(blog post head pic taken from the announcement blog)
Good day, Joe and STOers! Today, Cryptic announced a new Choice Pack. This will be a fairly brief blog showing off what’s being offered.
PRICING
Like all previous Choice Packs, this will be 29,500 Zen (~$260[23,000 Zen = $200; 5,300 Zen = $50; 1,000 Zen = $10]) at full price but 14,750 Zen (~$140 [11,000 Zen = $100; 4,000 = $40]) at launch until April 1st. If they do a December “Muddsday” sale like last year, this could go as low as 7,375 Zen (~$80 [5,300 Zen = $50; 2,000 Zen = $20; 1,000 Zen = $10] or $70 if you can convert enough Dilithium to get 75 Zen [worst case scenario of 500:1, that’d be 37,500 Dilithium]).
CONTENTS
You get to choose any 3 from the following list each time you pay for the Choice Pack.
SHIPS (ALL 3 SHIP CHOICES ARE ACCOUNT UNLOCKED VIA THIS CHOICE PACK)
This is really the meat-and-potatoes of the blog. Here, I’ll post a link to the STO Online Wiki page for that ship, what it’s generally known for, and 2-3 video links to builds that have been used using those ships. On the videos, I’ll try to aim for as most recent as possible, but keep in mind a lot changes in games in even a year’s time, let alone 2-3 or more.
- Jem’Hadar Strike Ship [T6] (originally released March 2015…6 years ago. o.O)
PREVIOUS METHOD OF COLLECTION: Tier 6 Promotional Ship Choice Pack, Exchange [via someone who pulled it from a Promotional Choice Box]
CLAIMS TO FAME: Decent ship platform in its own right; a meta trait that helps Cannon: Rapid Fire; a console that gives a boost to Crit Chance and Crit Severity and is (more recently) usable on any starship (plus fills out a 3-piece set with the other two T6 Jem’Hadar Lockbox/Lobi ships).
EXAMPLES OF BUILDS:
I could only find one parsed build from Augmented Dictator Games (AKA Auggie) from about 2.5 years ago (though I’m trying to type this kinda sorta quickly, so if there are more I’d love to see them!)
- Maquis Raider [T6] (originally released May 2018)
PREVIOUS METHOD OF COLLECTION: Lobi Store (900 Lobi), Exchange [via someone who bought it from the Lobi Store]
CLAIMS TO FAME: Decent ship platform in its own right as a Miracle Worker-primary Raider; a meta console for Science builds used as much for its passives as its 2-minute activatable ability (if not moreso).
EXAMPLES OF BUILDS:
For the ship itself, a video from 1800BrokenSoul:
A Mixed Phaser build from Auggie:
- Ferengi Quark Marauder [T6] (originally released April 2020…no, you’re not reading that wrong.)
PREVIOUS METHOD OF COLLECTION: Infinity Prize Pack – T6 Ship choice box, Exchange [via someone who got it from the Infinity T6 ship choice box]
CLAIMS TO FAME: T6 update to the Ferengi D’Kora T5 ship; makes a 2-piece set with the Ferengi Nandi from a previous Summer Event prize or using an Epic Phoenix Token; Mail/Bank/Exchange/Duty Officer/Dabo Table access all included with the default Bridge.
EXAMPLES OF BUILDS:
Auggie with an Exceed Rated Limits-themed build:
WintersGaming with a then-Budget Build using the Quark Marauder (though unfortunately he’s since gone quiet, latest video seems to be from 3 months ago with a Batman gam):
And we’ll visit Auggie one more time for a Rapid Missile build!
NON-SHIP ITEMS
Ah, yes, let we forget these come with more options than just ships! These are also choices among the 3 things you can pick each time you buy this Choice Pack (I’d assume these are all at least Bound to Account unless stated otherwise in-game after release):
- Experimental Ship Upgrade Token [AKA “T6-X Upgrades”](x9)
- Lobi Crystals (x300)
- Ultimate Tech Upgrade (x10)
- DS9 Holo-Boffs, which includes:
- Kira – previously only a Convention-exclusive BOFF
- Garak – Convention-exclusive or from the “Plain and Simple Bundle” the couple times it was listed in the Lobi store.
- Bashir – Convention-exclusive or from last year’s free Health Care Workers Salute Bundle (in support of doctors, nurses, and other health care workers during the initial upswing of the COVID-19 pandemic early last year).
- The other DS9 holo-BOFFs are the ones previously found in the Deep Space Nine Lock Box.
- ALL THESE BOFFS ARE ACCOUNT-WIDE UNLOCKS
THAT’S ALL (OF THEM), FOLKS!
That’s all your options for this Choice Pack! I hope it showed you a bit more detail as to what you could be picking up when you buy one (or two, or however many you want! But it is expensive so I’d suggest really considering your options).
My 2nd part will be a financial analysis of the Choice Pack; this was simply meant as a fairly quick guide to what’s in it and why you may want to consider it.
Until this weekend, have a great week and enjoy playing STO!
Joe and STO 