seeking advice on obtaining ship

smiracle36

I am trying to obtain a t-6 cruiser without spending actual $. Is converting dilithium to zen the most effective way to accomplish this? And if so, what is the most effecient way of accumulate dilithium?

gilion

Yes, converting Dil to Zen is the only way to get something from the C-Store without paying for it. You also have the option of spending EC on the exchange to buy a lock box ship, assuming there's one you want. As for most effecient way of getting Dil, just do Dil mining, both at Vlugta and your Fleet mine, and then just do whatever queue missions has the most people and turn any marks you get into Dil. It also doesnt hurt to augment your Dil income with KDF and Ferengi Admiralty missions as well as turning in Contraband.

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jaguarskx

There are 3 events in STO where players are able to get a free T6 starship. It may not be exactly the type of ship you want, but nevertheless they are free as long as you are willing to grind for them; which really does not take much time on a daily basis during those events. They are the Anniversary (end of January), Risa Summer (beginning of June), and Winter Wonderland (beginning of December). The 2017 Anniversary rewarded a Lukari Science Vessel, and the 2017 Summer Event rewarded a Vorgon Carrier for the PC version. For the console version of STO, the rewards were the ships from the 2016 corresponding events.

If you want a specific T6 ship from the C-Store, then grinding Dil is the only way to get it. The more characters you have the more Dil you can grind and refine per day. With 1 character you can only refine 8k Dil per day, but with 3 characters you can refine up to 24K... assuming you have the time to do so. Also, the higher your level, the more opportunities open up for your character to grind Dil. For example. STFs / PvE queue missions are only available to level 50 characters. The Voth Ground Battlezone is only available once you advance through the Solanae Dyson Sphere story arc; it is probably the best battlezone to grind Dil quickly. I like grinding Dil on New Romulus as well if I do not feel like getting involved in combat. Plus it is a quicker way to get New Romulus Marks (once you unlock the various zones) compared to playing the Azure Nebula Rescue STF mission.

jaguarskx

The next ship sale will likely be on Black Friday when there will be a 20% discount on everything in the C-Store. Assuming you are on the PC, the Dil exchange rate is roughly 300:1. A ship T6 ship will sell for 2,400 Zen on Black Friday. That translates to 720k Dil. With one character you will need 90 days to refine that much Dil. However, if you have the time to grind Dil on three characters, then that drops to 30 days. There should be another ship sale around Christmas as well.

smiracle36

Thank you for your input. Always thankful for the advice of more experienced players.

hevach

Another option if you're in a fleet: You can buy fleet modules for EC on the exchange and earn fleet credits to buy fleet level ships. You have to use more modules if you didn't buy the C-store equivalent of the ship, and you don't get any special abilities or traits, and not all ships are available this way, but you do get them with the most console slots and highest hull levels available this way.

slifox

holy grind fest. I tried that. $$$$$ later.

jaguarskx

As long as you don't think about it too much / focus solely on grinding Dil, then it is actually not bad.

On my secondary free to play only account, I actually have a little over 7k Zen that I amassed over time and that is after I spent a few thousand Zen on various slots for my three characters. However, I was not really focused on grinding Dil for Zen and I only play that account occasionally. My 3 max level characters still only use the free T5 ships selected at level 40.

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dracounguis

If you consider your time worth x/hr, no matter what you are doing, then using real money is the most efficient. If you look at grinding Dilithium, you are 'earning' less than $1/hr. If you go spend an hour or two mowing your neighbor's yard for $20 and then go buy Zen, that is much more efficient use of your time. Of course, playing STO for 30-60hrs may not qualify as 'work' to you so you may opt for the grind. It's all about opportunity costs.