Star Trek Online - QtTHREEEEE IIIINNN SPAAAAAACE! (launch/roll call/gameplay thread)

Skorin · 2012-02-12T08:35:02.000Z

Finished setting up Maco shield + 3 piece borg set on my Galor.

It is now officially the ugliest ship in the fleet.

(Had 100 cpoints left over after buying my VA ship, so I used it on a key, in a gold lockbox. Never waste keys on the regular boxes.)

Woolen_Horde · 2012-02-12T08:43:32.000Z

I’ve gotten over 30 regular lockboxes, but not a single gold box in site.

There’s a lot of fury at Cryptic right now. The drop rate on lock boxes is ridiculous. You can easily get 5-6 in a single STF battle, which means 500 or 600 C-Points to unlock them, and most of the time, you get low value shit you’d never pay for.

It’d be one thing if you only got a lockbox or two a day, but it’s possible to get dozens. The Master Keys are simply way too overpriced.

Major_Malphunktion · 2012-02-12T12:49:40.000Z

so how did you get the Galor?

divedivedive · 2012-02-12T12:54:53.000Z

Brian Rucker:

The lottery is a tax on stupidity.

I’ve always thought of lotteries as a tax on people who don’t understand probability, but yours has the advantage of directness.

I just hit level 50 so I can finally take out my Odyssey class ship I earned a few weeks back. I also did run the first bit of the new episode, luckily no bugs or drops to desktop. Bit of a cliffhanger, though.

Skorin · 2012-02-12T12:59:06.000Z

Major Malphunktion:

so how did you get the Galor?

Opened a gold lockbox. They’re super rare compared to the regular lockboxes; over the last two days, I’ve found 1 gold and 46 regulars. Supposedly the regular lockboxes have the same drop rate for the ship as the X-Mas lockboxes (0.5%), while the golds have significantly higher.

I wouldn’t have purchased C-Points to buy a key, but there were exactly 100 sitting there unused, so I figured what the hell. It worked out.

lordkosc · 2012-02-12T16:02:51.000Z

That Galor looks horrible with Borg STF gear! :p

So for those playing , whats everyone’s favorite energy weapon type?

I have been using Plasma arrays on my Engineer ( I love seeing an enemy ships hull engulfed in plasma fire), Tetryon cannons on my Tactical ( for that extra chance of stripping shield power), and Phaser arrays on my Science (for the chance to disable a subsystem while in battle.

I’ve been mostly using Quantum Torpedos for every class.

Brian_Rucker · 2012-02-12T16:26:54.000Z

I generally stick with the classics. Phaser banks in my cruiser along with photon torpedoes. My character isn’t really built for space so adding in some random dirty tricks into the mix (along with phasers I use boarding party III) helps give me an edge at times if an unreliable one. And I like my ship looking and sounding as it should.

lordkosc · 2012-02-12T16:31:58.000Z

I think your the only person I know that still uses photon torps, I know they are super cheap on the exchange, as Quantums are in super high demand.

Since F2P launched I am getting close to 1 million in profits from Quantum torpedo sales alone , on the exchange.

Whats interesting is I just equipped my Sovereign Class ship in all Blue Mk X gear, for less than 500k EC’s. It cost me almost twice that to do the same for Mk VIII gear.

Woolen_Horde · 2012-02-12T17:27:38.000Z

I’m almost done equipping my Odd with a full set of Mk XII STF weapons. Just need one more prototype Borg salvage and I’ll have 6 x Mk XII Phaser Bank Arrays and 2 x Mk XII Quants.

lordkosc · 2012-02-12T17:44:49.000Z

How long did it take to grind for that gear?

Skorin · 2012-02-12T18:39:22.000Z

On the Galor I use 4x Spiral Wave Disruptor (disruptor damage, has both procs from phasers and disruptors), 2x Disruptor beam arrays, and 2x quantum torpedoes, one fore and one aft. For consoles, engineering has a power transfer, a turn rate, and 2x plasma resistance. Science has +shield and borg console. Tac has 3x disruptor damage. Borg pieces in deflector and engine, and MACO for shield.

On the Defiant I have 3x antiproton dual heavy cannons and quantom torpedo up front. 3x antiproton turrets in back. Consoles are mostly the same except no turn rate, and the tactical consoles are 4x antiproton damage. Borg just melt.

I have almost nothing at Mk XII though, and I’m not sure if I’m up to that grind.

Woolen_Horde · 2012-02-12T18:41:07.000Z

lordkosc:

How long did it take to grind for that gear?

A while. The main problem is that you don’t get proto Borg salvage to drop unless your team manages to accomplish the bonus in an STF Elite mission. Then the problem is you gotta hope that you either win the Need or Greed for it, or your loot has one.

