Starting a new character, any tips?

[JC]

I played back at launch and so many things have changed i figured i would ask for some tips. I'm not pvp focused and just want to play the stories. Is there some i should look out for so i don't miss them? I also know there are new ships called T6 and people talked about leveling them up. Do you do this as you go or is that end game stuff?

I'm going to make a new character as it's been so long and my old one actually has bugged missions that i can't remove. about the only thing i have on it are a bunch of tribles and some minor gear. Is there anything i have that i might want to save that is valuable now? Some MMO's launch gear can be worth something, but i dunno about this one.

I do have that life time sub so i have money to spend. are there some unlocks i should grab that are worth it now the game is FTP other than outfits and ships?

Basically just trying to get a good story going on the federation side of things, I was thinking about making an engineer if that means anything these days. (there were 3 classes when i played)

[JC]

Got another Q, I have health issues, 2 red wounds that i can't figure out how to heal. I tired going to the med bay on the ship but it seams like i need some sorta of item.

[cap-boulanger]

Originally posted by JC:

ok, ty very much for you helpful info. :)



One more thing, for an extra 10k zen it adds this stuff to the pack,

10 Ship slots, I can guess that,
10 master keys
10 R&D craftomg [acls.
10 tech upgrades
10 special points
10 phoenix boxes
1 epic phoenix token
100 lobi


I looked at the zen and it seams like 10k equals 50 bucks, so that would be a sizable amount of money for something i have no clue what it is lol


Another thing, Dilithium, my old character has a lot it seams is there a way to transfer it to another character. Maybe a bank unlock or something? I see a shared bank, but not sure how to access that either.

You don't need that stuff. The ship slots are unnecessary because Zen purchase and event ships are reclaimable, and you get about a dozen slots by default, and even if you keep all the free ships you're given for levelling up, that will only occupy about 7-8 slots. And there's also a "drydock" storage you can use for those which holds 10. 100 lobi is nice, but isn't enough to buy anything useful in the lobi store, and if you really want it, you can earn that via gameplay or a cheaper separate purchase (it's approximately what you'd get from about 20 Master Keys). Everything else on that list are consumables that you can earn via normal gameplay. And 10k is almost enough to buy the other 5 ships I recommended, especially if you wait for a sale.

Also no, 10k is closer to $100... the default sale rate for Zen is 100 to the dollar, though during sales and using the Arc interface you can often get better ratios up to 135-140 to the dollar. And with your lifetime sub you get 500 free per month (which is how you got that big balance you currently have).

As for dilithium transfer, as mentioned... you can post it as an offer to buy zen (there is an interface for this that you reach by using the purple button in your inventory window). There's a "cancel" button for such offers, in which case there's a bar in the interface called "Exchange Balance" where it will reappear, with a "withdraw" button, which puts it back in the character inventory.

Thing is, both active offers and the Exchange Balance are in fact account-wide.

So if you switch characters after placing an offer but prior to pressing "withdraw", you can complete the process with the other character.

[cap-boulanger]

Originally posted by SotF:

Originally posted by cap-boulanger:

I would keep the old character - "on ice" so to speak - so you're not losing anything.

There's still the three classes. Engineer tends to be the easiest to play on ground, and ground is where it makes the most difference, so I'd say go for it.

*right now* there's a special event for TOS-era captains, so I would recommend that your new character be one of those. You'll get a special transceiver that gives a list of special tasks with special rewards - some of those rewards are account wide, so will benefit any future characters you make as well.

(TOS-era captains get their own graphics, their own tutorial, and a short storyline - I think about 8 missions? - replacing the standard tutorial, then get time jumped into the standard Federation storyline immediately after the standard storyline's tutorial.)

T6 (short for Tier 6) are the newer "endgame" level ships - they were introduced in 2014 when the level cap was raised (from 50 to 60), as well as the addition of the Delta Quadrant. One of their features is that they have a mechanic called "Starship Mastery" where the *ship* earns experience. There's a new type of captain traits called "Starship Traits", and the way you earn them is to level a T6 ship to level 5. (Theoretically, each T6 ship grants a different trait, though there are a few duplicates.)

T6 ships were originally limited to level 50+, but they later created "scaling" ships, which you can get "early" but have some slots locked out until you level up. There's two or three other ships that were made with this technology, and then they retrofitted it into *all* T6 ships, which removed the level requirement. So yes, you can start levelling up a T6 ship whenever you like.

As for the lifetime sub. / banked Zen.. I could suggest a few T6 ships to buy, as they have really good Starship Traits.... such as the Arbiter Battlecruiser, Narendra Support Cruiser, and the 3-pack of Andorian Escorts. And if/when the 10th Anniversary Legendary ships bundle comes out again (it's limited-time-only) I would suggest that as well.

