Posts by Centaurian

Just when I was ready to settle into a quiet daily Crafting & reputation grind cycle, Cryptic & PWE have announced this new 3-week event on the STO Holodeck server:

Our special Crystalline Entity event is now live!
For the next three weeks, from now until Thursday, September 11, 2014 at 10AM PDT, max-level Federation, Klingon, and Romulan Republic players can queue up for our 10-captain “Crystalline Cataclysm” event to defeat the Crystalline Entity and earn one Crystal Shard every 20 hours. After collecting 14 of them, players can complete a new Event Reputation project to be rewarded with 50,000 Dilithium Ore, 500 Fleet Marks, 250 Marks of their choice (Fleet, Omega, Romulan, Nukara, Dyson, or Undine), and a Very Rare Emergency Conn Hologram Duty Officer!

BONUS! Once the new, main reputation project is complete, a brand-new bonus 1-Shard project will become available to slot. Completing this will earn players 2,000 Dilithium Ore, 50 Fleet Marks and 35 Marks of their choice (Fleet, Omega, Romulan, Nukara, Dyson or Undine).

To participate and earn Crystal Shards, queue up for either the Normal or Elite version of the event – a successful completion of either will award you with one Shard, in addition to the normal rewards.

Already have the past Crystalline Entity reputation project in progress? You will have the opportunity to finish or cancel it*. Once one of these actions is taken, the new reputation project will become available for you to slot.

Lastly, stay on alert, Captains! Recent intelligence reports reveal that there are a few new tactics the Entity and its allies are using during this event to thwart your attempts of destroying them.

Gather your friends for this epic event and we'll see you in-game!

* Any existing contributions will be lost if you cancel the project.

I can certainly use the dil & marks, so it looks like I'm going to be losing some more sleep after all...

Independent Operators' Consortium

Clantag = (IOC)
RP = smuggler
Leader = (IOC)Centaurian_Alpha

I've been monitoring STO forum traffic on the Crafting system, and came away with these recent items:

1. The Skill level cap was originally stated to be lvl 15, but the system actuall tops out at lvl 20 (2.07 mio XP). MK XII items can reportedly be crafted starting at lvl 15.
2. The best way to conserve resources while leveling is to use your best science & engineering DOffs in the experience point projects, saving actual crafting till later.
3. Use the science & exploration DOff missions to gather R&D materials, along with STF rewards, and any farming of "exloration cluster" DOff missions you can get.
4. The VR R&D materials will only be available in STF's and the R&D kits from the Z-store.
5. By the time you reach a resonable skill level to actaully craft something useful, you should accumulate the specialized R&D DOffs for each discipline. These will be white, but you need to look closely at their skill traits for their exact specialization. Some items cannot be crafted successfully without these specialists!
6. If you need a Xindi crafting DOff (some high-end gear requires this), they are apparently ony available from Xindi lockboxes or the Z-store R&D kits.

For the most part, it appears to still be possible to reach a skill level, with the right resorces, to craft even top-level gear without having to spend actual cash, but it will cost more in dilithium than ever before, and take a lot longer to level up than anyone first imagined. So in effect, Cryptic is using the Crafting system to provide more end-game content for those players bemoaning a lack of the same...

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new hongkong does not even have an active connection to IC

Errrrmm... Will the Coaly Hypergate not be active in 2.0? the move of IOC to NHK was largely becasue of this...

Does New Hong Kong count as a "bottleneck" system, due to the Coalition Hypergate? It would be much the same condition as Omega 3 ^^. IOC will continue to use the same clan logo; if we have to choose another system, let us know ASAP!

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im clearly far behind with lvling here

Hmmm... no, that would be me, actually (filling out lvl 4 ATM).

Other recent observations:

1. As you level up, more R&D slots open up, apparently to a maximum of 5 concurrent projects (assuming you have enough DOffs to fill them). At lvl 4, I now have 3 available slots.
2. The "R&D Assistance" mission at the Academy is just an expensive materials box (1000 dil for maybe a dozen or so samples, including a few rares).
3. The amount of experience boost per 20hr mission depends on your critical success chances; there seems to be a graduation of sorts.
4. Critical success on a fabrication project can yield multiples of the item you are crafting; I recently got 3x a "micro power cell" or some such.
5. The crafting booth at Defera is now completely separate from the other crafting system, with experience points used only at Defera.

