I honestly don't regret my lifetime subscription purchase because it's something I can use. Cryptic is looking for active zen purchases and since I get 500z a month from this I technically never really have to buy zen again between it and the dilithium exchange.
Now when Cryptic did put out things I really liked I did put more money in to the game. I bought up every Romulan ship they put out so far except for the lobi/lockbox one. (Not a real warbird, also don't like lobi concept) The nice part about Cryptic going all Fed crazy is I get to really save up on Zen for when they do finally put out more Romulan warbirds in the Z store and/or Fleet versions of existing T6 romulan ships. That means I won't have to spend any extra money later on since they're playing Fed favorites today.
It's all in how you use the Lifetime account that makes it worth it. Because it has helped me save a nice discount on the DR ship pack when mixed with the dilithium exchange. It's going to save me more in the future if they don't put out content I enjoy along with other factions content in a timely manor.
In hindsight, I should not have bought lifetime and the legacy pack. However at least I got a good 1 and a half years use out of it before DR came out and the game started to go down the waste disposal chute.
and exactly what do we learn from the benthans on the game or what they get out of it? what about their leadership, their culture and customs? do we visit their homeworld?
We never see the homeworld, culture or anytrhing of 90% of all species in Star Trek, either in the series or STO, does that mean that their addition to the universe was a complete waste of time?
Ah...Im playing on Normal, with just VR MK XII beams, the solanae set, and just a cutter+Omega uni console on a mirror ship atm, and none of the patrol missions or story arc missions were difficult at all. (Done some on Advance, but the rewards for the increased time werent worth it)
Is the fact you have to rerun patrols 500 times to hit max level beyond stupid? Sure...can those mines be annoying? Kinda...but in no way are the vaads "OP"...hell I dislike Voth shields more then that.
Though the lifetime being worth it will always be a matter of opinion...If I grabbed it 1-2 years ago while on discount I'd say it would have been worth it...for me it wouldn't be at the moment. Basically imo If you dropped over a year already into this game the lifetime basically has paid for itself (on discount pricing) so not really much to complain about this late after purchasing.
Heck I cant wait for the day this game eventually shuts down (All games do , even WoW will someday) and the lifers scream bloody murder "I paid for my lifer 10 years ago this isnt right you cant shut down!" always so entitled...
and exactly what do we learn from the benthans on the game or what they get out of it? what about their leadership, their culture and customs? do we visit their homeworld?
bark worse then the bite so far..
We don't lead to learn all of that at once. But they are introduced. We now now the Bentham Guard exists, and that they seem to do police work in the Delta Quadrant. They think they can deputize people to help them fight criminals. (And since this is Star Trek, they all wear the same hat: just like ever Klingon wants to be a warrior, and every Ferengi wants to make a profit, probably every Bentham wants to be a police man.)
When we later meet them again and see them assist us fighting the Vaadwaur, they seem to make a logical ally now.
Star Trek Online Advancement: You start with lowbie gear, you end with Lobi gear.
Same here. Not everything Cryptic puts out is going to be to my personal liking. So far, the good stuff in STO has outweighed the bad. I just hope that the next expansion is more LoR than DR.
If it's playable Cardassians (I hope), then it probably will be. Next expansion likely to happen late February next year.
Support 90 degree arc limitation on BFaW! Save our ships from looking like flying disco balls of dumb!
I have had my LTS now for about 2 years and have not regretted it once, sure I found some of the patrol missions a tad hard solo but was able to join forces with another player and tore through it with no problem.
now I just use my T6 carrier when I am playing alone and find that gives me the edge I need with the added fire power of the combat pets to take out anything that's out there.
considering I bought the DR pack the winter free T6 ship is the best one I have when playing solo in the delta quadrant.
you just need to be able to adapt to the tougher conditions and find a way to get through it, also remember the whole game is not just the DQ, there is all the other stuff you did before that you can still enjoy.
when I have seen other mmo`s that charge a substantial amount for players to access new content I think we don't know how lucky we are sometimes.
I wish payers would stop whining about the removal of the exploration clusters and just admit they were useless and boring and that's why nobody ever played them in the first place, how can you have exploration when your just playing the same missions over and over and over again.
When I think about everything we've been through together,
maybe it's not the destination that matters, maybe it's the journey,
and if that journey takes a little longer,
so we can do something we all believe in,
I can't think of any place I'd rather be or any people I'd rather be with.
I shouldn't have to "improve my build" when what I had was sufficiently end-game to get me through anything that was up to DR's release. I have a T5-U Chimera (NO, I am NOT paying more money just to get a ship from the C-Store just to be able to pay the game!) with all the 8472 Counter-Command gear on it (bio-molecular weaponry, Fluidic Counter Assault set, Counter Command Ordnance set, etc.) and, even when I begin equipping the Mk XIII blue gear rewards from missions, I'm still getting my TRIBBLE kicked by OP Vaadwaur. Their tactics (lock me down with Constriction Anchors, swarm tricobalts all around me, and take me down in 10 or less) are OP and their ships and weaponry are OP. I don't have the dil or money to spend to mindlessly upgrade gear up to XIV epics and I shouldn't have to for the endless PATROLLING that I'm having to do in story missions.
In anything less than DR missions (Klingon, Romulan, Cardassian, Borg, Breen, Dyson) it is scaled appropriately and I can complete it. Not effortlessly, I'm not asking for everything to be handed to me, but at least it is possible.
If the missions are designed to be only completed with a specific type of ship with a specific type of weaponry, then the devs have done what many other MMOs (like WoW) have done by pigeonholing players into playing an isolated style of characters and equipment.
I remember WoW made a similar mistake with Zul'Aman, by releasing an instance that required better gear to complete it than what was dropping in the instance as reward, making it virtually pointless to do in the first place. DR strikes me the same way.
