Guide: FAQ

So you're playing Star Trek Online and have some questions that need answering.


 * “Where's Sulu?”
 * “What do I do with research samples?”
 * “Who do I have to perform oo-mox on to get Bridge Officers?”

Well, look no further! All your answers are right here in this FAQ. Never before has the phrase "Frequently Asked Questions" been more true.

I have a choice of three professions. What do I pick?
Pick the profession that suits your playstyle. Each offers different set of captain abilities, and occasional encounter of profession specific secondary objectives during the Episode missions. Please read the Profession page for further details.

Where do I respec?
To respec your skills, go to the Skills tab of the player's character status screen (default key: 'U'). It will require a Captain Retrain Token found in the Services section of the C-Store, costing 300.

Where is Sulu?
This question is a running gag in STO that goes back to the early days of the game. Players could not find this NPC so they regularly asked where to find him. Akira Sulu can be found in front of the Admiral's office, right next to Commander Burgess.

How do I travel between Star Systems?
After the tutorial, you are able to travel around the map freely. Beaming up to your ship for the first time will place you in the local Star System of your faction's major hub, for Federation or Klingon players, or directly into Sector Space for Romulan Captains beaming up from the Romulan Flotilla. To leave the Star System and get to Sector Space, click on the "Warp" icon at the top left of the Minimap. Once in Sector Space, simply fly to any of the Systems within, or up to the border of the next Quadrant, and if permitted, you will be able to cross. Continue on until you reach the Star System you are going to.

Bringing up the sector map (default key: 'M') while in Sector Space will show a list of all Systems and Sector borders within the Sector. You can click on a System to have your officers fly the ship to that location. To navigate to a System in a distant Quadrant, see the following answer.

How do I get to...?
Check out our Galaxy article for a very handy and easy-to-use reference chart of all star systems and their locations.

What do I do with research and development Materials and Components?
After reaching level 15, Materials and Components are used for crafting of various ground or space equipment, consumables or gear upgrades.

Where's ___ on Earth Spacedock?
To find out where things are in Earth Spacedock, check out the Earth Spacedock article. There's a map, NPC list, and a brief rundown of where everything is.

How do I customize my clothing?
Check the for all locations of NPCs which allow character customization. Visit the Cardassian tailor Ghemik Telur in the Requisitions area of Earth Spacedock. Check out the Earth Spacedock article for more information on exactly where that is.

Where can I train my Bridge Officers on Earth Spacedock?
Go to the Bridge Officer Trainer in the Personnel section of Earth Spacedock. Check out the Earth Spacedock article for more information on exactly where that is.

When can I get a new ship?
When you reach Lieutenant Commander at level 10 (see next question), you will be able to requisition a new ship. Subsequent ships in tiers available to your rank can be claimed every 10 levels, up to level 40.

Where can I get a new ship?
On Earth Spacedock, look for the Shipyard section at the left area of the map. The Starship Requisitions Officer is standing at the right side of the desk on the left.

If you just recently ranked up, see Admiral Quinn in person to get a new ship plaque, which allows you get a new ship for free. If you have enough Dilithium, you can buy additional ships, although purchase of tier 5 ships from the exchange may be a cheaper option.

Speak to Ensign Obin in the lower level of the Shipyard to change your current ship.

Once you have your new ship you can rename it by bringing up your Status window (press U by default) and select the pencil icon next to your ship's name. If you cannot change to your newly purchased ship, check your overflow inventory.

What are these abilities I get for leveling up?
A full list can be seen on the Leveling rewards and Player ability pages.

How do I defeat the Crystalline Entity?
The Crystalline Entity is a fleet action available through the mission. See mission strategy available in our “Crystalline Catastrophe” Guide.

What are the three main forms of currency, and what are they used for?
For more information, see the currency page.

What exactly do Mark numbers mean? Is it better to have a higher mark number, or a higher rarity?
The Mark numbers refer to the minimum level you're required to equip a piece of equipment. Lieutenant Commanders - players level 10 to 19 - may only equip Mark III and IV weapons.

