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Another Captain Needing Citation Help...

Because of the Honor Specials, I’ve collected three Legendary Honorable Citations. Now the choice is how to spend them! I have two golds I could immortalize:
  • Captain Spock 4/5
  • Dr. “Bones” McCoy 4/5

I also have several highly-rated golds at 1/5 who might benefit from another star:
  • First Officer Burnham
  • Humbled Archer
  • Amelia Earhart
  • Survivalist Kirk (a staple of my Arena crew)
  • Mambo Picard
  • Mirror Inquisitor Troi
  • Boothby Replicant
  • Suus Mahna Sarek

Finally, some frequently-used crew at 3/5:
  • Ahdar R’afo
  • Bell Riots Bashir
  • Etana Jol

I’m not going to list every 5/5 I have…but on their own merits, who would you cite? Any advice appreciated!
"Risk! Risk is our business. Risk is what this starship is all about."
-Captain Kirk, ST:TOS, "Return to Tomorrow"

Comments

  • Data1001Data1001 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I might consider adding 2 stars to Bell Riots Bashir, as I tend to use him quite frequently in Voyages.

    You'll probably still get a lot of use out of McCoy at 4/5, and him being a one-skiller hampers his overall usage a bit, so I guess I'd hang on to the 3rd citation, in case you want to use it for the next featured Mega Event Legendary.


    Could you please continue the petty bickering? I find it most intriguing.
    ~ Data, ST:TNG "Haven"
  • DavideBooksDavideBooks ✭✭✭✭✭
    First Officer Burnham and Bell Riots Bashir are two of my most useful crew.
  • McCoy is very useful on med shuttles.
  • Bashir and FO Burnham for sure from that list. Both useful for both voyages and events. Mccoy is already pretty effective at 4/5, and has very narrow application to help with a single shuttle slot, while the other two help with voyages and events.
  • RaraRacingRaraRacing ✭✭✭✭✭
    For various reasons the 1/5s you list are all good candidates for citations ... be it voyages, events or a combination. You can't really go wrong with any of them.

    Of your 3/5s ... Bell Riots is the best candidate there. Etana is also useful for voyages. Ru'afo is okay and depending on your crew can be a decent addition for voyages, yeah he has the highest ENG base ... but meh, that's not a reason to cite him in my book.
    Of these three, none really inspire ... they are fine, but not stellar in my opinion.

    Your 4/5s ... well, McCoy already has a higher base MED than immortal Q as "God" as a 4/5 ... he's already good for MED shuttles, I wouldn't cite him because he's too narrow in use ... just look at how many daily MED shuttle seats there are ... very few.
    Spock is only really of use as a 5/5 ... so that might warrant a citation ... his main issue is that for daily use Tenavik is just so much better ... but will you ever use Spock as a 4/5? This is one of the dilemmas I've been pondering of late ... do I have 4/5 crew that I never use but would be used with a citation? I can wait around for who knows how long for a) a 5* behold and then b) them to be a choice in that behold or just cite them.
    This all depends on the number of immortal 5* crew you have etc. etc. etc. but it can be something to consider if you have very few 5*s immortalised.

    I agree with Data1001 ... you might want to make sure you have 50k honor or a citation ready for the next mega-event featured 5* ... unless you plan on buying a lot of end-of-mega packs.

    Lastly ... Suus Mahna Sarek ... I have him 3/5 and he has a ton of traits ... he never gets used for anything ... so he's a little strange on that list ... his voyage total is mediocre, his base stats are low, his skills are not that unique ... he fits the Captain Spock mould really. So you'd want to have him 5/5 for him to see any use and you have better candidates for citations listed.
  • Thanks for all the input! Looks like Bell Riots Bashir is near unanimous. @RaraRacing I do use Spock at 4/5 but also have a Tenavik, so there may be no rush.
    "Risk! Risk is our business. Risk is what this starship is all about."
    -Captain Kirk, ST:TOS, "Return to Tomorrow"
  • Automaton_2000Automaton_2000 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Food for thought; one skill Bones doesn't gain an increasing amount of stats from fusion level like most crew. Star four adds 240 base MED, but his last star only adds 46. Not the best use of a citation.
  • Food for thought; one skill Bones doesn't gain an increasing amount of stats from fusion level like most crew. Star four adds 240 base MED, but his last star only adds 46. Not the best use of a citation.

    wow that's a big surprise! very important to consider!
  • Odo MarmarosaOdo Marmarosa ✭✭✭✭✭
    Food for thought; one skill Bones doesn't gain an increasing amount of stats from fusion level like most crew. Star four adds 240 base MED, but his last star only adds 46. Not the best use of a citation.

    mind=blown
  • RaraRacingRaraRacing ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited January 2020
    Food for thought; one skill Bones doesn't gain an increasing amount of stats from fusion level like most crew. Star four adds 240 base MED, but his last star only adds 46. Not the best use of a citation.