EDIT: (8/11/14) With already weeks since the release of S9.5, I am only now finishing lvl 4 on my char's; I doubt very much that many players will complete the level grind on their characters before the new expansion, unless they are spending lots of dilithium to accelerate the process. I prefer to put my dilithium into fleet holdings, personnel, and some equipment upgrades that I need now...

Now that we've had some time to look more closely at the new crafting reputation system (might as well be honest here), here are a few observations that might be helpful to players who want to try out the "system":

1. Crafting 9.5 is second only to Fleet holdings with respect to time & treasure required to reach a desired result, so plan on pushing through for a few months before crafting any actual components or equipment.

2. There are reportedly 15 levels in each of the 7 schools, each level requiring more experience points than the last, just as in the reputation system. Level 4 requires 30k experience points, and it goes up from there. Keep in mind that each advancement "mission" gains something like 6k - 9k experience points, on a 20-hour cooldown. Component fabrication only gains a very few XP's (got 6 points on my last "rare" subcomponent). Do the math...

3. When starting any project in crafting, make this your first priority over your DOff missions; the AI will select the best available DOff for the R&D project, so it's much easier to crit the R&D mission if you have all your DOffs available. It is also advisable to maually confirm that the AI has actually selected the best DOff by clicking the "Select" button below the DOff image; only you can say whether the best DOff has been selected for your R&D goals.

4. I have not yet tried this, but it is possible that a CXP bonus pack might accelerate the R&D XP as well; if someone has any evidence of this, please post it here. I'll try it out myself in the coming days.

5. The material consumption algorithm for crafting items is completely backward: the most common materials are used the least, and the rarest are used the most. It takes only a single unit of one of the common materials to do a 20-hour research boost (last item listed in each school) for leveling up, but it can take 9 rare materials to build a single subcomponent for use in a rifle, for instance. Some uncommon materials are never used (at least in STO forum reporting to date).

6. Unless you just can't wait to see what your hard-earned materials can yield at lower levels, I recommend that you stick to the school leveling projects at least until you reach lvl 10. By then, you'll have accumulated enough material samples (and dilithium) to build something worthwhile, even if only to the masses shopping the Exchange.

Good luck; may the RNG be with you...!

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Balloons everywhere in ESD drives me crazy

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nothing finer than releasing balloons all over the place

The Party Amplifier isn't what generates the balloons; good thing, because I wanted to get one of those party horns last winter...

Last night, I did some cleanup in our Fleet banks ( they had gotten pretty disorganized), and while I was in there, I also converted the old crafting materials into new ones. Sadly, there seems to be no use for the old schematics, though they are still in the bank for now. The new material categories are fewer, but the materials converted into fairly large numbers of new ones, albeit common & uncommon with few Rares and no Very Rares.

Sadly, even the most avid Cryptic fans admit that this is the newest reputation grind...

Judging from the firestorm on the STO forums, you'd think that PWE just shot the Pope. Obviously, they are not overly concerned about pleasing their fan base; after all, once you've got someone hooked into a lifetime subscription, you've already got their money!

IMO, the user interface is prettier, but not as user-friendly (at least for advanced players). The free pack of holo-Doffs takes 18 DOff slots to open, and they are all commons, so I just threw mine into the bank, probably never to be used. Crafting is now the #6 reputation grind; just as I suspected, the items required to crit the R&D DOff missions are mostly contained in the Z-store mat's pack, but subject to the same lottery chances as lockboxes. Only the most fawning PWE/Cryptic fans are actually enjoying it...

So the new crafting system is released on an unsuspecting player base tomorrow, and the new mechanics are essentially the same as drop boxes: you really have no idea or control over what you will get. I copied the following synopsis from the STO forums; the original source is: Crafting Summary

At the end, there is also a materials conversion table, showing what the old crafting materials may be exchanged for; source: Materials Chart

The info provided here falls into two categories.. those who are assigned to do the crafting for the Fleet.. and all the others who would like to contribute collectible components (i.e. new versions of the particles/traces). Please remember that this is a living document. As such, whenever there are changes made to the crafting system, you should see those changes echoed here after we have decomplied the relevant information.

