Possible new player

roughbearmattach

Howdy, folks.

I was considering giving STO a try, though spaceship battles are not my favorite type of gameplay.

Is there enough character-based content to support someone who wants to focus on "away team"-style missions?

I wouldn't mind some spaceship battle missions, maybe up to one-third of my playtime.

Thanks for the feedback and advice.

ashstorm1

Hello and welcome.

To answer your question, yes, there is a substantial amount of content focusing onto away-teams and ground battles. I would say it is somewhat on-par with space battles themselves (think 50% ground - 50% space). The game mechanics are a bit different for each aspects of the game, although you get used to it pretty quickly.

lamyrs

I gonna say, if you don't like ships don't try it. While there are still ways to mostly play on ground in high end, 80-90% of the game is made for space.

gradii

Potentially welcome to STO then! Ground combat is definitely my favorite in this game, for ships, each type of ship tends to have its own playstyle, I suggest trying the different ship types, Escorts, Science, Cruisers, and multiple kinds of builds to see whats right for you.

Star Trek Battles and Redditchat Channels are great for if you need build advice, ship builds can seem a bit daunting at first sometimes.

I gonna say, if you don't like ships don't try it. While there are still ways to mostly play on ground in high end, 80-90% of the game is made for space.

This is inaccurate. it's more like 50/50, although both are normally required in story missions.

bds007

gradii wrote: »

Potentially welcome to STO then! Ground combat is definitely my favorite in this game, for ships, each type of ship tends to have its own playstyle, I suggest trying the different ship types, Escorts, Science, Cruisers, and multiple kinds of builds to see whats right for you.

Star Trek Battles and Redditchat Channels are great for if you need build advice, ship builds can seem a bit daunting at first sometimes.

I gonna say, if you don't like ships don't try it. While there are still ways to mostly play on ground in high end, 80-90% of the game is made for space.

This is inaccurate. it's more like 50/50, although both are normally required in story missions.

While 50/50 is accurate, you have to do both in a single mission. If you just want to focus on scifi ground combat, SWTOR might be a better fit. I love STO, but it is not everything to everyone.

lamyrs

I guess I am the only one who have done his missions

gradii

gradii wrote: »

Potentially welcome to STO then! Ground combat is definitely my favorite in this game, for ships, each type of ship tends to have its own playstyle, I suggest trying the different ship types, Escorts, Science, Cruisers, and multiple kinds of builds to see whats right for you.

Star Trek Battles and Redditchat Channels are great for if you need build advice, ship builds can seem a bit daunting at first sometimes.

bds007 wrote: »

gradii wrote: »

Potentially welcome to STO then! Ground combat is definitely my favorite in this game, for ships, each type of ship tends to have its own playstyle, I suggest trying the different ship types, Escorts, Science, Cruisers, and multiple kinds of builds to see whats right for you.

Star Trek Battles and Redditchat Channels are great for if you need build advice, ship builds can seem a bit daunting at first sometimes.

I gonna say, if you don't like ships don't try it. While there are still ways to mostly play on ground in high end, 80-90% of the game is made for space.

This is inaccurate. it's more like 50/50, although both are normally required in story missions.

While 50/50 is accurate, you have to do both in a single mission. If you just want to focus on scifi ground combat, SWTOR might be a better fit. I love STO, but it is not everything to everyone.

Problem with SWTOR is its basically only good for the storyline (which is excellent), but it has a terrible awful free to play system and a boring combat system compared to STO.

I have done all the missions, but space combat isn't so bad once you find a ship and style you like, so I would still encourage people to give STO a fair shot whether or not they're a fan of space combat, considering STO has a lot of ground as well.

antonine3258

STO missions are generally a mix, but there's a lot of ground battlezones you can do besides mission play.

roughbearmattach

Thanks for the feedback.

Does ship type affect the sorts of ship missions that become available?

For instance, do escorts get different missions from science ships or cruisers? Or is it more like you get the same missions, but have to use different strategies depending on ship type?

