Tag: STO

Star Trek Online

Ship Type: Science

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Overview: These ships specialise in exotic abilities, generating gravitic anomalies and bathing hapless foes in destructive radiation – if you love unconventional tactics, science ships may be your thing. Characteristics: These ships generally have strong shields but a weak hull, so shield bypassing exotic damage will probably be both your weakness and your strength. They also possess medium manoeuvrability, and you’ll find your survivability increasing if you quickly move out of hazards and crossfires. Science ships only have six weapon slots, making them the least heavily armed ship class. As such, relying on energy weapon volleys can be a poor … Continue reading Ship Type: Science

Star Trek Online

Ship Type: Escorts, Raptors & Raiders

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Overview: Swift, deadly, fragile – these heavily armed ships focus on frontal firepower, attempting to take out a swath of opponents in one devastating pass and relying on speed and firepower over raw toughness to keep them functioning. Characteristics: With weak shields and moderate hull capacity, these ships rely on their manoeuvrability to stay alive – they typically boast high turn rates and good inertia scores, allowing them to weave between enemies and stay out of the line of fire. On the flip side, escorts typically mount seven conventional weapon batteries, at least four of which face the front arc. … Continue reading Ship Type: Escorts, Raptors & Raiders

Star Trek Online

Guide: Exotic Damage

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Overview: Unconventional use of the deflector coupled with showy phenomena characterise those who focus on exotic damage in combat – if that sounds like fun, read on to learn about the varying ways you can twist space-time… Exotic Particles: All damaging science and engineering bridge officer powers fall into this category, as do many console, set and trait powers – and probably most important of all, radiation damage from the secondary deflector of a science ship. Simply put, this magnifies the amount of exotic damage you deal, and thus is the core of most dedicated science builds. This stat is … Continue reading Guide: Exotic Damage

Star Trek Online

Ship Type: Cruisers & Dreadnoughts

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Overview: The ship in the thick of the fight, energy beams flaring in the void, annihilating anyone foolish enough to stand their ground – cruisers are tough, powerful ships that can form the backbone of any fleet. Characteristics: Slow, brutal ships that specialise in broadside assaults, cruisers can take more punishment that any other type of ship, and retaliate with up to eight weapon batteries. Cruisers normally have a strong hull, moderate to good shielding, poor manoeuvrability and heavy armament – as noted above, they tend to work well when you can fly alongside a target, raking them with fire … Continue reading Ship Type: Cruisers & Dreadnoughts

Star Trek Online

Guide: Duty Officers & Admiralty

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Remember all the side projects that crew members take part in in the shows? The duty officer system allows you to send crewmen on assignments ranging from military assaults to impromptu concerts, allowing you to obtain minerals, equipment or black-market goods for your personal use. It’s not just the captain that goes on missions, there’s plenty of redshirts dying to go on an expedition! Recruitment: At level 11, you’ll receive the “First Compliment” mission that’ll grant you a package of basic duty officers. These are pretty low quality though, so you’ll want to pick up some recruitment assignments from Starfleet … Continue reading Guide: Duty Officers & Admiralty

Star Trek Online

Guide: Ground Combat

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The officers and equipment you select define how effective you’ll be on the ground in Star Trek Online. Read on for a look at the capabilities of each type of officer, or skip to the end for a cheap set-up that should be able to handle most situations. Group Composition: An away team is typically made up of your captain plus four officers you pick from your bridge crew. It’s fairly important to have a mixture of specialisations to help deal with a variety of foes, since each brings a different set of powers. Species & Traits: Every bridge officer … Continue reading Guide: Ground Combat

Star Trek Online

Ship Sub-Type: Carrier

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Ever wanted to swarm enemies with waves of bombers or co-ordinate frigates to devastating effect? Star Trek Online has plenty of options – here’s an info-dump to get you started! Carrier Types: Carriers, Dreadnought Carriers and Flight-Deck Carriers all come equipped with two hangar bays, but sacrifice manoeuvrability and lose out on some abilities you might have expected (no Sensor Analysis on a science focused carrier, for example.) Dreadnoughts, Multi-Mission Vessels and Strike-Wing Escorts usually have a single hangar but get to keep all their abilities, making them a good option if you just want to dabble in the carrier … Continue reading Ship Sub-Type: Carrier

Star Trek Online

Guide: Energy Weapons

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Overview: Probably the simplest form of play-style, revolving around blasting things with beam or cannon attacks. All ships can focus on this damage type, though science ships should really be making use of their high end exotic abilities as well. Increasing Energy/Weapon Damage: Energy Weapon Training is a catch all skill that will increase both beam and cannon damage of all types, available on the first row of the skill tree. Beyond this, you’ll need to look into consoles (usually tactical) for percentage increases in much more specialised areas, with a choice between energy type or weapon specific. Look on … Continue reading Guide: Energy Weapons