Hello, Joe and STOers! You’ve seen the first 5 ships of the 13th Anniversary Review series, and now, just a day before the New Year starts for 2024 (and potential setup for the 14th Anniversary Bundle…yikes! Where did the time go!?), I’m finishing up the 13th Anniversary’s set.
Yes, I’ve realized through this that I suck at getting things done in a timely manner. If I do a 14th Anniversary Bundle review series, I plan on fixing that.
But what’s done is done for 2023, so let’s look at the 6th ship of the 6 in the 13th Anniversary Bundle, the Mirror Crossfield Science Destroyer!
This is the ship that set off a PR nightmare for Cryptic. Putting a ship that has a Legendary version into a Mudd Choice Pack is one thing (they’re trying to sell the original versions specifically when that happens), but the Mirror Crossfield not only had its equipment and traits as part of the Legendary Glenn Temporal Operative Science Vessel, but also it’s considered the weakest version of the Crossfield. As much as Cryptic sold the 10th Anniversary Bundle to its players, to get a strictly weaker version in a $110-$170 Bundle was quite the shock! That led to Cryptic adding the Styx Terran Dreadnought Cruiser to the 13th Anniversary Bundle while keeping the Mirror Crossfield in it, as well. (I wouldn’t expect 2 Lock Box/Lobi/Promo Ships for the 14th Anniversary Bundle, if we even get a Lock Box/Lobi/Promo ship in it.)
So we’ll take advantage of the generosity of keeping the Mirror Crossfield in by doing a review on it!
I do want to note that this is almost going to be a 2-review post: once for a run where things felt off, another for a more proper attempt. I’ll mark the major sections with a larger font.
THE INITIAL TEST: DEW(Sci) the Borg Handle the Mirror Crossfield Well?
THE RUN AND PARSE VIDEO
PARSE DETAILS
There’s an oddity at the very bottom, where some version of the Wide Angle DBB under some form of Fire at Will did literally 0 damage in 2 attacks. I guess under that specific Fire at Will, the DBB wasn’t in the firing arc of much, if anything.
THE BUILD VIDEO
(NOTE: You’ll want to scroll down to the next section for 99% of this build.)
This was a Pulse Phaser build (with a cheat on the Obliviating Phaser Omni since I couldn’t afford the original Pulse Phaser’s Omni) from Alan, the final contributor to help build out one of the 13th Anniversary Bundle’s ships.
The attempt here was a bit of a “DEWSci” build: Directed Energy Weapons mixed with Science abilities that deal damage. Theoretically, a two-pronged approach would work well! You do energy weapons for most of your damage, while you add in a not-insignificant amount of Science ability-based damage that’s effectively free to you!
However, my testing showed that, like Miles O’Brien once said in an episode of DS9 and I’ll slightly change the quote, “If you DEW and Sci, you’ll do neither one very well.” In other words, like most other builds, you’ll likely be better off choosing to focus on Directed Energy Weapons primary with Science as a secondary and relatively minor focus, or you’ll focus on Science and let your weapons help that out where possible.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
I was severely underwhelmed with the performance of this ship, even under my own, “I know very little about proper piloting, positioning, and cooldown reduction,” frame of mind.
Let’s review how the other 5 ships did in their recorded tests:
Terran Eagle Pilot Raider: 160k DPS in Infected: The Conduit on Advanced difficulty.
Terran Monitor Miracle Worker Carrier: 164k DPS in Infected: The Conduit on Advanced difficulty.
Terran Hydra Intel Destroyer: 91k DPS in Infected: The Conduit on Advanced difficulty.
Terran Sirius Command Dreadnought Cruiser: 126k DPS in Infected: the Conduit on ELITE difficulty as a Tank.
Styx Terran Dreadnought Cruiser: 114k DPS in a solo version of Infected: the Conduit on Advanced difficulty on Tribble.
This makes the Mirror Crossfield’s 89.75k DPS the lowest DPS of all 6 reviewed ships.
And this isn’t a one-time thing. I did 2 other runs, and the results were similar (noting the 92k was a Normal difficulty run, so that doesn’t count as far as I’m concerned).
I may re-test this some time in January (and perhaps the Hydra, as well, because 2 ships under 100k DPS is odd for what I feel I’m capable of, whether by skill or equipment [most likely equipment. ha ha!]), but for now, to be the lowest of 6 ships may just show why this was not a popular inclusion in this year’s Anniversary Bundle: Even if it does give you a Promo ship account-wide unlocked (yes, the Mirror Crossfield is/was a PROMO-LEVEL ship!)
ON SECOND THOUGHT…SOME BUILD IMPROVEMENTS AND NONSENSE CHANGED
Seeing as how that was just…odd…I consulted EndeavourGameOn about what could have been it. I was figuring I’d re-review this in mid-January and give a before-and-after analysis.
But I think we all know that wouldn’t have happened until it was almost time for the 14th Anniversary Bundle. ha ha!
So I made some changes, and here’s the ultimate result:
RUN AND PARSE, TAKE 2!
THE BUILD…FOR REAL, THIS TIME!
PARSE DETAILS, TAKE 2!
THE CHANGES
Okay, so what did I do to make a ~42k difference? WELLL…
- I got rid of unnecessary BOFF abilities and swapped them for slightly-more-useful-than-not-being-used abilities. You can see Distributed Targeting got almost 1.4k DPS; that was a Beam: Overload slot that went unused. While not much, that already would have put the previous parse above 90k DPS.