Why is it that the entire rest of the game (not including Advanced, Elite, PvP play obviously) can be done just fine but DR has SO many issues?
this is just bad logic. Its a new expansion with a new level cap, and your logic is that you should not have to lift a finger to be able to do the content? That is never true in any game with an expansion ... the expansions add more difficult content, and new stuff.
The chimera is a fine ship. That ship is not your problem. I did DR in t5 ships (not t5U) without any real problems ... the chimera is as good or better than several that I used.
Try changing tactics rather than your build. You know what they do. Now target the constriction anchor and kill it as priority target #1. Install a copy of TBR on your science guy (the chimera is blessed with a good sci seat), and push those mines, ships, torps, etc away from you when you need to. Use evasive to avoid their bombard (blue balls of death) attack. Their tactic and abilities are new, somewhat, but you can adapt a little bit and counter them if you try. It took me about 5 or 6 goes of getting my ship blow up to realize what they were doing and think up ways to counter it. After that, smooth flying.
As for upgrades, take it slowly. You got 500 zen a month, which is 80k dil at todays price. That is 80 clicks to upgrade your items --- it would be enough to do at least your forward weapons to XIV.
You don't need the new ships. Intel, esp surgical strikes, is very strong, but its like saying PRE DR no one but a rom tac in a scimitar could do anything. Not true at all, even if the scims topped the dps, everyone could do *enough* dps to play. That is still true -- my faeht warbird can one-shot the vauudwar now, sure (and I didnt pay for it, I farmed dil to zen for it and only just got the thing a week ago) but that is my reward for the effort to earn it. It is not necessary to one shot everything, and to be honest, that gets boring once the "whee" factor wears off.
And, don't grind patrols. You can do a variety of things... repeating one thing until sick of the game is not fun. Play a STF or two. Try a foundry. Do fun stuff
I don't think everyone realizes what DR was really about.
Yes it put a monetization system (upgrades)in place with the increased level cap.
This is free game and you have to admit that it's good for STO when they make money.
There appears to be lots infrastructure was put into place to be a spring board.
It was said before by Cryptic they have funds in the bank for DEV work well past 2018.
Know with so many changes to the game and so many items to be tested.
So many new things coming out this games looks like it's just really getting good.
I cant complain as I bought my LTS at launch and enjoyed many years of fun prior to the release of DR.
One thing I am sad about is the lack of multiplayer involvement in the game, most of the Q's are 5 people only and bigger maps like mine trap are pretty much dead.
Cryptic has shown through starbase 24, mine trap, voth battleground, (and winter wonderland)that the game can handle higher numbers - but they do not seem keen to go much further in that direction.
and exactly what do we learn from the benthans on the game or what they get out of it? what about their leadership, their culture and customs? do we visit their homeworld?
bark worse then the bite so far..
We learn that sometime in the last few decades, all of their ships somehow got stuck in reverse.
i can see why you bought a lts when you did. the lor expansion was actually really good story missions and also a pretty good rework for the early kdf missions. all in all it was worth every penny i paid for the lor pack. delta rising wasn't a very good expansion. the story at times is wafer thin. as an expansion i don't honestly call raising a level cap for a boring grind expanding the game. to me it never really added any value to game unlike lor.
lor seriously expanded the game with a wealth of story missions and fixed a historical problem on the kdf side and added half a romulan faction.
delta rising added a big season update of mindless boring grinding with a hand full of story missions.
My main issue with the above quotes is, we're talking about Normal difficulty here. Content should be completable using a below-average build, like the ones that come by default with new ships, with all that white stock gear, suboptimal BOFF skills, and underhanded tactics. Normal difficulty is for casuals. They're not min-maxers, math wizards, or anything of that sort. They play for fun, for aesthetics, for the story, or whatever. Basically all content from 1-50 can be completed without an average build, but DR missions break that premise, and one or other exception in pre-50 content.
Frankly, if you don't know the basic mechanics of a game, you should not expect to get through all content. In fact, there are lots of people who get stuck when they face a D'deridex for the first time. We used to see lots of threads from people asking for help there, and the odd one still crops up now and then.
Some people take getting their TRIBBLE handed to them as a sign their build is not up to task. Especially when other people have no problems. Other people complain, insist that their fail builds are sufficient (in spite of it obviously being insufficient and failing), and whine for enemies to be nerfed. :rolleyes:
Haven't gotten the feeling either that the content is too hard.
Only problem I had on the ground is those damn Overseers who jumps at you like a.. "willing" rabbit.
Space is easy, their shields are OP but their firepower is UP, and I'm a science guy.
I have had my LTS since when it was announced shortly before Launch. It has been 5 nice years and I have never ever regretted getting that LTS.
Sure there have been ups and downs and lately the game has turned towards a path that I do not enjoy as much.
However buying that LTS 5 years ago was one of the best investents of money I have made in MMO's so far. The mileage I got out of all the perks is the best from any game so far I have played that went down the f2p route.
I am still amazed and glad that Cryptic keeps honoring us old time LTS and even adding some benefits from time to time to it.
So thanks for the possibility of getting a LTS (I would love to have a LTS for Arche Age for example but they are just too greedy at Trion).
As for the game being too hard?Meh, guess its easy for me because I have been here 5 years and gotten the experience how to properly fly my ship and the time needed to build it up to near perfection.
been lifetimer for a good while now and can not say that it had anything positive to offer
almost everything that the LTS has to offer is totally useless and with the changes of the past months and the already announced changes LTS will become even more useless since its benefits became/will come obsolete.
Cryptic failed to update the LTS with useful content to motivate players to become lifetimers
It sounds like it has everything to do with your build.
The most important part of a "build" is the Bridge Officer Abilities. Gear is the smallest fraction of what makes a build good.
Polarize Hull would mean they couldn't pin you down.
It's funny how everyone seems to diss my build yet most of the suggestions seem to be exactly what I'm doing.
