T5-U = T6 in all but label. T6 just signifies that there's a mastery trait, and that there's the option of using some of the specialization stuff. A T5-U gets all the important things, such as hull boosts and an extra console slot. You shouldn't really see a painfully large difference between a T5-U ship and T6 ship stats-wise or playability-wise.
Erm... no.
There's a major difference you're ignoring. The boff seat. T6 has an extra boff seat. That makes a major difference. On some ships that means suddenly your ENG-heavy cruiser gets grav well 1 capability (Samsar) or you can run LtCDR eng as well as LtCDR tac boffs.
The seating is far more important than the console layout (despite cryptics excessive over-estimation of console slots' end results).
To your other point: While, yes, T5U does scale up from lvl50-60, the base stats are higher on T6 so the scaling is more effective.
Those T6 traits are also game-changers and some are quite OP right now. Some are just blah. The manassa trait? DHC-builds' wet dream. AHOD? Free A2B for sci skills. These are not minor changes.
But, even with that said, the boff seat is a massive change from T5U to T6. Imagine a Fleet Defiant T5u and then think.... "If I had ONE MORE boff seat on this thing, while keeping 5 boffs... where would it go? Would it be a LtCDR eng? Perhaps turn that semi-useless ensign to a LT tac? What if it were LtCDR sci?"
The boff seat combinations suddenly expand significantly and your options when loading out your boffs and building your ship are greater than before.
There's a major difference you're ignoring. The boff seat. T6 has an extra boff seat. That makes a major difference. On some ships that means suddenly your ENG-heavy cruiser gets grav well 1 capability (Samsar) or you can run LtCDR eng as well as LtCDR tac boffs.
Ah, I forgot about that one. Figured I might've missed something there - thanks.
But even with that, there's not a massive 'this-will-change-everything' difference between T5-U and T6. If there were that big of a difference, nobody would be running T5-Us anymore. I run my T5-Us just fine, even if it means that one of my boffs just got a little dumber and forgot how to do part of his job
Also, the extra boff slot is kinda there to allow some wiggle room to slot in the new abilities. You're likely not running the exact same abilities you would on another ship, because you want to take advantage of some Intel or Command powers. So the extra seat slot allows 1 or 2 of those abilities to be added, without sacrificing too many of your normal go-to abilities.
Lockbox and special event ships were a free upgrade.
Which would still only apply to a small fraction of the playerbase. It would be unreasonable (given the business model that keeps STO running) to expect them to give out free upgrades to the vast majority of normal ships in the game. They'd be missing out on a huge amount of revenue. Something they could not risk, particularly if the T6 ships flopped upon DR launch.
Until I get a T6 version of my T5U Odyssey I spent $50 on (plus upgrade modules), I'm going to feel ripped off. I like my Odyssey and I want to stick with it. It's the Enterprise F's class, which is very important to me for the same reason I stick to phasers. I like the "actual Federation" look and feel. I wouldn't mind paying to upgrade, but I want to keep my Odyssey, and I want it be T6 like the Guardian is.
Hell, even if they released a T6 "Odyssey Refit" that came with a full Odyssey interior (ala the Defiant Interior) I would drop $50 on it in a heartbeat. The interior could be used in some Enterprise-F themed feature episode.
The point is, I'm sick of the endless parade of new ships and I just want to stick with my favorite, and I hope Cryptic gives me a way to get to T6 and do that. Until then, I'm going to be frustrated.
Zinc: The universe of Star Trek Online is shaped and changed by the actions of the players...expect to see new planets and races discovered that were unknown the last time you logged in."
Until I get a T6 version of my T5U Odyssey I spent $50 on (plus upgrade modules), I'm going to feel ripped off. I like my Odyssey and I want to stick with it. It's the Enterprise F's class, which is very important to me for the same reason I stick to phasers. I like the "actual Federation" look and feel. I wouldn't mind paying to upgrade, but I want to keep my Odyssey, and I want it be T6 like the Guardian is.
Hell, even if they released a T6 "Odyssey Refit" that came with a full Odyssey interior (ala the Defiant Interior) I would drop $50 on it in a heartbeat. The interior could be used in some Enterprise-F themed feature episode.
The point is, I'm sick of the endless parade of new ships and I just want to stick with my favorite, and I hope Cryptic gives me a way to get to T6 and do that. Until then, I'm going to be frustrated.
I hope you enjoy T5U. You can feel like you got ripped off, but you got exactly what you paid for.
