Hey all, I just started playing with a free account and just made Commander. I had a couple quick questions if any of you had the time to help.
1. Do I stop getting ship tokens now at every ten levels? I think I may have heard F2P players stop getting a token at promotion starting with Captain rank last year, but did not see that stipulation on the Gold/Silver differences page and didn't know if it was still current,
2.I bought the CE that came with a free month for $10 on amazon about a year ago but never registered it as I only realized after that the game needed broadband to play and it was unavailable in my area at the time. Now that that is no longer an issue for me and now that I'm playing a F2P account, can I register the CE to my account, get the goodies with it AND get the ship token on promotion for Captain rank onwards for the duration of the free month? (assuming the answer to my first question is F2P players stopping getting ship tokens)
3.What can I do with all the extra bridge officers I'm getting through quests? I want to store a couple here or there for versatility if I ever hop between escorts and cruisers, but taking a new one on always replaces another.
4. Lastly, I just got an Akira class and after queueing for starbase defense I got OBLITERATED. =( It only turns a bit faster than my Excalibur ship, but otherwise seems to get one shotted compared to the scrapper my Lt.Cmd ship was. What am I doing wrong?
All questions answered, thread converted into a general newb help thread for those new players unable as of yet to start a thread of their own.
Comments
Can't help you with the CE thing.
The BO thing is up to you, my main char still has the full crew that he started with!!( call me sentimental if you like) I think most people just work on getting the highest quality ones they can.
AS for your akira, am not much help there as I don't fly escorts, never have, but would recommend you look at your ship set up closely, check out the shipyard thread for layout ideas, its a fair amount of experimentation to get something that works for you.
Good Luck.
My knowledge may be outdated, but I don't think this has changed. You get a free ship every ten levels until you reach level 40 (being 40 the last level you get one, the Tier 4 vessel).
Don't know about this one.
When a new bridge officer joins and you don't have enough room for bridge officers, it usually asks if you want to train one you already have. Say no. The BOff will be available for later on the main character menu pool (BOff, Stations, Reputation, etc).
Only commissioning uses a slot.
You get more slots as you progress and can also buy more slots from the C-Store. Those you really don't want or need, you can sell on the exchange, mail to another character you create or even dismiss.
Try the cannons in front + 1 torpedo and the full turrets config in the back. All same energy type. There are a few topics with escort builds, you only need to adapt a bit. As tactic, don't forget to keep moving. Hit and run.
Also, when you level up, so does the oposition.
Hope this helps.
"Hello Captain!
At this time, you may only post replies to threads that have already been created. After a certain amount of time has passed since your registration date, you will be able to create new threads in forums that allow it.
Thanks,
The Star Trek Online Community Team
Jolan tru Captain!"
My newbie questions:
1. How do you change player abilities? My main character has Chroniton Mine Barrier 1 that I don't want and would much prefer to get something more useful.
2. What is the collect crystalline entity event? I see it in Reputation tab> Events. I'm only level 11 but FAQs say that event is for level 50s. Is that true?
3. Are Tal Shiar lock boxes worth it to open with a Master Key?
4. What is the class with the most DPS? Escort?
5. If you maxed Starship Shield Emitters, would items like Emitter Array MK II with + 11.2 Starship Shield Emitters still work?
The name is actually Crystalline Catastrophe. you can learn everything you need on the Wiki page for it.
Also are there any science skills you would recommend outside of hazard emitters for cruiser or escort?
1. You get free tokens to R/A, you need to purchase your endgame ship. (If your a escort TAC jockey, I recommend the Defiant):D
2. Not sure on this query.
3.Bridge officers(Boffs)Sell the undesireables on the exchange,I kitted Boffs for escorts, and cruisers.You may have to buy extra Boff slots to do this, with Zen.
