Better late than never…
When I hear of free games with big names attached to them, like Star Trek, I’ve been quick to dismiss them since I’ve personally been burned in the past by good marketing for poor games that are just a vehicle to get me to buy into whatever series or movie the studio is pushing. I ignored the ads for Star Trek Online for quite some time, 14 years to be exact. I don’t know what it was that got me to finally download the game to my PlayStation 5, but I am happy that I did. Let me tell you all about the voyages and adventures of my crew aboard the starship NX-Los Angeles.
Yes, 14 years of Star Trek adventures have been available for players to experience, did I mention it’s free?! Star Trek online is celebrating its 14th anniversary with an event, currently active on PC and launching on Xbox and PlayStation on March 12th. Star Trek online started off as a PC game and later on consoles. So most events will launch on the PC side first.
On March 12th, the next chapter in the Star Trek online story “Both Worlds”, as well as a new group space mission based on the historic Borg Battle of Wolf 359 launches.
Into the mirror-verse.
I honestly have to say that the story mission in Star Trek Online is one of the best Star Trek stories ever written, it centers around the concept of alternative timelines and universe known as the “mirror-verse”. A universe where counterparts to ourselves exist but are just slightly different and more naturally aggressive. The story has managed to tie together a lot of the tv series and movies that we’ve come to love from the original series, DS9, Discovery, all the way up to the very popular Animated comedy series: “Lower Decks”.
Too many Captains
In STO, Gamers control a single player captain at a time, but players can have multiple captains per account, a total of 10. Players can choose the race, sex, and political faction that the captain belongs to, depending on if that Species is part of the chosen faction. There are plenty of species to choose from including fan favorites like the Romulans, Vulcans, Klingons, Humans, Betazoids, Ferengei, and many other species of aliens that have become staples in the Trek universe. Players can even pick from a classic era version of some species which unlocks an additional story arch players can experience. Each species has a different storyline that they follow along the main storyline of the game. Starfleet has a different home base than the Klingon empire for instance. Fans of the Star Trek universe might be tempted to play through all of the available species just to get a more complete story, however, that’s no easy task. Each complete Play-thru is about 50 hours of play time. I’ve done it about three times myself, no regrets. Star Trek online helps with this task a bit with the special recruitment events which I’ll talk about a little bit later.
What is player customization like in Star Trek Online?
Player customization in Star Trek online is as diverse as in any other MMORPG if not the most diverse that I’ve seen. Players can choose from multiple facial styles as well as hair styles. Players can manipulate the finer details of their players appearance by using the advance setting and adjusting the sliders to personalize their avatars face to as close to what they envisioned as possible. Players can choose the height, rib cage size, bust, hand and foot size, even finger length. Players can customize how tall or heavy their player character appears. The players can even choose from different idle stances like seductive, confident, or feminine. This really lends itself to creating a truly unique character.
One of the most important decisions a fledgling captain has to make is their career path: Engineering, Science, or Tactical. These officers all have unique career traits that can be beneficial in missions and in combat.
- Engineering officers are the tanks of the game.
- Science Officers buff and debuff players and enemies
- Tactical Officers do a lot of damage.
Each captain has a biography that can be written, if the player so chooses. This is a place where gamers can get creative with their captains backstory for role playing purposes. Other players are able to see this biography when they inspect the player. Inspecting players will show gamers their alliance, fleet membership, ship type, rank, Costume, as well as a biography if one is written.
Not only is the basic physical appearance of every character unique, the players uniform can also stand out from all the others by mixing and matching from the various different uniforms that are available either by completing missions, special events, joining a fleet, or for purchase from the Zen store. Players can adjust the colors of their uniforms and add accessories to help stand out even more. Players are able to create two different costume looks by default. The player can unlock additional costume slots for zen.
What is the online currency for Star Trek Online?
