Question for new players and VIP0

DavideBooks

Most of the people who bother with these forums and have been here a while have at least one maxed 5* ship and enough advanced crew to win all skirmish battles on epic.

I think this might give a skewed view of this event.

How do new and VIP0 players do in this event? Can you play and win epic?

Hunter247

I would expect new characters would struggle to win Epic, however I would expect that most older VIP0 customers would also have a maxed 5* ship

Secret Journey

No. I have a ISS Enterprise 4/9 and it can’t get out of spaceport before it’s destroyed! Also my best crews are a few maxed 3* and a bunch of 2*.

VIP 0 and Capt level 40

elemntee

Yes, though I only have 3 or 4 maxed out 5* ships as I tend to throw schematics in the replicator, other long playing VIP 0 probably have more.

For Cardassia

I'm VIP0 and have multiple maxed out 5* ships.

I've been doing Epic with my maxed Borg Cube (fast wins) and have barely gotten a scratch on my hull.

Been playing since last August (Klingon Mega) for reference.

<TGE> Clifford

I also have a vip0 account.

It can't make it more than halfway through the first Epic battle before dying in a level 4 Prakesh.

I made it all the way through all 5 battles on Normal ONCE.

Otherwise, it's a lot of dying, and the VP build up is soooooooo sloooooooow.

DavideBooks

[QH] WhiteClifford wrote: »

I also have a vip0 account.

It can't make it more than halfway through the first Epic battle before dying in a level 4 Prakesh.

I made it all the way through all 5 battles on Normal ONCE.

Otherwise, it's a lot of dying, and the VP build up is soooooooo sloooooooow.

That is a different perspective than most of what we see here. Thank you. I like this new skirmish event, but it seems to favor high level experienced players as much as faction events. I assume that is why they don't make it harder. Harder levels with higher rewards would push new players even farther away.

Capt. Chaos

Same with all other events. New players have a tough time being competitive. That's part of the challenge of STT.

Pallidyne

DavideBooks wrote: »

[QH] WhiteClifford wrote: »

I also have a vip0 account.

It can't make it more than halfway through the first Epic battle before dying in a level 4 Prakesh.

I made it all the way through all 5 battles on Normal ONCE.

Otherwise, it's a lot of dying, and the VP build up is soooooooo sloooooooow.

That is a different perspective than most of what we see here. Thank you. I like this new skirmish event, but it seems to favor high level experienced players as much as faction events. I assume that is why they don't make it harder. Harder levels with higher rewards would push new players even farther away.

A new player with 8 hours to burn will do better than an experienced one with 4. The perpetual motion machine that is the chron and intel rewards just means the logner you've got the screen up the better you do. (And I'm assuming new folks on normal vs experienced on epic)

AviTrek

Pallidyne wrote: »

DavideBooks wrote: »

[QH] WhiteClifford wrote: »

I also have a vip0 account.

It can't make it more than halfway through the first Epic battle before dying in a level 4 Prakesh.

I made it all the way through all 5 battles on Normal ONCE.

Otherwise, it's a lot of dying, and the VP build up is soooooooo sloooooooow.

That is a different perspective than most of what we see here. Thank you. I like this new skirmish event, but it seems to favor high level experienced players as much as faction events. I assume that is why they don't make it harder. Harder levels with higher rewards would push new players even farther away.

A new player with 8 hours to burn will do better than an experienced one with 4. The perpetual motion machine that is the chron and intel rewards just means the logner you've got the screen up the better you do. (And I'm assuming new folks on normal vs experienced on epic)

I don't think it's that extreme, completing epic will be more than double the VP of losing midway in normal. But yes, with the perpetual motion chrons, the deciding factor in this event is time not crew/skill. I'm currently at 32k intel and doubt I will use all of it + what I will gain playing more.

Rocpile

VIP0 from month 1 and I am having no issues. Currently in Top 1000, and I don't think it will be too hard to stay there.

eXo | SilverRose (retired)

Well, I think the leaderboard may speak for itself on this one to some extent. You've got a VIP0 in 3rd, my VIP0 account is 13th, and we have another in our fleet at 26th. If you've been playing this game for a while, it's easy to get maxed 5* ships from dabo / free event 10x pulls. I see this event being a big problem for newer players, but more seasoned ones are doing fine.

For Cardassia

DavideBooks wrote: »

[QH] WhiteClifford wrote: »

I also have a vip0 account.

It can't make it more than halfway through the first Epic battle before dying in a level 4 Prakesh.

I made it all the way through all 5 battles on Normal ONCE.

Otherwise, it's a lot of dying, and the VP build up is soooooooo sloooooooow.

That is a different perspective than most of what we see here. Thank you. I like this new skirmish event, but it seems to favor high level experienced players as much as faction events. I assume that is why they don't make it harder. Harder levels with higher rewards would push new players even farther away.

