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Need Citation Advice (two choices)

I'd appreciate some advice on who to cite next. Q as God has thrown a wrench in my cite plans, in a good way, but has made it imperative for me to rethink my plans.

At the end of this Mega, I'll have 11 crew at 5/5. If I place all 11 on a voyage, my two weakest skills are Med and Sci. I have a 1/5 Dr. Katherine Pulaski and a 2/5 Defensive Phlox. If I choose to cite either one of them, then using all 12 crew on a voyage, the skill scores are fairly flat, all of them ranging between 6500 (DIP) and 7065 (ENG).

Aside (reason why it matters) - that means dropping a few crew whose skills I don't need and replacing them with a 1/5 who match the gold/silver skills for the voyage will guarantee that I last 8 hrs no matter the skill set

Dr. Katherine Pulaski is the better crew - her voyage total is exactly 100 points greater than Defensive Phlox (all numbers in this post assume no bonuses). BUT, and here's the dilemma, I already have Defensive Phlox at 2/5. So, the question is, should I work on citing Dr. Katherine Pulaski from 1/5 to 5/5, or should I work on Defensive Phlox, which requires one less cite and will be finished 2-3 weeks earlier (how long it takes to get enough honor)?

Is the extra 100 points worth taking 2-3 weeks longer and paying an extra 50k honor? or does it make more sense to finish faster, albeit slightly weaker, so that I can start on the next crew sooner?

Please don't take any other factors into consideration. Citations are irrelevant for gauntlet, my shuttles are doing fine, and I barely care about the arena. My only concern is for voyages
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Comments

  • Dingbat1Dingbat1 ✭✭✭
    p.s. if anyone wants to know some details about my current voyage stars:

    Ahdar Ru'Afo CMD 1074 ENG 1510 SCI 670
    Bell Riots Bashir DIP 1212 SEC 744 MED 1444
    Captain Braxton CMD 1656 ENG 1262 SEC 744
    Determined Janeway CMD 637 ENG 1592 SEC 1179
    Etana Jol DIP 1199 ENG 1542 SCI 622
    Kol of House Kor CMD 1245 DIP 634 SEC 1457
    Mirror Paul Stamets ENG 1160 SCI 1554 MED 616
    Prisoner Katrina Cornwell DIP 1257 SEC 679 MED 1508
    Surak CMD 713 DIP 1097 SCI 1686
    Thrax CMD 1246 DIP 493 SEC 1570

    Add Q as God DIP 609 SCI 1230 MED 1575

    that gives a total of CMD 6569 DIP 6500 ENG 7065 SEC 6226 SCI 5762 MED 5143

    at 5/5 Defensive Phlox is SEC 625 SCI 1083 and MED 1521
    at 5/5 Dr. Katherine Pulaski is SEC 648 SCI 1151 and MED 1530

    Total scores with Phlox:
    CMD 6569 DIP 6500 ENG 7065 SEC 6851 SCI 6844 MED 6664 (Total = 40493)
    Total scores with Pulaski:
    CMD 6569 DIP 6500 ENG 7065 SEC 6874 SCI 6913 MED 6673 (Total = 30593)
  • (HGH)Apollo(HGH)Apollo ✭✭✭✭✭
    I would advise saving all the portal pulls you get until the portal update comes later this month. You may recieve a Phlox or Pulaski or someone else you want in those portal pulls. Pulaski has slightly better scores and better traits but I would prefer to save the 50k by going with Phlox. Phlox is pretty close and also good.
    Let’s fly!
  • I you have 3-4 citations, and want to cite someone up quickly, then looking ahead to the 5/5 numbers are great.

    If you are doing this as a longer process, and only citing one, keep this chart in mind, then do the math from where you are at now.

    Citing from 1/5 to 2/5 = +8 or 9% gain on primary skill
    Citing from 2/5 to 3/5 = +8 or 9% gain on primary skill
    Citing from 3/5 to 4/5 = +12 to 14% gain on primary skill
    Citing from 4/5 to 5/5 = +12 to 14% gain on primary skill

    Now, bumping crew from 1/5 to 2/5 doesn't usually give you much instant gratification, and sometimes makes you wonder why you did it because the skill barely moves. In the case of Qod, you are gaining the added benefit of 3 weeks of being ahead of the curve each step of the way when you add a * to him every week. (Starting this week at 2/5 of course)

    If you think Qod will be sufficiently beasty at 4/5, then by all means select Phlox, as he will move up to the next higher bracket and be more useful. If you are doing the Premium Rewards on the Campaigns, remember you have another Cite to follow up with at the end of the Mega too.