4.If you are getting pwned in a CDR level Akira, you are doing something wrong, Check the federation shipyard thread, for ship builds.I ran 2 phaser DHCS, and a quantum up front, and two phaser turrets in back, Armor consoles are your friend in engineering, and shield enhancement consoles for science.2 phaser relays will give you a little more DPS punch in the damage department.Boff skills, also play a major role in combat.EMERGENCY POWER TO SHIELDS/ENGINEERING TEAM 2, keep your escort from being glass.Polarize hull keeps tractor beams from paralyzing your movement(sci), and hazard emitters, keeps the Plasma fire damage from eating up your hull(also sci). Use a tac team 1, High yield torpedo 1. and cannon rapid fire 2, for tac, and have fun with that Akira.:)
Since no one has answered this yet.
Yes, you can still put in the CE code and get your free month of sub, along with the Red Matter Cap and the other prizes. I did this exact thing and got one free respec token, the account unlocks (Like inventory slots) and the 400 free zen at the end of the month. I did this as a F2P at level at had no problem.
I spoke too soon. I made that post RIGHT after making commander and getting my akira ship, running nothing but the built in gear and queuing for a battle where my ship was pit against level 50 players no doubt outfitted with console and weapon slots out the wazoo. Some things "level scaling" just can't compensate for. After getting the gear and abilities straightened out, I can now smoke 2-3 ships at a time in quests. About the only thing I can't handle now is the odd 50 Klingon ships that spawn on top of me in the second phase of fleet encounters.
I have played mmorpg games in the past, and found a serious problem with them, that I was wondering if the STO had the same. When I spent real world monies in the game to buy thing, like ships, they were only good till the ship is destroyed. Then, you cannot use it till you buy it again. Is that what happens here?
Just to be clear, I have not started playing the game yet. I have been waiting for a week to have my internet installed at my home. When it is installed, I may have the money to buy 1 ship.
One last question that I cannot find an answer to, if I can afford a subscription, do you get any free ships with it, or do you just get the same as you would with F2P?
I am disabled, and a fan of ST, so I am so happy they have F2P option. I hope to be able to get a sub soon though.
Thanks for any help with the questions anyone can give.
Immediately after you're out of the tutorial. As soon as you finish a replayable mission, you can run those to get a guaranteed one, though you're pretty likely to get at least one just doing any random queue event.
Not only is this not the case, once you buy a ship it's available to all characters current and future so long as they're of the correct faction (tier 1-4 Federation and Klingon ships are available to Romulans who ally with that side, tier 5 ships are all strictly limited to their faction).
However, it's worth noting that tier 1-4 ships will only be useful in their 10-level range, many of them have tier 5 versions, either through the fleet starbase system (STO's version of a guild house, basically), the C-store, or both, but they're separate purchases.
But as for losing things, you can't lose anything through death except time, and potentially the mission you're doing and its rewards. Advanced and Elite difficulties can cause injuries that degrade your stats, but these can be healed with consumables or for free at a starbase.
Not directly, no. There are three veteran rewards that reward ships:
If you sub for 400 days, you get a Captain's Yact which is usable as a shuttle. There are several missions and a couple queue events where you use light craft instead of ships.
At 600 days you get an additional ship token while leveling up. As a free player, your last free ship token is at level 40, and is for a no-frills tier 5 ship. The 600-day token is at level 50, and let's you get a single ship that's usually a C-store purchase (limited selection - you can't use it on any C-store ship but each faction has 3-4 choices). Unlike buying it for cash, this ship is limited to the character that selects it, but other characters get their own tokens and can pick the same or different ships.
At 1000 days, you get an account unlock for a special tactical ship you can use on any character. You'll see these around occasionally, the Chimera Heavy Destroyer for Feds and the Pengqu for KDF. Romulans miss out on this one currently, but theirs has been promised.
Anything you buy is yours. You don't loose it unless you deliberately discard it. Now if you get a lower rank ship. it may be be less viable at upper levels. But there are soon hard nose player they trying to level up characters using lower tier ships. So it's possible, but not very easy. (And I don't suggest it at group play. A lot of player don't appreciate at, especially when attempting the Elite difficulty content.)