Rarity boosts various attributes, but only to a degree - a blue-rarity Mark IV weapon can be equivalent to a white or green rarity Mark V or VI weapon. In general, it's better to replace lower-ranked but rarer equipment with higher mark numbers as you progress, but it's important to treat each case of upgrading individually.

What's the best piece of armour/shields, or the best weapon?

 * See Body Armor, Personal Shield and Ground weapon for more details.

Defensively, Energy Dampening armour is highly effective at blocking enemy fire. It is lacking, however, in melee defence. Polyalloy Weave Armour is effective at blocking kinetic damage, like grenades, and melee attacks. The other four armour varieties alter your melee offence (Physical Augmentation), critical damage (recoil compensating), critical chance (integrated targeting), or your own damage (energy harness).

There's only one kind of shield, so finding the best shield for you is a matter of looking for the traits you want in shields: higher capacity (appears as [CAP]) or regeneration (REG), for example. One to keep an eye out is [DIS], which blocks 20% disruptor damage. Disruptors are the most common type of weapon you'll encounter as a beginner until you get into PVP.

What about shipborne shields?
In summary, shipborne shields come in four flavours: they are outlined here. Most players prefer capacity to regeneration, but it is generally accepted to stick with either high regeneration or high capacity; attempting to get a shield that does both results in a shield that does neither extremely well. Therefore, keep an eye out for Covariant shields with [CAP] or Regenerative shields with [REG].

What's the best ship-based weapon for me?
Choice of weapon type, ranging from beam arrays to turrets:


 * Turrets are the weakest per-shot, but have a full 360 degree arc, and can thus shoot any target from anywhere.
 * Beam Arrays are the most common and cause medium damage in a 270 degree arc.
 * Cannons can only fire in a 180 degree arc in front of your ship, but cause slightly more damage than Beam Arrays.
 * Dual Beam Banks are the most powerful beam-type weapon, but fires in a 90 degree arc in front of your ship. Notably, this is the same arc as photon torpedoes.
 * Dual Cannons have high damage, but a narrow 45 degree arc in front of your ship.
 * Dual Heavy Cannons are identical to Dual Cannons, but fire fewer, more powerful shots.

Ship types capable of equipping dual cannons: Battle Cruiser, Carrier, Destroyer, Dreadnought Cruiser, Escort, Escort Carrier, Fighter, Lt. Cruiser, Multi-Mission Science Vessel, Raider, Raptor and Warbird. Cruisers and science vessels don't have access to dual cannons or dual heavy cannons.

In conclusion, the more powerful the weapon, the narrower the firing arc.


 * See Damage type (space) for more details.

There are six standard types of damage. They are mostly the same, with the major differences being in their "procs" - or random effects on a hit. Think about a strategy that works, then ask around for feedback. An example of a basic strategy is using Tetryon weapons to deplete the enemy's shields, then using torpedoes to cause hull damage. It is possible to use all damage types simultaneously, but disadvantage could be inability to stack "procs" of same type.

SPACE ENERGY WEAPON DAMAGE TYPES

There are six damage types used for energy weapons on your ship. Each one has its own unqiue ability.

DAMAGE TYPE: Antiproton

DESCRIPTION: Does more critical damage than other types.

DAMAGE TYPE: Disruptor

DESCRIPTION: Chance to weaken an enemy ship's resistance to damage.

DAMAGE TYPE: Phaser

DESCRIPTION: Chance to disable one enemy subsytem.

DAMAGE TYPE: Plasma

DESCRIPTION: Chance cause plasma damage over a period of time.

DAMAGE TYPE: Polaron

DESCRIPTION: Chance drop enemy power levels.

DAMAGE TYPE: Tetryon

DESCRIPTION: Chance weaken enemy shields.

SHIP PROJECTILE WEAPONS There are two types of projectile weapons:

•Torpedo : Projectile that fires in the direction of an enemy.

•Mine : Projectile that stays idle in one location but will target and move to a nearby enemy.

SPACE PROJECTILE WEAPON DAMAGE TYPES

There are six damage types for projectile ship weapons. Each one has its own unique ability.

DAMAGE TYPE: Chroniton

DESCRIPTION: Can reduce enemy flight speed and turn rate.

