I got smoked by a Borg warp core breach of over 80K a couple days ago. some of the crits are getting rediculous. it's almost as if for every bit of crit building in YOUR toon the enemy applys it to YOU
Ok so your build needs a lot of work, the skills are poor for resistance, both shield and hull. Your consoles are not up to the job either, are you in a fleet? If so get the fleet consoles for resists, the tac consoles for regen. The Quantum phase set is ok but reputations sets are better, try to get the Iconian shield. You have only 2 starship traits, there are many available that will help your build become more survivable. You are missing some good space traits for survivability too.
[…]
Time for some research, some grinding and some re-skilling.
I am not sure but I have the impression, that we have here an example of *It was mentioned many times, but I didn’t listen / read it!*.
So once again for all of those here who obviously are not able to read a whole text consisting out of more than one or two sentences or only want to read and understand that what they want.
As I mentioned now already many times before – I am talking about a Level 65 Char with EQUIPMENT CASUAL PLAYERS ARE ABLE TO OBTAIN.
That means…
NO to the following and I EMPHASIZE THE *NNOOOO* !!!!
NO damn MK XIII
NO damn MK XIV
and most certainly NO damn MK XV Gear
NO Reputation Gear
NO Fleet Gear
NO C-Store Gear
NO upgraded Gear
NO Reputation Traits
NO expensive Traits from the exchange
NO Lock Box Items, Stuff and Traits
NO TO EVERYTHING A CASUAL PLAYER IS NOT ABLE TO OBTAIN WITHOUT HUGE AMOUNTS OF GRIND AND TIME
What is left…
YES to Gear and Items from Episodes
YES to Gear from looting NPCs
YES to cheap Gear from the exchange (THAT MEANS !!! – not more than a few hundred thousand, maximal two million EC for equipping a WHOLE ship with EVERYTHING !!!)
You may have scrapped by with this setup at level 60 but it won't cut it for level 65, there is a big difference, just as there is a big difference between Mark XIV and Mark XV equipment, Mark XII is definitely too low. I would estimate your resists are about 25% with that setup, I'd be looking for around 50% sub honored dead kicking in, which you also don't have. Lots to do there, the problem is your build, no doubt about it. That doesn't rule out the occasional odd high yield torp coming in and wiping you out, that's the luck of the RNG and gets all of us from time to time.
Regarding the difference in strength etc..
Yes, there is a big difference between Lv 60 and Lv 65 and that is the whole problem. As it also was mentioned by me and by others, players should still be able to play the *NORMAL* difficult content of the game with the normal Loot-Items from NPCs and the Items from Mission rewards. If new players or casual players need to farm and grind for a long time only to be able to play the content on *NORMAL-MODE*, for example Episodes on Lv 65 or normal STFs, then that means that the devs made some serious design mistakes in the game. The results of those mistakes will be, that the game will be totally unfriendly for new and casual players. It will scare them away and it will only retain veteran players. Although a lot of veterans might believe otherwise, a game without new players and casual players won’t endure for long, since those two groups make up a large portion of the player-base.
But we can cut this whole *its your build and there is a huge gap between lv 60 and 60* stuff short, because there are some reddit-threads in which a dev stated that there is a problem with the damage coming from NPCs and that they are investigating it and applying changes. Those threads may be a month old but since a dev answered to them, there really are problems which are affecting a lot of players.
Basically your list limits it to things that are effectively FREE.
Great !!!!!
Finally !!!!!
Someone understood what new and casual Players rely on to play the game and what should be used to play *NORMAL* difficult content! Even on Level 65.
Now if you would and could explain this to everyone else who was not able to grasp it until now .
The games doesn't at any point give you enough purple 12 gear to actually outfit your entire ship with it. This game has had crafting for so long that gear balance is tailored to expecting players to make their own gear. Yes there was crafting before R&D...
So really your asking for something made by a person who doesn't use any of the in game resources available to them. A smart player will start running Doffing at level 11, there are assignments in the engineering section that can randomly reward VR gear at level appropo mk. When Admiralty opens at level 52 just using the free leveling ships plus the T3 Amby/Kamarag from Temporal Ambassador & the Sally Ride you can bring in a decent EC gain, to say nothing of the Dill, Mats etc. None of these resources are locked away from a casual player, a total F2Per can do anything I can.
One of his criteria is no grinding/investing time...
Which is moronic, but hey, I don't think his standard are realistic either.
There is a Reddit called Cheap Deepz. They have builds using the free stuff in game. The way to use the "builds" there is to look at the combinations of stuff they are using and try it.