Also, howdy, @gradii

ashstorm1

roughbearmattach wrote: »

Thanks for the feedback.

Does ship type affect the sorts of ship missions that become available?

For instance, do escorts get different missions from science ships or cruisers? Or is it more like you get the same missions, but have to use different strategies depending on ship type?

Also, howdy, @gradii

Ship type does not affect the type of missions you get ; only the gameplay and strategy are affected. For instance, you won't fly an escort (a ship that has high fire power but little resistance) the way you'd fly a cruiser (a 'tank' ship, capable of sustaining heavy aggro and taking a lot of damages), or a science vessel (exotic damages/buffs/heals). All three types are equally effective once you get used to each strategy. After that it's mostly a matter of personal taste.

The optimal ship type also depends on your profession of choice (tactical = escorts, engineer = cruisers and science = science vessels), although this is not a hard rule in any way, and you can fly any ship you want with still decent potential.

gradii

roughbearmattach wrote: »

Thanks for the feedback.

Does ship type affect the sorts of ship missions that become available?

For instance, do escorts get different missions from science ships or cruisers? Or is it more like you get the same missions, but have to use different strategies depending on ship type?

Also, howdy, @gradii

I'm @DaZee in game.

Which missions and ships you'll be able to fly are both determined by faction.
(Romulans get warbirds, Klingons have battlecruisers/birds of prey and Federation has those classic fed ships)
Each faction has its own flavor of Cruisers, Escorts and Science ships,
although compared to the federation, Romulans and Klingons are severely lacking in Science ships.
I would suggest at least trying one Romulan alt, as the Romulan storyline is easily the most compelling story.

roughbearmattach

Can I download a version of the game with it's own launcher, or must I use Arc or Steam?
I really, really dislike third party launchers, and I consider Arc one of those.

bds007

I have never used a separate launcher... You can start it by "Star Trek Online.exe" without either Steam or Arc

noroblad

50/50 but most players focus on

roughbearmattach wrote: »

Thanks for the feedback.

Does ship type affect the sorts of ship missions that become available?

For instance, do escorts get different missions from science ships or cruisers? Or is it more like you get the same missions, but have to use different strategies depending on ship type?

Also, howdy, @gradii

No. Your faction changes the missions slightly ... but it all merges into a single quest line pretty fast so that is just intro level stuff that is faction specific. Ship type and class don't matter... my engineer drives an "escort" (fragile damage ship). My sci char does not even have a ship available in science, I fly what I can for her.

How you build the ship is a strategy of sorts and that varies a lot. How you fly it ... typically that becomes up the middle killing anything that moves.

mewmaster101

ashstorm1 wrote: »

roughbearmattach wrote: »

Thanks for the feedback.

Does ship type affect the sorts of ship missions that become available?

For instance, do escorts get different missions from science ships or cruisers? Or is it more like you get the same missions, but have to use different strategies depending on ship type?

Also, howdy, @gradii

The optimal ship type also depends on your profession of choice (tactical = escorts, engineer = cruisers and science = science vessels), although this is not a hard rule in any way, and you can fly any ship you want with still decent potential.

not true at all actually, You can be just as successful as any captain in any ship, and actually, for sci and engis, you are sometimes better off flying the opposite a lot of the times, as engi skills help sci vessels in their weakness and visa versa for sci skills and engi ships.

lamyrs

mewmaster101 wrote: »

ashstorm1 wrote: »

roughbearmattach wrote: »

Thanks for the feedback.

Does ship type affect the sorts of ship missions that become available?

For instance, do escorts get different missions from science ships or cruisers? Or is it more like you get the same missions, but have to use different strategies depending on ship type?

Also, howdy, @gradii

The optimal ship type also depends on your profession of choice (tactical = escorts, engineer = cruisers and science = science vessels), although this is not a hard rule in any way, and you can fly any ship you want with still decent potential.

not true at all actually, You can be just as successful as any captain in any ship, and actually, for sci and engis, you are sometimes better off flying the opposite a lot of the times, as engi skills help sci vessels in their weakness and visa versa for sci skills and engi ships.

