Star Trek Online Discussion Thread (now free to play!)

[Rocketeer]

I don't know were the shortcut cheat is on the race, but if you run it as the spider you will do well. (8 wheel drive...)

If you are sliding off the track, hitting C (crouch) will slow you down. Also double tapping A, W, or D will cause you to roll while breaking your momentum.

I have arthritus and carpul tunnel so have to figure out ways to win the race without full dexterity. You only collect the autographed pics if you win.

[Timelord_Victorious]

The cheat refers to the PvP race, where people jump off the cliff at the first turn to cut two thirds of the race.
others jump onto the track at the end of it while the race is ongoing apparently.

[matthunter]

Rocketeer wrote:

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I don't know were the shortcut cheat is on the race, but if you run it as the spider you will do well. (8 wheel drive...)

If you are sliding off the track, hitting C (crouch) will slow you down. Also double tapping A, W, or D will cause you to roll while breaking your momentum.

I have arthritus and carpul tunnel so have to figure out ways to win the race without full dexterity. You only collect the autographed pics if you win.

The PvE race is practically unloseable - don't sprint except when you have a clear straight, take your finger off the movement key on sharp bends to slow down and turn.

[Capn Flukie]

I got the 'avalanche' weapon. I like to stand in front of the snowman army in the NE corner and wait for them to come alive. Got the long black coat too.

[Melakon]

I'm preparing to try the game for the first time(going through patching now), after seeing this thread active. I've yet to go through character creation. I would prefer that first character to be Federation human. Eventually I'd want him to be eligible for the fleet. Any skills or departments that would be best? Is there an offline playable tutorial? Other than some SecondLife experience, and NeverwinterNights2 experience on player-run servers, I have no idea what to expect when first beaming in.

EDIT: I've looked through char creation without actually building anyone. I'm intending to use the ship for exploration, perhaps a farmer for supplies needed by the fleet. I see Engineering, Tactical, and Science careers, and guess science fits the goal.

[intrinsical]

Rocketeer wrote:

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I don't know were the shortcut cheat is on the race, but if you run it as the spider you will do well. (8 wheel drive...)

If you are sliding off the track, hitting C (crouch) will slow you down. Also double tapping A, W, or D will cause you to roll while breaking your momentum.

I have arthritus and carpul tunnel so have to figure out ways to win the race without full dexterity. You only collect the autographed pics if you win.

The race doesn't actually require much finesse. Make sure you've got mouse look enabled so you can easily use you mouse to orientate your character. That would cut down on a lot of button mashing trying to turn your character in the right direction. All that remains is to run and occasionally use sprint when you know you have a long straight path ahead.

[intrinsical]

Melakon wrote:

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I'm preparing to try the game for the first time(going through patching now), after seeing this thread active. I've yet to go through character creation. I would prefer that first character to be Federation human. Eventually I'd want him to be eligible for the fleet. Any skills or departments that would be best? Is there an offline playable tutorial? Other than some SecondLife experience, and NeverwinterNights2 experience on player-run servers, I have no idea what to expect when first beaming in.

EDIT: I've looked through char creation without actually building anyone. I'm intending to use the ship for exploration, perhaps a farmer for supplies needed by the fleet. I see Engineering, Tactical, and Science careers, and guess science fits the goal.

First of all, welcome! STO is very combat-centric. The game is based around ship to ship as well as ground-combat so its very unlike Second Life which is more social/community centric. Since you've fiddled with character creation, it should be pretty clear that there are three professions to choose from. Likewise, there are 3 major classes of ships to choose from.

Tactical Officers are what we call nukers in MMO parlance. They specialize in dishing out lots and lots of damage really quickly, but conversely they are low on defense and can get killed or blasted out of space very quickly. Tactical Officers are especially adept at using attack-oriented Escort starships such as the Defiant and Prometheus class.