I listen to STO videos while doing chores around the house, that is easier than finding time to read...so.. check the you tube video channel by Timberwolf. He has a few on budget builds and he explains things very well. Look for videos with budget in the title. Or just message him for a list of the budget stuff...he is on FB, if you use that.
I play on normal. I have mostly Purple Mark 12. I removed Space rep traits, starship traits, and moving my characters down to T5 Vor'cha, when I get the time.
There are plenty of folks playing casually and skipping the "fill out the bar" aspects of the game. I do not know when Cryptic will get back around to taking a look at the "normal" part of the game. I am sure it has got to be on their to do by now! As many complaints as there have been.
As you know they are busy with the stuff coming out with Discovery. So busy it seems things broken with Victory is Life is on the back burner. Hopefully, after that more fixes will come in.
"Spend your life doing strange things with weird people." -- UNK
“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” -- Benjamin Franklin
"Players" are able to play Normal (and even some Advanced) content with free equipment. That you may not be among those players who can do it, doesn't mean it can't be done.
And if you choose to intentionally ignore major game systems that make things easier for you, that's your choice and therefore your fault.
All these posters above me are right. There are budget builds you can use that are more than adequate for normal/advanced content. Some use only missions rewards/event stuff. Lately the mission rewards have churned out some really nice sets for just about any flavor of weapon you want.
Check out the links provided upthread and see what you can get. There will be some grinding for mission reward sets, but grinding is part of any MMO, as was also stated.
To want to get a good setup with minimal effort just isn't possible. But since they took the cooldown off of repeating missions it's much easier to get the reward sets because you can repeat them back to back.
Now a LTS and loving it.
Just because you spend money on this game, it does not entitle you to be a jerk if things don't go your way.
I have come to the conclusion that I have a memory like Etch-A-Sketch. I shake my head and forget everything.
So really your asking for something made by a person who doesn't use any of the in game resources available to them. A smart player will start running Doffing at level 11, there are assignments in the engineering section that can randomly reward VR gear at level appropo mk. When Admiralty opens at level 52 just using the free leveling ships plus the T3 Amby/Kamarag from Temporal Ambassador & the Sally Ride you can bring in a decent EC gain, to say nothing of the Dill, Mats etc. None of these resources are locked away from a casual player, a total F2Per can do anything I can.
Well... Great idea. Guess what I've been doing the moment I had access to DOffing and Admiralty! But I think I'dont need to bring up the amounts of ECs and Dilithium a casual Player makes and the amounts needed to get Gear, which will be according to some people here necessary to play the game even as a casual Player. Also, you're aware that you'll Level faster than you can accumulate ressources?
You say that "players should still be able to play the *NORMAL* difficult content of the game with the normal Loot-Items from NPCs and the Items from Mission rewards"
Says who? You?
Nowhere have I seen that stated by a Dev or anywhere in the game. What you want is a free ride, a free ride that also requires no effort. Like many things in life that doesn't exist unless you're born into it.
The fact remains that everything, yes everything is available in this game without paying a penny, what's more you can achieve this exhalted status by simply playing the game, it's called grinding, and it's the mainstay of all MMOs. If you are not prepared to accept that then I suggest you forget MMOs and play something else. If you do accept that then time to stop being a lazy sod and get on with it.
One final point, and I won't be bothering anymore with this thread as it seems pointless, but as I said I have taken a Tier 1 ship to level 50, I could certainly take your ship with that gear to level 65 without dying too much. As someone else said, it's also down to how good you are at something. The very least you can do is choose better boff abilities and some fleet consoles, then learn to fly the ship.
Nowhere in this game or any other I have ever played does it state you SHOULD be able to finish the game with the free gear handed out. In theory you could but it's going to be difficult, but nowhere does it say you should do it that way. Your way is wrong, and if you don't accept that then fine, carry on dying, the rest of us will reap the rewards of an elite difficulty 5 man team mega war that you haven't a hope of ever experiencing but unknown to you does exist in this game.
Good luck.
No. That is according to my experience a common fact, which you can see in a lot of MMOs. And like yourself I've also played many different MMOs in the last 18 years. But it seems that my experience was different than yours, because I was able to Play all MMOs with the gear a could loot from NPCs. The only difference between STO and those MMOs was and is, that the devs in STO stopped to increase the Item-Level you can obtain from NPCs at a certain point and therefore making those items worthless (except the scavenging materials) for Players. In other MMOs every time there was and is an increase in the level there also is an increase in the level of items dropping from NPCs. That way new and casual players can at least continue to play the *normal* difficult content of the game and don’t get in a situation where they find it to annoying and frustrating to continue.
