Hello all, again, to Joe and STO! This feels like a quick turnaround because…well…it is.
We just had the “Mudd is in Command” Choice Pack come out late last month.
This upcoming week, the Mudd “Secret Intel” Choice Pack will take its place (but shhh! It won’t be gone too terribly long before its first relist. 😉 )
As is usual, I’d like to start off showing off the ships and items of the Choice Pack, what makes them special, and show that the ships can still put out great numbers whether they’re at the high end of DPS kings’ rankings or the low end of almost junk for high end use. (The low end of high end is what most of us would call, “Still quite useful but won’t crack any DPS records.”)
Let’s start with the meat-and-potatoes of any Choice Pack…
THE SHIPS
Section 31 Intel Science Destroyer
IN-GAME HISTORY
Original Release Date: May 14th, 2019
Mudd Choice Pack Date: December 22nd, 2021
Time from Character-Bound to Account-Unlock: 2 years, 7 months, 1 week, 1 day
CLAIMS TO FAME
The Section 31 Intel Science Destroyer isn’t usually one of the ships associated with higher-end builds, but it is known for its trait, Exitus Acta Probat. This trait, combined with the Personal Space Trait “Fresh from R&R” and two different ranks of Intelligence Team (AKA “Intel Team”) make for a Stealth so strong that rarely will you be seen as a threat (as far as game mechanics are concerned). This allows some queues to be soloable as you can keep this up as a near-permanent “cloak” while still firing off weapons and abilities.
The Section 31 Intel Science Destroyer also has its own Experimental Weapon, the “Dark Mode” cloak, and as a Science Destroyer can switch (with animation from the show!) between a Tactical-based layout (Experimental Weapon, Commander Tactical seat, and Lieutenant Commander Science seat) and a Science-based layout (instead, Secondary Deflector, Lieutenant Commander Tactical seat, and Commander Science seat).
VIDEO SHOWCASES
To demonstrate all the effects, here’s Captain Geronimo, the only YouTuber I can see who does ship showcases that give stats and show off animations and other effects that various ships can do.
Here’s Augmented Dictator Games (“Auggie”) showing off how to use the ship (and more importantly, explaining the practically-permanently-cloaked combo) in solo runs of both Trouble Over Terrh and Infected: The Conduit, both on Elite difficulty. This video was done in June of this year, so it’s a fairly recent showcase of the ship’s capabilities. (NOTE: This ship in particular doesn’t need to be used for the near-permanent cloak-like stealth combo, but you do need a ship that can slot two different ranks of Intel Team.)
Here’s another, different video showing the capabilities in a group run, from Auggie’s livestream back in May of this year (I should have it linked to where he starts an Infected queue run):
Elachi Sheshar Intel Dreadnought Carrier
IN-GAME HISTORY
Original Release Date: December 11th, 2014
Mudd Choice Pack Date: December 22nd, 2021
Time from Character-Bound to Account-Unlock: 7 years, 1 week, 4 days
CLAIMS TO FAME
The Eleachi Sheshar Intel Dreadnought Carrier was the first Tier 6 Promotional Ship in a time where you needed a specific ship R&D Pack promotion to run to get it. The Command-based version of this from the previous Mudd Choice Pack was the preferred ship for torpedoes. If anything, this would have been among the preferred ships for what was then a Beam-based meta.
Although it’s labeled as an “Intel Dreadnought,” this is not a fully-Intel ship. It simply has an Intel-spec Lieutenant Commander-level seat (like the “Command Dreadnought” has a Lieutenant Commander-level Command-spec seat). It does not have the Intel-based ship mechanic, and its Intel-spec seat is not a Commander-level seat.
Though this specific ship wasn’t intended to be outfit for torpedoes (no Intel ships are, really), it did come with the Torpedo Barrage Starship Trait, a definitive trait choice for torpedoes up until the past few years due to granting an extra High Yield I torpedo soon after using the Torpedo: High Yield Bridge Officer ability. Since then, the trait has become too slow to re-trigger compared to other options.
If you’ve ever wanted a Sheshar and weren’t interested in the “Mudd Is In Command” Choice Pack, here’s another chance to grab it as an account-wide unlock (albeit with its Intel “focus” rather than the Command focus of the previous Choice Pack).
VIDEO SHOWCASES
Once again, both for the YouTuber and the video itself, is Captain Geronimo looking at the Sheshar’s visuals, setup, and abilities:
Below was the the only performance-based video I could find of the Intel Sheshar among all videos of the Sheshar on YouTube (unless the search function was hiding some from me). You know it’s bad* when even Augmented Dictator Games (“Auggie”) doesn’t do a build or parse video with this version of the ship! It’s from Kingdom Games, who unfortunately is inactive from all content creation, made back in March 2018.
*To reiterate, “bad” is in the eye of high-end DPS, where you’re looking to do well over 100,000 DPS for Elite content. Realistically, this is fine for anything in Normal or Advanced content.
IN-GAME HISTORY
Original Release Date: July 18th, 2017
Mudd Choice Pack Date: December 22nd, 2021
Time from Character-Bound to Account-Unlock: 4 years, 5 months, 4 days
CLAIMS TO FAME
The Son’a Intel Battlecruiser is much less known as a ship choice for higher-end DPS and much more well known for its Starship Trait, Subspatial Warheads, another Starship Trait that triggers off Torpedo: High Yield use. While I can’t offhand remember the YouTuber who made the claim (and proved it in the parse), I can recall their DPS from just this trait was so significant it accounted for a double-digit percentage of their overall DPS.
