Character Creation & Career
The first step into the world of Star Trek Online is to create a character. Before you select the race, gender and look will come the most important aspect of the process; career. There are three to choose from; tactical, engineering or science. Each one changes how you'll play the game to some extent, so choose wisely.
Tactical Officers
The career of a tactical officer is one of security and warfare. You're a frontline fighter and protector and thus you're geared accordingly as your career progresses. Such officers wear red* and are best matched with escort starships.
The Defiant is an iconic escort starship, the likes of which you can fly from level 30 onwards when promoted to Captain...
Engineering Officers
An engineer's life is spent building, designing and maintaining the many technological wonders of the 23 or 25 century. Such officers are highly capable of utilizing their technological knowhow to keep starships, shuttles and even away teams healthy and strong. Engineers wear gold* uniforms and are best paired with cruisers.
The Enterprise D is an iconic cruiser starship, the likes of which you can fly from level 30 onwards when promoted to Captain...
Science Officers
This is the career of explorers, doctors and scientific curiosity. Science officers are adept at many tricks when their expertise is called upon, ranging from bolstering the starship and crew's health whilst diminishing the enemies, causing confusion and weakening enemies or simply bringing their medical or scientific knowledge to bare to repair the starship or heal its crew. Science officers wear blue and are best when in command of science starships.
Voyager is an iconic science starship, the likes of which you can fly from level 30 onwards when promoted to Captain...
Now that you've made your career choice you may be confused a mite by all the uniform options during the rest of the character creation process. Thankfully, the default (Odyssey) option is the modern uniform. If you've fiddled about a bit, fear not and use this guide to help you fix things; http://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/6005803 And if you begin your career in the 23 century, I trust you can figure out the apt uniform for that era.
* Please note that in the 23 century tactical characters wear gold and engineering characters wear red...
Tutorial & Starting Starship
Now, as soon as you hit engage after the character creation process, you'll begin your tutorial. This tutorial will walk you through most aspects of the game and how many of the mechanics and do-dats work. It's also damn good to get your Star Trek juices flowing with excitement and anticipation as to what's coming next.
However, one aspect is neglected here; starship weapon auto-fire. If you want to press a single button and have your weapons fire when able once you've targeted an enemy starship then you simply need to right click your weapons symbols on the HUD at the bottom centre so that they have a green hue around them. Now when you click on one of your weapons with an enemy in range, they'll fire until your target is destroyed whenever they're able. It makes life a mite easier, so don't forget. ;)
Sadly, you can't choose which starship you start with...you're not in command yet. But hang on in there and your time will come...
Your tutorial will come to a close when you reach Earth Spacedock for the first time and talk to Admiral Quinn...or Admiral Garrett if you're from the 23 century.
Welcome To Earth Spacedock
Oddly enough this is the name of the mission that notes the end of the tutorial for you. Or if you're from the 23 century it will be a case of Explore Earth Spacedock first. Regardless, it is during this mission you'll be finding out all about new starships...sort of.
You see, whilst this mission marks your first promotion and gifts you a new starship of your choice...it neglects to tell you how to ready your new starship or customise its appearance if you like such things. Don't worry, that's why I'm covering this here with you.
Now each promotion will bring you back to Earth Spacedock and Admiral Quinn. And each promotion will give you a free starship up to the rank of Rear Admiral...also know as level 40. Plus a free T5 Galaxy class starship at level 61 via the Shipyard. Thereafter, you'll need the C Store if you want a new starship.
The C Store can be accessed via a button just below your mini map at the top right of the screen. But more about this and Zen in a moment...
To choose a new starship for free you simply need to go to the shipyard where you can see a number of starships docked. Press M to bring up the map if it help guide you better. Here there is a large desk-type area to the left and right. Find Lieutenant Laurel (first left) and fliter the starships by rank to help you out. Now, choose your new starship if you don't want to spend real-world money. As you do, please bare in mind that your career doesn't limit the choice of starship you may command. For example, even a science or tactical officer can command a cruiser.
Now, if you don't mind spending some real-world money on the game, you'll notice refit versions (and the likes) of starships are available for something called Zen. This is an in-game currency you can get for a micro-transaction with Steam. Once you have money in your Steam Wallet, you can use it to buy Zen. In turn, you can use that Zen to purchase a refit (or some such) type of starship.
C Store starships have a little more to offer than the free starships. The stats are typically better than their normal counterparts and you'll often get an additional bridge officer slot or a somesuch to give you more fighting power or survivability. And sometimes you'll get a unique console.
