Video: Star Trek Online Gameplay Tutorial

Check out this very informative video tutorial covering all the basics of Star Trek Online. If this doesn't pique your interest in the game, nothing will!

Review: Killer Guides STO Mission Guide

Rating:

The Star Trek Online Mission Guide by Killer Guides is quite possibly the best weapon a new Federation ensign or Klingon warrior can arm him (or her) self with. Missions, or "episodes" as STO calls them are bountiful and this guide is an extensive compilation of all the information you'll need to complete each and every one of them.

When you log in to STO for the very first time you're thrown into the role of Ensign serving on one of many ships engaged in a Borg attack. Upon completion of this first tutorial mission you're commissioned and given your very own star ship to help protect the Federation from its growing number of enemies as well as promote peace, explore uncharted worlds, and receive accolades from acts of heroism.

CHECK OUT THE UNOFFICIAL STO MISSION GUIDE BY KILLER GUIDES

As I said above, all missions are covered in the STO Mission Guide (there are over 100 of them). By following the detailed instructions you'll rise in rank from Ensign to Admiral in short order. Here's an example mission walkthrough taken straight from the guide to give you a taste of you'll find inside:

Temple Offerings
Rank: Cpt (1)
Type: Story
NPC: Captain James Kurland
Repeatable: No
Reward:

• 167 BO Skillpoints
• 155 Skillpoints
• 203 Starfleet Merits

You will probably hate this mission for two very good reasons. One: it involves running back and forward around DS9. Two: if you want to do it quickly then you'll need to spend quite a bit of Energy credits.

Captain James Kurland needs your help and in order to make this easy to understand, what follows is a list of the order you must follow to finish this mission as quickly as possible.

• Go to Quarks Bard (large door in main DS9 landing).
• Speak with Barratt in the middle of the first floor.
• Speak with Zhyi'Ahne on the second floor.
• Go to The Exchange and buy 10 Entertainment Provisions. Give them to her.
• Speak to Barratt again.
• Buy 15 Self Sealing Stem Bolts from The Exchange.
• Go to Loret Razha in the temple (small pointed area in the main DS9 floor).
• Speak with Tor Mazo in the docking ring (where The Exchange consoles are).
• Return to the Captain James Kurland to finish.

CHECK OUT THE UNOFFICIAL STO MISSION GUIDE BY KILLER GUIDES

But what if the game developers add more missions in the future? Don't worry because this guide will be updated for free!

Not only is the STO Mission Guide full of descriptive walkthroughs like the one above, you'll also receive a lot of invaluable tips that will help you start your journey in the wide open galaxy. Here's a list of just some of the extra features contained in this guide:

• Space combat strategies that will help you master your ship
• Ground combat strategies that will help you whip your away team into shape
• Essential tips about Starfleet merits, medal types, skillpoints, and bridge officer skillpoints
• Helpful team/group play advice including information on fleets (aka guilds)
• List of quadrants and systems in the STO galaxy
• Taking the trouble out of Tribbles

This mission guide is one of 10 available STO guides authored by Killer Guides. If you're interested in three or more of their guides, it is worth buying the entire bundle at a discount (you'll save 70%). Check out my reviews of their Strategy Guide, Ship Guide, Credits Guide, and PvP Guide (coming soon).

CHECK OUT THE UNOFFICIAL STO MISSION GUIDE BY KILLER GUIDES

10 Free Star Trek Online Guides

Star Trek Online officially launches today (February 3, 2010), so here are 10 free guides to get started! There are also a number of media previews you should check out if you're still sitting on the fence.

1. A Beginner’s Guide to STO
2. Starship Tier Charts
3. Bridge Officer/Kit Abilities
4. Player Skills 3.0
5. Currency Guide
6. Common FAQs
7. How the classes you choose affect gameplay
8. Bridge Officer FAQs
9. Space UI and Space Combat
10. Costume design tips

Finally, every good captain should polish up his or her acting skills. You never know when you'll need to bluff a feisty Klingon or Romulan so it would be advantagous to learn from the best.

Free Star Trek Online Guide for Newbies

With Star Trek Online (STO) almost upon us, I've decided to put together a basic guide for newbies. This guide will cover the basic features and game systems as well as provide you with a few tips and tricks.

Character creation
Creating your first character in Star Trek Online can be a very deep process. You can choose from an array of premade races or create an entirely new one. I suggest creating your own custom race even if you want to play a premade one because it allows you to select four custom racial traits instead of just one. Check out this video for a good overview of character creation.

No matter what race you pick you will start out as an Ensign within the Federation. Later on you can create a Klingon, which is currently the only opposing faction to the Federation.

Progression system
You start the game by completing a tutorial. This tutorial is similar to the various "episodes" you'll experience throughout the rest of the game. Your character progresses in STO by completing episodes (deeper mission arcs), missions, and killing members of the opposing faction (especially if you're a Klingon).

The major difference between STO and many other MMORPGs is that instead of experience points (XP), you are rewarded with skill points (SP).  For example, when you complete Mission A, the reward might be a piece of gear and 300 SP.

You can spend earned SP on various abilities that will shape your character. For instance, you might buy a ground ability that does damage and has a knockback. Another example might be a skill that boosts your ship's speed and maneuverability in combat.

As you spend SP you will increase in military rank from Ensign to Lieutenant to Lieutenant Commander to Commander to Captain and eventually to Admiral. As you raise in rank, new gear and ships will become available to you.

Career paths
There are three main "classes" in STO: Tactical, Science, and Engineering. Generally speaking, Tactical officers are combat specialists, Science officers lean more towards healing and support, and Engineering officers are more about crowd control.

