(NOTE: At least once since this article was written, there’s been specifically a 25% off C-Store sale. Keep in mind the actual dates of your sale when reading this article past late November 2020.)

Good day, and welcome to another Joe and STO! In the last post I did, I gave suggestions for what of Cryptic’s 8 sales/discounts I recommended and which ones I’d avoid.

In this piece, I hope to do a quick dash into a few things that both hardcore “meta” players should for which to look out, a few things “dirty casuals” (who like themes and ship types rather than performance [to a degree]), and even a few things that may otherwise slip by that may be decent value if you’d never thought about them or never knew they existed.

Note that this is not an exhaustive list but rather a few quick hits of things I’ve noticed are helpful on most/all builds or are just plain fun. In the “Performance” section, I tried to include one ship bundle for each type of player (Tank, general DPS, and Science).

A quick note before we get going that, if you’re new or haven’t been around for a while, Tier 6 ships scale with you from after your character’s tutorial to Level 65, but Tier 1-5 ships don’t do that. General rule is Tier 1 is for Levels 1-10, T2 is 11-20, T3 is 21-30; T4 is 31-40; T5 is 40 or 45 onward.

Let’s get it going!

PERFORMANCE FOCUS: “Performance or nothin’!”

This section is meant for those who are looking for some of the top-end ships and/or traits available in the C-Store. I’ll put pictures of where you can find these things below each main section before going to the next.

  1. Cross Faction Support Cruiser Bundle [T6]
    • Ships: Narendra (Fed)/Vor’ral (KDF) Support Cruisers
    • Brief Summary: You can’t reliably Tank (take on most attacks and damage of a group) without having “History Will Remember” (I believe it was darkblade from whom I remember it the most, but I’ve heard it from various sources). As you get attacked, for each enemy that attacks you, you get +1% All Damage, Hull Regeneration (how much you passively heal), and Hull Capacity along with +10% Threat Generation If you’re in Threatening Stance (an activatable you can choose from the first Tactical Skill Node at the bottom of your Skill Tree). It stacks up to 30 times and doesn’t go away until map transition (even upon death). This could be upwards of +30% All Damage, Hull Regen, and Max Hull plus +300% Threat Generation.
    • Value: If you’re a tank or thinking of being one, pick up the 2-pack as it’s 3,000 Zen for the pair vs. 2,250 for a single ship of your preferred faction/allegiance. You may decide to play something other than your preferred faction down the road, meaning you’re only out 750 Zen more for the ship to be on that other faction.
  2. Scimitar Bundle [T6]
    • Ships: Three Scimitar variants: Khopesh (Tactical focus), Shamshir (Engineering focus) Flambard (Science focus).
    • Brief Summary: Being the Romulan versions of the Odyssey and Bortasqu’ T6 variants, you can treat these as account-wide unlocks of those ships for any character to use (at the time, Romulan ships were only for Romulan characters, thus the need for 3 Romulan versions along with 3 Fed and 3 KDF). Similar in setup and stats to their Federation and KDF counterparts, the Scimitars improve a bit on those with a Romulan Battle Cloak and a Hangar Bay slot. Owning these ships unlocks the ability to purchase one of the best Hangar Bay pets in the game, the Elite Romulan Drone (and lower versions for Dilithium or EC). Two of the starship traits are still in use or are good replacements for more expensive or harder to obtain traits: Checkmate for Science/Torpedo mix builds, and Super Charged Weapons for any ship using mostly Directed Energy Weapons (anything other than torpedoes and mines) with 1-2 torpedoes. These ships are also still effective build platforms in their own right, in part for having a 5/3 weapon layout (5 forward/3 aft).
    • Value: Currently this is at 4,500 Zen until Monday. That’s one full ship and half another. You could effectively ignore the 3rd ship of this Bundle and you’ll have a couple decent ships, the ability to buy its best hangar pet for use on it, and a couple useful Starship Traits, one of which is effective on most builds using mostly Directed Energy Weapons.
  3. Cross-Faction Intel Science Bundle (T6)
    • Ships: Somerville (Fed)/Batlh (KDF) Science Vessels
    • Brief Summary: The main claim to fame on these ships (well…ship, but minor changes between Fed and KDF versions) is the Starship Trait “Spore-Infused Anomalies.” Your anomalies like Gravity Well, Subspace Vortex, and Very Cold in Space deal some electrical damage to and drain power from enemies caught in the anomaly. If you’ve never tried a Science ship, or you’ve wanted one at Tier 6, you can’t go wrong here. Even if you end up hating the ship, you’ll have a useful Starship Trait for your Science needs.
    • Value: At 3,750 Zen, you get account-wide access to these ships (Somerville for Feds, Batlh for KDF), a Fleet Ship Module if you’re wanting to upgrade to a Fleet version (so you’d just need the Fleet Credits and a fleet that will let you get a Fleet Ship from them), and 5 Master Keys to use on Lockboxes (unsellable; they’ll be Bound to Account, but whatever you open won’t be unless it’s a Choice Pack, in which case what you choose won’t be bound).

