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New captain here, looking for first character advice!
treadstone87
Member Posts: 0 Arc User
Hi all!
So, within the last week or so I've decided to see what Star Trek is all about. I've seen a few snippets of movies and TV episodes here and there, but now I've decided to really get into it. I've started watching The Original Series (on episode 6 now!) and I downloaded STO to give it a shot since I'm a huge MMO player.
I really like it so far, but I have yet to really nail down who I want to be or what sort of ship I want to fly. I think, for my first character, I'd like to focus on DPS so I can grind up some dilithium more conveniently. So that sounds like tac/escort would be my go-to choice, but I've read that combo can be fragile and frustrating to play if you're not always running with the best gear.
I've been searching around for info so I could make my own decision without having to annoy you all with yet another newbie thread, but I'm having trouble assembling my own opinions with my limited amount of experience with the game.
I'm mainly interested in doing solo missions and experiencing the game's storyline. I am semi-interested in tanking group content, but only because I tank in other games - I'm not sure what tanking is like in STO. I am not very interested in being healer/support quite yet - maybe for my alt character!
I was also wondering if any of the 3 classes are especially suited/unsuited for the different factions (Feds, Roms, Klingons). Thanks!
So, within the last week or so I've decided to see what Star Trek is all about. I've seen a few snippets of movies and TV episodes here and there, but now I've decided to really get into it. I've started watching The Original Series (on episode 6 now!) and I downloaded STO to give it a shot since I'm a huge MMO player.
I really like it so far, but I have yet to really nail down who I want to be or what sort of ship I want to fly. I think, for my first character, I'd like to focus on DPS so I can grind up some dilithium more conveniently. So that sounds like tac/escort would be my go-to choice, but I've read that combo can be fragile and frustrating to play if you're not always running with the best gear.
I've been searching around for info so I could make my own decision without having to annoy you all with yet another newbie thread, but I'm having trouble assembling my own opinions with my limited amount of experience with the game.
I'm mainly interested in doing solo missions and experiencing the game's storyline. I am semi-interested in tanking group content, but only because I tank in other games - I'm not sure what tanking is like in STO. I am not very interested in being healer/support quite yet - maybe for my alt character!
I was also wondering if any of the 3 classes are especially suited/unsuited for the different factions (Feds, Roms, Klingons). Thanks!
Post edited by treadstone87 on
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Comments
Truth be told, any ship can be built for tanking or DPS, but no one likes Tanking because they want to plow through everything as fast as possible. Just mess around and see what you can find. A few pointers, though:
1) Don't worry about doing anything like worrying about DPS and the like until you hit level cap. You won't be spending too much time with certain ships until you reach the top.
2) Fly the ship you want to fly. The Galaxy-class may not be the best ship killer in the land, but having another Galaxy flying around is a whole lot better than seeing another Scimitar.
3) Science class tends to get the shaft, but don't worry about it. It's your choice who you play as. Just go for it.
Romulan operatve trait.
Tac->melt stuff.
Kdf->contraband.
If going free to play route anyway.
I started playing about 1 year ago, and have play with all of the classes, and the different class ships. For the character class you play as, you can put any class character in any class ship, and do really good with the right ship builds.
Therefore, when deciding which class character to pick, it may be better to look at the captain's traits for that class.
For space, the best for tanking is going to be the Engineer. At one level, they will get a skill called Miracle Worker. This skill will replenish a % of both hull, and shield hit points instantly. There is a trait you unlock that, if you pick that trait, will let you use it twice in a row if you take enough damage. If you use the trait twice in a row, or you don't have the trait and use the skill once, it will put the skill on a 4 min cool down.
This can be used with other skills you have on your Bridge Officers (BOFFs). This means that a Tactical, or Science captain can use the same BOFF skills to heal, but will not get the extra one if their BOFF skills are on cool down, and are getting hit hard. This gives the engineers a boost in space combat.
In ground combat, the Engineer can also survive longer here because they have a shield that they can deploy. If done correctly, it can be used to bottle neck the enemy in doorways to help kill faster, or to get behind when needed. Also, other players, and BOFFs can stand behind it as well.
They can even set mines for enemies to walk through, motors, and even turrets. If done correctly, and the right Kit, an Engineer can not only have the best defense, but also more weapons on the field than the other classes. This offers more tanking, and DPS.
