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Table of Contents Important...... 2 Ensign Bridge Officer Skills...... 40 The short version...... 2 Lieutenant Bridge Officer Skills...... 43 The long version...... 2 Lt. Commander Bridge Officer Skills....48 Introduction...... 5 Commander Bridge Officer Skills...... 52 Character Creation...... 6Weapons and Equipment...... 55 Captains...... 6 Ship Weapons...... 55 Career Paths...... 6 Beam Weapons...... 56 Tactical Officer...... 6 Projectile Weapons...... 56 Science Officer...... 6 Ship Equipment...... 56 Engineering Officer...... 7 Shields...... 57 Species Bonuses...... 7 Deflector Dishes...... 57 Additional Starting Traits...... 9 Impulse Engines...... 58 Bridge Officers...... 10 Consoles...... 58 Acquiring Bridge Officers...... 11 Devices...... 58 Strategies for Selecting Bridge Officers Commodities...... 58 ...... 11 Ground Weapons...... 59 Starting Ship...... 12 Ground Equipment...... 59 Ships...... 13 Personal Shields...... 60 Cruisers...... 14 Armor...... 60 Cruiser Stats...... 14 Kits...... 60 Escorts...... 15 Devices...... 61 Escort Stats...... 15 Banks...... 61 Science Vessels...... 16Leveling and Advancement...... 63 Science Vessel Stats...... 16 Grades vs. Ranks...... 63 Combat Overview...... 18 Skill Point Spending Strategy...... 64 Space Combat...... 18 Retraining (Respecs)...... 65 Basics...... 18 Training and Promoting Bridge Officers...65 Redirecting Shield Power...... 19Missions...... 67 Subsystem Settings...... 20 Storyline Episodes...... 67 Beams vs. Torpedoes...... 21 Tutorial Mission Walkthrough...... 67 Ground Combat...... 21 Episode Walkthroughs...... 70 Basics...... 22 Stranded in Space...... 70 Bridge Officer Commands...... 23 Diplomatic Orders...... 70 Flanking...... 24 Hide and Seek...... 71 Expose and Exploit...... 24 Stop the Signal...... 73 Pausing...... 25 Neutral Zone Diplomacy...... 73 Kit Selection...... 25 The Kuvah'Magh...... 74 Skills...... 26 War is Good for Business...... 74 Starfleet Skills...... 26 To Boldly Go...... 75 Starfleet Lieutenant Skills...... 27 Treasure Trading System...... 76 Starfleet Lt. Commander Skills...... 28 Secret Orders...... 76 Starfleet Commander Skills...... 29 Task Force Hippocrates...... 77 Starfleet Captain Skills...... 31 City on the Edge of Never...... 78 Starfleet Admiral Skills...... 32 Exploration Missions...... 80 Engineering Skills...... 33 Patrol Missions...... 81 Science Officer Skills...... 36 PvP and FvF Zones...... 81 Tactical Officer Skills...... 38 War Zones (Competitive PvE)...... 82 Bridge Officer Skills...... 39Federation Economics...... 83
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Energy Credits...... 83 Anomalous Data (Crafting)...... 86 Exchanges...... 83 Commander Romaine's Upgrade Replicators...... 84 Formulas...... 87 Starfleet Merits...... 84 The C-Store...... 89 Badges of Exploration...... 85
4 The Unofficial Star Trek Online Federation Guide INTRODUCTION Welcome to the Federation! In the world of Star Trek Online, all players start here.
Why is that? Some people are attracted to Federation characters for role-playing (RP) reasons, inspired by the numerous television shows, movies and novels. They want to create captains that follow in the footsteps of Kirk, Picard and Janeway.
There's an even simpler reason, though: the Federation is the only playable faction for STO newcomers. A little bit of advancement is required to unlock Klingon characters, and other potential playable factions like the Romulans and Cardassians remain on the drawing board for the time being.
Fortunately, the Federation offers a little bit of something for everyone. Fed characters enjoy a wealth of Player-versus-Enemy (PvE) content organized into “Seasons” and “Episodes,” as well as the chance to explore previously uncharted worlds. There are also opportunities to serve on the front lines of the conflict with the Klingons in consensual Player-versus-Player (PvP) zones.
Read on for information and tips on how to get the most out of every aspect of your STO Federation experience.
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reasons: it has a direct bearing on the captain's abilities in away team (ground- CHARACTER based) situations and determines the types CREATION of kits the captain can use. Tactical Officer nlike many other MMOs, STO If you want to play your captain as the avatars consist of more than first person into a firefight, this is the way just a single person or creature. to go. Tactical Officer is the most direct A captain can't go it alone, so your combat-based career and the most intuitive UFederation avatar also includes bridge for STO newcomers. officers and one of numerous different types of starships. The special abilities for Tactical Officers focus on either dealing damage directly, aiding the stealth capabilities of the away team or providing group combat buffs. Captains Tactical kits generally provide additional Following real life naval tradition, your attack options, either by offering secondary main character is referred to as a captain ranged attacks or beefing up melee regardless of his or rank within Starfleet. attacks. The gender, name and appearance of your captain are all completely customizable at Science Officer the start of the game. Other decisions This is the most direct Federation involving your captain are more than equivalent to the buff/debuff classes from cosmetic and require some more thought other popular MMOs. Science Officers learn as to your desired play style. abilities that affect combat by putting enemies at a disadvantage (especially via holds or resistance debuffs) or by aiding Career Paths fellow away team members. STO allows for a lot more flexibility than many other MMOs in terms of progression and the roles each player can play in combat. However, the captain's career path decision is still an important one for two
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Healing is also an important ability for • Humans get the usual jack-of-all- Science Officers, though it doesn't define trades role in the STO universe. them like it does in some other games. They get a 15% bonus to ship repair Though this can be a tricky path for and a 5% team bonus to Exploit beginners, it doesn't take too much time to attacks, a special kind of attack that see the value and power Science provides. takes advantage of a weakened foe.
Engineering Officer • Andorians have heightened senses Specializing in the technology of the STO that are helpful in combat. They universe, Engineering Officers are the receive 20% bonuses to spotting support people for the Federation. A key enemies using Stealth and 10% ability learned early on is the power to bonuses to personal Exploit attacks. recharge the personal shields of away team members, which greatly increases the • Bajorans make good Science or chances of surviving ground combat. Engineering officers thanks to their special abilities. Along with 5% That shield-boosting quality also allows bonuses to healing or damage using Engineers to fill the tank role familiar to kits, they get a 10% bonus from players of other MMOs. Kits used in this heals used on them and speedier path can bring turrets, drones and mines regeneration of health. into play, tilting battlefield conditions in the player's favor. • Benzites have natural armor that make them effective tanks. That armor gives them built-in damage Species Bonuses resistance to energy and physical Many Federation players have RP attacks as well as radiation and toxic motivations for choosing the species of damage. their captains thanks to TV and the movies. But there are game-based reasons for • Betazoids have mental powers not choosing carefully here, as every species found in other species. Their has several innate abilities. empathy reduces aggro and increases regeneration for the whole away team, and their telepathy has several small beneficial effects.
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• Bolians get one of the least useful allowing for very specialized bonuses. They have corrosive blood combinations for advanced players. that can deal damage to enemies – On the cosmetic side, aliens also but only under very specific have a much larger set of circumstances – and 20% damage appearance options. resistance to toxic attacks.
• Saurians are reptilians with innate resistances to fire, plasma and toxic Damage-over-TIme (DoT) effects. They also share the same Stealth detection and Exploit bonuses with Andorians.
• Trill characters get an increased metabolism as their only species ability. This grants them increased health regeneration and some resistance to radiation and toxic damage.
• Vulcans are a well-known race whose logical minds give them resistances to Psionic attacks and Confuse or Placate effects. They're also tough hand-to-hand combatants thanks to a 10% melee damage bonus.
• Aliens are a catch-all category that allows players to create a unique species that hasn't officially joined the Federation. Aliens can choose all four of their special abilities,
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Peak Health +10% Toxic DR Additional Starting Traits and max hit On top of the species bonuses, captains points get to pick from a pool of additional starting Physical Strength +10% Physical traits that grant extra bonuses. These traits melee damage come in both ground-based and space- Resilient +5% Energy and based categories: Physical DR
Soldier +5% Energy Ground Trait Bonuses damage, +10 Critical hit Acute Senses +20% Stealth severity detection, +10% Exploit damage Stubborn +40% Run Speed resistance, +20% Aggressive +5% to all Hold resistance, Damage, +5% +50% Placate Threat Generation resistance (aggro) Sturdy +10% Physical Cold Blooded +10% Plasma and and Kinetic DR +25% Fire and Knockback damage resistance resistance(DR) Sure Footed +40% Root Covert +10% Stealth resistance, +12% strength Knockback resistance Creative +5% to kit healing or Telekinesis Extra attack damage doing15 Physical damage and 30 Lucky +3% Critical hit ft. Knockback chance Telepathic +20 Stealth Mental Discipline +15% Psionic DR, detection, +1.5% +20% resistance Expose chance, 1 to Confuse and sec. Expose Placate duration
Natural +33% Radiation Immunities and Toxic DR
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Bridge Officers come in the same three Space Trait Bonuses flavors as captains, and their strengths and Accuracy +0.1 to hit w/ weaknesses when it comes to ground space weapons combat are pretty much the same. In space Astrophysicist +10 Starship is where they really shine, granting ships Operations skill extra powers they wouldn't otherwise have. training
Efficient +5 to all Starship • Tactical Bridge Officers enhance subsystems the damage done by ship weapons,
Elusive +0.1 Defense to with individual powers focused on space weapons beam weapons or torpedoes. They also have Attack Patterns that can Techie +10 Starship Engineering skill increase turning speed, erase status training effects like Holds and grant other abilities for short periods of time. Warp Theorist +10 Starship Warp Core skill • Science Bridge Officers bring training their buff/debuff game to space battles. Common powers include Captains can select a number of traits tractor beams to induce Holds, other equal to four minus the number of species beams to reduce enemy shields and traits. For example, Humans have two holoprojectors to Confuse opposing species traits and can pick two additional, ships. while Aliens have no species traits and can pick four from the tables above. • Engineering Bridge Officers are experts at rerouting power between a ship's subsystems. The Emergency Power to Shields and Bridge Officers Emergency Power to Weapons What good would a Federation captain abilities are extremely useful be without a competent crew to assist him general boosts. or her? Bridge officers help grant additional abilities to starships during space combat and fill out the remainder of the five-person Away Teams for ground-based missions.
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Acquiring Bridge Officers path, it only makes sense that you would want Bridge Officers with Science and When you roll a new STO Federation Engineering abilities to ensure your team is captain, you start with no Bridge Officers. well-rounded. You'll gain the first one by the end of the tutorial mission and have a chance to add There's another good reason to seek out several others fairly early on. at least one Bridge Officer of each type as soon as possible, and that's in order to As your captain progresses in rank and have all of the consoles on your ship gains access to larger ships, the amount of properly manned. Our starting ship (about Bridge Officers you can have at one time which you'll learn more in the next section) will increase as well. New additions to your has one Enginering, one Science and one crew can come as grade rewards or mission Tactical console. Manning each console rewards, including some special missions with the corresponding type of Bridge that will allow you access to Bridge Officers Officer will allow you to have access to that can't be obtained through any other three special abilities in space combat methods. situations.
Starfleet merits can also be used to As your captain progresses in rank and requisition Bridge Officer candidates at the gains access to new types of ships, you'll Earth Spacedock or other Starbases discover that each category of ship has a throughout Federation space. different mix of console types. That will become a main consideration going forward in terms of how many of each type of Strategies for Selecting Bridge Officer you want around. Bridge Officers Don't forget that Bridge Officers also Since all types of abilities are useful in make up the bulk of your away team in STO, it's easy to see why you would want to ground-based missions. You can choose choose Bridge Officers to compliment your Officers that aren't assigned to consoles on captain's talents. For instance, if you chose your ship to the away team and can change Tactical Officer for your captain's career the make-up of the team in-between missions, but it's still a good idea to have a variety of options at your disposal.
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Here again, the right Bridge Officers can truly maximize your away team's abilities. If Starting Ship your captain is a Tactical Officer, he can do more of the damage-dealing himself and Throughout your Federation career, could use the support of several Science or you'll have the chance to operate several Engineering types for healing and/or different types and classes of starships. But defense. Conversely, if your captain's at the beginning of the game, all captains career path is Science, you may find having start out with the same ship, a Light multiple Tactical Bridge Officers on your Cruiser. away team ensures that you aren't You will be able to change the outgunned. appearance of your starting ship at no charge thanks to a reward at the end of the It's also important to note that no two tutorial mission, but achieving the rank of Bridge Officers are alike, even if they have Lt. Commander is the only way to be able the same specialty. They each have to fly new ships on missions. different bonuses depending on their Your Light Cruiser has two forward species, just like your captain, and they weapons slots and one aft (rear), along with have access to different ground and space one of each type of console (Engineering, abilities as well. Science and Tactical). The mix of weapons and equipment is always the same when As you encounter situations where you you first begin your Starfleet career, but have the option to take on new Bridge you'll very quickly be able to swap some of Officers, it pays to spend a few moments to it out for improved gear found as drops left examine their inherent abilities. Though behind by defeated enemies or as rewards they can be trained to learn the specific for completed missions. abilities you's like them to have, it's often possible to find the ones you want just by chance.
