The Unofficial Star Trek Online Science Guide

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The Unofficial Star Trek Online Science Guide

Table of Contents

Important.......................................................2

The short version.......................................2

The long version........................................2

Preface...........................................................4

The Basics of The science Class.....................5

Pros of the science class............................6

Cons of the science class...........................6

Character Creation.........................................7

Trait and race choice.................................7

Initial Bridge officer assignment................9

Science Combat Strategies..........................14

Solo Combat Strategies...........................14

Group Combat Strategies........................16

Science Grinding Strategies.........................18

Credit Grinding Strategies.......................18

Xp grinding strategies.............................19

Advanced Science Tactics...........................21

Skill Point Assignment.............................21

Ground Combat.......................................28

Weapons and Equipment.........................28

Ground Weapons and equipment..........35

Klingon specifics..........................................38

FAQ..............................................................39

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The Unofficial Star Trek Online Science Guide

PREFACE

elcome to the universe of Star Trek Online. This game play likes many other
MMOs but has quite a few key differences that made this guide a lot of fun to
write.

W

With cool additions like space combat, a robust character creator, and bridge officers it

plays like few other games. In this guide you'll learn how to properly use the science class to
it's full extent. Techniques for space combat, grinding, and tailoring your character will all
be discussed.

The world of Star Trek Online is very open ended in it's gameplay compared to most

MMO's and I tried to write to that strength. You'll notice in some sections there will be very
little direction from the guide and more just suggestions of what can work and that's so you
can tailor your game to the Star Trek experience you want to play.

With that said take off into universe to explore new worlds and face the Klingon threat.

Live long and prosper.

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The Unofficial Star Trek Online Science Guide

THE BASICS

OF THE

SCIENCE

CLASS

The science class of ship is basically star

trek online's mage equivalent. This means
for the most part it has all the benefits and
detractors of a mage but with a few
exceptions.

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Pros Of The

Science Class

•

The science vessel is incredibly
balanced compared to the other two
ship types

•

Great debuff and DPS abilities

•

Balanced weapon slots

•

Your team role keeps you out of
direct fire

•

Good shields and hull integrity

Cons Of The

Science Class

•

No focus in it's make meaning there
is always someone stronger, faster,
or bigger than you

•

because you're not always doing the
finishing hit you're not often getting
assigned any dropped loot

•

As you will be the one doing the
majority of the debuffs you'll need to
constantly be aware of any enemies
in the immediate battlefield

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CHARACTER

CREATION

n this chapter we'll be discussing
how to a character suited to playing
with the science class of ship. As

ships themselves don't gain any sort of
experience you will have to suit your
character's traits and abilities in order to
give your ship a non equipment based
boost.

I

The first choice you're going to run into

is what type of character you want to make;
tactical, science, or engineer. The best
choice for an science ship based character
is a scientist. The science officer specializes
in buffs, healing, and other “mage” style
abilities you might in see in other MMO's.
The tactical officer specializes in mainly in
an offensive combat style. The engineer
specializes in a more defensive style of
combat using things like shield buffs
rerouting energy to the proper sub-systems
with a greater efficacy. For the purposes of
this guide all future suggestions are made
assuming that you chose an scientist
character however these suggestion can be
easily applied to the other classes as well.

Trait And Race

Choice

Race in the world of Star Trek Online is

actually a rather minor choice compared to
a lot of the later character defining choices
you're going to make. An important thing to
note is that no matter what race you
choose you will start in the same area with
the exact same quests. The only thing you
can choose that will create a difference in
how you start the game will be whether you
create a federation character or a klingon
character, in this guide we will be focusing
on the federation's way of doing things as
the klingon side is nearly in identical in
gameplay to the federation and must be
unlocked before you can even create a
klingon character. Just as a note in order to
create a klingon character just a level a
federation character up to a lieutenant rank
6 and then you can go back to the
character creation screen and create a
klingon character, keep in mind the game
will not alert you when you have unlocked
this ability.

The major point of choosing a race is to

define your character's traits which provide
a minor boost or special abilities to your
character. All of the established race you
can choose have 2-3 of the 4 traits already

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The Unofficial Star Trek Online Science Guide

chosen for them and you just have to
assign the last 1-2. If you create an “alien”
race you are allowed to pick all 4 traits for
your character however some of the
established species have special traits
available only to them.

The chart below details the selection of

traits that will actually affect your space
combat abilities. The best approach is to
pick two of the traits in the chart and two
ground combat traits to keep things
balanced. Ground combat while not
plentiful is important and shouldn't be
overlooked when creating a character, even
one focused on space combat.

(all traits that are particularly useful for

science ships are marked with an *)

Trait

Effect

Accurate

+0.1 to accuracy

stat, increase to

space weapon

accuracy

*Astrophysicist

+10 to star ship

operations

training

Efficient

+5 to shield,

engine, energy

weapon, and

auxiliary

efficiency stat

*Elusive

Enemies have

harder time

hitting you in

space combat,

+0.1 defense

Joined Symbiote

(Joined Trill race

only)

+3.3 to projectile

and energy

weapons, warp

core, and

engineering

training, +6.7 to

star ship

operations

training

Leadership

(Human race

only)

15% faster

damage and

subsystem repair

rate

*Techie

Improved

performance of

maintenance,

repair, and

performance

powers,+10 star

ship engineering

training

*Warp Theorist

Increased ship

power levels, +10

to star ship warp

core training

There really is no best choice for a

starting race as they all balance out. The
inclusion “alien” character created races
end up being the majority of what you'll run
into in PvP so there's no real way to plan
race wise for PvP. The ideas represented
above work for klingon character creation
as well.

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Initial Bridge

Officer Assignment

A big facet of star trek online is the

inclusion of bridge officers. Bridge officers
are essentially a party of NPCs you always
have hanging around with you, This allows
for party based tactics and specialization
when when playing during ground combat
as well as special abilities during space
combat. You are granted your first bridge
officer during the tutorial and are given
choice as to whether you would like a
science, tactical, or engineering bridge
officer just as when you creating your own
character.

