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FAQs - Questions about the "Space" screen
malazancommander
Member Posts: 0 Arc User
Should you ask any questions here, it may take me a while. So if you're a beginner and you don't hear from me, inbox me ingame (no pm's).
>>> NEED MORE HELP? IF SO, VIEW MY MASTER GUIDE RIGHT HERE <<<
This Guide was predominantly made for new players.
(For vets reading this, this guide is made to be SIMPLE, and I won't make it complex and full of technicalities). I am writing it for them, NOT you.
This is pretty much everything you need to know about the Space screen itself.
For more information about the chat and the main menu, check out my other Guide/FAQ.
NUMBERS, WHAT DO THEY MEAN?
Basically you'll see that there are 4 numbers, called "Powers":
- Attack
- Defence
- Engines
- Auxiliary
In general, you'll see one or two of those at 125 which is the maximum. Any power can go beyond 100, given the right skills. At some point during the game, you can unlock/activate skills and equip some equipment that will do one of two things: increase a specific power between +5 to +15 BEFORE a battle and make it the new default value. Secondly, you have skills that can increase a power DURING battle.
For example, you might have an Attack Power of 110/100. And then as you battle, you might activate a skill that boosts it by say +15, making your overall Attack Power 125/100.
What do those points even do?
Whenever you switch weapons, it usually takes away some of those points. In layman's terms, the more Attack Power you have, the more damage you do; the more Defence Power you have, the better your defence is.
As for engines, it honestly doesn't do all that much in my opinion. If you have a fast ship, well, you're already manoeuvring your ship quite easily. If your ship is slow, chances are you're screwed regardless of anything, that is assuming your enemy has you in a tractor beam.
As for the Auxiliary Power, I found one use for it more than any other. There are skills out there such as the "Auxiliary Power to the Emergency Battery" which drains that specific power and charges up your other powers.
Why would that be useful? Imagine you are draining your Weapon Power, and it's now at 115/100. By using the aforementioned skill, you could maintain your Attack Power to 125/100.
How can I set those up?
They go as follows: Attack / Defence / Engines / Balanced
First, you need to leave the last one as is. This is the "Balanced" one that balances everything to 50/50.
As for the Attack and Defence ones, only modify one of them. I suppose you could change both, but in my experience the Defence can be left at ???/65.
Concerning the Engines one, don't touch, simply because you won't use it. Once you're out of battle, the engines will max out anyhow. In battle? Doesn't change all that much.
OK! So, how DO I set it up?
See the three squares set diagonally? Click on that. Click on the number three. Now, you can mod whatever you want.
After adjusting the first Power you want, click on its counterpart at the top - the lock. This will lock the power in place. Now, do the same with the second Power. And third if need be.
Finally, save your progress by clicking on the diskette at the top. Once you're done, you can click on the three rectangles again, and choose the first option. You're now done adjusting your Power settings.
WHAT'S THE DEAL WITH THE SHIELDS?
It's simpler than it looks. You have 4 shields, and included with those shields are 5 options. By clicking on any of them, you are saying you want more Defence Power diverted to that specific side. Lastly, if you click on the middle, you are evenly distributing the Shield Power.
What about the number in the middle you ask? That is simply the Hull HP. If that reaches 0, you're dead.
And the Crew bar?
Some people (even in the wiki) disregard this. I think they are wrong for the most part. Here is why:
The more crew you have, means that any time you die (assuming you play on an Elite level or in an Elite environment with other players), your ship is less inclined to get damaged. I tested this myself for a while, and those are the results I've been getting over three months now.
If your crew is all dead, your ship will be damaged for sure. Guaranteed!
Also, the more men you have, the more quickly your hull regenerates. Some argue that this doesn't actually change much. I disagree, as I've seen some pretty neat recoveries with my hull once I evaded attacks, before heading back into battle.
What about the colours on the Crew bar?
Here is what they mean:
- White = healthy crewmen
- Orange = injured crewmen
- Grey = dead crewmen
SPEED BAR OUT OF COMBAT?
TOP: Full impulse = full speed
BAR: The bar itself = speed between 1 to 25+
BOTTOM: Reverse once = complete halt
BOTTOM: Reverse twice = reverse
In Combat, your speed decreases and cannot become as high as full impulse.
DO I NEED SOME POINTERS WITH THE WEAPONS?
There are a few things you may need to know.
The three buttons do the following:
Fire All Beams / Fire All Torpedoes / Fire All weapons
Got some tips?