The Tactical class does have skills that help kill enemies faster. They buff your damage, and damage resistance, while some also will debuff the enemy. You can't tank as much with a tactical captain, however it is possible to kill the enemy before you need to tank. And this goes for both ground and space combat.
For Science, I have really just got started with this one. It is so far not the best for tanking, or DPS. However, in a Science ship can deal excellent damage, and is really good for debuffing an enemy, and also holding them with the right BOFFs.
Now to talk ships. As someone else mentioned, you can do tanking with all ship classes to a certain point. Science ships have better shields, and this will help them tank. The cruisers have better hull, so that if your shields go down, you can tank a little with the hull till heals activate. Escorts are the worse for tanking. They so have higher speed, and turn rate, which can help with making the enemy miss you more.
If you want something that is going to do good DPS, and also have decent turn rates and survivability, then cruisers can help in that regard. They will be better for broadsiding, since they do have a lower turn and speed than escorts. However, it is not as slow as the science ships.
I do recommend that you take your time to try different types of ships at each rank increase. Each time you increase in rank (levels 10, 20, 30, and 40) you will get a token for a new, free ship. There are only certain ships you can pick from. The Feds have better selections for science ships, but the others have just as good, if not better options for engineering, and tactical.
One thing I will warn you about with playing through with a Romulan. When you get to level 10, there is a mission where you will need to pick a side to join. Either Fed, or KDF. When you look at the options, it will tell you that you can use the ships from that faction you side with. This can be a little misleading if you are not aware of some facts.
1-You cannot use your free ship token for any of the ships from the other factions.
2-Any ships they have that are for level 40+ cannot be used by Romulans.
You can use any of their ships that are for below level 40 players, but you will need to purchase them.
Still, some like to play the Romulans more because they have better damage coming out of cloak, and some of your BOFFs you get can help increase your damage also.
For Dilithium farming. It is better to either use a KDF, or Rommie on the KDF side. They have better missions to get Dilithium quick and easy.
I hope this helps, and that you have fun, and happy gaming.
Tim.
Just had to say, don't mind that first reply saying the forums are toxic...it's actually a really good community that will be more then happy to answer any questions you may have.
Back on topic. For the best Trek experience, take your time, keep difficulty set to normal and try to avoid other players...not that they will troll you but the missions and such are really designed for single play.
The game becomes much more starship fighter, and a whole less trek...if it's your cup of tea. Great. But be assured the trek feeling you had while leveling will not transfer to end game play.
Tactical romulans are the best damage dealers. If you want to try and be the best, this is your class/faction
Truth be told is that romulans federations and klingons get their own semi unique leveling missions with quite a bit of interweaving between feds and klinks.
My PvE/PvP hybrid skill tree
unlike a lot of mmo u dont have to stick with ur class tac can fly eng ships sci can fly tac ships. My advice is try diffrent ships out as u lvl up. Then when u hit lvl 40 which is ur last free ship pic the type u like the most. Some die hards will say tac should fly tac ships but u really dont have to just have fun its a game n thats wot its really about.
P,s as someones already said its easyer to farm dilith kdf side google (sto contraband dilithium farming)
- If it looks like fun, then try it out!
- If it was fun, do it again. This time with other players.
- Play STO the way you want to. Not how someone else thinks you should.
- Never let yourself forget this is a game based on Star Trek. Which is not a religion. Despite what some people think.
- Take everything posted in these forums with a very large grain of salt. My posts included of course.
See you ingame! handle is @thunderfoot1007. I'd appreciate a Friend Request. Thanks in advance.
Pretty much the only choice you have if you want to go Tac and get the max out of it.
KDF for contraband and "cheap" plasmonic leech out of the c-store
Romulan for their insane Crit Chance and stackable bridge officers
Tactical (TAC) Toon
In Space - Deals a great deal of damage and more damage than SCI and ENG.
On Ground Weaker defensive-wise than SCI and ENG; ranged weapons and powers should mainly be used until game play familiarity is strengthened. The TAC toon is the ultimate challenge to become skilled at playing on ground STFs.
Engineer (ENG) Toon
Space Strong self-healing abilities, which includes the powerful Miracle Worker power that extends survival by instantly regenerating significant hull and shield points.
