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klaxxon82klaxxon82 Member Posts: 5 Arc User
How difficult would it be to add Tactical to an Engineer or Science to a Tactical officer?

I've invested heavily in Engineering and I wish I could swap to Tactical. I have many characters but it daunting to get them to where my Engineer is at. Does anyone else think this should be an option?
Post edited by baddmoonrizin on

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    fleetcaptain5#1134 fleetcaptain5 Member Posts: 4,789 Arc User
    What do you mean with 'invested in engineering'?

    Skill points can be retrained, if that's what you're referring to.

    If you mean changing the career of the character: I don't really see the added value. Career only matters for a handful abilities anyway (and perhaps for RP purposes). As said, everything else can be respecced, or ignored according to preference (like uniform colours).

    Personally I like that career can't be changed, as it encourages you to really think through the character you're going to create.

    Now, a fourth career would be interesting. But unlikely to ever happen, since we got the specialisation trees instead. Which weren't quite as spectacular as they seemed, back when they announced new career paths as part of Delta Rising.
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    duncanidaho11duncanidaho11 Member Posts: 7,867 Arc User
    edited August 2023
    klaxxon82 wrote: »
    How difficult would it be to add Tactical to an Engineer or Science to a Tactical officer?

    I've invested heavily in Engineering and I wish I could swap to Tactical. I have many characters but it daunting to get them to where my Engineer is at. Does anyone else think this should be an option?

    Presently you can address that situation by:
    1. Respec and invest in more TAC oriented skills
    2. Fly a TAC oriented ship for more TAC consoles and bridge officer abilities
    3. Pick up damage buffing kit modules (ex. Command spec's strategic analysis, Miracle worker spec's VISOR emulation overlay; both available from the dilithium store with enough corresponding spec point spent) or traits (ex. adrenaline release, available on the exchange) for more TAC-ish ground abilities.
    4. Invest in more offensive traits (personal, reputation, and starship)

    STO is already an incredibly flexible MMO when it comes to builds and each profession can take on shades of any other profession with the right choices. With Engineering, going heavy into TAC is a bit easier than with TAC for newer players because you have a bedrock of survivability with your captain traits. TAC doubling/tripling down on TAC presents a glass cannon build and non-vets generally lack the gear/ships to really make that work at the end-game (starship traits and consoles are the keys to big power, not full investment in minor TAC skills). You just want to avoid as an ENG character going so far down ENG's path you can't do anything else (Ex. kill ships) as doubling/tripling down on survival doesn't come with any answer for how to finish combat.

    As far as "adding classes" go: don't forget that specializations exist (which was Cryptic's answer to adding more classes starting from 2014, which not only provided for new perks and ship abilities but made them available to all players without having to make new characters, opening up more new build paths in combinations than would have existed with new professions.)
    Post edited by duncanidaho11 on
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    vetteguy904vetteguy904 Member Posts: 3,857 Arc User
    or just roll a tac captain
    Spock.jpg

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    inferiorityinferiority Member Posts: 4,009 Arc User
    ...since we got the specialisation trees instead. Which weren't quite as spectacular as they seemed, back when they announced new career paths as part of Delta Rising.
    They were never announced as new career paths.
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    rattler2rattler2 Member Posts: 58,023 Community Moderator
    They also really can't add new career paths because the three we have line up with the three canon Departments in Starfleet. Tactical (Command), Engineering (Operations), and Science. There isn't any other department in Star Trek that can be made into a career path class. On top of that... the three existing ones we have are so customizable that it really doesn't matter. You can load up on Intel kit modules or universals, and other than Captain abilities you can pretty much be anything you want.
    db80k0m-89201ed8-eadb-45d3-830f-bb2f0d4c0fe7.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcL2ExOGQ4ZWM2LTUyZjQtNDdiMS05YTI1LTVlYmZkYmJkOGM3N1wvZGI4MGswbS04OTIwMWVkOC1lYWRiLTQ1ZDMtODMwZi1iYjJmMGQ0YzBmZTcucG5nIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.8G-Pg35Qi8qxiKLjAofaKRH6fmNH3qAAEI628gW0eXc
    I can't take it anymore! Could everyone just chill out for two seconds before something CRAZY happens again?!
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    protoneousprotoneous Member Posts: 2,988 Arc User
    klaxxon82 wrote: »
    How difficult would it be to add Tactical to an Engineer
    My engineering, science and tactical characters are usually spec'd about the same with respect to the skill tree (both ground and space) unless they're purposely more fully spec'd into science for space magic.. BUT even then the common element among all of them is lots of red (tactical) in their skill trees. For me that would be about 20-27 points into the tactical portion of the skill tree. Red is needed for damage no matter what a character's profession is.
    or Science to a Tactical officer?
    Adding "science" to any character is done via the character's skill tree (in conjunction with your ship's consoles) so that offensive science bridge officer abilities work better. Usually about two points each into control expertise, EPG, and perhaps Drain.