Assuming you chose a scientist as your

character class as was suggested earlier it
is advised that you choose a tactical officer
as your first bridge officer. There is a fair
chunk of ground combat in the tutorial and
first few quests of the game as such a free
source of damage while you focus on
healing or buffs can be very helpful, making
the tactical officer invaluable at this time.

Your first ship can carry a total of 4

bridge officer and has consoles for three of
them (one for each class; science, tactical,
and engineering). Later ships have more
room and more consoles however later

science ships focus mainly on science
consoles with only one or more each for the
other classes. Assigning an officer to a
console allows you to use that specific
officers space ability when in space. The
abilities you'll be using the most are the
science abilities. Science officers give a mix
of DPS and shield abilities such as tachyon
beam which is great for reducing enemy
shields. Tactical officers give damage buffs
and augmentations to some of your existing
attacks such turning your single torpedo
shot into a torpedo barrage. The engineer
abilities consist mainly of buffs which heal
actual hull damage and increase the power
of various systems such as directed energy
modulation which increases energy shield
penetration for a small period of time.

A wonderful perk of the bridge officer is

their versatility. Bridge officers can be
changed aesthetically in anyway suit your
tastes through the character menu. The
most important point of customization is
the retraining of abilities. Upon acquiring
extra bridge officers or researching at
memory alpha you can replace the existing
abilities of your current bridge officers. This
allows you to keep certain bridge officers
you may have grown to like without having
them become underpowered. There is a full
list of bridge officer abilities consult the
chart below.

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Tactical Ground

Abilities

Effect

Draw Fire

Threat generation

Focus Fire

Stacking damage

resistance debuff

Leg Sweep

AoE knockback

attack

Photon Grenade

AoE damage and

knockback

Smoke Grenade

Debuff enemy

perception, buff

ally stealth

Suppressing Fire

Slow and damage

debuff

Target Optics

Offense buff

Lunge

Lunge melee

attack

Overwatch

AoE damage

resistance aura

Fire on my Mark

Damage

resistance debuff

Plasma Grenade

AoE damage and

DoT

Stealth Module

Stealth buff

Ambush

Fragile damage

buff

Motion

Accelerator

Speed buff and

control immunity

Stun Grenade

AoE damage and

hold

Engineering

Ground Abilities

Effect

Chroniton Mine

Barrier

Creates mine field

in front of you

Quick Fix

Cure mechanical

debuffs

Shield Recharge

Shield heal

Weapons

Malfunction

Temporarily

disable enemy

weapons

Reroute Power to

Shields

Shield heal and

damage

resistance buff

Shield Generator

Fabrication

Create a shield

generator

Phaser Turret

Fabrication

Create a phaser

turret

Cover Shield

Create cover

shield

Equipment

Diagnostics

Cure mechanical

debuffs and buffs

your resistance

Medical

Generator

Fabrication

Create a medical

generator

Quantum Mortar

Create a quantum

mortar

Combat Supply

Create combat

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equipment

Fuse Armor

Scaling

movement debuff

Support Drone

Fabrication

Create a support

drone

Science Ground

Abilities

Effect

Tachyon

Harmonic

AoE Shield

damage

Gravimetric Shift

AoE root effect

Hypospray-

Dylovene

Cures toxic and

physical debuffs

Medical Tricorder

Heal damage

Sonic Pulse

AoE slowdown,

knock back, and

interrupt

Stasis Field

Fragile hold

Tricorder Scan

Damage

resistance debuff

Vascular

Regeneration

Cures bleed and

grant a HoT effect

Dampening Field

AoE energy

damage debuff

Hyperonic

Radiation

AoE radiation DoT

Hypospray-

Melorazine

Cures mental

debuffs and buffs

energy resistance

Neural Neutralizer

Removes enemy

aggression

Anesthizine Gas

AoE hold and slow

Nanite Heath

Monitor

AoE health

monitor

Tactical Space

Abilities

Effects

Beam Array Fire

at Will

Attack upgrade -

mutli-target rate

of fire

Beam Array

Overload

Attack upgrade -

damage

Tactical Team

Crew recovery,

tactical buff

Torpedo High

Yield

Attack upgrade -

damage

Torpedo Spread

Attack upgrade –

AoE spread

Target Weapons

Sub-Systems

Disable enemy

weapons

Target Engines

Sub-Systems

Disable enemy

engines

Target Shields

Sub-Systems

Disable enemy

shields

Attack Pattern

Beta

Damage

resistance debuff

Attack Pattern

Delta

Stacking damage

resistance debuff

Cannon Rapid

Attack upgrade –

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Fire

multi-shot

Cannon Scatter

Volley

AoE cone attack

Dispersal Pattern

Alpha

Upgrades next

mine attack

(double mine

cluster)

Dispersal Pattern

Beta

Upgrades next

mine attack (mine

net)

Attack Pattern

Omega

Buffs damage and

turn rate,

immunity to

holds, roots, and

slows

Engineering

Space Abilities

Effects

Emergency Power

to Auxiliary

Increase auxiliary

power level

Emergency Power

to Weapons

Increase weapon

power level

Emergency Power

to Engines

Increase engine

power level

Emergency Power

to Shields

Increase shield

power level

Engineering team

Hull repair,

engineering buff

Auxiliary to

Battery

Reduce cooldown

to battery abilities

Auxiliary to

Dampeners

Kinetic damage

resistance buff

Auxiliary to

Structural

Hull regeneration

and damage

resistance

Boarding Party

Damage enemy

crew and sub-

systems

Directed Energy

Modulation

Increased shield

penetration

Extend Shields

Heal and damage

resistance buff to

an ally

Reverse Shield

Polarity

Convert energy

weapon damage

into shield

regeneration

Aceton Field

Radiation DoT

and damage

debuff

Eject Warp

Plasma

AoE slow and

damage behind

your ship

Science Space

Abilities

Effect

Hazard Emitters

Clear

Fire/radiation

debuffs, hull HoT

Jam Sensors

Prevents ship

from being

targeted (single

enemy)

Mask Energy

Signature

Chance to

prevent ship from

being targeted

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(AoE)

Polarize Hull

Energy resistance

buff and tractor

beam immunity

Science team

Shield repair,

science buff,

cleanse

Tachyon Beam

Drains target's

shield

Tractor beam

Slows the enemy

Transfer Shield

Strength

Boosts allies

shield and grants

a resistance buff

Charged Particle

Burst

AoE decloak

Energy Siphon

Single target

energy drain

Feedback Pulse

Beam

counterattack to

an attacker

Photonic Officer

Reduced

cooldown of

bridge officer

abilities

Scramble Sensors

AoE confuse

Tyken's Rift

AoE power drain

Gravity Well

Drawn kinetic

damage

Photonic Shock

Wave

AoE damage and

knock back

Viral Martix

Target hold and

system shutdown

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SCIENCE

COMBAT

STRATEGIES

he most important thing to
remember when playing a
science unit is that you are the

saboteur of the battlefield and need to act
as such.

