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What is the Arc Client?
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Think of coming back, Been gone for YEARS, like right after launch. Maybe played 1 time since
darkshadow1029
Member Posts: 11 Arc User
in The Academy
Hi,
As title says. I* am thinking about returning. What should I know, what should I be aware of, is there a place for some one that will be fresh and a newbie. I have alot of questions depending on what is said. Like classes, ships what is need, what to take?
As title says. I* am thinking about returning. What should I know, what should I be aware of, is there a place for some one that will be fresh and a newbie. I have alot of questions depending on what is said. Like classes, ships what is need, what to take?
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You'll probably want a T6 = tier 6 = endgame ship at some point once your character level is in the 55-65 range but you can choose any ship you like. The Winter event starting soon will get you a free T6 event ship for 25 days of doing winter wonderland group events (easy, no gear needed).
Captain career:
Ships: Any career can fly any ship. It is the ship's bridge officer seating that sets the powers. These are the most common types/builds
You get a few free low level ships while you level up, so you can see what looks like fun. It's harder to get a sense for science though because you have very few bridge powers and console slots in the low level ships so not much space magic is possible.
Crafting: Can be very useful if you want standard weapons instead of fancy visuals lock box weapons. Also good for leveling up since you can craft +energy damage consoles, +damage resist (Engineering - Neutronium). Craft at Mk II not higher so you get more chances for a jump in quality / rarity.
Upgrading gear: Phoenix upgrade tokens. Save up 40,000 dil to buy a 10-pack of phoenix boxes. These are much more efficient than using the green-blue-pink tokens from vendors and the exchange
Reputations: Good for both ground and space gear sets to fit the captain and ship you've chosen
It's all been mainly covered above by davefenestrator but I'll add a few things:
(Keep an eye open for when there's a Phoenix Pack event as you can get one free each day.)
If you want to save yourself the time, you can also purchase Zen with real-world cash.
The Monthly Subscription was discontinued some time ago, but the lifetime subscription is still available and is regularly offered at a 33% discount, rarely even a 50% discount.
The game can be played entirely without spending any cash whatsoever.
The following 2 videos from Justice Gaming might help you decide. I know they're a little out of date, but the content is still accurate.
Not that you need to spend any money. Play with the T1-T5 free ships, do the events for 2 x T6 ships.
If you want a T6 Federation ship, try buying some zen on sale ($20-25 is enough) then wait for a sale on ships at 20%-30% off. There are also some "elite faction starter packs" that come with a T6 ship that are $20 list price and sometimes at 20% - 25% off - https://stowiki.net/wiki/Elite_Faction_Starter_Packs
It's easier on consoles -- dil market on Xbox is around 250? I think, PS4/5 is around 330. You can even get the lifetime sub, but it doesn't get you a monthly 500 zen stipend.
EDIT:Games that really go for the Pay2Win generally have obvious power curve where the paid ships/weapons/characters are needed to succeed.
I wouldn't say any of the packs are essential, but if you want access to a load of ships quickly, one of these three packs will definitely get you that.
The Discovery pack has fewer ships available in it yet has a similar cost to the above three, which I consider makes it of less value.
The Romulan pack hails from a time before Tier 6 Ships were added to the game and has only Tier 1-4 ships along with their Tier 5 variants. There's some nice ships there, but the Tier 1-4 ships can now be unlocked with Dilithium instead of Zen, and the lack of ship traits does make them of lesser value again. However, some of those Tier 5 ships have better consoles than their T6 version.
Again, neither of these 2 packs contain anything I'd consider essential, but all 5 packs certainly contain some things that are 'Nice To Have', some more than others. All you have to decide is how quickly you want them - buy now, or grind out the dilithium and get them later.
All factions have their advantages and disadvantages, but I'd say Romulan Republic characters have the best storyline to level up on.
Each of the main three - Starfleet, KDF and Romulan - share strands of the overall storyline but to get the best overall picture of what's going on in the galaxy, I'd recommend one of each.
The Dominion don't enter the main storyline until much later, but Jem'Hadar characters start at level 60.
Now, before you go creating a multitude of characters all at once, I'd suggest some planning to take advantage of the four recruitment events that tend to run at various times of the year.
Recruits have specific objectives to complete as they level, some easy, some hard, but they also unlock account-wide bonuses that can be reclaimed on all other characters on the account.
Some rewards are specific to each faction, so to get the best out of this one, you'd need one for each faction.
One of the best account-wide rewards here is the upgrade to your Reputation projects allowing your characters to create Ultra Rare Mk XIII equipment instead of just Very Rare Mk XII.
This Recruit is a bit more 'grindy' to get all the rewards, but among them is a T6-X upgrade token to take a T6 ship and add a little more functionality to it by making it a T6-X ship.
Definitely the 'grindiest' of the four, the Klingon Recruit has a special Bat'leth that becomes more and more powerful as you kill enemies of the Empire, which is also unlocked account-wide. There is also a free Tier 6 ship to be had from this Recruit.
You get a lot of older ships from 2014 in the Delta pack, and they are all Intel special seating so you don't get to try the newer Temporal, Command, Miracle Worker. Unless you know you want several of the ships you're probably better off picking and choosing individual ships when there are 20% off - 25% off ship sales like right now.
For Romulan you might look over the Romulan Tier 6 list here to see what catches your eye - https://stowiki.net/wiki/Playable_starship
The pages for individual ships also show how much they cost (zen/cstore, lobi, lock box, promo pack) and what other skins / looks are available for them, but read the entries for those skins to see if the unlock is free, or if you need to own other ships. For example the Malem includes a free unlock for the T'Varo but not for the T'Liss (must buy other ships) - https://stowiki.net/wiki/Malem_Light_Warbird
If you want the Malem (nimble but fragile, tactical focused) instead of something less nimble but more sturdy, there is a pack for it that is cheaper than buying just the ship - https://stowiki.net/wiki/Elite_Faction_Starter_Packs