Such consoles come in two varieties; universal or type specific...
Universal consoles may come with a certain starship, but as you change your starship with future promotions or whims, you can take these consoles with you and place it on ANY new starship for use. A good example of this is the photonic displacer you get with the science vessel refit.
Type specific consoles on the other hand are limited to a certain type of starship class. Over time they'll usually form a set with bonuses for each "matching console" in the set. Such "matching consoles" tend to come with a new tier version of the same starship. A good example of this is the nadeon detonator you get with the long range science vessel refit.
AND, with all this in mind, you may now use a tier 6 starship once you've completed the tutorial and it will now level with your character...
Take a look here to get a better idea of starships you may like; http://sto.gamepedia.com/Playable_starship
OK, so now you have a new starship you'll no doubt want to use it...right? Of course you do! But where did it go game? Thanks for not telling me...GRRRR!!!
Right, calm down, that's why you have this guide to help out. At the shipyard on Earth Spacedock I want you to find Ensign Obin (the first one on the right) and talk to them. They'll show you a list of all the starships and shuttles you have. You can only "ready" one starship and one shuttle at a time. So take all your old gear off your old starship (least you need it for the new one) and ready the new one you want to fly. Back out of this screen and click U to check all is well.
Be mindful that some C Store starships you buy may go in a box into your inventory. If that happens just click I and right click the box to open...then try again.
All good so far? Great!
Now, if you want to customise the appearance of your starship look for Dirz Raxx on the left middle desk thingy and talk to them. You'll figure out the rest from here...
Equipment
When you start out you'll have some basic gear curtosey of the game. Thanks game! The game will even give you some new stuff as for finishing a mission. However,the key to starships and away team success is gearing up as you level. As you gain levels the mark of gear you can use increases...all the way up to Mk XV. That's mark 15 least you didn't know. Now that's simple enough, but there's many different types of each sort of item available that is can be confusing...or it can be to some.
Calm down, it's fine. My advice to a beginner is to stick with the default types of gear if you're unsure. That means phasers and photon/quantum torpedoes for your starship and phasers for your away team. I would suggest full auto phaser rifles for away teams, just to make life a mite easier.
As you level up you can upgrade your gear or buy anew. Or maybe even get a nice item as a mission reward...
No doubt, in time, you'll puzzle out what all the different types of gear is and what they do, change your mind as to what works for you and maybe change it again later on after that. You'll no doubt have the means to dabble and try as you get more seasoned with the game. However, when in doubt just stick with the basics of phasers and photons in the beginning.
True Federation Style
Now, lets expand on the equipment we've touched upon and show you some of the basics in making a nifty cruiser or science ship with phasers and quantum torpedos in true federation style, without the need for fleet gear...
On the fore weapons you'll (ideally) want;
1 Quantum Torpedo [Dmg]x3
X* Phaser Beam Arrays [Dmg]x3
* Basically X is the number of remaining slots you have for weapons on the fore weapons array after you have the quantum torpedo taking its slot up.
When you reach a mission called Sunrise in the Future Proof season you will want to replace the quantum torpedo with the quantum phase torpedo and make sure you use torpedo spread (if you like to "upgrade" the torpedo attacks) to increase shield damage. You may also want to replay the mission and see if the quantum phase beam array works for you too...
On the aft weapons you'll (ideally) want;
1 Trilithium-Enhanced Omni-Directional Phaser Beam Array**
1 Omni-Directional Phaser Beam Array*** [Acc] [Arc] [Dmg]x2
X* Phaser Beam Arrays [Dmg]x3
You may also prefer 1 quantum torpedo on the rear of your ship if you have a fast turn rate...
* Basically X is the number of remaining slots you have for weapons on the aft weapons array after you have the omni-directional phaser beam array taking its slot up, and maybe a quantum torpedo too.
** You have to wait until you play Beyond the Nexus in the New Frontiers season to get this little gem to replace a phaser beam array.
*** You will have to wait until you can equip mk XII gear before you can use these. In the interim a phaser beam array in its place will serve you well.
For the engineering consoles;
1 Quantum Phase Converter**** (if you're flying a cruiser) then...
As many Neutronium Alloy as you can get.
For the science consoles;
1 Quantum Phase Converter**** (if you're flying a science ship) then...
As many Field Generators***** as you can get.
