Should I try out Star Trek Online?

[The Romulan Republic]

I probably will join a fleet eventually, but I'm not near level 40 yet. Last I saw, I think I was at level 15 (my Federation character) and level 7 (my Romulan character).

[Lord Revan]

I joined my current fleet when I was doing the Breen arc (at about 30 or 40 IIRC), though I'd suggest you start building rep with especial factions as soon as you're able as the traits you get from them can be really nice and ti can take a while to get the higher rep levels.

[Elheru Aran]

IIRC you can't start building rep until you hit 50... at least I don't remember being able to do that. Romulan rep is supposed to be pretty nice from what I recall as once you build up enough you can pick up that plasma-torpedo-spam launcher.

[The Romulan Republic]

I quite like the Romulan weaponry- I think their early starship armament may be better than the Federation's.

[Elheru Aran]

What are you packing? I used to flog mines a lot...

[Skywalker_T-65]

I 'was' in a Feddie fleet. Been so long since I've played I may not be anymore though

As for ships, I tend to troll around in the refit Ambassador for the most part. Failing that, the Sov is my second option on the main character. What I really want is an Excelsior since it's my favorite ST ship. But I have neither the time to grind enough Dil for the exchange, or the money to spare to straight out buy one.

[The Romulan Republic]

What are you packing? I used to flog mines a lot...

I haven't used those yet. I just started playing with Romulans so I haven't done much upgrading yet. But I think I'm packing some plasma weapons, torpedoes, and what seems to be a turret (maybe a disruptor but I don't remember) which doesn't have much power but is able to fire almost continuously and has a 360 degree firing arc or close to it.

[Elheru Aran]

Mines can be *really* fun if you train a Tactical officer in mine dispersal. There's nothing like spamming 10 photon mines at once, in just enough time for them to smack your opponent in the face as he chases you. Tractor-beam mines are overrated (except for the people using them against you, of course...). There are a few other mines, plasma and disruptor maybe? The deployable satellite devices are also occasionally useful as a distraction.

[The Romulan Republic]

Another thing I like very much about the Romulans is the cloaking. I just got a chance to use it to set up a nice ambush. Its nice to be able to take the time to maneuver into position or give a system time to recharge without being fired on.

[Lord Revan]

Personally I don't like to use mines that much but I can see why some might want to, I haven't checked but I think mines might do bit more dmg per hit though torps can be used at a greater distance meaning you generally use them more often (mines have a 1 km or so proximity activation after which they essentially work like short range torp) also mines can be shot normally while torps can't be (IIRC not even beam fire at will targets regular torps with the exception of plasma torps), though some forms of High Yield torps will be targeted.

Turrets are for most parts just cannons with 360 fire arc and weaker DPS, I think most Rommie ships come with a default of plasma cannons+torp at front and plasma turret+torp at the back, no rommie ships come with default of disruptors that's KDF ships though some rommie mission give a reward of a plasma-disruptor that's a dual type weapon and quite a good one too and since it counts as both a disruptor and a plasma weapon you can use the consoles for both to boost it, including using the console reward from fluid tension mission and New Romulus rep items on the same ship without worrying about mixing types (granted by time you do either of those the reward from the mission you get orginally is outdated and I can't remember if you can replay them).

something I like doing on my rommie is getting in range while cloaked then activating all my tac abilities (my rommie is tac officer too) then decloaking and hitting the target with all I got then recloaking as soon as I'm out of range of return fire, with luck you can do it so that you setup a chain reaction that wipes out a large group of weak enemies in 1 go due to those who survived being taken down by the exploding warpcores or singularities of their allies and if you got tougher ships in the group they still take a decent amount of damage alllowing you to take them out more easily.

IIRC I once attacked a group of BoPs and a Negh'var Battleship that way and ended the run with no BoPs left and the Neggy at 50% hull and no shields on the facing I struck from. granted if you fail you might end up in a group of very angry enemies with your shields down or worse get taken out by ship you already destroyed there's nothing more embrassing then to take out a ship and then be killed when it's warpcore goes boom and you were too close, borg cubes are especially bad with this as they can tractor you when they're about to die (aka have less then 10% hull left) leaving you with very little time to get to safe distance.

