesting.  Particularly the Reputation stuff.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on September 07, 2018, 11:46:42 PM
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on September 08, 2018, 10:13:42 PM
I  like that they're  finally  making the  Rep system  a little  less tedious  but I' m still trying  to figure out why  I  can only claim four of my account  wide items but not my Zephyr in Cochran  Shotgun, Crystalline  Spike and a few others from Mirror Invasion and Crystalline  Event.

I finally started looking for my shotgun and couldn't find it, either. I'm nearly positive I had (at least) one.. I always give my away teams Furidan Fangs.. or some kind of minigun and don't remember seeing that shotgun since I got it. Or did I get it? I thought I got it, too..

Which brings up a great point.. Why not put all the Reclaims in one place.. I never know where to find that stuff. I know, I know, it should be simple. ?

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Power Arc X on September 10, 2018, 11:41:00 PM
I'm  happy  that  they are finally  giving  us a T6 Support  Cruiser. Hopefully  they  give us the stats tomorrow  to  see if it's  going  to  be  similar  to its T5/Fleet  version.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on September 12, 2018, 09:08:31 PM
I'm  happy  that  they are finally  giving  us a T6 Support  Cruiser. Hopefully  they  give us the stats tomorrow  to  see if it's  going  to  be  similar  to its T5/Fleet  version.

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/10998903

I'm confused.

I guess these are Temporal ships? But Temporal ships, with a Faction? What part of them qualifies them as 'Support'? I thought this was going to be a whole new kind of ship. Like a Sci ship, but tankier and with a different mechanic than Secondary Deflectors.

These just look like ordinary Cruisers? Except that they are Temporal yet with different Factions instead of being both? And why do the Fleet versions have 11 consoles but the Z-Store versions only have 10??
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on September 14, 2018, 03:08:03 PM
https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/10998903

In addition to what you wrote...

No T6 Vo'Quv?  PASS.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on September 18, 2018, 04:06:33 AM
I definitely don't recommend using Arc. Tried it once for some reason. I've got no hard data or facts - it just triggers my Hinky-Alert fairly hard. I run the client directly via a desktop shortcut due to I want to click and then have STO simply load and run. Same story with CO. I downloaded both directly from PWE but it's been years ago so I dunno how the download works, now, but it was pretty straightforward when I downloaded.

After a year or two or so of effort I finally managed to get an invite into DPS 30,000 - the Bronze.... channel. The DPS League is pretty cool. Kinda mysterious. Huuuuuuge ranking lists, of which, I think my best placing is ~ 2,000,001th.

Just got done picking out a channel color for... DPS SILVER, Baby!

*bow*

Think my Rom/Sci/Torps/Exotic/Andorian Pilot Escort build got me in. My 2nd to last newb and owner of 1 Gold Fore weapon/torp..
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Night-Hawk07 on September 25, 2018, 06:12:45 AM
I'm  happy  that  they are finally  giving  us a T6 Support  Cruiser. Hopefully  they  give us the stats tomorrow  to  see if it's  going  to  be  similar  to its T5/Fleet  version.

The Narendra is absolutely gorgeous. Cannot wait for that ship to hit console.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on September 26, 2018, 09:34:06 AM
Does anyone have a spare rare or very rare Science Vulcan Female, they are willing to sell to me?
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on September 28, 2018, 04:35:50 AM
Phoenix boxes are back.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on September 28, 2018, 10:18:09 PM
Not on console, I'm afraid.

I haven't given any updates in a while, mainly because I mostly just putter about and don't have much to say, but (thanks to that flash sale on Keys the other day) I did buy the third and final Iconian starship for my main tonight, the Herald Quas Flight Deck Cruiser.  Now I have all three Gateway consoles, the Baltim Raider pets, and a whole lot of awesome.

I'll probably go back to the Vonph once I'm done getting the Trait from the Quas.  (Though I realized I never got the trait from the Baltim Raider, so I may grind that out before going back to the Vonph)

The Quas is like a miniature version of the Vonph.  I love its design.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on October 03, 2018, 04:01:24 AM
I  like that they're  finally  making the  Rep system  a little  less tedious  but I' m still trying  to figure out why  I  can only claim four of my account  wide items but not my Zephyr in Cochran  Shotgun, Crystalline  Spike and a few others from Mirror Invasion and Crystalline  Event.

finally... found the shotgun and spike..

(https://app.box.com/shared/static/kric2xnnyyg0z97tfxtklvc28ngzlvu2.jpg)

They're kinda like account wide items.. there's several PPP rewards that I sorta regard as account wide items.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on October 03, 2018, 05:22:46 PM
Yes!

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/11006513

Well, sorta.. I mean.. Hmm..

This means that RA's are no longer a way to get easy marks during the week.. You know, for your toons coming up through the Rep system who just want to quickly collect their many, many, Daily Bonus Marks.

Well, I like very much that they're again focusing on the queue system. I like no cooldowns. That's what got the kneejerk. Weekend events usually fill, so, the queues should pop nice.. which is good.

Kinda bad news for easy Daily Bonus Marks though.


Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on October 07, 2018, 12:59:21 AM
Probably the most interesting part of this news, to me, is the account bound Twink Ship that comes in this 750 zen bundle. This is new.

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/11006973

The ship scales with your level, from, Tutorial - 30. The hull and shield strength scale with level, and... you start out with level 30 Boff seating and console layout(!). A proper twink ship.

Also, importantly, there's less newbie hotkey making..

This particular ship doesn't jump out at me and I don't know if I'll get the bundle when it becomes available yet, but, I like the idea a lot. Too bad it's not an Escort. 750 zen is pretty good - the price is supposed to go up to 1500 zen at some point.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on October 07, 2018, 03:57:02 AM
Probably the most interesting part of this news, to me, is the account bound Twink Ship that comes in this 750 zen bundle. This is new.

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/11006973

The ship scales with your level, from, Tutorial - 30. The hull and shield strength scale with level, and... you start out with level 30 Boff seating and console layout(!). A proper twink ship.

Also, importantly, there's less newbie hotkey making..

This particular ship doesn't jump out at me and I don't know if I'll get the bundle when it becomes available yet, but, I like the idea a lot. Too bad it's not an Escort. 750 zen is pretty good - the price is supposed to go up to 1500 zen at some point.


While this is interesting. It is also flawed. It was bad enough when they made the Constitution class over-powered when compared to 25th century ships. now they have a 22 - early 23rd far better then anything a 25th century ship can do.

Honestly there are other ship classes that are in much greater need of attention i.e Luna and the original Klingon carrier.


Please note this post isn't aimed at you, just their choice at making another over-powered ship.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on October 08, 2018, 08:43:43 PM
OP for what..? Level 1 - 29?? lol..

I mean, I'm sorry, but.. who cares.

I don't want to actually buy my levels, like they do in Champions Online.. I still believe leveling up to learn, at least the base stuff, about my newbs, is the best possible way to get the inside feel of them - by actually playing them and leveling them and struggling with them, some. Learning my capabilities a little at a time and not with all possibilities available at once is the old way, and, I still think it's the best and most rewarding way..

But..

I'll take twink gear like account bound slightly OP ships (and only OP up to level 30) that level with me so I don't have to redo ship hotkeys every couple hours or less. As soon as they make an Escort version  : ) I mean, with a ship like this, we just have to redo hotkeys at 30, 40, 50 & whenever we get a new T6. Less required trips to ESD.. Much, much better.

Edit: Oops.. No need to do hotkeys at 30, since this is a level 30 ship! when it maxes.. So.. we only have to buy and make hotkeys for this ship.... an Event T6 at 40... and a real T6 at 50. Now tell me, that does not sound better than before! Making hotkeys has to be one of the crummiest parts of leveling in STO. Plus, and a big plus, we get nothing but top quality ships, all the way to 65.. for the price of 2 C-store ships. The cost of this new ship, and a T6.

All my twink stuff is OP for its level. That's what makes it great twink gear  : ) I did not have a twink.. ship, up until now, though.

They could make plenty more newb ships like this to suit me. Starting with a totally OP Escort  : D


That's not why I'm here, though..

Tomorrow's the 9th!!

Are you excited?

I am, a tiny bit... This looks like a good update. The Rep system (<3) is getting what sounds like some significant luv, the queue system (<3) is getting luv.. gah I know I'm forgetting a big thing or two..

There's a somewhat tantalizing new Battlecruiser just announced today.

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/11007803-the-stats-of-the-europa-class%21

What I don't get, is... this is the second ship I've seen that the Fleet version is better than the C-store version... I don't get it....?

Edit, once again....


While this is interesting. It is also flawed.

Could be said about this post, too.. My jab to Champions Online Levels Buyers kinda falls apart pretty fast now that I realize I am basically buying a few newb levels with this ship. What do we get when we level, mainly? More (powers) Boff slots.. With this ship we are getting level 30 (powers) Boff slots at level... whatever the level is we get out of the tutorial.

I think I would rather have the console slots scale with level, just like the shield and hull does - based on the fact that I don't want to buy levels.. I just want to skip all the shipbuying and hotkeymaking that feels like it comes with every ding as a newb in STO. Especially if it's a double XP weekend. Well, and I want a top ship - asap, always. With this new ship type, it's all top tier ships from level (whatever it is coming out of the tutorial) to 65 in a much more... efficient/painless way.

I mean, those ships from level 1 - 40 are not memorable, to me.. (Except the first time I flew the Enterprise looking ship!) And then there's that long slog from 30 to 40 for an Event ship. What's memorable is all the crud that goes into getting them and hotkeying them. What's memorable is the slog from 30 to 40, so I can start using the sweet ships - Event T6's, and then real T6's. The real ships. The ships all your toons have right now.. except.. *maybe* one, or two.

But.. yeah.. I want to have twink Gear, not buy Levels. Will I still buy the Escort version? Hmm. Yeah, probably  : D I guess that makes me a hypocrite - but, in my defense, if they had a version of the ship that had consoles slots that scaled with level - I'd get that one. I don't want to buy levels but if they had a sweet escort version I'd probably get it due to all the reasons, above.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on October 09, 2018, 04:40:32 PM
I shall not bore you further with lengthy wind from my direction, rather....

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/11008093-pc-patch-notes-for-10%2F9%2F18

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/11007843

CO and STO and a bunch of now old movies are my TV these days otherwise I would be all over Discovery to at least check it out, but, I don't know a thing about it except for the criticisms I read. I know some people don't like it, at all. Looks like it's good for the game, tho. Very nice update too - I hope! will find out.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on October 09, 2018, 10:02:34 PM
Buyer Alert! Buyer Alert!

I just got my @ss reemed by a couple of unsavory players in DPS-10k for not knowing this.. And it really ticked me off at the time due to I was already mad at myself and then... I got trolled/had people just trying to pick a fight.

Which is unusual for DPS 10k! I'm always posting positive DPS League stuff, here..

Anyway...

Here's the deal. If you get that Discover bundle, like I did... be aware.. Whatever.. toon.. buys... the bundle... will be the toon that gets the Bound To Character items..

*sigh*

My level 65 toon with maxed Inventory Slots, would be the toon that *I* happened to be logged on with at the time I purchased (not *Claimed*!!!) the AOD Starter Bundle..

Nowhere in the Item Description for the bundle does it say that the *purchasing* toon is the *claiming* toon for the Bound... to Character... items..

And now you know. As do I. Now.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on October 10, 2018, 01:20:46 PM
Had to add: I later found out that none of my toons can claim... the SHIP! Only the toon that bought the bundle has the ship. Also have to add that STO answered the trouble ticket I submitted right away even though I know they are getting hammered right now.

The DPS League...

I never had a negative experience like I did yesterday in DPS 10k and when I came back into it to apologize for my part in bringing Zone chat to the channel, the antagonists were gone and cooler heads prevailed, as ever.

I then got a team together for the new Space queue.... Elite version. And we whooped its you know what. (OK I exploded 3x... but I figured I'd nonstop explode.. and yes, I know they are going to 'fix' the queue today.) In the DPS channels I have gotten lots of good advice, conversation, and have been able to put teams together for queues like the newb Romulan Minefield.....all the way to the new queue, on Elite..

I surely got trolled in there yesterday but trolls do not rule this channel or any of the DPS channels I'm in. Simply put, I think the game wouldn't be as fun without the DPS league.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: ZeeHero on October 10, 2018, 10:48:58 PM
I was in 10-50k channels but they seemed dead so I left em to make channel room :P
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on October 11, 2018, 11:56:46 AM
I was in 10-50k channels but they seemed dead so I left em to make channel room :P

Ohhh you got into 50k, impressive. It's called 'Silver' now. That's the highest one I'm in, too. And the people in that channel blow me out of the sky.

I was in 10-50k channels but they seemed dead

They 'seem' dead due to... conversation is generally limited to deepsing and getting a team together. Otherwise, I get the feeling everyone is doing their chatty-chat in other channels.

I have brought my chatty-chat to DPS-10k... It was received about as well as my chatty-chat was/is in Rampagers......................

DPS channels are pretty no-BS. The higher up you go, the lower the BS level.

There's hundreds of people in those channels whenever I'm online, though. They're pretty full. And you can ignite at least DPS 10k if you want, trust me : D And you can get some pretty lethal teams together fairly fast, from what I've seen and experienced.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on October 11, 2018, 11:12:07 PM
PROTOTYPE EXPLORATION CRUISER!!

gah..

Damn that AoD Bundle..

Sooo.. Here's what you need to know about the AoD Starter pack...

The inventory slots and the 150k xp boost.....will drop into the inventory of your purchasing toon - *and be bound to character..*

The ship? Only your Starfleet and TOS toons can use it. No Roms, whether they are Feds or not.

You look in the description of that bundle and tell me where it says either of those things! Why in the world make the no drop items.... bound to CHARACTER... And why not flat out say "Only for TOS/Starfleet" Instead of saying only for toons that complete a Federation tutorial.. Did I not do that with my Fed Roms? Hell, I guess not, I guess I did a Rom tutorial for a Fed toon - sheesh let me grab my damn STO Faction Handbook........... Better yet, why not just make a better Item Description in the Z-store.

This makes nearly the entire bundle completely worthless to me - some toons I never play anymore (Starfleet/TOS) get an Admiralty ship I'll never use due to I never play them..

Just in case this saves someone else some hassle, I pass this info on to you. I'm not flaming them, if it sounds like that. If it were 7k zen... maybe, probably, but not for 750.. If you're an expert at buying stuff in the Z-store maybe you don't need my help due to you are better used to how things work. : ) There it is, anyway.

Edit:
Tech support update..

Quote
...do intend to work with our development team to clarify how this ship is intended to be used, or change the current limitations.

They totally refunded me, too, after giving me pretty prompt and helpful tech support during what must be a busy time for them. Which, I feel crummy about, due to this is the second time! In a row..  (I can't even remember what the last thing was they refunded me on atm.) But seriously, I can't use anything in this dang bundle and had no way of knowing due to the way the item description is currently worded.

Edit II: The Sequel
I never asked STO to refund me for any item I ever bought from them. I had what I think/thought were completely legitimate gripes and they did that all on their own, twice, after asking all the right questions in a prompt and friendly way, and then, weighing the facts.

In this case I think it was the only fair solution even though I would have been OK with them not giving me one, due to.... it was only 750 Zen, and, the bundle is pretty great if you have a use for it and well worth the 1500 that it's going to be when it goes off-sale (but I'd wait to get it on the next sale.. of course! hehe).

In the other case... They *totally* took the high road and I thought that was pretty nice of'em due to I still got a lot of use out of what I bought...

I never flamed them or anything like this, I just explained my situation and they did what they did and did it in a way that made me feel like I was subbed in a premium game.


Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on October 12, 2018, 04:51:11 AM
OP for what..? Level 1 - 29?? lol..

I mean, I'm sorry, but.. who cares.

I don't want to actually buy my levels, like they do in Champions Online.. I still believe leveling up to learn, at least the base stuff, about my newbs, is the best possible way to get the inside feel of them - by actually playing them and leveling them and struggling with them, some. Learning my capabilities a little at a time and not with all possibilities available at once is the old way, and, I still think it's the best and most rewarding way..

But..

I'll take twink gear like account bound slightly OP ships (and only OP up to level 30) that level with me so I don't have to redo ship hotkeys every couple hours or less. As soon as they make an Escort version  : ) I mean, with a ship like this, we just have to redo hotkeys at 30, 40, 50 & whenever we get a new T6. Less required trips to ESD.. Much, much better.

Edit: Oops.. No need to do hotkeys at 30, since this is a level 30 ship! when it maxes.. So.. we only have to buy and make hotkeys for this ship.... an Event T6 at 40... and a real T6 at 50. Now tell me, that does not sound better than before! Making hotkeys has to be one of the crummiest parts of leveling in STO. Plus, and a big plus, we get nothing but top quality ships, all the way to 65.. for the price of 2 C-store ships. The cost of this new ship, and a T6.

All my twink stuff is OP for its level. That's what makes it great twink gear  : ) I did not have a twink.. ship, up until now, though.

They could make plenty more newb ships like this to suit me. Starting with a totally OP Escort  : D


That's not why I'm here, though..

Tomorrow's the 9th!!

Are you excited?

I am, a tiny bit... This looks like a good update. The Rep system (<3) is getting what sounds like some significant luv, the queue system (<3) is getting luv.. gah I know I'm forgetting a big thing or two..

There's a somewhat tantalizing new Battlecruiser just announced today.

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/11007803-the-stats-of-the-europa-class%21

What I don't get, is... this is the second ship I've seen that the Fleet version is better than the C-store version... I don't get it....?

Edit, once again....

Could be said about this post, too.. My jab to Champions Online Levels Buyers kinda falls apart pretty fast now that I realize I am basically buying a few newb levels with this ship. What do we get when we level, mainly? More (powers) Boff slots.. With this ship we are getting level 30 (powers) Boff slots at level... whatever the level is we get out of the tutorial.

I think I would rather have the console slots scale with level, just like the shield and hull does - based on the fact that I don't want to buy levels.. I just want to skip all the shipbuying and hotkeymaking that feels like it comes with every ding as a newb in STO. Especially if it's a double XP weekend. Well, and I want a top ship - asap, always. With this new ship type, it's all top tier ships from level (whatever it is coming out of the tutorial) to 65 in a much more... efficient/painless way.

I mean, those ships from level 1 - 40 are not memorable, to me.. (Except the first time I flew the Enterprise looking ship!) And then there's that long slog from 30 to 40 for an Event ship. What's memorable is all the crud that goes into getting them and hotkeying them. What's memorable is the slog from 30 to 40, so I can start using the sweet ships - Event T6's, and then real T6's. The real ships. The ships all your toons have right now.. except.. *maybe* one, or two.

But.. yeah.. I want to have twink Gear, not buy Levels. Will I still buy the Escort version? Hmm. Yeah, probably  : D I guess that makes me a hypocrite - but, in my defense, if they had a version of the ship that had consoles slots that scaled with level - I'd get that one. I don't want to buy levels but if they had a sweet escort version I'd probably get it due to all the reasons, above.

It is all good. As you know I really dont care for champions so dig at it all you want.


I should clarify what I mean by over powered. I started as you might know at the very start of sto, so I have the old ways of doing things and thinking. When playing in my honest opinion people should be trying new ships, and not sticking with just one. (and technically this has already been in the game the start I tried it once.) People should see progress in their weaponry, senior staff and so forth. If they are use the same ship through out then they wont improve. (think back with all of the AE babies in City of.)
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on October 12, 2018, 10:42:13 PM
As you know I really dont care for champions so dig at it all you want.

Yeah, I know! It just seemed like a good example - the buying levels, thing. There was a time... people would mock you to no end.... if you BOUGHT your levels.. They would mock you to no end if you BOUGHT anything in the game with real money, with the purpose of being more uber.

Whereas... Twink gear has been an acceptable ... cheat.. since The Beginning.

I should clarify what I mean by over powered. I started as you might know at the very start of sto, so I have the old ways of doing things and thinking. When playing in my honest opinion people should be trying new ships, and not sticking with just one. (and technically this has already been in the game the start I tried it once.) People should see progress in their weaponry, senior staff and so forth. If they are use the same ship through out then they wont improve. (think back with all of the AE babies in City of.)

I have old ways of thinking, too  : )

One problem with doing things the old STO way is that it is cumbersome.. I mean, look how fast you can ding now, right? I ding every other Romulan Minefield run, on average.. Then as soon as I'm getting warmed up... BLAM I have to go to ESD.. buy a ship... maybe paint it.. redo my hotkeys.. All for a fairly crappy ship.. Unless I spend Zen, but, why should I, when I can still ding with every other Rom Minefield run with the freebies..

