The Tactical Officer’s Guide to
STF Ground Combat
Author :
Starr@TheGladiator
Game Client :
ST.0.20100322a.9
Document Version :
1.03
Overview
The following is a basic guide for Tactical Officers to be
successful in Star Trek Online (STO) Special Task Force (STF) episodes. The guide is not comprehensive or complete, it is a living document that offers insight into
successful choices the tactical player can make.
Equipment
Your equipment choices can mean the difference between
life and death. Optimal gear selection
will come from the Battle Group Omega vendor, using Marks of Exploration
currency. Premium upgrades can come from
the Marks of Valor vendor, and drops from the STF missions. While it’s possible to succeed with lesser
gear, the following is presented to show the best choices you can make:
1.
Armor
Energy Dampening Armor will give
you the highest resistance to plasma damage, the basic damage type all Borg
drones use. It’s worth noting that
Rebecca Simmons also employs Antiproton and Electrical based attacks. The armor shown here is considered “medical
armor” because it will stack +4 health on any HoT effects including your Tribble
regeneration (very useful).
For players that also melee, the Pollyalloy Weave armor will provide better physical
protection, while still offering a level of energy damage resistance. If you are passionate about your melee, there
are some Utility variants that can increase your physical attack as well. The concept here is to be properly prepared
for either ranged or melee combat.
2.
Shields
The shield choice will vary from
player to player, however I prefer the point blank knock back variant [pbkb]. When Borg are at close range, they have a high chance of being knocked
down when they damage you. There is no
limitation to this effect, so the more you are surrounded, the more Borg will
fall down, giving you an opportunity for escape, or to crash your Bat’leth into their skulls.
This particular shield also offers some increased shield regeneration. If you are a “back row” player who will
rarely be up front in the thick action (very unlikely for tactical officers),
the increased capacity shield is a nice choice.
3.
Weapons
Weapon choices should match up
with the skills players have selected.
For increased DPS, I prefer weapons with an increase to critical hit
percentage [CrtH].
The antiproton weapons from Battle Group Omega are a great choice for
this. Antiproton weapons also have a chance
to penetrate shields. The Split Beam
shown below uses the [Borg] modifier, which is a drop from Infected.
For players with Rifle Skills
(firearms, soldier, assault), the Split Beam Rifle will offer the highest DPS
and maximum debuffs applied. For the
Rebecca Simmons encounter, it’s strongly recommended you use a weapon with
Repel. Any High Density Beam Rifle will
have this attribute. Repel is a push
(not knockback), which allows you to very easily push the Borg into the plasma
with your special shot.
For players with Heavy Weapon
Skills (firearms, special forces, assault), the Auto
Targeting Assault can apply the most debuffs and highest DPS of any weapon in
the game. This is due to it’s capability
to hit multiple targets at once.
For players with Pistol Skills
(firearms, security, close combat), the Compression Pistol will offer the best
DPS, and the Stun Pistol has the benefit of a short duration Hold. It’s worth mentioning that both pistols are
the only [kb3] weapons available at Battle Group Omega.
For players that cannot attain
Omega Group weapons, you should select the [kb3] weapon of your choice. The knockback offered from the [kb3] weapons
will be very useful in any Borg ground engagement.
The Bat’leth
is an excellent weapon when in combat with the Borg. The Bat’leth will
ignore shields, and deal physical damage directly to any opponent. Two useful combos to learn are the “Impale”
(1-2-2) which is an exploit attack that applies a stacking DoT,
and the “Rake” (2-1-1) which is a knockback that will
hit a 3 foot cone in front of you, and apply a 10% chance to expose.
Here is a link to an excellent
guide on melee combat, on the official Star Trek Online forums:
The following is an excerpt from
that thread, that describes Bat’leth
combos:
1 (2) - Slash - Basic damage and 10% chance to Expose.
11 (22) - Stun (does not
actually stun, roots instead) - Root for 1 second, 10% chance to Expose.
12 (21) - Heavy Slash -100% Run
Speed for 1 second, 10% chance to Expose.
122 - Impale (EXPLOIT) -
Basic damage + Stacking DoT, hits *incredibly* hard on Exploit. Best single-target
attack.
121 (212) - Spin (AoE) - Basic damage, 10% chance to expose.
211 -
Rake (AoE) - Knocks back targets in a cone before you
3 feet, 10% chance to Expose. Fairly quick and useful for
crowd control.
112 (221) - Chop
(EXPLOIT) - Basic damage + Stacking DoT, hits *incredibly* hard on Exploit.
4.
Kits
Mk IX Kits can be purchased on
Space Dock with BoE-5, and rare Mk X Kits can be purchased at Battle Group
Omega with the Marks of Exploration. Kit
choices will vary based on circumstances and group composition. Generally speaking, if you have a player in
the healer role for your group, the Security Kit offers the best collection of
powers. If you have no player in the
healer role, the Squad Leader Kit will give you some basic healing capabilities
with the Rally Cry power, which you will need.
Medical armor bonuses will stack with your Rally Cry, increasing your HoT!
It’s worth mentioning that the
Close Combat Kit will give you immunity to root and hold via the Motion
Accelerator power. This can be useful
for players that struggle with being controlled.
5.
Devices
Devices offer that “little
something extra” that can often times mean the difference between group survival or wipe out.
I would recommend you treat this equipment as mandatory, as opposed to
simply optional.
The Large Hypo, Large Shield
Charge, and Large Power Cell can be purchased from DS9.
For groups with a player in the
healing role, I recommend using the Zinc tribble for increased resistance to
all energy types (including electrical).
For players with no healer, the Yu tribble will give you out of combat
health regeneration. If you are using
the medical armor, you will net +5 health per tick,
when not in combat. This is more than
enough regeneration to return to full health between engagements.