**** This will come from a replay of the Sunrise mission in the Future Proof Season.
***** You should replace 1 field generator with a Temporal Disentanglment Suite from the Butterfly mission in the Iconian War season.
For the tactical consoles;
As many Phaser Relays as you can get.
And that's the basics of a solid, true federation style Cruiser or Science Ship. You'll still have to choose your deflector, (secondary deflector if on a science ship), impulse engine, warp core and shield...but I'll leave that up to you and your chosen playstyle to determine such preferences and needs.
Escorts play a little differently and aren't my forte but I'll trust you to use what's above to find your way if you enjoy flying such starships...
Now, lets finish up with some nifty ground gear. As I mentioned above, you'll (ideally) want a Phaser Full Auto Rifle [Dmg]x3, alongside a Polyalloy Weave Armor [RegHP] [ResAll], and a Personal Shield [Cap]x3 for yourself and all your away team members.
Don't forget; either upgrade or replace your gear with higher mk and quality versions as you're able. In the end you'll ideally want all your gear mk XV and epic in quality.
All geared up you'll really will be playing in true federation style...
Admirality
Now, least you're thinking of decommissioning your old starships you no longer want; DON'T! When you get to a high enough level a system called admirality will open up and allow you to put them to good use. By all means strip out the old gear least you can use it in your new starship or sell it to get better stuff, but keep the old starships for when you're able to make use of them anew...
Pioneering The Future
As time goes on you'll have a great many decisions to make as to how your develop your starship, crew and yourself. Such decisions can be difficult, but easily changed if you change your mind about how to broach the game and discover just how you enjoy playing.
Such things are typically determined by equipment (as we touched upon earlier) as well as traits, skills, duty and bridge officer abilities we haven't...
Don't worry, the game will go over most of these things with you. However, that's not to say the vast array of combining options can't become dizzying for you. Heck, it can still confuse me a fair bit at times...but you'll figure things out in time as I have.
If you can sum up what you're after with your ship and crew however, the decisions can become a touch easier. Let me explain how with introducing you all to my starship; the U.S.S. Pioneer...
The U.S.S. Pioneer; crew compliment of 150, asynchronous warp drive, quantum phase torpedoes, adaptive shielding and bio-neural circuitry.
Believe it or not my first influence came from the bellerophon variant of the long range science vessel, its pure blue bussard and aesthetics...and as pathetic as this may sound, I fell in love with blue beam weapons and torpedoes.
What I never saw coming in this aesthetic decision was an incidental anti-shield design concept...
You see, tetryon weapons are blue. And the potential perk of a tetryon based weapon is to diminish your opponents shields. As soon as I realized this, I began to want everything I did to drain my opponents shield. After all, without shields my enemies would fall...FAST. It began to work, but soon I wanted more tricks to drain my enemies shields. You see, science ships can't really dish out a great deal of damage compared to escorts or cruisers. But I didn't let that stop me. A select active space duty officer and suddenly my tractor beam bridge officer ability was draining shields too.
Needless, to say I didn't stop there. As I learnt more about how things worked and what did what in the game the Pioneer became a heavy shielded anti-shield tank that hit like a borg cube.
However, as the seasons (and mission rewards) progressed I found I was not only able to use my anti shield design with phasers, but also take advantage of a firing cycle haste design atop of that...
The Pioneer is a constant work in progress...but to think, it all began with a quirky desire regarding aesthetics.
You can learn more via my Steam groups apt discussion in great detail if you so wish right here; http://steamcommunity.com/groups/vosorosgames/discussions/0/350533172682854617/
Who knows where your future will take you, but I have faith in you to find your way having read through this guide now. May you enjoy boldly going and live long and prosper...
You're NOT Alone
If you're happy playing the game alone, that's fine...you need do nothing more than enjoy the game. However, if you want to play with friends, pay attention...
After the tutorial is over you can team up with anybody, so long as they accept an invite. How do you do this you may well ask? Simple, make sure you're on the same number map together, the info for which is just above your mini map in the top right corner. If you're not on the same map, warp or transport out somewhere at the same time...that should fix it. Alternatively, you can just click on the instance/map number you're on (top center above your mini map) and it should bring up an option to change your instance number to match up with your friends and/or would be team mates.
Now, once on the same number map together, right click the person or their starship and click invite to team. Heck, if you like them enough, right click on them and friend them too.