Ground Strong defense and offense through mine kits, turrets, shield and medical generators.
Science (SCI) Toon
Space Great debuff targeting skills and some of the more exotic powers in the game.
Ground Super tanking (defensive) capabilities through the use of the Medic Kit that can heal self or other team members; some of the more exotic powers in the game.
Romulan Advantage
Three KDF Romulans
We suggest you create a KDF Romulan toon first, as they can make more Dilithium and EC than the other factions. More EC in less time allows you to buy better items and gear sooner, and that helps you gain a better understanding of game play mechanics for when you create toons of other factions and types.
Romulan Bridge Officers
Given the choice of which Romulan Bridge Officer to choose (awarded by completing story line missions or purchased from the Exchange), when possible always pick the ones with the Superior Romulan Operative trait (this trait increases your CritH percentage the most). Hovering your mouse cursor over the Bridge Officer will bring up a list of their traits and powers. The trait you are looking for, if the NPC has it, should be listed 4 or 5 from the top.
Order in Value - Tactical; Engineer; Science
Romulan Level 40 Ship
Buy a Mirror Universe Dehlan from the Exchange a level 50 ship that your Romulan can fly at level 40.
Lifers (Life Time Subscribers) DO NOT USE your level 40 Ship Token. Save it for when you reach level 50 and use it to buy one of the retrofit ships at the Ship Yard.
I am not sure about pay to play players. However, for free to play, there are no new ships you can get at level 50 for free, unless it has been changed in the last month or two. I haven't seen anything about it though.
At level 40, you can get the Ha'Fah. It is really good for tactical captains. In fact, with gear from the featured episode that rewards the Solanae set, and at least MK X common gear or better, you can play in the end game content, including the elite STFs.
If you want a ship with better survivability, you can use one of the other ships. They will help with survivability, and still let you dish out good DPS.
Still, the decision is ultimately up to the individual playing. I am just pointing out that the free ships you can get at level 40 are really good ships, and are designed to be able to handle endgame content.
Lifetimers and those with sufficient Veteran status get a token for one free ship at level 50. The token can ONLY be used for ships that cost 2000 Zen (it can't be used toward 2500 Zen ships). I think that works out as:
Fed: Defiant Retro, Galaxy Retro, Intrepid Retro
KDF: B'Rel Retro, Kar'Fi
Rom: T'Varo Retro, Dhelan Retro, Mogai Retro, D'Deridex Retro, Ar'kif Retro
Clearly the winner for choice among 2000 Zen ships is the Roms. Chalk up one more reason to roll a Romulan I guess.
For the OP: For now, do whatever you want. You're going to TRIBBLE it up anyway, everybody does. But, then you'll know better what does and doesn't work. The only things iron clad are your Faction, Race, and Career. Traits, Skill Tree, ship, equipment can all be redone later. Any combo of Faction/Race/Career will work fine, it's only the hardcore min-maxers who need to agonize over it. If you want a super min-max character, you can roll up an alt later. Regardless of what you do now, the game isn't terribly difficult. When you get to level 50, then it's worth going for a particular build. I will tell you a few things for now though:
Your Bridge Officer abilities can be changed, and you should probably change them. If you have beam skills on your Tactical officer, but no beams on your ship, that is a waste.
On the above note, you'll probably want some kind of weapon buff depending on what weapons you use (Cannon Scatter Volley, Beam Fire at Will, Torpedo Spread), a hull heal (Engineering Team, Hazard Emitters) and a shield heal (Science Team, Transfer Shield Strength).
Focused Field of Fire: There should be some part of your firing arc where all your weapons can fire. Most simply that means either all dual heavy cannons and an optional torpedo up front with turrets in rear (all weapons can fire in 45 degree forward arc), or all beam arrays front and back (all arrays can fire where their arcs overlap on your left or right side).
Try to match your weapons to a single energy type (like disruptor, phaser or plasma) and fill your tactical console slots with the consoles that boost that specific energy type. Don't worry about using torpedo boosting consoles, it's not worth it since most people only use one torpedo except on specialized torpedo boats.
If you run a Science ship, Gravity Well. It's probably the easiest to master and most broadly useful Science skill outside of healing. Holds targets in place, bunches them together, and does damage.
