5 star citation or begold?

BadTrekDad

Hello all,
I recently came back to playing STTL after taking about a year off (best guess). Naturally due to power creep my "great" 5* are much less great these days. I am approaching 50K honor and was considering whether to get a 5* citation to improve/finish an existing card or a 5* begold with the hope of landing one of the newer 5* that are more powerful (or at worst adding a star to an existing card I own).

My favorite parts of the game are voyages and faction events. Gauntlets I participate in for the merits/credits but don't have a Caretaker, Surak, Locutus or Armus so I am behind on that front

Was learning towards a 5* citation for Etana or Will Scarlett Worf (would get collection bonus).

Here is my current rundown of 5*- (Top 40 best for Voyages marked with V)

5/5
V-Borg Queen
Changeling Founder

4/5
Will Scarlett Worf
V-Etana Jol
Kortar

3/5
V- Bartender Guinan
Dr Daystrom
Seven of Nine
T'Kuvma

2/5
Captain Nog
Madamoiselle DN
Admiral Cartwright
V- High Roller Sisko (very lucky pulls from two event packs)
Jazz Musician Odo
Ushaan Archer
Grand Nagus Zek

1/5
Dark Ages Mccoy
Duelist Torres
Grand Nagus Rom
Bashir, JB
Gangster Spock
Mirror Spock
Delta Flyer Paris
V- Mirror JL Picard
North Star Archer
Wrathful Khan
Assim Janeway
Adm Nechayev
Protom Worf
Frank Hollander
Rogue Kai Winn

Any suggestions?
Thanks.

Matt_Decker

Citation -- either Etana Jol or High Roller Sisko. Sisko because he is the top security base in the game now, plus as a main cast crew, he'll be back for events. Jol because that fifth star gives you the biggest boost, and she's a Voyages star.

Synthetic Commander

I was going to give the exact same suggestion as Matt Decker. High Roller Sisko is an incredible card. top sec base in the game, highly ranked sec in voyages AND a high number of events. There have been a large number of recent Sisko events so there may be a gap for a bit, but he'll still be an amazing contributor to any faction event.

Since you've been away for a while, Etana will also be a great ENG contributor to your crew, she is strong. Either choice is excellent. I would citation both of those to 5/5 before considering a begold.

Ironagedave

Bartender Guinan is another possibility as she is excellent ff on my voyages and not in portal but I would also say finish Etana Jol.

BadTrekDad

Many thanks. I appreciate the suggestions. I think I will finish Etana Jol and then work on HR Sisko..

Ishmael Marx

Just food for thought - Mirror Picard is a voyage stud too. I agree with others that Etana is probably best right away. Like Sisko, Picard will get his share of faction events, and keep in mind that the new Elder-Picard show will soon be a thing. Not sure if DB has the rights to it or not (others on this forum are far more plugged in on such issues), but I expect it'll encourage a few Picard-related events regardless.

As an aside, I'm not at all averse to doing honor-beholds, but with the number of crew you currently have, you have far greater odds of adding someone that you don't want/need or that won't help you much. For now, stick with citations.

DavideBooks

I advise that you hold off on Etana. I would wait to win a new power-creap wonder and cite them. Or Sisko. I used several months' honor and cited him. He is very good. I have Etana at 4/5 and she is good, but not enough for me, personally. I say wait for a new power player and be happier. Prediction says a new mega event starts in February. Use the honor there and get more from it.

Awesomo4000

Your medical is really hurting. Citing high roller sisko is good but you have decent security people as well as serviceable engineering. My suggestion would be to either save for captain beverly from the honor hall or if you pull a good medical person in the meantime you could double cite them, as neither bashir jb or dark ages mccoy are helpful until 4 or 5 stars.

Mirror Cartman

Save your honor for the next mega event. cite the reoccurring 5* on day one, unless it is a useless two skill crew.

RaraRacing

Some advice:

- You should be able to build up 50k Honor to cite the next mega-event 5* between now and then, so don't worry too much about that. If the event schedule is nice you can even afford to wait till week 2 to cite (e.g. if the mega starts with a Skirmish).
I've been tracking how fast I accrue Honor and can get 50k a month ... it is not a smooth curve, it bumps up a lot during events and especially for Skirmish events. But there is a steady flow of 1000-1200 at least.
e.g. on 28.12.18 I had 8.871 Honor after spending a ton on the 4k(?) Honor packs ... right now I have 40.442 ... and I do not spend money on the game or buy/open packs outside of those that I get through events (except for that awesome Honor for 10x-packs deal).

- I would lean towards 1 citation for Bartender Guinan to a 4/5.
1. She provides a great boost for Voyages, while at the same time never coming into contention for shuttles ... this means she'e Voyage crew almost at all times, even during events ... sometimes my best base stat crew get used during events (e.g. shuttles seats).
2. I wouldn't go to 5/5, as who knows, she might, at some point, be added to the gauntlet rounds achievement (like Locutus). I have her 4/5 and she's great for me, used 75-80% of the time (100% counting Gauntlet, but that doesn't require her to be 4/5).

- Your three 4/5s are in the portal pool (well, Etana will be) and so I'd just wait for a lucky begold to immortalise them.
1. Will Scarlett is not worth it for the collection at the moment, as at most he's #4 for you there, which is a measly amount of Honor and some chronitons.
2. Both immortal Etana and Kortar are continually in use for me, so would be okay I guess. But, I'd wait.

- From your 3/5s - 1/5s ... This takes a lot of dedication and time (especially if you don't spend money on the game, like me) ... a while back I started citing a 1/5 RAF O'Brien ... in between we got Etana (which decreased the usefulness, but ah well) ... and he'll get his 4th star when I hit 50k later this week ... the initial citation was 3 months ago. So your best bet is to choose someone unique (Delta Flyer Paris, Assimilated Janeway) or really good (Mirror Picard, HR Sisko) and who has at least 3 skills.

good luck.

BadTrekDad

Thanks again to all. A lot to think about here. I really appreciate all the feedback!

5000 Quatloos

I would:

- Cite High Roller up to 5, absolutely, first. Don't worry, you'll use both him and Kortar routinely given how frequently SEC appears.

- Then switch to begolds for a while, especially since the portal was recently updated. Looking at your overall roster there are a number of newer/better cards that have been added during your time off and many of yours I wouldn't currently dedicate a 50K cite to. If you begold and get a new/better card, great; if you begold and get an extra star for your existing no harm done. With your roster the chances are very very good that a begold will give you something of welcome value.

Alternatively, follow the hoard your honor for the right card strategy, but I've never had the patience to hoard :-)

BadTrekDad

I think I will at least wait until next mega is announced. If that 5* is good I will do that one otherwise, will work on Sisko, Guinan and the rest with a few begolds. Will take a while...

BadTrekDad

or a second star for Seven in Silver