Now.. having said all that.. There are people playing STO, like yourself, that are fairly disgusted with this attitude.. They're disgusted I use Rom Minefield to PL myself and they're disgusted that I only want the Prototype Exploration Cruiser for Twink gear.

Me and my online friends would have once been completely disgusted with Pay to Coasters. Why? Because of this exact same attitude..:

I started as you might know at the very start of sto, so I have the old ways of doing things and thinking. When playing in my honest opinion people should be trying new ships, and not sticking with just one. (and technically this has already been in the game the start I tried it once.) People should see progress in their weaponry, senior staff and so forth. If they are use the same ship through out then they wont improve. (think back with all of the AE babies in City of.)

I agree with the spirit of what you're saying.

I don't want to actually buy my levels, like they do in Champions Online.. I still believe leveling up to learn, at least the base stuff, about my newbs, is the best possible way to get the inside feel of them - by actually playing them and leveling them and struggling with them, some. Learning my capabilities a little at a time and not with all possibilities available at once is the old way, and, I still think it's the best and most rewarding way..

But..


I'll take twink gear like account bound slightly OP ships (and only OP up to level 30) that level with me so I don't have to redo ship hotkeys every couple hours or less. As soon as they make an Escort version  : ) I mean, with a ship like this, we just have to redo hotkeys at 30, 40, 50 & whenever we get a new T6. Less required trips to ESD.. Much, much better.

Edit: Oops.. No need to do hotkeys at 30, since this is a level 30 ship! when it maxes.. So.. we only have to buy and make hotkeys for this ship.... an Event T6 at 40... and a real T6 at 50. Now tell me, that does not sound better than before! Making hotkeys has to be one of the crummiest parts of leveling in STO. Plus, and a big plus, we get nothing but top quality ships, all the way to 65.. for the price of 2 C-store ships. The cost of this new ship, and a T6.

All my twink stuff is OP for its level. That's what makes it great twink gear  : ) I did not have a twink.. ship, up until now, though.

They could make plenty more newb ships like this to suit me. Starting with a totally OP Escort  : D


What ships are you actually 'skipping out on the experience' with? The crappy newb ships? The ships many real newbs will experience/use at least once due to they probably aren't buying ships when they just start the game? The ships I used with at least 3 newbs that turned level 60 before I bought my first ship?

When you just start the game I think you're not going to be savvy enough to zoom in on this bundle and let it ruin any part of your STO experience. You're gonna be too buried learning everything else.. You will not even be able to use it unless you make a Starfleet or a TOS character.

I mean... I'm not trying to bury your point. I get it, but, there is soooooooo much to STO, including that huge learning curve, I don't think making early shipbuying for savvy buyers, easier, is gonna kill the game. I think it's a good idea!

The Alternative:
Make newb shipbuying and re-hotkeying way, way, simpler. And.. make the ships more memorable, huh? There may be some nice newb Zen ships but the freebie ones that I think many people use when they first play are totally not memorable. The memorable ships, for me, start at Event T6's.

I mean, when you can level from 1 to 65 on a double XP weekend... wouldn't you rather be able to do it in a less cumbersome, more fun, way?

Again... you are not the only person with the attitude, above. I get it, I've had it. And in my way, I totally share it. But. I also think leveling up in the queue's is perfectly acceptable (it's not so easy if you're a real newb! and, you team with every ding) and I would love to fly just ONE ship until I get a T6. lol.. : D And then I get as many cool T6's as I can find and afford. You know, the ships you fly.....forever(until T7)..

The thing they are cheating real STO newbs out of who are lucky enough to discover and buy and use this bundle is not ship variety - we can experience that with T6's... it's leveling. You get level 30 console slots and Boff slots....straight out of the tutorial. Therefore you are almost skipping some levels with this ship due to... what is the most important stuff you get at lvl 1 - 30 besides higher MK gear and Captain powers and a few traits? More Boff (powers), more console slots, which are both arguably more important than anything else besides the quality of your gear.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on October 14, 2018, 12:05:24 AM
Random TFO's...

Now that I finally got my stuff with the Z-store sorted, and... some Ground gear... I hit the button to get into the queue.

It's great! I mean.. I hate being manipulated... But.. I'm glad they did it. I had fun in my first Ground queue. I have only had to run ONE so far.. I got a datacore out of the deal and it was a lot less painless and New (to me) than Gateway to Gre'thor .

If you are like I was and need/want Ground gear.. of all the Ground Rep Gear, the Omega sets are the easiest for me to get by far due to.. ISA, probably. I had plenty of components laying around to get plenty other sets. I still ended up with good olllld M.A.C.O..... and... it's pretty darn good. No Borg assimilation for me (Arena of Sompek...)! And a fast recharge shield regen set bonus power.. and etc. Nice set.

Random TFO's are a pretty great way for people to get the components they want for Rep gear and for people to experience more of the game. I never flew Vicious Cycle until tonite... I thought I flew all the Space queues already. And they're getting me to run Ground queue's, finally, too. And enjoy it...! So far..

The rewards for running Random TFO's vary and even the smallest one seemed worth it to me.

I always liked running random queues! I posted something about doing this, awhile back. I found out, later, other people were doing the same thing. They took it to the next level with this new idea, that.. is supposed to evolve and get better.

My first hour with it has been fun  : ) (minus a couple of bugged Starbase 1's.. but.. oh well..)

 
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on October 18, 2018, 11:37:13 AM
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on October 18, 2018, 07:17:06 PM
Well, I thought ... "hey, since they took the high road and refunded me on that AoD bundle I got last week... I'll do the same and tell'em they can have my Zen now that I can use the AoD bundle ship (due to today's patch notes)."

So I wrote them a mail and said to deduct the Zen from my account if they wanted (I still had access to the full bundle after the refund), due to, now, I'm getting what I thought I was getting. I also added a note asking, hey... if it's not too much trouble, would ya mind dropping that no-drop bundle on T'Xev? I deleted it when you guys refunded me.

So, sure enough, they very promptly deducted the Zen.. they even plopped the bundle into T'Xev's inventory..
Quote
As a one-time courtesy, we have granted your request, and given the pack to your character "T'Xev".
(No mention of the Zen deduction...but, hey, whatever) Wow! How cool, I thought. T'Xev can use that stuff, and, now we're all even - they made their sale and I got what I wanted.

I then go to open the bundle..

(https://app.box.com/shared/static/jp54w5m2qdn51nyelff9yei6qohmspzw.jpg)

But.. whatever.. They got their zen which I earned.....by playing their very fine game. And I got a very nice ship that I'll probably use someday. They tried to take the high road, so did I, we met somewhere in the middle.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on October 20, 2018, 09:38:00 PM
When they first came out with Random Queues/TFOs... I didn't even hit the shiny new button for a day or two until I finally figured out what gear was good enough to run Advanced queue's in, was cheap, and easy to get.

Then I hit the button like 20 times and didn't even get 1 Ground queue..

Now I get them fairly regularly, and, overall, as with Space queue's, they are fun. I really didn't think I'd like them at all but I do. There was this Terak Nor (Terran) Ground queue...where we chased that kinda crazy chick with the mini-skirt around - us, with automatic weapons and grenades and everything else we could throw at her... It would have been so perfect, afterwards... where everyone gathers and transports out... to have been plopped into our ships and then a Counterpoint starts.. and we start taking it to her again, in Space.. as she screams crazily at us "Our reinforcements will put you in your place!". It probably doesn't fit the story at all but it seemed the perfect moment, actionwise, at the time.

The idea, in general, seems kinda cool to meet up with people you just fought with on the Ground, in your hotrod in Space, for some pew-pew/wush-wew. *shrug*

There's all kinds of possibilities with the queue's. I liked what they were doing with them in CoH! They were aways adding stuff. I think this was a smart move in STO. There was some UI-Shock when the column that says how many people are queue'd in all the queue's went away, but.... I can get, like.... *any* queue to pop, now.. so.. now I don't miss that column. If I'm not going for components, then I can hit the 'Random' button just for fun and extra loot. Like I used to do... except, before, I didn't get extra loot for joining the first queue to pop. How can I not like that.

Randomers get rewarded for....being there, and, everyone else can get their components easier. I'm seeing way more content, too. I haven't seen so much 'new' content at one time, since I very first started playing.

So, yay. I hope they, like CoH, continue to expand on what's possible.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on October 23, 2018, 05:29:57 PM
MY apols to all Ground queue teams that I have no idea what I'm doing.

NP to all you Space teams that have no idea what you're doing.

I'd tell them not to join Advanced Queue's, but... I am.. (with that shiny new Random button).
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on October 24, 2018, 05:05:42 PM
There's a little kink with the Random TFO's.

Yesterday, someone in chat couldn't figure out why there were so many newbs in an advanced TFO. ISA, which usually takes a few minutes or so, took 30 spank filled minutes.

Then I got to thinking...

I bet the Ground guys are thinking the same thing. Why are all these newbs joining Advanced Ground TFOs?

It's the new Random system. It's because Advanced Space ppl aren't going to join a Normal queue and Advanced Ground people probably won't either. Well, and.. the opposite of what you're good at - you don't really care about... it's just the TFO you have to run until a Real TFO pops..

kinda thing.

I'd argue that Advanced Ground queues are easier to plod your way through but most of them that I've been in so far go much smoother and faster when there's people in them that know what to do and have the ability to do it. Kinda like ISA's.

Sooooo... a lil kink in the Random system. A system which is new and has tons of room for customization.

And, yeah.. Sorry Ground guys! I did get decent Rep gear and level it up at least. And Gold kit modules! And I'm having fun. But I'm usually fairly lost.

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on October 25, 2018, 09:54:39 PM
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on October 27, 2018, 04:47:47 AM
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on October 28, 2018, 01:39:35 PM
I was in 10-50k channels but they seemed dead so I left em to make channel room :P

While we're on the subject of Deeps... I gotta make a correction. I Assssssumed that DPS-Silver was DPS-50k..

There is no DPS 50k... And.. DPS Silver is a whole other DPS group. I must be special because this channel is Private and Invite only. It's about as populated as the other DPS channels - thousands of members, always (whenever I check anyway) at least 100+ ppl in channel.

Quote
lineup is 10k > 30k > 75k > Elites > Prime

Those are the DPS League channels.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Felderburg on October 31, 2018, 06:08:11 PM
I mean... that's pretty cool, really.. I dunno how much it costs! But on paper it sounds cool.

It's several hundred dollars depending on the ship and type, according to the STO site: https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/10831004-3d-print-your-ship-available-today%21

The company that does it is here, but doesn't have prices on the main page: https://gameprint.net/startrek (edit: their faq page prices match the STO page).

What I want to know, is if I can pay in c store credits... I haven't played in ages, but my lifetime account monthly stipend probably has enough to pay for at least one!
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on November 01, 2018, 01:39:10 PM
It's several hundred dollars depending on the ship and type, according to the STO site: https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/10831004-3d-print-your-ship-available-today%21


My jaw literally dropped when I read that..it's now evolved into wide-eye..

I'm in too much of a hurry this morning to say much more right now but lots of words spring to mind!

wow..

I'll have to check into your in-game currency question. I'd Guess they're letting us use lots of Zen, which, you probably have saved  : )
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on November 01, 2018, 08:30:31 PM
Even if I wanted to spend the money, my Vonph is explicitly listed as one of the ships they won't print. :(
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on November 01, 2018, 10:08:32 PM


What I want to know, is if I can pay in c store credits... I haven't played in ages, but my lifetime account monthly stipend probably has enough to pay for at least one!

OK so, I tried to find out how much this costs in Zen from using the in-game ship vendor, and.... it seized my PC bigtime during the upload process from the printer's website - my admittedly ancient PC that does however play STO on max settings.

You don't order in-game, after all. It looks like the button in-game is mostly just a link launcher to the seller's site. So you might not be able to use Zen after all.

I'm gonna go ahead and say I'm slightly disgusted by that pricing you mentioned. I mean.. it's a kids game..

It does highlight what money can buy you in a Cryptic/PWE game - about whatever you want - if, you're willing to shell out stupid amounts of cash. And then you can go in-game, after, and brag about your purchase and tell everyone how the game is staying alive due to people just like yourself.

I'm not against money or blowing large chunks of it or bragging about it afterwards. What I am against is the mentality that emerges in PWE games, where, if you have stupid amounts of cash to blow, you are special. Not only that, you are specialler than everyone else.

See. One thing about mmo's, used to be, they were the great equalizer. You could be man, woman, fat, thin, tall, short, athletic or not, and be whatever color or religion, live anywhere, and whatever else and have whatever amount of cash in your wallet - and you earned love and respect by.... playing. Not buying.

Today some people seem to *think* money buys them respect from other players in a game. Not only that, they think it buys them the right to disrespect people that don't spend a lot of money in a game. When I started playing the first graphical mmo on PC (and Mac...) and then moved on to Everquest.. these exact same people were about the most disgusting players online. Players who BOUGHT their... anything. And ya know what? They normally didn't brag about it either. It was a big dark secret. Due to only lamers had to buy what gamers earned.

I realize it's a.. whole new virtual world, today, and I for sure am not putting down all the people paying the light bill for the games I play! Just some of them.. And the whole mentality. And the fact that devs actually do seem to cater to these people. I don't want them to cater to me, either! or any one person or group.. That's the point. Let them cater... to the game.

This relationship I see forming between 'rich' players and devs and game publishers with Cryptic/PWE has been gnawing at me for awhile. Things like $100's for a ship print in a kids game kinda set me off. Sorry.. But not sorry enough to delete this, apparently.

On the other side of things - I play mostly for free and think it's fantabulous they figured out a way for me to do so because Cryptic/PWE has.. kept me in the game. I have gotten Subscription Quality Support over the years. Their games are top-notch. Even though CO may be .... a little underdeveloped, it's a great game.

I don't have anything against money, I like it, used to have lots more of it. Which should also tell you I'm not against people having money  : ) Now that I think of it, probably my best friend, is a pretty rich dude. I just don't think about him that way because he doesn't act that way.