The veteran rewards that non lifetimers get are for pay to play players that have paid a sub long enough to earn the vet status. This means that if someone is new to STO, and doesn't have a lifetime sub, then they will not have the token any time soon. This means that in that case, the free level 40 ships will be the only ones they can get with a token.
Also, even though I am not a lifetime, my brother is. He not only had the free ship token at level 40, but also got the vet ship token at 50. Therefore, there is no reason not to use the one at level 40 to get a ship to play. Then, if you ever do become a lifetime subscriber, or have a monthly sub long enough for the vet ship token, you will be able to upgrade.
You don't have to worry about it, because you can't use any of the ships the token buys until level 50. It's impossible to waste the token on a "lesser" ship. At 40, you can either take one of the free ships, or spend Zen on a C-Store one (like the Excelsior). The Veteran token, if you are entitled to it, does not factor in until 50.
I would just emphasize the points that, don't worry too much at the start. The 'leveling' part of the game is not too hard not matter WHAT combo of captain/ship/traits you choose, and most of those things you will change along the way anyway.
You aren't locked into anything. The content is replayable, captain levelling is so fast you can easily restart, you will upgrade ships quite quickly so don't commit too much to any of them, and the gear you get from drops and missions is enough to get you to 50.
Once you hit max level 50 is when the game 'really' starts, and by then you know enough to start making some tougher choices.
Myself, I started a Fed Tactical. Then my altoholism kicked in, and I followed with a Rom Sci and a KDF Engi. All fun, all capable. Quickly decided a life sub was in order, and started 3 more captains when the first 3 hit 50.
Couple tips: don't spend Dilithium on General Recruitment or DOff upgrades - they're not worth it. Just do the free missions, and save what Dil you earn til later. (Don't worry about grinding Dil either, that is more easily done after 50)
Use the best but CHEAP gear you find until you hit 50. Dive in and get your feet wet fast in case you think you will be tempted to get the life sub, currently $100 off ($199 instead of $299).
An excellent resource is here - Free Gear and Where to Get It:
http://sto-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?t=998011
Have fun, enjoy, see you on the front lines!
(PS: there isn't a need to rush or fast-track your captain to 50 in STO like in some games. In fact, by the time I hit level 30 or so I was looking for ways to *slow* my advancement, as I was levelling past so much content too quickly. Just take your time, look around and do what seem most interesting, there's not shortage of it.)
How can you level past content? I was under the impression that mission difficulty adjusts to your level, or am I reading it wrong?
You are correct. The missions will adjust to the level you are at when you accept it. In fact, if there was a weapon, or gear you liked that was a reward from a mission you did before, you can redo that mission at a higher level, and get the gear at a higher MK.
This will also let you get things like RCS consoles, impulse engines, shields, science, and tac consoles, the list goes on. This will eliminate ever needing to buy anything off the exchange. You just repeat missions till you have the ship decked out if you want.
I never use EC, Dilithium, or any other currency to buy anything in the game till I reach level 50. This lets me save it up.
If anyone would like, you can send me a friend request in-game. This way, if you see me in-game, and have any questions, you can send me a PM. (Tim@razar2380)
Tim.
http://sto.gamepedia.com/Main_Page
Seriously, read the Wiki. Admittedly, it is not as thorough as say ... Wikipedia. BUT, it does have a lot of information on the basics. A lot. Like ships, careers, Bridge Officers, Duty Officers, and equipment for both Ground and Space and specific missions. The newer the "thing" is, the less information is available (it is a Wiki after all).
I strongly counsel you take a few days to just look at various topics there. Just start with the main headings on the left side and branch out from there.
Then, my next advice is to use the Search function on the message boards. Specifically the advanced search feature. More than likely, you have a question someone else has asked last month but is buried on page 5 or 6. The answers tend to be enlightening if not directly answers your query.
Furthermore, stay out of the Star Trek Online Discussion forum - if there is toxicity from the community it is generally there. Go look and you will see what I mean. Look everywhere else and the community is very positive.
After that, the game is what it is for you. Have fun first, the rest is just filling.
By the word "toxicity" I am not sure what you are referring to. Maybe the things that players comment about not liking? If so, that is seen throughout all of the forums. The only difference is that the Star Trek Online Discussion forums usually have more players on them, and therefore can result in a faster response from others, and a larger number of players.