Right click on ANY weapon, and it will highlight the edges of the rectangle in green. This means you will automatically fire that (or those) weapon(s) once you click on any of the buttons indicated above. Once you you click on "Fire All Weapons" for example, you will continually fire on your chosen target.
Also, you can have your ship automatically target an enemy ship if attacked AND automatically attack your enemy once attacked. Here is how:
- Press the "escape" button on your keyboard
- Choose "Options"
- Choose "Controls"
- Choose "yes" for "Select attacker if attacked"
- For "Auto attack", choose "Toggle, never cancels"
What is that number at the right corner of my torpedo?
You might have the number 5 at the bottom right of your Omega Reputation torpedo icon, for example. This means you will be able to shoot 5 consecutive torpedoes. They will replenish over time, though in the middle of a battle, you might get 2 torpedoes (so the number 2 would appear until you get more).
What about the 4 empty trays at the bottom?
They are usually filled by what we call "Command" options. Once activated, that particular "Command" option is semi-permanent. Basically, it will stay active until you die or quit the game. Doing foundry missions seems to deactivate it once you leave the foundry map. Of course, you can activate any whenever you want, though only one at a time can be active.
WHAT ABOUT THAT SKILLS TRAY?
Aside from the obvious, you have three squares on the right side. If you click on it, you get the option of choosing three trays to add more skills to. As for the fourth option, it adds these options on the left hand side: Fire All Beams / Fire All Torpedoes / Fire All weapons.
>>> NEED MORE HELP? IF SO, VIEW MY MASTER GUIDE RIGHT HERE <<<
This Guide was predominantly made for new players.
(For vets reading this, this guide is made to be SIMPLE, and I won't make it complex and full of technicalities). I am writing it for them, NOT you.
This is pretty much everything you need to know about the Space screen itself.
For more information about the chat and the main menu, check out my other Guide/FAQ.
NUMBERS, WHAT DO THEY MEAN?
Basically you'll see that there are 4 numbers, called "Powers":
- Attack
- Defence
- Engines
- Auxiliary
In general, you'll see one or two of those at 125 which is the maximum. Any power can go beyond 100, given the right skills. At some point during the game, you can unlock/activate skills and equip some equipment that will do one of two things: increase a specific power between +5 to +15 BEFORE a battle and make it the new default value. Secondly, you have skills that can increase a power DURING battle.
For example, you might have an Attack Power of 110/100. And then as you battle, you might activate a skill that boosts it by say +15, making your overall Attack Power 125/100.
What do those points even do?
Whenever you switch weapons, it usually takes away some of those points. In layman's terms, the more Attack Power you have, the more damage you do; the more Defence Power you have, the better your defence is.
As for engines, it honestly doesn't do all that much in my opinion. If you have a fast ship, well, you're already manoeuvring your ship quite easily. If your ship is slow, chances are you're screwed regardless of anything, that is assuming your enemy has you in a tractor beam.
As for the Auxiliary Power, I found one use for it more than any other. There are skills out there such as the "Auxiliary Power to the Emergency Battery" which drains that specific power and charges up your other powers.
Why would that be useful? Imagine you are draining your Weapon Power, and it's now at 115/100. By using the aforementioned skill, you could maintain your Attack Power to 125/100.
How can I set those up?
They go as follows: Attack / Defence / Engines / Balanced
First, you need to leave the last one as is. This is the "Balanced" one that balances everything to 50/50.
As for the Attack and Defence ones, only modify one of them. I suppose you could change both, but in my experience the Defence can be left at ???/65.
Concerning the Engines one, don't touch, simply because you won't use it. Once you're out of battle, the engines will max out anyhow. In battle? Doesn't change all that much.
OK! So, how DO I set it up?
See the three squares set diagonally? Click on that. Click on the number three. Now, you can mod whatever you want.
After adjusting the first Power you want, click on its counterpart at the top - the lock. This will lock the power in place. Now, do the same with the second Power. And third if need be.
Finally, save your progress by clicking on the diskette at the top. Once you're done, you can click on the three rectangles again, and choose the first option. You're now done adjusting your Power settings.
WHAT'S THE DEAL WITH THE SHIELDS?
It's simpler than it looks. You have 4 shields, and included with those shields are 5 options. By clicking on any of them, you are saying you want more Defence Power diverted to that specific side. Lastly, if you click on the middle, you are evenly distributing the Shield Power.
