Incline Official codex Star Trek Online topic :salute:

[Davidshky]

Imo ground combat was barely hit at all when cryptic fucked up HP and stuff. Except for the optional objective there's barely any difference between advanced and elite ground queues.

Enemies don't do "that" much damage either. The main problem with bug hunt is that they do a lot of toxic damage.

 

[Norfleet]

I seem to remember EV suits come with toxic resistance, and probably the Undine set.

 

[Davidshky]

Yeah the undine counter command armor and the set itself is probably the best gear for protection against toxic damage. Combined with the trait you can get as a reward from surface tension you can get pretty decent protection against toxic.

The point is that most gear work pretty well against energy and physical damage and you could even get some kinda decent vendor-trash armor on the exchange with fairly high resistance. Against toxic your only option is basically the CC armor or the lobi store undine armor.

 

[Bliblablubb]

Toxic damage is only a problem if you keep staying in the puddle of bug spunk they spit at you. IIRC the full Undine set adds toxic resistance as well, so you don't have to let go of the 30% extra shotgun goodness.
That said, I didn't die at all last time i played it, while Drakronia spent a lot of time face down in the dirt. No idea how he even got aggro, considering that I was a tac and he... a sci? Maybe it's just random.

Edit: curses, you beat me to it. 20 minutes ago? I didn't type that long...

 

[Davidshky]

The flying fuckers also do toxic damage (quite a lot tbh) with their range attack and a direct hit from the spitters can hurt pretty badly.

 

[Bliblablubb]

I guess I got lucky then. Or Drakron threw himself between me and the enemy to intercept the damage!

And with ground bulletsponges I mostly meant the vagwarts. Bug hunt was almost to quick with the bugged FA rifles, so it should be okay once they fixed it.
Those champignon online superhero vagwarts are the real annoyance, but luckily they don't show up aside from the "one and done" story missions.

 

[Davidshky]

Ah yes, ze übervaads.

Imagine if they appeared in the battlezone like some sort of special reinforcement. You're about to take a position and suddenly a pod with an übervaad drops from orbit and everything goes to shit.

 

[Drakron]

What's Drakron up to, anyway?

Most of the time, just moving the Delta Reputation on my characters to meet Dilithium Weekened even if I suspect Cryptic is likely going to kneejerk and remove the bonus of the T5 claim.
But today I decided to work on some stuff, I just run Dyson V-Rex fighting since the "untagging patch" we kinda have to kill it before moving to the next, making tagging all 3 a hell of a problem for Dil and Dyson marks since I thought I brought the Dyson torp and I didnt and I wanted to use it on the Interpid T5, then I decided to run Bug Hunt a few times and Crystalline Advanced for Dil and Marks (I am also missing the sword but sword doesnt work on Bug Hunt), mostly Dil because I end up buying a lot of Rep stuff (Undine Armor for Bug Hunt), rest was replaying that episode to get the ground trait and the kit frame for the Undine set 3.

Been a while since I played that long, most of the time is just *click* *click* *click* ... *log off", I dont think I will play as long as I did, even with Bug Hunt its just mostly to get the APCs on my characters because the Biogel console seems pretty good and I do want the Delta rifle on my Feds since its a Voyager rifle model but I am not going to bust my ass getting them, with the XP weekend I burned out just going from Lv 52 to 60, I end up stopping a a bit after that.

Also on the subject of the Shotgun it seems because it deals physical damage everything that raises it also boosts the Shotgun.

In case nobody mentioned this before, the Delta ground set is the weirdest that Cryptic put out because the set is great ... to fight the Vaadwaur but because nobody else uses their abilities its pointless for everyone else, making it only have one real use ... Kobali Battleground ... that you dont need it, utterly pointless for Bug Hunt were as far I can say the Undine Rep set, Undine Lobi Armor, Tholian Rep EVA armors and MACO are better, MACO simply because set 2 (shield heal).

Also in case anyone is wondering why, look at the Delta ground set ... its set 3 ability is destroy support drones that only the Vaadwaur use, the shield is resistant to drain but no enemy does that outside the Borg (that will not care) and the Vaadwaur, as resistances goes the armor is a inferior version of MACO were the only thing worth it is Set 2 that gives +5% run speed but since its a 3 pieces set and not 4 like the Undine Rep ground armor you cannot even play around with mixing.