NON-CRAFTERS (Gatherers)

For those you decide to gather/contribute resources, currently there are ASTROMETRICS SCIENTISTS which can increase the number of Traces you receive when scanning an Anomaly. Purple versions give an 80% chance to get an extra Trace (Blues 60%,Greens 40%). These Doffs can easily be put on Active Duty when in "Gather" mode.. and then replaced again with your normal Doffs when running STFs, etc... An excellent idea is to go to the opposite factions Exploration Clusters (if possible) and scan the anomalies contained within. Since you are opposite faction, ALL the anomalies will yield the scanning mini-game for Particles/Traces without the exploration missions. Be advised, all the Exploration Clusters are disappearing with Season 9.5, so if you are planning on doing this.. better sooner than later. There are also Science Doff missions which yield Particles/Traces as a reward... Please consider doing these as often as possible.

CRAFTERS

Crafters will probably at least want to start thinking about stockpiling the necessary components for their chosen crafting school and hopefully the non-crafters in the Fleet will contribute resources to aid in this process. Components require multiple materials and projects require multiple components. Besides the resources, crafters will also probably want to acquire, at least the Blue versions of, the Doffs which are necessary to start a crafting project in your primary school. Blue Doffs grant a +15 bonus to crafting level while Purples offer +30. At maximum level in their primary school (plus level 5 in a secondary and tertiary school) crafters will be able to do 5 projects at once. With the availability of 5 project slots, crafters will probably want 5 of each type of Doff. There are a number of repeatable Exploration Cluster mission chains which give free Purple doffs with a critical success. Listed below are the Doffs, and the Exploration Clusters where their associated chain missions, whenever possible. The Doff awarding missions ALWAYS start with the word "Support"... i.e. "Support B'Tran Cluster Colonization Efforts". If you will be crafting, you may want to start these repeatable Doff missions right away since they are random and not guaranteed to be available every day.

Below is a list of all the new crafting schools, specific components, related doffs, and current crafting projects.
NEW CRAFTING PRIMER
Beams School
R&D Components
Isolinear Chip -Lvl 10- 5 Argonite Gas, 3 Plekton, 5000 Dilithium
Isolinear Circuitry -Lvl 10- 2 Dentarium, 2 Argonite Gas, 1 Radiogenic Particle, 1000 Dilithium
Power Surge Regulator -Lvl 5- 5 Rubidium, 3 Z-Particle
Firing Sequencer -Lvl 5- 2 Rubidium, 3 Z-Particle
EPS Conduit -Lvl 0- 3 Hexaflourine Gas, 2 Thoron Particle
Emitter Module -Lvl 0- 3 Magnesite, 2 Hydrazine Gas
Targeting Interface -Lvl 0- 3 Magnesite, 2 Hydrazine Gas
Focusing Lens -Lvl 0- 3 Magnesite, 2 Hydrazine Gas

DOFFS
Matter Antimatter Specialist
Fabrication Engineer (Riassa - Eridon Nebula)
Energy Weapons Officer (Orlos - Afehirr Nebula)
Technician (Ten of Ten - B'Tran Cluster)

BLING
[ARC] Beam Arrays Mk XII (360 degree targeting arc)
Beam Arrays Mk XII (Random new Perks)
Beam Banks Mk XII (Random new Perks)
Beam Specific Tactical Consoles
Generic Damage-type Tactical Consoles
Trait: Beams - On activating Beam skill, gain 2% Beam damage for 20 sec. Stacks x3.