Considering what they're doing with the Jem'Hadar Attack Ship, there's really no reason or argument against (re)releasing any of the older ships with a newer skin now. Any ship that we can currently fly at the T5R/T5U level can be potential candidates for a T6.
Considering what they're doing with the Jem'Hadar Attack Ship, there's really no reason or argument against (re)releasing any of the older ships with a newer skin now. Any ship that we can currently fly at the T5R/T5U level can be potential candidates for a T6.
I don't understand the surprise. They showed they were going down this path with the re-re-re-release of Voyager. Should have known from that they were going to re-release Odyssey instead of fixing it. And the Defiant, and all the others.
I don't understand the surprise. They showed they were going down this path with the re-re-re-release of Voyager. Should have known from that they were going to re-release Odyssey instead of fixing it. And the Defiant, and all the others.
The general vibe I got was that they weren't though, not until now - obviously. The Intrepid revamp was because it's a dev-favourited ship. That at least seemed to be the core rumours going around.
I hope they do re release a handful of ships, but if they're going to be slapping 3k zen (minimum) on them all, then I'll be sticking with my Fleet T5U's.
The general vibe I got was that they weren't though, not until now - obviously. The Intrepid revamp was because it's a dev-favourited ship. That at least seemed to be the core rumours going around.
I hope they do re release a handful of ships, but if they're going to be slapping 3k zen (minimum) on them all, then I'll be sticking with my Fleet T5U's.
The original reason they gave us for no plans for existing T6 ships of T5 ships "at this time" was that they were not interested in doing much more for existing ships without a valid reason to redo them, which was getting more Specializations out they could fit old and new ships into (there is a limit to how many seating arrangements they can do without Hybrid seats before it's too similar or stale to other ships, after all).
They explained the Pathfinder's playable existence due to having spent a fair amount of resources on its interiors for the missions, its abilities to use programmed Boff skills including Intel, the fact it was the star of the expansion, was also an iconic hero ship, and is commanded by an iconic NPC. Heck, they outright stated in one thread that the decision to market the Pathfinder and its Interiors was because they had already put most of the effort required into what was basically a playable ship, and it would have been a waste to just leave it as an NPC.
And now, a new requirement for front-of-the-line-to-T6 is that the ship must have been an ultra-rare Promo; which just leaves the Bulwark.
Imagine a Fleet Defiant T5u and then think.... "If I had ONE MORE boff seat on this thing, while keeping 5 boffs... where would it go? Would it be a LtCDR eng? Perhaps turn that semi-useless ensign to a LT tac? What if it were LtCDR sci?"
Since Defiant shares core seating setup with the Intrepid (just in Tac flavor), that extra seat is going to the former Ensign Tac, which will be converted over to Lt. Uni. Hybrid on the Lt. Sci seat. It already meets the iconic hero ship requirements; now it just needs to meet the rest of the Pathfinder's requirements; being a star of an episode chain, helmed by some notable NPC, have actual Dev effort put into the NPC version they can later market for some extra cash, etc. It's also 2 for 3 for a Bundle.
Same applies to a theoretical T6 Galaxy (the T5 version shared core setup with the Defiant and Intrepid). Ensign Eng -> Lt. Uni and Hybrid on the Lt. Tac. At least a T6 Galaxy is more likely; one of the Devs did mention wanting to do an exclusive Interior for it. Still, would require an episode chain to star in, and all that other assets that made the Pathfinder a playable reality. Also 2 for 3 for a Bundle.
Another big possibility is the Rhode Island/Nova, courtesy of Harry Kim and his vessel, who has had some spotlight time in DR.
The only way I can currently see myself dropping the money on a T6 is if they release an Orion T6 vessel. Love my Marauder for my Orion Captains when it comes to faction specific ships. If they release a new Orion ship at tier 6 then I will think about getting some of the others. Until that day comes I will just get the last few Tier 5 ships I am missing from collection that I want and not bother with anything else from the whole catalog.
Still want my Mogh, Ar'Kif and Avenger for the Tier 5 ships. Have paid for the Marauder, B'rel retrofit, Bortasqu', Kumari, Armitage, Tempest, T'Varo retrofit, Dhelan retrofit, and Atrox purchsed that can all go to T5-U. Also have the T5 Nebula and Varanus that they gave away free during 34 hour promos. Then there are the Risian Corvette, Risian Luxury Cruiser, Breen Chel Grett, Breen Plesh Brek, and Dyson Science Destroyers for free T5-U. Now the Breen Sarr Thein and Kobali Samsar for free as well. Why would I need to buy any of the T6 ships just for the trait at this point.