The only thing good on the Delta Ground set is the armor if you can expose the target since its secondary fire is a orbital strike when the target is exposed, on my Betazoid Sci it was more reliable that the Shotgun because ... well Betazoid, no way to boost strenght and since I was using the Undine Rep kit I slotted what I had and the Winter event Sci Kit module is good, freezes them and exposes them (the Tac kit module would also be good since its a freezing grenade, Eng is the worst since its a bomb and not mines) so I had a lot of Orbital strikes.

 

[Drakron]

Imagine if they appeared in the battlezone like some sort of special reinforcement.

They do actually but you are unlikely to run into them, I seen then in the area were that mission to put listening devices is (you know, one of those event missions) since I run into then in 2 occasions, they are thankfully alone but still killed me, since you are never sent in that direction is unlikely you run into them.

Also I suspect he was talking about the ones with support drones that make then ... well take no damage at all as long the drone is active, they are a pain in the ass.

 

[Bliblablubb]

No I did mean the melee vagwarts, Aarne once said they reused CO animations for them. Annoying because they ignore your shields and seem to root you. When caught unaware and not wearing armor with high melee resist you are entering a world of pain. During "Dragon's deceit" your ally is supposed to distract him, but I always get aggro as soon as he spawns while my super ally stares at a wall.
The ones that grant immunity are not that bad once you realize you have to kill the drone/shieldgiver first.

But the space version is the worst, gravimetric anchor or something like that. Vagwarts warp in, a tiny object with far too many hps suddently holds you in place when you try to escape the artillery barrage. Pop. Press F to respawn.

 

[Drakron]

Star Trek Online is not only healthy but growing ...

http://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/9063903-anniversary-giveaway

 

[Davidshky]

http://sto-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?t=1355171

Most likely a bunch of lies again, but at least it appears that they have some idea of what people want.

 

[Drakron]

Of course they are lies, this was likely caused by the opposition to their planned nerfs to CSA and CEA.

Some fucktard at Cryptic somehow thinks its his destiny to create scenarios players cannot beat, as if its a competition to make them as impossible as they can get ... why we have dead queues? because high failure rate for what is akin to scraps off the table, they dont dare remove the daily marks wrapper since the forums would riot and the game would die so we get this passive-aggressive bullshit.

I blame the 90s that created a generation of developers that think M:TG is the motherfucking way to create RPGs, deck building might be fun for some but really its not for everyone, I suspect this is why KMMO that are rooted into MMO tradition and not fucking card games remain strong because they are fucking MMO, not a fucking deck building game.

The exodus from Delta Rising is likely starting to create a bit of panic on the office but they are so fucking arrogant they refuse to change course so we get a step in front with two steps back because they absolutely refuse to change their "design" no matter how broken it is, the only way things change is when management will change but Cryptic is a confty chair job, you dont get stack as you either leave by your own initiative or you get transferred also likely by your own initiative as well.

And on that matter I suspect the man problem is STO was when Cryptic was acquired by PWE the mostly profitable game of PWE lineup, they likely got drunk with all the money and their front position in PWE lineup that when NWO come out and STO fallen out they became insane attempting to regain their position, thus the huge push into monetized every system in the game, their push into forcing players into playing Delta Rising content is likely because they want to justify the expansion (hence the "Delta Rising is the best expansion ever and the players love it") even if according to one of the developers it was financially the most successful, however I suspect this was only true in relation to the Pack deal and C-Store sales are down (no shit, they make all T5 ships irrelevant and torpedo their own Lobi store), with queues dead because the DPS league managed to poison then into being well above the skill set of the average PUG STO player.

Hell CSA nerf seems to be caused by private queues having high success rate (certainly not PUGs), when you nerf or buff based on a queue success/failure that says all, queues should have a near 100% success rate since its purpose is not some aspergers developer feel good about himself by being a killer DM, its not "I made this VERY HARD scenario that only the l33t or the l33t can beat", this is entirely the wrong approach.

 

[Norfleet]

So what Drakronity be you up to?

You know, there's nothing wrong with having Serious Business content, although you need to leave something for the normal schlubs to play. What I would have done is made it so that the "regular" difficulty content works as normal grind, and the INSANELY HARD version grants the reward for free. If you live. All in all, I get the impression I'm not missing a whole lot by having been forced to cash out...and all that lucre is pretty nice.

