It looks like the last time I played, I had upgraded to a Rear Admiral Assault Cruiser. I was able to level up to 50 with it, it's a nice ship, with all XI weapons and consoles. I was looking at upgrades - holy cow! There seem to be so many more now than there were before.
Q) Should I upgrade to a Tier 5 ship now or just jump into a tier 6?
Q) Either way, which is a good upgrade from my Assault Cruiser? I love having fore and aft phasers and the broadside strategy works best for me. But the descriptions in the New Ship Requisitions don't mention (or at least I can't really tell) what weapons they use.
It looks like the last time I played, I had upgraded to a Rear Admiral Assault Cruiser. I was able to level up to 50 with it, it's a nice ship, with all XI weapons and consoles. I was looking at upgrades - holy cow! There seem to be so many more now than there were before.
Q) Should I upgrade to a Tier 5 ship now or just jump into a tier 6?
Q) Either way, which is a good upgrade from my Assault Cruiser? I love having fore and aft phasers and the broadside strategy works best for me. But the descriptions in the New Ship Requisitions don't mention (or at least I can't really tell) what weapons they use.
Q) BTW when did they stop issuing free ships?
We'll start with the last one. You stop getting free ships at level 50. No Tier 5 or 6 ship is free.
Okay so lets go to your first and second question.... a lot of this depends on what you want to do exactly. My suggestion is going to be the Guardian Intel Cruiser if you want to pay money and something similiar to the Assault Cruiser... either that or the new Galaxy. I've heard say that the command ships aren't bad but I haven't tried them to be honest.
Okay so longer answer... there is very little difference between Fleet T-5u and T6. The biggest difference is that at T6 you get a trait that then you can drag to any and all other ships you may have. So a lot of people jump into T6 ships, grab the trait... then go back to certain Fleet T-5u ships.
Now that said the Galaxy is the ONLY Fleet T-6 ship out there... and no one really knows why. I can give you my guesses... but that would be off topic. There IS a difference between Fleet T-5U and Fleet T-6 though with Fleet T-6 just simply being better due to an extra console slot etc etc.
However that doesn't invalidate Fleet T-5U ships either simply because one console is not that big of a deal. So here's my suggestion
Look at the T-6 ships. IF you see one that has a trait you like and can afford to buy it... use it simply to get the trait. After wards look at the T-5u and the T-6 ships and find one that fits what you want and use it. The difference is really minimal.
Thanks for your answers! So, once you get these traits, you can transfer them to the T5-U ships? Or does the trait apply to the character?
Unfortunately, I can't buy any fleet ships, so I can only choose the Tier 5 (vice admiral) or tier 6.
Looking at the 6 Tier 6 ships, I see the Guardian cruiser and the Exploration cruiser you mentioned.
When I compare to my current Assault Cruiser, I think Exploration cruiser looks nicer with very similar stats. (although I'd prefer a Constitution or Exeter class tier 6. ;-) )
(although I'd prefer a Constitution or Exeter class tier 6. ;-) )
Die you dead horse... die... sorry, it's a habit when I see anything about a top tier connie..
Here's what happens with the T6 traits... once they are unlocked they show up under the "ship trait" tab of your traits page. You slot them like any other trait and once unlocked and slotted they apply to any ship that you pilot, not just the original one. It's kind of how Cryptic expects to make money... to constantly sell ships just for the traits even if you don't plan on ever flying it permanently.
So yeah once slotted it applies to all ships. Now the difference between a T-5u and a T-6 is one console... which goes back to the T-6 is going to be better because of that console slot... but not so much that it makes a T-5u unplayable and totally worthless... unless you're a habitual min/maxer in which case it may and why you keep seeing all these people saying that T-5u ships are worthless... which they're not... it's just that in a min/max world they're not the best.
It looks like the last time I played, I had upgraded to a Rear Admiral Assault Cruiser. I was able to level up to 50 with it, it's a nice ship, with all XI weapons and consoles. I was looking at upgrades - holy cow! There seem to be so many more now than there were before.
Q) Should I upgrade to a Tier 5 ship now or just jump into a tier 6?
Q) Either way, which is a good upgrade from my Assault Cruiser? I love having fore and aft phasers and the broadside strategy works best for me. But the descriptions in the New Ship Requisitions don't mention (or at least I can't really tell) what weapons they use.
Q) BTW when did they stop issuing free ships?