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As you may have discovered with your starting ship, each type of ship actually has SHIPS three classes – for example, the Light Cruiser category encompasses the Miranda, hat would a good Starfleet ShiKahr and Centaur classes – and you're captain be without his free to choose from any of the three when starship? Though every you select a new ship. However the Fed player starts with an identical Light differences between the classes are strictly WCruiser, as soon as you achieve the rank of cosmetic and don't affect gameplay. Lieutenant Commander, you'll have some choices to make as to what kind of ship One final note on choosing ships: it may you'd like to command. seem like there is an obvious choice to make for your ship type based on your Ships fall into three basic categories: career path. At first glance, Escorts seem Cruisers, Escorts and Science Vessels. Each right for Tactical Officers, Cruisers for category has its own strengths and Engineers and Science Vessels for Science weaknesses, allowing for a variety of Officers. different play styles. Ships are also divided into five tiers which correspond to the There's some logic in that thinking, minimum rank you need to use each one. because players who choose to be Tactical Officers, for instance, probably are apt to One nice thing about STO is that it think offense first in both ground and space doesn't make you commit to one type of battles. But you may find that a different ship for the rest of your Fed career. You type of ship works better for you based on could potentially switch up the category of how you like to play in space, and thanks to ship you select every time you achieve a the varied abilities your Bridge Officers new rank (you can also buy a new ship if bring to the table, there's really no penalty you rack up enough energy credits), though for thinking outside the box here. Don't be you will likely find that doing so may not be afraid to go against the grain. the most efficient use of the skill points you've earned. Still, the option is there.
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Classes: Cheyenne, Stargazer and Cruisers Dakota Crew: 500 Versatility is the main advantage a Weapon Slots: 3 front, 3 rear cruiser brings into play. They carry large Device Slots: 4 crews, allowing for rapid repair of hull Tactical Stations: 1 Lieutenant damage and easy use of abilities that focus Engineering Stations: 1 Lt. Commander, on boarding parties or engineering teams. 1 Ensign Science Stations: 1 Lieutenant Cruisers also have the most power to Console Upgrades: 1 Tactical, 1 Science, distribute among their subsystems. 3 Engineering Fittingly, they have more Engineering console stations than other ships. Tier 4: Exploration Cruiser Classes: Galaxy, Celestial and Envoy Because of their large size, cruisers give Crew: 1,000 up something in speed and Weapon Slots: 4 front, 3 rear maneuverability. Device Slots: 4 Tactical Stations: 1 Lieutenant Engineering Stations: 1 Commander, 1 Cruiser Stats Lieutenant Tier 2: Cruiser Science Stations: 1 Lieutenant Classes: Constitution, Excalibur and Console Upgrades: 2 Tactical, 2 Science, Vesper 3 Engineering Crew: 400 Weapon Slots: 2 front, 2 rear Tier 5: Assault Cruiser Device Slots: 4 Classes: Sovereign, Noble and Majestic Tactical Stations: 1 Ensign Crew: 800 Engineering Stations: 1 Ensign, 1 Weapon Slots: 4 front, 4 rear Lieutenant Device Slots: 4 Science Stations: 1 Ensign Tactical Stations: 1 Lieutenant, 1 Ensign Console Upgrades: 1 Tactical, 1 Science, Engineering Stations: 1 Commander, 1 2 Engineering Lieutenant Commander Science Stations: 1 Lieutenant Tier 3: Heavy Cruiser
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Console Upgrades: 3 Tactical, 2 Science, Escort Stats 4 Engineering Tier 2: Escort Tier 5: Star Cruiser Classes: Saber, Rapier and Ushaan Classes: Avenger, Vanguard and Crew: 50 Emissary Weapon Slots: 3 front, 1 rear Crew: 1,000 Device Slots: 2 Weapon Slots: 4 front, 4 rear Tactical Stations: 1 Lieutenant, 1 Ensign Device Slots: 4 Engineering Stations: 1 Ensign Tactical Stations: 1 Lieutenant Science Stations: 1 Ensign Engineering Stations: 1 Commander, 1 Console Upgrades: 2 Tactical, 1 Science, Lt. Commander 1 Engineering Science Stations: 1 Lieutenant, 1 Ensign Console Upgrades: 2 Tactical, 3 Science, Tier 3: Heavy Escort 4 Engineering Classes: Akira, Oslo and Zephyr Crew: 100 Weapon Slots: 3 front, 2 rear Device Slots: 2 Escorts Tactical Stations: 1 Lt. Commander, 1 Though the Federation has always Ensign maintained that it doesn't have ships built Engineering Stations: 1 Lieutenant specifically for war, Escorts are pretty good Science Stations: 1 Lieutenant at it. They tend to be small but mighty, Console Upgrades: 3 Tactical, 1 Science, packing plenty of firepower – including 1 Engineering cannons, which other ships can't use – and marrying it with superior straight-line and Tier 4: Tactical Escort turning speed. Classes: Defiant, Vigilant and Gallant Crew: 50 On the minus side, their small crews Weapon Slots: 4 front, 2 rear mean that hull repairs are slow and they Device Slots: 4 aren't the best with boarding party abilities. Tactical Stations: 1 Commander, 1 Their shields are also relatively weak, Lieutenant meaning a good defense is usually a really Engineering Stations: 1 Lieutenant good offense. Science Stations: 1 Lieutenant
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Console Upgrades: 3 Tactical, 2 Science, 2 Engineering Science Vessels
Tier 5: Advanced Escort Intended to be the showcase for the Classes: Prometheus, Phoenix and most advanced Federation technology, Cerberus Science Vessels boast the most powerful Crew: 150 shields and sensors of any ships. The Weapon Slots: 4 front, 3 rear former is self-explanatory, while the latter Device Slots: 2 pays off with an edge for any abilities that Tactical Stations: 1 Commander, 1 Lt. rely on deflector dishes or arrays. Commander Engineering Stations: 1 Lieutenant Science Vessels aren't intended to be Science Stations: 1 Lieutenant, 1 Ensign primary front-line combat ships, so their Console Upgrades: 4 Tactical, 2 Science, hulls can't stand up to as much damage as 3 Engineering Cruisers or Escorts. They do have an inherent ability to detect cloaked ships, Tier 5: Fleet Escort which is extremely beneficial when going Classes: Hermes, Gryphon and Dervish up against the Klingons. Crew: 200 Weapon Slots: 4 front, 3 rear Device Slots: 2 Science Vessel Stats Tactical Stations: 1 Commander, 1 Lt. Tier 2: Science Vessel Commander Classes: Nova, Aurora and Quasar Engineering Stations: 1 Lieutenant, 1 Crew: 100 Ensign Weapon Slots: 2 front, 2 rear Science Stations: 1 Lieutenant Device Slots: 3 Console Upgrades: 4 Tactical, 3 Science, Tactical Stations: 1 Ensign 2 Engineering Engineering Stations: 1 Ensign Science Stations: 1 Lieutenant, 1 Ensign Console Upgrades: 1 Tactical, 2 Science, 1 Engineering
Tier 3: Research Science Vessel Classes: Olympic, Hope and Horizon
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Crew: 400 Weapon Slots: 3 front, 2 rear Tier 5: Deep Space Science Vessel Device Slots: 3 Classes: Trident, Oracle and Destiny Tactical Stations: 1 Lieutenant Crew: 500 Engineering Stations: 1 Lieutenant Weapon Slots: 3 front, 3 rear Science Stations: 1 Lt. Commander, 1 Device Slots: 3 Ensign Tactical Stations: 1 Lieutenant Console Upgrades: 1 Tactical, 3 Science, Engineering Stations: 1 Lieutenant, 1 1 Engineering Ensign Science Stations: 1 Commander, 1 Lt. Tier 4: Long Range Science Vessel Commander Classes: Intrepid, Cochrane and Console Upgrades: 2 Tactical, 4 Science, Discovery 3 Engineering Crew: 200 Weapon Slots: 3 front, 3 rear Device Slots: 3 Tactical Stations: 1 Lieutenant Engineering Stations: 1 Lieutenant Science Stations: 1 Commander, 1 Lieutenant Console Upgrades: 2 Tactical, 3 Science, 2 Engineering
Tier 5: Reconnaissance Science Vessel Classes: Luna, Sol and Polaris Crew: 350 Weapon Slots: 3 front, 3 rear Device Slots: 3 Tactical Stations: 1 Lieutenant, 1 Ensign Engineering Stations: 1 Lieutenant Science Stations: 1 Commander, 1 Lt. Commander Console Upgrades: 3 Tactical, 4 Science, 2 Engineering
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spending the most time with your strongest weapons and shields facing your enemy COMBAT and the least time exposing your weak points. OVERVIEW However the battles do unfold in real time, often leaving you little time to think ven though the Federation's once you're in the thick of the action. mission is one of exploration, Having a plan before engaging the enemy scientific discovery and is always a smart idea. peacekeeping, things never stay too Efriendly in the STO universe for long. When Basics the shooting starts, it helps to know how to win battles in space or on land. Except in some very rare mission- specific situations, your goal in any space battle will be to reduce the hull hit points of the enemy ship or ships to zero before Space Combat yours does the same. Your current hull status is represented by the ship icon at the Battles between large starships are a bottom center of the screen, while the ship staple of STO's source material and a major you are targeting has a similar icon at the focus of the game. It's a rare mission that top of the screen. Hull damage is slowly doesn't involve even one encounter with an repaired by your ship's crew as long as it is enemy ship, and it's not uncommon to face not taking damage. wave after wave of opponents in some cases. Anyone who knows the STO universe knows that shields are important to space The space combat system is similar to combat. Though some damage can slip that of EVE Online in that it doesn't rely on through to the hull even when shields are reflexes and who has the fastest trigger at full power, eliminating the shields allows finger. It's more about positioning and all the damage from weapons to apply utilizing your ship's resources effectively, directly to the hull.
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Shields have separate hit points for the fires all of your beam weapons that can front, back and both sides of every ship, currently hit your target, while pressing and are displayed in both numeric and color control-spacebar does the same for torpedo bar form around the ship icons. The game weapons. will give you an audible cue when either your facing shield or your opponent's is In order to keep your ship facing the completely down. correct direction for shield and weapon purposes, you'll want to be moving while When it comes to ship weapons, firing you fight. In combat situations, full impulse arcs are the key. Every weapon has a power is disabled, but your throttle still specific arc within which in can fire, works the same way it does while flying in meaning keeping your ship facing so that non-combat areas. your current target is in the maximum number of firing arcs simultaneously is a Remember that turning speed is more key part of space combat. important than straight-line speed when it comes to space battles. That means captain Sometimes this leads to some counter- and Bridge Officer abilities to increase intuitive situations; for example, a ship with turning speed are always helpful, and since phasers with 210-degree firing arcs in the turning in tight spaces isn't always possible front and back can bring them both to bear while running flat out, it often pays to ease if one of its sides is facing the enemy. In off the throttle just a bit in a fight. general, more powerful weapons have smaller firing arcs, the better to help Redirecting Shield Power balance them out. One of the favorite tactics from Trek TV Though all of you ship weapons are shows and movies is not only viable in STO automatically mapped to different number but absolutely essential in some cases: re- keys, it can sometimes be difficult to keep routing your shield power in one particular track of your weapons' firing arcs in the direction. This is done by clicking on the heat of battle. Fortunately, there are two corresponding arrow on your ship icon at helpful shortcuts: pressing the spacebar the bottom of the screen.
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Clicking on the forward arrow, for does this automatically when you use full example, will take power from the side and impulse power in non-combat situations, rear shields to boost the forward shield. routing much of the power to the engines to Obviously, this weakens the other three greatly increase speed. sides, but that may not matter if an enemy is pounding you from one direction. The icons above the subsystems can switch you quickly between four subsystem Forcing power to one shield is a settings. From left to right, they are: temporary measure, but it can be very helpful when you are faced with a single • Attack – Takes power from Engines enemy and want to keep your most and Auxiliary to boost weapons powerful weapons within their firing arcs. while keeping Shields at normal It's not as desirable when fending off levels. This is a good scheme when multiple attackers, as you need to worry fighting a single powerful enemy about taking simultaneous hits from ship, especially if that ship is slower multiple directions. than yours and the loss in maneuverability won't hurt you. • Defense – The opposite of Attack, Subsystem Settings this setting increases power to Shields at the expense of Engines Your ship has four subsystems which are and Auxiliary while keeping represented by small icons on the bottom Weapons unchanged. A good use for of the screen between your shield and this setting is against multiple weapons controls. From top to bottom, they speedy but weak enemies, where are Weapons, Shields, Engines and you wouldn't be able to keep up with Auxiliary (things like sensors and deflector them anyway and can simply shrug dishes). off incoming fire while you attack. • Speed – Though it doesn't quite get The default setting evenly distributes the you to full impulse levels, this power from your ship's core to all four setting increases Engines while subsystems. However, it's possible to decreasing Weapons and Shields, change that distribution, taking power from leaving Auxiliary untouched. If some areas to boost another. Your ship you're in over your head and decide
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discretion would be the better part Let's use your starting ship as an of valor, this setting may allow you example. It has phasers mounted in front to outrun your foes and escape and back with very wide firing arcs, along combat altogether. with a photon torpedo launcher in the front • Balanced – This is the default setting with a narrow firing arc. While your enemy's with power evenly divided. shields are still fairly strong, facing it with your left or right side is best, as both The settings can be changed at any phasers will be able to target and wear time, though it does take a few seconds for down the shields. the power to flow from one scheme to another. Once the enemy's facing shields are low or down, it makes sense to turn the nose of your ship around, where one phaser can Beams vs. Torpedoes still strike and the photon torpedoes can hit for big hull damage. During the tutorial mission, you'll learn that beam weapons (like phasers and There are exceptions, of course, and disruptors) are more effective against sometimes especially fast hostile ships will shields while torpedoes (most famously force you to simply throw whatever you can photon torpedoes, basically the missiles of at them while they buzz around. But in the STO universe) do more damage directly general, using beams against shields and to a ship's hull. This is an important enough torpedoes against the hull is the way to go. concept that it's worth reinforcing here.
Most of the time, you'll want to use your beam weapons to wear down your Ground Combat opponents' shields and use torpedoes only after the shields are considerably Not every dispute in the STO universe weakened or down completely. Torpedo can be settled out in space. There are many launchers have longer recharge times and times your crew will have to get up close smaller firing arcs compared to beam and personal with the Federation's weapons, so you don't want to “waste” enemies, either on the surfaces of distant them in less than optimal circumstances. planets or after beaming aboard ships or bases.