 

[Drakron]

Just running rep projects really.

And true, there is nothing wrong with "hard mode" but the issue is Normal is a fucking waste of time since no "special currency" in those, meaning we have to run the "Advanced" and "Elite" queues ... that simply are above the average PUG skills and assume some shithead will not sabotage them because they can (you know because humanity arent dicks by nature) so we have shit pay were we better of in someplace else if we are in Normal and not even better off in Advanced/Elite since its shit pay outside the "special currency".

You know people are running CEA because you get 135 marks first time and 95 in sequential runs, it pays well and they had to nerf the CE from its original state in DR ... this shows the problem, they want us to run content but give us crap so we dont, so they mess around until we start to run the content and they became all passive-aggressive because OMG! People are actually succeeding in that content instead you know failing and getting their "10 marks" joke (its so insulting I dont even want to accept and just let the timer expire, its THAT insulting), they then nerf and the exodus begin leading to repeating the cycle.

Also they are raising the payout of Bug Hunt that I actually run, I have no idea why because its the only queue outside CEA that pops because I am not saying its easy but because its very fast and straightforward and most people that run it are well geared, this is why I am saying they are pushing people into DR content to prove the bullshit they spewed to PW in metrics since even BHE isnt that hard ... but take upgrades, I cannot upgrade ground gear because I need Plankon or whatever that is on Borg STF ground so I tried KAG that should not be hard (it aint Cure with the Turrets and not Infected with FUCK YOU END BOSS ROOM) and it have a 20 minute timer to complete it? I mean you WILL waste 20 fucking minutes no matter what and rewards are either "Here 10 marks scrub" *reward* box or beat the thing and get what is it? 35 Marks + 1 BNP + R&D Box for the superior upgrades.

The economy is going to shit because if you want to update you paying a arm and a leg due to the supply being bottleneck by insufficient players running Advanced and Elite queues, everything is simply vendortrash until you make it Mk XIV, I think a MACO ground armor at MK XIV resistances are TWICE that Mk XII, there are no reliable way to craft upgrades due to their lame half-assed implementation of the R&D system, if they are depending on the whales here is the problem ... what whale is going to stay if he cannot play anything because the queues are dead? A lot of this shit reminds me of the Bush Jr Neocon economics that we all seen how they worked so well.

As I said the problem with the queues is they are passive-aggressive on making then too hard for normal players, hard is fine but "hard" for Cryptic means bloated HP, One-Shoot abilities and 5 minutes "Do-or-Die" timers ... sure its "hard" but I dont want to subject myself to it.

 

[Norfleet]

I am thinking you're approaching the game the wrong way. You're too hung up on queues, marks, and rewards. What you should pay more attention to is getting MONEY.

 

[Drakron]

The only rewards I could give a fuck would be BNPs and the like, the rest? Event Boxes ... my DR rep is being done by the 35 mark boxes of the last MI.

As for queues ... this might sound funny but I enjoy Bug Hunt because its fast and strait to the point, you have 2 fail conditions ... alarm bugs and there are just 3 and people already know the 4 locations were they spawn and the Broodmother that is simply a DPS check, compared to the 20 minutes of walking down corridors fighting Borg ... meh, much better and chances are I will get bored but this is kinda the issue, I could run Undine Infiltration Advanced but why the fuck would I even do that? its 35 lousy marks with a Injector, I am better off leeching out the Undine Battlezone that even in a bad day will pay 2 injectors and more Marks.

Its simply Cryptic drowned the game with currencies as they tried to corral people into doing certain things, remenber when Nukara Hard was zone and we could get 20 people on it ... fun times, then the same aspergers got butthurt and make it a queue with 5 people and people stop giving a fuck, as much you think "fun is a filthy parasite" this is still entertainment, we dont have to be there playing and even less giving them money and the game stopped being something we did with friends ... I am mean, I rarely see Vaarna online (I guess he is getting annoyed at Warface) and our channel is sounding more and more like there are other Drakrons raging ... sure I still get annoyed but people seem to be on the edge since DR come out and I wasnt even in the game when it come out.

