Cross Faction Support Carrier Bundle!

ambassadorkael

Four new Support Carriers - with two new pet types each - are coming this week on all platforms, one for each faction!

https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/11477183

dkeith2011

Please tell me the Fed carrier will be getting the squadron pet option soon!

fleetcaptain5

They look great (as we already knew).

The pet restriction to any full carrier is interesting - my Briostrys could use some variation in frigate pets.

Speaking of the pets: they do have a lot of abilities. I just hope the scattering field especially won't cause too much lag.

I also hope that the squadron pets will be made available to all other ships with hangar bays. It would give some much needed variety in ship pets.

fleetcaptain5

Only downside is that the ships are not automatically Fleet level.

foppotee

At first glance this is a very impressive appealing bundle imo at the introductory price & for what all 4 ships offer. There's a couple of negatives but nothing outlandish nor unexpected imo. This bundle should deserve much deliberation during the introductory pricing.

dornmar

Could the discount not last for the week so it covers my pay day haha

dkeith2011

Getting the discount to last till the 28th would be great.

starswordc

*sees two-hangar warbird carrier*

MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE

Seriously, this is fantastic. The frigate pets even use beams which means I can run Coordinated Assault on the carrier.

A couple interesting notes:
— The name of the warbird carrier means "leader" in Rihan.
— DevwI' in tlhIngan Hol also means "leader", although I don't know offhand what the vo' prefix does.

garaffe

Ships look great! The console seems very interesting! Pricing is GREAT! The bundle looks like a great deal (though I am only interested in the Republic ship).

Seems odd (wrong even) though, if I am not mistaken, that the Malem frigates use photon torpedos instead of plasma.

The starship trait is a bit of a let down as I don't really see it being that useful.

Overall, I think this is the first thing Cryptic has produced in well over a year that I have been truly excited about.

schloopdoo

I honestly had given up on seeing a T6 Vo'quv, but seeing all four factions get something great with this release makes it feel worth the wait.

Thank you for doing this. I'm in need of a replacement PC before I can log on to the game again, but I know what I'll be flying when I do. Very well done.

shadowfirefly00

fleetcaptain5#1134 wrote: »

I also hope that the squadron pets will be made available to all other ships with hangar bays. It would give some much needed variety in ship pets.

I take it you mean that the new squadron pets should be usable on any ship with a hangar bay (faction permitting). This is something I see and raise adding squadron versions of all other fighter bays (i.e. Peregrines, Widows, Bleth Choas, Obelisk swarmers)... and reminds me of this interesting tidbit: the new Caitian frigate pet does appear to use the Shikaris hull (see also: Xyfius and Echentis); it would have been interesting to see its RRN and KDF counterparts use the Hathos and Slithus hulls respectively. Note that this would be distinct from true Shikaris/Hathos/Slithus frigate pets, the existence of which (using unlock rules similar to the Mesh Weavers and Plesh Brek/Tral would actually increase the value and desirability of the Allied Escort Bundle (and even made an excuse for a 'super bundle' comprising it and this new package). Note that Slithus frigate pets would also 'justify' the existence of a Ferasan carrier...

Now, I've heard some grumblings about how all four ships and their pets are functionally identical. One possible in-universe explanation is that they grew out of the same initiative that gave us the Khitomer-class... but then it would be reasonable to speculate about how that cruiser's design language would be expressed strikecraft, frigates, and carriers (something I'd be surprised to hear that the art team has not considered).

garaffe wrote: »

The starship trait is a bit of a let down as I don't really see it being that useful.

Overall, I think this is the first thing Cryptic has produced in well over a year that I have been truly excited about.

If nothing else, it sounds like they're trying to make carriers more interesting/appealing. A goal I think would be helped by the creation of a 'CAG' specialization, devoted to making hangar pets more effective.

captkelly31

Those sure look great; but i wonder if the next bundle will include either a T6 Vulcan or Tellarite ship for the FEDs; a Reman, or Acamarian (who should also have an event that connects them to the RR) T6. As for the KDF, their next T6 could be one of the Vassal ships.

jcsww

fleetcaptain5#1134 wrote: »

Only downside is that the ships are not automatically Fleet level.

Nah. The real and most important downside is that 5 of these carriers in the same TFO are going to lag the server hamsters into cardiac arrest!

"Unlike normal fighter pets, each fighter launched is actually a squadron of six fighters As each hangar bay can deploy six squadrons, each hangar bay is ultimately responsible for up to 36 fighters."

burstorion

I have a question...is the jemmie carrier locked to jems only or does it have the master to use on all factions feature? Got enough zen for the kdf and Jem one, but the jem one only has use to me if theres that option that made the other ships so economical

fleetcaptain5

shadowfirefly00 wrote: »

fleetcaptain5#1134 wrote: »

I also hope that the squadron pets will be made available to all other ships with hangar bays. It would give some much needed variety in ship pets.