If they give us the chance to buy a T6 Orion it would motivate me to acquire some of the other T6 ships they have released already. But until I have the chance to buy a new Orion ship that is not tied to the fleet system as my KDF fleet is only at Tier 1, I will not drop any money on the game again for ships. I'll just stick to buying Upgrade tokens via Dil to zen or the exchange until all my current T5s are T5-U unlocked.
I have several T5-U ships. I have not yet bought a T6 because I've not seen a single one that sparks my interest. To me, despite the work put into them, most are ugly as sin, and I refuse to pay the price asked for them (Pathfinder I do like the looks of.. but price!). I have my Fleet Patrol Escort and it does the job I need it to do. Not only do I not have a T6 ship, I have no ship traits as I've not yet even filled out a single spec tree. I still have fun.
Just based on my looking around, I really don't see that many T6 ships around, at least not in the hours I'm playing. Most seem to be T5/T5-U, or lockbox ships. Am I alone in noticing?
Just based on my looking around, I really don't see that many T6 ships around, at least not in the hours I'm playing. Most seem to be T5/T5-U, or lockbox ships. Am I alone in noticing?
You would. I've certainly seen a lot of Intel ships in particular. Command Ships less so but the Intel ones are very popular.
Since Defiant shares core seating setup with the Intrepid (just in Tac flavor), that extra seat is going to the former Ensign Tac, which will be converted over to Lt. Uni. Hybrid on the Lt. Sci seat. It already meets the iconic hero ship requirements; now it just needs to meet the rest of the Pathfinder's requirements; being a star of an episode chain, helmed by some notable NPC, have actual Dev effort put into the NPC version they can later market for some extra cash, etc. It's also 2 for 3 for a Bundle.
Same applies to a theoretical T6 Galaxy (the T5 version shared core setup with the Defiant and Intrepid). Ensign Eng -> Lt. Uni and Hybrid on the Lt. Tac. At least a T6 Galaxy is more likely; one of the Devs did mention wanting to do an exclusive Interior for it. Still, would require an episode chain to star in, and all that other assets that made the Pathfinder a playable reality. Also 2 for 3 for a Bundle.
Defiant and a notable NPC... "Kurland here" :rolleyes: Although if/when Kurland is featured again, I'm sure they'll put a little more effort into the overall dialogue. Except for that one piece, Kurland was actually pretty great. I think the story would work, especially if they work on any Cardassian content, which they keep hinting at from time to time.
As for a T6 Galaxy, we already kinda have one with the Guardian. Though, if they do the same formula of notable NPC + iconic ship + central story role... maybe we lose the Enterprise-F, and Captain Shon takes command of the new Enterprise-G, which is a T6 Galaxy-like ship that has compatibility with the standard Galaxy parts. Then give it some Command capability.
You would. I've certainly seen a lot of Intel ships in particular. Command Ships less so but the Intel ones are very popular.
Ive seen less Intel lately but I cant go anywhere in the game without running into the Command Ships. Be it the Samsar or the CBCs.
I myself decided to splurge and get all three Fed CBCs since I figured Id want to use the Operations Variant for my Engineer Alt and felt that I might as well go ahead and purchase the three pack for the price of two. I wasnt disappointed as when I put the Kobali Set, the Kobali Warpcore, the Regenerative Console and the CBC Consoles on the Geneva as a Tac Captain I was able to kill everything relatively quickly while boosting my survivablity. I was able to tank the CEs AoE blast for the first time with the Platforms all deployed in the CCA.
I personally think the CBCs were a success for Cryptic. The ships are effectively some of the best Tanks in the game now. And as a primarily Tac Escort Captain there are moments where Im a bit relieved to see a CBC in an Queue with me.
Heck, it needn't be an upgrade, i'd be fine with a separate t6 release as long as i can use the ship parts that already are there. Gimme a good trait and perhaps a nice console on top of it and it would be gold.
I want to play my trek in familiar, loved ships. Not something else.
Thee have been good designs certainly, but i want ma galaxy.... ma vesta....
i agree for the vesta, and i would be happy to se also T6 Nebula (the ship of my sci captain, even if i have the vesta), T6 avenger, and T6 Dhelan (it is my fav romulan ship)
Cryptic could sell T6 upgrade tokens + a new skin; i wouldn't buy a totally new ship for 3000 zen, but an upgrade token -> yes
At first I was onboard with the notion that Trek must go on in the sense that eventually our favorite canon vessels would be obsolete. I don't see that here. There are many ships that have recently came out a yr or two ago that deserve a Tier 6 standing.