T

Solo Combat

Strategies

The one that will save your life more

often not is the beam array. While beam
arrays aren't particularly strong compared
to the other weapon types it's range is what
you are interested in. Most weapons use a
90 degree to 45 degree firing arc in the
front and/or aft of your ship, the beam
array however has a 250 degree firing arc.
If you equip one beam array in both a fore
and aft weapons slot you will always be
able to hit an enemy no matter kind of
maneuvers they try to pull off. This strategy

will be come a crux of your fighting style. A
useful feature of the beam array is that you
can fire all applicable beam weapons by
pressing the space bar.

The beam array set-up should be

accompanied by a torpedo in the remaining
fore weapon slot. Using this set up you'll be
able to chase down an enemy using
torpedoes while guarding your rear with the
aft beam array. An important thing to
remember as a science is your abilities, be
sure to pepper in buffs and debuffs during
any fight to make things easier. Basically
what you need to do win though is face the
enemy and keep firing torpedoes. Once you
have lost about half your fore shield you
should turn and start circling the enemy.
While circling the enemy jam the space bar
to bombard the enemy with both beam
arrays. Once their shields have dropped
turn around and fire your torpedoes for
massive damage. This strategy will work for
most other escort, science, and similarly
sized ships.

For smaller ships like fighters and mining

drones no strict strategy is needed. Take
these as chance to screw around with
talents you haven't used yet or don't
understand very well. The only thing you
should make sure of when fighting these
enemies is to watch your shields
particularly when fighting a group of them.

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You can always reroute energy to your
shields and regen them by clicking on your
whole ship icon instead of just a direction in
the shield button area. Your beam array will
rip through fighters and they are to fast to
try to focus torpedoes on so just jam on the
space bar.

The biggest ship on ship worry you

should have on the battlefield and by
battlefield I mean space plain I suppose is
the large battleship class type of ships.
When fighting these types of ships your
biggest concern should be your shields.
These will rip through your outer shields if
you give them the chance so you need to
be constantly clicking the whole ship shield
button and using all the shield restoring
abilities you may have. Naturally though
you can't win a fight by spinning around
and refilling your shields so your strategy
should be what could be called the
“alternating saw blade” strategy. The
“alternating saw blade” strategy consists of
essentially tracing a jagged circle around
the enemy and then turning around and
creating one in the opposite direction.
While you are in the outer part of the saw
tooth use restore your shields and use your
beam array and then when flying towards
the enemy to create the groove of the tooth
fire a torpedo or two. Repeat that action
until your side shield is about 75% depleted
and then turn around and expose your

other side of your ship perform the
alternation part of the saw blade. When it
comes to this strategy one important thing
to remember is that your attacks will do
more damage the closer you are to the
enemy so don't be afraid to get right in
there and even hide on top of the enemy if
you have to. This strategy should led to
success against any oversized opponent as
long you don't go trying to take on
something too many levels higher than you.

Groups of enemies can be a real pain no

matter what kind of ship you play. The best
strategy for fighting groups when you find
your self without a team is to plan ahead.
Try to get a full view of what you're
fighting about 15 kilometers before hitting.
You can do this by hovering your mouse
cursor over the enemy listing which will
then show what enemies are in the group
you're looking at. Brake your ship get an
idea of the situation and plan how you're
going to hit the group. Take stock of all
your abilities and ship batteries you may
have and decide the first enemy you plan
to attack.

You should focus on the most

dangerous enemy but that doesn't
necessarily mean the biggest you see
though. You should focus on any science or
escort type ship(s) first because while in
solo combat they may not be heavy
hitter(s) but if let you them buzz around
while you're attacking a battleship they will

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reduce your shields to nothing while you're
focusing on the big baddy. They can also
buff and heal the battleship(s) to prolong
what will already end up being a protracted
battle. Once you've dealt with the dps
dealing buff bucket(s) move onto the
battleship(s) as he's your big obstacle here.
If you use the strategy outlined earlier for
battleships you should be fine just keep a
closer eye on your shields than normal.
Once the big guys are gone clean up any
fighter or drones that may be around and
you've the won the fight.

Now you know how to deal with all the

major enemy types you'll be encountering
but that doesn't mean you should just go
throw yourself into the fray. Here are a few
other that will help you deal with the rigors
of space alone. Due to the slow speed of
space travel it'll be tempting to be in full
impulse mode at all times and just slow
down for combat but be careful when doing
this as full impulse mode drains energy all
other ship systems. The best tact for using
full impulse mode to full impulse until you
are 17 kilometers away from the enemy.
The remaining 17 kilometers before you
reach combat distance should provide
enough slowdown time to regain all your
energy in your depleted systems. If you do
decide to full impulse right into the enemy
be ready for a very tough start to your fight
as you'll have very weak shields and

weapon strength. Make sure to use your
ship battery items regularly to boost your
abilities. While it's tempting to hoard these
items for a larger encounters you will run
into these items fairly constantly and
there's no reason to ignore the boost.

Group Combat

Strategies

The big thing to remember is that your

job in a group is to be the support. You
should be last in the battle line in order to
lower enemy shields as much as possible
and buff everyone from a few Km away
from the actual combat. Death is but a
simple respawn so in bigger battles don't
be afraid to take one for the team if it
means eliminating a particularly integral
baddie. That said you shouldn't be getting
to be the focus things that will kill you
anyway as that's not your role in group
combat, if you keep dying you're doing in
team combat you're doing something
wrong.