The only warning I would make about all of the forums is that sometimes you can be given wrong, or misleading information by other players that might have been misinformed. That can happen in any forums though. Also, it sometimes ends up in a number of players blindly following what someone else might say, and not test things out themselves in the game.
I found that out within the first month of playing, when I was reading a lot of post that were saying one thing, and a small number of other players were trying to explain that it was different. I contacted one of those that went against the majority, and asked him to explain it to me. After doing so, I tested his way of doing something, and he was right.
Just because someone might say that something is good, or bad, it doesn't make it right. Asking for details, and explanations, and then testing things for yourself is the only way to ensure that you are using the proper knowledge. And, proper knowledge put to good use is wisdom.
What one might call toxicity doesn't make it such. Sometimes there might be heated disagreements between some players in the forums, or some might strongly (even to the point of insulting) stress their dislike for something the developers have done. However, as mentioned before, it is seen in all sections of the STO forums, just not in every thread created.
The larger amount of players in the Star Trek Online Discussion forums results in more replies, and responses (whether good, or bad). Yet, responses that can be bad, or negative is the same everywhere, unless you can make every single person agree with every single thing that is posted.
Though, that will never happen.
I have a Fed engineer and a KDF tactical, both have been level 50 for a few months. I have created a Romulan science about a month ago and still leveling up; I have yet to really make use of the science abilities since the 1st actual free science ship is only available at level 40. Both engineer and tactical are fun, but if I had to choose, then I would say I prefer the engineering class.
A lot of people seem to focus solely on DPS, but high DPS is not the only way to play, and having high DPS generally doesn't mean you will be better at grinding for dilithium. Leveling up your toon is more important 1st than trying to grind for dilithium. As you level up it becomes easier to grind because there will be more options / missions for you to grind dilithium. Prior to hitting level 50 (but after level 20) I simply try to get around 4k dilithium ore per day. You can shoot for the full 8k dilithium ore since that the max you can refine into dilithium crystals per day. But at level 50 it is pretty easy to grind out 8k dilithium ore on a daily basis.
If I focus solely on grinding 8k of dilithium ore per day I can do that in 60 - 70 minutes per day. That means only doing missions that rewards dilithium. Therefore, to achieve the daily refining limit for both of my Fed and KDF toons I need to spend about 120 - 140 minutes per day to just grind.
Playing the KDF faction (including KDF aligned Romulan) allows you to do marauding missions and espionage that awards contraband which can be converted to either energy credits (sell on the Exchange) or be turned into 2,000 dilithium ore (turn in 5 to a station security officer). The Federation can also get contraband through diplomatic and espionage missions, however, the number and frequency of diplomatic missions rewarding contraband pales in comparison to marauding missions.
The diplomatic, espionage and marauding missions are part of the Duty Officer (Doff) missions. You are not required to do Doff missions, but there are rewards for doing them (beyond just contraband). There are a total of between 12 - 14 different types of missions. It's a good idea to convert some dilithium to Zen so that you can buy additional Doff slots. Doff missions becomes available when you reach level 11; you get 20 free Doffs and you have a total of 100 Doff slots. I recommend having at least a total of 200 Doffs to effectively do Doff missions. This topic requires it's own discussion...
Don't focus too much on equipment and weapons because it is fairly easy get promoted. Each promotion requires 10 levels; each story mission played will advance you one level. Therefore, at most you will only be flying each ship for 10 missions before you get a new ship that will come with better default equipment and weapons than your previous ship. Playing Doff missions can cut down on the missions you need to play to level up since Doff each mission rewards you with a bit of experience. You will receive your last free ship at level 40. However, it's not worth worrying too much about weapons and equipment until you reach level 50. The main story missions do give you a lot of free gear.
There isnt much like solo grinding content you would get for instance in say world of war craft. you don't need an escort to kill ten dragons and get dil. Most of your dil will be from mining, or flying group task forces, which can use all roles in them. In fact its possible to basically never leave earth star dock at the level cap and still be productive if thats what you want.
yes all toons can dps, but unless you are hardcore going to math it out, dont cont on slapping a few cannons on that sci ship and topping the charts.
Welcome aboard.
Take your time! First and foremost. I've been playing years and what I thought I would play has totally turned out differently. I even invested in some char slots so I could play with configurations until I found one I liked. You may be surprised and in a year or 2 might find what you liked today doesn't fit a year from now.