Regarding that everything in the game is available - yes you are right and you are also right about that some things need to be grinded and farmed. But you are wrong about that I have problems with grinding and farming – I do not!!! What I have a problem with is that even new and casual players need to farm and grind endlessly to be able to play even the most basic and most normal content of the game – for example Episodes. From my experience I can tell you that such games won’t keep new and casual players for long and at some point, they will also start losing players, since they’ll get to annoyed and frustrated after running against a wall over and over again.
Just think about it for one moment. You are a new or casual player. You are levelling quite fast in STO and are happy about that. You are playing the DOffs and Admiralty parts of the game, collecting resources etc.. Then you hit Lv 65 but still have 50% of all Episodes ahead of you. Now you are taking a look at all those builds and information about what is best and you try to build them with the limited resources you have. Meaning you’ll start with a build you can afford for a few ten thousand Dilithium and perhaps 2-3 million ECs. Now you’ll continue to play Episodes or try STFs and get killed over and over again (hitting a wall hard). Now what would be the result of that? Guess what?! The person/player will get annoyed, frustrated and finally leave the game for good and in the worst case will tell everyone how annoying and unfriendly to new and casual players the game is.
Now you can say – as you already did – that this way of playing (depending on looted items or as you said free gear) is wrong and those Players need to grind and farm their asses of to be able to play the normal content of the game. But hey, ever thought about that this maybe wrong??? Not everyone has the time to grind of their asses for weeks or even months of casual play time (perhaps 1h per day or 1h every two days) just to be able to continue playing *normal* content like Episodes. Also, not every Player is able, can or perhaps wants to join a Fleet, for what reasons ever. And even if they would do so, they would still need to get all those tens of thousands of Fleet-Credits and Dilithium to be able to buy fleet gear.
But well. What does it matter. As you also already said/wrote. It seems to be pointless. Explaining things from the perspective of a casual player to others isn’t easy and will most certainly end with being called a leecher, whiner or even worse. At least until now no one here has sunken to that level. But hey, I am quite sure someone will come a long and get down to that level too.
Just as a bonus. You can enjoy your 5-man team mega war and all the high-end end-game content with all the BiS-Gear you can get and have as much as you like. I am happy if you do enjoy it, since you should have fun playing a game. But keep in mind that in most MMOs the number of players doing this kind of stuff makes up only a small portion of the player-base and that the majority of players will play casual/normal content! So, please don’t start to fret if there comes a time when less and less players will join your ranks, since all newcomers left before they even reached the end-game.
There is a Reddit called Cheap Deepz. They have builds using the free stuff in game. The way to use the "builds" there is to look at the combinations of stuff they are using and try it.
I listen to STO videos while doing chores around the house, that is easier than finding time to read...so.. check the you tube video channel by Timberwolf. He has a few on budget builds and he explains things very well. Look for videos with budget in the title. Or just message him for a list of the budget stuff...he is on FB, if you use that.
I play on normal. I have mostly Purple Mark 12. I removed Space rep traits, starship traits, and moving my characters down to T5 Vor'cha, when I get the time.
There are plenty of folks playing casually and skipping the "fill out the bar" aspects of the game. I do not know when Cryptic will get back around to taking a look at the "normal" part of the game. I am sure it has got to be on their to do by now! As many complaints as there have been.
As you know they are busy with the stuff coming out with Discovery. So busy it seems things broken with Victory is Life is on the back burner. Hopefully, after that more fixes will come in.
Yeah. I also hope with the release of Discovery the devs will turn their attention to those Bugs and problems. Perhaps we will get lucky and they will adjust the damage curve or (dreaming here ) they will even change the Item-Level from loot drops, so that those items won't be worthless (except the scavenging mats) anymore.
I think the issue the OP is getting at is that the game is rather unapproachable when you first hit 60-65. The trouble you guys are overlooking is that it's a cruel catch-22 for players. To get dilithium/EC/etc requires playing the content which to many new players will be unplayable. So they cannot get dilithium/EC/etc. The only way out is pretty much grinding queues which I've seen aren't anywhere near as broken(in fact I only really die on advanced in queues and I even found it very possible to survive gates of grethor queue with a T-5(not upgraded) escort). Which could get repetitive fast not to mention the occasional elitist exploding at your lower damage numbers in an advanced queue because no one was queuing anything on normal.
It does take a lot of time even doing queues like crazy, to get mk13+ weaponry. There are a few missions which can be accessed immedietly that don't seem broken for some decent sets. The Sunrise mission gives the especially popular quantum phase set, and it's following mission gives access to the equivilent impulse/shield/deflector set(though maybe avoid it's impulse engine, it's a slugging combat impulse).
