Ship Upgrades...?

centaurianalpha

I tried finding the original releases on this topic without success, and I'm genuinely confused, so:

What are the ship upgrade tokens (sold in the Z-store) actually used for? I bought (2) 4-packs right after they were first offered, but I have yet to use one, and can find no mechanism by which they may be used. Buyer's remorse? Sure, if the only place I can use them is Z-store T5 ships, which would lead to a T5U ship in the end.

The only ship I have ever bought in-game was a single Romulan-variant Dyson Science Destroyer (from the Lobi store), because my 4th alt wasn't far enough along to pick up the free ship during the Step Between Stars FE. All of my other ships have been picked up in the storyline or are Mirror Universe lockbox ships. I have been quite happy with the loadouts on my Mirror ships, until I had to start spending major time in my T5U's and T6 event ships building up ship mastery.

And a corollary question: When does a T5U or T6 ship ever gain a ship "trait"? Again I have seen nothing in my UI to indicate that such traits are gaining progress, what traits might be available, or how much "experience remains to complete the trait.

It's a bit disorienting to find that after 1.5 years in the game & forum, I'm still a noob in these areas... :eek:

jaguarskx

Ship upgrade tokens can only be used on T5 ships purchased from the C-Store. T5 ships obtained from lockboxes get a free upgrade. T5 ships from events get a free upgrade. Your Romulan T5 Dyson Destroyer is an event ship (even though you bought it from the Lobi Store) and it should have a free upgrade. Simply go to your ship status and in you should see a button to click to upgrade the Rom Dyson Destroyer to T5u.

T5u ships do not have a "ship trait", that is exclusive to T6 only. However, it believe T5u ships can have more HP than a comparable T6 ship as a consolation. T5u ships have 4 mastery levels. T6 ships have 5 mastery levels; it is the 5th mastery level that will give you a ship trait.

You need to look at your ship status to view mastery level progress.


As for your ship upgrade tokens... you can hold on to them or sell them on the Exchange.

jaguarskx

Here's a picture for the T5 Varanus science vessel that Cryptic gave away for free last year to KDF toons. I do not have any upgrade tokens nor is it a free upgrade so the "Upgrade" button is greyed out.

http://imageshack.com/a/img901/6026/eXKkO9.jpg


After the ship is upgraded it should look something like the following. Note that the Mat'ha is a T6 starship so there are 5 mastery unlocks instead of only 4. And you will see a progress bar as well.

http://imageshack.com/a/img910/2695/mHJ7jQ.jpg

mustrumridcully0

Basically, if you got a Fleet ship or a C-Store ship, you can upgrade it at the Ship Selector with the token. (A hopefully complete list: http://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/7002163)

Lockbox, Lobi and Event ships are generally upgradeable for free. Exception are the "consolation prize" ships - Mirror Ships and the Kazon ships in the last few lockboxes. Mirror ships can't be upgraded at all, the Kazon ships need an upgrade token.

Once you upgraded a ship on a character of your account, any other character with that ship can upgrade it for free. For the types of ships that have a Fleet and a non-Fleet version, you also unlock both, IIRC.


TIer 5 Upgrade ships earn a console slot, hit and shield points (based on level) and unlock a few further ship class specific buffs via ship mastery levels. U
nlike Tier 6 ships, they do not unlock a Starship Mastery trait at the end of the ship levelling process. However, every ship can benefit from Starship Mastery traits you have unlocked and slotted (under Traits).
Starship Mastery traits can be gained from levelling Tier 6 ships, or from completing Specializations. (There may be additional sources, but I don't remember right now.)=

roscoe3400

Another question: I know upgrading a C-Store ship to T5-U will also give a free upgrade of the fleet version, but are the skill points you acquired bound to that ship type?

For example, if I upgraded an Exploration Cruiser Retrofit to T5-U and got it to mastery level 4, then decided to get the fleet version, do I have to start fresh in the fleet version?

Same goes for if I scrap and reclaim later. And along those same lines, if you dismiss a T6 ship do you get to keep its starship trait?

kjwashington

roscoe3400 wrote: »

Another question: I know upgrading a C-Store ship to T5-U will also give a free upgrade of the fleet version, but are the skill points you acquired bound to that ship type?

For example, if I upgraded an Exploration Cruiser Retrofit to T5-U and got it to mastery level 4, then decided to get the fleet version, do I have to start fresh in the fleet version?

Same goes for if I scrap and reclaim later. And along those same lines, if you dismiss a T6 ship do you get to keep its starship trait?