For solo PvE frankly there really isn't much difference in factions. Though I will say that personally I can level a fed faster than I can a KDF (because of patrol missions) other's might feel that KDF can level faster. Romulans are hybrids of sorts. After level 10 they 'join' either the KDF or Fed so they get the same mission arcs with some unique one's thrown in.
Now. Dil farming. Early on KDF can have an advantage (Empire Defense missions yield 1400 (roughly) per mission and by 40 you get 4 daily *fight Fed, Romulan, Cardassian and Borg ships*. However with the new sphere missions and rewards I'm finding that I can max out my dil doing DOFF and other missions (plus the reputation missions) faster at level 50 than I ever could on a KDF char.
Ship/Cap style: play around. Tac can be rough for your first build. That said after years I wound up typically using Escort ships with a Sci cap. Main thing is take your time play multiple builds to 10 and know that even at 50 your thoughts will change as you go along.
Welcome to the community, I started playing 3 years ago and never looked back.
My advice is play to your strengths and have fun.
Each type of ship is a different flying experience and choosing the ship that plays to your strengths is vital but don't limit yourself to a particular ship type as each type can be mastered, I fly escorts,cruiser and science equally well and I have different builds for particular tasks.
Free tip here, D'deridexs can be a pain at low level so try and stay at least 6km away from them to avoid the tractor and plasma torpedo volley combo will hurt, engineering team helps with the viral matrix as well and try to attack from the side and avoid the front and the rear if possible then it's a case of just wearing it down.
If you do find yourself tractored, use brace for impact to lessen the blows from the torpedo volley, polarize hull and tractor emitters will help a lot as well.
Science ships seem to do well against the D'deridex as they can pack gravity wells
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
No! The forum is like a cold swimming pool on a hot day. First it's a shock to they system but the longer you're here the better it feels.
Only thing I'd point out is the game can be very easy by default. If you find you're sleepwalking through fights you might consider upping the difficulty from the 'missions in progress' tab. You will get a more 'MMO' experience, with better loot and also penalties for repeatedly dying.
I've actually found being a Tac captain pretty simple, with the other two classes being a little more complicated. But that's just me, I'm DPS pretty much wherever I go.
So all that silly stuff aside, I love my FED engineer. But there is nothing worse than 5 engineers trying to team up for multiplayer stuff and having no DPS between them. So consider maximizing DPS in whatever character or ship build you choose. All class can maximize DPS. Also consider your fleet choices carefully. Enjoy!
All good advise so far, but here's my 2 cents...
You don't need to pay anything to play the game, unless you really want something in particular, otherwise all content is available to free-to-play players.
One big point that I would like to make is, all ships that you can get at Level 40 are adequate at end-game. C-Store ships are not required.
STOWiki is your friend (http://sto.gamepedia.com/)
Playable ships: http://sto.gamepedia.com/Playable_starship
As far as character career types: (http://sto.gamepedia.com/Career_path)
Science: You job is to do CC "holds" and weaken the enemy and shield heals to self and friendly target.
Engineer: Keep power levels up and hull and shield heals to self and targets.
Tactical: Best for attacking and boosting friendly attack abilities.
I personally enjoy my Fed Engineer, he can always keep power-levels up and resist damage best to survive and do as much damage as possible. Tactical characters do just a little more damage.
SCE ADVISORY NOTICE: Improper Impulse Engine maintenance can result in REAR THRUSTER LEAKAGE. ALWAYS have your work inspected by another qualified officer.
The difference between the captains is just a handful of skills. A tac captain gets attack pattern alpha, for example, which gives a short duration damage boost on a long cooldown. Engineers get miracle worker, an instant big self heal. (just two examples, each captain gets 5 or so unique things along their "theme"). Because it is only 5 or so unique things, the actual real difference between captain types is fairly small. Significant, but not so different as you might think when you start playing. Yes, tac escort is hard to play; an engineer in an escort is easier (engineer can heal and toughen up the weak ship). Or a tac in a tougher ship is quite viable, there are many good ships with enough durability and dps to excel at both.
