Bridge Officer Traits | Star Trek Online

[@CounterYoloGaming]

Hi everyone! As Cryptic decided to add 2 new bridge officers with a new trait for each, here is the breakdown for them: (1) FED Science Officer -- 16 pts total -- **B** New Trait: Target Designator. It basically makes you (and everyone else) do more damage. It's a solid new "A" trait to the game. It also has the following additional traits: Superior Creativity (A), Superior Soldier (C) and Improved Natural Immunities (C). For those of you not wanting an android science officer nor the fleet krenim science officer for your healer, this officer is a solid replacement for them. However, it is purchased EVERY TIME you claim the officer (like Aenar, Caitian, & Ferasan officers), so be warned. It also means it can be sold on the exchange, so there is that. I'm personally not a fan of the looks, but it is a solid officer. (2) KDF Science Officer -- 7 pts total -- **D** New Trait: For the Empire. It attacks an enemy that brings you (the captain) to low health. It's the same bad concept as the Kobali Honor the Fallen trait -- honestly not worthwhile nor reliable at all. This new trait falls solidly in the "F" category. It also has the following traits: Warrior (C), Superior Honorable (D) and Superior Physical Strength (F). You are better off just getting a klingon science officer off the exchange. This officer has the same issue as the FED Science officer (pay to claim each time), so be warned.

[@hadurs6459]

I noticed the photonic eng from delta was missing also i think he comes to 16 stubborn , creative , photonic , sure footed and i think the EMH from phoix is 18 photonic creative acute scenes strubon

[@st1v1w0nd3r]

Nice vid. Feel free to make it twice as long (for us) or split it into smaller parts (better youtube monitization). Enjoying every second.

[@simonwillis1529]

I know it’s been over a year but thank you for all your vids helping out a lot

[@MOCOHO-JONNY]

My favorites are all the abilities you get from swarm lock box. Ground space all winners. Awesome stuff!

[@CounterYoloGaming]

Many traits & abilities from boxes are fun, though they seem to be inconsistent lately about ground kit modules being bound-to-account on the system reward of them from the lockboxes -- which has made it more difficult to try out some of the more recent abilities. Might be fun to do a video on that in the future, but would take a lot more time than this one (especially as all of the choosable ground traits aren't in a catalogued list to my understanding, so there would be a lot of organizing backend -- though not as bad as the STO Lore stuff...)

[@christopherblake9583]

Thx for the vid very helpful. The science EMH 'doctor'(rare pheonix prize token)scores 18(any faction singular unlock. Romulan Jem'Hadar unlocks after siding with a faction ). Photonic Engineer (reward from using a delta recruit char) scores 17 (fed or klingen account wide. Romulan Jem'Hadar unlocks after siding with a faction). The intel trill ENG boff from Delta rising scores 16(fed faction account unlock). All ground boffs.

[@oldveeh]

Hey Mate, thanks for your video it is really helpful! You forgot one option for a strong eng BOff for a fed character. (It's also viable for Kdf and easier) When you reach rank4 Diplo with your DOff You can pick a BOff from the other side. You can pick up an Orion Eng with Seduce, Seductive, Sup Mental Discipline, Sup Stubborn => 16 ;)

[@matthewmoon6581]

@CounterYoloGaming Even 5 years later, I still refer to this video as excellent reference material. I recently began looking at improving my KDF ground boff's. I noticed that you omitted the Lethean trait "Rapture". Just wondering what tier you'd consider it to be in? Thanks!

[@CounterYoloGaming]