[RogueIce]

plasma-disruptor that's a dual type weapon and quite a good one too and since it counts as both a disruptor and a plasma weapon you can use the consoles for both to boost it

That is incorrect. The hybrid energy weapons have their primary energy type, which is what the consoles boost, but carry the proc of their secondary "energy" but those consoles will not boost. So for instance, a Plasma-Disruptor counts as a Plasma weapon so far as the Tactical consoles are concerned, but have the Disruptor proc as an additional mod.

[Lord Revan]

plasma-disruptor that's a dual type weapon and quite a good one too and since it counts as both a disruptor and a plasma weapon you can use the consoles for both to boost it

That is incorrect. The hybrid energy weapons have their primary energy type, which is what the consoles boost, but carry the proc of their secondary "energy" but those consoles will not boost. So for instance, a Plasma-Disruptor counts as a Plasma weapon so far as the Tactical consoles are concerned, but have the Disruptor proc as an additional mod.

ah thanks for the clarification

[The Romulan Republic]

I hate the Gorn cruisers I keep encountering. Any tips for how to handle them?

[Simon_Jester]

What is the problem with them?

Also, I usually use my ship's engineering console slots to put on armor and plating that give good damage reduction against what I expect to be shot at by. It's an obvious trick but it helps. Gorn will be firing disruptors...

[The Romulan Republic]

Well, the cruisers have some sort of target-seeking missile that seems to do a lot of damage through shields (they fire in clusters of four). They also seem to have unusually tough shields for ships their size- it takes a lot of fire power for me to bring the shields down.

Edit: A small mercy is that they don't seem to have tractor beams. That's handy when I need to run.

[Lord Revan]

Well, the cruisers have some sort of target-seeking missile that seems to do a lot of damage through shields (they fire in clusters of four). They also seem to have unusually tough shields for ships their size- it takes a lot of fire power for me to bring the shields down.

Edit: A small mercy is that they don't seem to have tractor beams. That's handy when I need to run.

sounds like either normal cluster torp or one of those special type of torps, if they fire 4 projectiles at once it's special type, if they fire 1 that splits into 4 when it gets close it's a cluster torp

either way you'll need armor (engineering console) with kinectic damage resistance all projectiles and mines use that, if you can find one with kinectic and disruptor damage resistance the better, I can't remember if there was any that was like that though, oh and bare in mind that physical and kinectic are 2 different damage types in STO.

also make sure you got your engineering boff on his/her station and has engineering team (your basic hull heal) avaible, if you got it (can't remember when you got it) use "brace for impact" when dealing with torps as it gives a slight kinectic resistance buff (+10% IIRC) as well making your crew harder to take out (the less crew you got active the slower your passive hull repair is).

also if you got beams equipted "beam fire at will" can take out some projectiles before they hit you. as for the shields all I can say is to make sure to keep your weapons up to date.

I haven't fought Gorn in ages so I can't give you more detailed hints sadly, though if you think the Gorn are bad you're gonna "love" the Hirogen and Malon they got weapons that do massive damage to your shields are in love at using tractor beams against you and either scramble your sensor so you can't hit them (hirogen) or put out these gass clouds that kill your crew and give you a damage over time debuff (malon).

Thankfully by the time you fight malon you have decent enough skill arsenal to deal with them and the malon are the poster boys of fake difficulty being nearly push overs without their cheap shots having low hull points and shields for ships their size and not that much damage against your hull.

Hirogen you'll meet up earlier and they can seem a real pain at first and the small ships actually pose a threat in and of themselves, it's only the Apex battleships that seem to rely on cheap shots and even then the Apex battleships are no push overs if you can deal with the BS they pull.

EDIT:sorry if this sounded like a rant I've been doing the patrol at Argala system a lot (one of the easiest ways to get xp in DQ) and it randomly gives you either Kazon, Malon or Hirogen ships to fight against.

[RogueIce]

Well, the cruisers have some sort of target-seeking missile that seems to do a lot of damage through shields (they fire in clusters of four). They also seem to have unusually tough shields for ships their size- it takes a lot of fire power for me to bring the shields down.