I really think it's "new" vs 'VIP0" that would have a problem here. But then, newer players have a disadvantage in all events (I remember Galaxy when I didn't have all episodes unlocked/3-stars, it was brutal). Some disadvantages are more extreme, but I think this is still better than faction, where it's basically impossible to rank highly without spending dil.

Prime Lorca

Three-month player, VIP1 - I made it through Elite pretty easily. I really struggled with Epic, but after getting a little help here, on the forum, I've made it through Epic after a few tries. There's a few close calls and I have to repair my ship after each battle.

I use 7/10 Bounty, 4/5 Surak from last Mega Event, Darth Bashir along with FFFE Kes and La Forge from recent events.

Shy Khan

I’m still VIP0 and have been playing for about a year and a half. This Skirmish event actually seems to be a good equalizer for VIP0 captains. I was as high as 155th at one point on the first day, and am now hovering in the 400s today. I’d be a little better ranked if I had realized Young Khan was a higher bonus than wrathful Khan earlier on. We’ll see if I can stay sub-1000 for the event, but it’s nice that you don’t HAVE to do massive dilithium and money spends to compete in this Skirmish event.

t<G>e Roonis

For Cardassia wrote: »

DavideBooks wrote: »

[QH] WhiteClifford wrote: »

I also have a vip0 account.

It can't make it more than halfway through the first Epic battle before dying in a level 4 Prakesh.

I made it all the way through all 5 battles on Normal ONCE.

Otherwise, it's a lot of dying, and the VP build up is soooooooo sloooooooow.

That is a different perspective than most of what we see here. Thank you. I like this new skirmish event, but it seems to favor high level experienced players as much as faction events. I assume that is why they don't make it harder. Harder levels with higher rewards would push new players even farther away.

I really think it's "new" vs 'VIP0" that would have a problem here. But then, newer players have a disadvantage in all events (I remember Galaxy when I didn't have all episodes unlocked/3-stars, it was brutal). Some disadvantages are more extreme, but I think this is still better than faction, where it's basically impossible to rank highly without spending dil.

Shuttles are a different beast, as they start at pretty much auto pass and scale with your success. With a level 2-3 2* ship and level 3-4 5* ship, and no 3-4, it's possible for a couple month vip 0, to struggle to get anything done, I know I tested running the miranda class through, and had to use the regen instead of crates to complete, which stops the feedback loop.

I would suggest opening up elite to 5* ships as well. This would allow new players with at least a dabo unlocked 5* ship to complete one difficulty with ease.

CaptainUnderpants

If you’ve been around for a while and have done a Dabo spin each day then you’ve got st least 1 5* ship maxed. This event comes down to how much time a player can invest and how deep their chroniton pockets go. My VIP0 account can finish top 100 if I really wanted to. I have about 10 in game mails worth of chronitons and about 8k that I’ve accumulated from voyages in the past few weeks.

My VIP0 is ranked in the 500s right now and I can maintain that withought spending much chronitons.

Younger players on the other hand have no chance unless they buy a ton of the ship packs to max out at least 1 ship.

Stellar Ice

I'm VIP 0 and can easily run epic. However some of our newer VIP 0s aren't able to do that yet. We are developing strategies to help all levels of VIP 0 players succeed at skirmishes. I'm not going to share those here though. Sorry. However VIP 0 is recruiting so if any VIP 0s are looking for a 100% VIP 0 fleet, we'd love to have you and we'd be happy to help you maximize your skirmish potential. We currently have 3 VIP 0s in the top 50! Please PM me if you're interested.

Aldude

I am VIP0, multiple maxed 5*, and I had Young Khan immortal before the event started. Managing to stay sub 300... Never managed it before!

elemntee

Don't worry though, some big shot hero trying to be a champion will take first and DB will 'improve' it.

guest_7456

Aldude wrote: »

I am VIP0, multiple maxed 5*, and I had Young Khan immortal before the event started. Managing to stay sub 300... Never managed it before!

that's very impressive even without vip0. but how the heck do you farm intel without warp? that just sounds painful to me.

Stellar Ice

guest_7456 wrote: »

Aldude wrote: »

I am VIP0, multiple maxed 5*, and I had Young Khan immortal before the event started. Managing to stay sub 300... Never managed it before!

that's very impressive even without vip0. but how the heck do you farm intel without warp? that just sounds painful to me.

The same way all VIP 0s did before warp. Lol!

Aldude

... I don't farm intel without warp... Ever

Data1001

In addition to my main VIP14 account, I have an alt VIP0 account which is less than 6 months old, and Epic is completely out of the question for me there. I played one round on Elite at the very beginning, just to see how I'd do, and though I finished it, it wasn't pretty.

So I've stuck to Normal — and even then the only maxed ship I've got is the 1* Constellation Class that they handed out at the beginning, but it's done quite well there. Battles aren't quick, but I am never worried that I won't win them.