CASUAL CROWD: “Oh, cool, it’s [insert ship/attack here]!”

This category is more for those who want to do something the ship in question did on screen or to grab a console or trait to be thematically appropriate to whatever ship/era you’re flying. I’m not saying players cannot deal decent damage with the ships mentioned below, but they may not be powerhouse DPS/tank ship platforms, either. Again, screenshots of where to get everything will follow this section before the section on what to buy at full game price.

  1. Mirror Universe Bundle
    • Ships: Galaxy Legendary Dreadnought Cruiser [T6]
    • Brief Summary: If you’ve ever wanted to role-play (“RP”) as a Terran, this is your Bundle. You get plenty of uniforms for Federation Terrans plus a couple for KDF and Romulan players, a Terran ship (the equivalent to the I.S.S. Stadi, an early Mirror Universe flagship and the one for which you can get a separate Admiralty Card in the Phoenix Prize Store), the ability to use the “I.S.S.” prefix on any ship (or similar prefixes for KDF and Romulan characters), and three items previously only in Events but as account unlocks: the Agony Phaser Energy Torpedo (based on the torpedoes launched from the I.S.S. Chiron in Star Trek: Discovery), Mirror Universe Phaser Dual Pistols (one of the better ground Event Phaser weapons), and the Mirror Hakeev Duty Officer (“refracts” your Hazzard Emitters to an extra friendly). Since this comes with a Legendary Starship, it comes with the Tier 4, 5, and 6 Galaxy– and Andromeda-class consoles and trait along with the previous Galaxy Dreadnought‘s own console and trait plus a separate account-wide T6 trait unlock. You also get a Cloaking Device console, technically this time from the T5 Galaxy Dreadnought.
    • Value: At 4,500 Zen, this is almost a steal. If you value the ship at 3,000 Zen, that puts the rest of the Bundle at 1,500 Zen. One Event buy-out alone, if it had been available at the time like we have now, would have been 2,000 Zen, and we’re not talking about the Lobi it’d take to get the uniforms. The consoles should all work on the Tier 5 Galaxy you can get at Level 61 if you don’t want to spend any more Zen to get a Galaxy-class ship elsewhere.
  2. Romulan Dreadnought Bundle [T5]
    • Ships: Tier 5 versions of the 3 Scimitars found in the T6 Bundle (which were detailed a bit more above): Scimitar (Tactical); Falchion (Engineering); Tulwar (Science).
    • Brief Summary: Although the Tier 6 Scimitars are strictly superior to the Tier 5 versions (more hull and shield strength, extra console slot, Starship Trait unlockable for the character, can go to Tier 6-X, etc.), these are a lot closer to mimicking the look and abilities we see of the warbird Scimitar in Star Trek: Nemesis. Each ship has a console that mimics one thing the Scimitar does. One ship’s console gives your Scimitar Secondary Shielding, another lets it fire while cloaked for a brief time, and the third charges up a Thalaron Pulse (though the wait on it is so long, it’s usually not worth it except against the largest, most stationary targets; even then, it’s iffy as others’ damage output may kill your target before you get to fire). Granted, upgrading to T5-U then to T5-X will put them on a level close to what the Tier 6s can do, but if you’re going canon this is the set to get. If you have the money, you could get both bundles and just slap everything on the T6 versions, but that’s entirely up to you.
    • Value: Tier 5 ships tend to go for 2,000 -2,500 Zen each, with 3-ship Bundles going for 5,000 Zen (like “Buy 2, Get 1 Free”). The T5 version of the Scimitars is currently 3,750, about what a single Tier 6 and a bit more would cost. Granted, to get a T6-like effect from any of these, you’d need both the T5-U and Experimental Upgrade versions of Ship Upgrade Tokens, but if you like your canon Scimitar look and consoles and can contribute to the damage needed to clear a TFO without being useless (under 10k DPS would be bad), by all means go for it!
  3. Prometheus Bundle
    • Ships: T5 Prometheus Multi-Vector Advanced Escort, T6 Hestia Advanced Escort
    • Brief Summary: This was one of my favorite ships pre-T6 Era as it lent itself to being a fleet on its own thanks to the Multi-Vector Assault Mode, first seen in the Star Trek: Voyager episode “Message in a Bottle.” With the click of one button, you separated your ship into 3! Sure, each NPC-controlled piece was fairly weak, but when you were low on great gear you took all the help you could get. The only way to do that was with the T5 C-Store version as it has the console for that separation. The Hestia was released as one of the first redesigns for the Prometheus-class in-game models and gave a better endgame version of the beloved T5 ship, along with giving you a new Starship trait and a new console to make a 2-piece set bonus for the Multi-Vector Assault Mode console.
    • Value: The bundle goes for 3,750 Zen on sale and comes with both versions of the ship as well as a Fleet Ship Module (so you can get a Fleet Hestia). Considering the Hestia itself is 3,000 Zen normally, that basically gives you the Multi-Vector Assault Mode console for 750 Zen and effectively a free Fleet Ship upgrade.