Science Officers are a bit of a team-centric jack-of-all-trades. They are proficient in healing friends, repairing ships, locking down opponents, boosting team damage, etc.. Science officers are most suited to operate Science Vessels such as the Intrepid and Luna class starships which allows them to do more sciency-stuff. Science Vessels typically don't deal a lot of damage on their own but they tend to have very good shields.

Engineering Officers are most the defensive and survivable profession. They usually have lots of hitpoints, resistances and heals that helps them absorb huge amounts of damage. Engineering officers are most suited for operating Cruisers such as the Galaxy and Sovereign class starships.

Since you're pretty new to STO and MMOs in general, I would recommend you start with an Engineering character for two reasons. They tend to be very survivable, allowing you to learn the game without the frustration of blowing up all the time. Secondly, you get to command some of the most iconic ships in Star Trek.

Oh and be sure to provide us with your character's full name, which goes in the form of "name@account", so we can add you to our fleet. We're a pretty casual and friendly group and there's usually someone around to help you out and answer any questions you may have.

[Timelord_Victorious]

Actually, tac and engineering would both be viable options to start with.

What I propose, though, would be to go with a Tac in a cruiser or an engineer in an escort to get the best of both worlds.

That way you have a good measure of survivability and damage in either case and it just comes down, which type of ship you prefer.

Escorts are generally smaller, turn a lot faster and have their damage mostly in the frontal arc through preferably cannons like the Defiant or the Akira.

Cruisers are slower and work best with beam weapons broadsiding to dish out slower but steadier damage and have the survivabilty to do so, like every Enterprise you've ever seen (well, the NX-01, which you can buy as a starter ship, is more of a hybrid).

Science captains an ships are much more difficult to master and you should stay away from them while learning the ropes.

[Nerys Ghemor]

I started with a science captain. I did do a lot of blowing up, but I have had to learn a lot about how to defend myself and outplot/outthink my enemies.

I'm still not that good...but I've got to admit I will always have a soft spot for playing as a science officer.

Science prepared me more for playing as a tactical officer than it did for engineering. My Luna ended up being set up almost like a light escort, meaning I can move around pretty quickly, and keep things in my sights long enough to get them with a cannon (single since scis can't mount double cannons) and dual beam bank, and then turn around and drop a mean load of torpedoes and cluster bombs out the back. (I'm usually going straight at my enemies or running from them, so aside from a few scenarios with multiple enemies coming at me, I only need my one normal beam bank, which is in the aft.) The trick with sci is to learn how to buy yourself some time when your enemies aren't firing at you, make sure you have ample hull and shield heals, and then a few abilities to increase your damage. Certain buffs can blind their sensors or even make NPCs fire at each other.

Engineering...it's not bad, but I get bored easily fighting in my Sovereign because it takes so long to take down my enemies and I can't maneuver as well.

[Melakon]

Thanks for all the replies. I saw intrinsical's post first last night, and went for Engineering as the first guy. I assume he's still in Tutorial Mode, as he's currently in what looks like an automatically-assigned Miranda-class (which I named Maxville), rescuing survivors and current orders are to rendezvous with another ship on the other side of an asteroid.

The Engineer's name is Foster F. Fisher. His single-name reference is Foster. The game addresses me as Melkuris, so I guess the address information you need is FosterFFisher@Melkuris. He's currently aboard the USS Maxville. However, I still don't know anything about in-game communications, so not sure how timely I can reply. A crappy keyboard with stuck keys also is causing some problems.

I see references to Zen, which apparently is game currency. Does this have to be purchased, or is it awarded for completing missions? My real-life finances are quite limited if I have to buy a lot of stuff to advance. But eventually I would like to add Science and Tactical officers.

(Useless trivia: Foster F. Fisher was originally a character in a story I wrote in 1972. The Maxville was named for a town I lived in. Zeta Melkuris is a system in a sci-fi universe I began developing in 1998.)

