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Are the lock box ships worth it?
cyberking22
Member Posts: 8 Arc User
in The Academy
Hello everybody! I came back to STO after years, and when I did that I found a lot of new things. Now, with my Federation Tactical admiral I managed to get a T6 ship, a Tactical Escort with the Quantum Warhead and Cloak skills, and the startship trait Withering Barriage; the weapons are still a problem, because I still have to get the good ones (for now I am using Quantum Phase and Armonic set), but that's another point for the future.
After I played some story mission, using enemy starships, I was thrilled by them so here's my question: are the Vaadwaur Escort and the Tzenkethi Escort really good, or my Tactical Escort is enough? Because Vaadwaur Escort had a lot of weapons slots, and also tha polaron barriage, really dangerous (I died like 20 times only for that), and the Tzenkethi had like 5 fore weapons and the skill to get the shields up, so a really strong defense. Of coure, to get them I should buy at least 10 keys, and for now I am short on zen, but that's a minor detail.
After I played some story mission, using enemy starships, I was thrilled by them so here's my question: are the Vaadwaur Escort and the Tzenkethi Escort really good, or my Tactical Escort is enough? Because Vaadwaur Escort had a lot of weapons slots, and also tha polaron barriage, really dangerous (I died like 20 times only for that), and the Tzenkethi had like 5 fore weapons and the skill to get the shields up, so a really strong defense. Of coure, to get them I should buy at least 10 keys, and for now I am short on zen, but that's a minor detail.
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the Shuk-din does have one of, if not, the best Experimental weapons. but it is also costs about 300 million
+ ec from the exchange or possibly a few hundred dollars by keys/lockboxs. the Manasa isn't really much cheaper and isn't really all that these days.
overall if your after power work on what you have, maybe buy a few of the ships with "must have" star ship traits from the c-store.
if I stop posting it doesn't make you right it. just means I don't have enough rum to continue interacting with you.
But in the end, they are just ships in STO. Nice ships. Enjoyable to use. But still just ships. The only one I fly regularly is the Kelvin Connie. On a Sci character.
I suggest you ask yourself a few questions about any LockBox ship you are seriously looking at:
1) Will it make me happy to own this ship in STO?
2) Does it look like it is fun to fly and use?
3) Will owning this ship make whatever character I have it on more enjoyable to play STO and as a consequence will I play STO more often and longer when I do so?
If you answer "yes" to these, then get the ship. Don't worry about the expense. If you think you are getting value for your money then you are getting value for your money. Don't listen to every single person about the ship you want. You will get tons of advice both for and against the ship from people who post here. It is your choice and your cash money we are speaking of. So your opinion about this potential purchase is the only one which really matters.
That's all I've got.
1.I don't actually spend real money on STO, all the things I buy are from dilithium farming, zen conversion and every now and then prizes from events/giveaways and such, so it would get me a lot of time to get those expensive ships;
2.when I played those ships during the mission, they were really cool and fun to use, and their starship traits were good.
I know the important things about the starship are the weapons, and I bet the ones I must search for are either the Fleet or the crafted ones (like the Wider Arc Cannons and such); I bought the Tactical Escort and the similar ones to get the full set with Quad Phaser Cannons, Cloak and Quantum Warhead, because I think they are ok; but I must even take into consideration that some ships are old content, and that maybe some of the new ships have better traits or set: infact, I was even looking to the Pilot Escorts, and one of them has a trait that lets you shoot a mini-torpedo every now and then. Choices, guys, choices.
I use the Discovery Universal Console and the Starship Mastery Trait because I love having the ship teleport in and fire some torps. It's not really one of the better traits or consoles, but it's one of the funnier ones. (The console is less fun than the trait, though.)
If you want to have an idea if a lockbox ship is good, you can also check the Exchange - the cheap ones are probably underwhelming (at least for being a lockbox ship). And if you want a Lockbox ship, you should try to collect the EC to buy them from the Exchange. Trusting your luck is a great way to become disappointed and space poor. (Good Zen-to-EC Methods: Master Keys and Promotion R&D or Duty Officer Boxes. Particularly probably those of the Infinity variety. The Promo Boxes tend to give more EC/Zen, but they aren't always available. )
One of the biggest drawbacks in STO's endgame with lockbox ships is that they don't have many customization options. The might have one or two variants at most. Of course, that doesn't affect your damage output or your survivability, but if you're like me and prefer to make a ship "your own", you'll miss the ability to tinker with the looks.
Once you buy it, don't open it. Transfer your character to tribble and test it there. If you don't like it, go back to holodeck and re-list it on the exchange. You might take a small EC hit, but not much.
Personally, I go after Lobi ships off the exchange. They're much cheaper then the 'Grand Prize' ships because there are so many more of them. Usually about 250-300M will snag you one. The Kelvin Dreadnought is a great example of a top tier ship that really isn't all that expensive.
Tier 6 uplifts of Lobi ships have been happening since shortly after the Console release of the game. Whenever a former Tier 5 Lockbox ship gets added to the Infinity Lockbox as a Tier 6 version, the Lobi counterpart to that ship is also uplifted to Tier 6 (except the Galor which has no counter part, and the Jem'Hadar JHEC and JHDC which switched acquisition method when uplifted).
Based on the prices of the Tier 5 Infinity box ships, people are expecting the Tholian ships to get uplifted next (no guarantees, though.)
l don't know.
l really don't know what l'm about to say, except l have a feeling about it.
That l must repeat the words that come without my knowledge.'
I meant that no Lobi ship was uplifted to match the Galor, though both the JHDC and JHEC were the same release as the Galor. That was a bit of an odd-ball release, seeing it was the first one with uplifts PC side to match the Console Tier 6 releases, even though the Console release had a different lockbox that introduced them.
normal text = me speaking as fellow formite
colored text = mod mode
If I had to just give a Yes/No answer, it would be No.
But the reality is: it depends on what you are going for; Looks? Boff seating? Ship Trait?
If you are one of those people that chase being a top tier DPSer, then the ship itself isn't the biggest expense.
Ultimately, it depends on how much disposable income or time you have.
imo, visuals is the main reason to buy a ship, since any stat or trait or power will eventually be overcome by power creep at some point. But if you like how the Galaxy class flys around pew-pewing, then that always works.
Lobi - Baltim Heavy Raider / Maquis Heavy Raider.
I agree with you on this!
In the event that I spring for another Lobi ship, this is the one that I'm "eyeballing" for the time being!
HOWEVER....they suffer terribly from a serious lack of customization and unique bridges in recent times. So if you want a ship that looks cool, yeah you'll get it. But you can't customize it in any way so your rare box ship is stuck looking like every other copy in the game, bar a few paint job tweaks.