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STF question
lyran2
Member Posts: 0 Arc User
Hello all,
Im a returning player (I think I last played during season 6) and I've got a couple general questions about STF missions.
I'm considering running STF missions for high end gear, I never did these previously, I just did dailies and took whatever loot drops i got.
How do the STF missions operate? Is it expected that there should be a high level of communication between players to coordinate efforts? I see that being problematic with all of the button mashing going on already just to do a space/ground mission.
Or, do the STF missions operate more like the random Borg "Red Alert" events in sector space with people working/contributing toward a coming goal without high communication levels?
I've already done a little research into the Task Force Omega missions and I've noticed that Borg Neural Processors, which are still required for some high level equipment, only drop on STFs run at the highest difficulty. Is this true for the other STF missions as well (I forget the specifics now, Dyson Sphere etc.)? Are there specific, high level drops required for gear from these other STFs
Also, what is the overall return of marks awarded during STFs? Is it a set amount, or does it fluctuate based on your individual performance during the mission? Example using arbritrary numbers:will a given STF will always award players 500 marks regardless of performance OR will a given STF only award 500 marks to the player with the highest performance, and then divy out less marks to players who didn't perform as well accordingly?
Thanks.
Im a returning player (I think I last played during season 6) and I've got a couple general questions about STF missions.
I'm considering running STF missions for high end gear, I never did these previously, I just did dailies and took whatever loot drops i got.
How do the STF missions operate? Is it expected that there should be a high level of communication between players to coordinate efforts? I see that being problematic with all of the button mashing going on already just to do a space/ground mission.
Or, do the STF missions operate more like the random Borg "Red Alert" events in sector space with people working/contributing toward a coming goal without high communication levels?
I've already done a little research into the Task Force Omega missions and I've noticed that Borg Neural Processors, which are still required for some high level equipment, only drop on STFs run at the highest difficulty. Is this true for the other STF missions as well (I forget the specifics now, Dyson Sphere etc.)? Are there specific, high level drops required for gear from these other STFs
Also, what is the overall return of marks awarded during STFs? Is it a set amount, or does it fluctuate based on your individual performance during the mission? Example using arbritrary numbers:will a given STF will always award players 500 marks regardless of performance OR will a given STF only award 500 marks to the player with the highest performance, and then divy out less marks to players who didn't perform as well accordingly?
Thanks.
Post edited by lyran2 on
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Comments
You'll get about 75 - 100 marks per STF.
What you'll want to do is join a chat channel such as EliteSTF or the like, which usually has experienced players doing runs all the time. Just let them know that you've never done it before and need some help. They should have no problem showing you how to do things in each of the STFs.
Ground STFs tend to be more complex then their space counter-parts. If you don't know what to do, ask.
The Borg STFs won't help the OP get the weapons or full slate of consoles they need.
New Crafting, though ...
lol, using the new crafting systems to get items is far worst and he will need A LOT of time to gather any decent item. STFs are fast and easy. If what he wants is high end gear, eSTFS is the way to go. Cant believe someone actually recommended the new crafting sytem to get items lol..
for the op:
Anyways, there are more reputations besides the Omega, if you dont like the omega stfs, all the other reputations can give you high-end gear items and you dont need to do stfs, just as you said some missions with a common goal (for example voth battlezone). I personally never do eSTFS anymore, i used to, but i got tired and specially after the BNP nerf, i dont like to be forced to do eSTFs all the time to just get a few borg neural processors (its stupid). I wish we could have more options than that.
Honestly i only have 3 toons with omega items, all my other characters (about 10) have other reputation items on em. You dont need the best of the best of the best (it seems that still omega reputation is the best talking about items..zzz but again its a question of what do you need for your build), you dont even need high-end gear to play the game. I will say that omega reputation is almost focused on PVP, every pvp player out there its probably that will carry the complete Omega set. I dont do pvp, so i dont give a fxxx about the omega reputation. More than that, its a question of need and likes. For my style of play, also, i dont need specifically omega reputation gear. Its true that the maco shield and the assimilated deflector are maybe the best items of the game, but as i said, you dont need em. I mean, the difference between other reputation items is not that big.
Erm... we imagine he is talking about ELITE stfs, where you can gather borg neural processors and fleet marks, the 2 things needed to gather omega reputation items. That is a hell lot faster than trying to level the crafting systems for MKXII purple items.. thats insane.. i cant even believe you are telling him to do that... oh wait, you are maybe one of the "fans" of the new crafting system lol, now i get it.
Craft me a KCB worthy of Mordor.
One does not simply CRAFT into Mordor.
So say the OP has a Mk XI green Dual Heavy Phaser Cannon equipped.
What's the Omega rep going to do to help him replace that?
What?
Dude, there are more items than just weapons, you know that, right??
Unless the op is asking only for weapons, and i think it is not the case, the crafting system is the worst method to get high-end gear. Period. Well, at least not in a reasonable ammount of time.
I know. There's tactical consoles too. What's the Omega Rep going to do to help the OP get upgraded tactical consoles?