    Personally, I was struggling over 3 different crew, then decided to wait until the portal update to see if I got any of them to drop then, and if they did, I didn't want to have wasted the Citation I had sitting here. The thought occurred to me this morning when I got my copy of Qod to 100, that he would be better served next week starting him out at 2/5, so I cited him on the spot.

    Good luck with your decision!
    I want to become a Dilionaire...
  • [GSA] bSeRk[GSA] bSeRk ✭✭✭
    edited August 2019
    Save the honor and go with Phlox. The difference to Pulaski is too small to wait. Having him "only" 4/5 he is already strong enough to make it to some of my voyages (I have 70+ 5* immortalised)
    Level 84
    65 x 5* immortal
  • Prime LorcaPrime Lorca ✭✭✭✭✭
    I would be torn. My priorities are events, then voyage. Phlox is more likely to get an event, but his bases aren't great. Pulaski has better bases and voyage total, but takes an extra citation.

    If events aren't even a small consideration, then go with Phlox, I guess. Save the citation for the next thing that comes along.
    Farewell 🖖
  • Dirk GundersonDirk Gunderson ✭✭✭✭✭
    Something I am a little surprised that hasn’t been pointed out yet: having all six voyage skills at the same level isn’t always the best way forward, as you’ll stay at a high AM level for a few hours and then fall off a cliff as repeated losses build up thereafter. Instead of going for 7000ish points across the board, going for 8000-9000 on the featured skills and maintaining 4000ish on the others should help smooth out the rate of AM loss and make you less susceptible to the whims of RNGesus.

    If you can’t pull that off with your crop of super-rare and partially-fused legendary crew, then by all means just fill a voyage with 5/5*s. If that’s the case, I’d recommend using a citation for Qod, as that is going to really help for the Faction event in two weeks and the Faction half of the hybrid in three weeks. Not to mention that Qod at 5/5* should be much better yet than Pulaski or Phlox.
  • AviTrekAviTrek ✭✭✭✭✭
    I believe what the OP meant was if he has 2 5/5 for each skill, then he can swap out some of the crew for 1/5 to push the primary/secondary while still being strong enough to reach 8. Without the extra MED, if a MED comes up now he may be too weak to reach 8 even after swapping crew.
  • DavideBooksDavideBooks ✭✭✭✭✭
    I'm in a similar situation. I have 3 citations currently available to me. My advice: wait for the portal update. You would kick yourself if you got a begold with one of them.
  • Matt_DeckerMatt_Decker ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited August 2019
    Per my post in the thread about your STT Bucket List, I recommend a different approach: start working toward having top legendaries for each two-skill combo (with a tertiary skill that need not enter into th calculation too much). For example, among your immortalized crew, you have a top ENG-CMD combo in Ru'afo, and a top CMD-ENG combo in Captain Braxton. As a bonus, they each have a different tertiary skill -- SCI/SEC. That's perfect.

    Q as "God", Dr Katharine Pulaski, and Defensive Phlox have the same top two skill combo in the same order: MED-SCI. If you're feeling short of those two skills, I suggest going after a SCI-MED crew instead, like the Keeper, Juliana Tainer, or Phlox, Au Naturel. If you don't have one yet, just give it a little time. Patient building up of your crew is a big part of this game.
    Fleet: Starship Trista
    Captain Level: 95
    VIP Level: 12
    Unique Crew Immortalized: 525
    Collections Completed: Vulcan, Ferengi, Borg, Romulan, Cardassian, Uncommon, Rare, Veteran, Common, Engineered, Physician, Innovator, Inspiring, Diplomat, Jury Rigger, Gauntlet Legends
  • Bylo BandBylo Band ✭✭✭✭✭
    @Dingbat1, is DYC not an option for you?
  • EnderWEnderW ✭✭✭✭✭
    Go with Phlox. Having a fully fused card sooner is ultimately more helpful; the difference in scores is negligible at those levels.
    Playing Since: 2018-02-26 Level: 99 Fleet: ÷ Battleship Yamato, Squad Leader & Fleet Officer; 17hr, 20min Voyage /wo Refuel; 1575 Immortalized Crew; Highest Event Rank: 8 (God of Thunder)
  • Defensive phlox has the civilian and exobiology trait. With med/sci. These trait/skill combos tend to come up in voyages more often, for me at least.
    As far as considering voyage only he is the best way to go. But he is also very strong in other portions of the game. That bonus will give you an advantage in other areas if you decide to become concerned with those areas a a later time you will already have the advantage.
  • (HGH)Apollo(HGH)Apollo ✭✭✭✭✭
    Another option for those unsure of where to spend their honor is to give me their honor and I will spend it on my crew. My poor sad Professor Sato sits at 1/5 and is so hungry for additional stars but my honor seems to always end up elsewhere. But with just a small contribution a day from others she would not go hungry.