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On the defensive side, double-tapping Your captain won't fight alone, however, any of the movement keys will make your but as part of a five-person away team. captain dive and roll in that direction. This Except in missions where you are teaming is a useful trick for getting out of tight with other human-controlled captains, most situations, like when you have enemies often the team will be comprised of your surrounding you, and briefly increases your Bridge Officers. chances of avoiding attacks. Note that the dive move has a recharge time of several During ground battles you control only seconds. your captain, but the other members of your team will follow any orders you issue The icon in the upper-left corner to them and use their special abilities on represents the current status of our command. captain. The top bar shows the strength of your personal shield – which absorbs damage until it reaches zero and Basics regenerates when you avoid taking any damage for a specific amount of time – and After playing the tutorial mission, you'll the bottom bar displays your health. Similar already know the basics of moving, icons for the other members of your away targeting and attacking using the keyboard. team are arranged on the left side of the The keys you'll use most often are the W, A, screen. S and D keys to move your captain and the number keys to use your attacks and other The goal of ground battles is simple: abilities. reduce your enemies to zero health before they do the same to your away team. If Also important is the C key, which will your captain is reduced to zero health, you allow your captain to aim his or her will be unconscious and unable to continue weapon. This increases the damage done to fight. One of your Bridge Officers may be by attacks at the expense of slower able to revive you once they dispatch any movement; pressing C again returns your nearby foes. captain to a normal movement state.
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Conversely, your captain can revive Still, you will eventually encounter other unconscious members of the away tougher foes and desire some more control team using the Cardiopulmonary over your Bridge Officers. STO gives you Resuscitation ability that all players know. If that control by allowing you to issue your entire away team is wiped (everyone individual or group orders using the icons is unconscious), you will have to start over by the status bars on the left side of the from the nearest respawn point. screen. The group commands run across the top STO ground combat isn't as complex as of the Officer status bars. From left to right, it is in some other MMOs, but there are they are: subtleties and tactics to learn in order to win battles against the tougher enemies • Passive Mode – This tells your you'll run into during your Starfleet career. Officers not to attack, even if attacked by enemies. They will continue to use heals and buffs. Bridge Officer Commands • Attack Mode – This tells crew members to use attacks and special The Bridge Officers who make up the abilities as they see fit. Your Officers bulk of your away team (or the generic default to this mode. Security officers you have early in the • Group Target – Clicking this icon will game) are capable combatants. In their tell all of your Officers to target the default state, they will follow your captain same character your captain is around, taking his or her lead on when to currently targeting. This is a very start fighting. They will use their special effective tactic when fighting boss- ground abilities fairly intelligently and can level enemies, as it focuses the defeat many common enemies without firepower of your entire away team special instructions. on one foe. • Rally Point – This sets a point to which all of your Bridge Officers will travel. It's handy for gathering the members of your away team if they
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get spread out during a battle, but When fighting a particularly stubborn as STO ground combat tends to take enemy or mob, gaining flanking position place in relatively small areas, it's can be a big help. This simply means not as crucial as you may think. attacking from the sides or rear of your foe, which allows your attacks to do extra The final icon, Leave Team, allows you to damage. exit a group in cooperative missions where you are teamed with other player-controlled You can't order your Bridge Officers to captains and is not applicable in situations take flanking positions, so this tactic can be where you are leading your own away carried out most effectively by your team. captain. When you see enemies engaged with your Bridge Officers, you'll often have Specific commands can be given to opportunities to move around and dish out individual away team members using the flanking damage yourself. icons to the left of their status bars. These include Passive Mode, Active Mode and Note that your enemies can also take Rally Point. advantage of flanking, but STO gives you both visual and audio warnings to let you Finally, the icons to the right of your know when this is happening. Bridge Officers can be used to activate their ground abilities. As noted above, in Active Mode the Officers will use their abilities on Expose and Exploit their own – and generally pretty Both special abilities and the secondary intelligently – but there will still be plenty of attacks of certain weapons can create the times you will want a specific ability used at Expose effect, which puts the target into a exactly the right time. Bridge Officer vulnerable state for several seconds. abilities have visible recharge timers just Though some STO players have expressed like your captain's abilities so you can see some displeasure at the lack of logic behind when they are available. why certain attacks work this way, it shouldn't stop you from using them to your advantage. Flanking
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Exploit attacks do extra damage once a You get a total of 45 seconds of pause target is Exposed. These are also available time during each ground instance, so be to you through the secondary attack modes sure to use the time wisely. Commands can of various ground weapons. be issued to your Bridge Officers while the mission is paused, making it a useful way to The best way to use Expose and Exploit make sure your attack plan is in order together is to make sure your Bridge before taking on a boss or a large mob. Officers are equipped with weapons or abilities that can Expose targets. Used in tandem with the group Target command Kit Selection will almost ensure that sturdier boss-type enemies will be left vulnerable at some One final way to give your away team point during a fight. more options in ground combat situations is to swap the kit your captain is wearing. If your captain is armed with an Exploit- Though kits will be covered in more detail enabled weapon, you can hit the vulnerable in the section on Weapons and Equipment, targets yourself for extra damage. The icon you should already know that every kit on a weapon's Exploit attack will flash when grants the wearer a different special ability, your current target is Exposed, so you'll and you can replace your captain's kit with always know the right time to strike. another one in your inventory at any time.
If you find your away team is continually Pausing getting wiped at the same spot on a ground mission and you've tried everything else, If the heat of battle gets to be too much try looking through your available kits to and you find yourself overwhelmed, you see if there is an attack or ability that might can use the Pause Zone button on the right help. side of the screen to get a brief respite. There isn't an in-game explanation for why you can stop time, but the Federation has some pretty cool technology, so try not to worry about it too much!
25 The Unofficial Star Trek Online Federation Guide SKILLS TO is a skill-based game. That's not unusual for an MMO, but since your Federation captain doesn't have any attributes – things you may see in other games like strength, agility, intelligence and the like – skills truly are the Sfoundation upon which your character is built.
The career path you chose at the beginning of the game affects the skills available to you, but not as much as you might think. That's because the majority of skills are available to anyone, and only a small percentage of the overall number of skills is restricted by career.
The STO skill system also has an interesting twist in that it doesn't rely on prerequisites. Though a new selection of skills is opened up every time your captain advances in rank, all of them are available regardless of the previous skills you've chosen to invest in.
The result is a lot of flexibility in the way you decide to build your character. Very specialized builds are possible and make sense for certain space-based skills as you progress. But more general builds, spreading Skill Points around a broader selection of skills, are also viable.
Starfleet Skills These skills are able to be learned by any captain, regardless of career path. Most of them are related to improving the performance of your ship, but some of the ones that can be trained early in the game give general bonuses to your Bridge Officers.
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Starfleet Lieutenant Skills
Skill Name Cost Per Level Effect
Engineering Team Leader 100 pts. Boosts Modification Training and Maintenance Training skills of Engineering Bridge Officers
Science Team Leader 100 pts. Boosts Scientific Theory and Scientific Practice skills of Science Bridge Officers
Starship Attack Vectors 100 pts. Boosts accuracy of space attacks and abilities that use starship attack vectors
Starship Command 100 pts. Boosts hull strength, turning speed and engine speed of any starship
Starship Energy Weapons 100 pts. Boosts energy beam and Training cannon damage and skills that modify any energy weapons
Starship Engineering 100 pts. Boosts starship system Training performance abilities
Starship Operations 100 pts. Boosts starship sensor, Training deflector and emitter abilities
Starship Projectile 100 pts. Boosts torpedo and mine Weapons Training damage and skills that modify both kinds of weapons
Starship Warp Core 100 pts. Boosts power levels of Training starship systems and
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power management abilities
Tactical Team Leader 100 pts. Boosts Assault Training and Close Combat Training skills of Tactical Bridge Officers Starfleet Lt. Commander Skills
Skill Cost Per Level Effect
Cruiser Captain 200 pts. Boosts hull strength, turning speed and engine speed of any type of Cruiser
Escort Captain 200 pts. Boosts hull strength, turning speed and engine speed of any type of Escort
Science Vessel Captain 200 pts. Boosts hull strength, turning speed and engine speed of any type of Science Vessel
Starship Auxiliary Systems 200 pts. Boosts starship auxiliary Maintenance system abilities
Starship Beam Weapons 200 pts. Boosts damage of any starship beam weapon and abilities that modify beam weapons
Starship Cannon Weapons 200 pts. Boosts damage of any starship cannon weapon and abilities that modify cannon weapons
Starship Deflectors 200 pts. Boosts starship deflector abilities
Starship Emitters 200 pts. Boosts starship emitter
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abilities
Starship Engine 200 pts. Boosts starship engine Maintenance system abilities
Starship Mines 200 pts. Boosts damage of starship mine weapons and abilities that modify mine weapons
Starship Sensors 200 pts. Boosts starship sensor abilities
Starship Shield 200 pts. Boosts starship shield Maintenance system abilities
Starship Torpedo 200 pts. Boosts torpedo weapons Weapons damage as well as abilities that modify torpedo weapons
Starship Weapons System 200 pts. Boosts starship weapons Maintenance system abilities
Starfleet Commander Skills
Skill Cost Per Level Effect
Heavy Cruiser Captain 300 pts. Boosts hull strength, turning speed and engine speed of a Heavy Cruiser
Heavy Escort Captain 300 pts. Boosts hull strength, turning speed and engine speed of a Heavy Escort
Research Science Vessel 300 pts. Boosts hull strength, Captain turning speed and engine speed of a Research Science Vessel
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Starship Auxiliary Systems 300 pts. Boosts starship auxiliary Efficiency power abilities
Starship Deflector Dish 300 pts. Boosts starship deflector dish abilities
Starship Disruptor 300 pts. Boosts damage of Weapons disruptor ship weapons
Starship Energy Weapon 300 pts. Boosts starship weapon Efficiency power abilities
Starship Engine Efficiency 300 pts. Boosts starship engine abilities
Starship Phaser Weapons 300 pts. Boosts damage of phaser ship weapons
Starship Photon Projectiles 300 pts. Boosts starship photon projectiles damage
Starship Quantum 300 pts. Boosts starship quantum Projectiles projectiles damage
Starship Sensor Array 300 pts. Boosts starship sensor array abilities
Starship Shield Efficiency 300 pts. Boosts starship shield power abilities
Starship Tractor Beam 300 pts. Boosts starship tractor beam abilities
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Starfleet Captain Skills
Skill Cost Per Level Effect
Exploration Cruiser 400 pts. Boosts hull strength, Captain turning speed and engine speed of an Exploration Cruiser
Long Range Science 400 pts. Boosts hull strength, Vessel Captain turning speed and engine speed of a Long Range Science Vessel
Starship Deflector Field 400 pts. Boosts starship deflector field abilities
Starship Engine 400 pts. Boosts starship engine Performance functionality abilities
Starship Hazard System 400 pts. Boosts starship hazard system abilities
Starship Plasma Energy 400 pts. Boosts damage of plasma Weapons energy ship weapons
Starship Plasma 400 pts. Boosts damage of plasma Projectiles projectile ship weapons
Starship Sensor Probes 400 pts. Boosts starship sensor probes abilities
Starship Shield 400 pts. Boosts starship shield Performance functionality abilities
Starship Subsystem 400 pts. Boosts starship subsystem Repair repair speed and related abilities
Starship Tetryon Weapons 400 pts. Boosts damage of tetryon ship weapons
Starship Transphasic 400 pts. Boosts damage of Projectiles transphasic projectile ship weapons
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Tactical Escort Captain 400 pts. Boosts hull strength, turning speed and engine speed of a Tactical Escort
Starfleet Admiral Skills
Skill Cost Per Level Effect
Advanced Escort Captain 500 pts. Boosts hull strength, turning speed and engine speed of an Advanced Escort
Assault Cruiser Captain 500 pts. Boosts hull strength, turning speed and engine speed of an Assault Cruiser
Astrometrics 500 pts. Boosts starship astrometrics abilities
Deep Space Science 500 pts. Boosts hull strength, Vessel Captain turning speed and engine speed of a Deep Space Science Vessel
Fleet Escort Captain 500 pts. Boosts hull strength, turning speed and engine speed of a Fleet Escort
Photonic Theory 500 pts. Boosts starship photonic theory abilities
Reconnaissance Science 500 pts. Boosts hull strength, Vessel Captain turning speed and engine speed of a Reconnaissance Science Vessel
Spatial Anomaly 500 pts. Boosts starship spatial anomaly abilities
Star Cruiser Captain 500 pts. Boosts hull strength,
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turning speed and engine speed of a Star Cruiser
Starship Antiproton 500 pts. Boosts damage of Weapons antiproton ship weapons
Starship Auxiliary Systems 500 pts. Boosts starship auxiliary Performance systems abilities
Starship Chroniton 500 pts. Boosts damage of Projectiles chroniton projectile ship weapons
Starship Hull Repair 500 pts. Boosts hull repair speed and related abilities
Starship Polaron Weapons 500 pts. Boosts damage of polaron ship weapons
Starship Tricobalt 500 pts. Boosts damage of Projectiles tricobalt projectile ship weapons
Starship Weapons System 500 pts. Boosts starship weapon Performance functionality abilities
Engineering Skills Engineers help out their teammates in ground combat scenarios in two ways. First and foremost, they have access to a number of defensive buffs that can improve shields and armor. They also can create devices that can impact the battlefield in both offensive (turrets) and defensive (fortifications) ways. These skills modify all of those abilities.
Skill Cost Per Level Effect
Armor Engineering 500 pts. Boosts armor engineering (Admiral) abilities like Equipment Diagnostics and Fuse Armor
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Combat Engineer (Lt. 200 pts. Boosts explosives, field Commander) fortifications and field logistics abilities
Drones (Admiral) 500 pts. Boosts drones abilities like Support Drone Fabrication and Seeker Drone Fabrication
Explosives (Commander) 300 pts. Boosts explosives abilities like Chroniton Mine Barrier and Transphasic Bomb
Fabrication Engineer (Lt. 200 pts. Boosts ground generators, Commander) turrets and drones abilities
Field Fortifications 400 pts. Boosts field fortification (Captain) abilities like Cover Shield and Force Field Dome
Field Logistics (Admiral) 500 pts. Boosts field logistics abilities
Firearms Engineering 400 pts. Boosts firearms (Captain) engineering abilities like Quick Fix and Weapons Malfunction
Generators (Commander) 300 pts. Boosts ground generator abilities
Maintenance Training 100 pts. Boosts ally buffs and (Lieutenant) equipment fabrication abilities
Modification Training 100 pts. Boosts enemy damage (Lieutenant) and debuff and protect ally abilities
Personal Shields 300 pts. Boosts personal shield Engineering (Commander) engineering abilities like Reroute Power to Shields and Shield Recharge
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Technician (Lt. 200 pts. Boosts personal shields, Commander) firearms and armor engineering abilities
Turrets (Captain) 400 pts. Boosts turrets abilities like Phaser Turret Fabrication and Quantum Mortar Fabrication
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Science Officer Skills Like the buff/debuff classes in other MMOs, Science Officers may take the most creativity to play effectively. That doesn't mean that their path-specific skills are weak, though. Along with always helpful healing abilities, Science skills include powerful ways to help control enemies through holds and status effects. The following skills aid Science-related abilities in various ways.