My approach to the game is simply I do what I want when I want ... gear? I understand the issues that exist but I will simply point them out ... I am saying the economy is fucked because of what upgrades, crafting and DR did, not I am stupid to participate in such system due to costs (because Cryptic will eventually panic and lower requirements, daily marks anyone?) and also why? as much I would like some gear NOT AT THOSE COSTS, you want to hear something funny? I never noticed the Romulan Flamethrower cost until recently and had a good laugh at it because no fucking way I would pay that cost for that, doesnt happen ... doesnt happen, I am not even upset even I am typing all this is simply so I can put down my thoughts on the matter.

 

[eklektyk]

i like their moronic : but we give u moar content !!!!!11one!!

thay plan on removing 14 episodes and replace them with :gasp: 4 !!! so far 2 brand new and 2 reworked ....simply moar is less ...didnt u know??
and since delta rising is splendid and spectacular success we will nerf da shit outta anything that isynt delta so we can prove it is as sucessful as we say it is !!!!

saddams information minister would aprove!

 

[Norfleet]

To be fair, content that is worth playing is better than tons of garbage nobody wants to touch.

 

[Bliblablubb]

I have to agree with Norfleet here. The soon-to-be-removed missions are either fillers, bad or don't fit in with the story as a whole anymore. When those were designed, it was just to give Romulans an appearance as villains of the week and squeeze in the Hirogen, since they were one of the few popular things voyager produced.
But now the Romulards got their own fleshed out storyline with LoR and that little feature content. Since craptic has made the Iconians the umbrella evil now, it's actually a good thing to bring the old stuff in line with that. As for the Hirogen... aren't they are a Derpa Quadrant species, so how did they even get here in the first place?

I replayed them soon after the change was announced and I won't miss them to be honest. The changes about the Borg/Undine were pretty good, so I am actually looking forward to it.
The XP loss shouldn't be a problem as well, since we now have more than enough content to bring a toon to at least 55.

Be honest to yourself: did you play those missions because they were good, or just because you were young and needed the XP?

Although I have to admit it feels a little like Winston cleaning up history, getting rid of the traces from the "old team"... How much "unchanged old stuff" is still in the game, from your time 4 years ago? The Fed's Klingon arc has also gotten some revamps already.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

Yea, the Romulan Mystery arc had way too much filler junk.

 

[Norfleet]

Its simply Cryptic drowned the game with currencies as they tried to corral people into doing certain things, remenber when Nukara Hard was zone and we could get 20 people on it ... fun times, then the same aspergers got butthurt and make it a queue with 5 people and people stop giving a fuck, as much you think "fun is a filthy parasite" this is still entertainment

Ah, but just because it's entertainment doesn't mean it's "fun". Banding together to break the game is something everyone loves. You remember back during X-Mas, when all of Doffjobs turned into spammed "X" and we were just running SBwhatzitwhatzit at level 2 over and over for the minerals?

I replayed them soon after the change was announced and I won't miss them to be honest. The changes about the Borg/Undine were pretty good, so I am actually looking forward to it.
The XP loss shouldn't be a problem as well, since we now have more than enough content to bring a toon to at least 55.

What XP loss? Normal players used to 50 by the time they reached that point. That's the official Craptic-compiled statistics: Us Farmers would 50 before we ever saw the Azura, until they nerfed that. Even now, if you time character creation right, you can be level 8 before you leave home, and it's only a few short hops from there to hit doffing whereupon you will never touch a mission again unless you want something from it. I basically just doffed all day. Near as I can tell, little has changed in this regard, doffing your way to success is still the best way to do anything.

So what you up to, Vaarna? Anything new and Vaarna?

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

Well, EVERYBODY PANIC is officially in effect in NW due to incoming level cap raise, and besides that I'm doffing.

 

[Bliblablubb]

Our upcoming Anniversary ship:
http://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/9064093
I guess I will be grinding it, since the universal console and ship trait actually look pretty good.

Good news: discount for alts like the winter ships
Bad news: Omega Molecule Stabilisation sounds far too similar to that shitty event they run in the academy from time to time. Please let it not be like that. Pretty please?

 

[Drakron]

What XP loss? Normal players used to 50 by the time they reached that point.

I dont think so, we gained 5 missions over the time, that is Temporal and Nimbus III mission but we will lose 11 (Trading Station is already gone, plus the upcoming 14) so the final math is 5+4-1-14 ... thats overall a 6 mission loss.

I have no idea what the curve will be and neither will Cryptic, I was usually 4-5 levels above at that point but that was before they TRIPLED the numbers on the XP tables for advancement.