    06gk79q8xwx5.png
    Let’s fly!
  • Dirk GundersonDirk Gunderson ✭✭✭✭✭
    Another option for those unsure of where to spend their honor is to give me their honor and I will spend it on my crew. My poor sad Professor Sato sits at 1/5 and is so hungry for additional stars but my honor seems to always end up elsewhere. But with just a small contribution a day from others she would not go hungry.

    06gk79q8xwx5.png

    I’m in much the same boat - she’d clearly have the highest base skill of anyone on my crew and until very recently still had the highest base DIP on my crew (Bridge Officer #1 got her fourth star via citation earlier this week and a pleasant surprise on a single attempt on her Friday pack today will add a fifth once my current voyage returns). However, every time I look at where my crew needs improvement, I find someone else to work on instead. My to-do list after Number One has Dr. Pollard, Gary Seven, Rev Phlox, Juliana Tainer, Captain Braxton, and many more crew to fill legitimate holes in my voyage crew before I get down to Professor Sato.

    I am also willing to bet that she gets pushed even further down after I unload my premium pack stash and turn up more crew that take priority over Sato...as much as I would like to see a base skill over 1600, I’d rather have a fourth solid ENG/MED crew or a third MED/COM ace instead.
  • (HGH)Apollo(HGH)Apollo ✭✭✭✭✭
    I just do not need diplomacy in events or voyages. It is so common in crew. So even though she has the best diplomacy be far in game she just keeps getting stuck on the back burner. But so did best voyage score in the game Captain Braxton till DB put out his pack again and I got lucky with a couple drops.
    Let’s fly!
  • eXo | das411eXo | das411 ✭✭✭✭✭
    My strategy on this is a little different from everyone else's - if you cite only up to 4/5, you can leave the 5th star "open" in case you get that person in a begold, and start on the other immediately!

    In your case, i'd cite up Phlox to 4/5 and THEN start working on Pulaski, because getting them both to 4/5 will give you more flexibility than having one at 5/5 and one at 3/5, even if the stats are slightly lower.

    Believe it or not, i've gotten 5th stars for Borg Queen, Cornwell, Darth Bashir AND NS Tucker out of begolds, so it DOES happen...once the ones you want are in the portal of course!
  • HaBlackHaBlack ✭✭✭✭✭
    My strategy on this is a little different from everyone else's - if you cite only up to 4/5, you can leave the 5th star "open" in case you get that person in a begold, and start on the other immediately!

    In your case, i'd cite up Phlox to 4/5 and THEN start working on Pulaski, because getting them both to 4/5 will give you more flexibility than having one at 5/5 and one at 3/5, even if the stats are slightly lower.

    Believe it or not, i've gotten 5th stars for Borg Queen, Cornwell, Darth Bashir AND NS Tucker out of begolds, so it DOES happen...once the ones you want are in the portal of course!

    I am doing same thing.
    PlayingSince: 2016-09-16Can we get some more characters from TAS?We finally have Caitians in the game!Character wishlist:
    • Lieutenant M'Ress - got her
    • Amanda Rogers - got her
    • Admiral S'rrel from Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home - not in the game yet
    • Agmar - not in the game yet
    • M'yra - not in the game yet
  • Dingbat1Dingbat1 ✭✭✭
    Something I am a little surprised that hasn’t been pointed out yet: having all six voyage skills at the same level isn’t always the best way forward, as you’ll stay at a high AM level for a few hours and then fall off a cliff as repeated losses build up thereafter. Instead of going for 7000ish points across the board, going for 8000-9000 on the featured skills and maintaining 4000ish on the others should help smooth out the rate of AM loss and make you less susceptible to the whims of RNGesus.

    If you can’t pull that off with your crop of super-rare and partially-fused legendary crew, then by all means just fill a voyage with 5/5*s. If that’s the case, I’d recommend using a citation for Qod, as that is going to really help for the Faction event in two weeks and the Faction half of the hybrid in three weeks. Not to mention that Qod at 5/5* should be much better yet than Pulaski or Phlox.