P.P.S.
I hope they have a Fridge Magnet option somewhere in this Ship Printing for the kids and players that ... can afford fridge magnets  : )


~~~~

edit....:

See.. I went and did the very same thing as what I was saying is bad. I revealed RL info into the game world. The dividing kind.

One of the most compelling things to me when I started roleplaying was to be in a world where everyone had everything in common and could be whatever they imagined they could be. I never liked giving my age, even when the numbers were good ones. I never liked giving any kind of RL info whatsoever ... that could prejudice anyone in any way. At that point: all that's left is fantasy. I could make up and be whoever I wanted and you couldn't see me from any other light.

I don't care who brags about what in STO and I don't know why I even mentioned the devs. I am nonstop saying the things I like about what the devs are doing, and, players feeling over-important is something I should be used to by now - I just have to learn how to cope with the RL version of it.

Probably none of this makes sense and I'll not be bringing it up again. Just had to say my long-winded peace, I guess. My sincere apols!

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Felderburg on November 03, 2018, 10:26:39 PM
I'm gonna go ahead and say I'm slightly disgusted by that pricing you mentioned. I mean.. it's a kids game..

I don't think it's out of line, expecially googling 3d printing costs. Looks like they probably use a nicer plastic, and they're also putting all the files together for 3d printing, and painting it for the extra fee if desired. It's not terribly outrageous, in my opinion.

What do you mean STO is a "kid's game"? I've never once seen it marketed specifically to children.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on November 04, 2018, 04:15:33 PM
I don't think it's out of line, expecially googling 3d printing costs.

I don't think it is, either. I have no idea at all of what is or isn't a good price and don't really care right now. My point was, if you're going to make something that cool available... make it available to all. Or at least a helluva lot larger percentage... That fridge magnet I had printed had a dang good print on it and they cost me like $1 each. I came up with that idea to go along with Multi $100 ship prints without even trying.

If this still doesn't make sense it never will.


What do you mean STO is a "kid's game"? I've never once seen it marketed specifically to children.

I enjoy Kid's Movies and Shows, too. Doesn't make them bad.

Do you feel all adult running around in your Starfleet uniform using sci-fi weapons on pixels? Or playing with GI Joes? Or making a paper airplane go *zoooooooooooom*?

sure hope not..

I mean, you can be all adult about it but I refuse. It's a friggin kids game to me. A game just like I played..... as a kid. Because *I* got older doesn't make it an adult's game. It just means I still like Kids games..

I'm having some fun with ya, Felder. I've got a point but not a pointy one. I wish I wouldn't have made that post. Would much rather talk about the fun stuff in the game like me finally unpaperfying my rom/tac/escort captain and tearing space a new black hole with it  ; )
 
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Felderburg on November 05, 2018, 07:45:47 PM
I don't think it is, either. I have no idea at all of what is or isn't a good price and don't really care right now. My point was, if you're going to make something that cool available... make it available to all.

[...]

Do you feel all adult running around in your Starfleet uniform using sci-fi weapons on pixels? Or playing with GI Joes? Or making a paper airplane go *zoooooooooooom*?

Hahaha, fair enough. I will say that I don't feel one way or the other about Star Trek Online, since I don't play it anymore (because I am an ADULT and adults don't play games, kids' games or otherwise!  ;D ).

Your point about the cost of the ship does make me wonder how much of that goes to the printing company, and how much to STO.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on November 06, 2018, 04:25:18 PM
(because I am an ADULT and adults don't play games, kids' games or otherwise!  ;D ).

That's so good it tastes like chocolate  : )
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on November 07, 2018, 03:44:43 AM
OK so it's been 3 days now... and I have to tell this kinda weird story.

In the Fleet I have almost all my toons in, there is a toon that shows up in the Fleet Roster 24/7...since I joined. I mean, if the server hiccups and kicks everyone, they're the first one back online.. They're there when I get up and when I go to bed. The toon never levels and never advances in the Fleet, and, they never contribute to the Fleet. I joined that Fleet well over a year ago.

Finally, a few days ago, I joked around in Armada chat about this 24/7 toon. Not long after, one of the few (2?) people that can promote anyone in the fleet (I just noticed this..) logs in and I continued joking about Mr. 24/7, with them.

Mr. OnlyIcanPromote, who's in my Friends list btw, just kinda "......." to my joking of Mr. 24/7 and then said goodnight and logged off.

Mr. OnlyIcanPromote is usually on every night at least for a little while, is often very chatty, and is the only person that greets the Armada/Fleet when logging in. Not been on since that night.

Neither...has...Mr. 24/7!

Not only that, whenever I talk about it in Fleet Chat.. there's nothing but silence. Like no one ever even noticed Mr. 24/7 or isn't interested enough to acknowledge that they're gone. We're talking about people that have been in the Fleet for as many as four years.

Fleet chat has gone *completely* dead... as far as that goes.

It's very nearly a tier 5 Colony world Fleet..

Anyway... queue the Twilight Zone music.. Or Stepford Wives.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Felderburg on November 07, 2018, 06:17:38 PM
Well now there seems to be more options for the 3d prints. You can see captures that other people made, and there are more pricing and sizing options. If you click on a capture here: https://gameprint.net/captures and click "view", you can choose sizing / pricing options (see also https://gameprint.net/availableFinishes). The cheapest is $20 for a 4" - there's your fridge magnet!

Edit: that pricing was for a 23rd century I looked at - a Klingon 4" was $30, so as the FAQ notes the ship modifies pricing.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on November 07, 2018, 06:32:24 PM
there's your fridge magnet!


Definitely sounds better than starting at several hundred bucks!

Hey, I have a new favorite T5U..

You may not need to read past this: It's one of the cheapest T5U's currently in the Exchange, and..... it has access to the Exchange, right there in the ship. Exchange and all the normal stuff, along with .. Dabo  : )

https://sto.gamepedia.com/Ferengi_D%27Kora_Marauder

If all of that isn't enough... It is free to upgrade to T5u from T5.. All you have to do is go to a shipyard and hit the button. When you upgrade...not only do you get nearly 60k HPS (ymwv), but.... you also get 11 console slots(!) 4 tac, 4 eng, 3 sci.

It's a cruiser type ship, Ferengi style. My all-specs-maxed and has spec points leftover toon is flying it and I got 2 for the bank. Actually, he has it anchored.. due to that's my tradeskiller who always liked Ferengi ships - enough so, that he used to have holo ferengi ship clickies that I used sometimes when I actually flew him.

This ship and console may actually be good enough that I give it to my very expensive Reman tank that can't seem to find a ship he likes. There are way better ships, I'm sure, but nothing jumps out at me yet for a tank, so, I might give this thing an actual go just for fun since I have it already.

anyway - wuwu!  : ) Finally! I finally got my tradeskiller a ship with access to the Exchange..
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Felderburg on November 07, 2018, 10:53:53 PM
I would like to see Ferengi ships with more customizable options.

Also, I should note that my post about price changes came via reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/sto/comments/9uxuck/released_browse_and_print_thousands_of_sto_ships/ There's a discussion there about the reasons behind the price change. Evidently the 12" ships were painstakingly crafted at a facility in Poland; the company now only has California 3d printing to work with.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on November 09, 2018, 02:24:29 AM
Evidently the 12" ships were painstakingly crafted at a facility in Poland

I can think of no worthier thing to painstakingly craft.

HEY!

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/11013923

I'm really saved up for this one (been checking for it daily....) and know what I want to Gold. This is a first, so, it's kinda a real big deal.

Had to share the joy..

You should come back and play, Felder! Why'd you stop?? Playing something else? STO is great. You can't tell me you mastered (or outgrew..) it already. You can get into a Random Queue in like a half a second, now, for some quick play whenever you want, and, there has to be a stack of new mishes and other new stuff to check out.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on November 10, 2018, 12:26:53 AM
For anyone that might have been jealous.. My joy was crushed as I watched hundreds of PPPs go *poof*, as well as ~ 100 million EC on Tech Boosters due to I paid the inflated price that was currently available rather than buying while the price is down, like, I thought to do, finally, maybe 1 day before PPPs returned - and, due to really poor rng.

Oh. And. I opened 300 Prize Packs (my record) and got exactly Zero T6's (also a record when buying 200+).

On the good side, I gold plated the majority of my 3 mainest mains and even golded/more deeply purpled *some* of their Ground gear (grudgingly, but, I figure I owe the Advanced Ground guys that get stuck with me in Randoms..).
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Felderburg on November 12, 2018, 08:01:10 PM
You should come back and play, Felder! Why'd you stop?? Playing something else? STO is great. You can't tell me you mastered (or outgrew..) it already. You can get into a Random Queue in like a half a second, now, for some quick play whenever you want, and, there has to be a stack of new mishes and other new stuff to check out.

I left after season 7. I left in large part because I needed to step away from computer games and MMOs in general. However, at the time, STO didn't have much in the way of storyline beyond what I had played, and the end game "raids" were not enough to hold me. I found myself just grinding for gear for no reason other than to grind for gear. Ground PvP had started to die off, as I recall... or maybe I decided I didn't want to spend the time to grind for gear to be halfway competitive at it? Either way, grinding for gear is not enjoyable.

It's tempting to return, but even if I do, at some point I'll end up playing through all the storyline content, and then I'll be in the same place. Unless GPvP is active, in which case there would be something to hold my interest (and I assume I'll have enough lifetime monthly stipends to just buy stuff so that I can be on the level gear playing field and let my skill take me to middling-upper tiers of glory).
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on November 15, 2018, 03:49:50 PM
I left after season 7. I left in large part because I needed to step away from computer games and MMOs in general.

I did this once (stepped away). After gaming since .. I was little and my grandparents taught me how to solve those little (wood! and plastic..) square word puzzles that you slide the letters around in, to make words. Gaming had completely lost its appeal for the first time ever, since then, and this lasted.. for several years +/-.

Then, I was making the rounds to make sure my gaming accounts hadn't been hacked lately (for whatever reason - I guess, due to they were still considered 'possessions' that I didn't want stolen), and someone from CoH got me interested in Veteran awards and FTP... Somehow, in the process, I got sucked into playing again. And somehow, in the process, I ended up enjoying it as much as ever, which, is a lot. And I ended up making and playing a long string of Melee Toons that not only rocked, but, I actually understood how to play them. Very unusual, the whole experience. For the record: I never FTP'ed CoH. I subbed up and stayed subbed and they even managed to pry a small amount of cash from my steely grip in their store.

And here we are, today  : ) Back to gaming and blabbing on about it.



at some point I'll end up playing through all the storyline content

When I first started playing I made it my mission in virtual life to play every STO mish. I played nearly all of the Fed mishes available, at that time. I played some Rom mishes.. I played no Klingon mishes and not many of the many, many, many-many, mishes that have been made available since I started playing.

They make a LOT of new mishes! And there were already a ton when I started playing.. If you can play every single STO mish and keep up with all the new ones, well, more powah to ya  : ) I personally am mished-out. If there is a reward I want -  I'll run it. Or if any of the TOS crew is in it, I'll run it. I've enjoyed some of the newish TNG stuff, too.


... grinding for gear is not enjoyable.


Hmm... It depends on the grind.. I can grind with the best of'em  : )

I've got to be motivated to grind, though. Take this CO story for example.. They changed the grind, there, to where you had to run new content on top of old content, to get the same old rewards as ever. And you know what, I didn't like the people I was meeting in the new content, so, I said screw it, and that was the last time I had any interest in 'endgame' in CO. You won't see me grinding for anything, there, except Q - so I can buy Z - so I can buy frivolous crap. Someday. Maybe.

STO grinding... Geez.. What kind of grinding would you like to do? Dil? Spec XP? Rep? EC?

I can log on to STO, if I want to, and just .. press buttons .. for *hours* for worthy rewards.. To me, that is a grind.. A tempting grind! And one I fall prey to, sometimes... But it doesn't really make me a better pilot and it's so boring..

I grind for different things at different times in CO. I nonstop do a slow grind for Dil and EC. The EC grind usually takes 2 - 10 minutes and I get the reward of thinking of all the STO newbs out there that are running around in my gear. Tradeskilling was also super appealing to me in the beginning, just due to, I hadn't done it in forever. The dil grind... I usually just do stuff that gives Dil that I can do in Space.. Usually this means running the Queues. Event queues included, all queues included. This works out well for me, due to... the funnest thing in STO for me, is, running the queues - and the queues pop faster than ever, ever since the Random Button for PVE queues was invented, so, I'm a happy camper.

I care about my deeps and survivability. I do more, when and where I can, to improve them both, and, they both seem to be steadily improving. I'm not competitive about it to the point of having to be in the top 1%, today, though. I can wait. At the rate I'm going.... I should get there... Hopefully.... sometime before 2030  : )

I personally cannot play the crap out of STO to the point where I'm sucking the marrow from it. I've just not got the hours available to me (especially after writing these windy posts : ).

I think it really boils down to, is it fun. If you enjoyed playing, before, I'd definitely recommend coming back and checking out today's STO. Some people really don't like where it has boldly gone. I personally am perfectly fine with it and want more gametime and a new machine to play on.

If you return and find that you're having fun but quickly manage to blow through the new content, and, get yourself current with your ship(s), and, bored with the game - then, #1, you're a badass, and, I would suggest using STO as a backup game  : ) hehe





Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on December 06, 2018, 01:20:52 AM
Here's some keybind pr0n for j00.. I was updating a list and thought I'd share. (there is an Edit at the very bottom that gives an overview of what's going on here)

The following binds basically hotkey 3 trays for you (1, 2, and 3) while leaving a few slots free for manual clicking.

/bind is a command at the beginning of your keybind to attach a keyboard key to your keybind
GenSendMessage HUD_Root FirePhasers is like hitting the Spacebar - it fires alllllllll weapons - energy and torpedo.
+trayExecBytray 0 5 tells TRAY 1 to execute SLOT 6 (you have to subtract 1 from the actual tray and slot number - it's Cryptic..)
+Power_Exec Distribute_Shields distributes your shields..

+ precedes most (?) bind commands.
$$ tells the keybind there is another command to execute when it gets done with the one it's on
"" surrounds the commands following your keybind bind key command (/bind KeyboardKey)

For Example...

/bind 1 "GenSendMessage HUD_Root FirePhasers $$ +trayExecBytray 0 5 $$ +trayExecBytray 0 6 $$ +trayexecbytray 0 7 $$ +trayExecBytray 0 8 $$ +trayExecBytray 0 9 $$ +Power_Exec Distribute_Shields"

/bind a "GenSendMessage HUD_Root FirePhasers $$ +trayExecBytray 0 0 $$ +trayExecBytray 0 1 $$ +trayexecbytray 0 2 $$ +trayExecBytray 0 3"

/bind 2 "+trayExecBytray 1 4 $$ +trayexecbytray 1 5 $$ +trayExecBytray 1 6 $$ +trayExecBytray 1 7 $$ +trayexecbytray 1 8 $$ +trayExecBytray 1 9"

/bind b "GenSendMessage HUD_Root FirePhasers $$ +trayExecBytray 1 0 $$ +trayExecBytray 1 1 $$ +trayexecbytray 1 2 $$ +trayExecBytray 1 3"

/bind 3 "+trayExecBytray 2 3 $$ +trayExecBytray 2 4 $$  +trayexecbytray 2 5 $$ +trayExecBytray 2 6 $$ +trayExecBytray 2 7 $$ +trayexecbytray 2 8 $$ +trayExecBytray 2 9"


You can modify this a lot to do whatever you want - here is how I use it:
I basically group all my BOff powers logically. For example, I'll group all my heals in one bind. All my damage enhancers in another bind. In this particular example, above, the a and b keybinds are my Exotic Damage powers - one is for single target, one is for AOE. Often I open with Exotic damage instead of heals/damage enhancers - so, with these binds, my weapons also activate..

On other toons I have heals in those slots and I do NOT activate weapons or do anything else due to I want my keybinds to trigger shield or hull heals ASAP with nothing else in the Keybind to slow things down. FirePhasers and Distribute_shields *will* slow down the activation of your tray commands and they will slow you down from hitting your *next* keybind - just something to keep in mind, and, why you don't want to sprinkle those commands into eeeeeeevery keybind you make.

You can do a lot of Cut and Pasting, of the above, and a little letter changing when it comes to what key you want to assign your Keybinds to, and, really make your STO life more streamlined and fun when it comes to managing your clickies/your various powers/whatever it is you can/want to put in your trays and assign hotkeys to.

Anyway, Keybinds have reeeeeeally added to my enjoyment of STO and so I thought I'd share some of mine  : ) I hope it helps someone else have more fun, too! And yes, you can make a Bind File and do things that way but I never took the time to learn it, so, I can't teach it.


~~~

Thought I'd add.. I've gotten to where I usually assign the following to the above keybind examples..

Key 1 (/bind 1) Nothing - I hit this when I want my weapons to autofire, primarily. Or distribute my shields, which, I generally don't do much anymore. 99.9% of the time I have nothing else hotkeyed here, and..., I only tap it once when I first acquire a new target so that weapons are set to autofire on it.

Key a Nothing, or, shield heals, or all heals, or...something that I want a hotkey for but won't use except under special circumstances due to it is on a long recharge or is special in some way (such as Oh Crap buttons like Reverse Shield Polarity or Special Create Devastation buttons (this works especially well for ones that need a Target to activate))

Key b Nothing, or, hull heals, or all heals, or... something that I want a hotkey for but won't use except under special circumstances due to it is on a long recharge or is special in some way (such as Oh Crap buttons or Special Create Devastation buttons).

Key 2 These days I am redoing most toons' hotkeys so that this button has all heals (both hull and shield) that are not on a huge recharge. I spam this button.

Key 3 These days I am redoing most toons' hotkeys so that this button has all damage enhancers that are not on a long recharge - such as Rapid Fire and High Yield and Attack Patterns. I spam this button, too.


~~~

Just something to simplify things when you read this the first time...

What I'm basically doing, above, is making 4 hotkeys out of 2 groups of slots in trays 1 and 2, and, making a single, large as possible, hotkey, out of the last part (slots 10, 9, 8...) of Tray 3. This way, I can hotkey the majority of the first 3 trays, and, leave some familiar slots un-hotkeyed for easy finding and manual clicking.

I do this for all of my toons so that I have the first 3 trays hotkeyed and then I populate the slots based on how I want to play the particular toon. This way they all are unique but feel familiar. And... I have almost everything in the first 3 trays hotkeyed to my mouse..

I always display these first 3 trays in my hud vertically in a prominent, yet, out of the way place (hugging the right bottom of the screen).

These hotkeys are always bound to my mouse. You can bind tray commands to your keyboard or mouse or both. I reserve the first 3 trays for my mouse, and, for manual-click clickies that I want to have prominently in my face and in familiar slots.

Above...

Keys 1 and a, are, Tray 1 - with at least 1 slot left unhotkeyed so that I can reserve it for something I may want to manually click on.
Keys 2 and b, are, Tray 2 - with at least 1 slot left unhotkeyed so that I can reserve it for something I may want to manually click on.
Key 3, is, Tray 3 - I always reserve the first part (slots 1, 2, 3..) of Tray 3 for manual clicking of 'critical' things that are special for some reason and that I want to be able to find and click on fast, and, that won't be hotkeyed. I normally hotkey as many of the higher numbered slots as I can (10, 9, 8, ...) in this tray for things that I want to spam-click right before an attack or to boost an attack. (Think:BuildUp)


Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on December 07, 2018, 05:23:29 PM
I don't have any new STO spam yet today but I wanted to update the above, soooo, this... would be a Bump  : )

In the bottom of my previous post you can find an overview of what I'm doing and why for purposes of simplification and further temptation.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on December 13, 2018, 08:48:18 PM
Here's some more handy keybinds that I finally made..

How many times have you gotten in a team and fumbled to change to the Team channel from the list of available chat channels as part of your opening for the action to come, or, never thought to change to the channel at all until someone started talking to you or the team?

/bind X "/channel_setcurrent Team"

And now you're set, with the press of a button. In this example - "X"

Another example on the same theme:

/bind X "/channel_setcurrent Fleet"

"X" would be whatever key(s) you want to press. "Fleet" is the chat channel you want to change to when you hit "X".

Here's something else I can 1-click, now. It comes in handy when I'm just logging in and running my first Random and I get an ISA... which happens, about Daily.. Sooo I'm sharing..

/bind X "/combatlog 1"

"X" would be whatever key(s) you want to use for your hotkey, and the command in parenthesis turns on your combat log for parsing purposes. If this doesn't make sense and you don't have a parser then you won't need this hotkey  : D

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on December 14, 2018, 10:32:08 PM
Throttle Control...

OK, so, I know you can google keybinds to your heart's content, but, here's another one that might be useful to someone.

What I was originally trying to do, was, make a keybind that hotkeyed Half Impulse.. I'm always throttling up or down to Half Impulse due to it has a really good turn rate and usually is good for close range fighting when I'm not chasing at full throttle, or, at a full stop and unloading on the enemy.

Full Impulse is another gear that's essential to find for when I want to chase or not be chased.

Full stop is a good gear for sitting and firing away at close targets that aren't moving out of range..

I can find all of these gears with the not-so-advertised command that cannot be found in the Keybinds section of the UI: Throttleadjust.

/bind x "throttleadjust .5" Gives me Half Impulse. Heaven. If I hit it again, I get Full Impulse - also useful.

/bind y "throttleadjust -.5" Takes me down a Half Impulse step at a time instead of up.

You are not limited to .5 or -.5. If you used .25 then you would go up or down 1/4 impulse at a time (which you can already do via the HUD). You can set it to 1, or, anything below 1, I think.

Hope someone finds this useful! I've played around with it in a few queues so far and think I'll be finding a way to integrate it into my standard hotkeys. My 2 favorite things:
1. I can easily find half impulse now
2. I never hit Full-Full impulse (when the UP arrow is flashing on the throttle display - whatever that is called... when you go Turbo Impulse) by accident anymore.

The Full Impulse hotkey in the UI is for when I want to take advantage of that flashing arrow with 1 button..

ctrl+mousescroll, in the ui, is for fine-tune (1/4 impulse at a time) throttle settings that can be scrolled up or down with the mousewheel.


Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on December 15, 2018, 07:04:12 PM
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on December 18, 2018, 03:41:59 PM
Here's to hoping they re-compile the client today and that magically fixes the unusual amount of crashes I've had lately *clink*
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on December 24, 2018, 03:34:35 AM
Just checking to see if anyone else is crashing more than normal..?

My small Friends list is lighting up like a pinball macheen with re-logins, and, I get crashes just sitting at the character select screen..
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on January 01, 2019, 08:22:42 PM
First of all.. Flash Sale.. 30% off of... Everything.

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/11052973
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And now...

The First Event T6 of the Year...

I submit to you...

The Neon Catfish:

(https://app.box.com/shared/static/s33w0j6q7cpzm0gk4ebwd4ikeeg5ho2b.jpg)


(https://app.box.com/shared/static/1np77v4ndlygurz39cbaw7gcn45kf5r6.jpg)


(https://app.box.com/shared/static/6sioh51o0n5pjemnqztc3vdzed4nxnr5.jpg)


(https://app.box.com/shared/static/a0e59jdl3ho15if38f85g2kcpmiaxeiq.jpg)


(https://app.box.com/shared/static/f2q6juuz1wkzi4noe0all4to1tag7a9k.jpg)

I actually really like this ship.. Almost as much as my main ship, even. I never flew a Warship so they must be Klingon. Warships + Rom Tacs = Yum Fun. I like that my exhaust has no possible way of passing California Emissions, I like the speed, I like the Warship SPECS.. and it's not a bad looking ship. My parses and fun level are on par with my main ship (Escort), at this point.

I never could find a Cruiser I really liked.. Maybe it's because it's called Warship.. I haven't flown anything else since I got it, a few days ago.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on January 03, 2019, 08:09:16 PM
While the Winter Event is still with us....

It's not just the ships that are good about these events. It took me several Winter events to finally figure this out, so, it seems like it's worthwhile to pass on.

I never bothered to scroll down the Event Store menu, apparently, until this Winter Event. If you do, you might just find a Training manual or two that you can't find anywhere else. I found one (the only Space manual) that is useful to me that I always wondered where it came from..

You can earn components to buy Winter Event stuff with in Q's Winter Wonderland by participating in stuff, or, buy them on the Exchange for very reasonable prices. It also pays to run DOff mishes when you run the ice race for the ship, or whenever - I got a lot of components that way, too.

It's nothing super uber, but, I did go from a wasted slot on one toon to having a useful damage/debuff ability and it didn't cost me a thing.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on January 15, 2019, 10:25:08 PM
In the Event Ship, with a completely different toon, I broke my highest parse by ~ 500dps.

I thought that was pretty good, considering..

Ever since the last patch, I seem to be able to play as good or better than ever. YAY. The crashes were pretty bad, before.

In celebration, I hereby declare the beginning of STO Screenie Week. I shall be sprinkling some of my dazzling and amazing screenies on you, daily. Oh joy, oh bliss.  : )



This, would just be a generally, nice, screenie of Luckshot in his Pilot Escort...
(https://app.box.com/shared/static/5kaohnmxmoi70sdylulczou3ae71gj6m.jpg)

This, would be Luckshot, in Action, in Counterpoint (advanced). One of my favorite queues. He's using AP DBB's in this shot. He's got 3 gold weapon sets.
(https://app.box.com/shared/static/n7qnpyfnegs2tzrzoe0a6k6vjdhvj7n2.jpg)

And finally... *shrug* I just liked this one.
(https://app.box.com/shared/static/06p27o70ckxw80b1lmbag6cnpr6mlkqb.jpg)
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on January 16, 2019, 07:02:03 PM
Today's installment...

Luverly pic from Battle of the Binary Stars. If only it had been named Battle of *our* Binary Stars then it would have been even more fun to call together teams for:

(https://app.box.com/shared/static/ffobbtm55wxhou5ogwgq3xeb7xvnwpgl.jpg)

I pulled over at this Vista Spot and took a pic while travelling in an Andorian Pilot Escort to points unknown.

(https://app.box.com/shared/static/auygfd19xhhhi41d3ssziyd516bwoeu4.jpg)


I found this nice pic of when I used to fly Warbirds with my eng/torps guy. That stopped when I found out that I really didn't like Warbirds, which, I thought were so OP when I first flew them that my toon named T'hee made me giggle at his OPness (that doesn't sound right..) and I was so glad that I named him T'hee. As stated earlier, T'hee is an Eng/Torps toon... so, yeah, the laugh ended up being doubly on him in the end. I'll get him some beams or cannons and a proper ship, someday.. He's my only KDF and has more than average Spec points. Well, and, he's Rom - so, he's a keeper.

(https://app.box.com/shared/static/hdzn5ugcvyhdj8d82zh6gx1gjzddlhkw.jpg)
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on January 17, 2019, 07:35:54 PM
More goodies. The game is fairly gorgeous and a picture's worth way more than a thousand of my posts so it only seems right.

This is an oldie (lighting 1.0), that, I think came from the Iconian series of mishes..
(https://app.box.com/shared/static/6ezlcz8y72ale2zjuqjdmz69yv3dqk4q.jpg)

This is from one of those Chekov TFO's that I suddenly can't remember the name of.. Days of DoooOOooommm! ?
(https://app.box.com/shared/static/37pk16andt459te5e7de301d9xusafyr.jpg)

Have you been Assimilated, lately?
(https://app.box.com/shared/static/oxz4jx0kl14d0cqsgf8tsvgvaod0g8nw.jpg)
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on January 17, 2019, 09:46:26 PM
Juuuuuuuust in case someone out there isn't playing right now but wouldn't mind scooping up some free Anniversary stuff..

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/11070723-anniversary-giveaways-jem%27hadar-tactical-uniform%21 (https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/11070723-anniversary-giveaways-jem%27hadar-tactical-uniform%21)
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on January 18, 2019, 04:02:09 PM
Saved up the action shots for the weekend...

Don't have many, yet. I really need to move the screenshot button to a handier place..

These are all of the Neon Catfish in action. This is the Winter Event ship. It's got gold Iconian and Temporal beams and a gold KCB. Gold crafted beam arrays fill out the rest of the weapons slots - all are CrtD heavy w/Pen (but some still have AC that I don't really need..). All beams, no torps or mines. Gold Colony deflector, gold War Games engine..., and a gold Rom shield w/tier 6 vanity thingy. I forget what the warp core is atm.. It's gold or ultra rare. Could be Colony or Iconian. This is one of my more patched together builds, but... it's also my highest parsing so far so I've stuck with it and continue to tweak Traits and active Space DOff abilities. The pilot is a Tac/Rom and is definitely a keeper. He's co-main with my Sci/Rom/Escort captain.

Anyway, here's a few passable action pics I scraped up..

(That's not my grav well)
(https://app.box.com/shared/static/n2pkp96hj2267x16gtrctg8invadp0ol.jpg)

I see 4 ppl all using different weapons and possibly even weapon types for 3 ppl. Even the pets (purple polaron(?)) appear to be using different beam damage.
(https://app.box.com/shared/static/qakka6aljf0afty012zu9h4plcro5zpp.jpg)

Mega Rom Shields UP! Lets make things explode... *explodes* Actually, this is one of my tankier toons even though he's built for dps. He's still working on Spec points but otherwise is about as good as I can build him, for now. And his favorite ship atm is an Event ship.. go figure.
(https://app.box.com/shared/static/s2uai93pe6derm9oib4zxzeodecdryc4.jpg)
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on January 19, 2019, 10:58:05 PM
The Neon Catfish out for a swim:
(https://app.box.com/shared/static/gemgyx218h5hy4zartjtc5bu1n17lkim.jpg)

Bonsai!
(https://app.box.com/shared/static/eat1jp7l7cah5wgnect7c2wphc2fem3j.jpg)

Back to the action~~
(https://app.box.com/shared/static/ouuwxnk3mv2unxqg3zd5yavjpy51kf0k.jpg)
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on January 20, 2019, 12:49:47 AM
This definitely seemed worth mentioning..:
https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/11070723

(2 Z-Store Fed, 1 KDF, T5s, for free, until Monday Morning)

The carrier looks kinda cool. I dunno how good of Admiralty ships they are. Haven't checked out the KDF ship, yet, but, will be, in a few clicks.