    Adding "engineering" to any character doesn't necessarily make sense (to me) as this portion of the skill tree consists of a small amount of supportive skills that most characters need. Yes, sometimes to make room for tactical AND science it might be necessary to go a bit lighter in the engineering skills than one is accustomed to.
    I've invested heavily in Engineering and I wish I could swap to Tactical. I have many characters but it daunting to get them to where my Engineer is at. Does anyone else think this should be an option?
    One way to play around with different skill trees and builds would be to copy your character to the Tribble Test Server and then head to Drozana station. There is a console on the back wall of the main room with lots of cool stuff i.e. unlimited respecs, tokens to upgrade gear at no cost, etc. Then head into some patrols via the TFO menu to test things out.

    If you're wondering about skill tree point allocation just ask. There would likely be lots of discussion and feedback.
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    davefenestratordavefenestrator Member Posts: 10,513 Arc User
    edited August 2023
    The differences between tac and eng:

    - a few captain space and ground powers
    - what ground kit modules you can use

    That's it.

    What is it about tac that you want to do? Your Eng can fly any of the tac ships, and can focus on DPS. Attack Pattern Alpha helps the high-end DPSers doing elite TFO premade group runs to eke out slightly higher numbers but that's about it.
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    knightmare#8708 knightmare Member Posts: 291 Arc User
    rattler2 wrote: »
    They also really can't add new career paths because the three we have line up with the three canon Departments in Starfleet. Tactical (Command), Engineering (Operations), and Science. There isn't any other department in Star Trek that can be made into a career path class.

    I have to disagree with you here there is one other MAJOR Career path that has really been over looked by Start Trek Online and one that should be implemented. That career path is The Red Shirt, they have played a major role in nearly every star trek series, selflessly dying for the values of Starfleet and their captains. They even have their own ship, The Oberth.

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    rattler2rattler2 Member Posts: 58,023 Community Moderator
    I have to disagree with you here there is one other MAJOR Career path that has really been over looked by Start Trek Online and one that should be implemented. That career path is The Red Shirt, they have played a major role in nearly every star trek series, selflessly dying for the values of Starfleet and their captains. They even have their own ship, The Oberth.

    Red Shirts were Security, which translated into STO would fall under Tactical. And as Tactical is a bit more focused on DPS than the other two... Tacs can potentially go full Red Shirt with their durability.
    db80k0m-89201ed8-eadb-45d3-830f-bb2f0d4c0fe7.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcL2ExOGQ4ZWM2LTUyZjQtNDdiMS05YTI1LTVlYmZkYmJkOGM3N1wvZGI4MGswbS04OTIwMWVkOC1lYWRiLTQ1ZDMtODMwZi1iYjJmMGQ0YzBmZTcucG5nIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.8G-Pg35Qi8qxiKLjAofaKRH6fmNH3qAAEI628gW0eXc
    I can't take it anymore! Could everyone just chill out for two seconds before something CRAZY happens again?!
    The nut who actually ground out many packs. The resident forum voice of reason (I HAZ FORUM REP! YAY!)
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    protoneousprotoneous Member Posts: 2,988 Arc User
    Attack Pattern Alpha helps
    It sure does. Even when playing events or random TFO's :+1:
    rattler2 wrote: »
    ... as Tactical is a bit more focused on DPS than the other two... Tacs can potentially go full Red Shirt with their durability.
    Science and Engineering toons need all their heals because they haven't got Attack Pattern Alpha :p
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    spiritbornspiritborn Member Posts: 4,264 Arc User
    edited August 2023
    The Red shirt mortality is has also been heavily exaggerated, based on how the fans depict it starfleet has the "human(oid) sacrifice" department with Redshirts.