Edit: A small mercy is that they don't seem to have tractor beams. That's handy when I need to run.

One issue you'll be running into on that front is that it's Double XP Weekend. While normally a good thing, the problem comes in that you'll level almost too fast and most of your gear will be terribly out of date while the enemies will continue to scale with you.

This is especially bad as a Romulan player, because coming out of the tutorial (if you did it back on Thursday or later) you'll be level 10 and stuck in your starter ship until somewhere around level 20 because of a quirk in the way the Romulan faction handles their leveling system. Klingons also get that quirk. So basically for this weekend you want to be playing Fed.

But back to the main point: your gear may be sorely out of date to what it should be; normally you'll generally get enough between drops and mission rewards that you should have mostly Mk-appropriate gear by the time you reach a new category of ranks (every multiple of 10) which is good enough. On a Double XP Weekend, though, well...I've gotten up to 50 (which is when endgame starts) while my ship had plenty of Mk VIII (levels 30-39) and even some Mk VI (levels 20-29) gear on it. Needless to say I did poorly against enemies scaled to level 50 with me.

[The Romulan Republic]

I am playing with my Federation character right now. Last I saw I was at level 18. My inventory has had Mk1-IV stuff and possibly higher. My options for weapons right now include torpedoes up to at least Mk II and phasers up to at least Mk IV as well as some more exotic stuff of the disruptors and plasma weapons varieties.

I'm in the middle of a fight with a tough Klingon ship. It seems unwinnable but maybe its just me screwing up somehow.

[Lord Revan]

the Exchange might have decent gear for you though it can be somewhat overpriced and you can search by using your rank (or equilevant if playing rommies) to give the right level gear to use.

in general you want to "respect" your energy type meaning you want to have mostly only 1 energy type though the kinectic beam from the Borg rep can be an exception and torps have their own types obviously as the energy type consoles give more +dmg then weapon type ones. though this doesn't really come an issue until lvl 60 or so and before that you're not crippling yourself by having multiple energy types but if it was be avoided your should avoid having multiple energy types.

uncommon and rare gear is generally "good enough" for leveling if it's meant for your level once you get to endgame you'll want fleet weapons or very rare rep weapons.

[RogueIce]

I am playing with my Federation character right now. Last I saw I was at level 18. My inventory has had Mk1-IV stuff and possibly higher. My options for weapons right now include torpedoes up to at least Mk II and phasers up to at least Mk IV as well as some more exotic stuff of the disruptors and plasma weapons varieties.

I'm in the middle of a fight with a tough Klingon ship. It seems unwinnable but maybe its just me screwing up somehow.

Can you post your character@account name? Basically when you post something in chat it should read Romulan@Republic or whatever it is you're using. That way I can at least log on to the Gateway and see what you're running.

Could be straight newbness at that level, though. Mk II/IV isn't bad for level 18. Are you a Tac flying Escorts? Because they are rather squishy and you'll blow up a bit. I'm no expert but I have been playing the game for awhile; been some time since I really had troubles during the Klingon Front missions. That said, I tend to blow up more often than I'd like in Escorts, which is why I generally use Cruisers or at least something Cruiser-like for the vast majority of my characters.

the Exchange might have decent gear for you though it can be somewhat overpriced and you can search by using your rank (or equilevant if playing rommies) to give the right level gear to use.

TBH I wouldn't bother paying for gear until at least 50. You'll just obsolete it too fast, especially with Double XP going on.

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

Some further general newbie tips about Bridge Officer "builds" (one of the most important aspects of your character is actually your other characters, i.e. what you're doing with your Bridge Officers).

The following are low-level bread and butter choices you should strongly, strongly consider having in your lineup of active abilities. While of course there's give-and-take for your personal playstyle and preferences, generally you should have a majority sampling of the following abilities, and if you don't, that may be why you're having trouble. Also bear in mind that these are suggestions for a newbie, as experienced players know their way around Boff abilities and can do more intricate or unorthodox things with them.

