I play STO pretty casually and I have been doing just fine with nothing better than very rare Mk XII gear. However, recently I have been doing some dilithium farming to increase my stockpile and have gotten back into doing STFs since DR was released. Specifically, CCA and UIA since they are basically the easiest space and ground advanced PvE mission. Thus, I am gathering the necessary resources to craft Superior Tech Upgrades for space weapons / consoles and ground weapons.
I have crafted a few gear to ultra rare, but so far I have only used one Superior Tech Upgrade on each of the gear I crafted so for the moment they are still below Mk X. Once I get a full set of ultra rare "whatever" I will then begin to increase the Mk level to XII. I am not going to bother to upgrade them higher than that because I will likely try my hand at crafting Epic quality gear. If I grow tired of doing that, then I plan on simply upgrading my crafted ultra rare Mk XII gear to Mk XIII and eventually Mk XIV.
It's a slow upgrade process for me, but eventually I will have at least ultra rare Mk XIV gear for all my toons. I'll upgrade sooner if I feel the itch to stretch my legs in the harder Advanced PvE missions. I think I would be fine with a ship that can eventually do 20k to 30k DPS which I assume is possible without any fleet gear since I have no interest in joining a fleet at this moment in time.
Even if the cost in dilithium is the same, the cost in getting the pieces to accomplish the upgrades seems more than its worth in EC. I'd rather just try to get enough EC to buy MK XIV than to spend the money on upgrades on Exchange.
I could do it with upgrades I make I suppose, but the grind to raise R&D on new characters doesn't make that seem viable for anyone just starting out.
Good thing is that, at the moment, you don't need the Mk XIV.
Actually, since their most recent changes to R&D projects, it is far easier than before to increase a R&D schools level.
The best way to get epic weapons is to start at mk2 and apply an omega tech plus a blue quality accelerator.
This gives you a 40% chance per upgrade to go from VR to UR and then a 20% chance each time to go from UR to Epic. You get I think 6 chances for just that one omega tech. More often than not, you'll get epic. You'll almost always get UR.
It's cheap and easy to raise the mk of a weapon, and increasingly difficult to raise the rarity as the mk increases. It's very difficult and expensive to increase rarity once you've hit mk14.
Also, you get a BIG damage boost going from mk 12 to mk 14. It's worth doing for every weapon you use, it's a waste not to. You DO need mk14, you DO NOT need UR or epic rarity.
There is no gamble or RNG involved in getting the mk up. You just feed it a certain number of superior tech upgrades, and you always get it.
Making an epic or UR mk 14 weapon costs about 25k dil and about 25 superior techs, one omega tech, and one blue quality accelerator if you start from mk 2.
It's really not all that expensive at all if you do it the right way.
Correct, as I was on the same page more or less with you.
The only thing I mainly forgot to mention, were the accelerators.
Otherwise spot on, as this is ultimately the best advise for saving money overall!
Also, you get a BIG damage boost going from mk 12 to mk 14. It's worth doing for every weapon you use, it's a waste not to. You DO need mk14, you DO NOT need UR or epic rarity.
Sorry, but the damage boost is not "BIG" at all. And you do not "need" MK 14 gear. Sorry to say, but just like R&D, the upgrade system is just an expensive, convoluted abortion that absolutely no-one "needs" to do at all. Now if you want to do them, fine, go for it. But no-one, in any way, shape or form, needs to do them. This is a lesson I'm trying to teach my daughters, that there is a difference between want and need. Some people for whatever reason seem to forget that.
I don't care what the header says, I am not now, nor have I ever been, nor will I ever be, an "ARC user".
...Casuals don't need all the good gear immediately. They are playing casually. They don't need to beat DPS records or succesfully complete elite difficulty queued events and all that...
I agree with the Archchancellor about casual players. Don't get me wrong, on my main toon, I'm not a casual player. I'm not the most ardent hardcore zealot, but I grind and play a lot. Sometimes hours a day. On my Main. But I'd say my alts get used more the way a casual player plays. Maybe averaging once or twice a week, some maybe once or twice a month.
My main was long since done with completing all the reps and getting all the various Fleet and Rep gear, etc, etc, etc. when DR launched. I'm now L60 and working to complete his Specializations and upgrade him to Mk XIV gear.