You get your last free ship at lvl 40 (unless your a Life Time Subscriber, then you will get 2 at lvl 50). So at 50 you'll need to buy one from the cash shop or grind energy credits and get one from the exchange, you can also start farming Refined Dilithium and save it to convert into Zen thru the Dil Exchange, then use that zen to get stuff from the cash shop. They also have events where they give away ships for free but will require you to take part in the event (do a mission for items to turn in and once you hit 1000 you get a ship). The last event they had was the anniversary event which they gave away the T6 Kobali Cruiser, the one before that was xmas where they gave away the Breen T6 Carrier.
Fleet T5-U Ships actually have 1 more console (11 consoles) then the Regular T6 ships (10 consoles). Depending on this ship this can make a huge difference. This is why a lot of player will buy a T6 ship for the Ship trait and then shelve their T6 ship for a preferred T5-U ship. Their is some Premium T6 ships with 11 consoles though.
Most ships will come with weapons based on what faction they are (Feds come with phasers, Klingons come with Disruptors, Romulan come with Plasma). From there it depends on ship class on which type of weapon they get, but usually they are trash and you would want to replace them with better right away. Here's the STO wiki ship list: http://sto.gamepedia.com/Playable_starship
Q) Should I upgrade to a Tier 5 ship now or just jump into a tier 6?
A: If you're going to spend money, then go T6.
Q) Either way, which is a good upgrade from my Assault Cruiser? I love having fore and aft phasers and the broadside strategy works best for me. But the descriptions in the New Ship Requisitions don't mention (or at least I can't really tell) what weapons they use.
A: If you're looking at a comparable cruiser you have a few choices. The Intel cruiser is very good. So is the Guardian. Both are better the T6 Andromeda (the T6 Galaxy). If you don't mind waiting, a new T6 Assault cruiser is MORE THAN LIKELY within 3 months.
As for weapons - AP is the current flavour. CtrlD the favoured [proc] And the best tact consoles are from Fleet Spires.
Q) BTW when did they stop issuing free ships?
A:The do and the don't. For leveling the last ship is T4? But they've been giving away new ships about 3x a year - the summer event, the winter event, and the recently completed anniversary event.
Actually, the Free ships you can choose at level 40 are indeed, Tier 5. However, they are not upgradable to T5-U.
A lot of people don't realize this because they think that T1 ships unlock at level 10. Those ships are for below level 10.
It is like this:
(Level) - (Tier that unlocks at that level)
0 - T1
10 - T2
20 - T3
30 - T4
40 - T5
50 - T6
While most players were able to complete almost all of the Elite difficulty before Delta Rising, now there are a lot fewer that can make it in the Advance (which was suppose to replace the old Elite).
I would suggest trying to hang in there with the free ship you got at level 40 for a while. The reason is because they are pushing out T6 ships pretty fast right now, and we will most likely be getting some in a few months at this rate.
If you can hold out for a few months with what you have now (I know it isn't easy) you should have a larger selection than you do now.
Leader of Elite Guardian Academy.Would you like to learn how to run a fleet? Would you like to know how to do ship builds (true budget as well as high end)?The join the Academy today!
The 2015 Risa Summer Event will give you an opportunity to grind for a free T6 starship. It is unknown what ship will be available, but people are speculating it may be a science vessel. If so, then it will likely be very welcomed by the KDF and Romulan factions since between them all their science vessels can be counted on one hand... and none of them are T6 starships. The Federation has more science vessels below Tier 4 than the KDF and Romulan have above Tier 4.
The 2015 Risa Summer Event should start during the 1st or 2nd week of June.
Comments
We'll start with the last one. You stop getting free ships at level 50. No Tier 5 or 6 ship is free.
Okay so lets go to your first and second question.... a lot of this depends on what you want to do exactly. My suggestion is going to be the Guardian Intel Cruiser if you want to pay money and something similiar to the Assault Cruiser... either that or the new Galaxy. I've heard say that the command ships aren't bad but I haven't tried them to be honest.
Okay so longer answer... there is very little difference between Fleet T-5u and T6. The biggest difference is that at T6 you get a trait that then you can drag to any and all other ships you may have. So a lot of people jump into T6 ships, grab the trait... then go back to certain Fleet T-5u ships.
Now that said the Galaxy is the ONLY Fleet T-6 ship out there... and no one really knows why. I can give you my guesses... but that would be off topic. There IS a difference between Fleet T-5U and Fleet T-6 though with Fleet T-6 just simply being better due to an extra console slot etc etc.