I think the ship that holds the flagship title for the Federation should respectfully get a Tier 6 variant, and I mean the Oddy. Honorable mentions are the Veteran reward Destroyers, Vesta class, Galaxy Class variant, Defiant class, Avenger class, Intrepid class (Though Voyager has received this honor just recently), and finally all Lockbox ships.
This is no longer an issue of top of the line vessels, it is an issue of monetary gain through rehash & reselling. In order to turn a profit they revamped the difficulty in order for players to invest in a powerful Tier 6 ship and upgrade all weapons. That is why the STFs etc... are struggling as it is, but that's a different argument.
They know that the only financial gain is by selling ships to players, it is their only selling point. So making all standard Tier 5 vessels obsolete by default is their way of pushing the sales of Tier 6 vessels. I believe if they would sell Tier 6 tokens at a reasonable cost, would benefit them more, as many of the players would invest in them to upgrade their beloved vessel.
I think the ship that holds the flagship title for the Federation should respectfully get a Tier 6 variant, and I mean the Oddy..
I want a decent oddy. problem is that that was part of their "buy 3 ships" marketing strategy. And I don't see them releasing 3 T6 versions
So rather than ONE nice ship you were supposed to buy 2 you wouldn't fly to get some gimmick consoles.
Now if they released a T6 Oddy that was a great cruiser without all the buy 3 nonsense and gimmicky consoles I'd buy it in a heart beat. Like if the Battle Crusier looked like the Oddy
Thing is every Fed ship since the Oddy is butt ugly to me. I would never fly any of them and to look at them day after day.
Really to me it seems like the ship designers changed right before or after LoR. Most look like they were designed by some tween on deviant art.
I want a decent oddy. problem is that that was part of their "buy 3 ships" marketing strategy. And I don't see them releasing 3 T6 versions.
Why not? They released 3 T6 versions of the CBC.
The question about releasing T6 versions of existing T5 ships (and specifically the Odyssey) came up during the CBC livestream, and the way they devs reacted leads me to believe we are definitely going to be seeing more T6 refits like the Pathfinder.
The question about releasing T6 versions of existing T5 ships (and specifically the Odyssey) came up during the CBC livestream, and the way they devs reacted leads me to believe we are definitely going to be seeing more T6 refits like the Pathfinder.
again, I would rather see ONE good T6 Oddy than 3 mediocre ships with crappy consoles, T6 or Not.
The current T6 ships (including the half-assed T6 mish-mash of a JHAS clone) have put me right off the idea of buying any more fine vessels for any of my characters.
In fact, my KDF and Romulan characters are currently just doff mission farmers in shuttles so they won't be needing the New Shiny.
I really don't understand what all the fuss is about T6 ships supposedly being so much better than T5-U. I have absolutely no problem running T5-U anywhere in the game. They are still some of my best ships. If you can't run a T5-U at end-game, the problem isn't the ship, and a T6 won't automatically make you better. Nothing about T6 has invalidated, killed off, or otherwise made T5-U somehow sub-par or useless.
And nothing about T6 prevents captains from using the more 'iconic' or 'classic' T5 ships either. Do you like your Oddy, or your Galaxy, or your Defiant, or your Bortas, or your D'deridex? Great, keep on flying 'em with pride. Those ships will still perform wonderfully.
I enjoy T6 'cause they have the specialization compatibilities, which offers a little something different. That's what makes me buy a T6 - 'cause they offer something different and unique from a gameplay perspective. I would much rather the devs keep putting effort into new ships for these new features. The stuff coming out of T6 is great, especially the new Command ships.
But seriously, T5-U isn't dead. Not every ship needs, and certainly not every ship will get, a T6 variant.
I really don't understand what all the fuss is about T6 ships supposedly being so much better than T5-U. I have absolutely no problem running T5-U anywhere in the game. They are still some of my best ships. If you can't run a T5-U at end-game, the problem isn't the ship, and a T6 won't automatically make you better. Nothing about T6 has invalidated, killed off, or otherwise made T5-U somehow sub-par or useless.
There are certainly some very solid T5U's out there. The Scimitar, obviously, comes to mind and is still a total beast.
