The Admiral’s Log: My Journey Through ‘Star Trek Online’ – Part XXXIV

Written by John Edward Betancourt

A Few Tips on Enhancing Your Vessel

It’s funny how sometimes a single moment can suddenly remind you of the bigger picture, and while that’s a broad and philosophical statement that tends to apply to greater concepts in life, it’s something that also has weight when it comes to video games. Because from time to time, a single moment in a grand and sweeping game can remind you that you’re part of something bigger, like say a United Federation of Planets if you will, and that hint should clue you into the fact that I had that exact epiphany the other day while I was playing Star Trek Online and this lovely moment came about in the most unexpected way imaginable.
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Because the particular run I was on seemed pretty run of the mill by my standards. I was doing my standard patrol route, picking up dilithium and energy credits as I went along and as the Galactica was making its way toward the final stops on my route, I noticed a Deep Space Encounter had just popped up and felt the need to join it and well, that’s when that moment arrived. Because I warped into this combat zone with a junior player, one who was clearly a Lieutenant Commander since they were flying a Constitution Class starship and well, they clearly needed a hand with combat, so I handled the tough stuff while they held their own and while that sounds pretty innocuous, what happened after these Klingon Rebels were defeated is what gave me pause.

Because this junior officer shot me a message, letting me know they thought my weapons load-out was pretty cool, and I thanked them and offered up some tips and that’s when the solid reminder hit me. Every single warp signature I see in this game, and every ship I encounter has a person sitting in the captain’s chair, and while that seems silly to realize now, let’s be honest, we all get lost in our games and our own personal adventures sometimes, and we forget about the vast community we are a part of. And well, getting the opportunity to play Admiral in a unique way made me realize, that now is as good a time as any to give back to the community and digital galaxy that’s been so good to me, by offering up some tips to players who are starting out or looking to enhance their experience, so let’s kick off this Star Trek themed improvement blog with a quick look at how to get the most out of your Starfleet vessel.

Now obviously, the easiest way to get a stronger ship with better weapons and gear, is to level up, er…get promoted, because every new rank brings forth new ships with better goodies beneath their digital hood. But there will come a point when your toys will no longer improve upon their own, which is about the time you hit level 50. Because at that point, Mark XII is the game provided cap out point, which means if you want more oomph to your phaser banks, and torpedoes that collapse shields, it’s up to you to upgrade everything to Mark XV, and that means, you need to buckle up and prepare for some serious work because you’re going to need a lot of energy credits and dilithium and thankfully, the game has ways of providing you with what you need.

Because patrols are a wonderful way to earn both dilithium and energy credits, because combat yields items that you can sell on the marketplace, which will allow you to buy tech upgrades and the more you gather up of those, and the more dilithium you have, the faster you bring your gear to an elite level and honestly, since I started a couple of years ago, that’s how I ground it out. With days upon days of patrols and long hours of combat to get what I needed, but thankfully, there are wonderful new options for players looking to soup up their ships. For the Endeavor System offers up untold riches when it comes to energy credits and at times, some ridiculous dilithium hauls, to the point where I’ve actually received more of that precious crystal than I can refine in a single day and working that system, alongside the tips I just offered should help any player beef up their vessel.

But that begs a bigger question, what exactly should you be filling your ship up with? Well, that’s entirely up to the player. Me personally, I wanted the Galactica to be a predator, so I armed her with Anti-Proton Beams all around and Quantum Torpedoes and my console load-outs are filled with items that help to keep the shields and the hull stronger than usual, and they also add a boost to the weapons systems and really, that’s the beauty of this game. You can truly make the ship your own and enjoy a variety of load-outs and gear, so toy with what intrigues you and stick what works for you in combat because there’s no wrong way to arm a ship, what matters more is that your vessel and your crew make it back to Earth Spacedock in one piece.

However, while all that may sound daunting and exhausting since that’s quite the list for how to level your ship up, don’t forget to have fun while you do this, and remember that every mission you take on reflects your rank difficulty wise. So if you’re not ready to traverse the galaxy and battle flotillas of ships, just have fun with the stories, and let the mission tree guide you to new gear and new ships and new weapons, just make sure you study your new load-outs to start getting an idea for the future when you’re ready for the grind and well, that’s really all I have for you today when it comes to building a better vessel, and I’ll continue to try to offer up some useful tips for my fellow officers as we all patiently await the new story arc, ‘Rise of Discovery’. Until next time. 

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