However that doesn't invalidate Fleet T-5U ships either simply because one console is not that big of a deal. So here's my suggestion
Look at the T-6 ships. IF you see one that has a trait you like and can afford to buy it... use it simply to get the trait. After wards look at the T-5u and the T-6 ships and find one that fits what you want and use it. The difference is really minimal.
Unfortunately, I can't buy any fleet ships, so I can only choose the Tier 5 (vice admiral) or tier 6.
Looking at the 6 Tier 6 ships, I see the Guardian cruiser and the Exploration cruiser you mentioned.
When I compare to my current Assault Cruiser, I think Exploration cruiser looks nicer with very similar stats. (although I'd prefer a Constitution or Exeter class tier 6. ;-) )
http://image.geekytechguy.org/plog-content/images/general/star-trek/starship_compare.png
Die you dead horse... die... sorry, it's a habit when I see anything about a top tier connie..
Here's what happens with the T6 traits... once they are unlocked they show up under the "ship trait" tab of your traits page. You slot them like any other trait and once unlocked and slotted they apply to any ship that you pilot, not just the original one. It's kind of how Cryptic expects to make money... to constantly sell ships just for the traits even if you don't plan on ever flying it permanently.
So yeah once slotted it applies to all ships. Now the difference between a T-5u and a T-6 is one console... which goes back to the T-6 is going to be better because of that console slot... but not so much that it makes a T-5u unplayable and totally worthless... unless you're a habitual min/maxer in which case it may and why you keep seeing all these people saying that T-5u ships are worthless... which they're not... it's just that in a min/max world they're not the best.
You get your last free ship at lvl 40 (unless your a Life Time Subscriber, then you will get 2 at lvl 50). So at 50 you'll need to buy one from the cash shop or grind energy credits and get one from the exchange, you can also start farming Refined Dilithium and save it to convert into Zen thru the Dil Exchange, then use that zen to get stuff from the cash shop. They also have events where they give away ships for free but will require you to take part in the event (do a mission for items to turn in and once you hit 1000 you get a ship). The last event they had was the anniversary event which they gave away the T6 Kobali Cruiser, the one before that was xmas where they gave away the Breen T6 Carrier.
Fleet T5-U Ships actually have 1 more console (11 consoles) then the Regular T6 ships (10 consoles). Depending on this ship this can make a huge difference. This is why a lot of player will buy a T6 ship for the Ship trait and then shelve their T6 ship for a preferred T5-U ship. Their is some Premium T6 ships with 11 consoles though.
Most ships will come with weapons based on what faction they are (Feds come with phasers, Klingons come with Disruptors, Romulan come with Plasma). From there it depends on ship class on which type of weapon they get, but usually they are trash and you would want to replace them with better right away. Here's the STO wiki ship list: http://sto.gamepedia.com/Playable_starship
A: If you're going to spend money, then go T6.
Q) Either way, which is a good upgrade from my Assault Cruiser? I love having fore and aft phasers and the broadside strategy works best for me. But the descriptions in the New Ship Requisitions don't mention (or at least I can't really tell) what weapons they use.
A: If you're looking at a comparable cruiser you have a few choices. The Intel cruiser is very good. So is the Guardian. Both are better the T6 Andromeda (the T6 Galaxy). If you don't mind waiting, a new T6 Assault cruiser is MORE THAN LIKELY within 3 months.
As for weapons - AP is the current flavour. CtrlD the favoured [proc] And the best tact consoles are from Fleet Spires.
Q) BTW when did they stop issuing free ships?
A:The do and the don't. For leveling the last ship is T4? But they've been giving away new ships about 3x a year - the summer event, the winter event, and the recently completed anniversary event.
Actually, the Free ships you can choose at level 40 are indeed, Tier 5. However, they are not upgradable to T5-U.
A lot of people don't realize this because they think that T1 ships unlock at level 10. Those ships are for below level 10.
It is like this:
(Level) - (Tier that unlocks at that level)
0 - T1
10 - T2
20 - T3
30 - T4
40 - T5
50 - T6
While most players were able to complete almost all of the Elite difficulty before Delta Rising, now there are a lot fewer that can make it in the Advance (which was suppose to replace the old Elite).
I would suggest trying to hang in there with the free ship you got at level 40 for a while. The reason is because they are pushing out T6 ships pretty fast right now, and we will most likely be getting some in a few months at this rate.
If you can hold out for a few months with what you have now (I know it isn't easy) you should have a larger selection than you do now.
The 2015 Risa Summer Event should start during the 1st or 2nd week of June.