~~~

These are T5U's btw!

I think you can use Event T6's at the same level as Z-Store T5's... Soooo.. I probably will never actually use my ships. I did scoop them all up for the Admiralty cards and because.. I could.

I'd sure have luved to be starting STO this week with that selection of ships to look forward to. I must have played for at least 6 months before I moved up from a freebie T5 to a Z-store T6.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on January 20, 2019, 10:45:00 PM
I ran low on decent screenies sooner than I thought I would!

Did manage to scrape up this oldie but goodie from newbieland to help end things on the Ground..:
(https://app.box.com/shared/static/jhoeembnosjxfw7znoyvqdczdi8vtja1.jpg)

A small flavor of how the bigger boys do it..
(https://app.box.com/shared/static/9rozl7t2gcx9uumuybe0fru7w75ibqjv.jpg)

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on January 21, 2019, 05:42:30 PM
The stats for the 9th Anniversary T6 are out..

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/11073613
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on January 22, 2019, 05:22:45 PM
Adding a Random button and rewards to the queue system was a great idea. People were already randoming but this took things to the next level. I've probably seen all of the queues by now. I'd hope so. I've hit the button hundreds of times I'm pretty sure (judging by the amount of rewards still unopened). I have gold ... Ground.. gear now.. *shakes head* and actually enjoy doing Ground. Most times. I get stuck in this Borq queue sometimes, that, when no one knows how it works - it excruciatingly goes on forever. Otherwise, they're generally a fun change of pace from the Space queues (STFs...TFOs...the team fights that you have to join a queue for..) that are my preference.

Anyway, yeah. I have experienced way more of the game thanks to the Random button. Otherwise, I'd not have any new Ground Screenies for j00..:

Taking aim in a creepy room...:
(https://app.box.com/shared/static/4jnmc2jn7hyie2jmo9ev5tf57307uss6.jpg)

This one is me, masterfully positioning myself in a flanking position opposite the team:
(https://app.box.com/shared/static/bqbacfoquzucaby792vc8ezy47wevu97.jpg)


~~~~~~~~~~
Btw...

"Khitomer in Stasis".... This, is the nightmare Borg Ground queue.. It's featured in the 'creepy room' above.. That thing is a nightmare if you don't know how it works! It has no time limit so it can just keep going on....forever.

What seems to happen, often, in this queue, is it gets filled with Randoms who have no idea how it works. There's no glowies.. No circle with a flashing arrow.... Nothing on the map.. You have to know what to do or you will be stuck in this thing....forever. It's not really forever, of course, it just FEELS like it.. lol.. oi.

I finally had someone walk me through this thing.. Thanks much.. I think I could maybe do it again but I dunno. It's a huge, unmarked, map full of .. Borg.. and usually with a team full of people that have no idea how to get to the end.

There may be another Borg queue that's hard to get through. I was thinking there was more than one. Khitomer in Stasis, is definitely the one I had in mind, above..
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on January 22, 2019, 08:10:10 PM
They're updating the graphics engine again. It's only happened twice since I started playing and the first update was fairly major and good, so, it seems worth mentioning. I thought lighting 2.0 was a pretty decent update, anyway. I'm gonna call this one... Hair 2.0

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/11073633

One of the very first things I ever posted about STO, was, how plastic the hair looked and how shocked I was that they couldn't do better than that in a Trek game.

Well..

Apparently I just have a crappy video card.. I know of which plastic hair they are speaking of, above..

Anyway, cool cool. There ya go.

The game has been running more solid than ever for me, lately. Recently it was running so badly that I thought the end was near for running that game on this machine. I dunno what to give the credit to. There were Windows/game client/launcher updates and my ancient but very well built (!) wireless Logitech keyboard got some cleaning luv, which, resolved a problem that may have been causing other problems due to the keyboard doing who knows what in the background due to it was so stuffed full of ... things and had to be cleaned in order to be usable again. Whatever did it, so far, the game's been running more solid and betterer than ever.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on January 24, 2019, 08:43:35 PM
The new Personal endeavor system is good. Its got power creep written all over it, but, I still like it.

One thing I like about the system is that it feels like Veteran Awards. People just starting the game won't start with these awards.

Another thing I like about the system is that it's like the Random button for the queues .... expanded into the entire game. It does for the game what Randoms do for the queues - it gives you compelling reason(s) to ...... play more of the game.

I think a lot of people are just like me or are a close enough variation - they log in and want to do stuff but maybe have no plan beyond wanting action and rewards. What the Random button and Endeavors do is direct that urge into all points of the game.

There is a metric F-ton of content, of many kinds, in STO. One of the saddest things to see in a huge game is old content going to waste due to it's no longer relevant. I mean, anything that gives you an excuse to re-experience something like... Battlezones, that are huuuuge and sometimes totally weird and farout seems like a great example of recycling. Endeavors and the Random button give TFOs more life. I was in a Borg Disconnected earlier and instead of the normal 'how much stuff can I de-pixilate the fastest' mindset - I had the 'where are the Voth Ships' mindset.. which, made the TFO feel very different than the last few hundred runs. I got into that Borg Disconnected faster than ever due to the Random system fills teams much faster. Other players help you get what you want and they get a reward for joining a Random - its been a semi-brilliant idea and implementation.

It's good to keep people experiencing the game in fresh ways and to have reasons to explore parts of it that are new to them rather than just have them waiting to be impressed by the next update. The Random button and Personal Endeavors are somewhat genius ways to do so. I think! They're working for me, anyway. I've experienced a very significant amount of content that is new to me because of them. I think these ideas are kinda bold and very smart.

I read math in chat that said to max the entire new Personal endeavor system would mean contributing to it, daily, for 2.5 years.. Still, I already have +0.5% crit chance and 4% hull regen and we're only on day 2.. *ebil laugh* It's no secret that I'm all for twinking newbs - this is also a very juicy newb twink. The Personal endeavor rewards are accountwide and I don't *think* they are level restricted. They're very respectable Veteran Awards that you have to put a minimum amount of effort into to obtain. I mean, you have to be playing. That should be enough effort to stumble across at least a few rewards.

The game also is looking and running better than ever for me with the past two updates. Definitely seems worth mentioning when we're talking about Development.

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on January 26, 2019, 05:23:33 PM
I just posted all those screenies and now after reading that 'plastic hair' comment in the link, above, I wonder how crummy they are compared to how they could be with a better video card..

Also, I recently noticed my graphics settings weren't cranked all the way up like I thought they were... Who knew the ship I'm flying, now, had flames shooting out the side. Well, and they just did a graphics update for people with video cards that Were good.

OOPS!

Well, here's a new screenie from my same old crummy video card. *I* think it looks nice. I'll see if I can come up with some better ones.

The Andorian Twins are my Security Team posing for a picture, btw.. (More Ground Borg..):
(https://app.box.com/shared/static/75yiutaicitl399o0mdjrcnr3a0wtyvn.jpg)
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on January 30, 2019, 08:15:29 AM
I logged on to play sto after the latest update hit. And well to say I hate it would be an understatement. They got rid of several pivotal episodes, the moved the Klingon front forward. Such as seeing the lengths B'Vat  would go, to make sure the Federation and Klingons remained at war. To the interlude of doing the Specter episodes (which cannot be done until level 11.) And they moved other featured episodes off of the various compaions. All of which helped players get to level 30 and fight the Romulans.


Now I am stuck at lieutenant 9 (mind you this is with the 600 day vet reward.) With nowhere to go. They placed a group activity finding right after the Doomsday mission. And fighting in the group finder (better hope for very high levels to help) I was constantly stomped on by the Romulans.


I get they are going to improve the missions they have taken out, however, they gave no forethought on how this would affect mission flow and leveling. Note this isn't me being angry, I like sto far more then I do co. It is that they should have kept some of the missions in, and worked on the rest.


So until they read the missing missions, I am not going to play. Which is sad, since I have an itch to play sto. :(
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on January 30, 2019, 05:14:17 PM
I've always had problems with the mishes in one way or another. Recently they made it where I could play nearly(?) every high level mish - like from Delta, up - even on my toons who never ran a single mish past level 10. Now, I don't have access to all the mishes anymore, and, Rom Minefield has a cooldown. Rom Minefield is what *I* used to level from 10 - 50 with.

I like to level... I mean.. I have probably at least 10 level 65's from my totally lost/didn't know what to play period.. but, 99.99% of my time is in endgame.

As for endgame content... Things have taken a *huge* leap. All my TFOs pop way faster than ever. They won't Always pop super fast but it's a major improvement. I have GOLD Ground gear (one of the Seven Signs). Endeavors are always there to give something to do when there's nothing in mind. Rep gear got updated - the Rep system got a major overhaul and we *finally* got a 'Fill All' button for Rep contributions.. Random queue's pop in milliseconds for me, usually, and give me something to do when I just want action at the push of a button - and they give me extra loot at the end for running a Random - and, I am probably helping to fill someone else's queue that otherwise likely wouldn't have popped nearly as fast. There's also the cap increase and new Captain powers at 65 that is still fairly fresh.

Mishes have been in transition.. They've changed how they work at least twice in the past few updates or so. Sounds like they aren't working for you! Sucks. It hasn't really affected me, at all - other than that period where *all* my toons could get into every high level mish they wanted to (they're all 65). I haven't tried to level a toon for awhile. I dunno what I'll do now that Rom Minefield has a cooldown. Too bad newbs can't run Patrols.. I prefer to pew-pew my way through as much of the level grind as possible.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on February 01, 2019, 10:48:43 PM
Juuuuust for the record and due to I wanna brag a little - I do indeed have exactly 10 level 65s. I just guessed, earlier.

My main is a Delta Recruit/Tac/Rom/Warship(!) - Escort build(s). My second main is Sci/Rom/Escort and is searching for a new ship. Something way meatier than his Andorian Pilot Escort but still with a lot of weapon slots up front for Torps, and, with lots of Tac. My main is in search of a new ship, too. I mean.. I really like it but can only rock the Event Warship.. so far. It seems like I should probably find him something specialer/uniquerer, eventually.

I've got 2 more character slots filled with... 2 level 2 Rom/Tacs ... for some reason. I think that is when I found out who my mains were, finally, and stopped leveling newbs for awhile, finally.

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on February 03, 2019, 02:49:19 AM
This was laying around and looked nice and so here we go!
(https://app.box.com/shared/static/uos0coqge87rgolfx0wjwl1ybn05rrko.jpg)
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on February 05, 2019, 01:05:29 PM
They got rid of several pivotal episodes, the moved the Klingon front forward. Such as seeing the lengths B'Vat  would go, to make sure the Federation and Klingons remained at war. To the interlude of doing the Specter episodes (which cannot be done until level 11.) And they moved other featured episodes off of the various compaions. All of which helped players get to level 30 and fight the Romulans.

This may not help you, buuuuut. It dawns on me that most every time I read stuff like this in chat it's followed by someone saying "This is how you get there, now.."

They've done a lot of mish shuffling but I've yet to hear anyone in Zone comment that a mish was gone, completely, and have no one in Zone tell them how to get to it... now. I found a solution to my Rom Minefield problem, too - Battle at the Binary Stars.. Level 10 entry, no cooldown..

While I'm here.. you can get 400 points (it's early and my brain sucks for boring details - whatever they're (points) called..) this year by doing mishes for the Event Ship, instead of 200 - so, 5 less days to get a ship. The ship is new? A Scout ship? I don't remember seeing them before that new Fleet/C-store one showed up. I'm not very interested in it at this point due to my interests are elsewhere atm, shipwise, but I'm scooping it up anyway and it does look kinda cool. I still prefer that last Event (War)ship over my store-bought T6s...! I looked it up when I went shopping for an upgrade for it, and, it has the best turn/inertia rate of all Warships - even lockbox. It has less HPs (up to ~10k difference from the fattest Warship) is its biggest drawback, but, really, I rarely explode in it.

Anyway... don't give up on finding your mishes. Maybe post in Zone or here what you're looking for and someone can help.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on February 06, 2019, 04:41:20 PM
Quote
I'm trying to play STO and I keep getting "Unable to authenticate: Connection to the account server timed out" on the sign-in pop-up.

Quote
Same here, I put a tracert but it seems that there is no problem from the network:

 Tracing route to patchserver.crypticstudios.com [208.95.184.200]
 over a maximum of 30 hops:

 1 6 ms 6 ms 3 ms 192.168.0.1
 2 15 ms 13 ms 10 ms 80-218-166-1.dclient.hispeed.ch [80.218.166.1]
 3 18 ms 16 ms 13 ms 217-168-61-177.static.cablecom.ch [217.168.61.177]
 4 22 ms 26 ms 27 ms ch-zrh03a-rc1-ae55-0.aorta.net [84.116.200.249]
 5 17 ms 17 ms 22 ms ch-zrh01b-ra1-ae1-0.aorta.net [84.116.134.142]
 6 23 ms 23 ms 19 ms be3011.ccr51.zrh02.atlas.cogentco.com [130.117.14.229]
 7 22 ms 22 ms 22 ms be3072.ccr21.muc03.atlas.cogentco.com [130.117.0.18]
 8 30 ms 30 ms 35 ms be2959.ccr41.fra03.atlas.cogentco.com [154.54.36.53]
 9 37 ms 35 ms 35 ms be2813.ccr41.ams03.atlas.cogentco.com [130.117.0.121]
 10 40 ms 46 ms 42 ms be12194.ccr41.lon13.atlas.cogentco.com [154.54.56.93]
 11 123 ms 130 ms 125 ms be2982.ccr31.bos01.atlas.cogentco.com [154.54.1.117]
 12 131 ms 128 ms 130 ms te0-3-1-5.rcr51.b002133-1.bos01.atlas.cogentco.com [66.28.4.42]
 13 100 ms 101 ms 102 ms 38.140.157.34
 14 124 ms 109 ms 110 ms 198.49.243.237
 15 105 ms 102 ms 114 ms patchserver.crypticstudios.com [208.95.184.200]


Quote
darkbladejk  Member Posts: 1,407 Community Moderator 

3:50PM 



Can you guys post your ISP as well as what country or state you're from? Also want to know if you guys are going in through steam, through arc, or just pulling up the stand alone launcher and going in that way.

 These bits of info will help tell us if perhaps it's a regional problem, certain ISP(s), or if something else is up.


(Launcher)
Quote
We will be performing emergency maintenance on 02/06/19 from 8:40-11:40 AM Pacific (16:40-19:40 UTC

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on February 06, 2019, 07:04:57 PM
Because I know this is where you get your STO news, First!:

Quote
ambassadorkael#6946 ambassadorkael

  Member, Administrator Posts: 1,737 Administrator 
7:00PM 



Maintenance is now complete. Thanks for your patience and we'll see you in game!

*shrug*

It was just kinda weird.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on February 08, 2019, 06:04:39 PM
I'm indifferent to the new Discovery bundle they're offering, but, I want to use it as an example..

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/11084823

See how they say some things are 'once per account'? Can be, what they should have said, is, "Bound to the Character claiming the bundle'.

The reason this is worth bringing up, is, if you are like me and assume that the 'once per account' things will be bound to ACCOUNT instead of Character... you could be in for an unpleasant surprise of varying level - the level depending on how bad you wanted the item on another character and/or how useless it was on the Claiming Character.

So, buyer beware, on bundles. Make sure that the toon claiming bundles in STO is the toon that you want to give any 'once per account' items that might be present in the bundle. Support worked with me to correct the issue when it came up with me on the previous Discovery bundle, but, it's better to just not have it come up is my thinking, so, I pass this info to j00 about bundles in STO (not necessarily this one, that, is for example purposes only).
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Felderburg on February 11, 2019, 09:53:35 PM
So I'm going to be playing Star Trek Adventures with a group, and it (and a Star Trek play by email group) rekindled a desire to play... but my first question is: how do I modify the graphics settings for an old (ish) computer to make it playable? Everything is already set as low as can be or off, but using /renderscale .5 (or lower than 1) seems to be the only way to make the game actually work.

Windows 10 HP laptop, from 20...14? 16?
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on February 13, 2019, 05:31:06 PM
how do I modify the graphics settings for an old (ish) computer to make it playable?

I built this thing in...2006? or was it 2005.. I updated the bios at least once after building it otherwise I could just go by that date. Since then I did get a new video card ~ 6? years ago.

Anyway, I run everything on Max. Sometimes I'll turn the effects down if I don't wanna be blinded (you know how it is - Max effects are best when you don't have tons of max effects powers going on around you - whereas max effects with minimum flashiness newb powers is where you want to be). OK maybe that's just me.

That's meant to be encouragement. I mean, it seems like you should be able to at least run the game on lower settings, unless...., the laptop video card is just that...ungamey. Can be you have a 2d focused/business/surfing oriented video card in that laptop - if that's the case it's going to really slow things down. You have to have X gigs of memory, too. I dunno what X is. I only have 4 (that was good for 2005/6!).

I dunno why I made you read all that when all I should really say, is, try this: Drop your graphics setting slider in-game all the way down. If that doesn't work then most likely you won't be able to play.

Something else you can try is to go into Advanced settings and see what looks worthwhile to set down/change, there. Keep your main graphics quality slider all the way down and try things in the Advanced settings. I can't remember the exact options available but there is at least one or two options to let the GPU or CPU do most of the work - try those. You can set your framerate down, there, too - I don't think it will help in your particular situation, but, it wouldn't hurt to set it as low as possible (30fps should be playable), and, you can always bump it back up later.

Simply dumping the slider all the way to Low should do the trick, but, maybe the GPU/CPU swapping option(s) and whatever else looking interesting in the Advanced Settings help, too.

If you can play the game after dumping the slider all the way to low (and maybe tweaking an advanced setting or two) - turn one thing back up/on at a time - check out how the game plays - turn up/on another video option - and keep on doing that until you hit the option that makes your system gag.


Unless you have a low amount of system memory (under 4 gig) or a primarily 2d focused video card with little video memory and/or 3d capability - things which arrrrre *not* rare in laptops - then you should be able to run this game I'd think. Hope so! There's sure plenty to do, lately..
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on February 15, 2019, 05:25:39 PM
This anniversary is going to be hard to beat.. 4 new T6's, all of which I am glad I have, and at least (I've not given ship 4 a workout, yet..) 1 new Main ship after having a Pilot Escort as my main ship, since.... my first T6.

I might actually remember this anniversary! : )
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on February 17, 2019, 02:02:04 AM
Well hummm.. My first T6 was a Pilot Escort.. I got the Andorian Pilot Escort bundle when it came out.. And then I found Destroyers/Warships and thought my Pilot Escort days might finally be coming to a close... and then the Magee comes out. I haven't been paying much attention to what the new ships are and stumbled across it in the Fleet T6 selection.. It's like everything I wanted in a Pilot Escort......except maybe 1.4 shield and hull.. which would never happen.

About everything else *did* happen with the new Magee Pilot Escort/Raider.. Its got a 21 turn rate, Pilot Maneuvers, and Raider Bonuses/Raider Universal seats.. It's not any more papery than any other Pilot Escort - if anything, it's beefier. We're talking Escorts so the Beef is lean but it wasn't so lean that I couldn't tank a Dranuur Gauntlet Advanced on my first flight out and I did at least as well as I ever do in a Procyon V when things aren't so pretty on the next flight out (how's that for luck on my first 2 Randoms..).

So anyway.. Pilot Escort was my first T6... it's still top in my roster due to this surprise find at the Fleet Starbase. It's scalable, too! Which.. could be cool for my next newb..

I haven't been as happy with a ship since my first T6 as I have been with my last 2, by far! It's just a great feeling  : D The last 3 out of 4 ships I've tried, I reaaaally liked, as far as that goes. The newest Sci Event ship was ok to try but I wasn't too in to it. The Trait it has looks (haven't tried it out yet) very good though and I've already got it slotted on my second main to try out.

My second main ship, which I can't believe I put it in the garage already to try out the Magee who now does not want to be garaged, is, the Recon Destroyer. If you liked the S'torr Event ship... Check this one out. 1.) You won't look like you're flying an Event ship. 2.) it's very, very, similar but has a lot nicer shield bonus and a lil less power to weapons and a tad less maneuverability but is still plenty maneuverable to me (14 vs. 16 I think). Very comparable in seating and consoles, too.

<3 my new ships! Had to share the joy  : ) Still have 1 left I haven't even tried. The Fleet Battlecruiser for my second main/torps/sci guy. Yes, I have a lot of free Fleet Modules from Tier 6 Rep... I never really looked at fleet ships before, I'm glad they did that (gave fleet modules away for reaching rep tier vi).

They seem to have someone new doing art in the game, too. *shrug* it looks from better - way better recently in places, to me. Captain Tilly was a big improvement I thought, for example.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on February 18, 2019, 04:40:51 AM
Screenie time!

(https://app.box.com/shared/static/vgxz3cdh09nj61lo1xka3y1q68floruy.jpg)
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on February 20, 2019, 09:17:53 PM
SOoooo in the ship buying and trying frenzy my Sci guy has ended up in.... an Eng oriented Battlecruiser? And my Tac guy ended up in (everything hehe) a Sci Scout Ship...? Wellll not Ended.. My Tac guy flies different ships depending on whim more than the Sci. But that's where they're at atm.

Kind weird. The biggest surprise was the T'pau Event ship being so good with my Tac build. 3 crummy weapons up front, 6 total? And a Green storebought secondary deflector? That little thing shreds! It's tough, too.. At first I just flew it for the Trait, and, wasn't impressed with it at all with my Sci guy, oddly enough. It's going to stay in my Tac guy's roster and I'm even gonna shop the other ones that are out.

So far I'm flying .. 4 new ships as mains. Pilot Escort-Raider, Destroyer, Battlecruiser, Sci-Scout. Used to fly a Pilot Escort ~ 99.5% of the time until now. Finally, finally. Some new ships. Finally some Broadsides! Finally some Rock Soup (Grav Well) that doesn't get me exploded on every run and has max torps up front..

It really pays to try different ships. Sometimes I just stumble into good ones (good one = good fit for me) when I'm not even looking. The S'torr and T'pau Event ships kicked things off on this ship trying spree.

~~

Oh yeah, and.. Torps in the Battlecruiser, Beam Arrays in the Destroyer, either DHCannons or DBeamBs in the Magee (Pilot Escort-Raider), and, DHCs or DBBs in the T'pau/any future sci-scout ship. All Gold. Everything's gold except 1 Warp core and a few consoles.

Different ship types, weapon types, toon types. Both toons are my highest parsers. Tac/Destroyer is currently in the lead during this ship shopping & swapping. Sci had the lead ever since Andorian Pilot ships came out. It was Tac, again, before that, and I think Sci had the crown at least one other time, way back. I had a real long exclusively Eng period where Eng must have been in the lead but I haven't been Eng'ing lately. I'm not very far from getting into dps 75k (channel).
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on March 01, 2019, 12:18:51 AM
TG... they are trying to Pull You Back In... Just when you think you can get away.. they say, hello to my 2 FREE l33t little friends..

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/11098843

I have no idea how you log in on console. I've not had a console.. since...lol.. Nintendo 64! At the time it was so uber you couldn't pass it up. 64 bits! Back in... like... 2000 BC. The Japanese (Americas only true rivals) were showing us their best tech (and at a reported Loss!). Back when Amiga was great and 386s roamed teh earth. I used to play console games back when you could only get them in the arcade, and, when they were an upgrade to Pinball. My Pong game was deluxe, too - real wood and brushed aluminum. Good Times.

No idea how things work on console now. I moved to PCs ~ 1985.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on March 01, 2019, 09:13:47 PM
It just associates itself with your existing PSN account, I think..... also, oooh, Nandi Warship.

I haven't really been ship-hunting since I got my trio of Iconian ships, but a free ship is always welcome.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on March 02, 2019, 09:24:43 PM
We got a (F something) S'torr Warship on PC. It is a really, really good ship in the right hands. So is the T'pau we just got. I'd never tried a ship like either of these. They set me off on a spree of ship trying.

What was the first question we all had when we first started playing..? How to get a T6.. Now, the answer is simple. Grab any Event ships that roll around (even if you don't like it today.. you may, tomorrow - or its Trait or Console) is the old answer and now to add on to that we can say: Get your Rep to Tier 6. Every toon that we level to t6 rep, now, gives out enough Fleet Modules for 2+ Free and very sturdy ships. I've tried 3 so far and they have all been very good ships.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on March 04, 2019, 04:26:26 PM
Well this sucks:
https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/11102923

And now, Endeavors go back to being a pain in the @ss.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on March 07, 2019, 05:56:23 PM
See, next time you see me saying nothing but good stuff about STO, which I normally do, then you'll know I mean it - due to.. I've got nothing but complaints lately.

Introducing, the newest, lagiest, part of STO:
https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/11104033

Not only did they introduce me to a significant amount of video lag, they removed all the pertinent info available when making a toon. They don't show you *any* of the Captains powers anymore - they just give you a generic description, a bunch of words strung together, that doesn't mean much of anything at all.

Does it look nice? Yeah, sure, but, umm, who cares. The character creator went from being informative, and, with the same system requirements as the majority of the game to being a fluffy lagfest.

But they have no time for the Foundry! Which I am not holding a torch for, right now... just saying.. Two strikes in a row.

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on March 09, 2019, 06:44:19 PM
I really, really, do think that removing *all* of the pertinent information available for making as informed choice as possible at the character creation screen is a bad idea. As a newb, you aren't going to fully understand what all that stuff means, but, you will have a much better idea of what your toon can do and can't do.

One reason I have so many toons is that I got them to a point and realized something about them didn't match what I was trying to do..

So, I am saying, they took the exact *opposite* approach as I would have. As far as I'm concerned they need *more* pertinent info at Character Creation. Definitely not less. They need to show Captains powers. Career Specific Traits. Racial Advantages.. And they need to show them in as easy to understand and as useful way as possible.

STO already has a large learning curve. Learning to re-roll your character was one of my first things I had to learn. It took me like.. 2 years until now to get a grasp on who can do what. (I'll admit it.. I guess I'm just that slow.) I would always find some little thing about a Race or Career and out came the dice for a re-roll...

I mean, timesinking is fine, but, re-rolling your toons because you found something out about them wayyyy down the road is just no fun.

Matter of fact I would love it if they took the exact *opposite* approach. Give me every little detail you can think of about my newb-endgame abilities based on the choices I make....at the Character Creation screen.

Too much clutter? Isn't that the reason we got for the new Character Creator design? Well... gee.. how many solutions would you like to that.

Solution 1 - make the info expandable. If people want to click on the expanded info and see what it says before making their choice, yay, if not - then the New & Improved screens pretty much look exactly like they do now except with lil circles or boxes to click on for details..

Tell people that the details are only provided for the gearheads (it's effing STO... there's plenty..) - otherwise, they can read the fluff, dress their dolly, and go right in.

To put it simply, I think the new character creator is visually nice (the old one was, too..), but, is a totally unnecessary step backwards for the game.