Farming dil should be done in PARALLEL. That is, buy yourself some character slots and level up many characters to farm dil. I have over 10 chars and that means I can produce up to 80,000 refined dil per day. With one character, no matter how good you are at farming, you can only refine 8k per day (a little more if you pay money for extra refinement via veteran / lifetime/ whatever it is ).
Note that anyone can do very high damage: damage is out of control a bit and a new character can obliterate PVE mobs without much challenge even on elite setting using free, easily obtained gear. Ask when you hit 50 on how to build well using free gear.
There is not much tanking or healing in groups. Most high level characters, yes even tacticals in escorts, can self heal and withstand most incoming damage, making both roles moot. The way to tank is to 1) build a tough ship ("cruiser", carrier, etc class stuff) and 2) out-dps everyone else to get threat. Healing other people is respected and appreciated, but generally, don't expect to BE healed by others as its a friendly gesture, not a role, and the person doing it did so as a kindness.
Yes, and no, and stuff.
Federation -- their strong point is everyone plays this faction. More developed fleets exist, and group content wait time is lowest. Remember that romulans can be federation faction. Their weak point is that they have NO good bridge officer skills for space play, which is the most popular (ground being less popular by a wide margin). Feds are pretty good at all 3 captain types, probably worst at dps/tactical.
Romulans excel at damage. All their ships get a strong battle cloak for hit and run tactics, and their officers can get a massive bonus to both cloaked strikes and to raw damage output. Most of their ships have good tactical seating and consoles even the tanks and sci ships. They are the worst at tanking and lack options for sci ships (2).
KDF weakness is far, far fewer players and developed fleets. KDF needs good players, so don't let it hold you back, just be aware of the issue. BUT kdf can dil farm easier (contraband missions, for one thing, and empire defense, for a second). Kdf also has some issues with lack of ships, esp upgradable c store ships. Their officers are ok, nauscissian pirate space trait is solid. They are pretty good at all 3 captain tasks, slightly favoring damage/tactical but with very good choices for both sci and engineering, and one of the best carriers in the game.
So, as far as it goes, I would either do romulan aligned KDF or KDF for dil farming, romulan if you want raw damage and kdf if you want anything else. KDF if you really want to make a tanking char. And any class will do, its the ship, its ALL the ship, at higher levels, and any captain can play in any sort of ship.
First, cryptic runs events to level up characters FAST. You can literally level from 1-50 in just a few hours of focused play during these. This is important. We are due for one of these in a month or so, if cryptic holds true to their rotation of such events.
After such an event, you now have several characters that are "fresh 50s". Now the fun begins... using your main, real character who has (by this time) reached max in all reputations, you make "sponsor tokens" for the reps to cut reputation time in half for the farmers. Once you do that, set your farmers on a rotation so that each day, ONE farmer does a rep-grind circuit: (Each character will need to do a dyson depot job once every other day or so, its an anomaly) -- ICE gets you 3 days of omega marks, crystal gets you 3 days of nukara marks, romulan patrol mission (just bash gamma-E next to new rom 5 times fast, high dps is a good thing here) gets you days of rom marks AND/OR you can go to new rom planet and raise epohhs. And your choice of the horrid, tedious undine efforts. All this junk combined is about an hour each day and typically you do 3-4 characters at one time this way, no more than that.
When you reach max rep with each one, you will get 130k dil each from the reward for hitting tier 5 rep, each.
When you reach max rep, you can continue to, as you have time and energy to do so, farm the same things for marks. For example ICE will net you over 100 marks and 960 or whatever dil. Cash in the marks for 1000 dil and that is 2k for the run. Repeat for crystal. And epohh raising is also useful for this strategy ... 400 marks every so often is 2000 dil, for a 5 min/day quest.
if you check your characters twice a day (I do it when I get up before work and when I go to bed) you can do at least 2 sets of "raid freighter" missions (often found at ds9 and new rom areas). These get you contraband. Every 5 contra can be turned into 2k dil each.
There are other things you can do, of course, but this is the "long haul" approach such that in a few months (4 or so?) you should have over 1/2 million dil, enough to gear out your main and make the necessary purchases from the c-store. Its actually going to be more dil than that, as the rep projects give a little each day per char, as do your DO missions (do more than just contraband farming, it adds up).
If you are FTP, then as long as you don't get something like a lobi ship, don't be afraid to nuke the character and start over. Just make sure you buy an account bank to give all your stuff to another toon