Where do I get better gear? w/o using EC or Zen...

[Dookalyon II]

I just recently got this game on steam for free a few months ago and havent stopped playing, liked it so much bought the expansion Delta Rising (contemplating getting the Romulan expansion too..) and steam starter DLC as well, but for the life of me, I don't think I'm doing all that well in game, see, I topped out with a T4 ship the Assault Cruiser (Sovereign Class = Enterprise E! YES!), they give out free ships up to level 40 (Big TNG fan) but I could not get the upgrade to a T5 ship, because well its an issue with STEAM/PWE not being able to use my steam credits in the Zen store. but thats a whole other issue.

But I digress, my main toon a TACTICAL captain whose now level 55, is flying a brand new T6 ship, the Guardian Cruiser (love it!) but is still only armed with the original weapons that came with it, and all the drops I get from doing missions are so under powered that I'm still using the original equipment, can anyone please help me get better equipment by pointing out what missions give better ones so that I can replace my current weapons.

bear in mind tho, I've just started out and I dont have a ton of EC to use for purchasing anything on the Exchange, so I'm hoping someone can point me to missions or areas where I can play and get better equipment without using EC or Zen (not possible at the moment as there is and issue with STO not recognizing my Steam credits).

and thanks for the help I appreciate it from one STO fan/player to another. :)

[virpyre]

Star Trek: Online Mission Rewards[docs.google.com]

Space & Ground Equipment Sets[sto.gamepedia.com]

T-6 Guardian[www.stoacademy.com]
T-6 Plasma Guardian[www.stoacademy.com]

[Kitsune Aoi]

I mostly tend to use the Jem Hadar set from the episodes "Operation Gamma" and "Boldly the Rode" in the Cardassian Arc with the Polaron weapons from the Dyson or Delta Reputations. Other ship items are The Breen Invassion set, Solonae Dyson set from the "A Stepp Between Stars" Episode. Dyson Rep was the easiest rep for me to level followed by the Nukara rep that offers Tetryon weapons. Can also get space sets from teh reputation system via projects but they cost EC and Dilithium.

http://sto.gamepedia.com/Jem%27Hadar_Space_Set
http://sto.gamepedia.com/Breen_Absolute_Zero
http://sto.gamepedia.com/Solanae_Hybrid_Technologies

Weapons
http://sto.gamepedia.com/Protonic_Polaron_Beam_Array Got mine from Dyson Rep requisition boxes for completting the Daily and hourly rep projects.

[Szeron]

Hmm.. no EC or Zen... well, you can get purple Anti-Proton ship weapons from the Fluid Dynamics mission.. and then proceed to upgrade them to mk14. Mods aren't amazing, but it's free AP weapons.

For shield set, I'll second the Solanae set from A Step Between Stars. It's a very solid set and relatively easy to obtain.

Alternatively, you can do the Undine Battlezone and get bio-weapons, and sets, from the Counter-Command Reputation. It's more of an attack ship set, but it will work just fine on a Cruiser as well.

It really depends on what you want to do with your Guardian, exactly. Different sets are better for different things.

[CMDR CWolfxUK]

EC is free though...

[thisguyLuis]

Originally posted by cwolfxuk:

EC is free though...

kinda free. though it helps to know where the best sources of EC are

[Dookalyon II]

Jem Hadar set seems nice, but for a set its seems to be low spec'd? Read about the Reman set, how do I get that? EC is also difficult to get been playing just the missions tho, any recommendations on what missions to do to fast track gaining EC or dil? thanks for the reponses tho, I'm still annoyed that STO wont accept STEAM wallet credits eventho I already brought the starter an DR expansion on steam. PWE/ARC cards are not available in my corner of the world :(

also what part/season is the fluid dynamics mission? I would like to get anti proton weapons. Haven't reached the Solanae Missions yet, but will tackle them next once I finished the cardassian missions.

I'm building a tough guardian, more on the defensive side rather than offensive, want to be able to wade thru lots of enemies and use FAW and Torp Spread, while be able to just absorb all that enemy fire. :)

[Szeron]

Fluid Dynamics is the last mission of the Borg/Undine arc; right before the Breen arc.

The Reman(and Romulan) are part of the New Romulus Reptuation. Both sets have a deflector suited to boosting Gravity Wells, so it's a bit more science-y.