~~~

I probably wouldn't be nearly as critical if they wouldn't have found time, for this, at the exact same time they say they have no time, for, the Foundry.

I think I could have summed things up better to say: STO is very easy to play but it is not a simple game. I don't see the need to make things simple when it comes to creating a character. STO is not a simple game. From it, we require, Information... to make... Informed decisions.

If you just wanna play STO for the ... Space Barbie (as per the link)... well, Barbie Out at the Creation Screen and just pick what colors look pretty to you. Tac is red... Eng is yellow... Sci is blue.. The races look like....well.. check the pictures. Simple.

I don't think we need to make things easier for the people wanting no info.

Pertinent Character Creation Info.. is good. Organize it better if you don't like the way it's presented but don't remove it.. The game has not gotten any Simpler since the first Character Creator - if anything, we could use *more* info.

It kinda almost seems like an insult, even, to the people that put a lot of time into the Foundry, to tell them you have no time for them, but, hey, look, you made the character creator into something that You think is prettier..

Just bad timing I guess.

Just want to leave off on a less pointy point. It's a great game, they make bold decisions, lots of them are good. The game is never stagnant to me. My playtime now is as good or better than it's ever been - and it for sure is better than when I started, due in no small part, to those bold decisions.

STO is a game that is always getting...bigger. These last two decisions from them have made it feel smaller. Simpler, and smaller. Which ya just don't want to see if... you're me, I guess  : )

Anyway. I don't wanna be the Get Off My Lawn guy  : ) I'm gonna go pew-pew!~
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on March 10, 2019, 01:14:17 AM
So.. hey. If anyone happens to stop by before the next Upgrade Weekend (whenever that is), when, I hope to gold out some new stuff...

Any suggestions for a Photon torpedo build?

I'm already going to pick up the Rep torps and the Terran console..

Vulnerability locators...

I've already got 3 Projectile Specialist Doffs - 1x Crit severity chance (I got one 'cheap'..), and, 2x Recharge bonus chance (20% chance for 4 sec cooldown redux). and... 2 other Doffs that I can't recall atm.. I just converted him to almost all torps and got rid of his GravWell due to exploding too much and can't remember what I swapped the other 2 Doffs out for atm.

It's for a Sci Captain..

On the subject of Sci Captains - if you do Ground.. wow, how nice is Medical Vanguard as a Ground Trait? I just start using it, and, yum. It's for Sci Captains Only. https://sto.gamepedia.com/Trait:_Medical_Vanguard

I had all these HP heals but not much Shield healing.. So, yeah, this was a pretty great find  : D

Any torp ideas?
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on March 14, 2019, 04:37:41 PM
Quote
In addition, we'll be rolling out some changes to enemy difficulty with this new update. We've heard your feedback on high level battles, and after a lot of internal testing, we're going to be making our first changes to that difficulty to hopefully make those big fights a little more tenable. You'll notice enemies at levels 55 and above will be hitting a little less hard - not so much less to make it easy, though. You'll still need all of your tactics to make it through those big fights.

Quote
We also hope you noticed and like that we took all the big words out of the Character Creator

I'll leave it to you to figure out which quote was me just being silly.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on March 15, 2019, 07:21:49 PM
I've been destroying tweaking my torp build again and ran across... Photonic Officer. With it, I can potentially replace the Reciprocity trait I've been using, and, have a2b like performance, without, the sacrifice of .. A .. which I often make use of in that build.

I picked up 2 of the purple Doffs to increase PO recharge (I could go 3 but don't want to due to I really like my 3 others..) and am using Photonic Officer II, currently. The results are not so bad.

How do you use Photonic Officer? Just checking for tips from anyone that's used it since they redid it fairly recently. It seemed reeeeally... situational, before - but it seems a lot friendlier, now. Almost like a decent Sci/Aux alternative to a2b.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on March 17, 2019, 09:44:03 PM
Photonic Officer has turned out to be pretty decent in its current incarnation. I'd highly recommend checking it out if you run with high Aux and want more recharge. Photonic Officer III with 2 purple recharge redux doffs is giving me ~ max recharge. Photonic II was giving me ~ max recharge on 45 second and longer doff powers which is nice if you don't have a slot for PO III but want more recharge. I didn't try 3 doffs due to having no space but 2 doffs was a significant difference from 0.

In the process of trying out new stuff I actually dumped 2 back weapons and replaced them with .... Rep Mines, of all things. Just for fun... And it has been! Mine dispersal III and the rep console with recharge redux help. I didn't lose much deeps, somehow.. 20% maybe. The new stuff is only VR and the old stuff is Gold, too.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on March 19, 2019, 03:53:41 PM
I lead up to something, here, awhile back, and then stuff happened, and I never gave the punchline.

Anyway... what has to be the funniest thing in STO is coming again, soon.. The first time I experienced it I totally thought I'd been hacked. My PC was already doing weird things at the time and then I logged in, and...

Well, better get to the punchline.. It's nearly April 1st..

After finally figuring out I wasn't being punk'd in a bad way... I was kinda annoyed.. Then I couldn't believe I couldn't turn it off... Then I figured out how to turn it off and by then was already hooked and laughing.. so.. it's now ever-perma on.

What?

Log in on the 1st if you don't know. Make sure your sound is audible  : ) "WEEEoooooOO!"
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on March 20, 2019, 09:50:57 PM
With the Foundry going down, still, soon, last I knew..

If you're interested in Foundry mishes at all then become a Reviewer. I was just reminded that you can do a better mish search as a Reviewer. Reviewers get some kinda accolade for being reviewers due to the Foundry poofing soon, too.. I think.


Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on March 26, 2019, 01:33:18 PM
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on March 27, 2019, 02:40:09 PM
The Foundry..

Whenever the topic of the Foundry comes up eventually someone states: "It simply boils down to whoever knew how it runs is gone."

So what?

What happens when the Spaceship person is gone? The Ray Guns person? The Exchange person?

"Well, we can no longer have Spaceships, Ray Guns, or an Exchange, due to the person who knew how they run is gone"

That's WEAK!

They don't have to go over to World of Warcraft or Marvel Heroes or any other game and learn how it works - they have to learn how their own game operates.

If learning how the game they have, today, operates, is too much for them... well, learn!

The person who created the Foundry *could* have been an alien super genius with knowledge and ability far beyond that of mere humans.. but I'm thinking not.

It's lame that they won't support the Foundry. Their excuse to not support it is also lame. Someone(s) put a lot of effort into giving us the ability to make and play our own mishes and that ability has been in the game for ...more than a few years.. now.

A mish maker is not an insignificant offering. It's a very grand offering. It hasn't been a particularly popular part of the game but that's not due to its ability - it's due to its... advertising. For the average player STO gives no compelling reasons to use the Foundry. There are so many buttons to push for Farming, who has time to use the Foundry.. People are and have been using it since years, though. People wanting to complete accolades that are 'nearly impossible otherwise' (loose Zone Quote). People who are inspired to make their own mishes. People who want to play those mishes. "Whole Fleets revolve around the Foundry" (Zone Quote).

The excuse they give to not support the Foundry is WEAK. Removing the Foundry is WEAK.

Removing a powerful part of your own game just due to you can't figure out how it works is.... WEAK!

That is my response to this Ultimate Answer: "We don't know how it works anymore".

It's Weak.. weak... weak...

How in the world could they not document how their own software runs.. And once they found out they were screwed, how in the world could they not ... unscrew themselves? Was the person who programmed the Foundry that much more capable than anyone currently on the staff..? Can they not read their own code? Can they not learn how to read their own code?

There, I feel better  : )

And yes, I love the game and am having fun but this is a fairly significant bad move. Due to the Foundry is a fairly significant resource and they are just throwing it away with the only excuse "because we can't figure out how it runs".