Powers
Everyone has access to Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation, which will bring an incapacitated
player back to life. To use this, target
the player, and be standing close to them.
While no death penalty exists in this build, I recommend everyone
practices this skill before it’s critical!
Security Escort
is an excellent way to provide some cannon fodder for your enemies to target
(instead of your team), as well as add some extra DPS and expose attacks. The Close Protection skill will improve your
Security Escort skill (not recommended).
Using this skill in combination with your Tactical Initiative is a great way to reduce your incoming fire, by
providing additional targets for incoming fire.
Suppressing Fire
is extremely useful at keeping your foes at range. If you are using the multi beam weapons, this
is especially effective. You should be
using this ability as much as possible.
Multiple tactical officers employing this skill, with stun grenades, can
make a dramatic difference on the advancement of your enemies
battle front.
Stun Grenade is
another effective way at keeping your foes at range. This will hold your targets longer than a
knockdown with a Photon Grenade will provide, and has no chance of setting your
teammates on fire, or causing hazards in your kill box.
Tactical Initiative
has a chance to immediately reset your cool downs, allowing you to do many
abilities two times in a row, such as Rally Cry for healing, or Security
Escort. Many people don’t realize that
you can use this ability on your teammates, which allows some interesting
combinations!
Target Optics
is an excellent way to buff your damage and critical hit chance, while also
giving an additional 10% chance to expose your target. You should be using this power as much as
possible, and as part of your alpha strike.
Overwatch will
give your team (4.6m range) additional damage resistance, and is very useful on
the boss encounters. Rally Cry is a team HoT
that has an extremely long range (23m).
Basic Tactics and Tips
Careful
targeting is required when using weapons with AoE
damage (ie: Split Beam or High Density Beam). Never carelessly auto target when firing your
special, or you may hit enemies that were not
aggressive to your group. Disabling
auto-fire is highly recommended. Careless
aiming / firing can unnecessarily wipe your group!
Borg
patrols (moving) are not attached to Interlink Nodes. You can attack and destroy patrols before you
engage static Borg groups, attached to Interlink Nodes.
Interlink
Nodes are part of static Borg groups.
Destroy them first, or Borg’s will deactivate, and then reactivate.
You
can disintegrate Interlink nodes if they are exposed.
Change
your Tactical Kit to fit with what your group, or the encounter requires. You can purchase rare Mk IX Kits at Spacedock with BoE-5, and very rare Mk X kits at Battle
Group Omega.
As
tactical officers, we can best serve the team through DPS and mob control. We can accomplish this most effectively by applying as many
debuffs as possible to as many targets as possible. I prefer the split beam rifle to do this. Players not utilizing the split beam weapons
can actually do as little as ¼ the overall damage of a player that uses them
(validated in fleet actions)!
Suppressing
Fire and Stun Grenades should be used at all times, to keep your foes slowed
and at range. If you are using repel or
[kb3] weapons, this is also very hepful. Slowing your enemies advance will allow a
more controlled fire fight, and prolonged exposure in your kill box.
Target
Optics should also be used as much as possible, to expose as many enemies as
you can.
Overwatch increases team damage resistance, and should be
used when your teammates are nearby and under fire. It’s also very useful on boss encounters.
Rally
Cry should be utilized when any team member takes damage, especially if you do
not have a Science Officer on your team.
This will stack with medical armor bonus, and tribble regen bonus.
Use
line of sight tactics when your shields go offline, such as ducking around
corners or in doorways. When your
shields have regenerated, rejoin the fire fight! An excellent place to practice firing from
cover, is the new Retaking DS9 fleet action.
Use
your hypos if you have no natural regeneration, or during extended fights. Use your shield charges when you’re under
heavy fire with no cover available. Use
your power cells on hard to kill targets like elite drones, or during boss
encounters.
Draw
fire can be used when hard targets like Elite Drones are on your group members.
A
very effective way to control large
groups of enemies is through melee combat.
Using the various repel and knockback combos, you can isolate hard
targets from attacking your groups, allowing allies to focus their fire and
attention more effectively, including healing.
It’s quite easy to lock down 3 or more Borg Drones when you get
proficient with the Rake and Stun attacks.
Remember to wear your PollyAlloy Weave armor
when you do this on a regular basis.
Having at least one tactical officer configured for melee will serve you
well!
Remember
to always help your incapacitated team members as much as possible with the
liberal application of the Cardio jumps!
If you have your Squad Leader kit on, don’t forget to activate Rally Cry
immediately after bringing someone back to life. Practicing this now will better prepare you
for the forthcoming death penalty.
Don’t
forget to reactivate your tribble buff if you have to respawn. Make sure your device slots are always full, you don’t want to be stumbling around your inventory
in the middle of a fight. The device
slots will recognize all items in your inventory, in a future patch (currently
on Tribble).
Keeping
your different kits, armor and weapons with you at all times, and a good supply
of devices, will allow you maximum flexibility based on your team members
preparedness, and the different scenarios you will encounter.
An
effective alpha strike is:
Supressing
Fire, Overwatch, Target Optics, Stun Grenade,
During
the Rebecca Simmons encounter, you should be using a High Density Beam
Rifle. With some careful aiming, you can
very easily push (repel) enemies into the plasma. This will save you a lot of time, as opposed
to killing the drones.
YouTube Videos
Rebecca Simmons encounter, with the requirement to do the
virus upload:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNIdqTNP7p4
Rebecca Simmons encounter, with no virus upload:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lxNu42hdO0
This is the same video with higher quality and proper sounds:
Advanced Jumping and plasma fall recovery:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8sHE_csl4g