Engi capt with a sci ship is the worst combination you can have. You don't need the heals and you don't need the Nadion. Only thing that could help is the EPSIII.

leemwatson

roughbearmattach wrote: »

Can I download a version of the game with it's own launcher, or must I use Arc or Steam?
I really, really dislike third party launchers, and I consider Arc one of those.

If you do a search you can find the download link for the main StartrekOnline.exe. I've always used this to launch it, as Arc and Steam are technically bloatware that contribute nothing to the game or it's operation.

roughbearmattach

[quote="leemwatson;12809660"

If you do a search you can find the download link for the main StartrekOnline.exe. I've always used this to launch it, as Arc and Steam are technically bloatware that contribute nothing to the game or it's operation.[/quote]

Thanks. I have a good chunk of time off coming up, and I will download and give STO a try. Though I am not a fan of starship battles, I don't hate them, and if the content is otherwise engaging, they might grow on me.

gradii

It should also be noted that the gameplay style on say, an escort using phaser pulse cannons and torpedoes is significantly different from a cruiser using beams, and you should try the other if one is too painful for you in space.

roughbearmattach

Looks like no StartrekOnline.exe is on my system. Only the arclauncher.

EDIT: Ah. Have to run Arc once to get the .exe for STO. All set now.

ultimatenewbie

roughbearmattach wrote: »

Thanks. I have a good chunk of time off coming up, and I will download and give STO a try. Though I am not a fan of starship battles, I don't hate them, and if the content is otherwise engaging, they might grow on me.

Hi, welcome to STO. The advice provided by the other players has mostly dealt with your questions. To assist, here's a link to a guide for new players that I wrote - grateful for any suggestions for improvements. Good luck, and have fun!

http://www.arcgames.com/en/forums/startrekonline#/discussion/1175643/early-decisions-ultimate-newbies-new-players-guide/p1

roughbearmattach

Thanks!

mustrumridcully0

When doing story missions, you will do both space and ground combat.
At end game, the "Queue" missions (multiplayer/RAID type missions) are either space or ground only, and you can pick to focus on one if you decide you prefer that.

Also, the game has a few ground combat zones which can be quite fun and rewarding.

roughbearmattach

Awesome.
I am making a character this evening. I will look at the the thread suggested by @ultimatenewbie.

roughbearmattach

Okay--I spent nearly an hour creating a character, including appearance. I hit "save outfit", then go back a screen . . . and all the stuff I worked on went back to defaults. I then hit "load outfit" and no saved outfits appeared to choose from.

Anyone have any ideas?

zorander6

Depending on your faction there may be a sub quest that takes you to the tailor to dress up. I don't recall if you get an outfit spot other than your base costume when you first start. Also did you click the "Wear" button?

roughbearmattach

During character creation, there's no wear button. I just thought I could access a series of saved outfit looks, and then load one over my current one.

gradii

roughbearmattach wrote: »

During character creation, there's no wear button. I just thought I could access a series of saved outfit looks, and then load one over my current one.

I've experienced some bugs with loading saved costumes, especially cross species, and with certain outfits.

What faction and Species did you go with?

markhawkman

yeah, costumes in STO are linked to species. If you were to change race, then the costume can't be loaded properly.

breadandcircuses

markhawkman wrote: »

yeah, costumes in STO are linked to species. If you were to change race, then the costume can't be loaded properly.

You can usually get most of a saved Outfit by clicking the little "Outfit Only" checkbox at the bottom left of the Load Outfit UI. That checkbox will cause the Tailor to ignore any Species restrictions when you Load Outfit, but it also only carries over any costume options allowable to that Species; everything else will just sort of toss in what it feels like.

roughbearmattach

Thanks.

Next one: I can't find Ghemik Telur to change outfits on Earth Spacedock. I am currently standing on the mission object circle, but no NPC.

EDIT: Found the NPC--didn't match the mission objective circle is all.