Skill Cost Per Level Effect
Doctor (Lt. Commander) 200 pts. Boosts ground abilities that Cure, Heal or buff allies
Exogeology (Captain) 400 pts. Boosts ground exogeology abilities like Gravimetric Shift and Thermal Vent
Molecular Chemistry 500 pts. Boosts molecular (Admiral) chemistry abilities like Biofilter Sweep and Triage
Nanite Treatments 500 pts. Boosts ground nanite (Admiral) treatment abilities like Nanite Health Monitor and Nanoprobe Infestation
Physiology (Commander) 300 pts. Boosts ground physiology abilities like Medical Tricorder and Vascular Regenerator
Psychology (Captain) 400 pts. Boosts ground psychology abilities like Neural Neutralizer and Hypospray-Melorazine
Quantum Mechanics 500 pts. Boosts ground quantum (Admiral) mechanic abilities like Tachyon Harmonic and Dampening Field
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Radiology (Captain) 400 pts. Boosts ground radiology abilities like Hyperonic Radiation and Sonic Pulse
Researcher (Lt. 200 pts. Boosts ground science Commander) abilities that damage or control enemies
Scientific Practice 100 pts. Boosts ground science (Lieutenant) abilities that Heal, Cure or buff allies
Scientific Theory 100 pts. Boosts ground science (Lieutenant) abilities that damage or control enemies
Scientist (Lt. Commander) 200 pts. Boosts ground science abilities that damage or debuff enemies
Toxicology (Commander) 300 pts. Boosts ground toxicology abilities like Hypospray- Dylovene and Anesthizine Gas
Xenobiology 300 pts. Boosts ground (Commander) xenobiology abilities like Tricorder Scan and Stasis Field
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Tactical Officer Skills Since Tactical Officer is the career path most focused on direct damage-dealing, it's only fitting that their unique skills help out in that regard. Captains who spend points improving these skills help themselves and/or their Bridge Officers become better at eliminating foes with both ranged and melee attacks, as well as improving their stealth and aggro-controlling capabilities.
Skill Cost Per Level Effect
Advanced Warfare 500 pts. Boosts ground advanced (Admiral) warfare abilities like Target Optics and Motion Accelerator
Assault Training 100 pts. Boosts damage from (Lieutenant) rifles, assault weapons and grenades and improves ranged combat abilities
Close Combat Training 100 pts. Boosts damage from (Lieutenant) pistols and martial arts attacks and improves close combat abilities
Close Protection (Admiral) 500 pts. Boosts ground close protection abilities like Security Escort and Overwatch
Firearms (Commander) 300 pts. Boosts rifle, pistol and assault weapon damage and related abilities
Grenades (Commander) 300 pts. Boosts grenade damage and related abilities
Martial Arts (Commander) 300 pts. Boosts martial arts damage and related abilities
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Security (Lt. Commander) 200 pts. Boosts pistol damage and firearms, threat control and close protection abilities
Soldier (Lt. Commander) 200 pts. Boosts rifle and grenade damage and grenades, tactics and squad command abilities
Special Forces (Lt. 200 pts. Boosts assault weapons Commander) damage and martial arts, stealth and advanced warfare abilities
Squad Command 500 pts. Boosts squad command (Admiral) abilities like Rally Cry and Tactical Initiative
Stealth (Captain) 400 pts. Boosts stealth abilities like Stealth Module and Ambush
Tactics (Captain) 400 pts. Boosts tactics abilities like Fire on my Mark and Smoke Grenade
Threat Control (Captain) 400 pts. Boosts threat control abilities like Smoke Grenade and Draw Fire
Bridge Officer Skills Your Bridge Officers bring a whole different set of skills into play. You can even say they affect the game more directly, because while your captain's skills grant bonuses to actions you or someone else perform, the Officer's skills add whole new abilities to your repertoire on the ground and in space.
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Officers begin with just a single ground skill and a single space skill, both of which can be improved by spending Bridge Officer Skill Points on them. If you choose to promote them, they gain access to an additional space and ground skill with each new rank, maxing out at four of each once they reach the rank of Commander.
You'll know as soon as you welcome a new Bridge Officer into your crew what skills they will gain as they level up, but he or she can be trained to learn a new skill by visiting the proper trainer or by maxing out certain skills of your own that allow you to do the training yourself. Bridge Officers can only learn the skills specific to their career paths.
The following is a complete list of Bridge Officer skills by rank:
Ensign Bridge Officer Skills
Skill Career
Beam Fire at Will I Tactical Improves next beam array attack
Beam Overload I Tactical Improves next beam array attack
Draw Fire I Tactical Increases threat generation, buffs allies' DR
Emergency Power to Engineering Temporarily increases Auxiliary I Auxiliary subsystem power
Emergency Power to Engineering Temporarily increases Engines I power to impulse engines
Emergency Power to Engineering Temporarily increases Shields I power to shields
Emergency Power to Engineering Temporarily increases Weapons I power to weapons
Engineering Team I Engineering Repairs hull damage and
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subsystems, buffs engineering skill for own ship or ally
Focus Fire I Tactical Debuffs damage resistance of target
Gravimetric Shift I Science Holds target and nearby enemies
Hazard Emitters I Science Removes fire or radiation hazards from ship, heals some hull damage over time
Hypospray – Dylovene I Science Removes toxin effects, buffs physical damage and DR on self or ally
Jam Sensors I Science Prevents enemy from targeting you
Leg Sweep I Tactical Melee attack that can knockback multiple enemies
Mask Energy Signature I Science Lessens the chances of enemy ships detecting you
Medical Tricorder I Science Heals self or ally
Mine Barrier I Tactical Deploys five chroniton mines that deal kinetic damage
Photon Grenade I Tactical Ranged attack that does kinetic damage and knockback
Polarize Hull I Science Buffs energy DR, breaks tractor beams
Quick Fix I Engineering Removes mechanical debuffs, buffs ranged
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damage on self or ally
Science Team I Science Repairs shield damage, buffs science and removes holds on own ship or ally
Shield Recharge I Engineering Restores personal shield energy to self or ally
Tachyon Beam I Science Drains target ship's shields
Tachyon Harmonic I Science Cone AoE attack that damages personal shields and destroys forcefields
Tactical Team I Tactical Grants tactical buff, removes crew and tactical debuffs for own ship or ally
Torpedo: High Yield I Tactical Boosts damage of next torpedo attack
Torpedo: Spread I Tactical Turns next torpedo attack into AoE attack
Tractor Beam I Science Slows and prevents cloaking for target ship
Transfer Shield Strength I Science Boosts shields of ally ship
Weapons Malfunction I Engineering Prevents target from firing ground weapons
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Lieutenant Bridge Officer Skills
Skill Career Effect
Attack Pattern Beta I Tactical Debuffs target ship's DR when attacked
Attack Pattern Delta I Tactical Debuffs DR of any ship that attacks targeted ally
Auxiliary to Battery I Engineering Converts auxiliary power into battery that can be used later
Auxiliary to Dampeners I Engineering Redirects auxiliary power to buff kinetic DR
Auxiliary to Structural I Engineering Redirects auxiliary power to heal hull damage and buff DR
Beam Fire at Will II Tactical Improves next beam array attack
Beam Overload II Tactical Improves next beam array attack but temporarily takes beam weapons offline
Beam Target Auxiliary II Tactical Targets Auxiliary subsystems of enemy ship with next beam array attack
Beam Target Engines II Tactical Targets Engines subsystems of enemy ship with next beam array attack
Beam Target Shields II Tactical Targets Shields subsystems of enemy ship with next beam array attack
Beam Target Weapons II Tactical Targets Weapons
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subsystems of enemy ship with next beam array attack
Boarding Party I Engineering Damages crew and subsystems of target ship
Cannon: Rapid Fire I Tactical Boosts next cannon attack
Cannon: Scatter Volley I Tactical Turns next cannon attack into cone AoE attack
Charged Particle Burst I Science Disables cloaks, damages shields of nearby enemy ships
Directed Energy Engineering Increases shield Modulation I penetration of own ship's energy weapons
Dispersal Pattern Alpha I Tactical Improves next mine attack
Dispersal Pattern Beta I Tactical Improves next mine attack
Draw Fire II Tactical Increases threat generation, buffs allies' DR
Emergency Power to Engineering Temporarily increases Auxiliary II Auxiliary subsystem power
Emergency Power to Engineering Temporarily increases Engines II power to impulse engines
Emergency Power to Engineering Temporarily increases Shields II power to shields
Emergency Power to Engineering Temporarily increases Weapons II power to weapons
Energy Siphon I Science Decreases target ship's power to all systems,
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increases own ship's power to all systems
Engineering Team II Engineering Repairs hull damage and subsystems, buffs engineering skill for own ship or ally
Extend Shields I Engineering Regenerates shields and buffs DR of ally ship
Feedback Pulse I Science Damages enemy ships that hit you with energy weapons
Focus Fire II Tactical Debuffs damage resistance of target
Gravimetric Shift II Science Holds target and nearby enemies
Hazard Emitters II Science Removes fire or radiation hazards from ship, heals some hull damage over time
Hypospray – Dylovene II Science Removes toxin effects, buffs physical damage and DR on self or ally
Jam Sensors II Science Removes toxin effects, buffs physical damage and DR on self or ally
Leg Sweep II Tactical Melee attack that can knockback multiple enemies
Lunge I Tactical Melee attack with chance to knock down
Mask Energy Signature II Science Lessens the chances of enemy ships detecting you
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Medical Tricorder II Science Heals self or ally
Mine Barrier II Engineering Deploys five chroniton mines that deal kinetic damage
Phaser Turret Fabrication I Engineering Creates one or two beam weapon turrets
Photon Grenade II Tactical Ranged attack that does kinetic damage and knockback
Photonic Officer I Science Reduces recharge time of Bridge Officer abilities
Polarize Hull II Science Buffs energy DR, breaks tractor beams
Quick Fix II Engineering Removes mechanical debuffs, buffs ranged damage on self or ally
Reroute Power to Shields I Engineering Heals personal shield energy, buffs DR
Reverse Shield Polarity I Engineering Converts incoming energy weapon damage into shield strength
Science Team II Science Repairs shield damage, buffs science and removes holds on own ship or ally
Scramble Sensors I Science Confuses target ship and nearby enemies
Shield Generator I Engineering Creates fixed position generator that recharges nearby allies' personal shields
Shield Recharge II Engineering Restores personal shield energy to self or ally
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Smoke Grenade I Tactical Attack that reduces enemy perception and boosts allies' stealth
Sonic Pulse I Science Damages and slows nearby enemies with high chance of knockback
Stasis Field I Science Holds target
Suppressing Fire I Tactical Slows and debuffs damage of any enemy you damage with firearms
Tachyon Beam II Science Drains target ship's shields
Tachyon Harmonic II Science Cone AoE attack that damages personal shields and destroys forcefields
Tactical Team II Tactical Cone AoE attack that damages personal shields and destroys forcefields
Target Optics I Tactical Buffs damage, perception, crit chance and crit severity for self, has chance to Expose enemies
Torpedo: High Yield II Tactical Boosts damage of next torpedo attack
Torpedo: Spread II Tactical Turns next torpedo attack into AoE attack
Tractor Beam II Science Slows and prevents cloaking for target ship
Tractor Beam Repulsors I Science Pushes up to three enemy ships away from own ship
Transfer Shield Strength II Science Boosts shields of ally ship
Tricorder Scan I Science Increases user's
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perception, debuffs DR and stealth of all enemies in radius
Tyken's Rift I Science Drains power, causes damage to all ships near target ship
Vascular Regenerator I Science Heals and removes bleeding debuffs from target
Weapons Malfunction II Engineering Prevents target from firing ground weapons
Lt. Commander Bridge Officer Skills
Skill Career Effect
Aceton Field I Engineering Debuffs target's energy damage, causes radiation damage
Attack Pattern Beta II Tactical Debuffs target ship's DR when attacked
Attack Pattern Delta II Tactical Debuffs DR of any ship that attacks targeted ally
Attack Pattern Omega I Tactical Buffs damage and turn rate, prevents holds and slows on own ship
Auxiliary to Battery II Engineering Converts auxiliary power into battery that can be used later
Auxiliary to Dampeners II Engineering Redirects auxiliary power to buff kinetic DR
Auxiliary to Structural II Engineering Redirects auxiliary power to heal hull damage and buff DR
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Boarding Party II Engineering Damages crew and subsystems of target ship
Cannon: Rapid Fire II Tactical Boosts next cannon attack
Cannon: Scatter Volley II Tactical Turns next cannon attack into cone AoE attack
Charged Particle Burst II Science Disables cloaks, damages shields of nearby enemy ships
Cover Shield I Engineering Creates fixed position forcefield that blocks line of sight
Directed Energy Engineering Increases shield Modulation II penetration of own ship's energy weapons
Dispersal Pattern Alpha II Tactical Improves next mine attack
Dispersal Pattern Beta II Tactical Improves next mine attack
Eject Warp Plasma I Engineering Creates AoE plasma field that slows and causes fire DoT to enemy ships and reveals cloaked ships
Energy Siphon II Science Decreases target ship's power to all systems, increases own ship's power to all systems
Equipment Diagnostics I Engineering Removes mechanical debuffs and buffs DR of target
Extend Shields II Engineering Regenerates shields and buffs DR of ally ship
Fire on my Mark I Tactical Debuffs stealth and DR of target
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Gravity Well I Science Draws nearby ships toward target and inflicts kinetic damage
Hyperonic Radiation I Science Does radiation DoT to target and nearby enemies
Hypospray – Melorazine I Science Removes mental debuffs and buffs energy DR of self or ally
Lunge II Tactical Melee attack with chance to knock down
Medical Generator Engineering Creates fixed position Fabrication I generator that heals nearby allies
Neural Neutralizer I Science Placates nearby enemies
Overwatch I Tactical Buffs allies' DR, debuffs enemies' DR and gives chance to Expose
Phaser Turret Fabrication Engineering Creates one or two beam II weapon turrets
Photonic Officer II Science Reduces recharge time of Bridge Officer abilities
Photonic Shock Wave I Science Knocks back and deals kinetic damage to nearby enemy ships
Plasma Grenade I Tactical AoE attack that deals kinetic damage and plasma DoT
Quantum Mortar Engineering Creates fixed position Fabrication I weapons system that launches projectiles
Reroute Power to Shields Engineering Heals personal shield II energy, buffs DR
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Reverse Shield Polarity II Engineering Converts incoming energy weapon damage into shield strength
Scramble Sensors II Science Confuses target ship and nearby enemies
Shield Generator II Engineering Creates fixed position generator that recharges nearby allies' personal shields
Smoke Grenade II Tactical Attack that reduces enemy perception and boosts allies' stealth