I also did the crazy thing if powering through "home" for the morphogenic set which is also especially decent, although it took a ton of EC to get a beam array setup.
For build refinement(this still won't stop the insane torp damage) in solo play i've been using emergency power to shields for the +shield resistance both direct and from the increased power to shields. And as usual fighting with weapons power at max.
Some thoughts;
Every player should get a respec at 60 or even 65 for that toon.
The game needs to teach the value of things like shield resistance, armor ratings, defense early. It doesn't actually teach that at all and I got lucky seeing the shield hardness skill actually makes shields take less damage.
Missions should drop training manuals for the important skills besides just giving us new bridge officers occasionally and teach players how to expand the skill-set of bridge officers.
Game should better explain in those skills what they really do if they stop any kind of debuff effect. Engineering team countering engineering debuffs isn't enough, give us some specific examples in game! Same with hazard emitters!
And yes, do something about the damage scaling if there are complains all over the place with this update even with people who've setup there ship reasonably well there is a problem stop being an elitist over it. Typing your hands bloody saying "Real players are willing to work for there fun!" in any way not only doesn't help, but actually hurts everyones perspective about hard games they may otherwise enjoy. Possibly even hurting peoples perspective about THIS game you claim to care so much about.
That's coming from someone who likes hard games like deus ex on realistic(instantly killed by near every enemy bro!), modding fallout 4 so enemies kill me instantly, skyrim redone ect, and playing dark souls sometimes. I enjoy that because I have ways of making it fun(posted a video on the ruleset for difficult games being fun, I should just put it in my sig).
Post edited by drunkflux#5679 on
Thinking of ideas from lots of games for, dunno how long now.
Dude I've been playing STO since 2012, there is nothing in the game I don't know about. I know the leveling curve, I know what gear you can get from missions, I know what upgrading gear costs, etc etc etc. None of this stuff is a hard as you seem to think it is, nor as costly.
Azrael...it costs in time. Not everyone has that commodity.
Maybe more advice to all players......on where the "good" sets, what missions to repeat to get things to tie them over until they have more time, would be more welcome.
"Spend your life doing strange things with weird people." -- UNK
“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” -- Benjamin Franklin
How are you running a lvl 65 toon when you have no experience, no expertise, no gear, no money from alts, no nothing? I'm puzzled, as someone whose only cash layout for this game was purchasing the Temporal Agent pack (had to have those ships).
When there's a Phoenix Event, gather all the Phoenix Upgrades you can. (If you have alts, use them too - Upgrades are transferable.) Then, after the event if you can wait that long, start applying them to that Mk XII gear you've got. You'll be hitting Mk XIV in no time, and without dropping a penny.
As for EC, you know all those drops you get that you can't use, either because you don't have that specialty or because you don't need ingredients for recipes? You can either shovel them into your replicator (gives you half the cash value), sell them to a vendor (full cash value), or put them on the Exchange (sometimes ludicrous value - I sold a Synthale, 20 credits from my replicator, for 5000 EC the other day). Right now I've got more EC in my account bank (given away during an anniversary event, as I recall) than any of my toons can carry.
No real surprise to me, casual gamers just don't have the skills or mindset of a hardcore\UBER-Elite gamer.
I class myself as a casual gamer, but my skills are better than the average casual gamer, yet even I have a hard time with some enemies when I'm using Mk12 VR gear at lvl 65.
Like many players I use Argala to level ship mastery, at lvl 60 I could clear it pretty quickly with most of my toons using mk12 gear, not any more, the only ones that can still "blow through" it at lvl 65 fly carriers, their lvl 66 pets are what makes the difference.
I don't grind, I don't farm dil, I don't do team content, so my gear is either mission rewards or crafted (myself or off the exchange), with a little rep gear when I can afford it.
So yeah the game is unbalanced, at the very least mission rewards should reflect your level, it might make things a bit easier if they did, and it might even help keep newer players in game.
Azrael...it costs in time. Not everyone has that commodity.
This is not now, nor has it ever been an expectable argument.
Video Games are for entertainment, their intent is to occupy time with entertainment. Time is not a cost when you're talking about entertainment. Simply put, if time is a factor then you're better off finding a hobby that fits better into your schedule.
Maybe more advice to all players......on where the "good" sets, what missions to repeat to get things to tie them over until they have more time, would be more welcome.
Excellent suggestion, but there are resources available for this. A great place to start is with the DPS league free ship guides. These builds all use free ships with gear that's accessible through mission rewards. If any of the gear in the builds is something you are not sure how to obtain, you can look on The Wiki Page or just ask.