The opening assault of of your group

should consist of three lines; the escorts,
the cruisers, and then the science ships.
Your front front line should start doing
“wasp” maneuvers in which they fly around
the enemy blasting with phasers and other

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fairly low powered weapons to distract
attention and do nominal shield damage.
While the enemy is otherwise indisposed
the second line should rush in with
torpedoes and beam arrays to reduce the
hull health of the enemy. The tactical
officers torpedo spread ability is invaluable
here for grabbing enemy attention doing a
AoE to a mass of the enemies. Once the
rush is done the second line should
commence circling techniques like those
used in solo battles while the first line goes
for high damage attacks and third line buffs
and heals. This strategy will lead your team
to victory almost 100% of the time.

While the above strategy is incredibly

powerful it is still possible for your team to
find themselves outclassed and it's in these
situations you need to rely on the more
benevolent qualities of your cruiser team
mates. The easiest way for your team to
escape a hard battle is sadly at their
expense. They should immediately try to
grab enemy attention by using any AoE
abilities they may have so that all eyes are
on tyhem. Once you and everyone else is
clear they need to run away get them to
use all the shield buffing abilities they may
have and start just constantly clicking the
middle shield button . Their shields should

hang on long enough for everyone to get
away and full impulse away from the
conflict at which point the cruiser's just take
the death and respawn.

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SCIENCE

GRINDING

STRATEGIES

ike any MMO there is more to
star trek online than just fighting
random AI. There are a plethora

of other things to deal with and you're
going to need some credits and ranks to
enjoy it all. In this chapter we'll discuss
some easy ways to grind some your self out
some goodies and find yourself rolling in
credits, XP, and unique items.

L

Credit Grinding

Strategies

The first and best strategy for getting

some cash is the same as in any MMO, the
auction house. The big difference you're
encountering in star trek online is that
you're going to want to auction almost
everything but in the right way. The nice
thing about the incredibly small amount of
“towns” in star trek online at least in
contrast to something like world of warcraft
is the fact that even barely above standard

items can be hard to buy from a vendor.
The best time to exploit this is in your first
10 ranks of the game of the game when
your missions are rewarding you with a lot
of extra equipment to pawn. An interesting
trick you may want to try is asking a cruiser
class character to carry stuff for you in
exchange for some credits or stuff if your
inventory gets clogged, cruiser class ships
have more inventory space and as such
normally have some to spare. An important
thing to remember when trying this though
is to find an honorable person and make
sure you get what you gave them once you
get back to star base.

Another thing you're going to want to

keep an eye out for to raise your credit
reserves is anomalies. Anomalies are used
at the memory alpha station and similar
research stations to create new an
interesting items. While pursuing of these
items can be fun it's not the most
productive use of anomalies. You can sell
research anomalies at the auction house
like any item however due to their use for
research you can sell them for a boat load
of credits. There are 18 different types of
research anomalies and if you scan
everyone you see you'll have a healthy
stock in no time. You should list them in the
auction in bundles of ten at the cost of
about 500-1000 credits each rather than as
a large chunk. This strategy will allow you a

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regular flow of money throughout the
game. The only flaw with this plan is things
can become buried in the auction house
after not too much time so you need to go
into it and relist your item about once a day
to keep your stuff nearer to the top of list.

The other big type of currency to worry

about in star trek online is badges and
marks of exploration thankfully these are
rather simple to get. The missions in the
game that task you with doing three tasks
in an unexplored sectors are all redoable
and can be taken over and over again. You
can use these missions to grind out
exploration marks and badges.

Xp Grinding

Strategies

When looking to increase your ship's

capabilities without the cost of purchasing
new equipment leveling yourself is your
only option. As previously discussed ships
themselves don't gain any sort of
experience but can be improved by leveling
yourself up. Later in this guide we will
discuss how one should use the experience
they gain but for now we're going to talk
about how to get that experience in the
first place.

As with exploration marks and badges

the easiest way to grind experience is
repeatable missions. You will find a number
of fleet actions, sector defense, exploration,
and PvP quests that can all be done over
and over again. The most useful of these
types are the PvP quests as you will reap
both experience for the quest and
experience for the PvP action itself. If you
can get a good team together you can
spend hours reaping in the XP and gaining
a few medals of achievement for
everyone's hard work.

The various other repeatable quests are

also great ways to gain some XP
particularly if you're in a rather anti-social
mood and would rather not deal with any of
the competitive nature that PvP tends to
spawn. The various defend the “blank”
sector quests will allow to wander about on
the sector and search out some enemy
contacts to destroy. The other choice for
strictly solo play is the exploration missions
and as nice bonus due to their nature you'll
get a different mission every time. These
are fun if not a little repetitive but if you
were worried about repetition you wouldn't
be grinding anyway.

Last but not least there are fleet actions

which are a lot like raids in other MMOs.
These groups missions pit you against a
large enemy fleet, star base invasion, and

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other large scale conflicts. When you enter
the action you are automatically teamed up
with other players and you go through the
stages of the action. These missions require
a time commitment and teamwork but can
lead to cool items, extra credits, and best of
all a big chunk of XP. The nice thing with
fleets actions from a sheer fun perspective
is that new fleet actions are being added
every now and then meaning when you're
bored of one there's usually a new one
waiting to go.

All that being said don't feel you need to

languish in low level quests for all eternity
like a bad Q episode of TNG, quests in STO
are generally well paced and lead into each
other so unless you want to over level just
follow the quest lines. As much as grinding
is a part of MMOs Cryptic's games and star
trek online in particular are very
streamlined and don't really require that
much grinding at least through out the first
half of the game. Feel free to bang your
head against a wall and grind if you'd like
but remember you paid for a game not job
and should you make sure to enjoy your
time in the universe of star trek online.

20

The Unofficial Star Trek Online Science Guide

ADVANCED

SCIENCE

TACTICS

You now have all the skills necessary to

create a character and rise a few ranks with
them but there's always more to learn. In
this chapter you'll learn about all sorts of
strategies for making your later game a
smoother ride.

