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Looking for Advice on STFs

voyagerfan9751voyagerfan9751 Member Posts: 1,120 Arc User
ok, So largely from powerleveling, I managed to get my character to Level 45 and unlocked the STFs. I figured since I never really seriously leveled a character before and had not run any endgame content i would start now.

Except, I am not really geared or anything for STFs and I don't really know what to do. Currently I can only run Normal and not Elite, which I figured was ok, since I am less likely to annoy my team with my inexperience.

So what STFs are best to learn what to do? Should I do Space or Ground missions? What kind of gear/abilities should I have? Really anything to help me would be appreciated.
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  • earlnyghthawkearlnyghthawk Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited October 2013
    Really, any of the STF's you can TRIBBLE up from inexperience. With that being said, if you either know a batch of decently experience players, or get lucky in the public queues, and get a good team, IF you keep your eyes open, and look for messages in chat on what to do, you can do well, even in your first STF. Best one to try first, honestly, is Khitomer Space. And the normals are almost useless as a "training guide: for the elites, the spawns are different.

    Best piece of advice I can give you, keep your eyes open, and watch what others are doing, and follow their lead. Also, Keep your chat window open, and don't blow off messages from the others. If someone tells you to NOT do something, they're likely telling it to you for a good reason. Also, it never hurts to open up in the beginning, with an "I'm new, any pointers?" Sometimes you'll get jackrears that won't help you at all, but if you openly ask, and actually listen to the advice, quite a few players will take the time, even if it's quick messages, to advise you. Like on Cure Space, someone might tell you "Nail the left cube's probes, working your way from the bottom ones to the top. DO NOT blow the the cube itself til we're ready though". Or other stuff. Follow the advice, unless it seems like it's screwy.

    Oh, and as far as ship & gear, don't worry overly much about that. Only thing I advise, don't waste your time with common (white) gear. Only use uncommon and above. But you'll still be ok, even with Mk X gear to start off with, and either buy, or use drops, or (if you have a fleet), poke around the bank, to see what goodies you can improve your ship with.And if you have a good fleet, don't hesitate to ask them, "Hey, I need a couple phaser dual cannons" , for example, someone in your fleet may have one or two to spare for you. (And on the fleet thing, after you've gotten your ship or two built up, it's kind of nice, if you get a few great drops, to kick them back into the fleet bank, for another to be able to have)
    Well, if you have any more questions, don't hesitate to ask, and good luck with defending the sector!
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
    butcher suspect, "What'd you hit me with?"
    Temperance Brennan, "A building"
  • lan451lan451 Member Posts: 3,386 Arc User
    edited October 2013
    Start on the normals. Those will give you a basic idea on how the fights work. You also don't really need any exceptional gear for them, you can clear STFs (even ESTFs) in cheap blue gear off the exchange. It can be done in whites, but the guys who do are usually old pros who know the fights inside and out. For you though, exchange blues is fine.

    I'd also recommend starting off with Infected Space. It's literally impossible to fail it. So even if you do TRIBBLE up and blow the optional, you will still complete the mission at the end. Khitomer Accord and Cure can be failed though, so just keep that in mind.

    You can also hit up Youtube for STF videos. It's usually people showing off their newest ship or build, but you can watch those to get a feel for how the fight works instead.

    That's what I did when I first started getting into them. Watched videos of the fights, then started off doing normals for a while. Once I got them down, I moved on to the elites as I geared up.

    Oh and just ignore people who yell at you and stuff. They usually don't know what they're doing. A while back some dude started yelling at me in /tells only because I was a sci in a sci ship (tac Vesta). Rather than get mad, I just started laughing at him. He pitched a fit and put me on ignore. I then went on to tank and pretty much solo the tac cube at the end. Luckily there doesn't seem to be much of that anymore these days. But if you get some, brush 'em off.
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  • comtedeloach2comtedeloach2 Member Posts: 499 Arc User
    edited October 2013
    I disagree, the conduit is a better starting tool. Start on Normal, and use the marks you earn to earn reps. Get the Assimilated console from Omega and the Nukara console from Nukara, and slowly update your weapons consoles to MK XII. That shoudl build up some marks for the rep systems and get you on a better footing.
  • lan451lan451 Member Posts: 3,386 Arc User
    edited October 2013
    I disagree, the conduit is a better starting tool. Start on Normal, and use the marks you earn to earn reps. Get the Assimilated console from Omega and the Nukara console from Nukara, and slowly update your weapons consoles to MK XII. That shoudl build up some marks for the rep systems and get you on a better footing.