Who is talking about tactical consoles??? dude, the op is asking for high-end game gear equipment. Thats all. There are a bunch of deflectors in the omega rep, the shield, the kinetic cuttin beam, the omega torpedo launcher, the assimilated module, and a huge etc. Are you sure you are playing the same game than us??
Not a lot.....
......but the KCB, the assimilated console, the free ground weapons from the project boxes, the omega torpedo launcher and the copious dilithium might come in handy.
As well as the various omega traits, of course.
In response to the original posters actual question. The only way to get decent gear is to grind. The method of grind depends upon the type of gear you want. No one method is a catch all. All methods offer something unique that you may want or need.
So your recommendation is to do the Borg STFs.
Which will net them not enough high end gear to equip their character fully in high end gear.
I'm not. I pretty much got most of my gear from fleet stores. The rep grind barely gave me 5 items. That was it.
Traits aren't quite as good since they revamped them.
The Undine rep grind gets you more high end gear overall.
Well, it might give you *better* gear, but it doesen't give you *more*.
(Borg gives you 2 ground sets, 4 Deflector/Shield/Engine sets and one Weapon/Torpedo/Console set, Undine gives you 1 ground set, 1 DSE set, and 1 weapon set +kit frames/modules)
That said, Undine does allow you to purchase Bio-Molecular Space Weapons, while Borg only lets you buy ground weapons.
The Undine Space Set has 4 pieces, compared to only 3 from the Borg.
And the kit frames and modules cover more gear slots.
The two ground sets are redundant. You can only equip one at a time. So you're getting far more slots filled with Undine than you are with Borg.
So ... if you are a returning player or a new player who is pretty much brand new to the "end-game" ... the Borg STFs are fast and easy, but the other Reps get you more high end gear options filled out.
The other reps, Dyson, Undine, Rom, and Nukara. Some have Elite versions but all of them can be completed without having to run with any kind of communication at all similar to the Borg Red Alert's you mentioned. For nukara run the Crystaline Entity. Romulan Go to Tau Dewa and run the Tau dewa Patrol Easiest I think is Acamar a couple of clicks in a dialogue and shoot up a a D'Dex and a mogai and your done. Repeat until the mission completes. Dyson head to the Sphere allied space and hail the Dyson command, run one mission and your done, Undine Again from the Dyson sphere head to the Voth Space zone, and run through the Undine Battle zone. I usually get around 2 hundred Undine marks per run through the Undine zone.
As for the number of marks you get, Per mission you gain a varied amount of marks plus a bonus for the first run through the day equal to one days worth of project marks.
Fleet leader Nova Elite
Fleet Leader House of Nova elite
@ren_larreck
Welcome back!
It's a decent idea.
It tends not to be. (although it really should) generally speaking communication tends to be appreciated, but most people just won't bother. It is a good idea to take a look at some walkthroughs and such to familiarize yourself with the various STF's and their mechanics though.
More like the latter, although STF's can be a bit more complex (although not all are)
I
Borg Neural Processors drop from Elite STF's only AFAIK (although there's a small chance of getting them from "borg reputation boxes", and you get a bunch when you finish the Borg Reputation)
Romulan and Nukara have no equivalent to the Borg Neural Processors, they operate entirely on marks/dilithium/cash/expertise, except for the hangar pets, who also use duty officers as inputs.
Dyson requires "Voth Cybernetic Implants" you can get these from the Elite Voth STF's ("Storming the Spire" and "The Breach") as well as requiisition boxes/finishing T5, just like Borg stuff. The best way to get them though is the Voth Ground Battlezone, "finishing" the zone will reward you with Cybernetic Implants depending on how many V-rexes were defeated.
8472 rep. uses Injectors, you get them by the usual rep. stuff (boxes and ending the reputation) Elite STF's ("Undine Assault", "Undine Infiltration" and "Viscous Cycle" done on Elite Difficulty) as well as from the Undine Space Battlezone. (1 for each planet killer defeated, + one for fighting off the Voth Fleet at the end)
In general I'd say acquiring these things isn't really a problem: The bottleneck tends to be either dilithium or marks, not the "purple goodies"
That's a lot of information, overall, to process. I do promiss to read all of your responses in depth.
Something that I didn't mention before, although you may have figured out, while I'm a returning player, I still consider myself a "noob" in many respects. Especially since the various changes that have gone into effect.
Let's say that I don't want to run STFs at Elite level, and I don't PVP. Are the returns/drops (space and ground) from the various reputaion STFs, sufficent enough for a lvl 50 Tactical Captain to loadout a Patrol Escort for high dps and survivability for, let's say, the Borg "Red Alert" events in sector space?
Thanks again.
Click the following link to find out about the cost to acquire rep gear. The link is for the Adapted MACO space gear that is part of the Omega Rep system. Scroll down the to the bottom to check out links to other equipment sets to find out the cost to acquire them.
http://sto.gamepedia.com/Adapted_M.A.C.O._(Space)
The Omega Rep can be a bit confusing because once completed you have access to Adapted MACO (Adapted Honor Guard for KDF), Borg, MACO (Honor Guard for KDF), Omega Adapted Borg and Omega Force.