Just as a major note, the T6 ships are only post Tutorial for the Romulan, modern Fed, and KDF (I think the Dominion as well), for the TOS and DISCO characters, you need to finish the past portion of the story (Your first episode) and it fully unlocks when you reach the main period as a lot of ships are still locked out from before you get to the current time.

Oh good point. I think Romulans and Dominion have to wait until they choose their ally.

[JC]

Originally posted by sven10077:

Originally posted by JC:

Got another Q, I have health issues, 2 red wounds that i can't figure out how to heal. I tired going to the med bay on the ship but it seams like i need some sorta of item.

You need "regenerators" to allow the doc to heal them IIRC....

and where do i find such a thing? Do i need to find a borg?

[JC]

Originally posted by cap-boulanger:

Originally posted by JC:

ok, ty very much for you helpful info. :)



One more thing, for an extra 10k zen it adds this stuff to the pack,

10 Ship slots, I can guess that,
10 master keys
10 R&D craftomg [acls.
10 tech upgrades
10 special points
10 phoenix boxes
1 epic phoenix token
100 lobi


I looked at the zen and it seams like 10k equals 50 bucks, so that would be a sizable amount of money for something i have no clue what it is lol


Another thing, Dilithium, my old character has a lot it seams is there a way to transfer it to another character. Maybe a bank unlock or something? I see a shared bank, but not sure how to access that either.

You don't need that stuff.

Ahh ok, so it's more of a Power booster for folks that like to spend money that have little time to play? I'll pass on that sorta stuff for now.

i know i have a lot of zen cause they give it to you, but i didn't know the amounts, but i know it adds up. I just also don't want to just waste it, so that is why i asked. Thanks for the info.

As for dilithium it seams i don't have all that much, but i guess if i need some i can transfer that way, it doesn't seam to hard.

[Gonzo]

Like you I came back to the game after a long period with a load of banked Zen. I think the "best" purchases I made were the 10th Anniversary pack (normal without the extras at 35% off), and the 2049 Federation Captain Pack (although I got that one at launch with 50% off, and even with 35% discount I'd be pushed to recommend that one), the captain pack contains a LOAD of Bridge Officers that are very good...probably why it cost so much). The problem with the Captain packs is that other than the T6 ship, everything else is for one character only (which is why the 10th Anniversary Pack worked out to be so good as it's 10 ships can be claimed by every character on your account). Frankly most of the stuff at Mudds is rather expensive (even at 75% off) for what you get. The other purchases worth getting at the expansion packs like the Gamma Quadrant Pack where you get Cardassians and Jem Hadar races unlocked (and a load of ships). So I'd probably go for the expansion packs first, then the 10th Anniversary Pack second. And as always ONLY buy things from the Zen store at a discount and save some for "standard" upgrades like Duty Officer slots (as trying to work with just 100 slots IS do-able, but a bit frustrating to do), don't run out and buy just loads of ships with your banked Zen as there's a few things you'll probably need and if you want to go crazy there's the Captain/Boff/T6-X upgrades to get if you REALLY want to max things out :)

[JC]

naa I'm not going to buy a lotta stuff, that is why i asked, But that 10 anniversary ship pack is exactly what i'm looking for. I'm a huge star trek fan and i want to fly the classics. I'm also gonna buy a bunch of outfits. I logged in a few years ago and bought some, but wow are there lots now. I did see those expansion packs too, but i think the base game is more than enough for me. I only played two characters, one at launch to lvl 14, (i actually played more in beta than launch) then like 5 years later to like level 8, so i can say i have not played much at all anyway.

I guess what i'm saying, thanks for the info on the other stuff, because it seams like that 10k on that pack instead of getting that bonus stuff i'll be using it on outfits instead!! the rest i'll just hold onto till i really know what i'm doing or even for down the road. For now as long as i have questions like these two, i probably don't need to be spending zen lol



For example,

How on earth do you rearrange the powers you installed on your skill bar? i want to rearrange skills and can't figure it out lol. aka where they are on the 1-9, I know i can expand it, but can't seam to change things.

also, what are energy credits, I see something called a ship replicator that i can make basic stuff but i dunno how many energy credits i have or how to earn more.

I also seamed to have misplaced a bridge officer. I got one as a reward and clicked the Later option. It says something about it's waiting for recruitment, but i have no clue where this happens. I figured it would show up on the list. I thought it was going to replace the current one but it instead went to who knows where. guess next time i'll just say yes.