Cannons School
R&D Components
Isolinear Chip -Lvl 10- 5 Argonite Gas, 3 Plekton, 5000 Dilithium
Isolinear Circuitry -Lvl 10- 2 Dentarium, 2 Argonite Gas, 1 Radiogenic Particle, 1000 Dilithium
Plasma Compressor -Lvl 5- 5 Z-Particle, 3 Beta-Tachyon Particle
Firing Sequencer -Lvl 5- 2 Rubidium, 3 Z-Particle
EPS Regulator -Lvl 0- 3 Hexaflourine Gas, 2 Thoron Particle
Electromagnetic Coupling -Lvl 0- 3 Magnesite, 2 Hydrazine Gas
Barrel Synchronizer -Lvl 0- 3 Magnesite, 2 Hydrazine Gas
Focusing Lens -Lvl 0- 3 Magnesite, 2 Hydrazine Gas

DOFFS
Matter Antimatter Specialist
Fabrication Engineer (Riassa - Eridon Nebula)
Energy Weapons Officer (Orlos - Afehirr Nebula)
Technician (Ten of Ten - B'Tran Cluster)

BLING
[ARC] Dual Heavy Cannons Mk XII (90 degree targeting arc)
Cannons Mk XII (Random new Perks)
Dual Cannons Mk XII (Random new Perks)
Dual Heavy Cannons Mk XII (Random new Perks)
Turrets Mk XII (Random new Perks)
Cannon Specific Tactical Consoles
Generic Damage-type Tactical Consoles
Trait: Cannons - On activating Cannon skill, gain +1 Turn Rate, +1 Inertia for 20 sec. Stacks x3.

Engineering School
R&D Components
Intermix Chamber -Lvl 10- 4 Radiogenic Particle, 4 Trellium-K, 5000 Dilithium
Warp Field Regulator -Lvl 10- 4 Radiogenic Particle, 1 Trellium-K, 1000 Dilithium
Ejection System -Lvl 5- 4 Z-Particle, 4 Rubidium
Rerouting Lattice -Lvl 5- 4 Tetrazine Gas, 1 Z-Particle
Plasma Capacitor -Lvl 0- 3 Hexaflourine Gas, 2 Thoron Particle
Coolant Injector -Lvl 0- 3 Magnesite, 2 Hydrazine Gas
Industrial Replicator Supplies -Lvl 0- 3 Magnesite, 2 Hydrazine Gas
Lab Equipment -Lvl 0- 3 Magnesite, 2 Hydrazine Gas

DOFFS
Matter Antimatter Specialist
Fabrication Engineer (Riassa - Eridon Nebula)
Maintenance Engineer
Security Officer (Jhamal Thoris - T'Ong Nebula)
Systems Engineer
Warp Theorist (Yelgrun - Zenas Expanse)
Warp Core Engineer

BLING
Aegis Hyper-Impulse Engines
Engineering Console - Conductive RCS Accelerator
Impulse Engines Mk XII (Random new Perks)
Warp Cores Mk XII (Random new Perks)
Singularities Mk XII (Random new Perks)
Body Armor Mk XII (Random new Perks)
Engineering Consoles
Trait: Engineering - Activating any Engineering Bridge Officer ability gives 20% Damage Reduction for 3 seconds.

Ground Weapons School
R&D Components
Particle Alignment Matrix -Lvl 10- 4 Craylon Gas, 4 Trellium-K, 5000 Dilithium
Isolinear Circuitry -Lvl 10- 2 Dentarium, 2 Argonite Gas, 1 Radiogenic Particle, 1000 Dilithium
Handheld Calibration Control -Lvl 5- 5 Z-Particle, 3 Beta-Tachyon Particle
Micro Power Cell -Lvl 5- 4 Tetrazine Gas, 1 Z-Particle
Plasma Capacitor -Lvl 0- 3 Hexaflourine Gas, 2 Thoron Particle
Coolant Injector -Lvl 0- 3 Magnesite, 2 Hydrazine Gas
Industrial replicator Supplies -Lvl 0- 3 Magnesite, 2 Hydrazine Gas
Focusing Lens -Lvl 0- 3 Magnesite, 2 Hydrazine Gas

DOFFS
Matter Antimatter Specialist
Fabrication Engineer (Riassa - Eridon Nebula)
Assault Squad Officer

BLING
TR-116B Sniper Rifle
Ground Weapons
Trait: Ground Weapons - All of your ground weapon attacks penetrate 10 armor rating.

