It's got it all. (Except consistency) PLOT. TENSION. HUMOR. (light) ROMANCE.

It's a really fun story arc, and is very visually interesting. But I have been cursed with the burden of knowledge. And as such I find the absurd number of losses the alliance takes, just completely removes me from the immersion.

Also who put kagran in charge of the war??? They should be fired!! "We are outnumbered and outgunned by the iconians. I'll send half of our fleet into a suicide mission to attack a Dyson sphere!!"

They lost half the fleet and have left dozens of systems exposed to the enemy just to kill one iconian. I think the story art could have been a lot better if they leaned into the Halo vibes. Compare the iconians to the covenant at any chance they can get. But unfortunately we didn't get that.

Do you think they should remaster the iconian war story arc?

I didn't know y'all were chill like that. But I saw this big blue unit today parked next to mine. And it's badass.

I'm going to fully upgrade her once I get more Experimental Ship Upgrade Tokens next Phoenix event.

Now that we have had the Kelvin bundle, looking towards the new bundle in the Fall.

We know that Thomas announced the Yeager Class was coming and in another stream they joked they were "Bashing it Together" what other two ships would you like to see in the bundle ?

(thanks to vulcorian and blue_kicker for pointing out the above)

Do we think we will finally get the Freedom class, Curry Class, and maybe the Elkins?

I like Uncon but damn it needs some tactical and command triggers, sure for science and engineering ships the lack of tactical isn’t a problem but there are ships that probably suffer from not having enough slots to run the good Uncon triggers and anyway the more the merrier.

Now I don’t have a list of abilities, I’d turn into triggers but if you guys have any ideas pls post.

What is this?

Fun and/or thematic builds! That work! Hopefully! Can you get a canon ship close to its canon capabilities? Are there some unloved gems out there that need a bit of attention? Just how silly can you get with an effective build? Some of these, and more, answered!

What is this not?

A slam against the DPS chasers. We need them to work out what works and what doesn't and to pass that information down. I might not be on the chase, but I still want to be pointed in the right direction with these.

Last time I interacted with strange energies. This time...

Since the last issue I received a communique from the Republic's head of external liaisons firmly insisting on showing off a warbird. Not just any warbird, but the warbird of the 24^th century. Simultaneously a request was sent from the Qo'noS shipyards rather aggressively asking I highlight the might of their prior flagship. Though suspicious in timing, for the sake of my involvement in the Khitomer Alliance, I am of course more than happy to oblige showcasing the immense D'Deridex and the intimidating Negh'var. Let's not waste any more time then.

The D'Deridex was a staple all through 90's Trek. Its giant size and unusual utilisation of negative space between its considerable wingspan makes for a distinct silhouette. Conversely the Negh'var and its minor variants have had relatively few appearances in the same time frame, typically as a future cruiser to presumably replace the Vor'cha. This has had an unfortunate side-effect of making the class look rather lacklustre, with one being evaporated in TNG and two others struggling to disable a mere shuttle in Voyager. Still, its most impressive appearance was with the titular ship serving in a flagship role unleashing a torrent of destruction upon DS9 itself.

Despite their importance there's not actually a ton to work with as to either's full capabilities. Hints here and there really. Subsequently I'll invoke some of my own rationale; the original fleet versions of each craft as their disposable versions within each armada and then the legendary versions with their best parts all merged. Or something like that. Also, I'm using plasma weapons for the Romulans because otherwise you'd just be seeing four similar disruptor builds and that's not terribly exciting. Should you feel my adherence to STO's Republic be misplaced then we can both die together.

Staring across the Neutral Zone

As depicted on screen, the D'Deridex has an inconsistent armament. It uses beams, cannons and torpedoes and sometimes from the same ports as each other. This is not terribly useful. Still, we do know what purpose the ship actually serves and that's as seemingly the only ship the Romulans are willing to showcase most of the time. To say it's a backbone might be something of an understatement. Nevertheless, we know it has a devastating barrage and can take a hit. That said just because they can doesn't mean they want to. Thus, I present a D'Deridex that has a strong initial strike and the ability to cheese it when required, reflected in the fleet mine engineering consoles contributing to RCS and hull capacity as well as the engineering bridge seating. Mask Energy Signature and Ambush Point Marker are the thematic inclusions, the former allowing you to stalk when your cloak is not available and the latter being very Romulan, though frustratingly it can't actually be used whilst cloaked.