Another alt account where I've bought the monthly card (and is maybe a month older than the one above) is able to do much better. There I could complete Epic, but it was a bit dicey (since the only 5* ship I've got maxed there is the Krayton), so I stuck to Elite, using a 7/9 4* Defiant, and it's been doing fantastic for me.

al103

It comes more to crew than to ship. Old Vip0 would have T'Kuvma or even Locutus to pair with Darth Bashir, some targeter (like Noah) and somebody 4th on Epic. And quite likely to have 10/10 5* ship anyway.

Somebody new would have bad crew, even as whale (unless whale level = ridiculous like some that are represented on forum) and without good crew even 10/10 ship is not helpful.

Data1001

al103 wrote: »

It comes more to crew than to ship. Old Vip0 would have T'Kuvma or even Locutus to pair with Darth Bashir, some targeter (like Noah) and somebody 4th on Epic. And quite likely to have 10/10 5* ship anyway.

Somebody new would have bad crew, even as whale (unless whale level = ridiculous like some that are represented on forum) and without good crew even 10/10 ship is not helpful.

Eh, I kinda feel like they're equally important. If one of them isn't up to snuff, you're going to suffer.

[S14] Elynduil

Pallidyne wrote: »

DavideBooks wrote: »

[QH] WhiteClifford wrote: »

I also have a vip0 account.

It can't make it more than halfway through the first Epic battle before dying in a level 4 Prakesh.

I made it all the way through all 5 battles on Normal ONCE.

Otherwise, it's a lot of dying, and the VP build up is soooooooo sloooooooow.

That is a different perspective than most of what we see here. Thank you. I like this new skirmish event, but it seems to favor high level experienced players as much as faction events. I assume that is why they don't make it harder. Harder levels with higher rewards would push new players even farther away.

A new player with 8 hours to burn will do better than an experienced one with 4. The perpetual motion machine that is the chron and intel rewards just means the logner you've got the screen up the better you do. (And I'm assuming new folks on normal vs experienced on epic)

There's no perpetual motion if you have to choose "Hull Repair" the whole time...

al103

Data1001 wrote: »

Eh, I kinda feel like they're equally important. If one of them isn't up to snuff, you're going to suffer.

Well, 1/10 is certainly not contender, but while 5-6/10 wouldn't be strong enough to pull a win in one T'Kuvma-cycle it's tough enough to win in two and with two repair abilities (ship's and Darth Bashir) it should be manageable to not chose repair option instead of bonus.

PS. Shouldn't be THAT much harder than getting in 5% with Kang and Hollander on lv5 Bounty. In comparison to top5% of Arena even Epic Borg Cube is kinda anemic, so it should be possible to stay hull-positive with good crew.

al103

Well, just did a quick test, took lv5 T'Ong (FIRST time using this ship), took my Bounty crew (and it's not particularly good crew (T'Kuvma, Noah, Prisoner O'Brien, lv50 2/5 Darth Bashir) and definitely NOT optimized for T'Ong as I learned in the process). Result - repair after Borg Cube, very close loss on Sarcophagus, nothing but Sarc required more than one T'Kuvma-cycle. I can make it work with better crew fitting. Or another level on T'Ong. But I would be VERY surprised in somebody having T'Kuvma not having at least lv8 Bounty or Cube.

While I don't see making even 10/10 Borg cube working good with bad crew.

Seven of One

I've been playing just over 3 months, this is my 14th event. After 3 attempts I cannot play on epic. My best 5* ship (after winning schematics on dabo yesterday) is a level 7 Bounty. I've played around with crew (I've got Killy who is pretty great) and although I can get to the 4th or 5th battle my hull suffers too much damage and I explode.
My OH started playing on the same day I did. He's a bit luckier than I am and his bounty is a level 8. Taking the Duras Sisters, Surak, B'Elanna and Bashir he's able to complete these epic battles.
When comparing us (generally) I have the better crew. I work harder at getting them equipped and I rank higher in events so I generally have more FF. Without a doubt he's a luckier player, getting more legendaries and ships for free. I've around double the crew immortalised than he does.

Without a doubt good crew help, but with no ship to put them on I'm stuck at elite until I can get those 5* schematics I need.


It's also crew.....and perhaps experience

[S14] Elynduil

@(10F) Seven of One — Keep in mind that for ship battles, crew level doesn't matter too much. Number of fusions are more important. So look through your lower level FF crew and check if there isn't something there that will help you... If you have Klingon Dukat (a 3-star), or another burst damage crew, try him with Killy. But you have to fire KDukat while your Bounty's cloak is active.

Also, activation sequence is important. You want +Att and +Acc, and only fire your burst damage after. So ideally, you would activate those before cloaking.

So I would suggest: Young Khan, then Ardra, then Cloak, then Klingon Dukat, then Killy. They are all on 6s init, so perhaps you can burst down the enemy before they get through your shields, which will save your hull.