    The wiki states it goes from 4/5 1491 to 5/5 1641 ... 150 points increase ... is that what you mean? ... the previous step goes from 1355 to 1491 ... 136 points.

    Background Info
    The way I see it is (and why I did not recommend citing McCoy) ...
    At 3/5 his base (1355) is higher than every single 5/5 MED bar Culber.
    - The only place you'll use McCoy is for MED shuttle seats or Faction events;
    - The number of regular MED shuttles is 31 out of 195;
    - There are diminishing returns on a chance of shuttle success ... the more successes you have the lower your chances are at future successes.

    --> When you start out in the game it helps to try to maximise base stats for shuttles because you want lots of successes in shuttle runs to get faction-specific items for levelling up your large numbers of un-levelled crew ... however, at a certain point, you want to switch to creating a wide base of good-base crew rather than one or two great ones. This in order to keep shuttle success a constant.
    So ... if I look at my crew, I have 6 SCI crew with a base of over 1300 (incl. bonuses), but Surak is my highest at 1390 ... this has been good for me so far ... as for other skills I've had a similar set-up. However, each of my other skills now has 3 crew per skill that have a higher base than Surak. Going forward I will take SCI base into consideration (but it will not be the main deciding factor, that is still voyage total combined with skill combo) when deciding on crew to cite ...
  • Prime LorcaPrime Lorca ✭✭✭✭✭
    Personally, I would wait until the next mega event is announced. That could tip the scales if you're on the fence. We should get an announcement in the next week.
    Farewell 🖖
  • Dirk GundersonDirk Gunderson ✭✭✭✭✭
    Personally, I would wait until the next mega event is announced. That could tip the scales if you're on the fence. We should get an announcement in the next week.

    This. Unless you know you will have enough honor to buy another citation between now and when the recurring legendary is available, definitely hold onto one that you already have. Although there have been some duds among the mega legendaries, there have also been some really rather quite excellent ones as well - even though I now have 70 immortal legendary crew in total, many of my top crew are from mega events. Not even just the recent ones, either, as the likes of Mirror Picard and the Borg Queen are still used on a daily basis and even weaker ones like Kortar are useful on certain voyages (not to mention that T’Kuvma has been very helpful in Disco events).

    Unless the new recurring legendary is a total stinker like Minuet, you’ll probably be glad you saved a citation. Even if the next one is awful, you may value a crew slot and one step towards your next immortalization achievement more highly than a citation...
  • Automaton_2000Automaton_2000 ✭✭✭✭✭
    RaraRacing wrote: »
    Food for thought; one skill Bones doesn't gain an increasing amount of stats from fusion level like most crew. Star four adds 240 base MED, but his last star only adds 46. Not the best use of a citation.

    The wiki states it goes from 4/5 1491 to 5/5 1641 ... 150 points increase ... is that what you mean? ... the previous step goes from 1355 to 1491 ... 136 points.

    Just came here to correct myself, but good that you beat me to it. I was using the SSR crew cost website, which I believe pulls from the wiki. In any event, both are correct now. The stat gain from stars is 26/78/136/150.

    Still a questionable investment imo, but that's a different conversation.
  • RaraRacingRaraRacing ✭✭✭✭✭
    RaraRacing wrote: »
    Food for thought; one skill Bones doesn't gain an increasing amount of stats from fusion level like most crew. Star four adds 240 base MED, but his last star only adds 46. Not the best use of a citation.

    The wiki states it goes from 4/5 1491 to 5/5 1641 ... 150 points increase ... is that what you mean? ... the previous step goes from 1355 to 1491 ... 136 points.

    Just came here to correct myself, but good that you beat me to it. I was using the SSR crew cost website, which I believe pulls from the wiki. In any event, both are correct now. The stat gain from stars is 26/78/136/150.

    Still a questionable investment imo, but that's a different conversation.

    Yeah ... that's part 2 below Background Information ... anyway, just going to derail this thread slightly to bring up two topics I frequently come across and have also been mentioned here ... maybe the OP (and others) can take some of the conversation-points forward into citation decision-making (I'm sure others will voice their opinion on what I put forward here and so start a conversation). I'll use the OP's crew as an example.