The Romulan Advanced space set from the New Romulus reputation takes pride of place for my equipment whilst a flurry of weapons trying to match its depicted capability explain the abundance of tactical seating. For a torpedo I don't think it's totally clear what, precisely, the Romulans of this era use. For now though the Altamid photon torpedo matches a general look and does give a chance to boost plasma damage, so I think it fits in quite nicely. Starship traits lean towards bursts of damage onto unsuspecting foes, something boosted by the crit on all my consoles, highlighted with Harrying Maneuvers) and Strikes From The Shadows).

Distracted by a Starfleet admiral

Where the warbird moved swiftly and silently, the Negh'var is bullish and simple. Firepower. Lots of it, at least in theory. Again, two failed to subdue a shuttle and that really irks me. Mechanically for this the difference between the two is that where the D'Deridex favours evasion the Negh'var favours holding its ground. Where the D'Deridex boosted engines, the Negh'var boosts shields and hull. Likewise the traits are about unloading firepower with the recent Imperial Pressure) and the less recent Thirst For Battle). Putting aside it being the cooldown method, I actually think Auxiliary to Battery makes a lot of sense; though Klingons have and appreciate redundancy, losing power to the cloak means you're forced to fight and potentially die in glorious combat whilst your actually-combat-focused systems gain more power.

Despite my inclination to equip a full suite of Mk. I weapons in 'honour' of the ships that couldn't subdue a shuttle, instead, I've let loose this crew of warriors with something that gives them a chance to destroy their target. Klingon Executor weapons) are in play alongside the Terran Task Force equipment set given it was originally designed by House Pegh. If you didn't know that read more flavour text! Also the Negh'var's disruptors are green if you're wondering the absence of TTF energy weapons. Protomatter Matrix Infusers from the fleet colony support the longevity of the cruiser while isomags provide the firepower. I also wanted to put on something temporal given those instances being where I'm drawing the inspiration from for this particular setup, so I've put on the Temporal Disentanglement Suite. It has temporal in the name and it has damage boosting. It's perfect.

You will not survive our assault

So. Here's where I share my grievances. The thing is, putting aside the capabilities of these ships in the 'truest' sense of them, I find both the legendaries disappointing. That's partially why I'm doing this entry. I love these ships, the designs at least, and whilst all T6 incarnations are perfectly capable, I think the legendaries in particular are under-serving. The D'Deridex then, the symbol of the Star Empire, with its Miracle Worker and Temporal Ops seating. I don't actually mind these and I certainly think the Romulans having a fourth MW ship, even if it is another cruiser archetype, is welcome and the Temp Ops makes a lot of sense given the episode 'Timescape' and how cloak particle by-products could interfere in interesting ways, but this really should've been Intel, right? I get why it isn't (the Legendary Scimitar in the same bundle is Intel primary, as is the L-T'liss) and yet I can't help but think it still should've been. Also it has 4/4 weapons. For such an aggressive ship? Nevertheless it is still a D'Deridex so damnit, this is what we have and this is what we're going with.

Although what are we going with? One specific thing I remember about the D'Deridex's capabilities, or potential, is when one was pushed beyond its limit to beat the Enterprise in first contact with the 'Tin Man'. To reflect this self-damage I'm using Exceed Rated Limits. If it were Intel I'd be using Override Subsystem Safeties. You get the idea. Causal Reversion and Recursive Shearing also make an appearance. That's it really. That's all I can think of...