    Infected Space IS the conduit lol. The mission is called Infected: The Conduit.

    And the Nukara console is only worth it if he uses beams. Otherwise the accuracy bonus is wasted.
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  • dahminusdahminus Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited October 2013
    Usually for end game you grab "dungeon/rep" gear before attempting end game. Following this I went into my first regular stf with aegis sey and full purps....was overkill. my alts went into estfs as soon as they hit 50 and I still feel over geared.

    Point being, just jump in. People learn quicker from experience, and you will be able to start on your rep grinding sooner.

    You can always join a fleet. A fleet will show you the ropes and answer any questions you may have....atleast the decent ones will.
    Chive on and prosper, eh?

    My PvE/PvP hybrid skill tree
  • comtedeloach2comtedeloach2 Member Posts: 499 Arc User
    edited October 2013
    Really, any of the STF's you can TRIBBLE up from inexperience. With that being said, if you either know a batch of decently experience players, or get lucky in the public queues, and get a good team, IF you keep your eyes open, and look for messages in chat on what to do, you can do well, even in your first STF. Best one to try first, honestly, is Khitomer Space. And the normals are almost useless as a "training guide: for the elites, the spawns are different.

    Best piece of advice I can give you, keep your eyes open, and watch what others are doing, and follow their lead. Also, Keep your chat window open, and don't blow off messages from the others. If someone tells you to NOT do something, they're likely telling it to you for a good reason. Also, it never hurts to open up in the beginning, with an "I'm new, any pointers?" Sometimes you'll get jackrears that won't help you at all, but if you openly ask, and actually listen to the advice, quite a few players will take the time, even if it's quick messages, to advise you. Like on Cure Space, someone might tell you "Nail the left cube's probes, working your way from the bottom ones to the top. DO NOT blow the the cube itself til we're ready though". Or other stuff. Follow the advice, unless it seems like it's screwy.

    Oh, and as far as ship & gear, don't worry overly much about that. Only thing I advise, don't waste your time with common (white) gear. Only use uncommon and above. But you'll still be ok, even with Mk X gear to start off with, and either buy, or use drops, or (if you have a fleet), poke around the bank, to see what goodies you can improve your ship with.And if you have a good fleet, don't hesitate to ask them, "Hey, I need a couple phaser dual cannons" , for example, someone in your fleet may have one or two to spare for you. (And on the fleet thing, after you've gotten your ship or two built up, it's kind of nice, if you get a few great drops, to kick them back into the fleet bank, for another to be able to have)
    Well, if you have any more questions, don't hesitate to ask, and good luck with defending the sector!
    lan451 wrote: »
    Infected Space IS the conduit lol. The mission is called Infected: The Conduit.

    And the Nukara console is only worth it if he uses beams. Otherwise the accuracy bonus is wasted.

    Oh, Ok, i have always just called it "the conduit"...
  • voyagerfan9751voyagerfan9751 Member Posts: 1,120 Arc User
    edited October 2013
    lan451 wrote: »
    Infected Space IS the conduit lol. The mission is called Infected: The Conduit.

    And the Nukara console is only worth it if he uses beams. Otherwise the accuracy bonus is wasted.

    Since I am currently in a Sovereign, I am using beams (well beams and torps, but beams probably primarily as it is hard to line up the torps). That said however, I am not yet Level 50 So Nukara or any other rep and this point is moot until I get a few levels.
  • lan451lan451 Member Posts: 3,386 Arc User
    edited October 2013
    Oh, Ok, i have always just called it "the conduit"...