I take it you mean that the new squadron pets should be usable on any ship with a hangar bay (faction permitting). This is something I see and raise adding squadron versions of all other fighter bays (i.e. Peregrines, Widows, Bleth Choas, Obelisk swarmers)... and reminds me of this interesting tidbit: the new Caitian frigate pet does appear to use the Shikaris hull (see also: Xyfius and Echentis); it would have been interesting to see its RRN and KDF counterparts use the Hathos and Slithus hulls respectively. Note that this would be distinct from true Shikaris/Hathos/Slithus frigate pets, the existence of which (using unlock rules similar to the Mesh Weavers and Plesh Brek/Tral would actually increase the value and desirability of the Allied Escort Bundle (and even made an excuse for a 'super bundle' comprising it and this new package). Note that Slithus frigate pets would also 'justify' the existence of a Ferasan carrier...

Now, I've heard some grumblings about how all four ships and their pets are functionally identical. One possible in-universe explanation is that they grew out of the same initiative that gave us the Khitomer-class... but then it would be reasonable to speculate about how that cruiser's design language would be expressed strikecraft, frigates, and carriers (something I'd be surprised to hear that the art team has not considered).

garaffe wrote: »

The starship trait is a bit of a let down as I don't really see it being that useful.

Overall, I think this is the first thing Cryptic has produced in well over a year that I have been truly excited about.

If nothing else, it sounds like they're trying to make carriers more interesting/appealing. A goal I think would be helped by the creation of a 'CAG' specialization, devoted to making hangar pets more effective.

That is indeed what I'm hoping for.

As for the similarity among the ships: well, that's nothing new, really. I don't know why anyone would be complaining about such a thing.

fleetcaptain5

jcsww wrote: »

fleetcaptain5#1134 wrote: »

Only downside is that the ships are not automatically Fleet level.

Nah. The real and most important downside is that 5 of these carriers in the same TFO are going to lag the server hamsters into cardiac arrest!

"Unlike normal fighter pets, each fighter launched is actually a squadron of six fighters As each hangar bay can deploy six squadrons, each hangar bay is ultimately responsible for up to 36 fighters."

That's a concern I share. Especially as they have things like scattering field.

(Or S-CATtering field in some cases )

burstorion

I'm looking forward to squadrons but that depends on their cd versus survival..as to support, they look powerful and beefy but again it comes down to cd versus survivability - personally I'm more attrition, cycling fast deploying pets but lets see what the normals can do

redwren89

Squadrons are the future of the carriers, thought I believe they should only be limited to 'full carriers', but nevermind, its never balanced anyway.

Suffice it to say, those carriers look amazing with amazing stats, with amazing availability.

Cryptic, you just got a buy from me - win win

schloopdoo

Squadrons would do a LOT to make escort carriers more attractive.

bltrrn

Very impressive, looking forward to further squadron hangar pets.

istalon1

I usually don't say "buff the feds" because the federation already has more ships than the three other factions combined, but...

The Klingon ship has a cloak, the Romulan ship has a battle cloak, the Dominion ship has Wingmen, but the Federation ship has nothing special, or am I missing something?

I'd say, slap a secondary Deflector on the Aspero for this one, but think of a tiny little extra mechanic to make some Federation ships stick out? I can't think of any common Federation special technology from the series, but maybe Federation engineers came up with something in the 20 years since Nemesis...

foppotee

Are the: Vo'devwl & Ra'nodaire versions held to their primary factions or like the recent precedent available to the other 2 (Fed & KDF) factions?

The ships look really good! It looks like the KDF fleet version is an actual different ship design whereas the others are just different paint-jobs.

The Malem Support Frigate using photon torpedo instead of plasma might be an typo-oversight or just take the easiest route approach but it does seem a plasma torpedo would be more appropriate/canon but who knows.

The Console - High-Energy Communications Network sounds nice & the starship trait sounds not great but decent, neither had numerical figures given though just general descriptions.

The Elite Support Frigate don't look worth the upgrading imo compared to the Advanced Support Frigates for their abilities versus cost.

I like that the Malem & the Ning'tao can cloak, can the Caitian Support Frigate cloak too?

Also, so can all the squadron Fighters cloak as well except for the Jem'Hadar Fighters?

I wish there would've been slight differences between some of the carriers' console slots, similar to the Vo'devwl's power distribution versus the other carriers & like the Hull & Shield modifiers.

This appears to be a very tempting bundle.

alcyoneserene

Compared to fleet Jupiter, the T6 fleet Atrox has more hull, 1 less turn rate, 10 less inertia rating, trades a Lt Boff to upgrade the others into LtC, has command instead of intel on LtC seat, and the new fighter & support squadrons.