My Alts? It took years, but they're done with pre-DR reps, they've (mostly) got VR Mk XII gear. They're "done" - Well, until DR came 'round. Now I'm slowly leveling them (most are at about L55 and about half-way done w/the Delta Rep). I don't intend to upgrade their gear anytime soon. They'll stay at Mk XII as long as they remain "good enuff".
What's good enuff?
Well, they all produce >12k DPS in ISA parsing (some even pull 20k), and can pretty much Mary Sue their way through any Featured Episode or Event, thereby winning any rewards I feel good for them.
There's certainly noneed to improve them in the same way that casual players don't need to upgrade either.
You can find/contact me in game as @PatricianVetinari. Playing STO since Feb 2010.
Also, you get a BIG damage boost going from mk 12 to mk 14. It's worth doing for every weapon you use, it's a waste not to. You DO need mk14, you DO NOT need UR or epic rarity.
Sorry, but the damage boost is not "BIG" at all. And you do not "need" MK 14 gear. Sorry to say, but just like R&D, the upgrade system is just an expensive, convoluted abortion that absolutely no-one "needs" to do at all. Now if you want to do them, fine, go for it. But no-one, in any way, shape or form, needs to do them. This is a lesson I'm trying to teach my daughters, that there is a difference between want and need. Some people for whatever reason seem to forget that.
Um, you do realize the boost weapons receive going from Mk XII to Mk XIII and from Mk XIII to Mk XIV, right? While it's easy to argue the need of any of it for the content that exists, well, I'm curious why you do not see the boost as "BIG" at all.
Mk XII -> Mk XIII provides +40% Strength. That's better than being able to slot another VR12 Specific Tac Console that would only provide +30% by comparison...+10% better.
Mk XIII -> Mk XIV provides +70% Strength. That's better than being able to slot two more VR12 Specific Tac Consoles that would each would only provide +30% by comparison...+10% better.
Combined, that's +110% Strength...+10% shy of having added four VR12 Specific Tac Consoles for that weapon.
Mk I-XII provides +120%. You get +110% from the next two Marks.
Some folks might consider that "BIG"...where the UR would add +2.5% and a random mod and going Gold would add +10% Accuracy & +10% Damage (for the price of going Epic there with the RNG and all, that's kind of /facepalm - yeah?)...
Indeed, but when you either have to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars of real money, or else spend practically a YEAR trying to upgrade everything (I STILL haven't been able to upgrade everything on my main ship and main character to Mk XIV Epic), then it becomes too much effort to justify it, and it feels more and more like this game, like most games heavily reliant on real money in-game purchases, is designed for The 1%. However, too many people keep using the excuse 'thats the way these games are' or 'The Company has to make money' to try to be an apologist, as if to say Cryptic Can Do No Wrong, when in fact they're greedier than a Ferengi LOL
There is a large increase in the mk13 and mk14 upgrades, much larger than any other mk increases.
I don't know if you noticed or not, but with Delta Rising the HP of enemies across the game was increased dramatically. This increased HP on enemies is why you need weapons that do more damage than before DR.
Getting weapons to mk14 is cheap and easy to do, it doesn't involve any RNG, and it's required in order to be at your best.
--
The upgrade system is one of the best systems cryptic has ever implemented into the game. The R&D system is also very good.
Indeed, repetitiveepic! I find Cryptic's commitment to excellence in Star Trek Online's crafting system is matched only by the stupendously unparalleled entertainment factor of Cryptic games and products. Not only are casuals not being forced out of the game, but now has never been a better time to begin your Star Trek adventure! Get the latest upgrades sooner rather than later by partaking of the C-Store today!
Indeed, but when you either have to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars of real money, or else spend practically a YEAR trying to upgrade everything (I STILL haven't been able to upgrade everything on my main ship and main character to Mk XIV Epic), then it becomes too much effort to justify it, and it feels more and more like this game, like most games heavily reliant on real money in-game purchases, is designed for The 1%. However, too many people keep using the excuse 'thats the way these games are' or 'The Company has to make money' to try to be an apologist, as if to say Cryptic Can Do No Wrong, when in fact they're greedier than a Ferengi LOL
Well, yes of course they have to make money and, a lot of it!