Another aspect of the game is that you can earn anything, and I mean, anything in the game just by playting the game. There is an in game currency called Dilihtium which is earned by playing certain content. It's used for the better gear in the game. But it may also be traded with other players on an Exchange for Zen (the micro-transaction current that Perfect World uses).
And the days to get the veteran rewards, are those real world days, in-game, or days actually online?
Also, how long do you need to have an account till you can post threads? I usually am on gearbox forums, and enjoy being able to discuss features of games with fellow gamers.
Thanks again for all the help.
I've just started playing today but I haven't gotten far as my character will only roll and not walk. How do I make her walk? She's a vulcan if that makes any difference?
Thanks,
Anna
Look for dilithium related rage threads in general discussion and C-store feedback. Every time the market significantly dips or rises there'll be at least one.
You can also watch dev blogs, news, and the test server patch notes for upcomming things that will make people spend dilithium or zen, or which will give them more dilithium than usual.
Real world days - if you never actually log in but still keep paying for two plus years you'll still get your Chimera heavy destroyer. If you buy a lifetime subscription you're instantly given all of them.
I'm holding it, she still rolls. I can't turn now either
I'm not coming up with any (good) ideas.
See if you have any stuck keys (long shot).
Did it start happening or it's like that since you started playin? Do you notice any keyboard issues out of the game?
Also, I think that there's a "set/reset to default" menu on keyboard options (options menu). Try that.
Also, I have read many talking about getting so many of their toons to the max level, and I was wondering if, when you reach max level with all of them, is the game over? I know about the STF missions.
I am just curious because it seems like the game has an ending to it from what I have read. I know these questions seem stupid, but I haven't actually been able to play it yet. I am still waiting to get my internet installed.
I have been comparing STO with SWTOR. I know they are completely different games. That's not what I mean by comparing. I mean comparing the total overall time to play the game, not including farming/grinding, to reach the end.
I admit I am a fan of both, ST, and SW. I don't know if that makes anyone mad. If so, I am sorry, but I grew up watching both, and as a child, imaginary playing both. (Um....not that I would do that now.) LOL.
There is a specific limit to the content, but it does take a while to play through. This is true with all games. If you look at the list of "episodes" those show you all the main story arcs. Once you play through those you have a selection of repeatable missions scattered around the galaxy which are the "end game" content. The most common ones are for reputation (currently Omega vs the Borg, Romulan for helping the republic rebuild, and Nukara vs the Tholians) but there's also things like the Crystalline Catastrophe for gear and dilithium.
Other stuff includes going for accolades and there's a massive amount of content in the Foundry including spotlight missions that grant a huge dilithium award once per day.
Also, the earliest story missions are unique to each faction. So only the klingons have missions to chase down a prisoner who escaped from Rura Penthe and then get to go into Sto'Vo'Kor and battle the Fek'Lhri. Only Romulans get to fight the Tal Shiar and Elachi in Tau Dewa. And only the Feds get to deal with undine changelines infiltrating Starfleet. If you want to see all those storylines you need to play at a minimum three characters, one from each faction.
After about level 20 all three have the same stories with just minor changes.
And then there are the special local events and stories. For example down near Drozana Station there's three missions that only spawn in that sector. One is to rescue a ferengi fuel refining station from pirates.
And then there are the limited time events, like this summer's new Risa event that will happen for the first time in a month or so. Winter event happens for a month every december-ish and was a lot of fun.
Well SWTOR has a huge amount of content hidden in the companion stories for each class and each class has their own story as well. So you'd need to play 8 characters all to max level to see the full story. STO you can see all of it with 3 characters.
SWTOR takes a lot longer to level to max, but STO and SWTOR take about the same amount of time to play through every main mission (not your personal class missions just the planets in SWTOR) and get into the end-game grind.
I found I got bored with SWTOR after about 3 months. I've been in STO since last October and still haven't done everything, though I've done most of it at least once on at least one character.
I think lots of us are like that.
We are. I even use the same char names for STO and SWTOR.