Yes, I have Polarize Hull, and it doesn't do diddly against the constriction anchors. Tractor beams? Yes. Constriction anchors? Hell no. Nor the scout's version of the same effect. That swirly rainbow beam of STOP RIGHT THERE does exactly that and I'm screwed unless I can destroy the source (in time). Ah, but can I get a torp in-line to blow up said constriction anchor? NO. So here come the blue blips, my shields drop, my hull breaches, and I'm toast.
Each of my characters' BOffs are tailored to fit the fighting style of the ship, gear, and captain's abilities, including this one.
Do I fly in guns blazing to hit 'em fast and hard, keep moving, duck and move, dodge the blue blips, etc.? Yes, IF those damned anchors don't catch me from behind/the side. If I can get my weapons to bear (and the Chimera's not a slow ship), I can rain a devastating amount of DPS Hell on my target...pre-DR that is. Wasn't having any problems running in the Sphere and that was "just yesterday" in regards to the expansion's material. There shouldn't be THAT big of a difference.
Should I have to run a beamboat tank to complete Normal storyline content? No. (I do have one, but it's on another toon that hasn't crossed the border to Delta yet...and has no intention to at this point.) Should I have to buy a T6 to complete Normal storyline content? No. Even in the release news for DR, it was stated that you'd better have your s--- wired tight for Advanced and Elite, but Normal content was doable in T-5 and T-5U. I don't see it.
There's a severe imbalance to the game when the NPCs drastically increase in power from one level to the next and the best end-all-be-all formerly high-end gear doesn't even scratch the paint.
And for those saying I have to adapt, upgrade, PAY TO WIN, I have to do one specific tactic, use one specific set/build/ship/weapon/etc. to play Delta, well you just made my point. If the devs intentionally designed virtually all of DR to only be completed by one style of play when the ENTIRE REST OF THE GAME is able to be done with many different styles, it's called PIGEONHOLING.
You don't know that I have more than one character that's 50+ (2 Fed Eng, 1 Fed Tac, 2 Fed Sci, & 1 Rom Tac) with only one currently test-driving Delta (my Fed Tac). Now somehow they all managed to keep up with the Joneses all this time...'til now. I'm not a noob, my characters aren't wimps, and my gear's not TRIBBLE.
IT'S THE EXPANSION.
This is my signature. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
I didn't skip any of the missions in delta rising, but I did reduce the difficulty a little bit to get through a few. The biggest problem for me wasn't that missions are unwinnable, because they are all capable of being completed. It was the extreme amount of bog down I got from many of the systems in the delta quadrant. I did have to force myself to play most of the time, but I finally got through it. That being said, I don't have any regrets about getting my lifetime sub. I don't play as much as I used to, and sometimes its a month or 2 before I get back on, but its nice to know I'll have a supply of zen to use whenever I do get back on.
I think people have pulled the OP off topic with his build. His primary issue was that he wasn't given enough time to read and understand what he was supposed to do before it started. I remember that mission clearly for the exact same thing. Some of us want to actually know what is going on and figure out how best to accomplish the goal. The pacing in some of the missions is just horrible. It's ironic that this is an issue for solo play as so many PVE maps have ridiculously long read/dead time in them.
Frankly, if you don't know the basic mechanics of a game, you should not expect to get through all content. In fact, there are lots of people who get stuck when they face a D'deridex for the first time. We used to see lots of threads from people asking for help there, and the odd one still crops up now and then.
Some people take getting their TRIBBLE handed to them as a sign their build is not up to task. Especially when other people have no problems. Other people complain, insist that their fail builds are sufficient (in spite of it obviously being insufficient and failing), and whine for enemies to be nerfed. :rolleyes:
Oh come on, you're not talking casual you're talking half asleep. NOBODY should be using white gear at level 50. Every mission gives you gear as mission rewards and random drops, at minimum you should be running all greens at Mark level appropriate to your level (random drops) and certainly more than a few blues and purples from mission rewards. Many early missions give out pretty darned good gear that you can replay at later levels to get better Mark versions. You should be for example running the Paratrinic Shield you can get from the Klingon story arc until you can get something better, it's free and one of the toughest shields you can get. And that isn't even touching the exchange or reputation systems, which my level 50 you should be more than able of using to get better gear still. All without any particular grind, and without a dime of Zen spent, just playing the game. There's no reason and no excuse to be running default white gear, at ALL.
You're not talking Normal difficulty at all, you're talking Marshmallow Mode.
I believe this is less about gear and more about understanding mechanics.
If you stop and do the math to compare whites to blues, the difference is not actually that great, due to modifiers being applied to the base value (known in STO jargon as "strength bonus"). Even if you get full blue gear and some purple drops, if you don't get the in-game mechanics hands down, the experience will be quite similar.
A few examples: shield distribution; power distribution; power drain; torpedoes being effective against bare hull.
I've seen many casual players failing to get the above to work, even after being told and taught. They just don't remember everything, not because they're lazy or stupid (could be the case, too), but because space combat is complex. The learning curve for the casual can be steep. They forget to hit the arrow keys for shield distribution, or don't realize when one of the shield facings are down and a torpedo is coming their way. Or they usually pump every bit of power in weapons and ignore the rest, OR power up shields and wonder why they're doing pitiful damage. Smashing torpedoes against shielded targets is pretty common with casuals due to the autofire mechanic: they hardly "watch" when enemies' shields go down.
Of course, they could get most of the above to work "automagically" by setting the spacebar keybind, but that process alone can be a struggle for many people. I've often came across players that, when trying to improve their gameplay and told about setting keybinds, they just give up setting it up because it's complex. This is where the "casual" level is mostly, in my opinion. Below average.
Now consider that such group get all of the above down and then some. They would be considered "average". That level should be enough to finish every bit of solo PvE content in this game. Still, Vaadwaur has mechanics that are unreasonably stronger than other NPC groups, and Undine has some problems, too.
