The Shining

Those are solar winds

Continuing our exploration into the world of Star Trek Online Klingons, lets explore the shining…no not the 1980 classic Stanley Kubrick film, but rather where Star Trek Online shines the best: Space Battles.  No I am not just talking about any space battles here, I am not talking about fighting against the systems “A.I.”, I am talking about pvp.  Now I will note that I have only participated in pvp from the Klingon side of things in Star Trek Online. 

There is a bit of a misconception that you have to be in sector space right outside the system where the battle takes place in order to use the PvP que.  At least as of this writing that isn’t the case. I found that the PvP que works from anywhere…in the Great Hall of Qo’nos, floating in space, standing on the bridge of my ship, anywhere.  There is a slight delay if you are simply standing somewhere rather than “beamed up” to your ship, resulting in a brief odd moment as the computer catches up to you.

So best to just hop in your ship since you can beam up to it from anywhere and hit the pvp que button…

There are two types of battles in Star Trek Online – ground battles and space battles.  Those battles are further divided into battles between Klingons (and the occasional Gorn that hops into the battleground) that are called “House Battles”.  Anyone who has ever watched a Klingon episode of Star Trek knows that Klingon families come from “The House of….” .  Battles with the wimps…oops, I mean Federation….are the other side of the things.  There are different types of battles of course, and several types of repeatable missions to be had for all of them.  Battlegrounds reward honor, medals and energy credits (among other things) which can all be used as currency for one personnel and equipment.

We can debate the infinite value of meaningful death penalties until the “cows come home” as grandad used to say, but I must say (in fact I will) that it was a breath of fresh air to be able to participate in a bit of PvP in outer space without having to worry about someone gleefully cackling somewhere as he collects what is left of my ship and my virtual fortune.  The virtual defeat of an opponent simply brings your side closer to victory.  Combat in pvp is fast, intensive and lots of fun…but it is not so fast that it is over with in an instant. Even in the best of ships it takes a bit of doing to defeat your opponent, and that appears to be by design. After all, any virtual combat that is over in an instant isn’t much fun is it?

As you rise through the ranks you will eventually earn a promotion. Each rank is divided into 10 grades.  You start out as a Lieutenant, and once you increase 10 ranks you become a Lieutenant Commander:

…and with that promotion to Lieutenant Commander comes a nice new ship.  But after you go to the ship yard to tell the nice Klingon (well maybe not SO nice) which type you want (a Bird-of-Prey or a Raptor), don’t just beam up and fly off. The two look a bit alike and you will have to actually select the ship you want to fly.  Tell the man (see below) you want to fly your new ship and not the old one. This is actually a menu from which to select your new ship:

As you make your enemy smell the agony of da’ feet (bath day for Klingons…worse day of the year) you will earn skill points. A word about that after the break…

When you skill up you will be presented with this screen.  The skills are divided between ground skills and space skills.  As you level you will earn more points. Personally I think it is nice that you get the points as you go along, and not all at once at the end of a rank. When you start as a young Lieutenant only the first row will be lit up.  As you train in your skills you will level. The more skills you train, the higher your rank. Eventually you will reach the rank of Lieutenant Commander (and every ten levels). With each new rank the next row lights up from which to select skills.  And remember, as you earn points for yourself, you also earn them for your bridge crew. Train them up and buy new skills for them. They can be a great help in battle.

See you online,

The No Prisoners, No Mercy Team