What about the number in the middle you ask? That is simply the Hull HP. If that reaches 0, you're dead.
And the Crew bar?
Some people (even in the wiki) disregard this. I think they are wrong for the most part. Here is why:
The more crew you have, means that any time you die (assuming you play on an Elite level or in an Elite environment with other players), your ship is less inclined to get damaged. I tested this myself for a while, and those are the results I've been getting over three months now.
If your crew is all dead, your ship will be damaged for sure. Guaranteed!
Also, the more men you have, the more quickly your hull regenerates. Some argue that this doesn't actually change much. I disagree, as I've seen some pretty neat recoveries with my hull once I evaded attacks, before heading back into battle.
What about the colours on the Crew bar?
Here is what they mean:
- White = healthy crewmen
- Orange = injured crewmen
- Grey = dead crewmen
SPEED BAR OUT OF COMBAT?
TOP: Full impulse = full speed
BAR: The bar itself = speed between 1 to 25+
BOTTOM: Reverse once = complete halt
BOTTOM: Reverse twice = reverse
In Combat, your speed decreases and cannot become as high as full impulse.
DO I NEED SOME POINTERS WITH THE WEAPONS?
There are a few things you may need to know.
The three buttons do the following:
Fire All Beams / Fire All Torpedoes / Fire All weapons
Got some tips?
Right click on ANY weapon, and it will highlight the edges of the rectangle in green. This means you will automatically fire that (or those) weapon(s) once you click on any of the buttons indicated above. Once you you click on "Fire All Weapons" for example, you will continually fire on your chosen target.
Also, you can have your ship automatically target an enemy ship if attacked AND automatically attack your enemy once attacked. Here is how:
- Press the "escape" button on your keyboard
- Choose "Options"
- Choose "Controls"
- Choose "yes" for "Select attacker if attacked"
- For "Auto attack", choose "Toggle, never cancels"
What is that number at the right corner of my torpedo?
You might have the number 5 at the bottom right of your Omega Reputation torpedo icon, for example. This means you will be able to shoot 5 consecutive torpedoes. They will replenish over time, though in the middle of a battle, you might get 2 torpedoes (so the number 2 would appear until you get more).
What about the 4 empty trays at the bottom?
They are usually filled by what we call "Command" options. Once activated, that particular "Command" option is semi-permanent. Basically, it will stay active until you die or quit the game. Doing foundry missions seems to deactivate it once you leave the foundry map. Of course, you can activate any whenever you want, though only one at a time can be active.
WHAT ABOUT THAT SKILLS TRAY?
Aside from the obvious, you have three squares on the right side. If you click on it, you get the option of choosing three trays to add more skills to. As for the fourth option, it adds these options on the left hand side: Fire All Beams / Fire All Torpedoes / Fire All weapons.
Post edited by malazancommander on
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This discussion has been closed.
Comments
I would recommend that if you are going to make the guide for all new players that might need help, it may be best to give just the fact on each power subsystem, and the benefits each offer. Then, encourage the player to play around with different power settings to see what setup they like.
I am not trashing your guide, just making a suggestion. I do think the guide is a good idea.
With all due respect, your first sentence is actually very insulting. There is no info in there that is inaccurate. The ONLY thing anyone could debate would be the first portion about the percentage - I've used that percentage with all my characters. To even hint that something might be "wrong" is an extremely flawed statement to make.
I did explain what they do. I don't know how you missed that part in the guide. It actually comes before, under the title "What do those points even do?".
As the for the rest, it's all howtos and explanations of that specific screen. So, how it could in any way, shape or form be construed as "wrong" is impossible.
It's not the "Attack" subsystem because despite weapons being the primary source of damage for basically everything except the Sci-heavy carriers and torpedo boats, it only powers energy weapons. Torpedoes and mines are unaffected by weapon power (though if the subsystem is knocked offline they can't fire), and neither are the offensive Science powers. The more Shield power you have, the better your shields are (both regeneration rate and shield "hardness," its resistance to damage). There's more to defense than shields! Namely, the two remaining subsystems. Engine power affects your flight speed and flight turn rate. Your Flight Speed affects your Defense, the stat that allows you to make enemy weapons miss. Even slow ships benefit from investment in speed for this reason, though faster ships get the maximum Defense bonus from speed with less investment.
Investment in more speed for an already-fast ship allows it to engage and disengage at its own choosing, which is important because they generally have fewer means of simply surviving the damage available to them. There's way more that Auxiliary does. It's why Aux2Batt ships aren't the top-scoring builds.