Bottom line: I believe that Vaadwaur and a couple other NPC groups that are too strong compared to other enemy groups should be more or less in line with each other.
Yes, I have Polarize Hull, and it doesn't do diddly against the constriction anchors. Tractor beams? Yes. Constriction anchors? Hell no. Nor the scout's version of the same effect. That swirly rainbow beam of STOP RIGHT THERE does exactly that and I'm screwed unless I can destroy the source (in time). Ah, but can I get a torp in-line to blow up said constriction anchor? NO. So here come the blue blips, my shields drop, my hull breaches, and I'm toast.
Hm, my mistake on PH. I switched away from cannons when Dyson hit because they'd spawn things behind you. A FAW beamboat has no trouble hitting the anchors. You'll never even notice them, in fact.
Regardless, I flew my Chimera with an LtCdr Eng, and you really shouldn't be getting wasted in one barrage with AtSIF and EPtS going. It's a tough little ship that I used to tank Gateways back in pre-DR ISE.
Now consider that such group get all of the above down and then some. They would be considered "average". That level should be enough to finish every bit of solo PvE content in this game.
I disagree.
Our performance is gear * piloting skill * build. I agree that gear isn't the problem. Mk XI blues is fine for everything. What you've described is only the skill portion.
As we progress in any PvE game, the level of challenge presented should increase. In STO, that challenge must be met by a combination of gear, piloting skill, and build. Having an "average" level of skill with "average" gear is insufficient if the build is "below average".
In many games, we are given increasing amounts of tools to meet that challenge. In STO, the ships we fly in level 1 have a small fraction of the bridge officer stations of a level 50 ship. In Borderlands, we go from no action skill to having an action skill to a multitude of things that affect that skill or passives. In Guild Wars 2 we unlock additional ability slots, and a wider array of abilities.
Our builds become more complex and powerful as we level. Fail to grasp the increased complexity, and we should rightly fail to do that content.
Yes, I have Polarize Hull, and it doesn't do diddly against the constriction anchors.
-- I have rarely used PH. It helps cut incoming damage, but its poorish in most pve. Use TBR. It will kill the anchor, it fires a 360 kinetic beam at them and will save you.
Do I fly in guns blazing to hit 'em fast and hard, keep moving, duck and move, dodge the blue blips, etc.? Yes, IF those damned anchors don't catch me from behind/the side.
- flying in guns blazing isnt always the best thing to do vs an enemy that uses a fair # of mines and the anchors and other things. Maybe staying back is wise here.
There shouldn't be THAT big of a difference.
-- Most of the difference is your failure to counter the new strategy. Their actual health and difficulty is not that much higher than it "should" be once you learn to fight them.
Should I have to run a beamboat tank to complete Normal storyline content? No.
-- and you don't. I did DR in a raider with cannons on one toon. But one thing you have to accept is that if you fly a glass cannon, sometimes you break. Usually, you kill it before it can hurt you, but sometimes, the NPC wins.
Should I have to buy a T6 to complete Normal storyline content? No.
-- And you don't. Some t5u are better than some t6 anyway. The t6s that lack surgical strikes are not much better than your ship, maybe a little, but insignificant. Again, you need to adjust something to handle a new type of enemy, and then they will be easy again and you will be going "oh, I see".
There's a severe imbalance to the game when the NPCs drastically increase in power from one level to the next and the best end-all-be-all formerly high-end gear doesn't even scratch the paint.
-- if you are not hurting them, that is another story. So far it sounds like you don't survive long enough to make a kill. You should just melt them if you can avoid being blasted in the process... they are only a little tougher than anything else.
And for those saying I have to adapt, upgrade, PAY TO WIN, I have to do one specific tactic, use one specific set/build/ship/weapon/etc. to play Delta, well you just made my point. If the devs intentionally designed virtually all of DR to only be completed by one style of play when the ENTIRE REST OF THE GAME is able to be done with many different styles, it's called PIGEONHOLING.
-- Adaptation is required. Upgrades are useful but optional -- your weapons will hit harder, and it helps big time, but if you enjoy long drawn out fights and refuse to farm dil, then you can make do with XIIs. Pay to win? You already did... you should have enough stuff already to win. You don't need t spend a cent... I have not bought anything since DR and I have 4 t6 ships from farming (free breen, EC paid for benthan, and faeht (farmed dil), and maha (farmed dil, MU event mostly here). Granted I have a fleet of alts to help make dil so I can farm it when I want it, but I did not pay a cent. As for pigeonholes... the game is dps oriented... if you can do dps, you can play the game. How you do the dps does not matter, and there is a lot of flexibility to get there.... any class in any ship can do it, tac in the best ships have an easier time of it, but we can all get there. The faeht warbird with 5 tac consoles, OSS, surgical strikes, etc can hit 30k per beam hit and waporize the stuff. But again, I did the content in a variety of ships including a bird of prey, a vet ship (like your chimera), a carrier, and a science ship, to name a few. I didn't get the high end ships until later.
You don't know that I have more than one character that's 50+ (2 Fed Eng, 1 Fed Tac, 2 Fed Sci, & 1 Rom Tac) with only one currently test-driving Delta (my Fed Tac). Now somehow they all managed to keep up with the Joneses all this time...'til now. I'm not a noob, my characters aren't wimps, and my gear's not TRIBBLE.
--- the best gear in the game won't cut it if you are sitting in a pattern of tricobalt mines going derp. Which is what happens when you run up close to vaaudwar ships. Stay the heck back away from them, use gw or TBR to kill their mines/missiles/anchors/etc. If you just work on countering their attacks, you can beat them with a half decent ship using half decent gear. Its all about using different tactics, not your build, how much money you spent, or anything else.
Maybe they don't have some skill points into hold resistances?