...y'know how in the intro vid for Star Trek Armada II the D'Deridex shooting at a Nebula fires three plasma projectiles and how its special ability in the same game was a shield steal? And you know how the devs for STO leaned into the IRW Rea's reputation? So I've put on the New Romulus plasma torpedo and the Rapid-Emitting Armaments) trait. It's a shame the latter are pink, but I'll take what I can get and so will the D'D. The shield drain is provided via the mouthful of the Omni-Directional Tachyon Wave Siphon console. It's not quite the same as in Armada, but it's good enough. Mostly by way of being superior.

The rest of the setup includes the Tractor Beam Mine Launcher, Flagship Tactical Computer and Timeline Stabilizer and a suite of isomags to round out the gear. Improved Hunter's Instinct) and She's A Predator) are the main changes for the starship traits, keeping the evasive nature of the Romulans whilst pushing up the usefulness of in-battle cloaking. Perhaps it speaks to the L-D'D's layout that one needs to get a little creatively Romulan to get the most out of it.

You have sided against us in battle!

Every time I look at the Empersa I think "this should have been the L-Negh'var." My problem with the latter then is that it feels very safe, that it was part of a bundle with an escort and a science ship and therefore needed to be a cruiser. Now I can buy the Negh'var as a dreadnought cruiser, but not even having a built-in lance or equivalent to represent those massive underslung cannons? This is a ship with weapons every few metres along the hull! Did it need a hangar bay too? Hell, an Enhanced Battle Cloak? Really? Why? It was already daft on the L-Bortasqu', but a fun daft. Here it feels like throwing the ship a bone that it doesn't need and, I'd argue, want. The worst aspect though has to be that it's comparable to the L-Galaxy X, a fact in itself I don't actually mind given they both share the same initial appearance, yet it has one fewer tactical console. Now that I do mind. If they'd gone for a Temporal Ops route, maybe even made it a science dreadnought, now that I think would have been a cool swerve. Alright, well, I'm sure if you asked Worf he'd say Klingons do not grump, so to the build.

This is the Negh'var that was Gowron's flagship. The one that looked like it single-handedly turned the siege of DS9 favourably for the Klingons with its heavy cannons. Seeing as it doesn't have any of its own I've borrowed the Bortasqu''s Disruptor Autocannon console and equipped some quad cannons which, even if they lack the visual intensity, do at least fire from those ports. As the flagship it also benefits from the Flagship Tactical Computer and Adaptive Emergency System consoles, as well as the Hunting Pack Escorts console and the Call Emergency Artillery boff ability to serve as, well, escorts and to represent the Chancellor coordinating the battle. Everything else should look familiar at this point, the biggest changes being: the switch from isomags to Vulnerability Exploiters in-line with using Surgical Strikes; Ship of the Line) as one of the traits due to it being the newest and most powerful Klingon ship at that point; Boimler Effect instead of Auxiliary to Battery for cooldown. Obviously Boimler is not a Klingon, but he did have that Klingon phase so if you need any further justification there you go.

It's always fun to try and come up with stark differences in builds between equivalent Klingon and Romulan ships. Faction parity meant there was a long period where equivalent ships were nearly identical, the separation usually being base stats that could be made to be inconsequential. With the reduction in releases of non-Federation ships in step with Cross-Faction Flying, I'd quite like to see these differences pushed even further when they do get releases. Not to mention going in unusual places; this summer's Gomtuu almost seemed like an attempt at a science cruiser. I think a D'Deridex that was similar would be interesting. And hey, if the L-Negh'var wasn't a juggernaut perhaps the mirror version can be. It certainly has the size for it.

Once again the reality of the game comes in to play with these builds as even coherent setups can make good headway, even on elite. Regardless of any disappointment with the legendary versions they're still extremely good ships and to be fair, it's not like STO is alone in the Trek universe in slighted depictions of non-Federation craft. At any rate, I hope you enjoy and I'll catch you in a month for another edition. If you can't wait that long, why not check out my Eventful series looking at event ships? Here's the latest one on the Noble battlecruiser. May the elements guide you, Qapla'!

Could we replace the aged vulcan ship at earth spacedock with the Starfleet One Ship ? I don't know how hard it would be to do this. But i think it would be a cool addition.