Lieutenant Tealah, https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2867457375

[Gonzo]

Your "missing" Bridge Officer (or BOFF in STO terms) can be found by going to your ship (on the left when you hit the character icon) and then selecting "Stations" (where you assign the BOFF to each seating console). At the bottom you'll see a "Show Bridge Officer Candidates" button and you'll find any missing BOFFs there. Energy Credits are the "default" currency and can be obtained by doing any missions (well just about any activity really) and from selling items (always try to sell at a vendor rather than using the "recycle" option from your replicator, as the prices are better). To rearrange your powers (both space and ground), look for the three small icons to the right side of the power tray, the top one will let you drag and drop skills from the menu down onto the power tray (the other icons will let you add "rows" to the power tray etc. Just hover over them with you mouse pointer for the tool tips. Lastly look to Youtube for the tips and tricks from various content creators (the bigger more focused ones usually have some form of "How to get started/Beginners guide" video in there somewhere). I probably learned more from these types of videos than I did from any guides ingame :)

[JC]

Cool thanks Gonzo, i'll have to fix that stuff next time i log in. I did find a total someplace to see how many energy credits i had, then spent them on getting major and minor regenerators, only to realize i need critical ones but they are no were to be found lol. Let's hope i can make it through these last couple missions to get to a real sick bay on the main galaxy.

[Gonzo]

Oh one last thing before spending your hoarded Zen. They usually do a BIG sale around the "Anniversary" of STO at the end of January (they also do a "charge bonus" for buying Zen as well where you get a boost to the Zen you get for real life cash). During this sale it's usually a discount on just about everything in the Zen store (rather than a small portion). Usual "sale" discounts are 20% off, so anything above that is worth considering (apart from Mudds who do 75% off, but those prices are vastly inflated anyhow, I'd avoid just about anything from Mudds for now).

I've not seen the 10th Anniversary Pack go over 35%, so you should be safe buying it for now. But don't discard the expansion packs just yet, they add races (like the Remans and bundle in a load of ships that take you from level 1 to 65 without you needing to spend any more Zen. But the Gamma Quadrant pack is probably the best of the bunch as nearly everything you get is Tier 6 ships (Jem Hadar start at level 60), and you get about 80% of the Jem Hadar ships available in the game in the bundle (plus some VERY good BOFFs).

Also levelling a KDF/Klingon character to level 65 will allow you to "cross faction" with the ships (so Klingons can get Federation ships and Federation can get KDF ships). Not really that important (if like me your not a "min-maxer" and keeps character to piloting to only their factions ships), BUT it is important as the add "Admiralty Ships" to your pool for doing Admiralty missions when you get to level 52, but that's a subject for later on :D

[Gonzo]

Those Regenerators you only need if you plan on setting the game difficulty to "advanced" or "elite" levels. At default difficulty you don't get injured or your ship gets perma-damaged when dying. The higher difficulty levels basically make the enemy ships and ground troops harder to kill (they also do more damage) for the benefit of a slightly higher drop rate of items when you kill them. Something perhaps to consider later on when you fancy a run with a new character once you've mastered the game, but I'd leave the difficulty set as standard for now :)

[cap-boulanger]

Originally posted by JC:

How on earth do you rearrange the powers you installed on your skill bar? i want to rearrange skills and can't figure it out lol. aka where they are on the 1-9, I know i can expand it, but can't seam to change things.

There's a button on the upper right corner of the ability tray, which opens a menu of what can be in the tray. It also has a "lock" checkbox. Uncheck the box, and you can drag and drop whatever you like wherever you want.

As for buying ships, costumes, etc - I agree with the other poster, STO is pretty generous with sale scheduling, you should never have to buy things at full price.

I would recommend eventually getting the five other ships I mentioned due to their traits (Arbiter Battlecruiser, Narendra Support Carrier, and the Andorian Pilot Escort three-pack), but wait for a sale. (Or, the Narendra Support Cruiser also has a legendary version that is in the 11th anniversary pack, along with the Legendary Excelsior, Klingon Bird of Prey, and Vor'Cha).

As for the "expansion packs"... these add the ability to play additional races (and that's races, not factions - every faction has at least one free race), and gear for them, but they do not expand the storyline as they do in some other games. That said, the Dominion one is probably the best of them - it has really nice BOFFs - though with the recent change to the Fleet Embassy vendor, two of the BOFFs in that pack lost their previous best-in-slot status for non-Romulan captains (and for Romulans they were never the best anyway).

[JC]

Cool, I was gonna give it a try but i seamed to not play this week. Still i just completed the TOS missions.. What a fun ride. Just one question about that, Beating that final mission is impossible right? It had a count down timer and i made it about 1/3 of the time. Can you get to that time? I didn't know what was coming and i had used up a lot of my power and such to finish off the other battle, I figured it was over then i got wrecked lol. I gotta say i just loved that story line though. Are there some stories i can play now that i really should do? I gotta start that mission as well for that ship if there is still time.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2868045283