Tactical
Torpedo High Yield - Like many Boff abilities it comes in several different ranks, but having at least one or even two is hugely important for any ship which fires torpedoes in any quantity. Note that the standard Romulan torpedoes (plasma) are actually really weird, and "normal" torpedoes like photon or quantum are more recommended.

Cannon Rapid Fire - If you're flying an Escort (or Warbird with cannons), this transforms your forward cannons from peashooters into GAU-8 Avengers. Useless if you do not use cannons, however.

The various Beam abilities are gravy for your extra slots, depending on your preferences. Tactical Team is useful in certain niche situations.

Engineering
Emergency Power to Shields
Emergency Power to Shields
and
Emergency Power to Shields

All of the above are very useful abilities and you should strongly consider getting one of them. (seriously though, get Emergency Power to Shields) Once you have enough Emergency Power to Shields, look at:

Engineering Team - your most basic and straightforward hull heal. Always useful. Especially if you're dying to shield bleedthrough - that says you desperately need a hull heal, and Engy Team is your go-to in that department.

Reverse Shield Polarity - a shield heal on crack, it basically makes you invulnerable for several seconds and tops off your shield arcs by the end of it to boot, especially when your enemies are gracious enough to keep shooting you while it's on.

Science
Science Team - another always-useful ability that heals you (or an ally's!) shields and cleanses a lot of nasty status effects.

Transfer Shield Power - if Emergency Power to Shields, Science Team and Reverse Shield Polarity just aren't enough for the inner shield maniac in you, then there's Transfer Shield Power to keep your shields even more topped off. Like most Science power, it can also be used to heal allies.

Hazard Emitters - Engy Team not doing it for you? Have too many Science slots and not enough Engy? Hazard Emitters are for you. It's a slower hull heal than Engy Team, but it will do the job. Again, also good for healing allies in a tight spot.

[Lord Revan]

the Exchange might have decent gear for you though it can be somewhat overpriced and you can search by using your rank (or equilevant if playing rommies) to give the right level gear to use.

TBH I wouldn't bother paying for gear until at least 50. You'll just obsolete it too fast, especially with Double XP going on.

true but the way I'd normally deal with obsolete gear aka replaying older missions would just make the issue worse in this case thanks to the double XP weekend

btw when you replay older missions the reward gear is for the most part releveled to the level you're now, so if you did the mission that orginally gave mark II gear at lvl 60 you'd get mark XIII gear (granted rather poor mark 13 gear but still)

oh and just to add to what Gaius said Hazard Emitters also clear some debuffs so they can be usefull even when you're at full hull health.

[The Romulan Republic]

I am playing with my Federation character right now. Last I saw I was at level 18. My inventory has had Mk1-IV stuff and possibly higher. My options for weapons right now include torpedoes up to at least Mk II and phasers up to at least Mk IV as well as some more exotic stuff of the disruptors and plasma weapons varieties.

I'm in the middle of a fight with a tough Klingon ship. It seems unwinnable but maybe its just me screwing up somehow.

Can you post your character@account name? Basically when you post something in chat it should read Romulan@Republic or whatever it is you're using. That way I can at least log on to the Gateway and see what you're running.

Could be straight newbness at that level, though. Mk II/IV isn't bad for level 18. Are you a Tac flying Escorts? Because they are rather squishy and you'll blow up a bit. I'm no expert but I have been playing the game for awhile; been some time since I really had troubles during the Klingon Front missions. That said, I tend to blow up more often than I'd like in Escorts, which is why I generally use Cruisers or at least something Cruiser-like for the vast majority of my characters.

the Exchange might have decent gear for you though it can be somewhat overpriced and you can search by using your rank (or equilevant if playing rommies) to give the right level gear to use.

TBH I wouldn't bother paying for gear until at least 50. You'll just obsolete it too fast, especially with Double XP going on.

My Federation character is named George Chamberlain and the account name I made up is alaxandarlincoln. I'm in a heavily tinkered with Miranda class ship. I think its designated as a light cruiser, not an escort.

[Lord Revan]

mind giving me an in-game mail when you got the chance, so we can meet in-game it's easier to discuss these things that way.

[The Romulan Republic]

Sure. Do you use the same name in-game?