Skill Point

Assignment

Aside from equipment the way you'll be

increasing your character's stats is through
assigning accrued skill points. There are a
lot of areas in which you can assign these
points and this is how one tactician varies
from another. In the chart below you'll see
all the areas you can put points into and
what those areas do, there will be a (*) on
every area that is recommended for when
you're using science class ships however
almost all of the skills can be useful.

Star Fleet

Skill

Rank

needed

Descripti

on

21

The Unofficial Star Trek Online Science Guide

Engineerin

g team

leader

Lieutenant

Improves

the

maintenan

ce and

mod

abilities of

your

engineerin

g bridge

officers

Science

team

leader

Lieutenant

Improves

the

scientific

theory and

scientific

practice

skills of

your

science

bridge

officers

Tactical

team

leader

Lieutenant

Improves

the assault

training

and close

combat

skills of

your

tactical

bridge

officers

Star Ship

Command

Lieutenant

Slightly

improves

all aspects

of any ship

you're

captaining

Cruiser

Captain

Lt.

Command

er

Improves

statistics

when

using

cruiser

class ships

Escort

Captain

Lt.

Command

er

Improves

statistics

when

using

escort

class ships

(*)Science

Vessel

Captain

Lt.

Command

er

Improves

statistics

when

using

science

class ships

Heavy

Cruiser

Captain

Command

er

Improves

statistics

when

using the

heavy

cruiser

class ship

Heavy

Escort

Captain

Command

er

Improves

statistics

when

using the

heavy

escort

class ship

(*)Researc

h Science

Vessel

Captain

Command

er

Improves

statistics

when

using the

research

science

vessel

class ship

Exploratio

n Cruiser

Captain

Captain

Improves

statistics

when

using the

exploratio

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The Unofficial Star Trek Online Science Guide

n cruiser

class ship

(*)Long

Range

Science

Vessel

Captain

Captain

Improve

statistics

when

using the

long range

science

vessel

class ship

Tactical

Escort

Captain

Captain

Improves

statistics

when

using the

tactical

escort

class ship

Advanced

Escort

Captain

Admiral

Improves

statistics

when

using the

advanced

escort

class ship

Assault

Cruiser

Captain

Admiral

Improves

statistics

when

using the

assault

cruiser

class ship

(*)Deep

Space

Science

Captain

Admiral

Improves

statistics

when

using the

deep

space

science

vessel

class ship

Fleet

Escort

Captain

Admiral

Improves

statistics

when

using the

fleet

escort

class ship

(*)Reconna

issance

Science

Vessel

Captain

Admiral

Improves

statistics

when

using the

reconnaiss

ance

science

vessel

class ships

Star

Cruiser

Captain

Admiral

Improves

statistics

when

using the

star

cruiser

class ships

Star Ship

Energy

Weapons

Rank

needed

Descripti

on

(*)Star

Ship

Energy

Weapons

Training

Lieutenant

Improves

energy

weapon

damage

(*)Star

Ship Beam

Weapons

Lt.

Command

er

Improves

beam

weapon

damage

Star Ship

Cannon

Weapons

Lt.

Command

er

Improves

cannon

weapon

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The Unofficial Star Trek Online Science Guide

damage

Star Ship

Phaser

Weapons

Command

er

Improves

phaser

weapon

damage

Star Ship

Disruptor

Weapons

Command

er

Improves

disruptor

weapon

damage

(*)Star

Ship

Tetryon

Weapons

Captain

Improves

tetryon

weapon

damage

Star Ship

Plasma

Energy

Weapons

Captain

Improves

plasma

energy

weapons

Star Ship

Antiproton

Weapons

Admiral

Improves

antiproton

weapon

damage

Star Ship

Polaron

Weapons

Admiral

Improves

polaron

weapon

damage

Star Ship

Projectile

Weapons

Rank

needed

Descripti

on

24

The Unofficial Star Trek Online Science Guide

(*)Star

Ship

Projectile

Weapons

Training

Lieutenant

Improves

projectile

weapon

damage

Star Ship

Mines

Lt.

Command

er

Improves

mine

damage

(*)Star

Ship

Torpedo

Weapons

Lt.

Command

er

Improves

torpedo

weapon

damage

Star Ship

Photon

Projectiles

Command

er

Improves

photon

projectile

damage

Star Ship

Quantum

Projectiles

Command

er

Improves

quantum

projectile

damage

Star Ship

Plasma

Projectiles

Captain

Improves

plasma

projectile

damage

(*)Star

Ship

Transphasi

c

Projectiles

Captain

Improves

transphasi

c projectile

damage

(*)Star

Ship

Chroniton

Projectiles

Admiral

Improves

chroiton

projectile

damage

Star Ship

Tricobalt

Projectiles

Admiral

Improves

tricobalt

projectile

damage

Star Ship

Engineeri

ng

Rank

needed

Descriptio

n

25

The Unofficial Star Trek Online Science Guide

(*)Star

Ship

Engineerin

g Training

Lieutenant

Improves

the

performan

ce of your

ship's

systems

Star Ship

Warp Core

Training

Lieutenant

Improves

your ship's

power

levels

(*)Star

Ship

Auxiliary

Systems

Maintenan

ce

Lt.

Command

er

Improves

auxiliary

system

abilities

(*)Star

Ship

Engine

Maintenan

ce

Lt.

Command

er

Improves

engine

abilities

Star Ship

Shield

Maintenan

ce

Lt.

Command

er

Improves

shield

abilities

Star Ship

Weapons

Systems

Maintenan

ce

Lt.