Thanks, Sea. I will have to book mark that page, as I was not aware of that budget build resource.
Changing what people do in the game is not the objective. It is passing along information and advice.
Giving people the options where they can continue doing what they already do, may create less vinegar. Then it becomes a chance to explain why those options work. Instead of pushing people into using game systems they do not want to spend time on, currently. That is the resistance most of you are hitting. Not that your advice is bad.
Advising them better options exist on other gear they could go work toward later on is OK. But allow them to decide how and when they are ready to make that move. Just be good knowing you have given them the information that they can use to lay their groundwork.
Post edited by where2r1 on
"Spend your life doing strange things with weird people." -- UNK
“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” -- Benjamin Franklin
A thanks from me too, sea. I like doing budget builds and those look really nice. I'll have to see about fixing up my T5 ships and take them out to play.
Except I'll have to find something to replace the prolonged engagement weapon as I didn't do that event, so don't have it. But it shouldn't be that hard.
Now a LTS and loving it.
Just because you spend money on this game, it does not entitle you to be a jerk if things don't go your way.
I have come to the conclusion that I have a memory like Etch-A-Sketch. I shake my head and forget everything.
A thanks from me too, sea. I like doing budget builds and those look really nice. I'll have to see about fixing up my T5 ships and take them out to play.
Except I'll have to find something to replace the prolonged engagement weapon as I didn't do that event, so don't have it. But it shouldn't be that hard.
No problem, if you don't have the Prolonged, then really any halfway descent Phaser there. Mark XII Purples should be fairly reasonable, just pick one up with sub par mods and re-engineer them and you should be just fine. Baring that, you could just use a Fleet Phaser Beam, they're pretty cheap.
Giving people the options where they can continue doing what they already do, may create less vinegar. Then it becomes a chance to explain why those options work. Instead of pushing people into using game systems they do not want to spend time on, currently. That is the resistance most of you are hitting. Not that your advice is bad.
Not really sure exactly what you're saying here, but just to be totally clear, the builds given are suggestions. They are intended to be used as templates to help players build effectively. Of course, the option exists to just copy the build exactly and that's fine if that's what you want. Otherwise, the intent is to give you a base to work with.. if there is something there that doesn't fit your style, simply make an adjustment. In my case for example, I don't use Torpedoes so I would swap that out for something more preferable to my style and then make the appropriate change to the skill tree and to bridge officer powers. If something like that comes up for you and you need suggestions on how to make changes, just say the word.
Dude I've been playing STO since 2012, there is nothing in the game I don't know about. I know the leveling curve, I know what gear you can get from missions, I know what upgrading gear costs, etc etc etc. None of this stuff is a hard as you seem to think it is, nor as costly.
I play the game since 2010 early access and i wouldn't dare say i know all about it. Thats a bit far stretched don't you think? Upgrading and cost are always depending on how much time one player can invest into the game what seems cheap and quick to come by to you might be expensive and miles away for others. Your standards don't apply for entire player base.
C-Store Inc. is still looking for active members on the fed side. If you don't have a fleet feel free to contact me in game @stegi.
A thanks from me too, sea. I like doing budget builds and those look really nice. I'll have to see about fixing up my T5 ships and take them out to play.
Except I'll have to find something to replace the prolonged engagement weapon as I didn't do that event, so don't have it. But it shouldn't be that hard.
No problem, if you don't have the Prolonged, then really any halfway descent Phaser there. Mark XII Purples should be fairly reasonable, just pick one up with sub par mods and re-engineer them and you should be just fine. Baring that, you could just use a Fleet Phaser Beam, they're pretty cheap.
Yeah, if I don't have one stashed somewhere I can craft them myself. Thanks for the tips.
I've never run a torpedo boat, so I'd definitely make changes to the LRSV. Keep the Gravimetric and add some DBBs or beam arrays. Omnis in the rear with the morphogenic, I think.
Now a LTS and loving it.
Just because you spend money on this game, it does not entitle you to be a jerk if things don't go your way.
I have come to the conclusion that I have a memory like Etch-A-Sketch. I shake my head and forget everything.
I've even managed at least once in that Galorndon Core mission to not go through any respawns. It still has it's challenges, but they're not insurmountable anymore.
Now a LTS and loving it.
Just because you spend money on this game, it does not entitle you to be a jerk if things don't go your way.
I have come to the conclusion that I have a memory like Etch-A-Sketch. I shake my head and forget everything.
A thanks from me too, sea. I like doing budget builds and those look really nice. I'll have to see about fixing up my T5 ships and take them out to play.