Zen is the online currency for Star Trek online. Players can pick up about 500 zen for $4.99 but packages also can range up to $99 for 10,000 Zen. Players can purchase a lifetime subscription to Star Trek online which gives them access to the BORG character creation option, the only way to obtain this option at this time. This allows a character to create a federation Borg captain , unassimilated, of course. Players are also given a captains yacht when purchasing the life time subscription after being an active player for over 400 days. There are constant sales in Star Trek online and the lifetime subscription sometimes goes on sale for up to 50% off, so players interested in that option should definitely hold out for one of these discount periods. The undiscounted lifetime membership is $199.99. Yikes!
Star Trek online, is a open world MMORPG, massively multiplayer online role-playing game available on Xbox, PlayStation and PC. These three versions of the game, however, are not compatible or cross platform play enabled, at this time. That is probably one of the biggest and unfortunate drawbacks about Star Trek online. Players have to have friends on the same systems in order to play together. This is kind of rare, nowadays, but it’s not a game breaking element. I wonder if a server merger is ever going to be on the books, I know the fans really want it. STO has been out for over a decade, so it’s not likely, however, not impossible or does it hurt to dream!
One of the bonuses that comes with playing on PC versus playing on the consoles is that the ships interiors are bigger and more dynamic. Starfleet ships on PC have additional levels and floors for exploration and placement of decorations. The console versions allude to these options, but are not accessible. On console, If a player likes, they can visit their starship bridge. The captains bridge officers will be present at different stations. Captains, on gaming consoles, are be able to enter their own personal office, on most ships, where records and account banks are kept. Limited decoration function is had in the captain quarters with being able to decorate the walls with statues of ships and in some cases change the art on the walls.
What inventory storage options are there in STO?
Players have a limited amount of storage on their captains. Players can add additional personal storage for Zen, or they can keep items they don’t want to lose but don’t want to carry on their character, in their bank. Players also have access to account banks which share some items across all of the characters that a player has created. Additional storage can be purchased for both banks with zen.
What kind of starship customizing is available in Star Trek Online?
What is a Starfleet captain without their ship? Of course one of the biggest features of Star Trek are the amazing ships they fly around the galaxy in. Players are able to name their ship whatever they like as long as it falls within appropriate language guidelines, there are a lot of Picards and Kirk’s flying around…Some customization to the ship is available, like color, window design , saucer shape, hull texture and some ships even have different model variants. Some of the items that the player can equip on their ship can also change the physical appearance of their ship. For instance, adding cold fusion engines can give a cold blue engine trail when the ship is in motion. If the player adds some Borg items to their ship, the outward appearance Will reflect that it is infected with Borg technology, this has no negative affect, It’s just cosmetic.
Players can upgrade their starships with upgrade tokens that can be purchased with Zen or earned during special events. If players use upgrade tokens they unlock additional Mastery traits, universal console slots, and an additional Experimental trait. Captains can upgrade their ships two times. As captains gain experience with their ship they unlock mastery traits which give additional abilities like Rapid Hull repairs or teleporting the enemies captain off their bridge.
There are so many different ships to choose from it can be a little difficult for players to decide which is their favorite. I currently am flying the Kelvin timeline intelligence dreadnought, the one from Star Trek:. Into Darkness. It is a hefty beast.
Each ship has Fore and Aft weapons. Some weapons when grouped with particular ship items grant additional abilities. For instance, having a Temporal Defense Initiative beam weapon and torpedo launcher with a chroniton drive actuator console gives a 5% critical hit buff, -500% weapons power cost, and other buffs and damage bonuses.
Ships can equip devices which can call in other ships for reinforcements or drop weapon turrets to assist in battle.
All ships have upgradable engine’s, deflectors, impulse and warp engines. Just like with weapons, having matching sets of items grant additional bonuses and buffs. Some larger ships have hangars that can store additional support fighters that can be deployed in combat.
Consoles are hypothetical stations in your ship where your bridge officers and support crew keep your ship in one peace. These consoles can be upgraded with special items which grant abilities like cloaking, trajectory jumping, or dragons breath, a console with the ability to launch the ships exhaust out of its deflector dish burning everything in its path. Wicked!!! Consoles can be earned via missions, removed from other ships, or purchased in the dlithium store using refined dilithium crystals.