Because it isn't exactly cheap, to keep a company like this running on very little, now is it?
Heck, their electric bill probably runs in at a few thousand $'s a month, and this only accounts for 1 building, just to keep the lights running every night so to speak.
How much does their server farm, which is in an entirely different state eat up?
As a mainly casual player: why are you thinking casuals need EPIC gear? Who are you competing with? The experts and DPS royalty need EPIC gear ... to keep being royalty. If you are casual, why pretend to be the royalty? I guess you can spend your way there...
Heh. I did the math for my characters, and upgrading just my Purple12 weapons to Purple14s (not even doing the buy-at-Mk2 thing, and weapons only) would take 1080 Superior kits and 1.16 million dil. $63 in dil alone just to get back to the time-to-kill I had for the same enemies pre-DR.
I think the worst part really isn't even the money (a manageable amount), but the assumption that we're too dumb or too impatient to notice that with the increased HP theres no actual net improvement. So we're supposed to pay to run on a treadmill? Its kinda insulting.
Purples. Whites are about 2/3 of that, I think, and have a really big chance (something like 50%) to become green en passant.
Through mk XII a rarity level increase was worth about a mark increase.
mk XIII and XIV are bigger increases than previous ranks so I don't know how the rarity/mark conversion plays with it but spending 10 superiors instead of 15 to get you something 2 rarities lower seems like being penny wise but pound foolish.
This is my Risian Corvette. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
You have made some enormous error in your calculations. It takes something like 15 superior techs to get a weapon from mk12 to mk14. Unless your toon has like 50 weapons you want to upgrade, your numbers are off by a tremendous multiple.
Stop being obtuse. He explicitly said characters with an S.
Even for one character, 15x7 weapons on average is 105 kits. That is not including any console upgrades, or reputation weapon upgrades. That is over 105000 dilithum, and 21 million EC. For one character. Only the weapons. If you craft them yourself that still requires at worst, 105 advanced queue runs, 1.5m EC and 315 minutes waiting for the kits to complete.
I have 12 characters, and craft it myself, but even trying to simply upgrade 10 of them to JUST have mk 14 weapons would run me up to a million dillithium, require up to 1050 advanced queue runs for the rare matieral, and 15m EC, and 52 hours for kit production.
Thankfully DR has removed my own desire to keep them all up to date. So far one character is partially mk 14.
Indeed, repetitiveepic! I find Cryptic's commitment to excellence in Star Trek Online's crafting system is matched only by the stupendously unparalleled entertainment factor of Cryptic games and products. Not only are casuals not being forced out of the game, but now has never been a better time to begin your Star Trek adventure! Get the latest upgrades sooner rather than later by partaking of the C-Store today!
Eh, can I pleeease have some of what you are smoking? It would really make my day brighter. :P
A test server is supposed to be used to properly test patches before patching anything....
Sorry, but the damage boost is not "BIG" at all. And you do not "need" MK 14 gear. Sorry to say, but just like R&D, the upgrade system is just an expensive, convoluted abortion that absolutely no-one "needs" to do at all. Now if you want to do them, fine, go for it. But no-one, in any way, shape or form, needs to do them. This is a lesson I'm trying to teach my daughters, that there is a difference between want and need. Some people for whatever reason seem to forget that.
Actually, damage increase as you go past Mk XII is quite large. The link below displays stats for Very Rare Phaser Beam Arrays Mk XI thru Mk XIV. The mods do not really matter since only [Dmg] increases the damage value, and none of the weapons have that mod.
Very Rare Mk XI = 217.7 damage
Very Rare Mk XII = 227.9 damage - a 4.685% increase from Mk XI
Very Rare Mk XIII = 267.5 damage - a 17.376% increase from Mk XII
Very Rare Mk XIV = 337.5 damage - a 26.168% increase from Mk XIII - a 48.091% increase from Mk XII
However, if you were to compare the damage output of Ultra Rare Mk XIII and Mk XIV weapons to their Very Rare counterparts, then the actual damage increase is very minor. But people who want ultra rare (and epic) weapons are more interested the extra mod than the minor increase in damage.