All my characters do (6 points on average) and I'm able to move out of those holds enough just using regular movement or Evasive Maneuvers as needed. Additionally, the pilot Specialization has that useful temporary resistance to holds after using Evasive Maneuvers, which makes it almost entirely a non-issue. Rock and Roll also helps.
Do note I had played that mission using a T5U Tactical Odyssey (ungodly slow), T5U Multi-Vector escort (not the fleet version), and in a T5U Vesta, since I'm not a lifer and was saving up to buy the Delta Pack. The only thing I ever upgraded was all my weapons to MkXIII minimum at that time (beams and/or torpedoes).
It's just a matter of knowing when to pop certain skills like FaW (normally useless on a Torpedo Sci boat, but useful in that mission in order to target all those lovely anchors if they're out of range of your GravWells).
Also, as a Tac, balancing the line between life and death with Go Down Fighting helps as well.
You could use a Doff-Boosted BO as well to try and further brute force your way through the shields of a specific target as well.
True, T6s make things a lot easier; Guardian can shield tank with near impunity with its console + a good defensive shield (MACO, Dyson, Aegis), Eclipse can just OsS and FaWIII forever, and Reciprocity from the Phantom cuts the need to double up on Tac/Intel skills, but it is still manageable with a little investment into the Pilot specialization (which is free) and into some of those otherwise neglected skills like Inertial Dampeners (Read its description; it mitigates some of what you're dealing with when it comes to the Vaadwaur). No T6 required.
Anyway, if you still can't beat the mission; skip it and work up your gear and Pilot Specialization enough so you can get the beneficial boosts that will help save your ship. Then go back and respec some points into Inertial Dampeners if you haven't already. And while you're at it, respec some points into Subsystem Repairs as well (otherwise, you'll only have yourself to blame when any of your subsystems goes down thanks to multiple Tricos while ET1 or an Emergency Power is on Cooldown).
Our performance is gear * piloting skill * build. I agree that gear isn't the problem. Mk XI blues is fine for everything. What you've described is only the skill portion.
I usually tend to relate "gear" and "build" a little too close, and I see what you mean.
My Science Captain hit level 50 and I geared him up to start the DR content. Namely, gave him a Dyson shield and Warp Core, and outfitted a Vesta that I played like a DPS cruiser (all beams, all power to weapons, TT+FAW+ATB, etc -- a vastly known build). The rest of gear was stock, blue at most. It did around 5~6K DPS. I just wanted to brainlessly play through all DR missions. All ground content was fine (I am better at ground combat). But I struggled in a few space missions. Namely the ones with the auto-targeting bombs, and the battleships with the tricobalt blue spam. In one instance, I outran the first salvo with Evasive Maneuvers just to be targeted again after Evasive ran out. With two Neutroniums equipped, a couple bombs that managed to hit took my hull to half through full shields. In one unlucky instance, about 4~5 attacks hit, and it was a kill. Is anything that ordinary (battleships are ordinary) be able to do that much damage in Normal content?
Similar experience with the auto-targeting missile/bomb thing, at least it's only in a single mission. Outrun one, get hit by the next, half hull down through full shields. Hazard Emitters can not heal enough to save you from a third strike. I got defeated a couple of times from it, and also from a combination of it with the blue spam. There was little I could do with my skills on cooldown. I'd think that a "planetary defense" attack in a mission that's not even a "final boss" battle is a little overkill.
The difference of those two components to everything else is abysmal. In my experience, aside from those two abilities, everything else was completely fine and in line with other the NPC groups. Oddly, I never had issues with the Anchors, perhaps because I slot 6 bars of Inertial Dampeners on all my characters. I hate being slowed down or immobilized in space combat.
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Now when Cryptic did put out things I really liked I did put more money in to the game. I bought up every Romulan ship they put out so far except for the lobi/lockbox one. (Not a real warbird, also don't like lobi concept) The nice part about Cryptic going all Fed crazy is I get to really save up on Zen for when they do finally put out more Romulan warbirds in the Z store and/or Fleet versions of existing T6 romulan ships. That means I won't have to spend any extra money later on since they're playing Fed favorites today.
It's all in how you use the Lifetime account that makes it worth it. Because it has helped me save a nice discount on the DR ship pack when mixed with the dilithium exchange. It's going to save me more in the future if they don't put out content I enjoy along with other factions content in a timely manor.
We never see the homeworld, culture or anytrhing of 90% of all species in Star Trek, either in the series or STO, does that mean that their addition to the universe was a complete waste of time?
Is the fact you have to rerun patrols 500 times to hit max level beyond stupid? Sure...can those mines be annoying? Kinda...but in no way are the vaads "OP"...hell I dislike Voth shields more then that.
Though the lifetime being worth it will always be a matter of opinion...If I grabbed it 1-2 years ago while on discount I'd say it would have been worth it...for me it wouldn't be at the moment. Basically imo If you dropped over a year already into this game the lifetime basically has paid for itself (on discount pricing) so not really much to complain about this late after purchasing.
Heck I cant wait for the day this game eventually shuts down (All games do , even WoW will someday) and the lifers scream bloody murder "I paid for my lifer 10 years ago this isnt right you cant shut down!" always so entitled...
When we later meet them again and see them assist us fighting the Vaadwaur, they seem to make a logical ally now.
Well put.
Im very disappointed as of late but I dont regret.
Looking for a fun PvE fleet? Join us at Omega Combat Division today.
If it's playable Cardassians (I hope), then it probably will be. Next expansion likely to happen late February next year.
Support 90 degree arc limitation on BFaW! Save our ships from looking like flying disco balls of dumb!
now I just use my T6 carrier when I am playing alone and find that gives me the edge I need with the added fire power of the combat pets to take out anything that's out there.
considering I bought the DR pack the winter free T6 ship is the best one I have when playing solo in the delta quadrant.
you just need to be able to adapt to the tougher conditions and find a way to get through it, also remember the whole game is not just the DQ, there is all the other stuff you did before that you can still enjoy.
when I have seen other mmo`s that charge a substantial amount for players to access new content I think we don't know how lucky we are sometimes.