    Yeah, it's a hold over name from earlier on. Back in the day when they were first added to the queue they were just called Infected: Space, Khitomer Accord: Space, and Cure: Space. That's why you see some of us old timers calling them ISE, KASE, and CSE. They were changed at some point to be called "The Conduit" etc. We just got used to calling them by their old names and it just kind of stuck lol.
    Since I am currently in a Sovereign, I am using beams (well beams and torps, but beams probably primarily as it is hard to line up the torps). That said however, I am not yet Level 50 So Nukara or any other rep and this point is moot until I get a few levels.

    Yeah don't worry about it right now. Since you do use beams, it really is a good console and you're going to want to get it at some point. But for now since you're only doing normals, it's not something you terribly need. Like I said before, just some nice blues that you can pick up on the cheap is fine to start off with.
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  • voyagerfan9751voyagerfan9751 Member Posts: 1,120 Arc User
    edited October 2013
    So I was looking up some of the STFs on the wiki. Is it worth me trying the Cure out, or should I stick to just Infected until I get the hang of STFs?
  • dahminusdahminus Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited October 2013
    Do infected and Khitomer until you get "feel" of end game content. Cure is much less forgiving then the other two...stay away from hive

    In Khitomer, after the tact cube goes down. Choose a side and focus on the probes that comes out of the gate.

    When you get good. You can focus on the other targets while taking probes out...but this is regarded as difficult by the majority of the player base
    Chive on and prosper, eh?

    My PvE/PvP hybrid skill tree
  • lan451lan451 Member Posts: 3,386 Arc User
    edited October 2013
    dahminus has the right of it. Infected and Khitomer are easier than Cure, and Hive just isn't worth the effort. On normals you can work your way to being able to do Cure, but on elite I find that people rarely know what to do and usually fail on it badly. I only really run it once in a while when I'm feeling like taking a risk lol.
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  • voyagerfan9751voyagerfan9751 Member Posts: 1,120 Arc User
    edited October 2013
    yeah, I am thinking I need to not venture out to much. Tried both Infected and Khitomer during the bonus event. Infected wasn't too bad, but Khitomer gets complicated, and tricky.

    On a side note. I now see why everyone calls this game "Escorts Online". My poor Sovvie is a total boat. :(
  • cyberpunk1977cyberpunk1977 Member Posts: 179 Arc User
    edited October 2013
    See link for a guide to the Elite STF's....

    http://sto-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?t=250898

    Personally I think the Space STF's are quicker to complete than ground and have better rewards.

    Plus, Communicaion is key on these, If your in a fleet, ask them to join you, you will find it much easier to complete including doing optionals.
  • janetza#4790 janetza Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited October 2013
    I think the main rule to start any stf is don't do anything first. Don't run first, don't press anything first.
    Ask teammates if you don't understand what to do, not all shall reply but still it is better to ask.
    If you play on normal, MK XI blue gear would be good enough for you. Pulsewave assault rifle ought to be your main weapon. Use split beam when you need to fight at range. Get effective kit, I don't know your career, so I can't say. Get Large Hypos for your device slot. Use Biochemist doff which cuts cd on stims and hypos.
    Play Infected and Khitomer Space to start space runs.
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  • eatsmarteatsmart Member Posts: 134 Arc User
    edited October 2013
    Space: Repeat 'project nightingale', since that rewards blue xi plasma weapons with [acc]x2. You can use them as "hand me down" gear for future characters too. The xi jemhadar set is also a decent absolute beginner set. Once you get the hang of doing one or two STFs grab the mk x borg assimilated deflector and engines, keep the jemhadar shield. That should be a quick and dirty way to get a viable ESTF build going without touching fleet gear or going too deep into any of the reps.