I really don't understand what all the fuss is about T6 ships supposedly being so much better than T5-U. I have absolutely no problem running T5-U anywhere in the game. They are still some of my best ships. If you can't run a T5-U at end-game, the problem isn't the ship, and a T6 won't automatically make you better. Nothing about T6 has invalidated, killed off, or otherwise made T5-U somehow sub-par or useless.
And nothing about T6 prevents captains from using the more 'iconic' or 'classic' T5 ships either. Do you like your Oddy, or your Galaxy, or your Defiant, or your Bortas, or your D'deridex? Great, keep on flying 'em with pride. Those ships will still perform wonderfully.
I enjoy T6 'cause they have the specialization compatibilities, which offers a little something different. That's what makes me buy a T6 - 'cause they offer something different and unique from a gameplay perspective. I would much rather the devs keep putting effort into new ships for these new features. The stuff coming out of T6 is great, especially the new Command ships.
But seriously, T5-U isn't dead. Not every ship needs, and certainly not every ship will get, a T6 variant.
You know, there is such a thing as a long-term view. The next logical step is fleet t6 ships, t7 ships, and more difficult content. I predict t5u ships will last about another year before they become obsolete in elite and advanced pve. In pvp, the majority of t5u ships are already obsolete so I'm not understanding how you cannot foresee these changes or fail to comprehend the concerns of some players on here.
I want a decent oddy. problem is that that was part of their "buy 3 ships" marketing strategy. And I don't see them releasing 3 T6 versions
So rather than ONE nice ship you were supposed to buy 2 you wouldn't fly to get some gimmick consoles.
Now if they released a T6 Oddy that was a great cruiser without all the buy 3 nonsense and gimmicky consoles I'd buy it in a heart beat. Like if the Battle Crusier looked like the Oddy
Thing is every Fed ship since the Oddy is butt ugly to me. I would never fly any of them and to look at them day after day.
Really to me it seems like the ship designers changed right before or after LoR. Most look like they were designed by some tween on deviant art.
I have no high hopes that this is what will happen - but a single Tier 6 Oddysee with a new console that is part of the Oddy console set - that would create incentive for people to still buy the Tier 5 pack, but allow people to just get the Tier 6 ship, too. I guess I'd be willing to accept another 3-ship pack if it also contains 3 new skins compatible with the original one.
But, also to be honest, I really want alternate skins for the Oddy. Currently, the KDF and FED flagship 3-packs have the least value for your money, because you get just a single skin with no interchangeable parts. That really needs to be fixed.
Star Trek Online Advancement: You start with lowbie gear, you end with Lobi gear.
You know, there is such a thing as a long-term view. The next logical step is fleet t6 ships, t7 ships, and more difficult content. I predict t5u ships will last about another year before they become obsolete in elite and advanced pve. In pvp, the majority of t5u ships are already obsolete so I'm not understanding how you cannot foresee these changes or fail to comprehend the concerns of some players on here.
It took Cryptic almost 5 years to go from Tier 5 to Tier 6. I am not saying it will take quite that long to get to Tier 7, but the thing with the "old" ship tier is - they had covered basically all canon ships and pretty much any BO combinations they could come up with (and wasn't just pants-on-head useless). They ran out of design space, both artistically and mechanically. So they needed a new Tier if they actually wanted to create something with new appeal. With the specialization system, they can create a lot more combos than they could before, and they can also "milk" all the canon designs again. It requires work to set up a new skin to work with an old one, but it means a ship can appeal both to people that love the old design and people that want to tinker and make a ship their own, aesthetically.
Star Trek Online Advancement: You start with lowbie gear, you end with Lobi gear.
You know, there is such a thing as a long-term view. The next logical step is fleet t6 ships, t7 ships, and more difficult content. I predict t5u ships will last about another year before they become obsolete in elite and advanced pve.
I doubt the turnover will be anywhere near as quick as that. T5 was top for the entire life of the game up until just recently.
That said, T6 was specifically built with a long-term view. Cryptic can now introduce completely unique and specialized ships at will. We've only seen two specializations so far - I'm sure they'll release one or two a year for the next while.
In pvp, the majority of t5u ships are already obsolete...
The majority of T5 ships weren't useful in PvP or high-difficulty content before T6 came out. There were always the top dogs in T5. Nothing's changed here, except positively - there are more end-game viable ships available, and with more unique playstyles.
I believe the likely 'solution' to the T5U to T6 problem will follow the mold set by the Jem'Hadar Strike Ship. Expect certain popular, money making, ships to be re-released with a T6 version and a new skin with interchangeability with the original version. The "Flag Ships" would be ideal candidates for this. By the time that happens people will already be used to the concept of rebuying a ship with a slightly different skin at tier-6.