Ultra Rare Mk XIII = 270 damage - a 0.935% increase from Very Rare Mk XIII
Ultra Rare MK XIV = 340 damage - a 0.741% increase from Very Rare Mk XIV
In conclusion, there a pretty good increase in damage beyond Mk XII. However, the damage increase from quality increase is rather minor. But the point of shooting for something higher than very rare quality is to get more weapon mods. I think it is generally accepted that Mk XIII [CrtD]x4 is better than Mk XIII [CrtD]x3, however, not everyone is willing to spend the resources to do so.
Do you folks actually click on apply upgrade for that 700 dil cost? I see TP points 0 to 108k and I just wanna give up. It feels like buying the items all over again. At least I can craft the tech upgrades myself, but the time gates are brutal. What is going on?
I tried to upgrade the quality to epic, thought I reached the end. It just increased the chance to increase rarity by 1%. I thought I was a victim of some cruel joke.
Maybe I'm doing something wrong lol. Anyways, I should have researched this stuff more thoroughly and good thing I stopped before I dipped in too much into my dil resources.
Is this what upgrading and crafting all about? Maybe I should stick to my MK 12.
Crafting/upgrading is VERY Alt friendly
use 5 Alts or more or less and your main crafter
craft your items upgrades weapons consoles whatever you want and let them naturally finish do not pay Dil to finish
weapons or things you want specific mods on such as CritDx3 as a example craft at mk-II intil you get as many Mk-2s as you need to begin upgrading you may have to make several hundred to get your desired Mods
I spread this out on many alts so when I finish the last alt I am claiming the finished weapon on the first alt
I do all of my crafting this way
upgrade your crafted weapons on your main crafter its cheeper on dilithium cost
you will get another mod at ultra rare and 2 mods at epic if you start with a X3 mod
Jellico....Engineer ground.....Da'val Romulan space Sci
Saphire.. Science ground......Ko'el Romulan space Tac
Leva........Tactical ground.....Koj Romulan space Eng
JJ-Verse will never be Canon or considered Lore...It will always be JJ-Verse
Stop being obtuse. He explicitly said characters with an S.
Even for one character, 15x7 weapons on average is 105 kits. That is not including any console upgrades, or reputation weapon upgrades. That is over 105000 dilithum, and 21 million EC.
105,000 Dilithium is not much for getting all your endgame weaponry.
There are now 6 reputations. (The 7th one will probably come with Season 10).
Each reputation grants around 30,000 Dilithium on completion (if not more). So you have something around 180,000 Dilithium after a few weeks of grinding (a grid that is not that hard, thanks to the daily reputation marks, and if this isn't your first character, a sponsorship token will also speed things up.)
That is without considering all the dilithium you gain for earning those marks and for bringing the reputation to completion with daily projects. Nor any other stuff you do to earn Dilithium (which nowadays includes regular levelling from story missions).
This all stuff that pretty much every character will do anyway if you intend to max him out, because you can't fill your reputation traits without it.
Star Trek Online Advancement: You start with lowbie gear, you end with Lobi gear.
Sorry, but the damage boost is not "BIG" at all. And you do not "need" MK 14 gear. Sorry to say, but just like R&D, the upgrade system is just an expensive, convoluted abortion that absolutely no-one "needs" to do at all. Now if you want to do them, fine, go for it. But no-one, in any way, shape or form, needs to do them. This is a lesson I'm trying to teach my daughters, that there is a difference between want and need. Some people for whatever reason seem to forget that.
you clearly have no idea what you are talking about
mk12 to mk14 is a 33% boost to damage
Add even more damage from the mods you can pick
Going epic adds even more damamge with 2 more Mods applied
now if you feel you have too much damage.................you can remove damage related consoles from your ship and add ( Fun consoles ) that will lower your damage but add a Cool part to your game depending on what weird console you add
Jellico....Engineer ground.....Da'val Romulan space Sci
Saphire.. Science ground......Ko'el Romulan space Tac
Leva........Tactical ground.....Koj Romulan space Eng
JJ-Verse will never be Canon or considered Lore...It will always be JJ-Verse
105,000 Dilithium is not much for getting all your endgame weaponry.