Auxiliary power fuels most Science abilities, both offensive (such as Gravity Well's pull radius and Tachyon Beam's shield drain) and defensive (Polarize Hull, Hazard Emitters, and Transfer Shield Strength all derive their strength from Auxiliary). In addition, Auxiliary Power to Inertial Dampeners and Auxiliary Power to Structural Integrity Field are also strongly dependent on Auxiliary power, as are the Thalaron pulse from the Scimitar and the Quantum Field Focus Phaser from the Vesta.
Most importantly for those seeking to maximize their DPS, Auxiliary power also fuels the T4 Nukara reputation traits, which are quite effective with some investment into Auxiliary power. Is this something that you casually observed over three months, or do you have data?
In combat, the passive repair rate is up to 0.3% per second. If you lose your crew, it drops to 0.1% per second. Sure, that extra 2 health out of every 1000 per second might let you pull through a slightly tougher hit, but it's a lot more likely that an active heal will prove more useful.
Full impulse is not your top combat speed, which is a very important distinction. A full bar is top combat speed, a full bar with the flashing arrow is Full Impulse, which diverts all your power to the engines (even beyond what you can normally use for impulse speed) to maximize your out-of-combat flight speed. Only relevant for the Omega Reputation torpedo. Mentioning that is important.
It's not four empty trays, it's simply a blank space in the UI. If you have Cruiser Commands, the UI window expands to accommodate them. If you don't have all four, then it centers the Commands you do have.
There's also additional elements on the top, if you have Subsystem Targeting.
Entering a ground map or Sector Space cancels your current Cruiser Command.
This guide is for beginners, not for advanced users. If you want to bombard noobs with a bunch of technicalities, go ahead. I won't. I'm explaining things in a way that THEY can understand. If I would change the text to reflect what you say, I would confuse them, which is NOT my goal. The text is NOT for you to read and understand as a player - as I know you're a vet.
All of you guys are thinking with the mind of an advanced user, exactly like the damn wiki! Trust me, I barely learnt anything from the wiki. I learnt most from players and simply playing. You guys are sounding like the wiki. Will noobs understand? I doubt it.
I wish you guys understand what a noob is. Someone who needs you to explain it in a simplistic way, not in a way that will make them lost. If you hadn't explained some things to me in the past (don't know if you recall), I wouldn't have understood. YOU made it simple, which is MY goal for them.
I know what you know, but they don't. So, we need to make it simpler, so that they can learn more as they play the game. If you bombard them with technicalities, you are NOT doing them any favours. Those technicalities will comes in time as they learn the ropes.
Furthermore, you guys seem to believe that every single player is an adult. Newsflash, a lot of people are not (I would assume - never that hard to lie about age on the net). So if this type of guide can help them, great!
Former Community Moderator, Former SSR DJ, Now Full time father to two kids, Husband, Retail Worker.
Tiktok: @Askray Facebook: Askray113
I suppose you haven't seen everything in the game
Well today I learnt my lesson, no point helping noobs in a language they'll understand. You jumped in without even reviewing the info. Great job sir moderator. I'll think twice before re-posting in this forum. Though thank you for deleting the first person's comment. He was such an TRIBBLE for no reason.
The worst part is that I've actually written my two first guides (the third was with A LOT of input from loads of people, where they were given credit). The worst part is that I feel like a bunch of vets just reigned down here like they had a point to prove by trying to push me down. NOT impressed. The only word that was missing was "amateurish". This is the unspoken word I have seen tonite, and not thrilled about coming here to feel that this is the label given to me tonite. Especially when the two guides were my first attempt.
In every forum, people seem to have something to prove - which is why I avoid them. Not cool.
@Mandoknight:
I made a few changes (which were relevant, thanks). And now, a reply for the rest.
Yes. I have observed it over, and over, and over again. I was always curious about the damn wiki which, btw, is not as accurate as anyone makes it to be! So I looked at every single opportunity I had (literally after getting blown up). Those were my results. Knock yourself out at Elite if you want to test it out. But then again, it took my three months to be convinced that I was right. And I am, I am.
Same thing I said, just more complex. I simplified that.
I have my way of playing - you cannot dispute that. This is not a build, nor a guide for vets, but a guide for beginners. If you want to make a more complex guide, be my guest
Beginners do that? Really, I don't think so. Did anyone read who this was for
You're on the verge of dying, you have 1% left at the end. You play your way, you're dead. You play my way, you're not. Makes a world of a difference! Especially when I get up to 5-10 percent fairly quickly afterwards.