    1. Mega Event Bonus Crew
    While I follow the opinion that it is best to cite the mega-event 5* in week 1 (there are reasons not to but won't go into them here) and so to always have 50k Honor, going into week 1, at the ready ... I don't think it is worth specifically citing up already available crew for a general (small) bonus during a mega event.

    If I take the 8 1/5s listed, almost all are good crew anyway ... and to be honest, most will be able to be used in future one-off events too ... so, I'd just address a weak point in voyages for example ... need DIP/SCI? ... Boothby Replicant is an amazing option to cite ... so I'd just cite the strongest crew available to address a weakness rather than someone who is good in the mega event but will double up an already strong area. And even if you wouldn't double up a strong area, does it really matter?

    The reason I say this is because small bonus crew are really only helpful for Faction events ... so you're citing them for 2 specific events during a 4-week period. On the average crew roster, a 1/5 will do just as well as a 4/5 during those two events because they can only fill one seat anyway, most people are playing with 3* boosts and you want a broad base of crew over a tall one.
    For galaxies, hybrids and skirmish events you want specific event crew.

    So, you can have citations and continue waiting for the next big news item, or you can apply them to the generally good crew you own. At a certain point, a decision has to be made and it is almost always beneficial to cite up generally strong crew no matter what the (immediate) future in the game might contain.
    The exception I would consider is just prior (a week or so) to the announcement of a new campaign, I wouldn't start a new citation project during that period (but I would complete one).

    I wouldn't mind hearing your view on this @Prime Lorca of Izar, as I know you always like to er on the side of caution. :)

    2. Citing Up Average 4/5 Crew
    --> I'll cover this later, no more time right now.
  • Prime LorcaPrime Lorca ✭✭✭✭✭
    You raise good points, @RaraRacing . I do agree with your philosophy to a point. One thing to consider is an individual's style of play. Some want that instant gratification. Some like to play the long game. I find a good balance to be waiting for that campaign and mega event to be announced.

    Using the OP's example above, Ru'afo and Etana Jol are good options, especially if you want to add some ENG to your voyages. Let's say the next mega were announced and crew with the Undercover Operative trait would get a bonus. You are better off citing Etana to get those guaranteed events out of her and still get your voyage ENG boost. I see Humbled Archer and Mirror Troi as similar. If a Mirror mega were announced, you may as well go Troi.

    I find it very worthwhile to wait a week or two to get those extra events out of my citations. Now all that said, if I were deciding between FO Burnham and Survivalist Kirk... They will both get events. Waiting is irrelevant. I would look at what I need and make a choice. :)
    Farewell 🖖
  • RaraRacingRaraRacing ✭✭✭✭✭
    You raise good points, @RaraRacing . I do agree with your philosophy to a point. One thing to consider is an individual's style of play. Some want that instant gratification. Some like to play the long game. I find a good balance to be waiting for that campaign and mega event to be announced.

    Using the OP's example above, Ru'afo and Etana Jol are good options, especially if you want to add some ENG to your voyages. Let's say the next mega were announced and crew with the Undercover Operative trait would get a bonus. You are better off citing Etana to get those guaranteed events out of her and still get your voyage ENG boost. I see Humbled Archer and Mirror Troi as similar. If a Mirror mega were announced, you may as well go Troi.

    I find it very worthwhile to wait a week or two to get those extra events out of my citations. Now all that said, if I were deciding between FO Burnham and Survivalist Kirk... They will both get events. Waiting is irrelevant. I would look at what I need and make a choice. :)

    I personally feel that citing up your best crew is playing the long game ... no need to wait for someone to tell me FO Burnham is going to get a lot of use if I add two/three stars to her ... she's one of the best in the game and will continue to be so for the time being.

    I feel that playing the long game is by not citing up the 3/5s, which I stated are fairly uninspiring. I would have gone with Spock to get the best out of him (this is part of pt 2 that I didn't complete the write-up of ... no time) and 2 on one of the 1/5s.

    Now that we have the mega-event info, FO Burnham would be a good pick (astrophysicist) ... but I would like to add ... and what I stated above ... there's 1 full Faction event in week 4 and 1/2 a Faction event in week 2 ... yes, she'll get a bonus for 4 events but really only useful for 1.5 events.
    If the trait was caregiver, there's no way I would find citing FO Burnham silly, she'll be of use for sure in a future event.
  • One thing I haven't seen anyone mention yet (maybe I just missed it?) - collections. If you're torn, that can serve as a good tie breaker. Maybe none of the crew really hit your weak spots, but you need one more in Vulcan to hit the next tier? Hit Spock.