Command

er

Improves

weapon

system

abilities

(*)Star

Ship

Auxiliary

Systems

Efficiency

Command

er

Improves

auxiliary

power

abilities

Star Ship

Weapons

Systems

Efficiency

Command

er

Improves

weapons

power

abilities

(*)Star

Ship

Engine

Efficiency

Command

er

Improves

engine

power

abilities

Star Ship

Shield

Efficiency

Command

er

Improves

shield

power

abilities

(*)Star

Ship

Engine

Performan

ce

Captain

Improves

engine

functionalit

y abilities

Star Ship

Shield

Performan

ce

Captain

Improves

shield

functionalit

y abilities

(*)Star

Ship Sub-

system

Repair

Captain

Improves

sub-

system

repair rate

and

functionalit

y

(*)Star

Ship

Auxiliary

Systems

Performan

ce

Admiral

Improves

auxiliary

systems

functionalit

y abilities

Star Ship

Hull Repair

Admiral

Improves

hull repair

rate and

related

26

The Unofficial Star Trek Online Science Guide

abilities

Star Ship

Weapons

Systems

Performan

ce

Admiral

Improves

weapon

functionalit

y abilities

Star Ship

Operation

s

Rank

needed

Descripti

on

(*)Star

Ship

Operations

Training

Lieutenant

Improves

deflector,

sensor,

and

emitter

abilities

(*)Star

Ship

Deflectors

Lt.

Command

er

Improves

deflector

abilities

(*)Star

Ship

Emitters

Lt.

Command

er

Improves

emitters

abilities

(*)Star

Ship

Sensors

Lt.

Command

er

Improves

sensors

abilities

(*)Star

Ship

Deflector

Dish

Command

er

Improves

deflector

dish

abilities

(*)Star

Ship

Sensor

Array

Command

er

Improves

sensor

array

abilities

(*)Star

Ship

Tractor

Command

er

Improves

tractor

beam

Beam

abilities

(*)Star

Ship

Deflector

Field

Captain

Improves

deflector

field

abilities

(*)Star

Ship

Hazard

Systems

Captain

Improves

hazard

systems

abilities

(*)Star

Ship

Sensor

Probes

Captain

Improves

sensor

probe

abilities

(*)Astrome

trics

Admiral

Improves

astrometri

c abilities

(*)Photonic

Theory

Admiral

Improves

photonic

theory

abilities

(*)Spatial

Anomaly

Admiral

Improves

abilities

that create

or resist

spatial

anomalies

There is one other branch of abilities but

it changes depending on your officer type
and they're all ground abilities so they
won't be discussed in this guide. That said
it is recommended that you invest a fair
amount in it as ground combat is
something you'll be engaging in fair amount
particularly if you're planning on grinding
XP.

27

The Unofficial Star Trek Online Science Guide

Ground Combat

As much as space combat is a large part

of Star Trek Online ground should not be
ignored. Ground combat is a nice variation
in game play compared to space combat.
This guide however is directed toward ship
based and as such we won't go into depth
on ground combat but rather just cover the
basics.

The first thing to remember with ground

combat is that you'll never be fighting
alone. Your bridge officers can join for
almost any non PvP ground combat
mission. When choosing which officers to
take to the ground with you make sure to
bring a variety of classes. Just as in space
combat every class has different role that
they should fulfill.

The tactical officer's role is to be the

primary attacker. Using abilities like photon
grenade and leg sweep they should try to
constantly be in combat so they can draw
hostility and cause a lot of damage. The
most strategic thing a tactical officer can do
is simply coordinate with their other squad
members so as to not disrupt everyone's
plans.

The engineering officer is a mix of

support and DPS abilities. They should
focus on creating devices to help the
squad. A turret, mine barrier, or shield

generator in the right spot at the right time
can completely flip a losing battle. They
also have a very strong shield capabilities
compared to the other classes and as such
shouldn't be afraid to dish out some
damage in between building stuff.

The science officer's job is healing and

ability based DPS. Their primary job should
be healing others and increasing shield
regeneration. They don't have strong
shields themselves or great battles abilities
so they stay in the rear and heal others
unless the extra DPS is absolutely
necessary to win the battle.

Weapons And

Equipment

There is a plethora of various things for

you to equipment in the universe of Star
Trek Online for both your character and
your ship. In this guide though we are going
to focus on what you can equip on your
ship. A good starting point is weapons as
what you equip here is going to affect your
strategy in combat. I've already mentioned
the usefulness of beam arrays and
torpedoes however there are different
weapons and ammo types.

Energy Weapon

Description

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The Unofficial Star Trek Online Science Guide

Type

Phaser

2.5% chance to

disable random

sub-system

Disruptor

2.5% chance to

lower target's

damage

resistance by

10% for 15

seconds

Plasma

2.5% chance to

apply a non-

stacking damage

over time debuff

Polaron

2.5% chance to

reduce all enemy

sub-system power

levels by 25

Tetryon

2.5% chance to

deal additional

shield damage

Antiproton

Shield

penetration

Projectile

Weapon Type

Description

Photon

50% to bring

down 20 able

enemy crew

Quantum

10% to bring

down 10 able

enemy crew

Plasma

Chance to apply

fire damage to

hull for 10

seconds

Transphasic

Increased shield

penetration

Chronition

-100% flight

speed and turn

rate for 10

seconds

Tricobalt

Disables targets

for 2 seconds

There are weapons of every kind for

every ammo type mentioned above. While
these different flavors of death seem
important it's the weapons that's firing
them that can truly change your strategy.
Every weapon type has different firing arc
and attack strength, your goal when picking
weapons should be to balance the two. The
chart below lists the weapon types and
their firing arcs.

Weapon

Ammo

Type

Firing Arc

Dual

Cannons

Energy

45 degrees

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The Unofficial Star Trek Online Science Guide

Dual

Heavy

Cannons

Energy

45 degrees

Torpedo

Launcher

Projectile

90 degrees

Dual Beam

Bank

Energy

90 degrees

Mobile

Device

Launcher

Projectile

90 degrees

Cannon

Energy

180

degrees

Beam

Array

Energy

250

degrees

Turret

Energy

360

degrees

Mine

launcher

Projectile

No arc

Device

launcher

Projectile

No arc

Using a combination of these different

kinds of weapons you can create your own
battles strategies. Everything said in the
combat chapter still applies though so
equip accordingly. Make sure a beam array
or two is always equipped on in lieu of that
at least one turret. It's also smart to have a
projectile launcher of some sort equipped
so as to follow up a volley of beam attacks
with an explosion which can often flat out
destroy smaller ships.

There more things to for your star ship

equip beyond weapons. Nearly every piece
of important equipment is inter-changeable
and you'll easily be able to find the right
pieces to suit your strategy. The different
pieces of equipment you change are your
ship's shields, your ship's impulse engines,
your deflector dishes, and the consoles at
which your bridge officers sit. We will now
discuss the various types of each
equipment detailing the major differences
between items of the class.