Following this, lock box and lobi ships will be re-released as T6 versions, probably not with an alternate skin, from the same lockboxes that are already in game. Once more, existing ships and reward boxes will not be automatically upgraded, but by then the standard has been set. Cryptic will once more get that sweet lockbox key income back without having to deal with the hassle of recreating all of those lockbox opportunities. They might, and again this is a tad unlikely, add a universal item that allows you to purchase from the lobi store a tier-6 version of a current lockbox ship if you already own, but it will also drop out of lockboxes and will be as rare as the ships themselves.
Comments
Erm... no.
There's a major difference you're ignoring. The boff seat. T6 has an extra boff seat. That makes a major difference. On some ships that means suddenly your ENG-heavy cruiser gets grav well 1 capability (Samsar) or you can run LtCDR eng as well as LtCDR tac boffs.
The seating is far more important than the console layout (despite cryptics excessive over-estimation of console slots' end results).
To your other point: While, yes, T5U does scale up from lvl50-60, the base stats are higher on T6 so the scaling is more effective.
Those T6 traits are also game-changers and some are quite OP right now. Some are just blah. The manassa trait? DHC-builds' wet dream. AHOD? Free A2B for sci skills. These are not minor changes.
But, even with that said, the boff seat is a massive change from T5U to T6. Imagine a Fleet Defiant T5u and then think.... "If I had ONE MORE boff seat on this thing, while keeping 5 boffs... where would it go? Would it be a LtCDR eng? Perhaps turn that semi-useless ensign to a LT tac? What if it were LtCDR sci?"
The boff seat combinations suddenly expand significantly and your options when loading out your boffs and building your ship are greater than before.
Ah, I forgot about that one. Figured I might've missed something there - thanks.
But even with that, there's not a massive 'this-will-change-everything' difference between T5-U and T6. If there were that big of a difference, nobody would be running T5-Us anymore. I run my T5-Us just fine, even if it means that one of my boffs just got a little dumber and forgot how to do part of his job
Also, the extra boff slot is kinda there to allow some wiggle room to slot in the new abilities. You're likely not running the exact same abilities you would on another ship, because you want to take advantage of some Intel or Command powers. So the extra seat slot allows 1 or 2 of those abilities to be added, without sacrificing too many of your normal go-to abilities.
Which would still only apply to a small fraction of the playerbase. It would be unreasonable (given the business model that keeps STO running) to expect them to give out free upgrades to the vast majority of normal ships in the game. They'd be missing out on a huge amount of revenue. Something they could not risk, particularly if the T6 ships flopped upon DR launch.
Hell, even if they released a T6 "Odyssey Refit" that came with a full Odyssey interior (ala the Defiant Interior) I would drop $50 on it in a heartbeat. The interior could be used in some Enterprise-F themed feature episode.
The point is, I'm sick of the endless parade of new ships and I just want to stick with my favorite, and I hope Cryptic gives me a way to get to T6 and do that. Until then, I'm going to be frustrated.
I hope you enjoy T5U. You can feel like you got ripped off, but you got exactly what you paid for.
I don't understand the surprise. They showed they were going down this path with the re-re-re-release of Voyager. Should have known from that they were going to re-release Odyssey instead of fixing it. And the Defiant, and all the others.
I hope they do re release a handful of ships, but if they're going to be slapping 3k zen (minimum) on them all, then I'll be sticking with my Fleet T5U's.
They explained the Pathfinder's playable existence due to having spent a fair amount of resources on its interiors for the missions, its abilities to use programmed Boff skills including Intel, the fact it was the star of the expansion, was also an iconic hero ship, and is commanded by an iconic NPC. Heck, they outright stated in one thread that the decision to market the Pathfinder and its Interiors was because they had already put most of the effort required into what was basically a playable ship, and it would have been a waste to just leave it as an NPC.
And now, a new requirement for front-of-the-line-to-T6 is that the ship must have been an ultra-rare Promo; which just leaves the Bulwark.
Since Defiant shares core seating setup with the Intrepid (just in Tac flavor), that extra seat is going to the former Ensign Tac, which will be converted over to Lt. Uni. Hybrid on the Lt. Sci seat. It already meets the iconic hero ship requirements; now it just needs to meet the rest of the Pathfinder's requirements; being a star of an episode chain, helmed by some notable NPC, have actual Dev effort put into the NPC version they can later market for some extra cash, etc. It's also 2 for 3 for a Bundle.