Projectiles School
R&D Components
Intermix Chamber -Lvl 10- 4 Radiogenic Particle, 4 Trellium-K, 5000 Dilithium
Warp Field Regulator -Lvl 10- 4 Radiogenic Particle, 1 Dentarium, 1000 Dilithium
Ejection System -Lvl 5- 4 Z-Particle, 4 Rubidium
Pressurization Chamber -Lvl 5- 4 Tetrazine Gas, 1 Z-Particle
IFF Beacon -Lvl 0- 3 Hexaflourine Gas, 2 Thoron Particle
Electromagnetic Coupling -Lvl 0- 3 Magnesite, 2 Hydrazine Gas
Industrial Replicator Supplies -Lvl 0- 3 Magnesite, 2 Hydrazine Gas
Targeting Interface -Lvl 0- 3 Magnesite, 2 Hydrazine Gas

DOFFS
Matter Antimatter Specialist
Fabrication Engineer (Riassa - Eridon Nebula)
Armory Officer (Jeffery Hildebrand - D'Kel Cluster)
Security Officer (Jhamal Thoris - T'Ong Nebula)
Projectile Weapons Officer (Hunter Ikrin - Khazan Cluster)

BLING
Particle Emission Plasma Torpedo Launcher
Torpedo Launchers Mk XII (Random new Perks)
Mine Launchers Mk XII (Random new Perks)
Trait: Projectiles - Your Torpedoes and Mines penetrate an extra 10% of your target’s shields

Science School
R&D Components
Signal Enhancement Module -Lvl 10- 5 Plekton, 3 Argonite Gas, 5000 Dilithium
Emitter Array -Lvl 10- 3 Craylon Gas, 2 Trellium-K, 1000 Dilithium
Quantum Field Focus -Lvl 5- 5 Rubidium, 3 Z-Particle
Pressurization Chamber -Lvl 5- 4 Tetrazine Gas, 1 Z-Particle
EPS Regulator -Lvl 0- 3 Hexaflourine Gas, 2 Thoron Particle
Subprocessor Unit -Lvl 0- 3 Trionium Gas, 2 Duranium
Particle Field Generator -Lvl 0- 3 Magnesite, 2 Hydrazine Gas
Lab Equipment -Lvl 0- 3 Magnesite, 2 Hydrazine Gas

DOFFS
Matter Antimatter Specialist
Fabrication Engineer (Riassa - Eridon Nebula)
Deflector Officer (Kuvak - Azlesa Expanse)

BLING
Aegis Deflector Array
Console - Science - Exotic Particle Field Exciter
Deflectors Mk XII (Random new Perks)
Science Consoles Mk XII
Trait: Science - Your Particle Generator skill gives up to 25% bonus Crit chance on Science powers (at 100 PartGens)

Shields School
R&D Components
Signal Enhancement Module -Lvl 10- 5 Plekton, 3 Argonite Gas, 5000 Dilithium
Emitter Array -Lvl 10- 3 Craylon Gas, 2 Trellium-K, 1000 Dilithium
Plasma Compressor -Lvl 5- 5 Z-Particle, 3 Beta-Tachyon Particle
Rerouting Lattice -Lvl 5- 4 Tetrazine Gas, 1 Z-Particle
EPS Conduit -Lvl 0- 3 Hexaflourine Gas, 2 Thoron Particle
Subprocessor Unit -Lvl 0- 3 Trionium Gas, 2 Duranium
Particle Field Generator -Lvl 0- 3 Magnesite, 2 Hydrazine Gas
Focusing Lens -Lvl 0- 3 Magnesite, 2 Hydrazine Gas

DOFFS
Matter Antimatter Specialist
Fabrication Engineer (Riassa - Eridon Nebula)
Assault Squad Officer (Ixtana'Adar - Betreka Nebula)
Shield Distribution Officer (Vog the Faithless - Rolor)

BLING
Aegis Covariant Shield Array
Ground Shield Mk XII (Random new Perks)
Ship Shield Mk XII (Random new Perks)
Trait: Shields - Activating a Shield Heal gives the target 99% Shield DR for 1 second

Materials -

This chart will detail what the old crafting materials will convert to in the new crafting system for season 9.5. All Particle Traces convert to Random Crafting Materials, Common thru Rare. At this time, there is no known conversion or plan to recompensate individuals for Schematics, Replicateable Materials, or Unreplicateable Materials. We will continue to hold these in the fleet bank until Cryptic addresses these items.