Shields are probably the most important

thing you'll be equipping and as such you
need to have a proper understanding of
what stats you should be looking for. The
important things to look for when equipping
a shield are the maximum shield capacity
(your shields max health), Shield
regeneration (shield health regen), and
bleed through (how much damage an
attack will end doing to your actual ship).
You need to keep a balance of all these and
only specialize in one when a strategy call
for it otherwise you may be left twisting in
the wind. The charts below detail the
different types of shields and the different
modifiers that may be attached to them.

Shield type

Description

Shield array

Balanced stats

compared to the

other types

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The Unofficial Star Trek Online Science Guide

Covariant shield

array

High max shield

capacity but slow

shield

regeneration

Regenerative

shield array

Fast regeneration

but low max

capacity

Paratrinic shield

Stronger version

of the covariant

but contains an

even slower

regeneration

Resilient shield

array

Changes half of

it's bleed through

into a recharge to

the ship's shields

Shield Modifier

Description

Cap

Increases shield

capacity

Reg

Increases shield

regeneration

Dis

Reduces disruptor

damage by 20%

Pha

Reduces phaser

damage by 20%

Pla

Reduces plasma

damage by 20%

Pol

Reduces polaron

damage by 20%

Tet

Reduces tetryon

damage by 20%

Ap

Reduces

antiproton

damage by 20%

Let's move on to impulse engines which

are very basic. Impulse engines come in
three flavors which basically just say which
power levels they work best at. The most
common are standard impulse engines
which work fine and balanced at all power
levels. Combat engines work best at low
power levels allowing for sharper turns
during space combat. Last but not least
there are hyper-impulse engines which
work best at high power levels, if you want
to really speed across the map use these,
Just as with the shields and every piece of
equipment there can modifiers on these as
well.

Engine Modifier

Description

Spd

+1 to flight speed

Turn

+1 to flight turn

rate

Full

Adds (7+the

mark of the

equipment) to

your full impulse

speed

Aux

You are given a

thrusters bonus

when your

engines are

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The Unofficial Star Trek Online Science Guide

disabled

Deflector dishes are the accessories

equivalent in star trek online providing non-
specific stat boosts. These boosts are to
stats in the star ship operations skill tree
making these very necessary for any
science ships but just a nice boost for
everyone else. As with shields and engines
there different types and modifiers which
are detailed in the charts below.

Deflector type

Description

Deflector Array

Improves star

ship deflectors,

sensors, and

emitters stats

Graviton

Deflector

Improves star

ship deflector

dish and

deflectors stats

Positron Deflector

Array

Improves star

ship emitters and

tractor beam

stats

Tachyon

Deflectors

Improves star

ship sensor array

and sensors stats

Deflector Dish

Modifiers

Description

Ast

+10 to

astrometrics

Def

+10 star ship

deflectors

DefD

+10 star ship

deflector dish

EM

+10 star ship

emitters

HS

+10 star ship

hazard systems

Sen

+10 star ship

sensors

SenA

+10 star ship

sensor array

SenP

+10 star ship

sensor probes

Spa

+10 spatial

anomaly

PT

+10 photonic

theory

TB

+10 star ship

tractor beam

Most importantly there are consoles

which can if properly equipped improve any
stat you may want increased. There are
multiple sets of consoles with one or more
sets for each type of bridge officer you can
have. The multiple charts below will detail
what each type does.

Tactical

Description

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The Unofficial Star Trek Online Science Guide

Consoles -

General

Variable

Geometry

Detonators

Increases mine

damage

Warhead Yield

Chamber

Increases torpedo

damage

Directed Energy

Distribution

Increase beam

weapon damage

Prefire Chamber

Increase cannon

damage

Tactical

Consoles

- Specific

Damage

Type

Descripti

on

Disruptor

Induction

Energy

Increase

disruptor

damage

Phaser

Relay

Energy

Increase

phaser

damage

Plasma

Infuser

Energy

Increase

plasma

damage

Polaron

Phase

Modulator

Energy

Increase

polaron

damage

Tetryon

Pulse

Chamber

Energy

Increase

tetryon

damage

Antiproton

Mag

Regulator

Energy

Increase

antiproton

damage

Chroniton

Flux

Regulator

Projectile

Increase

chroniton

damage

Photon

Detonation

Assembly

Projectile

Increase

photon

damage

Ambi

Plasma

Hull

Projectile

Increase

plasma

projectile

damage

Zero Point

Quantum

Chamber

Projectile

Increase

quantum

damage

Transphasi

c

Compresso

r

Projectile

Increase

transphasi

c damage

TCD

Subspace

Infuser

Projectile

Increase

tricobalt

damage

Engineering

Consoles – Star

Ship Power

systems

Description

Booster

Modulator

Increases

auxiliary power

setting

Plasma

Distribution

Manifold

Increases weapon

power setting

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The Unofficial Star Trek Online Science Guide

Field Emitter

Increases shield

power setting

Injector Assembly

Increase engine

power setting

EPS Flow

Regulator

Increase power

transfer rate

Engineering

Consoles -

Other

Description

Diburnium Hull

Plating

Phaser and

disruptor damage

resistance

Electroceramic

Hull Plating

Plasma and

tetryon damage

resistance

Inertial Dampener

Able crewman

and alive

crewman

resistance

Monotanium Alloy

Kinetic damage

resistance

Parametallic Hull

Plating

Polaron and

antiproton

damage

resistance

RCS Accelerator

Stronger flight

turn rate

SIF Generator

Faster star ship

hull repair rate

Science

Description

Consoles

Sensor Probes

Increase to star

ship sensor

probes stat

Halon System

Increase star ship

hazard system

stat

Collimator

Increase star ship

deflector dish stat

Multi-Spectro

Scanner

Increase to star

ship sensor array

stat

Astrometric

Imaging Scanner

Increase

astrometrics stat

Graviton

Generator

Increase tractor

beam stat

Holomatrix Diode

Increase photonic

theory stat

Tomographic

Imager

Increase spatial

anomaly stat

Biofunction

Monitor

Increase to alive

crewmen and

crew recovery

rate

Induction

stabilizer

Star ship

deflector field stat

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The Unofficial Star Trek Online Science Guide

Ground Weapons

And Equipment

There is also a large amount of items

you can equip to yourself and your bridge
officers. The same rules and bonus that can
be found on space equipment transfer over
to ground equipment as well but for sake of
completion we will discuss some of the
specific ground equipment here. The
biggest difference is weapons type has a
special associated with it. Keep in mind that
the ammo types mentioned in the space
equipment chapter apply to ground as well
meaning you should those in mind while
shopping for new weapons. The chart below
will illustrate the different types of weapons
and their special attacks.