Hope I'm not sounding pissed at you. Annoyed by the mod's comment. Though I am thankful he deleted the very first comment.
Teaching someone incorrect information that they'll have to unlearn later isn't as helpful as figuring out how to teach the correct information simply. Teaching someone how the system works is better than telling them what to do. That's not data, that's anecdotal evidence. I was wondering if you kept a spreadsheet listing your crew data at death and the magnitude of injury taken.
You mentioned nothing about Defense, and dismissed the subsystem as not worth investing in, which is absolutely not what I said. Someone with only 25 power in the system is going to handle a lot worse than someone with 125 power in the system, even at combat speeds.
Running down fleeing opponents in PvP isn't the only use for combat speed. Slow ships need to invest in it to get up to maximum Defense, and fast ships can use it to pick their battles in PvE as well as PvP. If getting stuck in a tractor beam is one of your main reasons to disregard it, then learn how to not get stuck in a tractor beam! (It's really simple: stay 5km out so it can't lock on in the first place, or activate Attack Pattern Omega or Polarize Hull to become outright immune.) Aux2Batt only helps Cruisers and some more expensive ships, and is honestly a pretty poor power without Technicians. Improving Hazard Emitters or Transfer Shield Strength provides a lot of defensive potential, Polarize Hull is great for blocking the tractor beams that the perennial newbie-killer NPCs use, and Gravity Well is the go-to offensive Science power because it's big, it's fun, and it's effective. Yes, they do that. People looking for guides do that. "I want to kill things faster" is what beginners say when they pick the most popular captain career in STO. No, with active heals, I'm never that low unless I'm already dead. The passive 0.3% per second heal won't save you when your shields are down and you're at 1% hull with a Borg Tactical Cube locked onto you. More active defenses will.
Assume, for example, you're in a cruiser that's built its hull up to 60000. Every second in combat, you recover 180 HP if you have full crew (only 60 HP per second if they're all disabled/dead). Then, you've also got an instant heal that restores 7200 hull once every 15 seconds. Over the same 15 seconds if you have your full crew, you passively recover 2700 hull, or a measly 900 hull with a fully disabled crew.
But, let's say that this Tactical Cube is firing on you. It's dealt a lot of damage to you pretty quickly already, so you might think it's about to deal 10% of your health within the next 10 seconds, but your instant heal is available. That lovely little instant heal gives you 12% of your health back, which will buy you the time needed for your passive repair rate to get a few extra points of hull back in.
Even if the instant heal is available less frequently, STO is a very "swingy" combat system, where player health bobs up and down on short notice, and being able to counter a wave of incoming heavy damage quickly is more important than
On top of that, crew health is something that's very hard to invest in for how little it returns. You can put in the console that protects the crew by giving them 40% resistance (but not recovery rate, which is what really hurts big ships), or you can put in Neutronium and take less damage to your hull in the first place.
First, I would like to say that I didn't mean to be insulting, and I apologize if that was the way it was received.
As someone who has over 20 years of writing player guides for games, I in no way wish to discourage newer guide writers. I do hope that you don't take some of the advice given as an attack on you. And I am not counting the first poster, whose post was removed, as being advice. That was just an attack.
In my past, I found that you are correct that many guides are for experienced players, and new players are lost. That is why a was first asked to write players guides, and agreed. Even the players guides you needed to spend real money for in stores were hard for new players to follow a lot of times, because they don't teach new players, they lead experienced ones.
I find it commendable that you saw a need for a guide for new players, and are trying to fill that need. However, as experienced players, and guide writers, it is not only our responsibility to write the guides where they are easy to understand, but are also 100% accurate.
Again, this is not an attack on you, or your guide. However, there are a few things that just need a little tweaking to make it more beneficial. I do hope that you don't receive this post in a way it is not intended. I in no way wish to "push" you down.
There have been some helpful suggestions mentioned by mandoknight89. As I said before, a little tweaking, and this guide can be more beneficial than the stuff on the STO WIKI. One of the bits of advice I have been giving to a lot of players for a while is that the STO WIKI has some misinformation. A lot of the information is given by players that don't have fact, but think they do.
/Closed.
Former Community Moderator, Former SSR DJ, Now Full time father to two kids, Husband, Retail Worker.
Tiktok: @Askray Facebook: Askray113