I'm glad the Romulan carrier has subsystem targeting, unlike T'Laru which for whatever reason misses out on it, maybe to balance out the superior 4/2 weapon setup and full intel spec, though it is a science carrier and shouldn't have lost it.

Starship traits seem quite useful, and same with the console as pets can sometimes take a very long time to rank up.

Appearance from those limited photos, with the exception of the Jem'Hadar one, they look great and I hope we get options to mix parts from their old versions.

Ning'Tao pets! T6 Ning'Tao when! Can't wait to also have a squadron or frigates of B'rel BoP, always wanted that. Malems is really awesome also and I couldn't have thought of a more fitting choice.

Can't wait to get them all!

thecrimsonrevenger

I'm increasingly frustrated by the lack of Bridges and Interiors on most new ships over the last couple years. Many don't even allow the DEFAULT bridges/Interior decks.

Will these ships at least allow us to select from default bridges and crew decks? BOTH bridges and crew decks?

garaffe

shadowfirefly00 wrote: »

If nothing else, it sounds like they're trying to make carriers more interesting/appealing. A goal I think would be helped by the creation of a 'CAG' specialization, devoted to making hangar pets more effective.

A capital idea!!

istalon1 wrote: »

I usually don't say "buff the feds" because the federation already has more ships than the three other factions combined, but...

The Klingon ship has a cloak, the Romulan ship has a battle cloak, the Dominion ship has Wingmen, but the Federation ship has nothing special, or am I missing something?

I'd say, slap a secondary Deflector on the Aspero for this one, but think of a tiny little extra mechanic to make some Federation ships stick out? I can't think of any common Federation special technology from the series, but maybe Federation engineers came up with something in the 20 years since Nemesis...

Don't forget the Aspero can use stalker fighters, which, as far as I know, are the only fighters that can cloak. And with the squadrons mechanic, that means a ton of little fighters flying around shooting your enemies with ambush bonus damage. So, I would argue that the Aspero does indeed have something special that the others don't.

foppotee

garaffe wrote: »

shadowfirefly00 wrote: »

If nothing else, it sounds like they're trying to make carriers more interesting/appealing. A goal I think would be helped by the creation of a 'CAG' specialization, devoted to making hangar pets more effective.

A capital idea!!

istalon1 wrote: »

I usually don't say "buff the feds" because the federation already has more ships than the three other factions combined, but...

The Klingon ship has a cloak, the Romulan ship has a battle cloak, the Dominion ship has Wingmen, but the Federation ship has nothing special, or am I missing something?

I'd say, slap a secondary Deflector on the Aspero for this one, but think of a tiny little extra mechanic to make some Federation ships stick out? I can't think of any common Federation special technology from the series, but maybe Federation engineers came up with something in the 20 years since Nemesis...

Don't forget the Aspero can use stalker fighters, which, as far as I know, are the only fighters that can cloak. And with the squadrons mechanic, that means a ton of little fighters flying around shooting your enemies with ambush bonus damage. So, I would argue that the Aspero does indeed have something special that the others don't.

Can't the Scorpion & the To'Duj fighters cloak too? At least their shuttle counterparts can if I remember.

phoenixc

The set looks good stat wise, and (with the only exception being the turtle head on the Romulan one) the ships look good visually. Overall, I think the Catian and the Dominion ships have the best look so I am more likely to get one of them, though if the Caitian one is faction locked that could be a problem, likewise if the Dominion one is toadlocked since I do not wish to make a Jem'Hadar for nothing but a disposable key to unlock the thing for my (faux)Vorta captains (who could use another ship for variety though the temporal one is nice).

The Dominion ship would even be good for Romulan captains since it looks almost as much Romulan as Dominion in a general sort of way.

Unlike most here I think the squadron fighters should be restricted to the true carriers, with the bay increase in flightdeck cruisers the carriers need something unique to make them stand out and be competitive with those cruisers (which have everything the carriers have and more) besides just the one launch haste ability.

robsr1967

I’m looking forward to this.

garaffe

foppotee#4552 wrote: »

Can't the Scorpion & the To'Duj fighters cloak too? At least their shuttle counterparts can if I remember.

Just looked it up: looks like BoPs and stalker fighters are the only cloaking hangar pets until the new frigates release.

foppotee

garaffe wrote: »

foppotee#4552 wrote: »

Can't the Scorpion & the To'Duj fighters cloak too? At least their shuttle counterparts can if I remember.

Just looked it up: looks like BoPs and stalker fighters are the only cloaking hangar pets until the new frigates release.

I had read the release info, but thinking about current shuttles, pets, then these new "fighters" & the "support frigates" my brain shut-down lol. Thanks. I'm still liking this bundle but want to know all the info before I'd make a purchase.

abystander0

Crystalline Catastrophe and the space battlezones should be fun with hordes of carriers.

I seem to remember a time when KDF carriers were nerfed because of the pet spam (among other things).