It is important to choose an area you would like to specialize in and stick (mostly) to it. You do not have an infinite amount of SP, so spreading them out over a wide variety of will weaken your overall effectiveness. That said, the system is quite flexible and provides you with a means to break away from the cookie-cutter mold.

Combat
You will find two kinds of combat in STO: ground and space.

Ground combat will involve you and members of your away team. You play as your avatar in ground combat using various forms of ranged weapons (phasers, grenades, etc.) and melee.  Your away team is controlled by the computer, so it's a good idea to pay attention to what they are doing. Compared to space combat, ground combat is a breeze but there are still some strategies that will help you be more effective.

Ground tips: Balance your team with a good mix of crowd control, healing, and damage. Use cover to your advantage (e.g. corners, barricades, etc.). Double tapping a keyboard direction will roll your character that way more quickly. Focus fire on key targets. Don't panic when surrounded -- use your melee attacks in close quarters combat.

Space combat is a bit more complex. Ship-to-ship combat requires the ability to think quickly on your feet and make proper adjustments. You have to worry about distance, direction, maneuvering, camera angles, firing arcs, weapon-types (e.g., beams and torpedos), shield deflection, special bridge officer abilities, and a number of other things. It may sound complicated but it's easy to get a handle on everything and the more you practice the better you'll become at multi-tasking.

Space tips: Use beams/lasers to carve through enemy shields then follow up with devastating torpedo attacks. Re-balance your own shields frequently -- it is useless to have shield points on parts of the ship that aren't being attacked. Hit "P" to bring up a list of special abilities. Keep moving and adjust speed in relation to where you want to be vs. your enemy. You turn faster at slower speeds. You can also fly in reverse. Custom map your keyboard so that ship controls are more intuitive.

Ships
There are various ship classes for different combat roles. Cruisers are more adept at tanking. Escorts are more adept at DPS. Science are more adept at support. Ships can be customized visually, with gear, and with various bridge officers you have trained. Can use any ship as long as you meet its rank prerequisite.

Bridge officers
Bridge officers are similar to pets in other games. You gain them by doing missions or trade. They can be promoted and trained (and re-trained) with various abilities that will enhance your ship and ground combat performance. You can have up to four of them at once.

Gear
STO gear comes in two categories: space and ground. Space gear is fitted onto your ship (e.g., weapons, consoles, bridge officers). Ground gear is fitted to you or a member of your away team's person (e.g., shields, armor, weapons). Find a piece of gear you can't use? Give it to a bridge officer.

Klingons
The Klingon race unlocks after you get a Federation character to level 6 or complete the "Stop the Signal" episode. Klingons gain skill points from killing Federation players, not by doing episodes. All Klingon ships can cloak (stealth) to close in on unsuspecting enemies. The Bird of Prey is the only ship that can cloak in and out of combat -- others can only cloak while out.

A good place to take your Klingon is the instanced scenarios (like battlegrounds) or contested areas. Currently, Klingon content is a bit underdeveloped but Cryptic plans to expand them shortly after release.

That's all I have for now. Please feel free to add your own tips in the comments section!

Star Trek Online Launches February 2, 2010 (Open Beta January 12-26)

Star Trek Online is set to launch on February 2, 2010 in North America with open beta running from January 12-26, 2010 to allow them to work out the kinks. Massively.com recently had a chance to experience the early levels of the game, so you should head over and check out what they have to say.

In the meantime, here are a couple amazing videos to keep your anticipation on high alert.

Star Trek Online: The Future Past (part one)


Star Trek Online: The Future Past (part two)

Star Trek Online System Requirements

Cryptic recently announced the system requirements for Star Trek Online:

System Requirements

• OS: Windows XP SP2 / Windows Vista / Windows 7 (32 or 64-bit)
• CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo 1.8 Ghz or AMD Athlon X2 3800+
• Memory: 1GB RAM
• Video: NVIDIA GeForce 7950 / ATI Radeon X1800 / Intel HD Graphics
• Sound: DirectX 9.0c Compatible Soundcard
• DirectX: Version 9.0c or Higher
• HDD: 8GB Free Disk Space
• Network: Internet Broadband Connection Required
• Disc: 6X DVD-ROM

Recommended System Configuration

• OS: Windows XP SP2 / Windows Vista / Windows 7 (32 or 64-bit)
• CPU: Intel E8400 Core 2 Duo or AMD Athlon X2 5600+
• Memory: 2GB RAM+
• Video: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 / ATI Radeon HD 3850+
• Sound: DirectX 9.0c Compatible Soundcard
• DirectX: Version 9.0c or Higher
• HDD: 8GB Free Disk Space
• Network: Internet Broadband Connection Required
• Disc: 6X DVD-ROM

About Star Trek Online Leveling Guides

Welcome to Star Trek Online Leveling Guides (dot) com, your #1 source for free STO guides and pay-for guide reviews. We've taken a peek inside every STO guide available and reviewed whether or not it is worth your time and dime.

Check out our free guides here:

• My Free Star Trek Online Guide for Newbies
• 10 Free Star Trek Online Guides
• Basic Tutorial Gameplay Video

Here's a list of our paid guide reviews:

• STO Mission Guide Review (Killer Guides)
• STO Mastery Guide Review (coming soon...)
• STO Player vs. Player (PvP) Guide (coming soon...)
• STO Ship Guide (coming soon...)
• STO Credit Guide (coming soon...)
• STO Strategy Guide (coming soon...)