Now here's a thing, if you know somebody and just want to friend them and team up as and when, you can do so without them being about. Simply find the "3 heads" button to the right of your mini map at the top right. The button is 2 above the ? button and directly below the mail button. Now, this opens a tab and in that tab you want to click the friends bit at the top. After that you should see a list of all your friends both on and offline. Here, a button should appear at the bottom right called add friend. Click this and add them with their character name then @ then their username all together. If you've got it right, all is well, they now appear in your friends list and you can team up from here whenever you like too. The game will tell you when they come on and go offline too from now on. Nifty huh?
FYI, you can see your game tag/name thingymabob by typing something into the chat window at the bottom left. It should preceed whatever you type in there every time...
Once you're in a team you must remember one thing; you need the level match the lowest ranked team member as this determines what level enemies you face in missions together. So, make sure the lowest ranked member of your team level matched and then perhaps designated team leader too. How you may ask? Simple, when you're in a team your team mates are displayed in the top-ish left corner. Scan over the buttons over there and one should allow you to match a character level. You ALL have to do that...just FYI folks.
OK, so with that done, make sure you have the same mission active and then boldly go together. Let the lowest level person click through the game text for you mind...
Wargames
Some folk claim that PvP is dead in this game. They're wrong...
Although there are PvP areas, perhaps the best way to challenge another person is in a wargame. Wargames come in both ground and space varieties which is determined by the map you select when you challenge another person or group of people.
How do you challenge other people then you may well ask. Simple, right click on a person or their starship and find challenge in the drop down menu. Click that and a challenge/wargame screen opens up that's pretty much self-explainitory.
FYI, if you want the change which team you're on, just drag your name into the team you'd like to be on...provided there's an empty slot.
The person who initiates the challenge has the option to change the map type, the number of defeats (of the opposing team) needed to win, etc. Keep challenging/inviting folk and make sure the teams are to your liking. And bare in mind this can be a 1 on 1 wargame as much as a group affair.
When you and the other folk are ready, it's time to begin...
A Picture-Prefect Ending
The final joy of playing Star Trek Online is the ability to capture and share profound moments with your friends on Steam. No doubt you know that F12 will allow you to take a screenshot. But if you want to take a more dramatic shot you can pass around and perhaps use as a screensaver or background for your PC, try toggling the HUD off by holding ALT and then pressing F12. Don't worry, this won't take a picture at the same time...just toggle the HUD off...and then on again if you do it once more.
You can manoeuvre you ship and fire your weapons (etc) still whilst the HUD is toggled off thus allowing you to set up and create a really dramatic picture of your ship or crew...
Tribbleshooting
It's like troubleshooting, but with tribbles...
No seriously, there can be a few problems getting this game to play for some folk on some computers. The reasons remain as inexplicable as those random people who suffer such maladies. Fear not however, and try one of these 3 nifty solutions that should work.
1) When the launcher opens, click on options at the top and check force verify to make the game check it isn't missing any files preventing it working for you.
2) Try opening up the options and launching in safe mode, it's weird but it seems to work when graphic cards don't play nice and whatnot.
3*) Change the direct X version used for you by entering the command line; -d3d9. This is your last recourse, but it's surprising how many folk have benefited for such a simple thing.
* Sadly this is only possible until an update in early 2017.
Failing that, I'm at a loss on how to advise you further at this time. However, I shall strive to keep this guide up-to-date if I learn anything more...
There has also been problems with graphical updates leaving ships and characters looking blurry on occasion. Thankfully this is easily resolved by press ESC when in game and (in options) going to display to slide the resolution scale all the way to the right so it's at 1.
Hopefully this tidbit of help takes away such stresses and concerns for you...
Now, atop of getting the game to run smooth there are 2 nifty changes you may care to make in the game. The first is to turn on auto loot and the second is to get rid of all those pesky notifications of so-and-so got a fancy-pants T6 ship from some kind of lockbox.
To turn on auto loot you need just press ESC, then options and open the basics tab. Here you'll find a button to toggle on for auto loot...and now your looting just got a mite easier.
As for getting rid of those pesky gameplay fly-in text announcements of some random person you don't know getting some fancy-pants T6 ship from a lockbox of some sort...well, that's pretty simple too. Find the little downwards arrow at the bottom right of you mini map. Click it and choose notification settings. Now uncheck the fly-in gameplay announcements box and you'll get a little more peace and quiet as you play. Heck, you may want to uncheck the Fleet (mesage of the day) MotD if you've joined a fleet too.
Hopefully these tidbits help when you're playing the game...
Source: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=546745292
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