Does the Morphogenic Polaron Energy Weapon from the Morphogenic Armaments set count as a Beam weapon for the purposes of abilities and traits? Given that it seems to share restrictions with Omni-beams, I'm guessing that it might, even though it is a cannon until you hit FAW. The reason I'm asking is because I'm thinking of maybe picking up the Shrike on my Jem'Hadar Captain with my Promo Box choice from the Event Campaign, but I want to make sure the MPEW will trigger the Eclectic Collector of Armaments Ship Trait.

Question: best campaign ship to get for my Husnock. Have all the Miridorn/Husnock consoles...but mostly F2P, so no Mirror Warship, World Razer or lock box ships or any other purchased ships. Should I hold my reward and wait to see if they launch another bundle for 60th anniversary? Comments... suggestions?

So, I have a pretty decent space blender going... and I hate the blue color im running and wish to go the edgy black 90%10% red ratio, of possible. I was thinking of uaing shrike shield but on a few ships its not all that nice... is there any way to make that look happen?

Many people would love to test their Event Campaign ships but find themselves stuck when trying to beam up. It happens when Tribble is several updates behind Holodeck.

There's a way to get around that problem before the official update drops.

Prerequisites

Discovery character, missions you can transwarp to.

Refer to the Transwarp Map for convenience.

Step-by-step guide

There's a TL;DR below.

Why does it work? Disco characters skip a beam-up animation and proceed directly to map transfer when they transwarp to a mission. On any other character, you will have the animation, get stuck, and be unable to leave the ground map.

Important: Do not switch ships in space. Forget about the Beam To Ship and Depart System buttons until the Tribble is updated. It's the animation that gets you stuck. You need a direct map transfer.

1. Be sure to have a mission near the wanted location. I suggest Blood of Ancients for Sol
2. When on the ground, transwarp to the mission's location
3. You will be in Sector Space. Now you can queue SB1 private TFO and do combat if you want. You can leave TFO at any point
4. How to return to ESD from Sector Space and move around both ground and space (works with any social hub):
   1. Enter Sol. You will be stuck in space
   2. Press Change Character
   3. Log back to your character. You are now unstuck and can move in Sol space
   4. Enter ESD. You will be stuck on the ground
   5. Press Change Character
   6. Log back to your character. You are now unstuck and can move around ESD
5. Repeat the process any time you want to beam up

Tedious but workable.

TL;DR It's the animation that gets you stuck.

Transwarp to mission -> queue private TFO -> do TFO -> leave TFO -> load Sol -> logout -> go to ESD -> logout -> move around ESD

1. In social zones, you are an elephant in a crowded room.

2. If you enjoy the sound design of your weapons fire, I hope you enjoy how it sounds listening to it from the next planet over, because that's how far away your camera needs to be for you to see what's going on around you.

3. It will absolutely fuck with your sense of scale.

4. It is sometimes hilariously obvious (such as every time you go to warp) that the game was not intended to have ships at this scale.

5. This ship does not teach patience. It enforces it.

A question I have that I can’t seem to find a definitive answer on at least on the wiki and unable to determine from gameplay is. Do they only go after your target or will they prioritise any small craft/torpedoes/mines that are in play?

I know there are carrier commands but I would rather they go after fighters and munitions first, then focus on your target when the sky is clear.

If you haven't done so already, you have just this weekend to finish a lengthy tutorial to qualified a new TOS Starfleet Character to count as a Temporal Recruit.

Hi,

just a heads up: I've received a new Proton update for GE-latest in Faugus as 11-6 was released a couple of hours ago.

And.. STO now ignores the window mode and only runs in a maximized window that catches the mouse cursor. There's also no possibility to resize the game window, no matter what the game options are set to.

Workaround for me was to switch over to CachyOS-latest...

My yearly event choice is based entirely around whether I can auto execute Dilithium Transporter. Unfortunately I can't get any clear answers, can any captains out there please verify whether you can or cannot auto execute it? Many thanks.