[Alien Artifact] – Common Material
[Mineral Sample] – Common Material
[Radiation Sample] – Common Material
[Unknown Alloy] – Common Material
[Biological Sample] – Common Material
[Antimatter Sample] – Common Material
[Encoded Data] – Common Material
[Plasma Sample] – Common Material
[Tetryon Particle] – Common Material
[Genetic Sequencer] – Uncommon Material
[DNA Sequence] – Uncommon Material
[Methogenic Particle] – Uncommon Material
[Photonic Technology] – Uncommon Material
[Exobiological Data] – Uncommon Material
[Tachyon Wave Signature] – Uncommon Material
[Technical Schematic] – Uncommon Material
[Unidentified Substance] – Uncommon Material
[Chronometric Wave Signature] – Uncommon Material

The complete list of the new crafting materials, and their rarity.

Gases
Hydrazine Gas
Trionium Gas
Hexaflourine Gas
Tetrazine Gas
Argonite Gas
Craylon Gas

Metals
Duranium
Magnesite
Tritanium (not actually used in any component recipes, though...)
Rubidium
Dentarium
Trellium-K

Particles
Thoron Particle
Verteron Particle (not actually used in any component recipes, though...)
Beta-Tachyon Particle
Z-Particle
Plekton
Radiogenic Particle

The launch of Season 9.5 was posted today on the STO forums; it will come with tomorrow morning's maintenance at 10:00am PDT (just under 22 hours from this posting). Since no official release announcement was made (a Twitter text was posted by a player to the forum), the crafting overhaul is incomplete, and there are no new episodes, this will come as a real shock to many. Craptic must not be proud of their product if they did not give it the usual fanfare beforehand.

I am taking the chance tonite to close up the remaining crafting projects I was planning, because tomorrow none of them will be possible. Of course, the Summer Festival will also close at the same time, so anyone who has been running DOff missions for marks (birds & monkeys), tonite is the time to cash them out. I'm actually glad to see the end of the Summer event, since the server lag has been horrendous in the last couple of weeks...

Yep, FMS now working on Alphal'Fa; I thought maybe it was just the fleet rank update posting that was needed. Now that the T3 mine update is active, I'm not opening any new projects ATM, especially since Spire T1 is also active.

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Admiral CA. You are just Vice Admiral - you do not have access to it

D'oh! missed that part... Still, OP maybe could use some help to keep the fleet roster up to date?

The "qualifying" requirement the thread identified was that a fleet had to have at least 100 active members, so that's why I was asking the question. I know that we sometimes have trouble getting enough together for an STF after the weekly fleet meeting...

Just a question: in terms of our fleet's potential growth/goals/member retention, do we have any interest in pursuing any RP interactions with other STO fleets? I have seen some interest in fleets wanting to have alliances, presumably to expand the opportunity for RP/PvP/STF activities, which they see as important to keep members active & engaged. I'm thinking we need to have more active members to make this work, but I really have no sense of where we stand among other fleets atm.

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fleet members can only be removed by the Admiral/General

it always has been that way

This function... where does a VA access it??

EDIT: BTW, I posted to an STO forum thread building a list of STO fleets, and included a link to our Fleet site, thinking that this might be good promotion for us. It would be nice if this was up to date (roster, etc.); would you like some help in maintaining it? Two of my alt's are missing from the roster, and the 2 listed are 2 promotions behind. Let me know how I can help!

STO forum discussion is pointing to pre-load of S9.5 art resources (new uniforms, maybe crafting visuals). No real new content in this "season", apart from nerfing the crating system & deletion of exploration maps, so they are pushing it out early from all indications (why not? a P.O.S. doesn't need any real work, after all...).

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fleet members can only be removed by the Admiral/General

OK, I understood that already; where do I look to find this function? In game? On the Fleet forum? Is it in the Fleet GUI or Social GUI?

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what member cp?

The control panel where fleet management makes room for new members by deleting inactive ones, adding new members, etc. I have seen (in chat) both OP & Gunny do these functions in-game, and I assumed it was part of the VA Council duties...