What is Di lithium Ore?
Di lithium ore is earned via missions and is used to further research projects and purchase individual items like weapons sets, armor, and devices. Players can refine up to 8,000 ore into refined crystals per character.
How many ships can I own in Star Trek Online?
Players are given 15 slots for active ships, but also an additional 10 dry dock slots where players can store starships that they don’t want to Destroy but still want to keep for whatever reason.
Small craft are shuttles or single rider ships and aren’t really used that often in the game except for very specific missions, but players can have a shuttle and customize them as well. Players can add weapons, a device, an engineering console, shield, deflector, impulse and warp engines.
What kind of gear do Captains use in STO?
Players can equip their captains with gear to help
Improve their stats and skills in battle. The captain has a main and secondary weapon, device slots, body armor, a personal shield, EV Suit, kit frame, and kit devices.
Weapons and armor all have attributes that improves the players captains damage as well as protection.
Devices are items that the captain can deploy in combat like a combat trained tardigrade, or a Tribble that grants additional buffs.
Kits are career specific items that grant additional traits to the character. They can improve combat abilities and provide additional protection. These kits can be crafted or purchased from the fleet store.
What types of abilities or powers do Starfleet captains have in STO?
As players progress in Star Trek online, their captains gain experience and the ability to use more abilities, traits, and specializations in combat.
Specializations are additional skill trees that players can unlock as they level up. The max level for a captain in STO is 65. After Each level a player is given a skill point, even after the player passes level 65. These skill points can be used in the “specialization section” of the start menu.
Captain specialization is broken into 8 different categories:
- Commando
- Constable
- Strategist
- Command Officer
- Intelligence Officer
- Miracleworker
- Pilot
- Temporal Operative
Each one of these specializations have both active and passive skills that can apply to either the ground, space, or both types of combat. As players spend points in specific pools they are also given additional bonuses to their character like a bonus to space armor, turn rate in space, or run speed on the ground.
The players captain is skilled to say the least. These skills are broken into the two combat modes: ground and space. Depending on the players preference, they can choose to focus on one or keep their captain balanced.
Traits are additional abilities captains learn as they level up and complete research projects. The captain is limited in the amount of traits they can equip at a given time so some playing around with different loadouts to see what best fits the gamers playing style might be useful.
Research projects are progress based initiatives with six tiers each. These research projects correspond with the story lines in Star Trek online. For instance, There is a Dyson Sphere, Romulan, Temporal defense initiative, and omega project just to name a few. Each one of these tiers requires players to invest credits, marks, and expertise to progress in. Expertise is experience. Once a tier is unlocked the player is given access to ground and or space traits as well as additional items that can be crafted for use, like hanger pets or additional ground support units.
What good are Bridge officers in Star Trek Online?
A captain is as only as good as his crew and this is very true in STO. Every ship has limited amount of crew stations on the bridge. Depending on the ship, this can differ, most ships have at least one science, tactical, and engineering station while other ships have more or additional stations like a universal station, that any bridge officer can occupy. Some ships have temporal op stations, or intelligence stations which require an officer with the appropriate skill set to sit in to utilize their skills. These crew stations are also limited by the rank assigned to them. So even though your bridge officer is a commander, if the crew station isn’t allocated for a rank higher than lieutenant, that’s as high as a skill set that bridge officer is able to use.
Some of these bridge officers can be earned through playing missions in game, purchased from the Delithium store, or earned by completing events. I earned a Doctor Crusher science bridge officer by playing the main story and purchased a Geordi La Forge Engineering officer for my crew in the dilithium store. These bridge officers function as your team on the ground and in space. They can be equipped with weapons as well as body armor, EV suits, shields devices, and kit frames just like the players captain. This really comes in handy when fighting on the ground during the single player missions.
What are Duty Officers in Star Trek Online?
Duty Officers are literally the lower decks of your ship. These behind the scenes officers are the backbone to the success of any ship. While the captain is off on space adventures on unknown worlds, these duty officers are off on assignments. These assignments can range from diplomatic, science, engineering, military, even espionage. Some of these missions even provide permanent buffs to the players stats if the mission is successfully completed.