If you bought the “Mudd Is In Command” Choice Pack and picked the Son’a Command Science Vessel there, this is another ship whose console goes with the Console set. If you like on-theme ships and set bonuses, that could be a reason to pick this ship up even if you’re not interested in the torpedo-based Starship Trait.
VIDEO SHOWCASES
Same verse, same as the first: here’s Captain Geronimo to show off the ship, stats, console, and trait.
For a bit of a break from the norm, here’s 1800BrokenSoul with a 100k DPS off-meta build using the ship. (Off-Meta tends to mean that it’s not meant to break records or do the absolute best DPS the ship or setup choices could do.)
IN-GAME HISTORY
Original 13Release Date: May 14th, 2019
Mudd Choice Pack Date: December 22nd, 2021
Time from Character-Bound to Account-Unlock: 2 years, 7 months, 1 week, 1 day
CLAIMS TO FAME
The Na’Qjej isn’t really known for being a fantastic platform for DPS (though it is plenty capable as you’ll see below) but rather for its Starship Trait, Ceaseless Momentum, which boosts Kinetic Damage and Kinetic Resistance while lowering your torpedoes’ cooldown just for firing a torpedo. While Federation characters used to get this trait dirt cheap due to being in a Cross-Faction Starship Trait choice box, that choice was a casualty of Cross-Faction Flying, allowing all characters to fly ships from any faction but removing the boxes and listings for Starship Traits and equipment that were previously unavailable to the opposite faction due to the ships being faction-locked. While the Trait boxes for Ceaseless Momentum are still available on the Exchange, the listings are finite: No new stock can be opened, so eventually there may be no copies of it or there may be so few the price won’t be worth it.
VIDEO SHOWCASES
For the last time in this article, here’s Captain Geronimo’s take on the ship visuals, setup, and console & trait demonstration.
Here we see Auggie with a 225k+ run using the Na’Qjej. As I said, it’s not seen as a higher-end DPS option, but that doesn’t mean it can’t dish out a decent chunk of damage.
Auggie also recently uploaded a second look video of the Na’Qjej. How recently? How about yesterday?
I feel it’s worth noting that this breaks the tradition of putting each multi-ship option from a Lockbox together as a single listing (like how the Kelvin Timeline ships from “Into Darkness and Beyond” had all 3 original Kelvin Timeline ships as a single option and the two Destroyers as a single option). The reason I didn’t link to the original release post for the Na’Qjej is because it released with the Section 31 Intel Science Destroyer in the same Section 31 Lock Box. It was the KDF T6 ship prize option for that box, while the Section 31 ship was the Federation prize option.
Let’s move onto what else is included in this Choice Pack.
THE OTHER ITEMS
There’s nothing to see with the other items, but I tend to list them and briefly describe them, anyway, so let’s do that! (Images are pulled from the official blog post announcing the “Secret Intel” bundle and are not my own).
WARNING! WARNING! In the past, items in this section have been Bound to Account. Do not expect these items to be sellable on the Exchange or be tradeable to other players unless stated and proven otherwise upon release.
Experimental Ship Upgrade Token (x9)
Probably one of the better non-ship items you could get, this will grant an extra Console Slot, Starship Trait Slot, and Device Slot to a T6 ship of your choice (with reclaims of the ship on any character getting a free upgrade). I’d advise not using these on character-specific ships unless that ship is the character’s primary ship of use and you likely won’t get extras (Fleet/Lockbox/Lobi/Promo) or you know you’ll get the Fleet version on other characters (so it’s like an account-wide unlock, increasing the value of using the token on a per-character ship).
If you’re looking for Lobi, this option will probably net you 200-250 total Lobi on average (minimum 4 per Key, average 5 per Key), down from the 300 guaranteed Lobi from the “Mudd Is In Command” Choice Pack. However, since the loot tables go up to (I think) 8 or 10 Lobi on a single opening, you could see slightly higher numbers. I tend to bet on the lower end and figure 200 as the minimum and 250 being the average over a 50-Lock Box run.
Epic Prize Token – Phoenix Prize Pack (x1)
Needing that D.O.M.I.N.O. console to boost your overall DPS? Want to downgrade to Ultra Rare so you can grab the Voth Bulwark to go with that Voth Rampart you got from the last Choice Pack? This is probably a valid option to consider since getting those tokens feels like it’s the same odds as a getting a T6 Lock Box ship.
Remember, the token is Bound to Account, but the ship you get is NOT an account-wide unlock. Any ship(s) you get from the Phoenix Prize Pack store are single-character purchases that don’t include reclaims. Choose and claim wisely and precisely.
If you’re lazy or extremely conscious of your Dilithium supply and not wanting to use other upgrade types, this may not be a bad option. The ability to go straight to Mk XV Epic with a single upgrade is quite tempting!
COMING SOON: NOT-SO-SECRET VALUE INTEL ANALYSIS
This is just Part 1 of what’s usually a 2-part series on these Choice Packs. While I can’t promise I’ll have the Value part done for the first day of release, I can reasonably be sure to have it done by the weekend. Unless there’s a flash Zen Charge Bonus or Zen Discount, it won’t matter if you buy on Day 1 or the last day of the 50% discount.
Be patient. I’ll break down the values some time this week. 🙂 Until then, enjoy the Winter Wonderland in STO!
Joe and STO 