There are now 6 reputations. (The 7th one will probably come with Season 10).
Each reputation grants around 30,000 Dilithium on completion (if not more). So you have something around 180,000 Dilithium after a few weeks of grinding (a grid that is not that hard, thanks to the daily reputation marks, and if this isn't your first character, a sponsorship token will also speed things up.)
That is without considering all the dilithium you gain for earning those marks and for bringing the reputation to completion with daily projects. Nor any other stuff you do to earn Dilithium (which nowadays includes regular levelling from story missions).
This all stuff that pretty much every character will do anyway if you intend to max him out, because you can't fill your reputation traits without it.
If it were in a vacuum yes that would be totally fine. Getting those weapons in the first place costs what? That has to come from somewhere. Buying MK12s out of a rep store is 22k each weapon. Or you could build and upgrade them from scratch which is going to probably be cheaper but still cost you more upgrade kits. Getting them from the market is possible but likely very expensive.
Still you need more dilithium than just for weapons. A reputation set for shields/deflectors/core/engines is going to cost over 30k dilithium each. There goes 120k of that 180k. If you want a weapon/console set that is another 45k, and you probably want a few rep consoles. So that reputation dilithium is gone just getting reputation gear. And you still need the weapons.
At least for me, dilithium is the least concern, although if you're new and starting from scratch it will definitely be an issue, based on my experiences leveling my Romulans. The time investment and tedious logistical inventory/alt management minigame is the worst, but EC is a concern for me as well. But for other people dilithium is a significant problem.
Comments
I have crafted a few gear to ultra rare, but so far I have only used one Superior Tech Upgrade on each of the gear I crafted so for the moment they are still below Mk X. Once I get a full set of ultra rare "whatever" I will then begin to increase the Mk level to XII. I am not going to bother to upgrade them higher than that because I will likely try my hand at crafting Epic quality gear. If I grow tired of doing that, then I plan on simply upgrading my crafted ultra rare Mk XII gear to Mk XIII and eventually Mk XIV.
It's a slow upgrade process for me, but eventually I will have at least ultra rare Mk XIV gear for all my toons. I'll upgrade sooner if I feel the itch to stretch my legs in the harder Advanced PvE missions. I think I would be fine with a ship that can eventually do 20k to 30k DPS which I assume is possible without any fleet gear since I have no interest in joining a fleet at this moment in time.
Actually, since their most recent changes to R&D projects, it is far easier than before to increase a R&D schools level.
Correct, as I was on the same page more or less with you.
The only thing I mainly forgot to mention, were the accelerators.
Otherwise spot on, as this is ultimately the best advise for saving money overall!
Praetor of the -RTS- Romulan Tal Shiar fleet!
They sound like a scam. Who wants to only upgrade Mark? Unless you have it at Epic by MK VI or so. Am I missing something?
STO Screenshot Archive
Sorry, but the damage boost is not "BIG" at all. And you do not "need" MK 14 gear. Sorry to say, but just like R&D, the upgrade system is just an expensive, convoluted abortion that absolutely no-one "needs" to do at all. Now if you want to do them, fine, go for it. But no-one, in any way, shape or form, needs to do them. This is a lesson I'm trying to teach my daughters, that there is a difference between want and need. Some people for whatever reason seem to forget that.
My main was long since done with completing all the reps and getting all the various Fleet and Rep gear, etc, etc, etc. when DR launched. I'm now L60 and working to complete his Specializations and upgrade him to Mk XIV gear.
My Alts? It took years, but they're done with pre-DR reps, they've (mostly) got VR Mk XII gear. They're "done" - Well, until DR came 'round. Now I'm slowly leveling them (most are at about L55 and about half-way done w/the Delta Rep). I don't intend to upgrade their gear anytime soon. They'll stay at Mk XII as long as they remain "good enuff".
What's good enuff?
Well, they all produce >12k DPS in ISA parsing (some even pull 20k), and can pretty much Mary Sue their way through any Featured Episode or Event, thereby winning any rewards I feel good for them.
There's certainly no need to improve them in the same way that casual players don't need to upgrade either.
You can find/contact me in game as @PatricianVetinari. Playing STO since Feb 2010.
Does that include other items or just ship weapons bought from exchange and upgraded?