    I know that. I usually trade a few skills down to max out the silver/gold, (7k/9k minimum)
  • Dingbat1Dingbat1 ✭✭✭
    ByloBand wrote: »
    @Dingbat1, is DYC not an option for you?

    I'm F2P
  • Dingbat1Dingbat1 ✭✭✭
    Defensive phlox has the civilian and exobiology trait. With med/sci. These trait/skill combos tend to come up in voyages more often, for me at least.
    As far as considering voyage only he is the best way to go. But he is also very strong in other portions of the game. That bonus will give you an advantage in other areas if you decide to become concerned with those areas a a later time you will already have the advantage.

    I'm actually doing fine in other areas - I can get top 1000 in events whenever I like the legendary, and have broken top 100. My concern right now is my voyage crew
  • Dingbat1Dingbat1 ✭✭✭
    AviTrek wrote: »
    I believe what the OP meant was if he has 2 5/5 for each skill, then he can swap out some of the crew for 1/5 to push the primary/secondary while still being strong enough to reach 8. Without the extra MED, if a MED comes up now he may be too weak to reach 8 even after swapping crew.

    This. Although, I'm already at the point of reaching 8 hrs with any skillset - and I've got 8 Med primary legendaries. But overall, Med is my weakest skill, followed by Sci (and surprisingly, I don't have a lot of DIP primaries, but I don't need them)
  • Dingbat1Dingbat1 ✭✭✭
    edited August 2019
    My strategy on this is a little different from everyone else's - if you cite only up to 4/5, you can leave the 5th star "open" in case you get that person in a begold, and start on the other immediately!

    In your case, i'd cite up Phlox to 4/5 and THEN start working on Pulaski, because getting them both to 4/5 will give you more flexibility than having one at 5/5 and one at 3/5, even if the stats are slightly lower.

    Believe it or not, i've gotten 5th stars for Borg Queen, Cornwell, Darth Bashir AND NS Tucker out of begolds, so it DOES happen...once the ones you want are in the portal of course!

    I cited Cornwell and Darth Bashir to 5/5 and have gotten both in begolds afterwards. I appreciate the advice, but the odds are low enough. Please don't mention NS Tucker, his not being part of my roster is a sore spot for me (misclicked on a behold, while I was short on crew slots. Crew slots were given out free the very next week)
    ByloBand wrote: »
    If that works for you, I guess, but the biggest jump in quality is from the 4th to 5th stars, and unless you have a couple hundred immortalized legends, there is nothing to lose by citing that 5th star. If another copy shows up in a behold, just pick one of the other 2 options or just take it, airlock it, and add that 550 Honor to your pile. That is my advice.

    that's my philosophy
  • Dingbat1Dingbat1 ✭✭✭
    I just do not need diplomacy in events or voyages. It is so common in crew. So even though she has the best diplomacy be far in game she just keeps getting stuck on the back burner. But so did best voyage score in the game Captain Braxton till DB put out his pack again and I got lucky with a couple drops.

    yeah, when I got Braxton I figured I'd cite him, but he kept being bumped. Just finished him off the other week. Tactical Neelix was next on my list, but Q-god made me rethink my priorities.
    (and i've been bumping Dr. Pulaski down ever since I got her - and it might become permanent)
  • (HGH)Apollo(HGH)Apollo ✭✭✭✭✭
    Dingbat1 wrote: »
    I just do not need diplomacy in events or voyages. It is so common in crew. So even though she has the best diplomacy be far in game she just keeps getting stuck on the back burner. But so did best voyage score in the game Captain Braxton till DB put out his pack again and I got lucky with a couple drops.

    yeah, when I got Braxton I figured I'd cite him, but he kept being bumped. Just finished him off the other week. Tactical Neelix was next on my list, but Q-god made me rethink my priorities.
    (and i've been bumping Dr. Pulaski down ever since I got her - and it might become permanent)