[Timelord_Victorious]

Zen is the Game Store, called C-Store, currency used in all Perfect World games.
There are 3 ways to get Zen:

Purchase directly with real money and then transfer it to the game to make a store purchase.

Do those surveys advertised on the homepage/forums to get free Zen, though those could be called datamining traps for the most part.

Earn Dilithium in game, which might be hard at the beginning, and use the Dilithium Exchange to convert it to Zen.
Right now is a great time to do that, as Zen are cheaper then ever before on the Exchange, since Dilithium is becoming more and more valuable in game, it is also used to purchase high end gear and progress Fleet Starbases and such.

There are a few things you might want to buy from the C-Store:

Energy Credit Limit Upgrade, I think right now you are stuck at 10 million max, which sounds like a lot, but is really not if you want to purchase high end gear later from the EC Exchange. Upgrade ups it to a Billion or so.

maybe a couple of character slots if you plan on creating more alts. Atm you have 1 slot for your Fed and as soon as you reach level 25 you gain a Klingon Character slot.

Eventually you might need more Inventory and Bank slots. I have maxed them on my Main and I am gold, so I have more than a silver player by default and I am still constantly out of space to put stuff in.

If you hurry and get to level 10 or so you can still participate in the Winter daily in Q's Winter Wonderland to earn a free endgame Breen ship, which has better stats then any ship you get for for free through standard progression and leveling.

The Miranda Class is the standard starter ship, it is also possible to buy a classic Constitution class, an Oberth class, and an NX class in the C-Store to start with after the tutorial or you can get the Steam Starter Pack, which includes a starter level and an endgame version of the Steamrunner class.

Every 10 ranks you earn a new more powerful ship seperated by Tiers (1-5), which have typically a C-Store variant that has mildly better stats and mostly comes with a special powers console.

Endgame is dominated by C-Store ships , Fleet refits and Lockbox ships, but minus some nifty gadgets the standard free T5 ships are mostly competitive, so no pressing need to buy one.

[Aeolusdallas]

Melakon wrote:

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Thanks for all the replies. I saw intrinsical's post first last night, and went for Engineering as the first guy. I assume he's still in Tutorial Mode, as he's currently in what looks like an automatically-assigned Miranda-class (which I named Maxville), rescuing survivors and current orders are to rendezvous with another ship on the other side of an asteroid.

The Engineer's name is Foster F. Fisher. His single-name reference is Foster. The game addresses me as Melkuris, so I guess the address information you need is FosterFFisher@Melkuris. He's currently aboard the USS Maxville. However, I still don't know anything about in-game communications, so not sure how timely I can reply. A crappy keyboard with stuck keys also is causing some problems.

I see references to Zen, which apparently is game currency. Does this have to be purchased, or is it awarded for completing missions? My real-life finances are quite limited if I have to buy a lot of stuff to advance. But eventually I would like to add Science and Tactical officers.

(Useless trivia: Foster F. Fisher was originally a character in a story I wrote in 1972. The Maxville was named for a town I lived in. Zeta Melkuris is a system in a sci-fi universe I began developing in 1998.)

Zen is real world money (how Cryptic finances the game) but you don't need it.

[intrinsical]

ZEN is used to purchase a variety of enhanced/bonus/vanity services and items from the game's C-Store. For myself, I feel that its not worth purchasing anything from the C-Store unless you decide you want to play STO for the long-term.

Also, I tried adding your character FosterFFisher@Melkuris to the fleet, but there's no such character.

[Melakon]

intrinsical wrote:

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Also, I tried adding your character FosterFFisher@Melkuris to the fleet, but there's no such character.

Maybe he's in limbo since he's in what looks like a tutorial (on screen instructions about transporters, maneuvering), and not in the real game world yet. I'll see if can get him further along tonight.

I didn't see a way to determine his address. All I know is username and log-in name were different, and instructions said not to reveal log-in name.

[Nerys Ghemor]

I'd bet it's Foster@Melkurius...