The Omega Rep system seems to require 10 BNPs for each gear piece on top of the standard marks, dilithium and ECs.
Undine Rep system requires Isomorphic Injections which are rewarded in the elite Undine STFs, but it seems you only need 2 or 5 of them for each gear piece; depending on the specific gear.
The Dyson Rep system requires Voth Cybernetic Implants. Each piece of gear generally requires 5 of them.
The Romulan Rep system requires nothing special. Only the standard marks, dilithium and ECs are necessary to acquire gear once the gear has been unlocked.
For the Nukara Rep system no requirements are listed so I assume gear will only cost you marks, dilithium and ECs after they have been unlocked.
Honestly, my advice is to get fleet items. Most all of the fleet items are the best (or extremly close) for each slot. This would also give you the option on how to grind for the gear, since the biggest things you will be spending on fleet projects are dilithium (how you get that is up to you) and EC (you could grind for the other items, but they are basically just place holders for EC).
To suppliment that, you should sit down and look at the rewards from the various repuations and pick out some items that you would prefer and/or might be better than the fleet version and then work on those while working up the fleet gear. Most of the repuations now are crazy easy, and the only "hard" part is that you have to wait for the gated time to pass. The items in the rep systems are fairly decently priced. The marks you can grind in 3-4 hours of play for most items, and the dilithium costs are not too crazy compared to other sources for the same slots. This still then keeps things so that you can basically just do "whatever" you want to earn the gear (you do not have to do STFs to earn rep marks). In addition doing the rep xp projects will net you a little dilithium, which will help with the general grinding you ahve to do anyways, plus they give free gear which you can use until you get your prefered item for each slot.
My friend welcome back, and good luck with how you chose move forward. I would suggest if you are willing to grind is max out your borg reputation at least. The majority of items used by any one at this point in time Borg STF equipment. As you grind out your rep it (it will take 40 days at least,) you will be rewarded with boxes after completing the daily or hourly missions. Save these items and upgrade as you go. I would suggest doing I.C.E. for the omega marks, and C.C.E. for the fleet marks. Both will award dilithium. Get into a fleet that fits your play style and contribute the fleet marks their. Although this method is time consuming by the time you are done with the omega reputation system you will have a better understanding of what is new and what it means to you. While this is going on you can still have doff missions and crafting missions running in the back-ground to help you out.
Once again best of luck and welcome back.
I was Klingon before Klingon was cool.
None of my max level Fed and KDF toon have rep gear installed on their ships. Even though both have completed the Omega Rep. My Fed toon has completed the Dyson Rep and my KDF toon should be finished with New Romulan this weekend.
The only rep gear I am actively using are the ground weapons provided by the Omega / New Romluan Reps as you devote resources to advance those rep systems. I fly all elite STF with nothing more than vendor trash.
Worf and Tuvok.
Rerun their missions. A lot. For the beam arrays (if you run beam arrays, if you don't, uh, I think there's another mission out there with DBBs?) and the gear and consoles.
It's monotonous. But it's fast and a decent cluster of Mk XII items to get you over the hump.
These are the best suggestions for starting out new and returning level 50's.
I was Klingon before Klingon was cool.
The borg Red Alerts can fairly comfortably be completed with just random drops.
I should probably mention the missions that give "end-game" worthy gear:
A) "Sphere of Influence": This gives you two pieces of the Ancient Obelisk set (Warp Core and Omni-AP array) the Warp-Core especially is fairly nice.
B)A Step Betwen Stars: Gives you three pieces (Deflector, Engine, Shields) of the Solanae set, all Purple Mark XII's.
C) Surface Tension: Gives you a purple set piece console used in the 8472 reputation system.
D) The Breen Set: You get this from doing the Breen Episode, the set is only Mark XI, but it's far better than nothing if you're just starting out.
E) Some episodes in the "Cardassian Struggle" episodes gives you the Jem'Hadar set. (check the wiki for details) like the Breen set this caps out at Mark XII, but you can upgrade it by paying lobi crystals. (probably not worth it unless you specifically know what you're doing)
Sure its a better recommendation than to relay on the crafting system.. :P
But be aware i hate stfs, but if he is going to do em, sure i will never recommend the crafting system instead..
After a few stfs he will have enough marks and neural processors to advance really fast in the omega reputation and he can adquire all the items at the same time he fills the reputation projects. Thats the whole point. He will have more than a couple of high-end gear items before he can even craft a cheap MKX item in the crafting system.
Almost any blue mk XI + will sufice in PVE watever ship you have. Another story is that you want better items as you asked in your first post. As the mates said, rerunning some episodes will give you even better items than some normal stfs, but "high" dps is not easy achievable without reputation items, since a lot of modules and universal consoles are the ones that provides that and they can only be adquired in reputation projects. Of course, then you have also the fleet items, that can replace most of the reputation items.
It should be noted that most of the high-DPS builds (if that's what you want, that kind of building is almost entirely a math excercise with little practical application since you can beat most STF's easily with 3K DPS) has some combination of fleet and rep items, and certain boff/doff setups. (which can be incredibly expensive) and even a couple of the lobi/lockbox/Cstore ship consoles.