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on April 01, 2019, 01:15:22 PM
Today would be in at least the top 5 (1?) days of the year to log in  : ) Don't forget to turn your sound on!


~~~

I'm going to start getting an Endeavor Helper going.. They're going to be around for awhile, so, may as well make them as quick and painless as possible. It would be nice if they were even.. *gasp* fun.

Anyway, I'm gonna share, here. If anyone else..... happens to have any useful Endeavor Tips (that don't involve ... The Foundry..) I'll gladly take them.

I'd take a decent link, too. I've not seen any. Nothing special anyway.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on April 02, 2019, 07:35:38 PM
Welllll this the start of an Endeavor Helper. Just for fun. As I do them or think of stuff I'll add more.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


General Info..

Nimbus is a good low level, easy, can bring a full Away-Team, Ground Zone, with Captains(?), and, Gorn, and, Arthropods. Good place for Deal X and Heal X Endeavors on the Ground. I *think* (easy) Captains pop here too - will update..

Rom Patrol mishes are where I go for dealing dmg X, usually. Why? They're always ready to pop and they're super easy so it doesn't matter if my weapons suck or not.

Still don't have/have crappy non-main weapons with which to deal damage of an X type? Farm Hourly Rep.. When you have all the 'free' purple gear you want (and some dil) then you are done.

I outfitted my Boffs with Furidan Fangs and a Zephryn Cochran Shotgun (unique/can't have more than 1) to take care of Melee Damage.. Can buy these with Phoenix Prize Packs. I just got the Holo Tommy Gun (unique) from the last First Contact Event that works very well, too.. The rest of their weapons are from Rep Hourlies.

When preparing to deal damage X - I open up the bank where all my weapons are and outfit my ship and/or Boffs.. When you have your bank open - then all the weapons in it are available to your ship & Boffs for outfitting from the weapon selection dropdown list - this way, you don't have to dig through your entire bank for what you want, and, you don't have to keep your entire inventory of weapons on you. When done, dump all that stuff back in the bank (the boffs can keep their weaps and I just dump whatever they were using before from Inventory into the bank.)

Another way to switch *Space* weapons even way more quickly, of course, is to buy.., Loadout slots and make Loadouts for every Space weapon type. There's no Ground Loudouting that I know of..

~~ If you aren't using THE FOUNDRY for your Endeavors, while you still can, You Are Missing Out. ~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Heal Shields/HPs on Ground  - See Above (I use The Foundry Nimbus).

Heal Shields/HPs in Space     - Normal Play does this for me... Load up the toon with the best heals of whatever type you need if you're in a hurry.

Harvest X nodes in Space      - I always go to the Rom Patrol in Japori (near New Romulus). There are 3 nodes near to the warp-in spot and they're always far enough away from combat that I can go in, harvest, leave, Rinse & Repeat as necessary. I dunno if it was luck, but, I found 3 nodes today in Europani, too - there is no Space Battle at all at Europani, the nodes are available before you beam down (or don't..) to the planet for a Ground Patrol..

Harvest X nodes on Ground   - This has actually been one of my hardest until now. I think I've even been re-rolling them. Ground patrols weren't doing it for me.. Ground Battlezones weren't doing it for me.. The mishes people said to try, I didn't have access to because I rarely run mishes anymore.. Then I got a tip to 'try any newb mish' so I did and now this is easy. 'Crossroads at Createris' is the Romulan newb mish that I randomly picked.

Defeat Borg in Space            - This is merely included for completeness... I mean... How many Borg TFOs do j00 need?
Defeat Borg on Ground         - See Above. I would add.... if things go horribly wrong... there's worse things than Leaver Penalties.. Remember, you just need Defeats..

Defeat Herald Ships              - I like The ... Herald Sphere TFO for this.

Defeat Targetable Torpedoes - Undine Assault Advanced TFO and I also usually get 200+ Marks at the end. I just read elsewhere that Crystalline Catastrophe is perfect for this but I haven't tried it myself yet.

Defeat Terrans in Space        - Badlands Battlezone (Alpha Quad) or Counterpoint.
Defeat Terrans on Ground     - I'm a TFO person and as Ground goes, Assault on Terrok Nor is actually decent and has lots of Terrans

Defeat Tholians in Space       - Azure Nebula Rescue is an easy TFO to do this in
Defeat Tholians on Ground    - Nukara & bring your Environmental Suit. Can't have boffs here but the mobs are easy and plentiful.

Defeat Tzenkethi on Ground - "Scylla and Charybdis" in the New Frontiers arc... Be prepared to do a bunch of little space battles, first, in this mish. They are very short but there's like 5. I only needed 10 defeats but proceeded into the ground part of this mish until I got 19.. or 20. At this point you are talking to a Tzenkethi Admiral. I beamed out.... and now have my progress saved so that when I start the mish... I'm fighting ~ 20 Tzenkethi on Ground. In the Google tip that inspired my tip.. the player went past the Admiral fight but he said he got ~ the same amount of mobs as I did (he said he got 20). *shrug* I stopped at the Admiral, this time, due to I wanted to for sure be able to beam back to the start of Ground battle next time, and, I'd already bagged double my limit. OH! You get 1 captain... in this repeatable mish.. too.

Defeat Tzenkethi in Space - Any TFO except... Gravity Kills... o...m...g. OK, honestly, all the Lukari TFOs are not easy (on Advanced, which my dial is stuck on) but I like them. Except for 1. Gravity Kills *can* be a perfectly acceptable choice, but, it usually isn't. Try it to find out what I mean firsthand.

Defeat Voth in Space            - I like Storming the Spire TFO for this. The battleground would be OK if I didn't have to hunt for them.
Defeat Voth on Ground         - Dyson Sphere Battlezone - I just run around looking for mobs until I bag my limit.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on April 12, 2019, 01:56:23 AM
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on April 12, 2019, 09:06:54 PM
OK so the Foundry is mostly gone now and I had to go hunting for Tzenkethi Ground troops. I started on planet Google...who suggested "Scylla and Charybdis" in the New Frontiers arc...

Be prepared to do a bunch of little space battles, first, in this mish. They are very short but there's like 5. I only needed 10 defeats but proceeded into the ground part of this mish until I got ~ 20. At this point you are talking to a Tzenkethi Admiral. I beamed out.... and now have my progress saved so that when I start the mish... I'm fighting Tzenkethi on the Ground.

This amazing tip has been added to the Endeavor thingy, above!

Man, I wish I woulda saved more Foundry Endeavors mishes! I have exactly...1. And it's...BORG. The most commonly fought foe in what I most commonly do in STO.. - TFOs. Ah well  : )
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on April 17, 2019, 05:07:19 PM
Star Farming Trek Online provides the latest answer to the most asked newb question, "How do I get a T6"

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/11138713

Farming isn't a bad word by nature. They are surely masters at it at STO. I've not seen the level of farming that STO provides, since.........EverQuest..

If buying is easy, the easiest way to get a T6, is, of course, to buy it.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on April 20, 2019, 12:55:23 AM
Sorry, I cannot in good faith continue playing any farther. https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/11138733-command-tier-6-ships-at-any-level%21

They just broke progression. I remember earning every single rank until I got my t6 and it felt awesome. Now it doesn't feel as special as it should. :(
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on April 20, 2019, 03:35:41 AM
Sorry, I cannot in good faith continue playing any farther. https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/11138733-command-tier-6-ships-at-any-level%21

They just broke progression. I remember earning every single rank until I got my t6 and it felt awesome. Now it doesn't feel as special as it should. :(

You beat me to the relinking! I was just about to post the same link and ask... "why buy anything but a T6, now?"

What has changed with progression? If you want to fly the same old crappy pre-T6 ships (hehe) as you could all these years until now, you still can. Old Progress Away. Someone needs to fly those old buckets! (hehe)

There was a big discussion in dps-10k about scaling ships when they first came out awhile back. I was all for them, due to, who wants to redo hotkeys every hour as you level up and outgrow the toy ships you are flying until you get a T6. I mean, really, what else are newb ships for, except, to get you a T6.. a ship you won't outgrow..

To me.

Yeah, some pre-T6 ships are cool.. That T5 they just gave us recently for their anniversary that I never fly, looks real cool. However none of them are cool enough that I wouldn't toss any of them over for a T6. Well, and, there's over 400 T6's and more every month from which to find a cool ship...

It's all in how you look at it. The re-hotkeying and repainting of ships every hour or two or three as I level up and outgrow my ships just never appealed to me at all. I'd rather fall in luv with a ship that doesn't lose its usefulness just because I leveled up and I'd rather not redo hotkeys. As far as that goes, flying the same old pre-t6 ships every time I level a noob has no appeal, either..

If you still want to progress with old pre-t6's, have a party.. no one's stopping you as far as I know, unless, I missed something.. *I* have flown my last pre-T6 : p

What I'm curious about, now, is, why buy anything *but* a T6..? I mean, unless you want to be sub-65 forever or just have some special shiplust (like flying the original Enterprise, that, I think, is not available as a T6) for a pre-T6..

I feel more sorry for the Enterprise shipluster that wants to have a T6 version of his ship than the newb who may never get the 'lets fly all the ships you'll never fly at 65' experience.. This, would be one of the reasons that scaling ships were born - so you don't have to give up the ships you luv just due to your level and wanting to fly a ship appropriately geared for your level. So much less tedious to level without having to redo hotkeys and paintjobs all the time, too - on the same old ships you flew last time... Well, and, it's nice to be able to use alllll of the ships you buy.....whenever you want!

I'm as allergic to change as anyone, but, as in this case, it isn't alllllways bad. Plus, no one is saying you can't play like you always did when it comes to ship-picking. Or.. instead of getting the thrill of getting a new ship every hour or two or three as you level - you can exchange that thrill for the thrill of the ship that you want to fly 'permanently', becoming more powerful as you level. You can improve, with the ship, both of you leveling together... with the idea, that, you flew that baby from the ground up - so, you know it better than anyone.

It's all how you look at it. I obviously think this was a good move for them and am not seeing the downside.

And now I must be a good Endeavor Slave and go do mine before it's too late for bed, again.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on April 20, 2019, 03:54:28 AM
You beat me to the relinking! I was just about to post the same link and ask... "why buy anything but a T6, now?"

What has changed with progression? If you want to fly the same old crappy pre-T6 ships (hehe) as you could all these years until now, you still can. Old Progress Away. Someone needs to fly those old buckets! (hehe)



progression has changed. The original way was, a new captain (Ensign or LT) would never be given a ship of the line. And I still stand by that. And that begs the question, why would I want all of my pre t6 ships, when I can just out of the tutorial jump in a get my t6 flight deck carrier. While I will agree, that there is nothing stopping me from leveling the "old" way. Its now why should I?

You and I have been back and forth on many occasions, and this is no different. Like I have previously said I respect your opinion and that wont change. You have to understand my opinion as well. This is coming from an original lifer. I also agree with changes being good, however, some changes such as this is bad. This is just my opinion is all.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on April 20, 2019, 03:54:36 PM
The thing is, you haven't lost anything you had before. You can progress the old way. No one is forcing you to level with a T6 - they are giving you the *option* to. Me, when I started the game, I had no T6, and I wasn't interested in buying one, at all. Were I a newb, today, that would not change.

The other thing, is, you have gained something. Now, you can use any account-wide T6 on any newb (and buy lockbox ships for your newbs)... Think of the implications.. Take the T'Pau Event ship that we just got, that is scalable, for example.. If you want to fly a ship that is anything like this... you have to wait until you are able to fly a T6.. There are no 'free' (mish reward) newb Scout ships in the game for Roms.. There are no mish reward Warships...Dreadnaughts... These ships have their own unique mechanics that you won't even get to experience until you can fly a T6.. Wouldn't you like the option on at least one newb to level *with* your ship? You get more powerful, it gets more powerful - but more importantly, you played that ship from the ground up. You played it with less hps.. less shield.. less consoles.. less Boff powers.. and you still kicked ass. Then, you got better and better and your ship also got better and better - the ship, that you already knew how to kick butt with at half the capability..

Are my arguments.

I like to debate. I like to play. I'll be argumentative sometimes just to see how much you believe in what you say. It's all in good fun, though, so never take it personal.

Back when I was living in the CO sub-forum and was posting daily about how much fun I was having - and people that weren't even playing the game were nonstop criticizing the game - then, I was not a happy poster. It was just getting really old. Post fun stuff, read not fun stuff, rinse, repeat - puke.. That was then, though  : )
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on April 25, 2019, 02:36:26 AM
Welllllll whaddya know! Thankfully, someone else was parsing (so I probably could have parsed even just a tiny bit higher), and, did an upload of this Random:

Betty@gluv#6751: SCM - Infected [LR] (S) - [02:29] DMG(DPS) - @toonsquad: 11.95M(82.46K) @varoid: 10.11M(80.34K) @gluv#6751: 10.95M(76.21K) @evilcoleslaw216#2442: 10.84M(72.56K) @MrNewVegas88: 1.30M(9.17K)

I, toonsquad, am soon to be... the latest member of DPS 75k! wuwu!

That's the first time I flew my Fleet Recon Destroyer since .. months? Jumped in. Hit the Random button and whammo. Finally broke 75k  : )

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on April 29, 2019, 03:57:19 AM
Well humph..

There's 2 main parser-related DPS channels as far as I can tell. DPS 10k and up, and, DPS Bronze and up..

Both channels are private and the way to get an invite is to get a high enough parse and upload the parse.

You also have to upload with the appropriate parser to get into the appropriate channel.

The channel that always has 100+ people and yet is always completely silent has a parser, Combat Log Reader (CLR), that is easy to download and use.

The channel that always has at least double the amount of people has an ancient parser that appears to do some kind of validating or downloading from somewhere on the Internet that doesn't exist anymore during its installation - therefore it won't install. This parser is named Star Trek Online Combat Meter (SCM).

I think SCM has a hud overlay, too... which would be pretty great.

Anyway, everyone has to have a parse uploaded from SCM to get into the DPS 10k and up channels.. Yet... No one seems to have the parser or know how it installs..

*boggle*

Well, I made it into DPS Gold, anyway, thanks to CLR... Still no DPS 75k invite.

*shrug*

I'd kinda been looking forward to that.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on May 11, 2019, 04:21:29 PM
I think SCM may be a 64-bit app. That'd explain some things.

Barely even finishing Endeavors, lately. My apols to the teams I fell asleep in the middle of! lol.. That's always embarrassing.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on May 12, 2019, 07:21:35 PM
If you're into Mines... I finally upgraded mine to Gold with the latest upgrade weekend. Here's info you can't get from the STO wiki!.... Mine Dispersal: Alpha, and, Beta, are essentially the same, except... Alpha has a much wider spread.

The wiki is maybe citing how the power used to work - due to it says you get more mines than Beta, and, it shows CD differences (there are none), and, it says nothing about the wider spread.

I'm parsing 60K+ in ISA in a T'Pau (Free/Event Ship) with mines *and* I never blow up even though I spam Grav Well. Very rarely anyway.

I tried Mines just due to.... I hadn't before. They can be really fun. I wasn't parsing any higher with my Sci toon before he went to mines and they are easy to use in a small, maneuverable, Scout ship (Grav Well everything together and Roost..) ... sooo.. they're here to stay for the build I use by far the most for my co-Main.

They Laughed at the mention of Mines when I first toyed with the idea, in DPS 10k.. HA! At my level they're actually pretty good if you can fit them into your build. I can only fit them into the T'Pau build atm.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on May 13, 2019, 03:30:22 PM
Sooo it's nearly time for another major download Update.

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/11146593

There's a new Rep which means new gear and Traits. There's also scaling T6's and some new Mishes.

I guess it does qualify as a major update.. Scaling T6's is a core change.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on May 15, 2019, 03:09:30 PM
I did a little testing on an interesting Stealth (ok it *was* buried in the patch notes) Buff from the last patch. You can now summon all of your mines to your current location.. This new power that everyone gets by default has a cooldown of like 1 minute (ok it was a try, more than a test, I wasn't paying attention to detail) which wasn't bad in practice. I'd even go so far as saying it was fun and useful.

It's basically a free power we didn't have before when using Mines. Seems like a good one.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on May 16, 2019, 05:34:10 PM
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on June 07, 2019, 01:56:32 AM
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on June 25, 2019, 04:30:54 AM
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 04, 2019, 01:34:32 AM
Decided to test my theory on SCM (parser) being 64-bit, and, it *does* install for me now. However, it also lights up Windows Defender like a pinball machine, and, is more cumbersome than CLR (the other parser), so, I've decided to stick with the same old parser I've had all along even if it doesn't seem to get me in the higher DPS channels right away.

One obvious feature I'd like to recommend to both: make the combatlogs easier to drill down to, huh? Every time you load either parser you have to dig around for the combatlogs. I seem to be able to find them faster in CLR.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 05, 2019, 04:23:23 PM
It'd suck to miss out on this, so, it finally dawned on me to post a link just in case..

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/11196543

25% off of eeeverything in the Z-Store for a couple of more days.

I finally got Withering Barrage... and the Arbiter. And Loadouts!

Loadouts are good due to Endeavors. Make a loadout for every damage type. Something else I like about Loadouts, is, if you discharge the ship that's using them you get them back. Not that I have any immediate need to do so... but it's a nice ability.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 10, 2019, 03:50:39 AM
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 16, 2019, 08:51:44 PM
If you never wanted to play a Romulan, but, you wanted to experience the not-so-impressiveness that is Warbirds - your chance is coming.

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/11206743

I went from thinking that Warbirds were OP, to, never wanting to fly them again. *shrug* Can be, I just don't pilot them properly. It was a great newb ship though when I was a newb-newb and the game was all new.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 08, 2019, 05:45:49 PM
A fairly interesting update..

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/11228103-pc-and-console-patch-notes-for-8%2F8%2F19

Now that I've finally ditched my beams for cannons....again.....they've majorly upgraded Beam Overload.. Hrrrm. Well, good. While they're at it they may as well boost the last remaining Weapon Enhancement - Cannon: Rapid Fire.

There's going to be some existing ships that gain a hanger bay, such as, the Fleet Heavy Escort, which, I might wanna try, now.

Kinda game changey stuff.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on August 15, 2019, 04:59:48 PM
The STO reddit seems to think the Beam Overload change is a downgrade, at least partially because of a bug (it only works on some beams, not all).

I tend to use cannons, and I don't think the change has hit consoles yet, though, so I can't tell.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Tahquitz on August 16, 2019, 01:17:27 AM
A fairly interesting update..

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/11228103-pc-and-console-patch-notes-for-8%2F8%2F19

Now that I've finally ditched my beams for cannons....again.....they've majorly upgraded Beam Overload.. Hrrrm. Well, good. While they're at it they may as well boost the last remaining Weapon Enhancement - Cannon: Rapid Fire.

There's going to be some existing ships that gain a hanger bay, such as, the Fleet Heavy Escort, which, I might wanna try, now.

Kinda game changey stuff.

Eh.  Beams remain one of the most expensive uses of weapons energy.  And a 10 sec burst with a cooldown isn't like beam weapons will become "flavor of the month" overnight.

It's a good change, though.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 16, 2019, 05:36:31 PM
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on August 18, 2019, 12:05:23 AM
This is about pancake time, they moved back to the original setting to sto. 2410. https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/11222463?fbclid=IwAR06VDV2UlzhHXek2ezbp4TjvKN0jlvPtmD46hH_Gpy6bNhob_GUYdzdFRk
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 18, 2019, 04:16:17 PM
I was lucky. Just after I Started playing.... they made the original series intro and we were in original seriesland for awhile, which, we could stay in and that'd be fine with me. But we didn't, we moved to this and that and now we're moving on to what Angel said.

The only thing that caught my attention in the roadmap stuff, is, Patrols are getting some luv. I didn't look up the details of that luv and don't even know if they're available, but, Space Patrols are fun and it would be nice to have an additional reason to run them, so, fingers crossed that something good happens there.

~~~

I just want to add... dang. How tempting are Jem-Hadars? They have really nice ground skills.. They have a decent look.. And, they're halfway levelled already...

They're set to farm Rep.

Which, is about all I do.. Due to I run a f-ton of Randoms.

21,000 Omega marks.. An obscene amount of unrefined Dil...

It's alt time.

I have 2 fully geared alts, but, I want another toon just like my main. Which... I could do with a Jem... Just like *snap* that.

Except.. no SRO.

SRO is the only thing keeping me from rolling at least 1 - 3 Jems and RTFOing/Repping the bejeezus out of them.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 20, 2019, 12:13:18 AM
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 21, 2019, 04:49:05 PM
Disclaimer: Besides having my own preferences, my ship opinions are all non-lockbox based. I don't use any consoles that aren't relatively easy to obtain by anyone, either. No lobi consoles. No ship specific consoles. Nothing but Rep/Fleet stuff and an old Phoenix box console (Crystalline whatsits). I used to use some Mish stuff, too, but not currently afaicanremember.

Ymmv! a lot  : )
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 22, 2019, 07:21:42 PM
So, I made the newb..

If you're like me and haven't made a newb in awhile, it's different. I LOVE the fact that I can fly a t6 at level 10.. I can go an entire level without even getting one new skill on the Ship Mastery tree, and I can't use Starship Masteries until level 50, but, I *luv* the fact that I can fly my has-less-weapons-to-buy-for Event Raider.. and be working my way towards the Cold Hearted Starship Trait....now...instead of just grinding away on Patrols when I'm 50.. Getting Ship Masteries has become a by-product of levelling.. Bra..vo.

The old Mish Ships you get as you Level are Boring to me, now. When I was a newb...? Everything was *wow*. That was then, and now, I'm glad to be doing Pahvo's (1 of 2 TFOs you get to run at level 10) in my Raider who is in Flank Heaven - instead of something that I might not be in the mood to pilot. I don't need Newb progression to teach me that there are different ships and how to fly them, anymore. Now, I want to fly what I want to fly.

Choice, is a good thing, especially if you've made many newbs and flown the same ships over and over already.. Now, I can fly my Current Main Ships (that are happily Account Bound).. The ships I Have Fun In. And, it's great.

I hit up allll the Reclaim buttons with allll my Account Bound Goodies... and started gearing up, too. I'm using Phasers for the first time, due to, I have phaser gear that...levels with me. I don't need the grind of levelling gear. Boring. It's ok as a new-newb, but, there's tons other timesinks I know about, now, and am fine with skipping this one. When I get to 65 I'm gonna dump almost all of that gear anyway..

Anyway, yeah. It's been a good experience so far up to level 20. Way better than my last newb. If I could get SRO as a Jem-Hadar, I probably would have just done that. Man, they start out nice. Set Gear for both Space and Ground.. They have points in the Intelligence Tree already... They're set to start rep and endgame which, for me, is kinda the cherry spot to be.

Being a Rom newb hasn't been as... smooth as a Jem, but, the levelling experience, so far, has been more fun and less tedium than it was the last times, except, the first time. I was already running Advance Space Queues (the only one you can) at level <20 (OK... immediately after dinging 10...) and making a... barely passable showing. I've done way better and seen way worse.

You can run an Elite TFO at level 10 now, too, btw... lol. For the really advanced kids.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 24, 2019, 11:42:22 PM
Ugh. Upgrade weekend. That slowed the levelling down. But, back to it now, and, it's not all about the flashy ships or fast XP... It is, of course, about the meat and potatoes of the game... THE MISHES..

Which, provide *whistle* lewt..

https://sto.gamepedia.com/Ability:_Focused_Assault

https://sto.gamepedia.com/Quantum_Phase_Catalysts#Quantum_Phase_Torpedo

I'm leaning towards good old Phasers on this ship (and wanted more gear that levels with me), so, yay, it made me decide to try this set and it's really, really, good. I can't believe I missed this one until now. The shield destroying torp is very nice on Spread, and, the Death Beam from the 3-piece set seems to be very effective so far.

I was not only surviving, but, getting agro in a Starbase One Advanced .. at level 30, just now. Man how times change.

My Engine, half my consoles and most of my weapons are levelling with me and I hardly have to mess with redoing hotkeys. Man! How times change.

Anyway, yay. I didn't even know about either of those mish rewards until recently and they can both be really nice if you've got a use for them, sooo, figured I'd mention them. If for nothing else - that Quantum Phase set is uber noob gear. I'd like to try and figure out how to fit that torp and the 2-piece set (it doubles the shield drain) on my Mains. Once the shields go down it's all over with and that thing knocks'em down fast.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 25, 2019, 03:54:49 PM
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 25, 2019, 11:18:08 PM
You won't have to be a Rom to fly a Warbird!