Weapon

name

Weapon

type

Special

attack

Stun

phaser/pist

ol

Pistols

Stun Beam

Setting –

can stun

living

enemies but

does minor

damage

Dual

phasers/pis

tols

Pistols

Bo;lt Spray

– cone

shaped AoE

in front of

the player

Wide Beam

Phaser/pist

ol

Pistols

Wide Beam

Setting –

Cone

shaped AoE

in front of

the player

Compressio

n pistol

Pistols

Compressio

n Bolt

Setting –

Single high

energy

shot with a

chance of

knock back

High

density

beam rifle

Rifles

High

Density

Beam –

Narrow

cylindrical

beam that

damages

and repels

enemies in

it's path

Pulse Rifle

Rifles

Pulse Wave

Setting –

Cylindrical

AoE

damage

and repel

Split Beam

Rifle

Rifles

Auto-

Targeting

Beam –

Cone of

AoE

damage in

35

The Unofficial Star Trek Online Science Guide

front of the

player

Sniper Rifle

Rifles

Sniper Shot

-

Single high

energy

shot with a

knock back

chance

Blast

Assault

Rifle

Assault

Rifles

Energy

Blast –

launches

an energy

ball that

explodes

on contact

doing AoE

and knock

back to

anyone in

it's blast

radius

Auto-Target

Assault

Rifle

Assault

Rifles

Auto-

Target

Beam –

cone of

AoE

damage in

front of the

player

Arc-Wave

Assault

Rifle

Assault

Rifles

Arc-Wave

Setting –

Expanding

AoE wave

attack

Full Auto

Assault

Rifle

Assault

Rifles

Full Auto

Sweep –

Cone

shaped AoE

damage

Shields are the same for your character

as they are for your ship so when picking
shields just refer to charts in the space
equipment section. The only difference is a
modifier that can be found on ground
shields that can't be found on space
shields. This modifier is called PBKB and
gives a chance to knock down nearby foes
when your shields take damage.

Body Armor is the big difference when it

comes to defensive equipment on the
ground. Body armor can increase your
strength, defense, even your ability to do
critical attacks. The chart below details
what each type of armor can do for you.

Armor Type

Description

Energy

Dampening

Armor

Increased kinetic

and energy

damage

resistance

Physical

Augmentation

Armor

Increased

strength as well

physical, kinetic,

and energy

damage

resistance

Pollyalloy Weave

Armor

Increased

Resistance to all

types of damage

Recoil

Compensating

Armor

Increase to the

damage of your

criticals and

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The Unofficial Star Trek Online Science Guide

increased

resistance to all

kinds of damage

Integrated

Targeting Armor

Increase chance

to hit with a

critical and

increased

resistance to all

types of damage

Energy Harness

Armor

Increase to

damage from all

energy weapons

and increased

resistance to all

types of damage

There is one other equippable item type

and those are kits. Kits give your main
character an ability to use in ground
combat. All the abilities that kits can
bestow are the same as the ones your
bridge officers can learn the only difference
being you can unlearn your ability by
simply unequipping the kit. You will
regularly get new kits so be sure to play
around with them. Having a better
understanding of what all those abilities do
will allow you to better assign strategies
and level up your bridge officers.

One last important thing to remember

about ground equipment is that it's not just
for you. You can equip almost all of your
left over gear onto your bridge officers.
Doing this allows for a stronger team as
whole and easier XP grinding. In later game

you can receive quite a few bridge officers
so it's not a bad idea to spend a few
minutes after every mission doing some
micromanagement and getting everyone's
equipment up to gear.

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The Unofficial Star Trek Online Science Guide

KLINGON

SPECIFICS

n general the Klingon campaign is
the same as the federation campaign
with similar game play, similar,

ships, and the same skills. There are minor
differences between the two campaigns
however and they will be discussed here.

I

It was mentioned earlier in the character

creation chapter how to unlock the Klingon
campaign so please refer to that chapter if
you skipped that information. Once you
start character creation for the Klingon
campaign you are greeted with a bevy of
new races you couldn't chose as a
federation officer, For the most part they
are fairly standard and mirror the
federation's own races in terms of
balancing each other out. The choice of
race in Star Trek Online is a very minor
decision anyways and in general is more for
role play and esthetic purposes than
gameplay relevance.

Rather than have a full on tutorial like

the federation has once you've started a
character you are immediately started out
as a lieutenant rank 5. There a few missions
on the Klingon main base where you start

off to acquire the things you would in the
tutorial (i.e. bridge officers, weapons, ability
kits) but once those are done you're let
loose to wreak havoc on federation forces.

The biggest difference between the two

campaigns is that the Kingons use different
ships. Their ships still fit into the same
archetypes that the federation ships fit in
for the most part though. The Klingons lack
a dedicated science vessel type of ship but
contain a number of attack focused ships
with unique abilities. The chart below will
list the ships and their federation counter
parts.

Klingon Ship

Type

Federation

Counter Part

Bird of Prey

Stealth Focused

Escort

Raptor

Standard Escort

Battle Cruiser

Standard Cruiser

Carrier

Cruiser with

fighter

Deployment

abilities

The Klingon campaign is an easy ride

other than what has been mentioned just
remember everything that has already
been discussed in this guide and apply it to
this campaign and you'll do just fine. .

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The Unofficial Star Trek Online Science Guide

FAQ

his section will contain answers
to your questions in later
editions of this guide. If you

would like to submit a question please send
an email to (email address).

T

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