- In replacement for Bioneural Infusion Circuits to keep some Critical Severity (“CrtD”), I’d originally put in Decentralized Immunity (from the Terran Trailblazer Science Warship). Instead, I went with the Sensor Phantom Projector (from the Cyclone Intel Escort). Although the CrtD isn’t as high, it provides a passive that grants a version of Flanking Damage, and if you activate the console you get a much larger boost.
- I swapped the default Deteriorating Secondary Deflector for the Fleet Research Lab’s Strategic Deteriorating Secondary Deflector…except it didn’t do much good, as I thought it did its Radiation Damage off Control abilities (like Tractor Beam or Gravity Well) instead of what it actually wants, Science Debuffs (Structural Analysis and Tyken’s Rift). I don’t have time to do a 3rd run, but I may still do a revisit of both this and the Hydra in January. I did take the one with [EPG] and [EnDmg], so I got some boost off it, but not to the extent I likely could have with the correct powers being used.
- Finally, I don’t think this group was as well-coordinated or well-damaging as the other two ISA groups I was in. That left more damage (thus, more DPS) for more players.
REACTION
131k is a much better result, and there’s more room to be had! Very maneuverable, easy to spot where you are, I love the look of the ship (not on this map, but elsewhere I’ll even use Mirror Crossfield parts on a Crossfield Science Spearhead as I like the hull color better), and it’s got a two-pronged Energy Weapon/Science split focus where you can choose the direction in which you ultimately want to go. For someone like me who loves to put Gravity Well into whatever builds I can, this is a theoretical dream!
OVERALL REVIEW
If I had to go off how fun it is to fly, this would be an A+. I feel it’s the perfect mix of size and speed for me to feel I can control what’s going on with the ship without losing where it is among everything on the map. That’s a huge thing for me, as I easily get lost if I don’t keep a close eye on my ship.
For my skill and equipment availability, it was the 3rd best ship. Do I feel that’s reasonable? I…don’t know, honestly. I feel the Sirius and Styx could have done better in different ways: The Sirius was both budget and a Tank, while the Styx ran a solo ISA on a test server where I could use practically whatever I want. I’m not saying I feel they did terrible; I’m saying I feel they could have beat the Mirror Crossfield if I were purely focused on damage output.
If you keep in the Sirius and Styx to view this as the 3rd best ship out of 6, it’s a mid-tier ship. If you take those two out and view it more as the 3rd best of 4 that went through similar tests (DPS-oriented, ISA tested on the live server), it’s a bottom 25% ship.
Either way, I don’t think my personal opinion changes. It’s a fun ship, but I don’t think it’s the deal-breaker on using up a Promo ship selection box or in getting the 13th Anniversary Bundle. I feel the 4 new ships help that decision, with the Styx and a T6 ship coupon pushing it over the top. It’s a great addition only after you’ve recouped your value elsewhere. Too many great ships exist in the Promo box, and the Styx gave the Bundle that necessary “Oomph” to get over the top on value.
Enjoy it as a fun extra, but don’t expect Promo-level worthiness out of this ship.
FINAL RATING: 6/10. It’s an enjoyable Crossfield variant, capable of 100k+ DPS, but it’s likely not the high-end ship you’re looking for. Being a 4/3 Science ship does help it against other strictly Science ships. It went from a rough add-in to a fun extra when the Styx got added in, so enjoy it when/if you do get the Bundle! I just wouldn’t put it as the primary reason for using a Promo ship pack or for getting the 13th Anniversary Bundle.
FINAL THANKS TO ALL
First off, I want to thank all those who contributed toward this review project. I apologize that it literally took all the rest of the year, but this has been daunting for more than one reason. I know what I’d change in order to get these reviews done more quickly if I were to do more.
* Pattee
* EndeavourGameOn
* Ri’Shad Shadowstar
* Spencer/CasualSAB
* Stephen
* Gina G
* KWolves21
And secondly, I’d like to thank those who take the time to read these posts. I hope they help you make an informed decision, whether it’s this Review Series, the Valuation Posts, the F2P account series (that’ll get an update in January), or anything, really. While I’m not the best player, builder, etc., I hope it provides an extra perspective that maybe speaks to you more than others or helps you amalgamate everything you’re hearing so you can make the decision that’s best for you. 🙂
Finally, I’d like to thank everyone who provided any level of input on these builds. Lately, Endeavour’s been a fantastic aid in spotting things I miss quite easily, and Spencer’s been a huge help on a couple builds, but most every one of you has had a hand in some way, shape, or form in getting these builds together, whether they were your choices overall or if you helped me find something I missed or made me aware of something I’d have never considered. I feel I’ll be better for it going into 2024. 🙂
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!
I’ll have an update of what I’m hoping to accomplish soon, but for now, I’ll leave you with what I feel is a fitting screenshot from Star Trek: Picard, Season 3, when we get near the end of the season and see STO’s famous flagship Enterprise-F NCC-1701-F Odyssey-class being made canon. (All show credit to CBS/Paramount, and the Odyssey redesign credit to Thomas Marrone, Art Director for Star Trek Online.)
To all of you and yours, I wish you all a Happy New Year, keep fighting off the baddies, and continue enjoying STO!
Joe and STO 