The TR116B used to be account-bound, then suddenly it became character bound. Wouldn't surprise me if this happens again without any prior notice.
Um, you do realize the boost weapons receive going from Mk XII to Mk XIII and from Mk XIII to Mk XIV, right? While it's easy to argue the need of any of it for the content that exists, well, I'm curious why you do not see the boost as "BIG" at all.
Mk XII -> Mk XIII provides +40% Strength. That's better than being able to slot another VR12 Specific Tac Console that would only provide +30% by comparison...+10% better.
Mk XIII -> Mk XIV provides +70% Strength. That's better than being able to slot two more VR12 Specific Tac Consoles that would each would only provide +30% by comparison...+10% better.
Combined, that's +110% Strength...+10% shy of having added four VR12 Specific Tac Consoles for that weapon.
Mk I-XII provides +120%. You get +110% from the next two Marks.
Some folks might consider that "BIG"...where the UR would add +2.5% and a random mod and going Gold would add +10% Accuracy & +10% Damage (for the price of going Epic there with the RNG and all, that's kind of /facepalm - yeah?)...
Indeed, repetitiveepic! I find Cryptic's commitment to excellence in Star Trek Online's crafting system is matched only by the stupendously unparalleled entertainment factor of Cryptic games and products. Not only are casuals not being forced out of the game, but now has never been a better time to begin your Star Trek adventure! Get the latest upgrades sooner rather than later by partaking of the C-Store today!
Well, yes of course they have to make money and, a lot of it!
Because it isn't exactly cheap, to keep a company like this running on very little, now is it?
Heck, their electric bill probably runs in at a few thousand $'s a month, and this only accounts for 1 building, just to keep the lights running every night so to speak.
How much does their server farm, which is in an entirely different state eat up?
Employee wages, employee benefits, employee worker's comp, etc...
Lease costs for the building(s), licensing fees, building maintenance costs, etc....
Investor's in company expecting profits, PWE expected profits, affiliated other companies expected profits, etc....
So, yeah like any company, they are expected to make $ and, hopefully a lot of it!!!
Praetor of the -RTS- Romulan Tal Shiar fleet!
I think the worst part really isn't even the money (a manageable amount), but the assumption that we're too dumb or too impatient to notice that with the increased HP theres no actual net improvement. So we're supposed to pay to run on a treadmill? Its kinda insulting.
we don't play at the same game :rolleyes:
Through mk XII a rarity level increase was worth about a mark increase.
mk XIII and XIV are bigger increases than previous ranks so I don't know how the rarity/mark conversion plays with it but spending 10 superiors instead of 15 to get you something 2 rarities lower seems like being penny wise but pound foolish.
Stop being obtuse. He explicitly said characters with an S.
Even for one character, 15x7 weapons on average is 105 kits. That is not including any console upgrades, or reputation weapon upgrades. That is over 105000 dilithum, and 21 million EC. For one character. Only the weapons. If you craft them yourself that still requires at worst, 105 advanced queue runs, 1.5m EC and 315 minutes waiting for the kits to complete.
I have 12 characters, and craft it myself, but even trying to simply upgrade 10 of them to JUST have mk 14 weapons would run me up to a million dillithium, require up to 1050 advanced queue runs for the rare matieral, and 15m EC, and 52 hours for kit production.
Thankfully DR has removed my own desire to keep them all up to date. So far one character is partially mk 14.
Eh, can I pleeease have some of what you are smoking? It would really make my day brighter. :P
A test server is supposed to be used to properly test patches before patching anything....
Actually, damage increase as you go past Mk XII is quite large. The link below displays stats for Very Rare Phaser Beam Arrays Mk XI thru Mk XIV. The mods do not really matter since only [Dmg] increases the damage value, and none of the weapons have that mod.
Very Rare Mk XI = 217.7 damage
Very Rare Mk XII = 227.9 damage - a 4.685% increase from Mk XI
Very Rare Mk XIII = 267.5 damage - a 17.376% increase from Mk XII
Very Rare Mk XIV = 337.5 damage - a 26.168% increase from Mk XIII - a 48.091% increase from Mk XII
http://imageshack.com/a/img538/9008/Wg7PVS.jpg
However, if you were to compare the damage output of Ultra Rare Mk XIII and Mk XIV weapons to their Very Rare counterparts, then the actual damage increase is very minor. But people who want ultra rare (and epic) weapons are more interested the extra mod than the minor increase in damage.