The other day, one of the Need or Greed items was 3xPrototype Borg Salvage. Did not get it, but we were all dumbfounded at that drop.

I did get lucky yesterday, and got two prototype borg salvage in one mission. And I got a third in another mission. Prior to that, I was average a proto drop about 1 or 2 a week.

I suppose it’d go a lot faster if I did the STF Elites with a dedicated group or fleet. The problem with public groups is that there’s a 75-percent chance there’s one asshole who doesn’t pay attention or doesn’t care and fucks up the bonus opportunity for everyone. I’ve had about three of those guys today.

The other problem with random public groups is that you often get horrible group compositions. 5 Odds is terrible for DPS. 5 escorts isn’t much better. You need a good mix of around 2-3 escorts and 2-3 cruisers. And everyone needs to know what they’re doing.

Seneca · 2012-02-13T06:43:59.000Z

Should I be mixing my energy weapon types (phaser, disruptor, etc.,) to provide some breadth on my ship or just sticking to one type with a torpedo launcher for some extra boost?

Jag · 2012-02-13T08:01:49.000Z

Seneca:

Should I be mixing my energy weapon types (phaser, disruptor, etc.,) to provide some breadth on my ship or just sticking to one type with a torpedo launcher for some extra boost?

At endgamge it’s recommend that you use one type of energy weapon (mixed with 1 or 2 torps) so you can apply boosters for that energy type. However, unless you are doing Elite STFs, the difference really doesn’t matter. That’s the nice thing about this game, you really don’t have to min/max to be effective in almost every aspect.

Woolen_Horde · 2012-02-13T21:01:43.000Z

Qapla’!!!

Last proto borg salvage retrieved, and we didn’t even get the bonus this time!

The Odd has 6x Phaser Beam Array Mk XII [ACC][CrtH][Borg] (Very Rare) and 2x Quantum Torpedo Launcher Mk XII [CrtD][CrtH][Borg] (Very Rare)

Woooooooooooooo.

CJ_Martin · 2012-02-17T04:47:40.000Z

About to hit Captain (engineer), any advice on my next ship and config? I’m leaning towards the Exploration refit but the sluggish turn rate looks scarry. Also the default is 2 torps forward and two beam arrays…given the poor turn rate, wouldn’t a third beam array be more useful?

-CJ

lordkosc · 2012-02-17T06:03:31.000Z

Once I hit captain with my engineer toon, I did a 3 forward beam 1 torp , 2 rear beam 1 rear torp set up, on a Galaxy Class ship. You are pretty much in command of a space whale.

I made sure to have one of my Engie BO’s have this space skill maxed.

http://www.stowiki.org/Ability:_Auxiliary_to_Dampeners

I also set up my tactical slot to enhance fighting with beams , an AOE attack, and easy shield distribution, so I used Tac Team1 and Torpedo Spread 2 .

Also this console is a MUST, A MUST I SAY!

http://www.stowiki.org/Console_-Engineering-_RCS_Accelerator

I am currently in a Sovereign Class Assault Cruiser, which turns a little better.

Seneca · 2012-02-17T06:06:09.000Z

Thanks for the advice upthread on how to mix weapon types. I just hit Vice Admiral as a Science officer and had a lot of fun playing through the Klingon, Romulan and Cardassian story lines. Leveling is fast, too fast. I was fairly diligent in assigning duty officers to side missions and did not realize how much experience was pouring in from this mini-game.

My one criticisim of the game is that the numbers on weapons, gear, etc. seem meaningless. I tried a variety of loadouts on my ships and did not notice much of a difference in combat.

McKnight · 2012-02-17T06:18:38.000Z

I don’t think I’d bother getting a turn rate console for a cruiser. Doubly so if I was going for the common one torp tube on either end set-up, as a Cruiser Pilot you should be looking to make yourself effective at every angle negating your turn disadvantage and simply try to stay at max engage range as much as possible. If you seriously find yourself out of position or need to do a torp run on something then just use Evasive maneuvers and switch power to engines and aux (torps are unaffected by power rate), oh but switch power first because EM is based on your stats when used. You can grab a far better bonus then turn rate in that slot imo, especially considering you ain’t going to be out-turning any other ship no matter how many turn consoles you put on there :)

Have you used the right consoles Seneca? I noticed a significant increase in DPS when I got a good +Phaser damage console and switched all my beams to Phasers. Also if you plan on doing deeps don’t neglect the skills and abilities aswell, hitting at least 6 with your preferred weapon type and using the Tac BO skills like High Yield Torp and Beam Overload, etc effectively can make a huge difference.

CJ_Martin · 2012-02-17T07:50:14.000Z

Thanks for the tips, please keep them coming. Hard to find good advice on the official boards for less than VA. Also for whoever was doing the fleet invites, I realized I had my address wrong. It’s smut@fullcircle2

-CJ