Duty officers running diplomatic errands and missions is one aspect of their job, but they also have an effect on the ground and in space during combat. The players can set a roster of six specifically talented duty officers to assist in both ground and space combat. These duty officers provide passive skills, like improved damage and defense. I have a “Lower Deck” duty officer that I got for free during a Lower Decks event, Brad Boimler, who specializes in toxic waste disposal by adding a cloud of waste to my torpedo that does toxic damage overtime. Every duty officer is different and has different attributes that the player can play around with to find the best fit for their play style.
What are Fleets in Star Trek Online?
Fleets are the clans or guilds aspect of STO that is a staple of most MMORPGS.
I was recruited by a fleet fairly quickly when joining the game. a fleet is a group of player captains that work towards group goals like improving the fleets size, space station, and Fleet command base on the planet Risa.
Planet Risa is the fleets planet side home away from Home. Players can visit and explore this planet as well as take part in Fleet specific mini games to help earn provisions, ore, or batteries, which are needed to help the fleet complete projects. By helping to contribute to the fleet holdings, players are given fleet credits that can be used for crafting or purchasing unique items, players kit, spaceships, and other items that apply only to fleets members.
Players can be promoted to different ranks in the fleet that are separate from their current rank in the Star Trek Online universe. By holding a higher rank in the fleet, players are given more features like being able to equip the fleet uniform, create fleet events, as well as recruit other players. Being a part of a successful fleet is more than just nice uniforms. Depending on what fleet holdings have Been completed, members of the fleet earn additional damage, resistance, and pay out buffs for completed missions and combat.
What is a New Recruit event?
As I mentioned earlier, players might have the urge to want to play through the many different storylines available in STO. The developers at STO help facilitate this desire by having what they call “recruitment events “. These recruitment events encourage players to start new characters in a particular faction. As a player progresses through the storyline, they earn additional items, dilithium, or skill points, and more items that can be shared across characters on their entire account. Players can claim these items by visiting Temporal Agent Crey aboard the Earth Spacedock.
What kind of events are there in Star Trek Online?
There are Special, Summer, and Winter events in STO.
Special events are an opportunity for players to work towards a large yearly goal. These special events are broken into six individual parts that are active for a limited amount of time. When players take part in these events, they earn event progress, usually a goal of 14 to 21 milestones to complete the event. If the player completes all the milestones, they can earn additional items for their ship and captain, like weapons and armor, ship components, skill points, technology upgrades, and special consoles. The other aspect and motivation to take part in these special events is that a larger progress pool is accumulated. Once this larger goal is attained, the player is rewarded with a high-end reward. This reward Has the value of close to $100 US. Players can choose from two exclusive tier 6 ships, a bonus pool of 1500 Lobi crystals which can be used to purchase exclusive ships, costumes, pets, and additional items, and a premium tier 6 ship from an exclusive list of ships usually only available in larger packages.
Aside from the event campaign, there are two seasonal events that take place to Star Trek online, summer and winter. During these events players are given milestones to complete in order to unlock special grand prize of a new starship. Players are also given additional items for their captain for competing in this task. The summary event is based on some sort of fun summer activity. This past summer players spent time on the tropical planet sightseeing.
The winter event is usually holiday themed. This is one of my favorite events in a MMORPG ever! Q appears once again to cause mischief in the universe and teleports players to his winter Wonderland, a snow covered place where players can race on the ice, and use special holiday weapons to take part in snowball fights against snowmen, fight against the Great Krampini a Trek take on Krampus in a head to head battle with other captains, protect the gingerbread village from attack, and Klingon ice fishing. Players can earn holiday themed items like sweaters and caps and more serious items like the ship ability: “Best served Cold” which blasts enemies in space with cold damage and many other holiday themed items.
Even though this is a pretty comprehensive list of what’s available to do in Star Trek online, it really only scratches the surface. Overall, I highly recommend Star Trek online to anybody who is a fan of good MMORPGs or a fan of the Star Trek universe, you will not be disappointed.