I wish payers would stop whining about the removal of the exploration clusters and just admit they were useless and boring and that's why nobody ever played them in the first place, how can you have exploration when your just playing the same missions over and over and over again.
When I think about everything we've been through together,
maybe it's not the destination that matters, maybe it's the journey,
and if that journey takes a little longer,
so we can do something we all believe in,
I can't think of any place I'd rather be or any people I'd rather be with.
this is just bad logic. Its a new expansion with a new level cap, and your logic is that you should not have to lift a finger to be able to do the content? That is never true in any game with an expansion ... the expansions add more difficult content, and new stuff.
The chimera is a fine ship. That ship is not your problem. I did DR in t5 ships (not t5U) without any real problems ... the chimera is as good or better than several that I used.
Try changing tactics rather than your build. You know what they do. Now target the constriction anchor and kill it as priority target #1. Install a copy of TBR on your science guy (the chimera is blessed with a good sci seat), and push those mines, ships, torps, etc away from you when you need to. Use evasive to avoid their bombard (blue balls of death) attack. Their tactic and abilities are new, somewhat, but you can adapt a little bit and counter them if you try. It took me about 5 or 6 goes of getting my ship blow up to realize what they were doing and think up ways to counter it. After that, smooth flying.
As for upgrades, take it slowly. You got 500 zen a month, which is 80k dil at todays price. That is 80 clicks to upgrade your items --- it would be enough to do at least your forward weapons to XIV.
You don't need the new ships. Intel, esp surgical strikes, is very strong, but its like saying PRE DR no one but a rom tac in a scimitar could do anything. Not true at all, even if the scims topped the dps, everyone could do *enough* dps to play. That is still true -- my faeht warbird can one-shot the vauudwar now, sure (and I didnt pay for it, I farmed dil to zen for it and only just got the thing a week ago) but that is my reward for the effort to earn it. It is not necessary to one shot everything, and to be honest, that gets boring once the "whee" factor wears off.
And, don't grind patrols. You can do a variety of things... repeating one thing until sick of the game is not fun. Play a STF or two. Try a foundry. Do fun stuff
I don't think everyone realizes what DR was really about.
Yes it put a monetization system (upgrades)in place with the increased level cap.
This is free game and you have to admit that it's good for STO when they make money.
There appears to be lots infrastructure was put into place to be a spring board.
It was said before by Cryptic they have funds in the bank for DEV work well past 2018.
Know with so many changes to the game and so many items to be tested.
So many new things coming out this games looks like it's just really getting good.
One thing I am sad about is the lack of multiplayer involvement in the game, most of the Q's are 5 people only and bigger maps like mine trap are pretty much dead.
Cryptic has shown through starbase 24, mine trap, voth battleground, (and winter wonderland)that the game can handle higher numbers - but they do not seem keen to go much further in that direction.
Here's hoping the future will be brighter.
We learn that sometime in the last few decades, all of their ships somehow got stuck in reverse.
lor seriously expanded the game with a wealth of story missions and fixed a historical problem on the kdf side and added half a romulan faction.
delta rising added a big season update of mindless boring grinding with a hand full of story missions.
lor = win
dr = humiliating defeat
The most important part of a "build" is the Bridge Officer Abilities. Gear is the smallest fraction of what makes a build good.
Polarize Hull would mean they couldn't pin you down.
Frankly, if you don't know the basic mechanics of a game, you should not expect to get through all content. In fact, there are lots of people who get stuck when they face a D'deridex for the first time. We used to see lots of threads from people asking for help there, and the odd one still crops up now and then.
Some people take getting their TRIBBLE handed to them as a sign their build is not up to task. Especially when other people have no problems. Other people complain, insist that their fail builds are sufficient (in spite of it obviously being insufficient and failing), and whine for enemies to be nerfed. :rolleyes:
Only problem I had on the ground is those damn Overseers who jumps at you like a.. "willing" rabbit.
Space is easy, their shields are OP but their firepower is UP, and I'm a science guy.
Sure there have been ups and downs and lately the game has turned towards a path that I do not enjoy as much.
However buying that LTS 5 years ago was one of the best investents of money I have made in MMO's so far. The mileage I got out of all the perks is the best from any game so far I have played that went down the f2p route.
I am still amazed and glad that Cryptic keeps honoring us old time LTS and even adding some benefits from time to time to it.
So thanks for the possibility of getting a LTS (I would love to have a LTS for Arche Age for example but they are just too greedy at Trion).
As for the game being too hard?Meh, guess its easy for me because I have been here 5 years and gotten the experience how to properly fly my ship and the time needed to build it up to near perfection.
almost everything that the LTS has to offer is totally useless and with the changes of the past months and the already announced changes LTS will become even more useless since its benefits became/will come obsolete.
Cryptic failed to update the LTS with useful content to motivate players to become lifetimers
It's funny how everyone seems to diss my build yet most of the suggestions seem to be exactly what I'm doing.
Yes, I have Polarize Hull, and it doesn't do diddly against the constriction anchors. Tractor beams? Yes. Constriction anchors? Hell no. Nor the scout's version of the same effect. That swirly rainbow beam of STOP RIGHT THERE does exactly that and I'm screwed unless I can destroy the source (in time). Ah, but can I get a torp in-line to blow up said constriction anchor? NO. So here come the blue blips, my shields drop, my hull breaches, and I'm toast.
Each of my characters' BOffs are tailored to fit the fighting style of the ship, gear, and captain's abilities, including this one.