But just like you, I was playing TOR for quite a while with different chars, mostly enjoying it, but got bored quite soon. I never even max out any of my chars.
STO I have 4 toons now maxed out, and when I get bored, I come back some months later and theres new interesting content like nowadays the roms. I love this game.
In TOR you have to get to max with your character to play most of new contect, which needs lots and lots of grinding besides the great story lines. I didnt touch it for two years.
STO gets better and better and playing through the episodes doesnt feel like grinding at all. You level quickly, but until I have played all content I want to with my chars, next to RL, I will still have fun for month.
And then theres the next season...
If that makes anyone mad it's their shortcoming, not yours.
So, is there any talk of being able to use a controller/keyboard combo in the future? I am unable to sit upright due to back pain. I can put the small wireless keyboard on my lap, and use a controller that has the mouse features. But to try to use a mouse is a pain. Or can you just use the keyboard and climate the mouse?
I have been looking up the videos I can find online, and it looks like the mouse is a major device in the game. I am still trying to get a hang of the search engine on this site. I am having some problems finding what I am looking for.
I want to also thank all of you for your help. I can't wait till they finally install the internet. Though it may be another week or more. Which reminds me, what is the minimal internet speed required? I might be able to push 4-5 MBPS, but it can get to 3. Does anyone know, or have an idea where to find the answer? The page that shows the requirements doesn't show required speeds.
Thanks, and hope everyone has fun playing. I look forward to seeing all of you in space.
Are you running Windows XP or WINE? I think the issue is intermittent on XP, but you definitely need the fix if you are playing in WINE - check the Tech Help forums or the WINE forums for that. Can also effect you if you are using Crossover.
Also, if you are not in either of those situations, check and see if you are using any Windows accessibility features - IIRC there is at least one that can repeat keystrokes rather than registering holding a key correctly. Could also be an issue if you are using some kind of gaming keyboard with built-in macros set for another game. As previously stated, it could also be a busted keyboard. KBs are cheap enough, so if nothing else works, give it a shot.
Just noticed one more thing (since I'm using my laptop for once instead of my desktop). There is a driver level function that changes held keys to repeated keys. Not sure what it's even useful for, but if you are running a laptop, check the proprietary software that came preinstalled for anything related to keyboards and see if there are any options to check.
Cheers!
Try googling the Phantom Lapboard, looks like a good way to have KB/Mouse usable in a reclined position.
That being said, there are quite a few people over time who have posted setups and keybinds that allow the to play from keyboard only, using the mouse in a limited fashion only to initially set up hotbars &c. Couldn't find any easily, but you may be luckier on forum searches than me.
Cheers!
Thanks for the help. I have been having trouble figuring out hot to properly use the search engine on this forums site. I keep getting hundreds of threads that don't have anything to do with what I'm looking for.
I am going to try and look up the information you posted. I admit that I'm not too computer literate. I am use to easier things to use like consoles. LOL.
Thanks again for the help.
The biggest thing I am wanting to use the controller for is the mouse movement, and the left and right mouse buttons instead being the triggers on the controller. Moving the mouse is the problem for me. But a thumb stick on a controller is perfect.
I checked out the phantom lapboard, and the keyboard is too small for me. It was a really good idea though. It may work great for my brother.
I have been thinking about a mouse that sits still, and the ball is outside, and you use your thumb to move the courser. Anyone try gaming with one of those type of mouse, and if so, how did it work?
You receive a free ship token at level 40. This is a tier 5 ship and is completely competitive in the end-game.
You do NOT have to buy an endgame ship. Level 50 (as opposed to 10, 20, 30, and 40) does not have a new tier of ships. New ships are available, but they are optional and equally powerful (or even less so) than the free ship at level 40.
Honestly if I thought I was forced to pay real money for an endgame ship, I'd probably stop playing the game real quick. But you do not.
The only thing that is a step above the Tier 5 (level 40 and 50) ships are the ships of fleet quality, or the premium ships (available in a 3 Pack from C-store). You should be able to get enough credits to buy a fleet ship without spending a cent of real money.