Sonic Pulse II Science Damages and slows nearby enemies with high chance of knockback
Stasis Field II Science Holds target
Stealth Module I Tactical Creates personal cloak that prevents enemies at range from detecting you
Suppressing Fire II Tactical Slows and debuffs damage of any enemy you damage with firearms
Target Optics II Tactical Buffs damage, perception, crit chance and crit severity for self, has chance to Expose enemies
Tractor Beam Repulsors II Science Pushes up to three enemy ships away from own ship
Tricorder Scan II Science Increases user's perception, debuffs DR and stealth of all enemies in radius
Tyken's Rift II Science Drains power, causes damage to all ships near
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target ship
Vascular Regenerator II Science Heals and removes bleeding debuffs from target
Viral Matrix I Science Launches probe that holds target ship
Commander Bridge Officer Skills
Skill Career Effect
Aceton Field II Engineering Debuffs target's energy damage, causes radiation damage
Ambush I Tactical Grants large damage buff for next attack
Anesthizine Gas I Science Holds target, reduces speed and damage upon expiration
Attack Pattern Omega II Tactical Buffs damage and turn rate, prevents holds and slows on own ship
Combat Supply I Engineering Grants temporary hypo to self and allies with chance of power cell and shield charge as well
Cover Shield II Engineering Creates fixed position forcefield that blocks line of sight
Dampening Field I Science AoE effect that debuffs energy DR
Eject Warp Plasma II Engineering Creates AoE plasma field that slows and causes fire DoT to enemy ships and
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reveals cloaked ships
Equipment Diagnostics II Engineering Removes mechanical debuffs and buffs DR of target
Fire on my Mark II Tactical Debuffs stealth and DR of target
Fuse Armor I Engineering Gradually slows then holds target
Gravity Well II Science Draws nearby ships toward target and inflicts kinetic damage
Hyperonic Radiation II Science Does radiation DoT to target and nearby enemies
Hypospray – Melorazine II Science Removes mental debuffs and buffs energy DR of self or ally
Medical Generator Engineering Creates fixed position Fabrication II generator that heals nearby allies
Motion Accelerator I Tactical Grants speed buff to self and immunity to holds and slows
Nanite Health Monitor I Science Heals up to three nearby allies
Neural Neutralizer II Science Creates fixed position generator that heals nearby allies
Overwatch II Tactical Buffs allies' DR, debuffs enemies' DR and gives chance to Expose
Photonic Shock Wave II Science Knocks back and deals kinetic damage to nearby
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enemy ships
Plasma Grenade II Tactical AoE attack that deals kinetic damage and plasma DoT
Quantum Mortar Engineering Creates fixed position Fabrication II weapons system that launches projectiles
Stealth Module II Tactical Creates personal cloak that prevents enemies at range from detecting you
Stun Grenade I Tactical AoE attack that does kinetic damage and holds targets
Support Drone Fabrication Engineering Creates one or two mobile I weapons platforms
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more details), by finding it as random drops for defeating enemies and by earning it as WEAPONS a reward for completing missions or AND succeeding in PvP instances. EQUIPMENT Ship Weapons As explained in the Ships chapter, every haracters in the Trek TV shows different type of ship has a specific number and movies tend to travel of slots in the front and back for mounting pretty light. It's not uncommon weapons. You have complete control over to see Federation crew members face what mix of weapons you'd like to use (with Cdanger with only a phaser pistol and a some restrictions), and swapping them is as tricorder in hand. simple as dragging a new one from your inventory window into the proper slot in Not so in STO, where the ongoing your ship's Status window. conflict with the Klingons and the likelihood of combat on just about every mission Hovering your cursor over the icon of an require you to be a bit more properly equipped weapon will show you its stats. equipped. With that in mind, you won't Doing the same for a weapon in your want to go charging into battle without the inventory will compare its stats with proper weapons and gear. equipped weapons it could replace, allowing you to know exactly what the gain That goes for your ship too. There are a or loss would be for making the switch. number of different ways you can upgrade and customize your vessel to help you Ship weapons are divided into 10 levels when things get hairy. starting at Mk. I and running to Mk. X, based on their relative power. They are Gear for your ship and your captain can restricted by rank at every other level, so be acquired in three ways: by buying it with that you need to be a Lt. Commander to Energy Credits or Badges of Exploration use Mk. III weapons, a Commander to use (see the Federation Economy chapter for Mk. V weapons, and so on.
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There are also three levels of rarity • Turret – 360 degrees (Common, Uncommon and Rare) for ship weapons that reflect how difficult it is to acquire them. Generally speaking, a Projectile Weapons weapon that is identical to another one except for rarity will have a bonus to Projectiles are fired by launchers and accuracy, damage or critical hit chance or include both direct fire (torpedoes) and some other characteristic that makes it indirect fire (mines) varieties. They pack superior to its more common counterpart. more punch against exposed hulls than shields. Photon torpedoes are the most famous, but torpedoes and mines also Beam Weapons come in quantum, plasma (which can do DoT), chroniton and transphasic varieties. Starship beam weapons do energy damage and are more effective against Torpedo launchers have a 90-degree shields than hulls. The best known type is firing arc, while mine launchers simply phasers, but the family also includes deploy the mines into space where they disruptors, plasma beams, polaron beams attack ships that fly too close. Mines are and tetryon beams, all of which are useful for damaging a group of enemy ships affected by different higher level skills. with a single attack.
There are also different configurations of beam weapons based on their firing arcs. The general rule is that the more restrictive Ship Equipment the arc, the higher the damage per second (DPS). Not all types of beams come in every For simplicity's sake, this term is used configuration, but they break down by arc here to represent everything on your ship like this: that isn't a weapon. This includes things like your ship's shields, deflector dish and • Dual cannons – 45 degrees (Escorts engines. only • Bank – 90 degrees • Cannon – 180 degrees (Escorts only) • Array – 250 degrees
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Equipment is restricted by rank just like • Regenerative – Have a 25 percent weapons and is acquired via the same faster regeneration rate than normal methods. It also comes in the same three shields but the lowest capacity of levels of rarity. any type
Ships can equip only one set of shields Shields at a time.
Certainly the most vital equipment on any ship, the shields protect the hull from Deflector Dishes damage and regenerate automatically when they take no damage for a certain A ship's deflector array is part of the period of time Shields have two important Auxiliary subsystem and grants bonuses to characteristics: capacity, which is the Space abilities that utilize Sensors, amount of damage they can take before Deflectors and Emitters. A standard failing completely, and bleedthrough, which deflector spreads its effects evenly among is the amount of damage from each attack all three areas, but Mk. II specialized dishes that bypasses the shields and goes directly can be equipped that focus on just one to the hull. area:
Along with the normal Mk. I to Mk. X • Graviton – Focus on Deflectors progression, there are three special types • Tachyon – Focus on Sensors of shields that have their own special • Positron – Focus on Emitters properties: At higher ranks, there are also • Resilient – Have half the subcategories that grant even more options bleedthrough of normal shields but for how to spread their bonuses. Like have lower capacity levels and shields, a ship has only one deflector slot. regenerate slightly less quickly • Covariant – Have almost 30 percent more capacity but the slowet regeneration rate
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Impulse Engines As you increase in rank, you'll find that you can acquire a greater variety of consoles of each type. The number of Improved engines increase both the console slots varies by the type of ship. speed and turning rate of your ship. They Escorts tend to have more Tactical slots, come in normal versions and the following Science Vessels have more Science slots two varieties: and Cruisers favor more Engineering slots. However, every Federation ship has at least • Combat – Efficient with low power one slot of each type. levels to engines, making them useful for ships that often use the Attack or Defense subsystem power Devices configurations • Hyper – Efficient with high power to Devices are other items that can be engines, so they are a boon to ships equipped on your ship but aren't part of that often use the Speed subsystem your ship's subsytems. The most commonly power configuration found devices are Batteries, which give temporary boosts to the power levels of Every ship has a single engine slot. specific ship subsystems. Batteries are very common drops from defeated enemy ships.
Consoles The number of device slots varies by ship type as detailed in the Ships chapter. Console modifications come in Tactical, Engineering and Science flavors and usually grant a variety of bonuses that work in Commodities conjunction with skills and abilities of the same careers. Other consoles grant more Commodities are items that don't fit general boosts; for example, increasing the neatly into any of the previous categories. regeneration rate of your ship's shields. They are needed for some kinds of exploration missions when you encounter civilizations with less technology than the Federation that ask you for assistance.
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These civilizations will ask for a certain Your captain can equip two weapons at a quantity of one of several different types of time and switch between them at any time commodities, and all you have to do to by clicking on the Switch Weapons icon at meet the mission requirements is to deliver the left side of the command bar at the those items. Commodities can be found as bottom of the screen. Bridge Officers can drops from defeated ships and can also be carry only one weapon at any given time. purchased for energy credits from brokers and merchants. Ground weapons follow the Mk. I through Mk X category system like their space counterparts and are similarly restricted by Ground Weapons rank. However, Bridge Officers aren't limited in exactly the same way, and they Your Federation captain may start the can use any weapon that would be usable game with just a standard phaser, but you'll by your captain at the time. have access to a wide variety of handheld weapons over the course of your career. Listing them all is outside the scope of this guide (the STO devs claim there are Ground Equipment thousands), but the types of weapons include pistols, dual pistols, rifles and Along with weapons, your captain and assault weapons. Bridge Officers can be outfitted with a number of extras that can enhance their Every ground weapon has two attack ability to survive in ground combat modes. The primary mode does standard missions. Some equipment like personal damage and has a quicker recharge time, shields and armor are restricted by your while the secondary mode recharges more captain's rank, while other gear can be slowly but does either greater damage to a used by anyone. single target (like with a sniper rifle) or produces an AoE attack that can damage multiple enemies. The secondary modes also often produce either Expose conditions or extra Exploit damage as described in the Combat Overview chapter.
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Personal Shields • Energy Dampening – Offers extra energy DR in exchange for zero physical DR Every captain and Bridge Officer can • Polyalloy Weave – Offers extra (and should) be equipped with a personal physical and kinetic DR in exchange shield that prevents damage from reaching for less energy DR a character's body. Shields will regenerate • Recoil Compensating – Offers extra on their own when undamaged for several critical hit damage in exchange for seconds, but there are also a number of less DR all around skills and abilities that can boost shield • Integrated Targeting – Offers an health instantly. increased chance of a critical hit in exchange for less DR all around Unlike ship shields, personal shields are uni-directional. Each captain and Bridge Officer can equip just one personal shield at Kits a time. Kits allow your captain to use extra abilities or powers similar to the ones Armor utilized by your Bridge Officers. The big difference is that Bridge Officers are limited For extra protection in ground combat to the skills they inherently know, while kits situations, captains and Bridge Officers can allow you to swap abilities for your captain also wear body armor that grants simply by dragging a new kit onto the slot resistances to physical, energy and kinetic on your Status screen. This can be done at damage. Armor can be dragged onto the any time, even in the middle of a ground Body slot on a character's status screen. mission.
Armor can be found in standard forms Some kits can provide abilities that can't and the following variations, all of which be duplicated by Bridge Officer powers or divide their protective abilities in slightly grant multiple abilities. For example, the different ways or offer bonus effects: Basic Grenades Tactical kit gives the wearer both the Smoke Grenade I and Photon Grenade I abilities.
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Only captains can equip kits, and they Whether it's weapons, kits or other gear, are restricted by career path: Tactical your captain can only carry so much stuff. Officers can only use Tactical kits, etc. This is especially true since ship and ground items all count the same against your inventory, and because you will want to Devices keep some things on hand to outfit your Bridge Officers as well. Every captain and Bridge Officer has several Device slots that can hold several You will gain extra inventory slots as pieces of miscellaneous equipment and be rewards for advancement, but even those mapped to number keys just like weapons. only go so far. Fortunately, STO provides Fans of other MMOs will recognize these you even more extra storage in the form of slots as useful places to keep healing items, banks. some of which can be used in combat (hypos) and others which can only be used Every captain automatically has a when out of combat (a wide variety of foods personal bank that can be accessed from and beverages). special terminals in various locations. Two important ones for Federation characters Other devices can give temporary boosts are at Earth Spacedock (located between to shield or ground weapons power. Similar the Exchange and Stateroom) and at devices can often be stacked in the same Memory Alpha. inventory slot, so 10 small hypos only need to take up one slot. If you belong to a fleet, you can also utilize the fleet's bank. STO fleets are self- Ground devices are commonly found as policing, so the officer's should set rules on drops from defeated enemies, and cheaper what kind of withdrawals can be made from ones can be created using the replicator on the fleet bank. your ship. Items can be swapped to and from either kind of bank simply by dragging them between the bank window and your inventory or ship or character Status Banks screens.
