Feb
4
STO and Bioshock 2
Well…I can’t seem to stop talking about STO. It really has grabbed me quite a bit, hasn’t it.
Last night, I hit Lt. Cmdr which gives you access to the tier 2 ships. Now, I had bit of a decision to make as to which class of ship to go with…either a cruiser or an escort. Now, the escort I tried in beta and, really, I just didn’t like the look or feel of them. They didn’t look like a typical “trek ship”. They look more like a stubby flying saucer…and my impression of the damage output (…at least the way I had it set up in beta…) was not really good. The cruiser has the typical “trek” look with the two nacelles, the saucer etc etc….and it felt right to me in beta. Damage for the cruiser compared to the escort seemed to be comparable in my head, but I had no real facts to back that up. Typically, I like playing damage dealers in MMOs so I found myself wondering whether the STO damage dealer (…escort class…) would really be for me. I bit the bullet last night and decided on the escort class…my thought being that my impressions from beta were mistaken.
…turns out I was…mistaken.
Wanna know what the difference was? Bridge Officer selection. It makes a huuuuuge difference in both the damage output and the gameplay experience. With the tier 2 escort, you get two tactical officers, one engineer and one science. With the two tactical officers I have an ability to fire a high torpedo yield as well as increase the fire rate of my cannons. My science and engineer are equipped with shield recharge as well as an ability to jam the enemy’s weapons for about 10 seconds. What this translates to is a ship who is a small ball of death. I’m VERY happy with the damage output and as long as too many ships don’t notice me, I can survive toe-to-toe with some of the bigger battleships. I may still buy a cruiser later, but as for now I’m sold on the escort class.
What I’m not happy about right now is the fact that I’m really not understanding the choices I’m making for character development in STO. It’s not that it’s an overly complex system…it’s just that it seems a little vague. For example…when I put points in to Escort, the description as I’m putting these points in tells me that it increases the hull, maneuverability, etc, and there is a bar graph thingie below that choice with numbers. What’s missing is an explanation or translation on how that effects your character. I have no clue how it works. I would go to the forums, but like I said, it’s been taken over by douche-gags for the most part…so good information is hard to come by. Add to that…there are rumors that Cryptic will be putting in respecs as an RMT item. Again…RUMOR ONLY…which is based on their solution in Champions. So…not only do I not understand the choices I’m making, there is a possibility that I will literally be paying for my mistakes. Stay tuned on that one….
…to give you a break from the “Darren and STO Show”, here is the trailer for Bioshock 2. If you haven’t seen it yet, take a look as it is really well done:
D out.