IF YOU CAN ONLY PAY LIKE IT’S ONE GAME (AKA, “Most bang for the buck.”)

Let’s say you’re really short on cash. You can spend what you normally would on a AAA-level $60 video game. What can you pick up that would give you a variety of experiences while staying at/under your budget?

If you don’t mind charging $10 worth of Zen 6 times, you can have 7,800 Zen with which to work. What can we do with that budget?

  1. Romulan Fleet Admiral Bundle
    • QUICK NOTE: Any ships from this Bundle will break any Bundle they’re in that isn’t a 9-ship “Mega Bundle,” meaning you can’t buy those smaller Bundles to get the other 2 ships in them. Also, the Federation and KDF have similar bundles, but they’re faction-locked.
    • Ships (all T6): Kopesh Tactical Dreadnought Warbird (“Escort”, though I’d say closer to a Cruiser); D’Khellra Warbird Battlecruiser (“Cruiser”); Laeosa Research Warbird (“Science Vessel”)
    • Brief Summary: Released when Romulan ships couldn’t be flown by other factions, this now makes a great entry point if you’re wanting to try a little of everything before committing to a specific play style. While the Dreadnought Warbird (a T6 Scimitar variant) is classified as an Escort for the purposes of this Bundle, it’s not as nimble as one though it’s also not bad for a ship its size. The Kopesh also has one of your “staple” (must-have) Starship Traits. Also, I listened to TimberWolf’s livestreams when he was on (though I reference others’ YouTube videos when their uploads match what I’d be interested in) and tonight’s one of those nights where it’s useful at just the right time. Someone asked what a good Romulan Science ship would be. He suggested the Laeosa as a good Romulan science platform if you can’t get (or don’t want) the Sui’Mor Temporal Science Vessel for Romulan captains specifically.
    • VALUE: Currently on sale at 3,750 Zen, that’s one full ship plus a tad bit over of a 2nd ship. Since they’re Romulan, they’re cross-faction. If you were to make a character of the opposite faction as yours, you can still fly these ships on them.
  2. Romulan Legacy Elite Starter Pack
    • Ships: Malem Light Warbird (T6)
    • Brief Summary: This gives the character that claims it some extra Inventory Slots, Bank Slots, and a chunk of Mk II gear to get you through the early levels (at least Level 10, if not Level 20). You get a true Escort-style ship in this Starter Pack. The Maelm is a special ship because it’s one of relatively few that has an Ehanched Battle Cloak, allowing you to fire torpedoes and mines while Cloaked.
    • Value: At 1,500 Zen, it’s half the price of a regular-priced T6 ship. Even off sale, it’s 2,000 Zen for (estimating) 4,000 Zen worth of ship and conveniences at least.
  3. Scorpion Fighter – While not the absolute best Shuttle (that goes to the Delta Flier), every so often you come across a mission or two that requires you to use a Shuttle. Since Romulan ships are account-wide use, this will let you use one Shuttle across the entire account. Shuttles also make good “pass token” type slot choices for difficult Admiralty missions. It’s 375 Zen during this sale, normally 500 Zen.
  4. Account Shared Bank Slots (10) – If you stick around for a while, you’ll notice you’re getting “Bound to Account” items constantly. The Account Bank is how you move them around to different characters on your account. You can also put excess EC here so your characters don’t hit the 15 million EC cap limit (unless you’ve unlocked it). 750 Zen is worth this Quality of Life option even after only making 2 characters.
  5. Energy Credit Cap Increase – This increases how much in-game-only Energy Credits (“EC”) you can have on a single character. The default is 15 million EC per character. If you keep up with your Endeavors and vendor a bunch of loot regularly, you’ll find yourself hitting that limit sooner rather than later. With the cap increase, it’s 2 BILLION EC per character. Currently 375 Zen, that’s an extreme help when you want to do builds that require more expensive items.

This leaves you with 1,050 Zen. If you like one of your Tier 6 ships enough, you can upgrade it to “T6-X” with an Experimental Ship Upgrade Token for 1,000 Zen at normal price. You can then sell the other 50 for Dilithium (used for just about everything), right now netting 23,600 Dilithium. That mostly pays the Dilithium cost of 1 piece of Reputation Gear in the Reputation system.

TIME’S RUNNING OUT!

Sorry for the “delay” in getting this out, but hopefully it can serve as a helpful tool for future Black Friday sales or even just when a Zen Charge Bonus/Discount and C-Store sale both hit at the same time.

I’m unsure what my next entry is for the blog, but work is starting back soon so it’ll have to be a fairly short weekend project if I post within the next week, most likely. I’ll see what I can do.

Until then, enjoy your bargain hunts both in-game, online, and in stores (though safely)!

Leave a comment

Design a site like this with WordPress.com
Get started