    While in the films/TV-series themselves while it was often a Redshirt (or a Goldshirt in TNG era works) who died to make things look serious, it was more due to the fact that Redshirts were Tactical(security) or Engineering so in high risk jobs to begin with, it's not like the ship's historian or xeno-linguist would in situations where their life is in danger all that often.

    And yes in prime universe (and in Kelvin-timeline too) Tactical and Engineering share department colors, it's only in STO where Tactical share's color with Command.
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    phoenixc#0738 phoenixc Member Posts: 5,508 Arc User
    edited August 2023
    spiritborn wrote: »
    The Red shirt mortality is has also been heavily exaggerated, based on how the fans depict it starfleet has the "human(oid) sacrifice" department with Redshirts.

    While in the films/TV-series themselves while it was often a Redshirt (or a Goldshirt in TNG era works) who died to make things look serious, it was more due to the fact that Redshirts were Tactical(security) or Engineering so in high risk jobs to begin with, it's not like the ship's historian or xeno-linguist would in situations where their life is in danger all that often.

    And yes in prime universe (and in Kelvin-timeline too) Tactical and Engineering share department colors, it's only in STO where Tactical share's color with Command.

    That "color sharing" is because they don't actually have a "tactical" department in TOS, the department structure was:
    • Command (goldshirts in TOS) who mostly deal with things pertaining to the ships actions such as maneuvering, navigating, and fighting with ship's weapons
    • Operations (redshirts in TOS) who generally do things important to the health of the ship itself such as maintenance and damage control (which includes kicking enemy boarding parties off of it)
    • Science (blueshirt) which mainly deals with the scientific mission and additionally is responsible for the health of the crew.
    but the job descriptions don't always neatly fall into just one of the three.

    Uhura's job is a good example of that. Originally, she was in Command and wore the gold uniform as Third Officer (but NBC had horrendous hissy-fits over that and refused to allow her to be shown in that role, so whenever a no-name extra is sitting in the command chair it was scripted to be Uhura there), then transferred to Operations and wore the red uniform of that department. The master communications position on the bridge combined aspects of the two departments, with the communications part itself being technically cCommand but the internal coordination part (like damage control coordination) was technically an Ops function.

    Further complicating the issue is that people sometimes wear more than one hat and perform several sets of duties at once even when those duties are technically in different departments (like Spock who was both First Officer and Chief Science Officer, duties which (at least in the TOS era) are normally performed by two different people in different departments).

    And yes, the redshirt mortality rate has been exaggerated by the fans, if you actually tally up all of the casualties goldshirt deaths are significantly higher than redshirts (by something like 20-30 percent iirc). Myth though it is, it is still a good meme for videos:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3cL1Aofy90

    Edit: I had the wrong names for the departments (I am not great on names).
    Post edited by phoenixc#0738 on
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    rattler2rattler2 Member Posts: 58,023 Community Moderator
    I think its because of the sheer number of Redshirt deaths that occured on screen versus Gold or Blue. Percentage wise, yes Gold is more lethal, but that is by virtue of fewer numbers of on screen deaths.

    However... the legend remains that if you're pretty much a no name in a red shirt, you're gonna die.
    db80k0m-89201ed8-eadb-45d3-830f-bb2f0d4c0fe7.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcL2ExOGQ4ZWM2LTUyZjQtNDdiMS05YTI1LTVlYmZkYmJkOGM3N1wvZGI4MGswbS04OTIwMWVkOC1lYWRiLTQ1ZDMtODMwZi1iYjJmMGQ0YzBmZTcucG5nIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.8G-Pg35Qi8qxiKLjAofaKRH6fmNH3qAAEI628gW0eXc
    I can't take it anymore! Could everyone just chill out for two seconds before something CRAZY happens again?!
    The nut who actually ground out many packs. The resident forum voice of reason (I HAZ FORUM REP! YAY!)
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    laman#4431 laman Member Posts: 5 New User
    If you need any help getting a new Tactical Captain up & running within a decent time let me know. I will be more than happy to give you great suggestions that can get you a Tac Captain at a competitive level within a short time. If you can just get your Engineers Reputation Levels to all T6 that will help greatly. Good luck for the future!!! 🖖 Bows
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