    Aside from the advice everyone else has given about saving a cite (or honor) for the mega, those are all good crew. FO Burnham seems to normally get the "drop everything and sell organs to finish" advice; I've got here at 1* so she's not doing much for me yet but I can understand that. Bashir is on almost every voyage I send; I had him at 2 or 3* for a long time (either missed the full mega or didn't know what I was doing yet), and finishing him off made a huge difference. I'd vote for him or finish Spock - he made a lot of voyages for me as well, and he's almost always on a voyage or a shuttle.
  • Prime LorcaPrime Lorca ✭✭✭✭✭
    RaraRacing wrote: »
    You raise good points, @RaraRacing . I do agree with your philosophy to a point. One thing to consider is an individual's style of play. Some want that instant gratification. Some like to play the long game. I find a good balance to be waiting for that campaign and mega event to be announced.

    Using the OP's example above, Ru'afo and Etana Jol are good options, especially if you want to add some ENG to your voyages. Let's say the next mega were announced and crew with the Undercover Operative trait would get a bonus. You are better off citing Etana to get those guaranteed events out of her and still get your voyage ENG boost. I see Humbled Archer and Mirror Troi as similar. If a Mirror mega were announced, you may as well go Troi.

    I find it very worthwhile to wait a week or two to get those extra events out of my citations. Now all that said, if I were deciding between FO Burnham and Survivalist Kirk... They will both get events. Waiting is irrelevant. I would look at what I need and make a choice. :)

    I personally feel that citing up your best crew is playing the long game ... no need to wait for someone to tell me FO Burnham is going to get a lot of use if I add two/three stars to her ... she's one of the best in the game and will continue to be so for the time being.

    I feel that playing the long game is by not citing up the 3/5s, which I stated are fairly uninspiring. I would have gone with Spock to get the best out of him (this is part of pt 2 that I didn't complete the write-up of ... no time) and 2 on one of the 1/5s.

    Now that we have the mega-event info, FO Burnham would be a good pick (astrophysicist) ... but I would like to add ... and what I stated above ... there's 1 full Faction event in week 4 and 1/2 a Faction event in week 2 ... yes, she'll get a bonus for 4 events but really only useful for 1.5 events.
    If the trait was caregiver, there's no way I would find citing FO Burnham silly, she'll be of use for sure in a future event.

    Going to play some what-if games here.

    What if the February mega event trait were Inspiring or Hero? Survivalist Kirk would be bonus. Kirk has more faction events than Burnham, since that is an important metric to you.

    What if the mega event announcement included 5 faction phases instead of 3?

    If Kirk were bonus crew during the event, there would be a good chance he could appear for money or in discount packs. You could potentially get that fifth star.

    Now, in reality, it's Astrophysicist. I would now recommend all three citations on FO Burnham. Don't bother with any others. Before the announcement, I would have considered one on Captain Spock and two on FO Burnham. The announcement is what tipped the scales for me. I get your philosophy, @RaraRacing , but it's not for me.

    @SkittishSloth , I don't consider collections because those come in time. Collections would be a tie-breaker at best for me.
    Farewell 🖖
  • RaraRacingRaraRacing ✭✭✭✭✭
    @Prime Lorca of Izar ... I do like waiting, but only sometimes and if I really don't have a clue what to do, but normally I have quite a set plan for citation projects ... for example, my next is The Keeper after Merry Men Crusher and then I finally want to get around to citing Da Vinci ... it is good advice to wait, but nice to give people different perspectives in order to make a balanced choice.

    Based on past events they'd never have that many faction phases ... and I consider Hybrids to be galaxy-oriented because that's where I usually get most my VP points.

    @SkittishSloth ... personally I often take collections into account, the only ones I have left are vanity collections ... so, for example, I chose Merry Men Crusher over Dr. Pulaski because she was in a collection ... it is part of a package really. Crew to get a citation have to meet at least 3 criteria from a small selection, and collections is one of the criteria, but voyage utility weighs heavier (my previous citations went to Polland and Xindi Insectoid).
    For example, I have a 1/5 Tuxedo Nog and if I were to immortalise him I'd get the first copy of Lucile Davenport ... but I just have stronger options at the moment that help in other game aspects, from voyages to events etc. Now, if he comes up in a 5* behold, he'd have a high chance of being chosen. But for now, I'm waiting for better Holodeck 5*s to come my way ...
  • @SkittishSloth , I don't consider collections because those come in time. Collections would be a tie-breaker at best for me.