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62 The Unofficial Star Trek Online Federation Guide LEVELING Grades Vs. Ranks STO doesn't have a simple level system AND (like one where your character is Level 1 or Level 48, for instance), but a two-tiered system of grades and ranks. Each rank has ADVANCEMEN 10 grades within it, and you must progress through all 10 before you are promoted to T the next rank.
s with any MMO, some of the Thus, while one character who is a main aims of STO are advancing Lieutenant 2 and another is Lieutenant 9, your character in power, title and the latter one is much closer to the next Astatus. For your Starfleet captain, this rank than the former. In order, the ranks means literal advancement as you move up are Ensign (for the Tutorial Mission only), the chain of command. Lieutenant, Lt. Commander, Captain and Admiral. The skill-based nature of STO means you can't level up without accumulating Skill Advancing by one grade earns you an Points. You also have to spend those points increase in combat effectiveness. However on improving your captain's skills, as you a promotion to the next rank gains you a won't be allowed to move to the next level number of larger benefits, including access until you do. to the next tier of ships, a new set of skills and the ability to promote Bridge Officers to On the Federation side, it's easiest to their next ranks. Many kinds of restricted gain Skill Points by accepting and weapons and equipments are also unlocked completing missions. As you'll see in the by advancing in rank. next chapter, there are some opportunities for grinding, but the low amounts of Skill The double status bar at the top of the Points you receive for defeating enemies in screen keeps track of your progress in both combat and the non-replayable nature of your current grade and your current rank. most content limits grinding compared to The top bar fills up constantly as you earn some other games. Skill Points with each division representing
63 The Unofficial Star Trek Online Federation Guide the next grade, and the bottom bar is As you will discover early on, skills tend divided into 10 segments that fill in when to be broader at lower ranks and get more you earn a new grade, with the unfilled specific as you advance. Weapons and ones representing the number of grades abilities can gain bonuses from both types left until the next rank. of skills, so many of them end up working together in logical ways.
For example, let's say your ship is armed Skill Point Spending with dual disruptor captains and your captain is a Tactical Officer. The disruptor Strategy cannons gain a bonus from each level you take in Starship Energy Weapons Training, Only the total number of Skill Points a skill you have available as a Lieutenant. spent matters in terms of leveling up your captain. But since STO is completely skill- Those same cannons get bonus damage based, having a strategy in mind when from the Starship Beam Weapons Lt. spending them is important. Commander skill (because disruptors are beam weapons) and the Starship Disruptor The skill system is a lot more flexible Weapons Commander skill. If you plan on than in some other MMOs, allowing more having the disruptors equipped for the long room for broader character builds and less haul, it makes sense to put points into all pigeon-holing into specific roles. This three skills to gain the maximum benefit. doesn't mean that the traditional MMO roles are completely absent (like direct damage, This idea works in reverse as well. If tank, healer, etc.), just that you shouldn't you've leveled up all of the various Starship feel like you are being funneled into one Energy Weapons skills, you may not even direction. think twice about swapping Mk. III disruptor cannons for Mk. IV phaser cannons. But if That being said, there are some things you've gone the route we just discussed to keep in mind when planning out how to and specialized in disruptors, you may not spend your Skill Points: want to give them up for phasers and give up the stacked bonuses. • Skills stack • Consider your Bridge Officers
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When you are new to STO, it might seem Retraining (Respecs) obvious to put points into Tactical Team Leader if your captain is a Tactical Officer. However, that skill affects the abilities of all Find that you've backed yourself into an away team Tactical Officers, and if you are unwanted corner with the way you've spent handling the Tactical powers yourself, you your Skill Points? STO allows for some may have more Engineering and/or Science opportunities to Retrain (also known Officers in your crew and want to put those generally as respec) your captain and points into skills related to those areas. spend the points you've earned all over from scratch. Of course you always have the option of swapping your away team members around One way you can access a respec at any to fit your skills instead of vice versa, but time is to buy one from the C-Store. You'll don't forget that your skills affect more find more information on this option in the than just your captain. Federation Economics chapter.
• Ship selection One of the great aspects of STO is the option to fly any type of ship available to Training And your rank, and the freedom to switch categories (say, from Cruiser to Escort) as Promoting Bridge you advance. Officers
To take full advantage of that freedom, though, you will have to remember to put Your Bridge Officers can also improve Skill Points into multiple ship skills to avoid their skills via their own pool of Skill Points. losing too much effectiveness by changing One pool of points is shared by all of the ships. Conversely, if you find you love flying Bridge Officers under your command, so Escorts and will be doing that for your you have to decide which Officers to train entire career, you'll want to max out the and which skills to level up. Escort Captain skill and then put points into the class-specific Escort skills as you advance.
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The strategy here is pretty straightforward: if you find yourself tapping certain Bridge Officer abilities more than others, level those skills up first. If you see a power that will be gained only after a Bridge Officer has been promoted, make sure you are spending points on him or her in order to get to the next rank as soon as possible.
As a final note, make sure you aren't wasting Bridge Officer points on skills that will eventually be lost thanks to that officer being retrained. Training a new skill means an old one is replaced, and you won't get the Bridge Officer Skill Points back that you've spent.
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Last but not least are PvP zones where Federation captains can put their skills to MISSIONS the test against Klingon players in both space and ground engagements. The STO development team promising Faction lso called Episodes in the STO versus Faction (FvF) zones for the parlance, missions are the Federation in a soon-to-be released update primary means for advancing as well. Aboth the game's storyline and your characters. One of the true strong points about playing the Federation faction is the variety of mission content. Storyline Episodes
The vast majority of missions involve STO doesn't waste any time getting you PvE scenarios that weave together into an into the storyline for the Federation, overarching plot. Currently, Episodes are thrusting you into the conflict that is divided into three Seasons – one each engulfing the Alpha Quadrant during the focusing on the Klingons, the Romulans and game's opening movie and continuing the the Borg – and completing them all will drama during the tutorial mission. From allow captains to advance to the maximum there, episodes that propel the plot forward possible rank. are readily available for even the lowest- ranking captains. True to the game's source material, there are also exploration missions available to Federation players that involve Tutorial Mission Walkthrough traveling to uncharted worlds, with a number of different possibilities for what The tutorial mission is actually made up may be found upon arrival. Patrol missions of three separate parts that introduce you require you to travel to a particular region to the basic concepts of space and ground of space and clear out any enemies you movement, both kinds of combat and other may find there. important aspects of STO like Bridge Officers and kits. Once you complete the
67 The Unofficial Star Trek Online Federation Guide tutorial, you'll have earned enough Skill Use your phaser to target and destroy Points to graduate from Ensign to six Borg devices hanging on the walls, plus Lieutenant, acquired your first ship and Borg drones if necessary. Avoid fire and begun to assemble a crew. explosions if possible. Continue down the The tutorial begins with practice on hallway and take the Turbolift to Deck 3. moving your captain and getting used to the ground interface. Once you're Battle the Borg that you find in the comfortable, take the Turbolift on the North hallway, but don't loiter too long or the wall and head for the bridge. drones will respawn in greater numbers. Go down the ramp to Main Engineering and Talk to the captain and use one of the help the personnel you find who are under consoles in front of you to hail another siege by numerous drones, but don't sweat Federation ship in distress. Then use the it too much as you can leave to the East Turbolift in the SE corner to travel to the whenever you want. transporter bay, talk to the Security Chief and beam over to the U.S.S. Khitomer. In the transporter room, you'll talk to all three types of Bridge Officer candidates Speak to the Emergency Medical and pick the first one you'd like to join your Hologram and scan any of the patients crew. You'll also receive 300 Skill Points and lying on the tables in sick bay. Talk to the 36 Bridge Officer Points (which you can and EMH again, then go South down a hallway should spend right away), plus 33 Starfleet to find Lt. Thelis. merits.
He'll ask you to use a nearby console to Part 2 of the tutorial begins when you store the patterns of attacking Borg. Go beam back to your ship and learn to fly it. through a door on the East wall an beam Get close enough to four damaged ships to some of the pesky Borg outside the ship. beam off the survivors, then fly to the The Turbolift on the South wall will take you U.S.S. Seacole and beam the survivors to Deck 2, where you'll experience ground over. combat for the first time. Rendezvous with the U.S.S. Renown to have your ship's damaged weapons and shields repaired. That will allow you to destroy four Borg probes that won't fight
68 The Unofficial Star Trek Online Federation Guide back, then warp to another zone to destroy Beam back to your ship and fly to any of four more that will. The rewards for Part 2 the Federation rally points on your map, are the same as for Part 1 except for not where you will aid other ships in destroying getting another Bridge Officer. a Borg sphere and a Borg cube. The cube packs a bit of a punch, but concentrating The tutorial continues with your away fire on the same side as your allies should team beaming down to the Vega colony. end the battle in short order. Talk first to Commander Kelly and then to Ensign Bynarez, who will allow you to open After collecting another round of Skill a crate containing a better gun than your Points and merits, you'll warp to Earth standard phaser and your first kit. Spacedock for the first time. This is a central location during low level Episodes Rescue four colonists by defeating the where you'll find a Shipyard, a Personnel Borg drones menacing them by the area, the Stateroom where promotion buildings on the perimeter of the mission ceremonies are held, and more. map. You will see other captains in this area, though you'll all be pursuing the same Take the Turbolift directly in front of you goals individually. to the Admiral's Office and talk tot Admiral Quinn. He'll give you a final set of Skill Head for one of the big green Borg Points (enough to promote you to devices, expecting to meet some resistance Lieutenant), Bridge Officer Points and on the way. Turrets protect the four corners Starfleet merits, along with a choice of Mk. I of each device, but they can be dispatched consoles for your ship and a free fairly easily. modification you can use at the tailor in the Shipyard to customize your Light Cruiser at Interact with a projector on any corner to no charge. disable the force field. A Heavy Tactical Drone will activate in response, but you and After you look around Earthdock, you your Bridge Officer should be able to handle can return to the Admiral's Office to get him. Shut down the Borg array by your first Season 1 Episode from Quinn. Be interacting with the console in the middle of sure to also speak to Commander Sulu, the device. who's on the opposite end of the office, as doing so will unlock a number of patrol missions.
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Episode Walkthroughs first leak, the second is in a room to the North and the last is in a room to the South. Groups of Orion thugs will attack you near The following pages will walk you each console. through episodes from the Klingon season. Completing all of them will take you all the With the leaks gone, you can go all the way from Lieutenant to Lt. Commander and way to the end of the hallway to speak to even through a few grades of your new Captain Brott. She'll ask you to save her rank. officers while she attends to the ship's damaged warp core, so you'll have to battle Stranded in Space back to the room you started from, encountering several groups of Orions on Giver: Admiral Quinn the way. Where: S.S. Azura, Sirius Sector Block Rewards: 312 Skill Points, 78 Bridge You'll beam back to your ship to fend off Officer Points, 126 Starfleet Merits, Choice a final wave of Orion attackers. The of Bridge Officer candidates Marauder Battleship will be the toughest enemy you've encountered to this point, Talk to Malcolm Sissel in the Earthdock but staying away from its front firing arc Shipyard, who will give you the coordinates should lessen the challenge. of a ship in distress. Beam to your ship and enter sector space, where you'll find that Fly near the Azura and beam Captain the S.S. Azura has its own listing. Brott aboard to get more of the backstory.
Upon arrival, you'll discover four Orion Diplomatic Orders ships are ganging up on the Azura. Destroy the ships and scan the Azura, revealing that Giver: Admiral Quinn it needs some more personal assistance. Where: Earth Spacedock, then P'Jem System, Sirius Sector Block Once aboard the Azura, you'll need to Rewards: 260 Skill Points, 65 Bridge shut down three plasma leaks (which will Officer Skill Points, 105 Starfleet Merits, hurt you if you get too close) in order to aid Choice of Mk. I uncommon ship shields the crew. The first console is right by the
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Starfleet wants you to escort Vulcan Follow the Undine down the steps to the Ambassador Sokkoth to the P'Jem System south, fighting through several Klingon to return a collection of priceless artifacts. squads on the way. Scan the area at the Both Klingon and Orion forces would like to bottom of the hill to discover that the get their hands on the goods. Undine has already beamed back to his ship. You'll find Sokkoth in the Stateroom on Earth Spacedock in the Sol System, Beam back to your own ship and prepare meditating on the left side of the aisle. Talk to engage the Undine Dreadnought. It's a to him briefly, then beam to your ship and battle you can't win – his ship is simply too enter sector space on a course for the tough for you at this point – but all you P'Jem System. need to do is survive for two minutes until reinforcements arrive. The Undine Upon arrival, Klingons will hail you, torpedoes can be targeted by your beam claiming Sokkoth is an Undine shapeshifter. weapons and detonated before they reach Defeat two squadrons of three Birds of Prey your ship. each to clear a path to beam down to the planet surface. Five Starfleet vessels will arrive when the timer reaches zero, and together you'll The monks on the planet are under siege make short work of the Dreadnought. Scan by Klingon ground forces. Fight your way to the debris and accept the thanks of Captain the abbey, located at the top of the hill – Thelin of the U.S.S. Kirk, who foreshadows simply stay on the main path. Most of the further meetings down the road. Klingons will be basic Warriors, with a few shielded officers thrown in. Hide and Seek
At the abbey, prepare to be ambushed Giver: Admiral Quinn by several squads of Klingons. You'll Where: Lackey System, Sirius Sector discover that the accusations were correct Block and that Sokkoth has been replaced by an Rewards: 208 Skill Points, 52 Bridge Undine. Engage him in contact briefly; he'll Officer Points, 84 Starfleet Merits, Choice of run when his health is low. Mk. I kits
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Starfleet wants you to follow up on some by another Draguas Cruiser. Defeat it and information gleaned from a coded fly within transporter range to beam transmission sent by the Undine concerning charges over that will blow up the jamming the Paulson Nebula. Fly through sector station. space to the Lackey System, where you will find the U.S.S. Valor under attack by two Return to the mine and defeat one last Gorn Vishap Frigates. Defeat the attackers Cruiser, then beam up the decalithium. and hail the Valor. Your engines will now be ready for the Paulson Nebula, which is your next stop. The Valor is disabled but can be repaired with the help of dilithium crystals you can The Nebula plays havoc with your beam up from small mines on four nearby sensors, so you need to scan five suspicious asteroids. Simply fly close to the mines to objects to find what Starfleet is seeking. gather the crystals, but watch out for a The first one is right in front of your starting Draguas Cruiser. position, and the others are roughly in a line on the left side of the mission zone. Fly back to the Valor and help it defeat Several Gorn ships will need to be defeated another Cruiser. Beam the crystals over and or avoided. learn more about the Paulson Nebula, which was once used by the Enterprise-D to An enormous asteroid is the final object, hide from the Borg. but it's surrounded by gravitic mines that will fly toward your ship and explode if you You'll need decalithium crystals to make get too close. Fly very slowly and pick the your engines strong enough to fly through off from maximum phaser range. A Klingon the Nebula, so you warp to Lackey III. The K'Tinga Battle Cruiser is also hiding inside mine there is protected by three Vishap the mine field. Frigates. When you have a clear path, fly close to Fly close to the decalithium mine to the asteroid and scan it to find a Klingon discover something is jamming your listening post. Beam down with your away transporter signal. The jamming station is team and follow the only path to reach a behind and under the mine, and is guarded computer in the final room. Several teams of Klingons will try to stop you.