Do I fly in guns blazing to hit 'em fast and hard, keep moving, duck and move, dodge the blue blips, etc.? Yes, IF those damned anchors don't catch me from behind/the side. If I can get my weapons to bear (and the Chimera's not a slow ship), I can rain a devastating amount of DPS Hell on my target...pre-DR that is. Wasn't having any problems running in the Sphere and that was "just yesterday" in regards to the expansion's material. There shouldn't be THAT big of a difference.
Should I have to run a beamboat tank to complete Normal storyline content? No. (I do have one, but it's on another toon that hasn't crossed the border to Delta yet...and has no intention to at this point.) Should I have to buy a T6 to complete Normal storyline content? No. Even in the release news for DR, it was stated that you'd better have your s--- wired tight for Advanced and Elite, but Normal content was doable in T-5 and T-5U. I don't see it.
There's a severe imbalance to the game when the NPCs drastically increase in power from one level to the next and the best end-all-be-all formerly high-end gear doesn't even scratch the paint.
And for those saying I have to adapt, upgrade, PAY TO WIN, I have to do one specific tactic, use one specific set/build/ship/weapon/etc. to play Delta, well you just made my point. If the devs intentionally designed virtually all of DR to only be completed by one style of play when the ENTIRE REST OF THE GAME is able to be done with many different styles, it's called PIGEONHOLING.
You don't know that I have more than one character that's 50+ (2 Fed Eng, 1 Fed Tac, 2 Fed Sci, & 1 Rom Tac) with only one currently test-driving Delta (my Fed Tac). Now somehow they all managed to keep up with the Joneses all this time...'til now. I'm not a noob, my characters aren't wimps, and my gear's not TRIBBLE.
IT'S THE EXPANSION.
I believe this is less about gear and more about understanding mechanics.
If you stop and do the math to compare whites to blues, the difference is not actually that great, due to modifiers being applied to the base value (known in STO jargon as "strength bonus"). Even if you get full blue gear and some purple drops, if you don't get the in-game mechanics hands down, the experience will be quite similar.
A few examples: shield distribution; power distribution; power drain; torpedoes being effective against bare hull.
I've seen many casual players failing to get the above to work, even after being told and taught. They just don't remember everything, not because they're lazy or stupid (could be the case, too), but because space combat is complex. The learning curve for the casual can be steep. They forget to hit the arrow keys for shield distribution, or don't realize when one of the shield facings are down and a torpedo is coming their way. Or they usually pump every bit of power in weapons and ignore the rest, OR power up shields and wonder why they're doing pitiful damage. Smashing torpedoes against shielded targets is pretty common with casuals due to the autofire mechanic: they hardly "watch" when enemies' shields go down.
Of course, they could get most of the above to work "automagically" by setting the spacebar keybind, but that process alone can be a struggle for many people. I've often came across players that, when trying to improve their gameplay and told about setting keybinds, they just give up setting it up because it's complex. This is where the "casual" level is mostly, in my opinion. Below average.
Now consider that such group get all of the above down and then some. They would be considered "average". That level should be enough to finish every bit of solo PvE content in this game. Still, Vaadwaur has mechanics that are unreasonably stronger than other NPC groups, and Undine has some problems, too.
Bottom line: I believe that Vaadwaur and a couple other NPC groups that are too strong compared to other enemy groups should be more or less in line with each other.
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Hm, my mistake on PH. I switched away from cannons when Dyson hit because they'd spawn things behind you. A FAW beamboat has no trouble hitting the anchors. You'll never even notice them, in fact.
Regardless, I flew my Chimera with an LtCdr Eng, and you really shouldn't be getting wasted in one barrage with AtSIF and EPtS going. It's a tough little ship that I used to tank Gateways back in pre-DR ISE.
I disagree.
Our performance is gear * piloting skill * build. I agree that gear isn't the problem. Mk XI blues is fine for everything. What you've described is only the skill portion.
As we progress in any PvE game, the level of challenge presented should increase. In STO, that challenge must be met by a combination of gear, piloting skill, and build. Having an "average" level of skill with "average" gear is insufficient if the build is "below average".
In many games, we are given increasing amounts of tools to meet that challenge. In STO, the ships we fly in level 1 have a small fraction of the bridge officer stations of a level 50 ship. In Borderlands, we go from no action skill to having an action skill to a multitude of things that affect that skill or passives. In Guild Wars 2 we unlock additional ability slots, and a wider array of abilities.
Our builds become more complex and powerful as we level. Fail to grasp the increased complexity, and we should rightly fail to do that content.
-- I have rarely used PH. It helps cut incoming damage, but its poorish in most pve. Use TBR. It will kill the anchor, it fires a 360 kinetic beam at them and will save you.
Do I fly in guns blazing to hit 'em fast and hard, keep moving, duck and move, dodge the blue blips, etc.? Yes, IF those damned anchors don't catch me from behind/the side.
- flying in guns blazing isnt always the best thing to do vs an enemy that uses a fair # of mines and the anchors and other things. Maybe staying back is wise here.
There shouldn't be THAT big of a difference.
-- Most of the difference is your failure to counter the new strategy. Their actual health and difficulty is not that much higher than it "should" be once you learn to fight them.
Should I have to run a beamboat tank to complete Normal storyline content? No.
-- and you don't. I did DR in a raider with cannons on one toon. But one thing you have to accept is that if you fly a glass cannon, sometimes you break. Usually, you kill it before it can hurt you, but sometimes, the NPC wins.
Should I have to buy a T6 to complete Normal storyline content? No.
-- And you don't. Some t5u are better than some t6 anyway. The t6s that lack surgical strikes are not much better than your ship, maybe a little, but insignificant. Again, you need to adjust something to handle a new type of enemy, and then they will be easy again and you will be going "oh, I see".
There's a severe imbalance to the game when the NPCs drastically increase in power from one level to the next and the best end-all-be-all formerly high-end gear doesn't even scratch the paint.