    That's how I meant it, mostly - one more thing to tip the scales if needed. The new Picard is going to get a cite, but after that I'm focusing on Burnham then Mirror Stamets. Neither of them are in a collection, but they're no-brainers in my roster. But there's been lots of times where the collections made the decision for me. I've still got a long ways to go on finishing those up - knocked out Vulcans and that's it - but it's not the primary concern.
  • Dirk GundersonDirk Gunderson ✭✭✭✭✭
    One thing I haven't seen anyone mention yet (maybe I just missed it?) - collections. If you're torn, that can serve as a good tie breaker. Maybe none of the crew really hit your weak spots, but you need one more in Vulcan to hit the next tier? Hit Spock.

    I’d definitely agree with this for skill-boosting collections (the gauntlet special collection would be an exception, based on how they are acquired) - those skill boosts add up real fast. Vanity collections are just icing on the cake of voyage stats and event utility.
  • Bylo BandBylo Band ✭✭✭✭✭
    My advice: look at where your team could use the most work (ie where could you benefit the most from improvement), figure out which of these crew best accomplishes that goal, and throw every citation you have at them until they are immortalized. 5* crew see the biggest improvement from stars 4 to 5, so do not be afraid to throw that 5th star on a crew that you know will help you.
  • Matt_DeckerMatt_Decker ✭✭✭✭✭
    Not sure if you've already spent your citations, but if not, I'd take another look at FO Burnham. She's an astrophysicist, so will be most useful in the upcoming mega event.
    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
  • Only spent one of three so far, so thanks for the recommendation @Matt_Decker !
    "Risk! Risk is our business. Risk is what this starship is all about."
    -Captain Kirk, ST:TOS, "Return to Tomorrow"
  • RaraRacingRaraRacing ✭✭✭✭✭
    So I'd indicated I'd get back on this point, as I wanted to expand on the reason why I suggested Spock back in January ... better late than never.

    2. Citing up average 4/5 crew pt 1
    I've kinda come to the conclusion for myself that in a case like this ... a number of citations available and some 4/5 choices ... it is probably not a bad idea to cite up certain 4/5 crew, which is why I suggested the OP do so with Spock and not McCoy. Why?

    Reasons For
    In this case, we have Captain Spock and, as seen in a different thread, someone brought up a 4/5 Covert Operative Leland. Both fall into the same category of crew who I'd cite up ... another is the recent campaign crew EV Suit Seven of Nine.

    a) Crew that are biased towards proficiency rolls ... all three above rely heavily on proficiency rolls for maximum value. These crew will never be at the top of the list for shuttle use and event use just because of their relatively lower base scores ... hence are most effective on voyages.
    Adding that last * means you can get the maximum potential out of those crew for voyages, while at the same time gaining some benefit over immortalised 4* crew during events.

    b) Main cast crew ... As I mentioned before, events ... all three will be a part of future events and because of a) you might not utilise them at all if not immortalised. Using crew now to their best ability will help you get more crew down the line, which can help improve the overall quality of your crew selection, which in turn allows you to increase voyage potential etc. etc. etc.

    c) Unique skillsets ... none of the above really fall into that category (maybe EV Suit Seven), but someone like The Keeper or Commander Ari bn Bem do ... versatile crew who will be used for a number of voyage combos ... they don't need to have killer voyage scores, base scores are low but you'll find yourself using them more often than you'd think.

    There are many crew who are not main cast and who's stats lean towards proficiencies and who have a bland skillset ... think The Professor, Weyoun Clone 5, Captain M. Bateson etc. that do not warrant a citation and can just be left 4/5.

    And then there'll naturally be crew who are on the fence ... maybe Leland (but I think he should be cited), or Suus Mahna Sarek (someone I've not cited and have at 3/5), or North Star Tucker (someone I did cite) where it will depend on the preference of the player ... but if someone falls into at least 2 of the above categories I figure they're worth a citation at 4/5 if you're wondering who to add a handful of citations to, and so not to wait for some lucky begold in which they feature, cuz you could be waiting for an eon and better options might provide themselves instead in that same begold.

    ... pt. 2 will have Reasons Against ...
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