    I love my 5/5 Tactical Neelix. He is great! He allowed me to finally get to 10 hrs on med-sec voyage.
    Let’s fly!
  • Pulaski and Phlox are both very useful and are nearly interchangeable (I have both immortalized). The question is which traits do you need more for variety and AM bonus? (I HATE the hogram trait)
    I do something very similar at letting some 5* sit at 4/5, but typically only those that aren't going to really add a lot to my crew (although away team saru is nagging me at 4/5 and has found a seat even a star shy a few times). I focused hard on my voyage deficiencies and now they are my strengths (med, eng, and sci) and frequently go 10hrs as a primary. Like has been said, running nearly even up total scores doesn't produce--trying to get the top pairs of skill sets (that are available to you) immortalized will be of more benefit.
  • (HGH)Apollo(HGH)Apollo ✭✭✭✭✭
    Pinkyfirst wrote: »
    Pulaski and Phlox are both very useful and are nearly interchangeable (I have both immortalized). The question is which traits do you need more for variety and AM bonus? (I HATE the hogram trait)
    I do something very similar at letting some 5* sit at 4/5, but typically only those that aren't going to really add a lot to my crew (although away team saru is nagging me at 4/5 and has found a seat even a star shy a few times). I focused hard on my voyage deficiencies and now they are my strengths (med, eng, and sci) and frequently go 10hrs as a primary. Like has been said, running nearly even up total scores doesn't produce--trying to get the top pairs of skill sets (that are available to you) immortalized will be of more benefit.

    Away Team Saru is great even at 1/5. For me when citing crew for voyages I focus on skill combos that I am close to getting to a dilemma on. For example, I was getting about nine hours fifty minutes on med-sec voyages so I cited up Tactical Neelix because one crewmember could get me to ten hours. I waited on citing any dip-sci person because I am getting about nine hours on that skill combo and one more dip-sci person is not going to be enough to get me to ten hours.
    Let’s fly!
  • Pinkyfirst wrote: »
    Pulaski and Phlox are both very useful and are nearly interchangeable (I have both immortalized). The question is which traits do you need more for variety and AM bonus? (I HATE the hogram trait)
    I do something very similar at letting some 5* sit at 4/5, but typically only those that aren't going to really add a lot to my crew (although away team saru is nagging me at 4/5 and has found a seat even a star shy a few times). I focused hard on my voyage deficiencies and now they are my strengths (med, eng, and sci) and frequently go 10hrs as a primary. Like has been said, running nearly even up total scores doesn't produce--trying to get the top pairs of skill sets (that are available to you) immortalized will be of more benefit.

    Away Team Saru is great even at 1/5. For me when citing crew for voyages I focus on skill combos that I am close to getting to a dilemma on. For example, I was getting about nine hours fifty minutes on med-sec voyages so I cited up Tactical Neelix because one crewmember could get me to ten hours. I waited on citing any dip-sci person because I am getting about nine hours on that skill combo and one more dip-sci person is not going to be enough to get me to ten hours.

    Tactic Neelix is excellent. He often finds a seat--even when his skills are neither primary nor secondary. He is one of the best investments in crew I have made.
  • (HGH)Apollo(HGH)Apollo ✭✭✭✭✭
    Dingbat1 wrote: »
    My strategy on this is a little different from everyone else's - if you cite only up to 4/5, you can leave the 5th star "open" in case you get that person in a begold, and start on the other immediately!

    In your case, i'd cite up Phlox to 4/5 and THEN start working on Pulaski, because getting them both to 4/5 will give you more flexibility than having one at 5/5 and one at 3/5, even if the stats are slightly lower.

    Believe it or not, i've gotten 5th stars for Borg Queen, Cornwell, Darth Bashir AND NS Tucker out of begolds, so it DOES happen...once the ones you want are in the portal of course!

    I cited Cornwell and Darth Bashir to 5/5 and have gotten both in begolds afterwards. I appreciate the advice, but the odds are low enough. Please don't mention NS Tucker, his not being part of my roster is a sore spot for me (misclicked on a behold, while I was short on crew slots. Crew slots were given out free the very next week)
    ByloBand wrote: »
    If that works for you, I guess, but the biggest jump in quality is from the 4th to 5th stars, and unless you have a couple hundred immortalized legends, there is nothing to lose by citing that 5th star. If another copy shows up in a behold, just pick one of the other 2 options or just take it, airlock it, and add that 550 Honor to your pile. That is my advice.

    that's my philosophy

    Shame we cannot trade legendaries. I would trade you my north star tucker for a second star on my resilient tuvok or a fifth star on my Arachnia.
    Let’s fly!
  • Banjo1012Banjo1012 ✭✭✭✭✭
    ByloBand wrote: »
    If that works for you, I guess, but the biggest jump in quality is from the 4th to 5th stars, and unless you have a couple hundred immortalized legends, there is nothing to lose by citing that 5th star. If another copy shows up in a behold, just pick one of the other 2 options or just take it, airlock it, and add that 550 Honor to your pile. That is my advice.

    I agree with this. You’re shortchanging your roster by not going 5/5. I will also add to that I won’t base a decision on something that might not ever happen

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