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/11240193

Wait...

Why aren't you a Rom already..

And why are you flying a Warbird.

I couldn't resist  ..  : D


Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 27, 2019, 07:26:02 PM
To me, this is shades of CoH..

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/11240293

CoH made a queue system and made it easy to join/use. Then they started adding to it. I've been a fan of queueing for content ever since. Taking hours to put and hold together teams has its own reward and I'm glad I got to experience that. Now I like to *click* *team* *play*, with, the option to team up any old-fashioned way I want.

I hope they keep expanding on the STO queue system, like, CoH was really doing good at. It's where I spend most of my time, usually, and, yeah, I think queueing for content has a lot of potential. I'm always glad to read about effort going towards new queueing options.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on September 01, 2019, 02:12:19 AM
As my newb sits at home on the couch, cashing in RTFO marks boxes for levelling Rep while I make a new newb... It occurs to me as I visit newb-land again for the second time in a long time.. it's really worth doing some mishes for gear, if for nothing else. You just can't beat good gear that levels with you up to MK XII. The tedium avoided in not having to upgrade gear throughout the levels, alone, makes time spent in mishes a good investment for gear - making them more than a guilty pleasure for those of us like me who mostly want to just level up and gear up for endgame. For those of use who want to play the same game they've been playing with a new build idea to work towards without losing the old one.

I mean, you can just make 1 tac/sci/eng and then gear and retcon them into whatever you want (I thought about doing this so I didn't have to do Rep/Masteries/Skills/Traits/etc etc all over again..) but I want to keep playing a couple of my old builds and keep tweaking their build to do what it does, better + play something new and tweak the new builds. So. Newbs. And the less newb drudgery the better.


Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on September 01, 2019, 04:58:56 PM
https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/11245783

Quote
The Mycelial Realm will be available to all Captains of level 10 and above who have completed the tutorial, and will launch with Star Trek Online: Awakening!

Yay  : )

Hope it's good. There's already 3 good TFOs available to newbs, now. You can even run an Elite queue at lvl 10, now.. I run them on Advanced while levelling and get Rep components and marks in-between doing mishes and patrols and ding after every run up until level I-forget.


Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on September 03, 2019, 05:53:14 PM
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on September 06, 2019, 01:50:34 AM
I gave up on Sci/Torps, again, recently, thinking, why oh why didn't I make him Tac/why am I swimming against the tide.

Then.. I got back in a Fleet Temporal Warship with 5 weapon slots up front and 3 places for my 3 gold mine launchers in back. This time, though, I stacked on all the Temporal EPG goodness I could - dumping everything from Tac except Kemo I and Torpedoes III.

Sci just has too much EPG boost ability to ignore if you want to build on a toon's strengths and Temporal probably has the most EPG ability of any command seat. Temporal also has 2 very effective pbaoe Shield Drains (which go well with Torps and Mines..), 1 of which can be a very nice shield heal at the same time.

I haven't parsed as well as I have with my Tac/Cannons, yet (no surprise), but... it feels kinda like that. I can queue up for... anything.. and it's fun. Like with Tac/Cannons. I can join Tzenkethi Front and Battle of Procyon 5 (advanced) and it's.. fun. I think people don't generally join those 2 queues for fun unless they're happy with their Kung Fu and want a challenge in queues that reward good Kung Fu (and punish bad).

Anyway, Yay. Dust off those Sci and grab some Temporal Goodness if Deeps is your thing. You probably have already.. I feel really slow for just now doing it. But here you are, a heads-up, just in case you've not - it's fun and effective  : ) Try a Temporal Warship if you happen to be torps/mines and definitely grab a Wargames Engine to go with it.

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on September 10, 2019, 01:09:07 PM
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Felderburg on September 10, 2019, 10:11:52 PM
Have they added a separate environmental suit slot yet? I recall reading that it is a goal to do so.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on September 11, 2019, 12:27:08 AM
Have they added a separate environmental suit slot yet? I recall reading that it is a goal to do so.

If they did I don't know how to get to it.

The latest huge download major update was handed down to us, today. I've spent ~ 15 minutes with it so far and plan to spend more soon if dinner would ever finish cooking and go into my belly.

The new Event Progression system seems (much?) friendlier. I wasn't real happy about the new character creator efforts awhile back but I think the same person did this and it seems much worthier.

I ran one of the new non-Dil rewarding/Event Point Awarding/double Skill Point Awarding patrols and it was not a pushover (OK I wasn't on a Main but my newb is pretty good and... he exploded once.. whereas he can breeze through most other patrols.. so I wasn't expecting that). The Dil awarding patrols award 720 Dil, which, is the same as running an Advanced queue. Not that we need another way to get Dil... just commenting because the old patrols don't award that much.

That's about all I've seen in the new update, so far.

There's not a lot of Patrols in the new Patrol System, yet. I'm not sure if the ones that are in there are all new, or not. I didn't recognize any of them, but, I haven't ran that many outside of the Rom Patrols and some in the Delta quadrant (that I just recently found out my newbs can get into!).

I think the new Patrols are available at level 10, too, which is good. When I made my very first newb it was hard to find Space-only action to level with. The more the merrier.

Looking forward to running some more new Patrols and snooping around more. I probably won't normally run the new patrols except when levelling or when I want some fast action that will last a predictable amount of time. Good to have some new options for that kinda thing.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on September 14, 2019, 04:31:38 AM
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on September 17, 2019, 09:21:14 PM
I've seen 2 much needed brand new Boff Space abilities (lockbox..) in the Exchange recently. Much needed, because, there often isn't enough useful ensign/lt. level boff abilities for toons with high recharge.

Since I saw a new Eng and Tac ability it makes sense that there must be a Sci one I haven't seen yet.

The new Tac ability is a shield drain and the Eng one is a unique kind of hull heal. Both seem good with a small amount of testing done so far and I had no problem finding slots with my 2 main Tacs for them.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on September 18, 2019, 03:54:33 PM
Something kinda quirky and cool about the new Boff Space Tac ability... If you defeat a foe while it's active - you get a 1x use Admiralty Card of the ship you exploded!
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on September 19, 2019, 01:03:49 PM
I seem to have peaked..

I can't break 100k again. I hover at ~ 85k or less with my main. My main alts are stuck at ~ 65k.

65-100k will allow you to dominate much of the content, however, when 800k+ is possible.. I have to ask what I'm doing wrong. I'm not a horrible toonbuilder and I can fly decently and I've been at it for a few.. years.

I'm starting to think a big part of it is consoles. I have nothing in use that does major burst damage except the single target death ray from the 3 piece Quantum set, on one toon.

I've tried about everything I can think of up to now and am completely happy with my Boff ability choices and ships.

*shrug*.

This is what leads me to believe that it has something to do with my consoles.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on September 26, 2019, 05:53:16 PM
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on October 01, 2019, 08:55:30 PM
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on October 03, 2019, 06:16:44 PM
It's time to un-newb our newbs! Upgrade Weekend starts now..

I've got ~ 120 Phoenix upgrades and 4 Rom upgrades (admiralty), and, all the weapons I know I want except.... 1 that I can't get until Tier 6 Terran Rep, in, 21 days.

I've got 3 Rep shields I like, too..

Better have good upgrade rolls, huh? Well, a lil gold is way better than all Purple. I rly like this build so I'm rly glad to be able to gold some of it. I'm kicking myself for using all those Phoenix upgrades to get his stuff to mk 15 very recently, but, oh well, I guess I need to learn how to read their calendar. This post is for other calendar challenged people who may not have thought to log on this weekend. And, to share my joy. Ha. 
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on October 04, 2019, 01:45:06 PM
I had a pleasant upgrade surprise that I thought I'd share..

I thought I'd give the (Discovery Rep) Tilly shields a go so I golded one for my main so he could get a new toy out of the upgrade weekend. I liked it so much... I golded the warp core (replacing the Colony core that I always get, now, due to I don't really see anything better - i.e. it's a generic choice) and I like it, too. So much so that I have a new warp core and shield for my main and my newb. That 2 piece bonus plus the shield pen is pretty yum for me due to I always fill those 2 slots with generic choices that are effective but not very noteworthy. My ship seems more agile in combat, too (? dunno why - maybe just wishful thinking).

I came close to exploding, once, right after I made the change (Dranuur Gauntlet against Vaadwar), but, otherwise, my survivability seems about what it was before + now I have a new (basically passive) weapons buff = yay.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on October 04, 2019, 08:12:38 PM
It's a Have Fun weekend...

Phoenix Packs..

Upgrade weekend..

30% off of ship bundles and starter packs (thru Sunday!)..

Sounds like a party to me.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on October 05, 2019, 05:33:41 PM
Something I bet a lot of people don't know about ship buying, is - if you buy a single ship from a bundle then you can never buy any bundles that the single ship is in.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Tahquitz on October 05, 2019, 09:55:00 PM
Yup.  It's to encourage folks to spend on a sale.  The developers said that was deliberate early in the "Starter Pack" era (New Romulus/Dyson Sphere releases.)
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on October 06, 2019, 09:39:11 PM
Which sales? Single ship sales or Bundle sales?

Why are there single ship sales if they want to discourage single ship purchases? Why exclude someone from 2 bundles, in my case, due to you wanted to include them in a single ship purchase?

They could be selling me an Escort Mega Bundle right now but instead I used a Free Ship Token to buy another single ship from the original core Pilot Ship bundle.

Nah, that doesn't make sense that they'd want to exclude me from big purchases due to I took advantage of one of their single ship sales. But, then again, well, yeah. Things don't always have to make sense do they.

*shrug* I got what I wanted and they gave it to me for free. This info about bundles is worth knowing, if you don't, though. (You can't buy bundles that contain single ship purchases).
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Tahquitz on October 07, 2019, 09:47:57 PM
Bundle sales.  If someone is on the fence whether to buy one ship, or wait for a bundle to go on sale, they know if they buy the one, the rest will be at retail price or individually sold at discount.

It's a flaw in the store (as any online system has for selling goods: Amazon confuses folks when they pick a color on some items, and instead get a different item altogether) but in favor of larger sales they erred towards bundles.  Want the bundle?  Wait and spend for all of it, or wait longer for the sale.  Want the ship?  Forgetting about the bundle means getting it faster.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on October 08, 2019, 02:00:52 AM
Well, hopefully we informed at least someone. It's decent info to know.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on October 16, 2019, 05:09:55 PM
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on October 17, 2019, 01:05:46 PM
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on October 19, 2019, 03:47:21 PM
People ask...

Quote
"Who is STO"...

STO is a complex personality, as are most of the small breed of modern day renaissance games.

We have Assault Rifles Phaser Rifles, we fly Space Ships, we have Admiralty, we have Klingons.

We have Exploration. We have pew-pew. ~~ there's always something to do.

/salute
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on November 05, 2019, 11:38:28 PM
Endeavor Rank 153.. Yes, still playing. I didn't farm this long to give up nao!

I want that ship device/pet and another free C-Store T6, too, so I'm doing my Kobayashi Marus..

*punches clock*

If you haven't logged in for awhile try going to Reputation/Events and seeing what's autocompleted since you logged in last.. I think finally just about all of my stuff has. They've been changing how that stuff works and in the process autocompleting old.. event things. (so much dil...and marks..) I've got enough old event type currency (I forget what it's called...) to autocomplete the next mini-event or two. If autocompleting old Events isn't enough - they've let us keep old event currency and cash it in on new mini-events.

I'm sorry I forget what the mini-events and currency for them are called. STO has too many of both for my brain to retain apparently. Just check out Rep/Events, and, the new Events Tab that's in the same place where you go to get Mishes and you'll see what I mean.

There's a Zen buyout option for just about everything, now, too. This can actually be a good deal for anyone at some point due to you may not have been able or wanted to earn Progress on a particular Event at the time but then later find you want the thing completed bad enough to spend Zen on it at some point after the event ended.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on November 18, 2019, 05:42:10 PM
For the first time in some years I haven't logged on to STO for a few days. Not because the game is any less fun but because I have waited so long to play another game that happens to be in a genre that I've waited a long time to be back into, and, there are only so many hours in the day.

But.

I finally get to watch Star Trek: Enterprise. I say 'get to watch' because it's actually really good (and I haven't had a chance to watch it since it came out... a long time ago). I think I already like it as much as I ever liked The Next Generation, which, was probably the next best thing to the original series.

The sets and tech and languages in Enterprise is pretty good and its got good stories. What else can you want. Oh. Yeah. And a Vulcan who can barely fit into the upper part of her skin tight uniform has to get some kind of honorable mention.

I'm only through the first 20something episodes and am looking forward to more. I'm finding out that there's a lot of Enterprise in STO. which. is good. It's too bad they don't have more of the original series in the game. I think it wasn't until I started playing and they made the TOS intro that they even had any original series content with people actually from the original series (Not counting the very great Fed "Congratulations, Admiral' you get when you ding, from, you-know-who). Go go Chekov for his pretty great contribution from the TOS crew at that time (and now I finally know who WAIT!!!/degenero-face Daniels, is, too).

Anyway, yay. Looking forward to playing more STO just not right now. Finally got my (Tier 6...) Terran Rep phaser cannons and they are golded and barely fired. NWO has kinda sucked me in more than I expected it would. Hopefully I get back to STO before I lag too far behind in the farming. They don't need that hook to get me back but they.... do keep one busy.. keeping up.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on November 21, 2019, 03:38:23 PM
Upgrade Weekend!

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/11302913
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on February 12, 2020, 12:49:13 AM
STO is good at polish and here is another fine example..

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/11363953

I haven't tried this yet but look forward to never having to transfer ships around, and all the hassle that process entails, to use them for Admiralty.

I like that we don't have to run around and collect Omega Particles this year!! That is so not fun for me. This year we get some choices and I always choose the TFO which is where I'm always at in STO anyway, in TFOs, so yay, because I want the ship's goodies.

And yay that they keep updating the Art. STO is always getting a little better (except that time they killed the Foundry..).
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on February 27, 2020, 03:36:07 PM
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on February 27, 2020, 03:51:28 PM
... Running Admiralty was one of the only reasons I still logged in at all.  Nice to know I won't have to even do that anymore.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on February 27, 2020, 04:26:36 PM
Haven't been playing regularly for awhile either. I did just get the 10th anniversary ship with the nice looking Starship Trait and for yet another account bound piece of AP newbie twink gear. It was great to be able to run a TFO daily for progress instead of having to run around and farm Omega Particles.

I still like STO, just got sucked into a new game. When I stopped playing regularly STO was still improving on what I thought was already a perfectly fine game.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on March 06, 2020, 11:48:11 PM
... Running Admiralty was one of the only reasons I still logged in at all.  Nice to know I won't have to even do that anymore.

So what got you out of STO?

For me, I finally get to try Neverwinter so I've been doing that. But STO was/is just getting better and getting more luv. I still play farm it a little but trying to get higher on the NW DPS charts and making NW newbs still has my attention.

So why'd You leave? Get into something else, too? Just curious.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on March 10, 2020, 04:42:20 PM
Well, for one thing, CoH came back, and so there wasn't a MMO void I was trying to fill....

For another, though, I kinda just got all I wanted out of it.  I don't want to make more characters, none of the new ships interest me, and all of the new missions are based on TV shows I never watched (or can't watch).
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on March 10, 2020, 06:01:31 PM
Well, for one thing, CoH came back, and so there wasn't a MMO void I was trying to fill....

At first I had an OH DUH moment but now I have to ask, is it back - back, now? Or is it still Contraband that we can sorta talk about but not really but we should but we won't because of Paragraph 12, subset 24 of the Pirate's Code?
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on March 10, 2020, 06:24:34 PM
I don't know about the rules on discussing it here, but I can play it (and have been) for a while now, so it's "back" enough for me.  :D
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on March 11, 2020, 12:09:31 AM
Well grats. That's good news.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on March 17, 2020, 04:38:04 PM
I know I'm behind on my TV and all that, but, I just did some investigative study on Star Trek: Enterprise that I found interesting and thought I'd share.

As far as I can tell, T'Pol didn't have a boob (reduction) job ~ the beginning of season 3... Apparently it was just a costume change and they simply removed the thick koozies that she didn't really need.

I mean, you really couldn't miss them in the first episodes. They.. had a prominent role all their own. Curiosity *finally* got me as to why their... prominence would be diminished. I was happy to learn that ... apparently .. it was just a change in costume to something much less padded.

We may be slow, here, in the ol' STO thread, but, eventually, you learn all the important stuff. You can't tell me you didn't notice the difference..
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on March 18, 2020, 03:12:15 PM
It's kinda late to mention this (halfway into the first of 3 events), but (I have enough of the old event tokens for a Buyout - maybe you do too), the current Event chain is the only time I can remember STO giving out Lobi. 1k worth, which, is, enough to trade for a good toy or two that can only be bought with Lobi.


Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Power Arc X on March 24, 2020, 01:47:06 AM
I logged onto STO last week while a CoH Homecoming  was downloading  a patch. I played for about an hour just refining  my dil for my 2 accounts  there. I only log in every  2 months or so to keep  active status on my fleets.
I'm  just to busy playing  CoH. I'm now  up to 30 lvl  50's. You should  give it a try Xev.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on March 24, 2020, 05:35:42 AM
I'm  just to busy playing  CoH. I'm now  up to 30 lvl  50's. You should  give it a try Xev.

I've been busy playing stuff I've been wanting to play, too.. I'd waited years to finally play the remake of the first Internet game I ever played (NWN) and I'm just now getting my first 2 Neverwinter level 80 toons to play halfway respectably and nice toys are finally dropping for them. STO still manages to get me to log in long enough for toys/lewt I can't pass up. I did spend some years playing the game before CoH made a comeback and I have some nice toons there, too, sooo, that would be a shame to abandon completely.

And.. there are only so many hours in the day, and, I don't know how to download the client and get it working - which, is something I had hoped would eventually become.. less of a secret and more of a thing we could openly discuss, here, instead of it being a thing we 'all' not only know how to do, but have already done for ourselves, but, we can't talk about it..kinda thing

But, yeah, I've been thinking about it. There's been nearly as many people online, here, as there was after the shutdown (the recordholder), and, well, it's still around.

Wait. 30 new level 50's? lol nice.. : )
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Power Arc X on March 24, 2020, 04:44:29 PM
Just go to the CoH Homecoming  Forums. There is a guide to help you set up an account  and download  the  game. You can go to YouTube  and search coh homecoming. Positive  Gamer has a video  showing  how to do that also.
There are a few videos out there.
Neverwinter  Nights, is that the game from 2001 by Atari  that had the option to go online ? I played that up to where I  had to find a key and open a certain  door  I believe  in Luskan but was never able to open the door. I  think it lead to the sewers or something  like that. I still have the guidebook  for the game.
 Well I'm glad you're  having  fun with whatever  game you're  playing  that's  all that really  matters.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on March 24, 2020, 07:50:12 PM
Neverwinter  Nights, is that the game from 2001 by Atari  that had the option to go online ?

I forgot that awhile back I had a hard time finding info on the original online version of Neverwinter Nights too.

This is the one I'm talking about: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neverwinter_Nights_(1991_video_game)

I am very proud to say that I was one of the people that played this game and I played it from the very first day it was available on PC. (They charged by.. the minute.. and my monthly bills averaged ~ $500...way back then... in the Midwest (relatively low pay)). I forget the service who first offered the game (I want to say CompuServe *reads wiki* oh yeah... AOL...) but I distinctly remember that they didn't originally support DOS/IBM compatible based PCs and that I had to wait. At the time I worked at a software store and most of my 8 hours a day were spent either with my nose in gaming magazines or talking to customers about games/gaming machines (best job ever) so I can say with a fairly confident amount of certainty that NWN was the first (DOS/IBM..) graphical online mmorpg due to PC games was my thing and if there would have been anything out sooner I woulda read or been told about it and been on it. 

I love to tell that story, so... thanks.

Well I'm glad you're  having  fun with whatever  game you're  playing  that's  all that really  matters.


I am. I do. I always do. Its become the one constant in my universe. Thanks again.

Having said all that, your original point is valid (why aren't I playing) and my excuse stands: its just not convenient at this point. It's a good sign/encouraging that so many people are visiting the wiki lately and that Homecoming hasn't got shutdown or otherwise poofed yet. I'm jealous of the first people who started playing again.

You know what something else is, too.. I don't get very close at all to anyone online for the most part since awhile due to reasons, and, if I was playing CoH... humm.. that would seem... like a ... less acceptable thing to me and I have enough guilt lately already. tbh with the tmi  : )

Anyway, cool on you that you looked up Neverwinter Nights and I appreciate the prod to play CoH again. I've been thinking about what I'm missing out on for awhile. It's a miracle it's even back.

P.S.

