Currently when we move from one ship to another we simply mothball the older ships because they are significantly less capable and it would be suicidal and pointless to take an NX light cruiser into an STF.
...but it does not have to be this way. There is a way to make the lower tier ships be not only useful but also needed in STF's and missions.
Here's how: Upon reaching level 40 (rear adm) you start to receive duty officer assignments to work on several areas of any of your older ships to upgrade them. These missions are available only on Earth Spacedock or Quo'nos shipyards.
These Doff assignments cost you resources (from supplies to materials like particle traces,etc) and last 2 days each.
Areas of upgrade (per ship):
Bridge Systems (upgrades default bridge officer consoles up to Lt. cmdr rank per console)
Bridge Layout (adds 1 universal Lt bridge officer console; max of 5 total consoles per ship)
Shield Emitters (each upgrade increases your max tier of shield type you can use up by one rank. This means if i upgrade my NX light cruiser to max shields i can equip mk12 shields and they will give my ship the same shield strength as it would if equipped on a VA level cruiser).
Impulse Engines (same as shield emitters but for engines)
Weapon System (same as shield emitters but for weapons)
Deflector Upgrades (same as shield emitters but for deflectors)
- a 'critical' success will upgrade the ship to max in one shot.
How this works and why do this: Using an NX light cruiser as an example.. if I fully upgrade it, my VA character would be able to fly a an NX that has:
- ~10k shield per facing
-3 lt. cmdr station (tac/eng/sci) which were once the defaults but I upgraded them
-2 lt universal stations which were my newly installed stations.
-mk 9 to 12 consoles and modules that are not locked down to tier 1 max levels but rather give full mk9-12 stats.
If I take this ship to an STF I would be limited in firepower since the upgrades do not add weapon or console slots but it would give me the benefit of being a ship that has its default boff consoles up to Lt. Cmdr level which makes the little ship insanely versatile for support roles and non-direct DPS damage.
Each ship type once upgraded has its own unique role to fill in:
Escorts: Superb interceptors and crowd controllers through snares/repulsors.
Science: Superb healers and buffers and crowd control through sensor abiltites/subsystem tgt.
Cruisers: Mix of the two above but not as good as the dedicated role each does.
"Oh, yeah, we're going to have to enlarge and strengthen your primary hull to fit the extra, larger, more powerful weapons."
"Wups, now you don't have enough power. Gonna have to rebuild your secondary hull to support the larger energy demands."
"Uh, oh, gotta fit a new warp system into it to make it move at a reasonable speed. New nacelles, even larger Engineering hull. and have to refit, enlarge, and brace everything for the greater stresses."
"Okay, now you need more crew to support all those enlarged systems. Make the primary hull even larger to house them all."
"Gee, that doesn't look like a Constitution class ship at all any more. Guess we'll have to call it something else, then."
"Oh, yeah, we're going to have to enlarge and strengthen your primary hull to fit the extra, larger, more powerful weapons."
"Wups, now you don't have enough power. Gonna have to rebuild your secondary hull to support the larger energy demands."
"Uh, oh, gotta fit a new warp system into it to make it move at a reasonable speed. New nacelles, even larger Engineering hull. and have to refit, enlarge, and brace everything for the greater stresses."
"Okay, now you need more crew to support all those enlarged systems. Make the primary hull even larger to house them all."
"Gee, that doesn't look like a Constitution class ship at all any more. Guess we'll have to call it something else, then."
You can't make a battleship out of a destroyer.
Except that's really not how it works at all. All we're talking about is refitting the BOFF ranks. Everything else falls adjusts to your rank. Besides, precedent has already been established with the refits they have already done.
Except that's really not how it works at all. All we're talking about is refitting the BOFF ranks. Everything else falls adjusts to your rank. Besides, precedent has already been established with the refits they have already done.
You're absolutely correct, and I apologize to the OP, because I only skimmed his post, and thought it was yet another "I want my Connie at level 50!"
Comments
"Wups, now you don't have enough power. Gonna have to rebuild your secondary hull to support the larger energy demands."
"Uh, oh, gotta fit a new warp system into it to make it move at a reasonable speed. New nacelles, even larger Engineering hull. and have to refit, enlarge, and brace everything for the greater stresses."
"Okay, now you need more crew to support all those enlarged systems. Make the primary hull even larger to house them all."
"Gee, that doesn't look like a Constitution class ship at all any more. Guess we'll have to call it something else, then."
You can't make a battleship out of a destroyer.
Except that's really not how it works at all. All we're talking about is refitting the BOFF ranks. Everything else falls adjusts to your rank. Besides, precedent has already been established with the refits they have already done.
You're absolutely correct, and I apologize to the OP, because I only skimmed his post, and thought it was yet another "I want my Connie at level 50!"
Someone hand me the salt for this crow?