-- if you are not hurting them, that is another story. So far it sounds like you don't survive long enough to make a kill. You should just melt them if you can avoid being blasted in the process... they are only a little tougher than anything else.
And for those saying I have to adapt, upgrade, PAY TO WIN, I have to do one specific tactic, use one specific set/build/ship/weapon/etc. to play Delta, well you just made my point. If the devs intentionally designed virtually all of DR to only be completed by one style of play when the ENTIRE REST OF THE GAME is able to be done with many different styles, it's called PIGEONHOLING.
-- Adaptation is required. Upgrades are useful but optional -- your weapons will hit harder, and it helps big time, but if you enjoy long drawn out fights and refuse to farm dil, then you can make do with XIIs. Pay to win? You already did... you should have enough stuff already to win. You don't need t spend a cent... I have not bought anything since DR and I have 4 t6 ships from farming (free breen, EC paid for benthan, and faeht (farmed dil), and maha (farmed dil, MU event mostly here). Granted I have a fleet of alts to help make dil so I can farm it when I want it, but I did not pay a cent. As for pigeonholes... the game is dps oriented... if you can do dps, you can play the game. How you do the dps does not matter, and there is a lot of flexibility to get there.... any class in any ship can do it, tac in the best ships have an easier time of it, but we can all get there. The faeht warbird with 5 tac consoles, OSS, surgical strikes, etc can hit 30k per beam hit and waporize the stuff. But again, I did the content in a variety of ships including a bird of prey, a vet ship (like your chimera), a carrier, and a science ship, to name a few. I didn't get the high end ships until later.
You don't know that I have more than one character that's 50+ (2 Fed Eng, 1 Fed Tac, 2 Fed Sci, & 1 Rom Tac) with only one currently test-driving Delta (my Fed Tac). Now somehow they all managed to keep up with the Joneses all this time...'til now. I'm not a noob, my characters aren't wimps, and my gear's not TRIBBLE.
--- the best gear in the game won't cut it if you are sitting in a pattern of tricobalt mines going derp. Which is what happens when you run up close to vaaudwar ships. Stay the heck back away from them, use gw or TBR to kill their mines/missiles/anchors/etc. If you just work on countering their attacks, you can beat them with a half decent ship using half decent gear. Its all about using different tactics, not your build, how much money you spent, or anything else.
All my characters do (6 points on average) and I'm able to move out of those holds enough just using regular movement or Evasive Maneuvers as needed. Additionally, the pilot Specialization has that useful temporary resistance to holds after using Evasive Maneuvers, which makes it almost entirely a non-issue. Rock and Roll also helps.
Do note I had played that mission using a T5U Tactical Odyssey (ungodly slow), T5U Multi-Vector escort (not the fleet version), and in a T5U Vesta, since I'm not a lifer and was saving up to buy the Delta Pack. The only thing I ever upgraded was all my weapons to MkXIII minimum at that time (beams and/or torpedoes).
It's just a matter of knowing when to pop certain skills like FaW (normally useless on a Torpedo Sci boat, but useful in that mission in order to target all those lovely anchors if they're out of range of your GravWells).
Also, as a Tac, balancing the line between life and death with Go Down Fighting helps as well.
You could use a Doff-Boosted BO as well to try and further brute force your way through the shields of a specific target as well.
True, T6s make things a lot easier; Guardian can shield tank with near impunity with its console + a good defensive shield (MACO, Dyson, Aegis), Eclipse can just OsS and FaWIII forever, and Reciprocity from the Phantom cuts the need to double up on Tac/Intel skills, but it is still manageable with a little investment into the Pilot specialization (which is free) and into some of those otherwise neglected skills like Inertial Dampeners (Read its description; it mitigates some of what you're dealing with when it comes to the Vaadwaur). No T6 required.
Anyway, if you still can't beat the mission; skip it and work up your gear and Pilot Specialization enough so you can get the beneficial boosts that will help save your ship. Then go back and respec some points into Inertial Dampeners if you haven't already. And while you're at it, respec some points into Subsystem Repairs as well (otherwise, you'll only have yourself to blame when any of your subsystems goes down thanks to multiple Tricos while ET1 or an Emergency Power is on Cooldown).
I usually tend to relate "gear" and "build" a little too close, and I see what you mean.
My Science Captain hit level 50 and I geared him up to start the DR content. Namely, gave him a Dyson shield and Warp Core, and outfitted a Vesta that I played like a DPS cruiser (all beams, all power to weapons, TT+FAW+ATB, etc -- a vastly known build). The rest of gear was stock, blue at most. It did around 5~6K DPS. I just wanted to brainlessly play through all DR missions. All ground content was fine (I am better at ground combat). But I struggled in a few space missions. Namely the ones with the auto-targeting bombs, and the battleships with the tricobalt blue spam. In one instance, I outran the first salvo with Evasive Maneuvers just to be targeted again after Evasive ran out. With two Neutroniums equipped, a couple bombs that managed to hit took my hull to half through full shields. In one unlucky instance, about 4~5 attacks hit, and it was a kill. Is anything that ordinary (battleships are ordinary) be able to do that much damage in Normal content?
Similar experience with the auto-targeting missile/bomb thing, at least it's only in a single mission. Outrun one, get hit by the next, half hull down through full shields. Hazard Emitters can not heal enough to save you from a third strike. I got defeated a couple of times from it, and also from a combination of it with the blue spam. There was little I could do with my skills on cooldown. I'd think that a "planetary defense" attack in a mission that's not even a "final boss" battle is a little overkill.
The difference of those two components to everything else is abysmal. In my experience, aside from those two abilities, everything else was completely fine and in line with other the NPC groups. Oddly, I never had issues with the Anchors, perhaps because I slot 6 bars of Inertial Dampeners on all my characters. I hate being slowed down or immobilized in space combat.
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