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After downloading data from the Finally able to beam down to the Klingon computer, you will have to defend it for base, several enemy infantry teams will several minutes as two teams of Klingons await the locations to plant six spatial beam in to ambush you. Fight them off and charges. In the base's final room, Starfleet return to sector space to receive your will ask you to download data from a rewards. computer. That will trigger an ambush by the Undine, who is a tough foe but will Stop the Signal transport away when he is low on health.
Giver: Admiral Quinn Back in space, you'll find yourself under Where: Bomari System, Sirius Sector attack from several Klingon Raptors. Block Repelling that attack will actually cause the Rewards: 156 Skill Points, 39 Bridge Klingons to team up with you for the final Officer Points, 63 Starfleet Merits, Choice of battle, which is against the Undine Bridge Officer Candidates or Mk. II ship Dreadnought. weapons Neutral Zone Diplomacy After destroying a Klingon listening post in the previous mission, Starfleet finds out Giver: Admiral Quinn there is a second post. They want you to Where: Deepspace K7, Eridani Sector find it and destroy it. Block Rewards: 52 Skill Points, 13 Bridge The first task is to scan a repeater on an Officer Points, 21 Starfleet Merits asteroid to determine the location of the This is a simple information-gathering Klingon base. There are enemy ships in the mission that will introduce you to two new area, but with careful flying, you should be contacts, allowing you to access new types able to fly close enough to scan it without of missions. Quinn asks you to fly to engaging in battle. Deepspace K7, located in the Neutral Zone, to talk to Commander Wildman about the After warping to Bomari II, you'll have to front line of the war with the Klingons. find and destroy four transporter disruptors. They are guarded by Klingon Birds of Prey, close enough that you'll have to fight them.
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Wildman will give you an overview and several buildings inside the mission area. ask you to speak to Commander Makza and You'll encounter armed groups near all of Captain Calhoun, who will open up PvP and the charges, but Paris will assist in battle to competitive PvE content. give you an extra phaser.
The Kuvah'Magh With the charges gone, you'll be able to enter the embassy, which is the largest Giver: Admiral Quinn building. You'll have to defeat more Where: Regulus System, Regulus Sector Klingons to rescue four Starfleet diplomats, Block the last of whom is guarded by a boss in Rewards: 156 Skill Points, 54 Bridge the embassy's final room. Officer Points, 63 Starfleet Merits, Choice of Mk. II kits The battle is over on the ground, but you'll have to fend off an attack from two Klingon ships once you beam back to your This mission introduces you to Miral own vessel. Once they are out of the way. Paris, a Starfleet officer of partial Klingon Klingon Ambassador Kas will fill you in a bit heritage who is believed by some to be the more on the renegade B'vat, and he'll savior of the species. Your orders are to actually help you defeat B'vat's ship in the provide security for a meeting to discuss final space battle... but that's not the last Paris. you'll see of him.
A group of five Orion ships are War is Good for Business blockading the meeting site. Destroying all of them will allow you to beam down to the Giver: Admiral Quinn planet surface of Regulus IV. Where: Celes Nebula, Regulus Sector Block Your away team will meet with Paris, Rewards: 156 Skill Points, 54 Bridge who doesn't necessarily believe the Klingon Officer Points, 63 Starfleet Merits, Choice of prophecy but will do anything to help if it Mk. II kits means peace. A faction of the Klingons isn't so kind, planting spatial charges outside of
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Your first order of business is to assist forcing you to give chase. Three Nausicaan the U.S.S. ShiKahr, which is stranded within ships will intercept, and only by defeating a nebula that will slow you down by them will you finally be able to scan the preventing the use of full impulse power. Nandi. You'll have to scan three anomalies located on asteroids within the nebula, The kemocite has been moved to a encountering syphon freighters along the hidden base, meaning one last away team way. These ships will launch power syphons segment. Seven batches of kemocite are that will drain power from your ship; they hidden in the base's various rooms, and the can be targeted but your best bet is just to Ferengi captain responsible for all of the destroy the freighters themselves. drama awaits behind a locked door in the final room. Once the anomalies are scanned, you'll fly close to the ShiKahr to beam out some The overrides for the locked door are scientists, then warp to Starbase 114. After located in rooms on the west and east of beaming the scientists down, the base will the final room. The Ferengi shouldn't be too ask for your assistance locating missing much trouble for your full away team. kemocite, which can be used to make explosives. To Boldly Go
Your away team will have to scan four Giver: Admiral Quinn cargo bays (one in each direction from the Where: Arucanis Arm (adjacent to the central hub) for traces of the kemocite. Regulus Sector Block) There are no enemies, so this is an easy Rewards: 52 Skill Points, 18 Bridge task. Officer Points, 21 Starfleet Merits, Badge of Exploration (1st Order) You'll find that the kemocite has already been taken off the base, so you'll beam Quinn introduces you to Lt. Grall, who back to your ship to scan nearby freighters wants you to fulfill Starfleet's mandate for by flying close to them (within about 3 km). seeking out new civilizations by exploring The offending ship, the Nandi, will run, three uncharted systems in the Arucanis Arm. The unknown worlds could have ground or space encounters or simply require you to scan anomalies.
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Beaming down to the station, you'll meet Completing each system encounter Qaris, a shady Ferengi nightclub owner. where you encounter hostile forces will give He's not feeling too cooperative, so you'll you one batch of the rewards (Skill Points, have to scan various objects around his Bridge Officer Points and Merits), and you'll club to point out safety violations to use as get a final batch and the Badge of leverage. Expect an ambush from some Exploration after finishing all three. Lt. Grall upset (and well-armed) bar patrons. will stay on your contact list, providing opportunities for more exploration Qaris will tell you about the involvement missions. of the Klingons and direct you to Maintenance Corridor 3. You'll have to fight Treasure Trading System off an attack from the crew of the smuggler freighter to proceed to Cargo Bay 6, where Giver: Admiral Quinn a battle with the Klingons await. Where: Argelius System, Regulus Sector Block To save a captive named Marta, you'll Rewards: 156 Skill Points, 54 Bridge defeat some Klingon guards and a boss Officer Points, 63 Starfleet Merits, Choice of named Captain Urthog. He'll give you the Mk. II Deflector Arrays key to free Marta and a second prisoner.
This mission starts near a space station The Klingons will take a shot at revenge having trouble with smugglers. You'll need once you beam back to your ship, but only to fly close enough to various freighters to with a single ship. scan them and identify the troublemakers, which will show up as enemies once Secret Orders scanned. You'll have to fight and disable them, which should be pretty easy. Giver: Admiral Quinn Where: Briar Patch, Regulus Sector Block Rewards: 156 Skill Points, 54 Bridge Officer Points, 63 Starfleet Merits, Choice of Mk. III kits
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Quinn puts you on the path of some captured scientists who have been strong- Beaming back to your ship will set up armed into helping the Klingons develop one final battle with another Klingon vessel. superweapons. They are in a heavily fortified base, requiring you to destroy 10 Task Force Hippocrates turrets just to approach it. Giver: Admiral Quinn Caution is needed because the turrets Where: Xarantine System, Pi Canus are surrounded by pockets of metron gas, Sector Block which will detonate and cause significant Rewards: 156 Skill Points, 78 Bridge hull damage if weapons are fired within 4 Officer Points, 63 Starfleet Merits, Choice of km – and the pockets are everywhere. Mk. III armors Slow, careful flying can put you in position A distress call from the S.S. Boyce to fire at one turret at a time without mobilizes you to fend off an attack from blowing yourself up. several Gorn ships. Afterward, you'll be asked to fly close enough to activate Several Klingon ships and a few more several power satellites (which are laid out turrets await closer to the base. You should more or less in a straight line from the be able to fly slowly enough to avoid Boyce), which may require you to fight off engaging them all at once. more nearby enemy ships.
After beaming to the station, make your Warping close to a nearby planet, you'll way through the base and battle several be asked to escort the medical vessel T'Pau Klingon patrols to rescue the two scientists. to get close enough to beam to the surface. You'll also need to plant charges to destroy Simply stay close enough to the T'Pau to the superweapons, which are easy to spot help it repel three separate assaults from because they look like giant missiles. the Gorn.
Starfleet will ask you to download data With the path clear, you'll beam down to from a computer core in the final room the planet surface yourself. Defeat enemies before making your way back through the near the medical facility to allow the other map to your starting point. Several groups Starfleet personnel to do their jobs. of Klingons will spawn on your return journey.
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Return to your ship and warp to the Klingon boarding parties have beaten Trimble system. You'll be asked to locate you there, and you need to defeat some of the U.S.S. Eagle and approach it, then the toughest groups of ground-based defeat several Klingon ships menacing it. enemies you have seen to this point. Remember that you can direct your away Since the Klingons have already boarded team's fire on a single target if necessary, the Eagle, you'll have to lead your away and don't hesitate to use the pause feature team onboard to rescue it. A Klingon to regroup and issue individual commands. Captain is leading the attackers, and Eventually you will find the ship's captain, though he'll be tougher than most ground who informs you that Paris has already enemies you've faced thus far, he shouldn't been captured. need any special tactics to defeat. Beam back to your ship to give chase. City on the Edge of Never The kidnappers' ship has three Birds of Prey as escorts. Defeating them allows you to Giver: Admiral Quinn warp to sector space, where you must Where: Hromi Sector, Pi Canus Sector travel to the Gateway System – which Block happily is just a short distance away. Rewards: 309 Skill Points, 180 Bridge Officer Points, 207 Starfleet Merits, Choice In the Gateway System, the Klingons of Rare Mk. III ground weapons; also have set up a welcoming committee. another 231 Skill Points, 135 Bridge Officer Defeat three more Birds of Prey and one Points and 155 Starfleet Merits for larger ship to be able to beam down to the completing all parts of the mission surface of the nearby planet.
This is a lengthy Episode that follows up B'Vat has taken Paris ahead and left on some previous storyline threads and eight patrols to slow down your pursuit. The features appearances from some true sci-fi path is simple to follow and the enemies icons. It begins when you are asked to are mostly Warriors, which should be no defend the U.S.S. Kirk, where Miral Paris is problem for you or your Bridge Officers. A stationed, from a Klingon attack. Defeating Klingon Officer is the last foe before you four enemy ships allows you to beam find the portal to the Guardian of Forever, a aboard the Kirk. character who should be familiar to anyone who's a fan of the STO source material.
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Speak to the Guardian, who will open up Doing enough damage to the younger a portal that will return you to your ship... B'Vat will get him to talk, fingering his but in the year 2270. Upon arriving in the future self as the real villain and wishing past, you will help the U.S.S. Enterprise you luck in defeating him. He'll beam out, (yes, that Enterprise) fight off B'Vat's ship, and you can use the console behind him to the Worvig, and two D7 Battlecruisers. deactivate the force field in the main Damaging the Worvig sufficiently will cause hallway. B'Vat to warp away, and Spock will thank you for your assistance. Not far from there you will encounter Master B'Vat, who is surprisingly easy to Warp away to follow the Worvig, who beat considering his large role in the story has another D7 to help slow you down. thus far. Defeat him and use the console to B'Vat will activate his cloaking device, but free Paris. Paris' communicator leaves a trail you can follow. Beam back to your ship and destroy the Worvig. It's abandoned now, so simply lock That trail will lead you into an ambush all weapons on it and fire until it explodes. by yet another D7 and set up a tough One final warp will return you to the battle. If you can, ignore the D7 and focus Gateway System. your fire on the Worvig, because damaging its hull to a certain point will allow you to One final space battle awaits, but Spock progress the mission whether its escort ship and the Enterprise will return the favor from is destroyed or not. earlier and come to your aid. A portal will open up nearby that will return you to the Once you beam aboard the Worvig, present. Talk to the Guardian one last time, you'll detect Paris' signal coming from the then hail Starfleet to receive your rewards. mess hall. Fight your way down the main Admiral Quinn will warn you about a visit hallway until you find the path blocked by a from the Department of Temporal force field. There's a second path to the Investigations thanks to your jaunt through east guarded by B'Vats personal guards. time. Beat both of them to find a much younger B'Vat – the one from that time – waiting for you.