For starters, upgrading a T5 ship to T5U doesn't make the upgrade for a T5F ship to T5FU free. It makes if free to upgrade that same T5 ship to T5U on other characters (or the same character if you dismissed the T5U ship).

hyperionx09

roscoe3400 wrote: »

Another question: I know upgrading a C-Store ship to T5-U will also give a free upgrade of the fleet version, but are the skill points you acquired bound to that ship type?

For example, if I upgraded an Exploration Cruiser Retrofit to T5-U and got it to mastery level 4, then decided to get the fleet version, do I have to start fresh in the fleet version?

Same goes for if I scrap and reclaim later. And along those same lines, if you dismiss a T6 ship do you get to keep its starship trait?

Short Answer:
You get the Fleet Version and after upgrading it to T5FU (for free since you upgraded the C-Store version), you WILL HAVE TO LEVEL UP THEIR MASTERY TIERS AGAIN.

As far as scrapping and reclaiming goes, from what I've been told by others, scrapping the ship will LOSE its Masteries. However, Scrapping a T6 WILL NOT LOSE the Mastery Trait IF it was already unlocked.

centaurianalpha

Thanks for the patient replies. I guess the only use I might have for the upgrade tokens is when I can eventually buy a Fleet T5 ship, and thereby convert it to a Fleet T5U.

I'm still a bit fuzzy on when I can expect to see ship traits on my T6 ships, though. I'ts looking like that happens after all five mastery levels are filled, but I don't see how Captain Specializations would interact with that. I guess I'll have to wait for another 20 specialization points or so, unless someone who already has ship traits is willing to disclose their experience here.

ladytiamat666

You can gain ship traits by three mechanisms :

1/ Complete all five levels of ship mastery of a T6 Ship.

2/ Spend enough points on a Captain specialization that offers a ship trait (for Commando for example, you have to spend 15 points). For some specializations, there are several levels for the ship trait : you can unlock the basic version of the trait once you've spend a certain number of points, and a superior version once you've spend more points.

3/ The new mechanism : if you complete the Delta event (finish the storyline up to the Breen Arc), you will unlock a ship trait.

reverandclint

Each of the T6 ships unlocks a ship trait on your captain (that can be used on any ship that captain flies) when you completely fill in the ship xp bar ... ie you get the ship all the way to level 5.

Putting 15 spec points in any specialization also give a ship trait to that captain.
Pilot at 15 points spent gets 'Pedal to the Metal' - a damage boost as long as you are at full speed (not full impulse - just full throttle.)
15 points on Commando gives 'Demolition Teams' - each foe within 2k gets a demolition token & at 5 tokens they take kinetic damage that by-passes shields.
Intelligence gives 'Predictive Algorithms' at 15 & 'Advanced Predictive Algorithms' at 30 - when you use tactical skills you get an acc boost and a de-buff cleanse (only affects some de-buff - not all.)
Command gives 'Command Frequency' at 15 & 'Advanced Command Frequency' at 30 - removes the low health requirement to use Call Fleet Support & reduces the cool-down on it.

trejgon

I was randomly reading this thread and a though came to my mind - so If I own mirror deep space vessel and mirror advanced escort (bought them both on exchange) I can have them upgraded to 5-U?

from some of the posts above I got such feeling.....

mustrumridcully0

trejgon wrote: »

I was randomly reading this thread and a though came to my mind - so If I own mirror deep space vessel and mirror advanced escort (bought them both on exchange) I can have them upgraded to 5-U?

from some of the posts above I got such feeling.....

No, Mirror ships are excluded from upgrades.

centaurianalpha

On the Captain's Traits selection screen, there is a bar with four slots for Starship Traits, meaning you may have four active at any one time. Each T6 starship grants a unique (different) Starship Trait.

This is what I was looking for! I haven't gone into any of my Captains' trait locker for quite a while, so it's time I did so at least with my KDF main, which is the first to have completed mastery of my Breen carriers. Maybe now I'll be able to beat the Voth cruiser in the "Revelations" Delta mission with my new Kobali cruiser! (along with several console and weapon upgrades...) :rolleyes:

swamarian

roscoe3400 wrote: »

Another question: I know upgrading a C-Store ship to T5-U will also give a free upgrade of the fleet version, but are the skill points you acquired bound to that ship type?

I believe that they're bound to that ship. Dismissing and reclaiming the same ship means starting over.

markhawkman

centaurianalpha wrote: »

This is what I was looking for! I haven't gone into any of my Captains' trait locker for quite a while, so it's time I did so at least with my KDF main, which is the first to have completed mastery of my Breen carriers. Maybe now I'll be able to beat the Voth cruiser in the "Revelations" Delta mission with my new Kobali cruiser! (along with several console and weapon upgrades...) :rolleyes:

all that really takes is a heavy emphasis on tanking and use of shield bypassing effects.