Same applies to a theoretical T6 Galaxy (the T5 version shared core setup with the Defiant and Intrepid). Ensign Eng -> Lt. Uni and Hybrid on the Lt. Tac. At least a T6 Galaxy is more likely; one of the Devs did mention wanting to do an exclusive Interior for it. Still, would require an episode chain to star in, and all that other assets that made the Pathfinder a playable reality. Also 2 for 3 for a Bundle.
Another big possibility is the Rhode Island/Nova, courtesy of Harry Kim and his vessel, who has had some spotlight time in DR.
Still want my Mogh, Ar'Kif and Avenger for the Tier 5 ships. Have paid for the Marauder, B'rel retrofit, Bortasqu', Kumari, Armitage, Tempest, T'Varo retrofit, Dhelan retrofit, and Atrox purchsed that can all go to T5-U. Also have the T5 Nebula and Varanus that they gave away free during 34 hour promos. Then there are the Risian Corvette, Risian Luxury Cruiser, Breen Chel Grett, Breen Plesh Brek, and Dyson Science Destroyers for free T5-U. Now the Breen Sarr Thein and Kobali Samsar for free as well. Why would I need to buy any of the T6 ships just for the trait at this point.
If they give us the chance to buy a T6 Orion it would motivate me to acquire some of the other T6 ships they have released already. But until I have the chance to buy a new Orion ship that is not tied to the fleet system as my KDF fleet is only at Tier 1, I will not drop any money on the game again for ships. I'll just stick to buying Upgrade tokens via Dil to zen or the exchange until all my current T5s are T5-U unlocked.
Just based on my looking around, I really don't see that many T6 ships around, at least not in the hours I'm playing. Most seem to be T5/T5-U, or lockbox ships. Am I alone in noticing?
You would. I've certainly seen a lot of Intel ships in particular. Command Ships less so but the Intel ones are very popular.
Defiant and a notable NPC... "Kurland here" :rolleyes: Although if/when Kurland is featured again, I'm sure they'll put a little more effort into the overall dialogue. Except for that one piece, Kurland was actually pretty great. I think the story would work, especially if they work on any Cardassian content, which they keep hinting at from time to time.
As for a T6 Galaxy, we already kinda have one with the Guardian. Though, if they do the same formula of notable NPC + iconic ship + central story role... maybe we lose the Enterprise-F, and Captain Shon takes command of the new Enterprise-G, which is a T6 Galaxy-like ship that has compatibility with the standard Galaxy parts. Then give it some Command capability.
Ive seen less Intel lately but I cant go anywhere in the game without running into the Command Ships. Be it the Samsar or the CBCs.
I myself decided to splurge and get all three Fed CBCs since I figured Id want to use the Operations Variant for my Engineer Alt and felt that I might as well go ahead and purchase the three pack for the price of two. I wasnt disappointed as when I put the Kobali Set, the Kobali Warpcore, the Regenerative Console and the CBC Consoles on the Geneva as a Tac Captain I was able to kill everything relatively quickly while boosting my survivablity. I was able to tank the CEs AoE blast for the first time with the Platforms all deployed in the CCA.
I personally think the CBCs were a success for Cryptic. The ships are effectively some of the best Tanks in the game now. And as a primarily Tac Escort Captain there are moments where Im a bit relieved to see a CBC in an Queue with me.
Yes, count me in.
Ships other than that?
*cast spell: Wallet Slam shut*
Heck, it needn't be an upgrade, i'd be fine with a separate t6 release as long as i can use the ship parts that already are there. Gimme a good trait and perhaps a nice console on top of it and it would be gold.
I want to play my trek in familiar, loved ships. Not something else.
Thee have been good designs certainly, but i want ma galaxy.... ma vesta....
Cryptic could sell T6 upgrade tokens + a new skin; i wouldn't buy a totally new ship for 3000 zen, but an upgrade token -> yes
I think the ship that holds the flagship title for the Federation should respectfully get a Tier 6 variant, and I mean the Oddy. Honorable mentions are the Veteran reward Destroyers, Vesta class, Galaxy Class variant, Defiant class, Avenger class, Intrepid class (Though Voyager has received this honor just recently), and finally all Lockbox ships.
This is no longer an issue of top of the line vessels, it is an issue of monetary gain through rehash & reselling. In order to turn a profit they revamped the difficulty in order for players to invest in a powerful Tier 6 ship and upgrade all weapons. That is why the STFs etc... are struggling as it is, but that's a different argument.