Except I'll have to find something to replace the prolonged engagement weapon as I didn't do that event, so don't have it. But it shouldn't be that hard.
If you want the prolonged engagement weapon, just earn 3 weekend-vouchers during the next weekend event (sompek and the new no win scenario, iirc), and unlock it for every character on your account.
Comments
No, they are not.
At first.
@mattjohnsonva…
Let me say thank you for the tips and information! Many thanks for that.
Now secondly.
@all…
I am not sure but I have the impression, that we have here an example of *It was mentioned many times, but I didn’t listen / read it!*.
So once again for all of those here who obviously are not able to read a whole text consisting out of more than one or two sentences or only want to read and understand that what they want.
As I mentioned now already many times before – I am talking about a Level 65 Char with EQUIPMENT CASUAL PLAYERS ARE ABLE TO OBTAIN.
That means…
NO to the following and I EMPHASIZE THE *NNOOOO* !!!!
What is left…
Regarding the difference in strength etc..
Yes, there is a big difference between Lv 60 and Lv 65 and that is the whole problem. As it also was mentioned by me and by others, players should still be able to play the *NORMAL* difficult content of the game with the normal Loot-Items from NPCs and the Items from Mission rewards. If new players or casual players need to farm and grind for a long time only to be able to play the content on *NORMAL-MODE*, for example Episodes on Lv 65 or normal STFs, then that means that the devs made some serious design mistakes in the game. The results of those mistakes will be, that the game will be totally unfriendly for new and casual players. It will scare them away and it will only retain veteran players. Although a lot of veterans might believe otherwise, a game without new players and casual players won’t endure for long, since those two groups make up a large portion of the player-base.
But we can cut this whole *its your build and there is a huge gap between lv 60 and 60* stuff short, because there are some reddit-threads in which a dev stated that there is a problem with the damage coming from NPCs and that they are investigating it and applying changes. Those threads may be a month old but since a dev answered to them, there really are problems which are affecting a lot of players.
Here are the reddit threads - No. 1 and No. 2 .
Best regards
Basically your list limits it to things that are effectively FREE.
My character Tsin'xing
Great !!!!!
Finally !!!!!
Someone understood what new and casual Players rely on to play the game and what should be used to play *NORMAL* difficult content! Even on Level 65.
Now if you would and could explain this to everyone else who was not able to grasp it until now
Best regards
My character Tsin'xing
Which is moronic, but hey, I don't think his standard are realistic either.
My character Tsin'xing
https://www.reddit.com/r/CheapDeepz/
I listen to STO videos while doing chores around the house, that is easier than finding time to read...so.. check the you tube video channel by Timberwolf. He has a few on budget builds and he explains things very well. Look for videos with budget in the title. Or just message him for a list of the budget stuff...he is on FB, if you use that.
The archives are here:
https://m.youtube.com/user/TheTimberwolf1701/videos
“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” -- Benjamin Franklin
There are plenty of folks playing casually and skipping the "fill out the bar" aspects of the game. I do not know when Cryptic will get back around to taking a look at the "normal" part of the game. I am sure it has got to be on their to do by now! As many complaints as there have been.
As you know they are busy with the stuff coming out with Discovery. So busy it seems things broken with Victory is Life is on the back burner. Hopefully, after that more fixes will come in.
“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” -- Benjamin Franklin
And if you choose to intentionally ignore major game systems that make things easier for you, that's your choice and therefore your fault.
Check out the links provided upthread and see what you can get. There will be some grinding for mission reward sets, but grinding is part of any MMO, as was also stated.
To want to get a good setup with minimal effort just isn't possible. But since they took the cooldown off of repeating missions it's much easier to get the reward sets because you can repeat them back to back.
Well... Great idea. Guess what I've been doing the moment I had access to DOffing and Admiralty! But I think I'dont need to bring up the amounts of ECs and Dilithium a casual Player makes and the amounts needed to get Gear, which will be according to some people here necessary to play the game even as a casual Player. Also, you're aware that you'll Level faster than you can accumulate ressources?
No. That is according to my experience a common fact, which you can see in a lot of MMOs. And like yourself I've also played many different MMOs in the last 18 years. But it seems that my experience was different than yours, because I was able to Play all MMOs with the gear a could loot from NPCs. The only difference between STO and those MMOs was and is, that the devs in STO stopped to increase the Item-Level you can obtain from NPCs at a certain point and therefore making those items worthless (except the scavenging materials) for Players. In other MMOs every time there was and is an increase in the level there also is an increase in the level of items dropping from NPCs. That way new and casual players can at least continue to play the *normal* difficult content of the game and don’t get in a situation where they find it to annoying and frustrating to continue.