For tanking, the popular choices tend to be the Borg/Assmilated(Omega rep) for its fantastic hull and shield regeneration, Aegis(Crafted) for its great tanking bonuses and deflector, Nukara(Nukara rep) for its good stats, and Solanae(Step Between Stars mission) for its good shield, engines, and set bonuses. Dyson can work as well, but the shields tend to leak a lot of damage/cater towards more of a hull-tank.

Really though, even defensive play has several options. You can Resist Tank(high mitigation), Speed/Defense Tank(avoid hits and recieve less damage), Buffer Tank(high capacity, big heals), or even Drain Tank(weaken enemies while strengthening yourself). You'll usually run a mix on most defensive ships.

Speed-tanking is probably the most cost-effective: cycle Emergency Power to Engines instead of the usual Emergency Power to Weapons with your EPtShields. However, it might not be practical with the Guardian's low turn rate.

The 3 main tanking Reputation Space Traits you'll want to keep any eye out for are Nanoprobe Field Generator(Counter Command), Active Hull Hardening(Dyson), and Advanced Engines(Delta).

[CMDR CWolfxUK]

I tend tp make a lot of EC through selling olf items (take everything) and a lot from sending officers off on errands.

[markdb92]

if your romulan sit in romulan command and change to other romulan chars every hour to try to get boff assignments and hope u win sup op boffs from them and sell them on exchange.

[Dookalyon II]

win op boffs?

[Darius]

Bridge officers, depending on their race, have pre-chosen traits. Their Quality indicates how many they can get in addition to that and what quality level they will be.

Outside of Humans, which always get leadership, the selection of BOFF races with potential to get space traits is extremely limited.

[Kitsune Aoi]

Originally posted by Dookalyon II:

Jem Hadar set seems nice, but for a set its seems to be low spec'd? Read about the Reman set, how do I get that?

Reman and Romulan sets are from the New Romulus Reputation. Think you need Tier 5 Rep in order to get the full set. the Reman shield may still be possible from the Collusieum episode. (think that was the one for it but it is in that general episode area) But getting the items from the rep system takes something like 32k Dilithium and 500 New Romulus marks per set item.

[Dookalyon II]

yup I already got the shield from one of the missions, w/c led me to looking for where to get the rest of the set, the rep missions really do need a lot of a specific marks and EC, was hoping I could get it in the missions, but thats ok this is a grinding for loot kind of game. probably will be annoyed when I get all of it becoz there mayb something better after awhile.

I cant understand the loot drops in the game tho, whenever I try to replay the same mission, the quality of the loot drops significantly is there a point to that? I mean take the fluid dynamics mission, I played it three times now to get the anti proton weapons, but each time the damage level of any of the weapons drop significantly including those that I already got from that mission is that correct? it is kind of annoying considering I have eight slots to fill and already the weapons are degrading after each time I replay the mission.

also how do I go about getting specific doffs? I want to finish the diplomatic missions but I seem to be missing a chef among other specific doffs, do I buy that off the exchange? or can I get it from an NPC using EC?

thanks for all the responses, I really like this game, my first MMO that I'm actually thinking of supporting thru patronage of its digital wares, aside from Guild Wars 2, I'm only sad that it would not allow me to continue to support it because it doesnt seem to recognize my steam wallet credits, buying the expansion off STEAM seems to work just fine, but I cant get to buy Zen in the store, I want to play this game and support it but it seems laughable that the developer doesnt want my money because its supporting a new system (ARC) and not providing any alternative for people who use a different way to give them money :)

[Dookalyon II]

just want to say thanks to every1 that posted to help, my new ship is at least formidable now unlike before I got it, and I can say replaying missions can be a real chore but the results do speak for themselves, my current Guardian Cruiser is now equipped with the obelisk set and the solanae set plus the fast loading torpedo and anti proton beams!

and not a purchase using EC or Zen! thanks for the help, enemies melt against the AP and the two space sets keep me alive long after everything else is a floating wreck! good times, see ya around the galaxy folks, I'll be hunting borg in the quadrants :)

[Dookalyon II]

rich kid? I wish! I work for a living too bud, but thank you for your opinion. My playing and enjoying a game isnt based on other people's perspective, maybe you've had bad experiences with the game, me personally at the moment playing the game has been "FUN" and since I dont really play much pvp its even better.

imagine that, an MMO that I can play solo :) heck, even the current fleet that has asked me join has been quite helpful, yes I'm annoyed that the UI is a chore, but they managed to fix some of what I dont like about it (the taskbar set up is my pet peeve, but they fixed it with the loadouts) so until that changes, my opinion/experience of the game is a positive one. but hey "thats my opinon too" so feel free to make of it what you will. :)