They know that the only financial gain is by selling ships to players, it is their only selling point. So making all standard Tier 5 vessels obsolete by default is their way of pushing the sales of Tier 6 vessels. I believe if they would sell Tier 6 tokens at a reasonable cost, would benefit them more, as many of the players would invest in them to upgrade their beloved vessel.
I want a decent oddy. problem is that that was part of their "buy 3 ships" marketing strategy. And I don't see them releasing 3 T6 versions
So rather than ONE nice ship you were supposed to buy 2 you wouldn't fly to get some gimmick consoles.
Now if they released a T6 Oddy that was a great cruiser without all the buy 3 nonsense and gimmicky consoles I'd buy it in a heart beat. Like if the Battle Crusier looked like the Oddy
Thing is every Fed ship since the Oddy is butt ugly to me. I would never fly any of them and to look at them day after day.
Really to me it seems like the ship designers changed right before or after LoR. Most look like they were designed by some tween on deviant art.
Why not? They released 3 T6 versions of the CBC.
The question about releasing T6 versions of existing T5 ships (and specifically the Odyssey) came up during the CBC livestream, and the way they devs reacted leads me to believe we are definitely going to be seeing more T6 refits like the Pathfinder.
again, I would rather see ONE good T6 Oddy than 3 mediocre ships with crappy consoles, T6 or Not.
Sir, I like those consoles...crappy or not.
In fact, my KDF and Romulan characters are currently just doff mission farmers in shuttles so they won't be needing the New Shiny.
Free Tibet!
And nothing about T6 prevents captains from using the more 'iconic' or 'classic' T5 ships either. Do you like your Oddy, or your Galaxy, or your Defiant, or your Bortas, or your D'deridex? Great, keep on flying 'em with pride. Those ships will still perform wonderfully.
I enjoy T6 'cause they have the specialization compatibilities, which offers a little something different. That's what makes me buy a T6 - 'cause they offer something different and unique from a gameplay perspective. I would much rather the devs keep putting effort into new ships for these new features. The stuff coming out of T6 is great, especially the new Command ships.
But seriously, T5-U isn't dead. Not every ship needs, and certainly not every ship will get, a T6 variant.
There are certainly some very solid T5U's out there. The Scimitar, obviously, comes to mind and is still a total beast.
You know, there is such a thing as a long-term view. The next logical step is fleet t6 ships, t7 ships, and more difficult content. I predict t5u ships will last about another year before they become obsolete in elite and advanced pve. In pvp, the majority of t5u ships are already obsolete so I'm not understanding how you cannot foresee these changes or fail to comprehend the concerns of some players on here.
But, also to be honest, I really want alternate skins for the Oddy. Currently, the KDF and FED flagship 3-packs have the least value for your money, because you get just a single skin with no interchangeable parts. That really needs to be fixed.
It took Cryptic almost 5 years to go from Tier 5 to Tier 6. I am not saying it will take quite that long to get to Tier 7, but the thing with the "old" ship tier is - they had covered basically all canon ships and pretty much any BO combinations they could come up with (and wasn't just pants-on-head useless). They ran out of design space, both artistically and mechanically. So they needed a new Tier if they actually wanted to create something with new appeal. With the specialization system, they can create a lot more combos than they could before, and they can also "milk" all the canon designs again. It requires work to set up a new skin to work with an old one, but it means a ship can appeal both to people that love the old design and people that want to tinker and make a ship their own, aesthetically.
I doubt the turnover will be anywhere near as quick as that. T5 was top for the entire life of the game up until just recently.
That said, T6 was specifically built with a long-term view. Cryptic can now introduce completely unique and specialized ships at will. We've only seen two specializations so far - I'm sure they'll release one or two a year for the next while.
The majority of T5 ships weren't useful in PvP or high-difficulty content before T6 came out. There were always the top dogs in T5. Nothing's changed here, except positively - there are more end-game viable ships available, and with more unique playstyles.
Following this, lock box and lobi ships will be re-released as T6 versions, probably not with an alternate skin, from the same lockboxes that are already in game. Once more, existing ships and reward boxes will not be automatically upgraded, but by then the standard has been set. Cryptic will once more get that sweet lockbox key income back without having to deal with the hassle of recreating all of those lockbox opportunities. They might, and again this is a tad unlikely, add a universal item that allows you to purchase from the lobi store a tier-6 version of a current lockbox ship if you already own, but it will also drop out of lockboxes and will be as rare as the ships themselves.