Regarding that everything in the game is available - yes you are right and you are also right about that some things need to be grinded and farmed. But you are wrong about that I have problems with grinding and farming – I do not!!! What I have a problem with is that even new and casual players need to farm and grind endlessly to be able to play even the most basic and most normal content of the game – for example Episodes. From my experience I can tell you that such games won’t keep new and casual players for long and at some point, they will also start losing players, since they’ll get to annoyed and frustrated after running against a wall over and over again.
Just think about it for one moment. You are a new or casual player. You are levelling quite fast in STO and are happy about that. You are playing the DOffs and Admiralty parts of the game, collecting resources etc.. Then you hit Lv 65 but still have 50% of all Episodes ahead of you. Now you are taking a look at all those builds and information about what is best and you try to build them with the limited resources you have. Meaning you’ll start with a build you can afford for a few ten thousand Dilithium and perhaps 2-3 million ECs. Now you’ll continue to play Episodes or try STFs and get killed over and over again (hitting a wall hard). Now what would be the result of that? Guess what?! The person/player will get annoyed, frustrated and finally leave the game for good and in the worst case will tell everyone how annoying and unfriendly to new and casual players the game is.
Now you can say – as you already did – that this way of playing (depending on looted items or as you said free gear) is wrong and those Players need to grind and farm their asses of to be able to play the normal content of the game. But hey, ever thought about that this maybe wrong??? Not everyone has the time to grind of their asses for weeks or even months of casual play time (perhaps 1h per day or 1h every two days) just to be able to continue playing *normal* content like Episodes. Also, not every Player is able, can or perhaps wants to join a Fleet, for what reasons ever. And even if they would do so, they would still need to get all those tens of thousands of Fleet-Credits and Dilithium to be able to buy fleet gear.
But well. What does it matter. As you also already said/wrote. It seems to be pointless. Explaining things from the perspective of a casual player to others isn’t easy and will most certainly end with being called a leecher, whiner or even worse. At least until now no one here has sunken to that level. But hey, I am quite sure someone will come a long and get down to that level too.
Best regards
P.s.:
@mattjohnsonva
Just as a bonus. You can enjoy your 5-man team mega war and all the high-end end-game content with all the BiS-Gear you can get and have as much as you like. I am happy if you do enjoy it, since you should have fun playing a game. But keep in mind that in most MMOs the number of players doing this kind of stuff makes up only a small portion of the player-base and that the majority of players will play casual/normal content! So, please don’t start to fret if there comes a time when less and less players will join your ranks, since all newcomers left before they even reached the end-game.
Thanks for the tips. I've also watched the Videos from Timberwolf. Those are really good.
Yeah. I also hope with the release of Discovery the devs will turn their attention to those Bugs and problems. Perhaps we will get lucky and they will adjust the damage curve or (dreaming here
Best regards
It does take a lot of time even doing queues like crazy, to get mk13+ weaponry. There are a few missions which can be accessed immedietly that don't seem broken for some decent sets. The Sunrise mission gives the especially popular quantum phase set, and it's following mission gives access to the equivilent impulse/shield/deflector set(though maybe avoid it's impulse engine, it's a slugging combat impulse).
I also did the crazy thing if powering through "home" for the morphogenic set which is also especially decent, although it took a ton of EC to get a beam array setup.
For build refinement(this still won't stop the insane torp damage) in solo play i've been using emergency power to shields for the +shield resistance both direct and from the increased power to shields. And as usual fighting with weapons power at max.
Some thoughts;
Every player should get a respec at 60 or even 65 for that toon.
The game needs to teach the value of things like shield resistance, armor ratings, defense early. It doesn't actually teach that at all and I got lucky seeing the shield hardness skill actually makes shields take less damage.
Missions should drop training manuals for the important skills besides just giving us new bridge officers occasionally and teach players how to expand the skill-set of bridge officers.
Game should better explain in those skills what they really do if they stop any kind of debuff effect. Engineering team countering engineering debuffs isn't enough, give us some specific examples in game! Same with hazard emitters!
And yes, do something about the damage scaling if there are complains all over the place with this update even with people who've setup there ship reasonably well there is a problem stop being an elitist over it. Typing your hands bloody saying "Real players are willing to work for there fun!" in any way not only doesn't help, but actually hurts everyones perspective about hard games they may otherwise enjoy. Possibly even hurting peoples perspective about THIS game you claim to care so much about.