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• Abandoned base – A Starfleet Exploration outpost has either been willingly or unwillingly abandoned, and you Missions have to examine it and report on your findings. This usually requires Since the storyline episodes are not downloading data from several replayable, they aren't much use for computer terminals. grinding. What you can do to earn some • Anomaly collection – The system is more Skill Points and advance some extra devoid of friendly or enemy contacts grades is to grind the exploration missions. but does contain anomalous data. Simply flying and scanning the Exploration missions call on you to travel anomalies and collecting the to unmapped star systems in certain resulting items will satisfy the clusters and explore them to see what you mission requirements. can find. A Starfleet contact will ask you to • Commodities missions – Not a explore three systems in a specific cluster favorite of many Fed players, these and offer Skill Points, Bridge Officer Skill missions involve contact with a Points and Badges of Exploration for doing civilization who requests tangible aid so. from Starfleet. Delivering the right kind and quantity of commodity will The map for an unexplored cluster looks complete the mission, though this much like sector space and is navigated in often requires you to make a trip to the same way. Flying close to the contact a commodity broker and spend points will allow you to scan them, which some of your hard-earned energy will either reveal anomalies that you can credits. collect or an unknown system. • Distress call – Either Starfleet personnel or aliens friendly to the STO does a nice job varying the types of Federation are under attack. If it's a unknown systems you come across, but ship in distress, you'll have to fight a they can be broken down into several space battle, and if it's a base, you'll different mission types: have to beam an away team down to defeat any enemies you encounter.
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Patrol Missions PvP And FvF Zones
With the Federation engaged in a war PvP play isn't a focus of the Fed side, but with the Klingons and threats appearing on there are opportunities for it. At this time, several other fronts, someone needs to all PVP zones are consensual instanced keep the peace in friendly space. Patrol locations, though the STO devs have stated missions are given to you by Starfleet they are considering persistent PvP maps contacts (initially Commander Akira Sulu at for future expansions. Earth Spacedock) who ask you to travel to certain sector blocks to render whatever The first set of PvP zones most Fed assistance may be necessary. players will come across are located in the Neutral Zone, which is disputed territory Regular patrol missions require you to between Federation and Klingon space. The travel to several systems in the same closest entry point to the starting zone is sector. Once there, you'll receive further the Eta Eridani Sector Block. instructions from Starfleet, and from there the scenarios play out much like storyline PvP systems are marked on the sector episodes or exploration missions. map as Hostile Engagement or Space Assault zones. Entering one of those Defense missions have you dealing with systems will bring up the queue menu, the wandering enemy signal contacts you'll which shows you the different PvP come across in sector space. The contacts scenarios available. Every grouping of can be approached and entered just like scenarios has a range of ranks and grades star systems, and once inside, you'll team that are allowed to participate (for with other Fed captains to engage in space example, Lt. Commander 1 to Commander battles. These missions reset every so often 0), and if you aren't in that range, you and have timers to tell you when the next won't even have the option to enter the reset will occur. zone.
Pure PvP scenarios are marked as FvK and require a minimum number of Federation and Klingon players to begin. There are also Fed-only scenarios marked
81 The Unofficial Star Trek Online Federation Guide as FvF that simply need a total number of Fed captains to start. The in-game War Zones explanation for these scenarios is that they are Starfleet wargames. (Competitive PvE)
The current number of players in each Systems marked as War Zones offer queue is displayed next to the minimum competitive PvE play. Though you'll find number required, with Fed players in blue Klingon captains inside and be able to fight and Klingon players in red. Queues you are them, the mission objectives involve currently in are marked with a yellow defeating computer-controlled enemies that square. will be opposing both factions.
Once the minimum number of players is Unlike PvP zones, War Zones have no queued up, a menu will pop up that shows queues and you never know how many the map being used and the number of other players you'll find inside. They reset players on each side. Hit the Engage button several minutes after completion, and a to enter, as you will time out after about a timer tells you how long it will be until the minute. reset takes place.
After entering the scenario, Starfleet personnel will tell you about the objectives. One player will usually invite the others on their side to join a team in order to enable a chat channel during the battle.
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That means you'll have to build up your FEDERATION bank account by selling things, which isn't as bad as it sounds since you will come ECONOMICS across many more items of all kinds than you will ever be able to hold or use. This is he Federation has no need for especially true for kits, which are specific to money, what with replicators that one career path (if your captain is a Tactical can create anything a being might Officer, he won't be able to use an need. But that doesn't mean there's no in- Engineering kit), and ground weapons, Tgame economy in STO. which you'll soon have in abundance after completing some missions. Far from it, in fact. As a Fed player, you'll find that there is a multi-tiered system for Every item has a value, which you can acquiring gear and other resources that can think of as its retail price. As in most MMOs, be a little confusing for new players. As you you'll usually have to pay the full price in progress through the game, you'll learn energy credits to buy the item, but you that all of the following ways of obtaining won't receive full value when selling it. items have their uses for making your captain, crew and ship the best they can Along with physical goods, energy be. credits can also be used to customize your ship or the clothing worn by your captain and bridge officers by visiting tailors on Energy Credits various starbases.
Energy credits are the main form of Exchanges currency in the STO universe, usable in all kinds of places to purchase weapons, Your Federation characters can buy gear equipment and even new starships, if you directly from other human players and sell have enough of them. The interesting part to them as well thanks to the exchange is that you start with none, nor do you earn consoles you'll find on starbases. Just about any by completing missions or find them as anything you can think of or want in STO is drops when defeating enemies. probably for sale at some time.
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The prices for using the replicator are no The exchange has a search function and worse than you'll find anywhere else for drop-down menus so you can quickly find these staples. You can also “sell” items for exactly what you want. Be prepared to pay credits using the replicator, but since you'll a pretty penny for the good stuff, though, only get about 20 percent of their values if as supply and demand control prices here. you do, this should be avoided.
On the flip side, if you find yourself in possession of some rare gear that you can't use or don't want, the exchange is your Starfleet Merits best bet for getting all the energy credits you deserve from a sale – especially since In contrast to energy credits, you will you can name your own selling price when receive Starfleet Merits for completing you post the item. You're much better off missions. Think of them in a similar way to attempting this route than selling high end the favor systems in other MMOs, as they weapons or equipment to the in-game reflect your personal level of goodwill with merchants. the higher ups of the Federation.
The main use of Merits is for obtaining Replicators and training Bridge Officer candidates. Randomly finding the Officer with the exact If you find yourself in need of commonly race and set of skills you want is possible, used items in a pinch, you don't even need but why leave it to chance when you can to track down a wandering merchant ship simply visit a requisitions officer (at Earth or head to a starbase to go shopping. The Spacedock, for one) and pick the one you replicator on your ship can create food and want? beverages (for non-combat healing), as well as small hypos, shield charges and power You can also spend merits to get a cells. Bridge Officer who's already part of your crew to train a new ability, replacing one they already have. This is useful if said
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Officer's set of skills is good except in one Since the storyline missions aren't area, and it's faster than spending time to currently replayable, exploration missions train and level up a replacement from are the only PvE method of grinding for scratch. your Federation character. And since you don't earn energy credits for doing them, Finally, you need Merits to promote Badges of Exploration are a nice Bridge Officers to the next rank. This can be consolation prize. done at any time from the Officer's status screen provided he or she has earned You can use the Badges to requisition enough skill points and you have enough ship weapons and consoles, including some Merits. that are difficult to find in other ways and would cost tons of energy credits even if It costs 300 Starfleet Merits to promote a you did. Better gear can be obtained from Bridge Officer from Ensign to Lieutenant, completing missions in more challenging 600 to promote from Lieutenant to Lt. areas of unexplored space, as listed below: Commander, and so on. • Mk. II gear needs Badges of Exploration, 1st Order, earned by exploring systems in the Delta Badges Of Volanis Cluster or Arucanis Arm • Mk. IV gear needs Badges of Exploration Exploration, 2nd Order, earned by exploring systems in the Hromi Just about everyone knows that one of Cluster or Khazon Cluster the Federation's purposes is “to explore • Mk. VI gear needs Badges of strange new worlds... to seek out new life, Exploration, 3rd Order, earned by new civilizations.” STO gives you a reason exploring systems in the Afehirr for doing just that thanks to Badges of Nebula or Eridan Belt Exploration. • Mk. VIII gear needs Badges of Exploration, 4th Order, earned by exploring systems in the Rolor Nebula or Betreka Nebula
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• Mk. X gear needs Badges of Exploration, 5th Order, earned by Anomalous Data exploring systems in the Zenas Expanse (Crafting)
The second level of the Shipyard at Though STO doesn't have a full crafting Earth Spacedock has a convenient place to system that allows players to create items trade in your Badges by talking to the like some other MMOs, it does have a following Starfleet personnel: limited method for improving existing gear thanks to anomalous data.
Who What In just about every mission, whether in Ensign Olesre Mk. II, IV and VI space or on the ground, you can scan for ship weapons and locate anomalies of various kinds. Commander Mk. VIII and X Flying or walking close to these anomalies Tafeng ship weapons allows them to be scanned in further detail and added to your inventory. Lt. Commander Mk. II, IV and VI Phlim consoles As you learn in an early storyline Lieutenant Yeniz Mk. VIII and X consoles mission, the Federation scientists at Memory Alpha are eagerly seeking out all Lieutenant Jotun Mk. II, IV and VI kinds of anomalous data to help them with shields, deflector arrays and their work. In practical terms, you can engines exchange the different anomalies you find according to specific recipes or formulas to Lt. Commander Mk. VIII and X Orjas shields, deflector help you upgrade your weapons or arrays and equipment. engines
Your first contact at Memory Alpha will be Commander Jenna Romaine, who is located in the center of the facility's large central room. She can get you started with the following upgrades:
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Commander Romaine's Upgrade Formulas
Item Formula Special Bonus
Large Hypo Alien Artifact x2, Radiation Sample x2, None Mineral Sample x2, Medium Hypo x1
Large Power Cell Alien Artifact x2, Radiation Sample x2, None Mineral Sample x2, Medium Shield Charge x1
Personal Shield Radiation Sample x5, Alien Artifact x5, Increased shield Mk. II Mineral Sample x5, Antimatter Sample x2, hit points Biological Sample x2, Unknown Alloy x2, Personal Shield Mk. II x1
Personal Shield Unknown Alloy x6, Antimatter Sample x6, +310 percent Mk. II Biological Sample x6, Radiation Sample x1, shield Alien Artifact x1, Mineral Sample x1, regeneration Personal Shield Mk. II x1
Disruptor Bolt Unknown Alloy x6, Antimatter Sample x6, Chance of bonus Dual Pistol – Biological Sample x6, Radiation Sample x1, Physical DoT Sweep Mk. II Alien Artifact x1, Mineral Sample x1, Disruptor Dual Pistols Mk. II x1
Phaser Beam Radiation Sample x5, Alien Artifact x5, Chance of Pistol – Wide Mineral Sample x5, Antimatter Sample x2, knockback Beam Mk. II Biological Sample x2, Unknown Alloy x2, Phaser Wide Beam Pistol Mk. II x1
Phaser Beam Radiation Sample x5, Alien Artifact x5, + 0.1 accuracy Array Mk. II Mineral Sample x5, Antimatter Sample x2, Biological Sample x2, Unknown Alloy x2, Phaser Beam Array Mk. II x1
Phaser Beam Radiation Sample x5, Alien Artifact x5, +20 critical Array Mk. II Mineral Sample x5, Antimatter Sample x2, severity Biological Sample x2, Unknown Alloy x2, Phaser Beam Array Mk. II x1
Phaser Beam Radiation Sample x5, Alien Artifact x5, +2% critical Array Mk. II Mineral Sample x5, Antimatter Sample x2, chance
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Biological Sample x2, Unknown Alloy x2, Phaser Beam Array Mk. II x1
Photon Torpedo Unknown Alloy x9, Antimatter Sample x9, +0.1 accuracy Launcher Mk. II Biological Sample x9, Radiation Sample x5, Alien Artifact x5, Mineral Sample x5, Photon Torpedo Launcher Mk. II x1
Photon Torpedo Unknown Alloy x7, Alien Artifact x7, +20 critical Launcher Mk. II Antimatter Sample x7, Radiation Sample x7, severity Biological Sample x7, Mineral Sample x7, Photon Torpedo Launcher Mk. II x1
Photon Torpedo Unknown Alloy x6, Antimatter Sample x6, +2% critical Launcher Mk. II Biological Sample x6, Radiation Sample x1, chance Alien Artifact x1, Mineral Sample x1, Photon Torpedo Launcher Mk. II x1
Engineering Kit – Unknown Alloy x7, Alien Artifact x7, Grants both Basic Explosives Antimatter Sample x7, Radiation Sample x7, Transphasic Mk. II Biological Sample x7, Mineral Sample x7, Bomb I and Engineering Kit – Chroniton Mine Barrier Chroniton Mine Standard Issue x1 Barrier I abilities
Science Kit – Unknown Alloy x7, Alien Artifact x7, Grants both Medic Mk. II Antimatter Sample x7, Radiation Sample x7, Vascular Biological Sample x7, Mineral Sample x7, Regenerator I Science Kit – Medical Tricorder Standard and Medical Issue x1 Tricorder I abilities
Tactical Kit – Unknown Alloy x9, Antimatter Sample x9, Grants both Basic Grenades Biological Sample x9, Radiation Sample x5, Smoke Grenade Mk. II Alien Artifact x5, Mineral Sample x5, Tactical I and Photon Kit – Photon Grenade Standard Issue x1 Grenade I abilities
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Other items are more for flavor purposes, like bridge pieces, ship costumes The C-Store (which change the exterior look of your ship) and character emotes. Read the For some unique in-game items and add- descriptions carefully: some items are only ons, you may have to spend some real life for one specific captain while others can be currency. In STO, that means a visit to the used by all of your characters or all who C-Store. have achieved a certain rank.
The C-Store is accessible by clicking on The STO developers will also place free the down arrow icon near your mini map in items in the C-Store as loyalty rewards, so the upper-right corner of the screen and make sure you check back from time to selecting it from the drop-down menu. time to see what's new. For example, two Inside, you'll find a variety of goodies that months after the game first went live, a can be purchased via microtransactions free costume piece, character title and using Cryptic Points, which can be emote were given away to thank the purchased in bundles from the Cryptic or players. STO websites.
The price varies by bundle so that you get more points per dollar by buying more at one time. In all cases, though, Cryptic Points will run you less than two cents per point.
There's no point in listing the items in the C-Store because the selection is always changing. Popular purchases include extra playable races, extra character slots and the ability to Retrain (or respec) your captain, changing up his or her build by spending all skill points over from the beginning.
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