DAMAGE TYPE: Photon

DESCRIPTION: Basic torpedo that causes more damage than others (except Quantum and Tricobolt) and has faster firing rate.

DAMAGE TYPE: Plasma

DESCRIPTION: Can cause plasma damage over a period of time.

DAMAGE TYPE: Transphasic

DESCRIPTION: Can cause some damage that passes through shields.

DAMAGE TYPE: Tricobalt

DESCRIPTION: Can cause large amounts of damage but are slow and destructable.

DAMAGE TYPE: Quantum

DESCRIPTION: Strongest basic torpedo (aside from Tricobalt) and has slower firing rate.

What's the main difference between the torpedo types?
At first, you'll only have access to photon torpedoes, and quantum torpedoes a few levels later. Photon torpedoes have the highest damage per second, but quantum torpedoes pack a bigger punch per shot; they thus have a longer reload time. Plasma torpedoes cause even less damage but inflict damage over time (think poison). Transphasic torpedoes cause the least amount of damage but have better shield penetration (most torpedoes are only effective when fired into the hull). Chroniton torpedoes are in between photon and plasma torpedoes in terms of power but have a chance to impair the target's movements. Tricobalt cause extremly high damage; however, they take thirty seconds to reload, can be targeted by enemy ships and destroyed en-route to the target, and can damage yourself if you are too close to the detonation.

How do I improve my abilities?

 * See Ability for more details.

Abilities can be split into three distinct categories:
 * Your personal abilities - the ones you use on the ground, depend on Kit Module you equip.
 * Your bridge officers' abilities (that is, the abilities used by your away team) can be altered by using the Training Manuals.
 * Your ship's abilities are determined by your bridge officer's space abilities. These can be altered and improved in the same manner of the ground abilities.

By spending skill points and ranking up your bridge officers, additional abilities will become available to them.

I'm ranking up my bridge officers, but their abilities aren't showing up.
Bridge Officers can only use their space abilities when assigned the proper bridge station. They can be assigned to stations on the "Stations" tab at the top of the player's character status screen (default key: 'U'). The default Miranda class light cruiser, for example, has only Ensign slots; thus, any assigned bridge officer can only use their Ensign ability regardless of whether they've unlocked their Lieutenant abilities or not. Choosing which officers to assign to which stations is an important choice, and it is the major reason your next ship will be more powerful than your current one.

Bridge Officers may use their ground abilities at any time.

I noticed I have my own abilities. It looks a lot different than what my other people have.
Your personal skills are passive in terms of their effects. They alter your ship's ability to cause critical damage, its evasive abilities, among other things.

Ranking these up passively improves your ship and your captain. Some of these skills provide the ability to train bridge officers in certain abilities that can only be obtained in this manner. A Science player who invested 2 points in Engineering track of the Skill system will be able to train Hazard Emitters III, for example.

Which of these you rank up depends on your playstyle. If you intend to use your phasers a lot, for example, it is suggested to rank up Energy Weapon Training.

How can I stop the Borg adapting to my weapons?
See here.

How can I exchange dilithium for EC?
Simple answer: You can't.

Complex answer: Trade your dilithium for Zen in the Dilithium Exchange. Buy something that is not bound in the C-Store, like for example a Master Key. Sell this item in the exchange for EC.

Where should I sell extra stuff for EC?
You'll get the most by selling in Exchange, but that takes time and some things won't sell and will eventually end up in your mail box.

Some vendors will give you 50% of the list EC price of an item. A partial list of such vendors can be found under List of vendors buying at 50%. Alternatively, use Recycle option from your inventory.

Equipment Mark Levels?
What's the highest Mark a weapon or device goes up to?


 * Weapons, shields, consoles, etc... can go up to Mark fifteen. Devices, however, do not have a mark number and are affected only by the player's skills.

What does support system do when i transfer power th it?


 * I guess you mean Auxiliary Systems? Auxiliary subsystem boosts Science Bridge Officer Abilities and cloaking device, as well as some of the Engineering Abilities (those that begin with "Auxiliary to"). You can check more here: Starship (Power and Subsystems). --PiralDorrm (talk) 19:56, 25 May 2020 (UTC)

I have another question!
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