Hey Ukase, you got your Universe back. I think about our conversation we had before the shutdown, all the time.

I hope he's back in the game and maybe even found something else to shine in during the wait.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on March 25, 2020, 05:28:01 AM
If anyone is interested in getting tier 1-4 on account. Should do it tomorrow, this week they will be switched from zen (account) to dilith (character).
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on March 25, 2020, 01:35:03 PM
Hummm.. I know it's early morning and all but I dunno what that means?


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ohhhh!

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/11394603

Hey, that is good news. Damn that they didn't include t5 (ships). I woulda got a Kumari.

They really needed to do something like this and even more steps towards making lower tiered ships more attractive would be welcome. Ever since they made it to where you could fly a T6 straight out of the tutorial... I lost nearly all interest in lower tiered ships - and that's a lotta ships.

Hummm maybe it's good they don't have to worry about Admiralty dil farmers anymore, huh? I was just thinking of all the Admiralty ships that just became more easily available.

Anyway, cool! Thanks. I totally missed that. I'm surprised they didn't advertise it more - I saw a blub about it by accident when I logged on just now.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on April 03, 2020, 02:17:01 PM
The current climate of Indoorapalosa continues:

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/11396793?eh=D6584A78AC0714F28882D26E80B61D2A88FAF95E088863D618EB144FE3CF6EEB

Free Borg Goodness.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on April 09, 2020, 03:16:06 PM
It's a good day for console: https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/11409123-pc-and-console-patch-notes-for-4%2F9%2F20

Those larger stacks are nice. I would have liked to have had them when I was tradeskilling daily. STO has a nice and perfectly functional Tradeskilling system, but... it could use refinement. Larger component stacks is a good step. Favorite recipes would be good... Being able to sort what you have/have left for sale would be good... I forget what else was unnecessarily tedious. 

T5 ships for (a not punishing amount of) Dil?? humm.. I missed a memo somewhere. I thought it was just t1-t4. Wing cannons here I come. When I start playing again. Neverwinter still has me pulled in. Good stuff tho, STO. As ever.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Tahquitz on April 12, 2020, 03:49:14 PM
One less thing to farm in STO!

But wait.. They finally made it where your toons can auto-claim Admiralty ships in the last patch and then they nerf the main (only?) reason people run Admiralty.

A dubious decision but I'm glad to have one less thing tempt me into farming in STO. Some people will be crushed by this decision to some degree due to they are used to regularly logging in and running Admiralty on, I do believe I have seen numbers in the dozens, toons.

It wasn't thaaaat long ago that STO gave us double the options to farm Dil with Admiralty (and they just gave us the Admiralty ship auto-claim). Now they are basically removing all the options to farm Dil with Admiralty.

*shrug*

My reaction to this is to continue to not run Admiralty, but, now, be pretty much guilt-free for not snatching up the easy Dil.

I suspect that went over easier with the developer team than to artificially gate the Zen to Dil exchange to have 800 dil per Zen as an artificial minimum going forward.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on April 12, 2020, 11:25:49 PM
I suspect that went over easier with the developer team than to artificially gate the Zen to Dil exchange to have 800 dil per Zen as an artificial minimum going forward.

I must be overly tired or something because I keep re-reading and it's not helping. The exchange is already capped at 500 Dil per Zen as far as I know? Like CO?

STO has wizards working for them is what I think. They can make you OP.. Shower you with accountwide plunder... And it totally works. Somehow. I mean, the price of Zen bought with Dil is (I have to go online and look... aww crud I forgot to run the Daily brb.. I didn't win  : /).. surprisingly good as is often the case. And I don't feel OP even though I have the majority of Space Endeavors done.

Wizards I tell ya.

I mean, they have really changed the game since I first played it, even, yet it feels/plays the same and they manage to have a consistently very well working economy. That's a pretty good achievement.

As far as the Dil farming going away with Admiralty. I was halfway relieved to read the news. I mean, Admiralty paid off and I have mutated farming genes from playing too much EverQuest and so it was hard for me to pass up the 'easy' Dil, but, on the other side of things - it's mind-numbingly boring and there are way more fun things to do. Now I am freed of my Admiralty Guilt. My second thought after reading the news was that I felt bad for the small group of people that didn't 'abuse' the system and that ... maybe had a hard time farming Dil otherwise (somehow) - at the same time I was kinda cheering that they were dealing with people that spent what seemed to be most if not all of their time farming Admiralty with Dozens of toons, Daily, for whatever reason, maybe to make rl cash, fx, making STO their business - not their game. I don't wanna interfere with how someone makes a living I just personally prefer to log in with other players and not into a job.

Admiralty was kinda like a 'Help Wanted' sign for gold farmers. I think in small letters it said 'Jem'hadar preferred'.

Anyway, I'm kinda all for the change except for if it makes it hard for actual players who may have actually enjoyed farming their dil with Admiralty so that they could progress with their toons.

Wth were you trying to say, Tahquitz, I still don't get it I must be extra dense today  : ) STO only ever flirted with their existing 500 dil ceiling (last I knew) so I dunno why they would be thinking to go 800. Prices of Zen isn't even 400 Dill today. 380something.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on April 14, 2020, 12:16:57 AM
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on April 21, 2020, 03:10:55 PM
They just had a nice newb event in Neverwinter (I *think* it's over). It wasn't double XP but you get one of those very expensive Neverwinter Bags for your newb and other goodies. Now that I think about it I got a new Main out of the event..

Well, now STO is aiding altism with their 3 week double XP event.

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/11407913

The NW event was really good but I coulda used some double xp. Of course I want it all. I'm human.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on May 16, 2020, 04:17:10 PM
So it shouldn't be long now until I get to pick between a new ship and some lobi or a bigger pile of lobi without a new ship.

I'm really in no hurry to pick either, but, I have to say again how well STO handles their loots. This is accountwide loot that was available to earn by any and all toons on my account, AND, I didn't have to log on every single day and participate. I think they gave me like 1 whole week of fluff time on each of the three mini-events that lead to the ultimate loot for participating in all three. And I think there was a little break between mini-events, too.

I'm playing Neverwinter regularly, lately, and not STO, but, I still like STO as much as I ever did, so, it's been nice to have an incentive to semi-regularly log in and work my finger muscle memory in fast popping queues with plenty of people who know how they work. When/if I play regularly again I have a small pile of Lobi to figure out how to spend now too.

Had STO not been like the above I would have wanted to log in once in awhile to remember how to play, but, I probably wouldn't have. I think that says something good about the game.


~~~~~~~~~~~

The point above remains, however, just for factualosity.. there's still 2 whole mini-events to go and I've only (nearly) completed .. 2? I rly thought we finished 2 Already... I rly thought I looted 2 lewts I haven't even looked at yet..

See, that's how much I'm not playing but I still play good enough to fill out my spot in a queue team about as well as ever.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on May 30, 2020, 01:04:14 PM
When you say Farming, two games will always come to mind... The all-time King... EverQuest, and, more recently, Star Trek Online. Star Trek Online must make the list due to I don't even play the game anymore (I'm just into something else atm) and I still log in long enough to ... farm..

Bravo and job well done. I mean, that's a feat.

And so..... the grand finale of STO's latest farming feature...

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/11440753

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on June 22, 2020, 07:48:27 PM
Like I was saying, STO, is, all about the farming.

They're also all about giving everything away...

It's a weird combo but somehow they end up making money with it. Just when you think STO can't give away anything more they always manage to. Year after year.

Anyway, yay - more accountwide (yum yum) unlocks from the lewt wizards at STO.

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/11461853
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on June 25, 2020, 04:22:31 PM
Ohhhh STO has a Xev. I have no Xev on STO, but I have some names close to that (I did Not realize as a newb that the Romulan 'T' prefix was usually reserved for Female Roms btw...). When I saw it in the DPS channels (wtg!) I thought I had another Cryptic chat box fart(TM), but, no, it was a completely other person.

You don't see many xevs. That's mainly why I picked it. An old habit from the you-have-to-type-everyone's-full-name days, too - nice and short name.

I stole the name.... when I made my CoH account. I liked the sound of it and the thing I stole it from no longer existed (sorta) and was old so I figured no one would miss it. I always had a hard time coming up with names and short ones were even harder.

Anyway, Hi Xev. There's not many of us out there. I see Vex/Vexx a lot.. But I think that was the first Xev I've seen since early EverQuest. Again, I stole it, so, if someone else uses it - what can I say - it came pre-stole. I've grown to like it (never really identified with it for years) but I like my newer @, too, which, was at least more original - toonsquad. Toonsquad was made to emulate Goonsquad which was supposed to come from Princess Bride but then afterwards I remembered that was actually a Brutesquad that Andre the Giant was in... But then, I always end up making a squad of toons in any new game so it works and stuck. Xev is probably a namier type name though.. Hmmm. I dunno. I'll answer to either. They're both cheerier than Deth, which, was what I mostly got called before those.

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on June 28, 2020, 06:24:31 PM
OK you know what..

For a game that I'm not presently playing they sure keep coming up with new things for me to farm. I keep telling everyone - STO is master at lewt and the farming of. I thought I was gonna get a break but nuuuuu.

*next*

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/11464293
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on July 01, 2020, 12:06:07 AM
So... a bunch of new Klingon luv.... but... they left out the Best Klingon in the game!

https://sto.gamepedia.com/Kurn

Instead we get Martok..

https://sto.gamepedia.com/Martok

I think Kurn actually is Klingon irl. He is also major shades of Sho 'Nuff which is who I originally thought the voice actor is (but he's not, he's The Candyman). He's my favorite STO klingon by far.


~~~

Ooops... link..

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/11461043?eh=D6584A78AC0714F28882D26E80B61D2A88FAF95E088863D618EB144FE3CF6EEB
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on August 19, 2020, 12:50:26 AM
Very, very nice!  They just announced four new support carriers, including the long-awaited T6 Vo'Quv upgrade, the Vo’devwl Support Carrier.

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/11477183
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 19, 2020, 04:24:27 PM
I've probably been kicked out of my fleet by now. I probably am not going to make it through that megamarathonfarmquest that leads to Lobi and/or a T6 either - I made it all the way to the last event.

Neverwinter just isn't leaving me any spare spare time lately.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on October 09, 2020, 05:42:56 PM
Yay I'm still in my Fleet! I'd kinda been dreading logging on to find out I wasn't. That's how it works. People don't log on for awhile and they have to make space due to you can only have X amount of ppl in a Fleet.

Way more important is that the T7 is finally here! Well.. sorta.. T6.5?

Quote
“Experimental Upgrades”

Quote
·         +1 Device Slot

·         +1 Universal Console Slot

·         +1 Starship Trait Slot (only active on ships that have had an Experimental Prototype Upgrade applied)

Quote
Account-Wide Upgrades

Much as it has always been when upgrading any T5 Ship to T5-U, Experimental Upgrades are not limited to a single character when applied. Each time you apply an Experimental Upgrade to a ship on your account, that Ship Class will then be free to upgrade on other characters across your entire account.

Quote
From October 6th to November 5th, anyone can claim one of these tokens per account in the Space Items section of the Zen Store for free!
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on October 10, 2020, 11:14:49 PM
If you happen to log in like I did to get your free goodies and then decide to do some playing.. If you go to your Skill Tree you'll notice that it says something like Skills Invalid and you also have a free retrain token waiting.. I didn't notice it yesterday when I ran a couple of rtfos but there was a fleet wide message about it in mail today. Soooo I pass it on to you. I dunno what the effect of our skills being Invalid is. It sounds like a forced free retcon.

I was gonna take a screenie of my skills and then do a retcon but I can't get any type of screenshot to work. Even with the game windowed, although, I guess I can do a windows screenie. But I can't get STO to take any kind of screenie for me. So I'll do my retcon/play some other time.


Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on January 26, 2021, 03:03:36 PM
Aww crud, I missed some freebies! Well... there are more to come..

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/11483223-get-a-t5-ship%2C-free%21

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/11483343-command-the-temer-class-raider
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on January 28, 2021, 09:06:19 PM
Looks like Klingons are getting some luv. They also have some new thing to buy to let any character fly any ship - when I looked at the description it said I just had to get a Klingon to 65(?) and I'd have the same ability.

Well I finally logged in to see if there were any freebies to claim for the 11th Anniversary.. Damn! I missed the free t5 and free experimental upgrade and I dunno what else .. Maybe they give away something else nice before it's all done if it's not already. Boo effing hoo..

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on April 01, 2021, 02:49:11 PM
Omgx0rz! They are always coming up with something new..

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/11486273

Today, as I recall... is the best day of every year to play STO.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on May 22, 2021, 07:02:02 PM
FREE STUFF

starting today

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/11488653

Hit the STO button..... by accident? today. I miss playing STO but I'm just on a roll in NW lately.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on May 24, 2021, 01:20:25 AM
Huh, it's been a long time since I played or even checked in.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on May 29, 2021, 08:25:59 PM
Man I cannot believe I forgot to log in for the t6 upgrade whatever thing and the Feresan(?) race unlock.

The daily giveaways were over on the 25th and I logged in on the 26th and.... was still able to snag some t6 experimental upgrade thing but I didn't get the race unlock. I got the inventory slots too.

Not playing either. Just because I'm playing something else. If I could play them both at the same time I'd probly do it and toss another game or two in there if I could. My fleet hasn't kicked me yet... which is pretty cool. Fleets are known to do that when ya don't log on for months at a time.

The Neverwinter guild I'm in, now, they have no sentimentality. You leave that guild for longer than a few weeks, I don't care who you ever were to the guild, and they will kick you. And there's room for 100+ new accounts (we're 2/3rds empty) and their alts. And we can't even get a team together to do the new content so it's not like we're leet or anything. Boggles me. I mean what does it hurt to leave a few names from the people that built the guild but don't play now for one reason or another.

Anyway, yeah. I think I snagged the best free stuff. Just thought I'd post in case anyone wanted to scoop it up for later use. Especially the t6 upgrade thing. I think I have 2 of those now.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on December 06, 2021, 04:40:29 AM
After several years away, I finally decide to log back in. I was shocked by how many missions they took out. They really gutted the Klingon arc. I knew of the Romulan and Cardassian arcs being gutted. What are these devs even thinking. If they are thinking that is.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on December 07, 2021, 08:56:56 PM
Pfft try playing Neverwinter.

They've managed to systematically suck nearly all the fun out of NW random queues, which, is pretty much 99% of what I did. It's common practice to fail and/or bail half of what pops and the odds are even lower that you'll have much of any fun when your done. As for gutted content - NW removed a fair amount of zones including some of the nicer ones like Sharandar. I honestly don't miss them. I didn't miss the old mishes they dumped in STO either when I was still playing. I don't generally do much in old zones or old mishes but I'm not for dumping them either especially if they have some kind of sentimentality attached to them (f/x Sharandar was peaceful and purdy! or if a mish or zone drops something special).

I logged onto STO fairly recently to grab a freebie and was happily surprised to see I'm still in a Fleet! They used to kick people all the time for inactivity and I haven't played for a couple of years either. I didn't stop playing because the fun was gone I just wanted to finally try Neverwinter and then kept on playing it.

Now I mostly play a web based game that I saw advertised when playing Windows Solitaire... Forge of Empires. And a little bit Elvenar, which is pretty much the same thing from the same company. I really hadn't planned on playing either for more than a few hours at most but here we are some weeks later and I'm still playing them. Just got me a Santa's Workshop in FoE that's fairly uber! My first uberloot. It's the time for Winter Holliday events ya know.

But back to Cryptic devs... If you want some especially brutal ones go play Neverwinter. You'll get best results if you are addicted to gambling in any way (lockboxes) and if you just don't mind spending your money on things that were imaginary to begin with but also have a short lifespan and quickly lose even their virtual value. They don't just take away your mishes and zones and gear but they change entire rulesets/the game's core on a regular basis. Hadn't really affected me much until they ruined the random queues and if you don't think they're ruined just take a few hours and try to get through each of them without frustration and other negativity which can be summed up as: a general waste of time that you won't even enjoy.

Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on December 07, 2021, 10:22:32 PM
I tried Neverwinter a few years ago, and nopped out of it. Sound like the devs on both of these games need to remove their heads from their butts. They turned games into unfun affairs. I remember they took out the player made missions, that alone is a sin all its own. The only reason I login to STO and champions is just to keep my lifetime subs.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on December 09, 2021, 07:06:09 PM
I'd probably be playing STO right now if it wasn't for my mom. I'm ~ 99.978% sure.

When she had her own business and no one had a computer I wrote some bookkeeping software for her that she used nightly but she never played anything until now and it's kinda cool to see her take off with it. She's a total newb in every sense of the word...lol..but she's having fun and has stuck with it for like a year now and so I stick around. I've managed to take a couple of week break and am hoping some of the magic will be back when I start playing more again. My guild is full of people who I don't know in an Alliance full of people I don't know, so that surely hasn't been a draw and I'm not looking forward to trying the queues again either.

I didn't leave STO due to unfunness or disimmersion (such as the above) but I've been gone from it long enough to become de-immersed. When it came to loot I always thought STO devs were the wizards of it and I did enjoy/do miss those queues...

Whenever you remove content it's gonna rub someone wrong, though. I can never remember a time it didn't.

That's the thing with games is once they touch a nerve... like with the daily retcons in CO... or the missing missions in STO... or ruining the queues in NW... turning out the lights in CoH..... you lose immersion. Once immersion is gone it's game over. If you're lucky you come back someday and the magic returns.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on December 13, 2021, 10:44:45 PM
I'd probably be playing STO right now if it wasn't for my mom. I'm ~ 99.978% sure.

When she had her own business and no one had a computer I wrote some bookkeeping software for her that she used nightly but she never played anything until now and it's kinda cool to see her take off with it. She's a total newb in every sense of the word...lol..but she's having fun and has stuck with it for like a year now and so I stick around. I've managed to take a couple of week break and am hoping some of the magic will be back when I start playing more again. My guild is full of people who I don't know in an Alliance full of people I don't know, so that surely hasn't been a draw and I'm not looking forward to trying the queues again either.

I didn't leave STO due to unfunness or disimmersion (such as the above) but I've been gone from it long enough to become de-immersed. When it came to loot I always thought STO devs were the wizards of it and I did enjoy/do miss those queues...

Whenever you remove content it's gonna rub someone wrong, though. I can never remember a time it didn't.

That's the thing with games is once they touch a nerve... like with the daily retcons in CO... or the missing missions in STO... or ruining the queues in NW... turning out the lights in CoH..... you lose immersion. Once immersion is gone it's game over. If you're lucky you come back someday and the magic returns.

Thank you, for this. Taking out missions and/or areas and adding nothing to replace it. Shows weakness in the dev teams. I remember player created missions, that could have help. Yet, the devs thought it would be awesome to yeet this away.

One thing though. While City of. is offically gone, it is back. And I'm happy about this. I do get your sentiments though.

As for Neverwinter, let me guess their reasoning. "We want to update these zones to the current level of value." "So instead of leaving these areas up. We're taking them down."
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on December 15, 2021, 10:10:45 PM

As for Neverwinter, let me guess their reasoning. "We want to update these zones to the current level of value." "So instead of leaving these areas up. We're taking them down."

No idea on the reasoning. I just read Patch Notes and play until the sighing and cursing time becomes > fun time, or, there's an Act of God. Sometimes I come back.. Haven't lately.

Haven't left NW yet! Would rather not. We'll see what it's like after a lil break that was longer than the last lil break.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on January 25, 2022, 07:20:38 PM
What is an "Elite Captain Upgrade Token?"....


https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/11507143
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Angel Phoenix77 on October 14, 2022, 06:20:41 AM
Well it's been 4 years since cryptic took out these missions and STILL have not returned them. Why don't they just say they aren't coming back. I should know that this is so like cryptic. They did the same thing to City of. They only worked on that game so they could sale it.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on October 27, 2022, 02:38:10 PM
If you want REAL disappointment from a Trek game try playing Star Trek Fleet Command. It's an abomination of everything trek stands for and has the absolute worse support ever.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Thunder Glove on August 16, 2023, 10:25:26 PM
... I've gotten myself re-addicted to this this year. :D

I've been making new characters for the various Recruitment events, and doing missions and mission arcs I haven't done in years.
Title: Re: Star Trek Online
Post by: Xev on August 19, 2023, 05:46:46 AM
Yeah this is a great game.

I'm not playing since a year or so ago but did sneak on not toooo long ago during a Klingon recruit event and snagged a coupon for a free T6. Have at least 1 free experimental slot waiting in inventory and I dunno what else.

Sometimes I wish I'd have never left. Went to try something new I'd really been wanting to try and the next thing I knew a year or two passed and I was un-immersed. I'm really good at that..

Grats on re-immersion.