    Ground: go play around in defera. The hard missions will reward ok starter weapons and give you a feel for when the borg are dangerous, and when they aren't. Pick up and save the special crafting ingredients as eventually you'll be able to make yourself a fractal remodulator. Practice soloing the mediums. It is worth the time spent here, as the levelling missions are terrible at explaining expose, exploit and flanking mechanics.
  • grendelthewise#0990 grendelthewise Member Posts: 640 Arc User
    edited October 2013
    All sound advice from the fellow members of STO. Just remember to have fun while you are doing it. Not the end of the world if you didn't get the optional.
    Fleet Admiral of the U.S.S. ATTILA KHAN-CDA (NX-921911).
  • earlnyghthawkearlnyghthawk Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited October 2013
    yeah, I am thinking I need to not venture out to much. Tried both Infected and Khitomer during the bonus event. Infected wasn't too bad, but Khitomer gets complicated, and tricky.

    On a side note. I now see why everyone calls this game "Escorts Online". My poor Sovvie is a total boat. :(

    Cruisers do have a slower turn rate and speed (generally), than escorts. However, if you run them right, a cruiser is FAR more survivable than an escort, and will, over time, do more damage than most escorts, if driven well, as most escort pilots drive "kamikaze style" (which is why I actually am a proponent of a far more harsh penalty for exploding in your ship, I'd rather see people fly smarter, not just go for as much damage as possible, explode, and come back again in 10 seconds)
    But honestly, except for Hive, which is still borked from everything I've heard, not to mention, most people simply don't have a clue when it comes to that one, or give up very easily, I say "Try them all". Nothing will teach you like experience, and paying attention to other good players. Also, and this is something I haven't seen anyone say, as of yet. "Have fun with the whole thing". Try different things, and different ships and styles of play. Find what works for you and what you enjoy doing.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
    butcher suspect, "What'd you hit me with?"
    Temperance Brennan, "A building"
  • theraven2378theraven2378 Member Posts: 5,985 Arc User
    edited October 2013
    Cruisers do have a slower turn rate and speed (generally), than escorts. However, if you run them right, a cruiser is FAR more survivable than an escort, and will, over time, do more damage than most escorts, if driven well, as most escort pilots drive "kamikaze style" (which is why I actually am a proponent of a far more harsh penalty for exploding in your ship, I'd rather see people fly smarter, not just go for as much damage as possible, explode, and come back again in 10 seconds)
    But honestly, except for Hive, which is still borked from everything I've heard, not to mention, most people simply don't have a clue when it comes to that one, or give up very easily, I say "Try them all". Nothing will teach you like experience, and paying attention to other good players. Also, and this is something I haven't seen anyone say, as of yet. "Have fun with the whole thing". Try different things, and different ships and styles of play. Find what works for you and what you enjoy doing.

    Cruisers may have the turn rate issue but what you have is extra survival over a escort, the cruiser commands also help the team if they are close to your ship as well.

    I'm a tac captain and I do fly cruisers rather than escorts these days because i know I can outlast a escort but at the same time I'm more use to the team with the heals and drawing the aggro away from the escorts.
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      "The meaning of victory is not to merely defeat your enemy but to destroy him, to completely eradicate him from living memory, to leave no remnant of his endeavours, to crush utterly his achievement and remove from all record his every trace of existence. From that defeat no enemy can ever recover. That is the meaning of victory."
      -Lord Commander Solar Macharius
    • ggg247ggg247 Member Posts: 0 Arc User
      edited November 2013
      I just started doing stfs a few weeks ago because I got tired of trying to max my Omega Rep through just doing Defera Invasion ground missions over and over again (Tier 4 from just shooting individual Borg over and over and over and over.....).

      I found a how-to article on STO wiki that explained the 3 space and 3 ground stfs (not The Hive). This article was extremely helpful. It suggested starting with Infected Space (as noted by others above). I followed his instructions to the letter and it worked out well. I now do the Elite version each day with PUGs and we almost always get the optional.

      I've only tried Khitomer Space once so far, but it went well. I haven't tried the others yet.

      Again, the first times through, just follow everyone else and do what they're doing. You'll get the hang of it soon enough.
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