That's coming from someone who likes hard games like deus ex on realistic(instantly killed by near every enemy bro!), modding fallout 4 so enemies kill me instantly, skyrim redone ect, and playing dark souls sometimes. I enjoy that because I have ways of making it fun(posted a video on the ruleset for difficult games being fun, I should just put it in my sig).
Thinking of ideas from lots of games for, dunno how long now.
Azrael...it costs in time. Not everyone has that commodity.
Maybe more advice to all players......on where the "good" sets, what missions to repeat to get things to tie them over until they have more time, would be more welcome.
“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” -- Benjamin Franklin
When there's a Phoenix Event, gather all the Phoenix Upgrades you can. (If you have alts, use them too - Upgrades are transferable.) Then, after the event if you can wait that long, start applying them to that Mk XII gear you've got. You'll be hitting Mk XIV in no time, and without dropping a penny.
As for EC, you know all those drops you get that you can't use, either because you don't have that specialty or because you don't need ingredients for recipes? You can either shovel them into your replicator (gives you half the cash value), sell them to a vendor (full cash value), or put them on the Exchange (sometimes ludicrous value - I sold a Synthale, 20 credits from my replicator, for 5000 EC the other day). Right now I've got more EC in my account bank (given away during an anniversary event, as I recall) than any of my toons can carry.
I class myself as a casual gamer, but my skills are better than the average casual gamer, yet even I have a hard time with some enemies when I'm using Mk12 VR gear at lvl 65.
Like many players I use Argala to level ship mastery, at lvl 60 I could clear it pretty quickly with most of my toons using mk12 gear, not any more, the only ones that can still "blow through" it at lvl 65 fly carriers, their lvl 66 pets are what makes the difference.
I don't grind, I don't farm dil, I don't do team content, so my gear is either mission rewards or crafted (myself or off the exchange), with a little rep gear when I can afford it.
So yeah the game is unbalanced, at the very least mission rewards should reflect your level, it might make things a bit easier if they did, and it might even help keep newer players in game.
This is not now, nor has it ever been an expectable argument.
Video Games are for entertainment, their intent is to occupy time with entertainment. Time is not a cost when you're talking about entertainment. Simply put, if time is a factor then you're better off finding a hobby that fits better into your schedule.
Excellent suggestion, but there are resources available for this. A great place to start is with the DPS league free ship guides. These builds all use free ships with gear that's accessible through mission rewards. If any of the gear in the builds is something you are not sure how to obtain, you can look on The Wiki Page or just ask.
Changing what people do in the game is not the objective. It is passing along information and advice.
Giving people the options where they can continue doing what they already do, may create less vinegar. Then it becomes a chance to explain why those options work. Instead of pushing people into using game systems they do not want to spend time on, currently. That is the resistance most of you are hitting. Not that your advice is bad.
Advising them better options exist on other gear they could go work toward later on is OK. But allow them to decide how and when they are ready to make that move. Just be good knowing you have given them the information that they can use to lay their groundwork.
“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” -- Benjamin Franklin
Except I'll have to find something to replace the prolonged engagement weapon as I didn't do that event, so don't have it. But it shouldn't be that hard.
No problem, if you don't have the Prolonged, then really any halfway descent Phaser there. Mark XII Purples should be fairly reasonable, just pick one up with sub par mods and re-engineer them and you should be just fine. Baring that, you could just use a Fleet Phaser Beam, they're pretty cheap.
Not really sure exactly what you're saying here, but just to be totally clear, the builds given are suggestions. They are intended to be used as templates to help players build effectively. Of course, the option exists to just copy the build exactly and that's fine if that's what you want. Otherwise, the intent is to give you a base to work with.. if there is something there that doesn't fit your style, simply make an adjustment. In my case for example, I don't use Torpedoes so I would swap that out for something more preferable to my style and then make the appropriate change to the skill tree and to bridge officer powers. If something like that comes up for you and you need suggestions on how to make changes, just say the word.
I play the game since 2010 early access and i wouldn't dare say i know all about it. Thats a bit far stretched don't you think? Upgrading and cost are always depending on how much time one player can invest into the game what seems cheap and quick to come by to you might be expensive and miles away for others. Your standards don't apply for entire player base.
Yeah, if I don't have one stashed somewhere I can craft them myself. Thanks for the tips.
I've never run a torpedo boat, so I'd definitely make changes to the LRSV. Keep the Gravimetric and add some DBBs or beam arrays. Omnis in the rear with the morphogenic, I think.
If you want the prolonged engagement weapon, just earn 3 weekend-vouchers during the next weekend event (sompek and the new no win scenario, iirc), and unlock it for every character on your account.