Ultra Rare Mk XIII = 270 damage - a 0.935% increase from Very Rare Mk XIII
Ultra Rare MK XIV = 340 damage - a 0.741% increase from Very Rare Mk XIV
http://imageshack.com/a/img537/301/oOGArZ.jpg
In conclusion, there a pretty good increase in damage beyond Mk XII. However, the damage increase from quality increase is rather minor. But the point of shooting for something higher than very rare quality is to get more weapon mods. I think it is generally accepted that Mk XIII [CrtD]x4 is better than Mk XIII [CrtD]x3, however, not everyone is willing to spend the resources to do so.
Crafting/upgrading is VERY Alt friendly
use 5 Alts or more or less and your main crafter
craft your items upgrades weapons consoles whatever you want and let them naturally finish do not pay Dil to finish
weapons or things you want specific mods on such as CritDx3 as a example craft at mk-II intil you get as many Mk-2s as you need to begin upgrading you may have to make several hundred to get your desired Mods
I spread this out on many alts so when I finish the last alt I am claiming the finished weapon on the first alt
I do all of my crafting this way
upgrade your crafted weapons on your main crafter its cheeper on dilithium cost
you will get another mod at ultra rare and 2 mods at epic if you start with a X3 mod
Saphire.. Science ground......Ko'el Romulan space Tac
Leva........Tactical ground.....Koj Romulan space Eng
JJ-Verse will never be Canon or considered Lore...It will always be JJ-Verse
105,000 Dilithium is not much for getting all your endgame weaponry.
There are now 6 reputations. (The 7th one will probably come with Season 10).
Each reputation grants around 30,000 Dilithium on completion (if not more). So you have something around 180,000 Dilithium after a few weeks of grinding (a grid that is not that hard, thanks to the daily reputation marks, and if this isn't your first character, a sponsorship token will also speed things up.)
That is without considering all the dilithium you gain for earning those marks and for bringing the reputation to completion with daily projects. Nor any other stuff you do to earn Dilithium (which nowadays includes regular levelling from story missions).
This all stuff that pretty much every character will do anyway if you intend to max him out, because you can't fill your reputation traits without it.
What if you're from Finland?
I was not a happy camper.
you clearly have no idea what you are talking about
mk12 to mk14 is a 33% boost to damage
Add even more damage from the mods you can pick
Going epic adds even more damamge with 2 more Mods applied
now if you feel you have too much damage.................you can remove damage related consoles from your ship and add ( Fun consoles ) that will lower your damage but add a Cool part to your game depending on what weird console you add
Saphire.. Science ground......Ko'el Romulan space Tac
Leva........Tactical ground.....Koj Romulan space Eng
JJ-Verse will never be Canon or considered Lore...It will always be JJ-Verse
Actually, it is more like a 48.091% increase as stated in my post above. At least when it comes to very rare beam arrays with no [DMG] mod.
Very Rare Mk XII = 227.9 damage
Very Rare Mk XIV = 337.5 damage
227.9 damage x 1.48091 = 337.5 damage
If it were in a vacuum yes that would be totally fine. Getting those weapons in the first place costs what? That has to come from somewhere. Buying MK12s out of a rep store is 22k each weapon. Or you could build and upgrade them from scratch which is going to probably be cheaper but still cost you more upgrade kits. Getting them from the market is possible but likely very expensive.
Still you need more dilithium than just for weapons. A reputation set for shields/deflectors/core/engines is going to cost over 30k dilithium each. There goes 120k of that 180k. If you want a weapon/console set that is another 45k, and you probably want a few rep consoles. So that reputation dilithium is gone just getting reputation gear. And you still need the weapons.
At least for me, dilithium is the least concern, although if you're new and starting from scratch it will definitely be an issue, based on my experiences leveling my Romulans. The time investment and tedious logistical inventory/alt management minigame is the worst, but EC is a concern for me as well. But for other people dilithium is a significant problem.