EDIT: I misread how I organized the GoogleSheet for this presentation (link in video description). In the document, the Bolded traits with stars are the "forced" traits -- I had originally read the sheet as the left 2 traits being forced & the right 2 traits being RNG if they were RNG; sorry for the confusion! I'm surprised I skipped it in the video slideshow & technical rankings in the GoogleSheet, as I have it in the notes on the Lethean race & in the theoretical best traits possible section for each race. It is a "D" trait when I ranked these a long time ago; if I was actually to redo these rankings, its probably borderline between C-tier & B-tier as a trait (so you could add 1-2 pts to what you see in my commentary below). If you look at the theoretical best bridge officers for ground & exclude one-off officers (aka officers you can only have one of, like the holographic bridge officers, androids, etc), I value the following quite highly due to their reliability to get: (1) Alien Female Science officer -- Qo'nos First City Bridge officer vendor (200 dilithium each & 17 pts "A" officer). IMO the bridge officer upgrade token is most valuable on these officers, as her traits are all basic or standard but really good & all upgrade to superior. There are 2 options for alien female science, so choose the right one & you can purchase as many as you want. (2) Fleet VR Romulan Male/Female Science officer -- Fleet Embassy (40k dil & 160k fleet credits, 14 pts "B-" officer due to a dead space trait). This officer is the more expensive FED replacement for the KDF alien female officer, though this officer also comes with all superior traits, so no need to upgrade them. (3) Fleet Krenim Male/Female officer (any profession) -- Fleet Research Lab (40k dil & 160k fleet credits, 14 pts "B-" officer if you RNG into the Creative trait -- it is not a guaranteed trait on them unlike what the wiki says). Science Krenim on-par with VR Romulan fleet officers but less reliable to get the combo you want for traits (romulan ones are 100% for the traits you want). (4) Betazoid Female Science officer -- ESD Bridge officer vendor (200 dil each & 15 pts "B" officer). This is the cheap bridge officer replacement in strength for FED captains to what the KDF have in their alien female science officer option. Less flexibility in customization but still a solid officer. In contrast: (5) Lethean officers -- (Exchange RNG, up to 14 pts "B-" potential) if they have Creative & Telekinesis traits on them, they are worthwhile officers; weak officers otherwise.

[@CounterYoloGaming]

TLDR for a KDF captain that is min-maxing their away team while keeping all KDF -- to be honest, your bridge officer abilities make a greater difference than their traits -- though stronger traits do make things MUCH EASIER for them to carry you. (see the "Away Team Setups Made Easy" video if you want ideas on that front). Should be easy to search if you haven't seen it, its the video I feel holds up best of all my videos over the years (besides the introduction). I'd recommend having 2-3 of the alien female science officers (with the good traits) from the Qo'nos first city bridge officer vendor + putting good ground abilities on them. This is probably the least talked about secret in the game honestly -- and looking back, I am really surprised I skipped over this in the video. From a value-to-cost perspective, they are the best reliable cheap officers in the game for ground & KDF-exclusive. Orion Female officers, if you can RNG them to have Creative & Peak Health traits alongside their forced Seductive & Seduce traits, are on-par in strength (17 pts "A" tier) to the 200 dil alien female science officers, but those are the rare KDF officers that WILL BE EXPENSIVE on the exchange... From there, any engineering officer with a variant of the "creative" trait is good enough. To be honest from a value-to-cost perspective, Lethean probably is the best here if you can get both Creative & Telekinesis on them -- and as an "ugly" race they shouldn't be that expensive to buy. Don't expect to find the trait combo easily though. I personally prefer the survival that the Lifetime Veteran Android officer gives for most of my captains, though that is a premium from a Lifetime subscription that isn't really worth it in today's STO. As I note in the Away Team Setups Made Easy video, a tactical officer isn't necessary -- though I like to have one from a personal preference. Lethean could also fit here, though K'Gan is about as good as you can get KDF-wise otherwise. The best orion female traits aren't synergistic with the "suppressing fire" ability of tactical officers -- the one tac ability I personally value them to use correctly. Aside from the gold mine of traits on a KDF alien officer from the exchange (Creative + Telekinetic + Aggressive + Acute Senses for 18 pts "A") or origin females & letheans from the exchange, the other KDF races for bridge officers don't have good traits for ground honestly. Nausicaan is a space-only bridge officer (& only on a budget), Gorn is just the worst race in the game for officers (besides Thraak, the lone gorn with Creative as a trait),

[@chadwickmccarty4944]

I'll have to keep Orions in mind for ground BOFFs now given their trait testimony. I usually just plug-in 4/5 Nausicaans for their Pirate with my focus on space. The Rom faction definitely seems more in-depth & difficult with their 2 space traits. For Feds I usually stick with easy Humans mostly, or if lucky maybe Saurians' Efficient pending build. Then there's "potatoe-head" too.

[@CounterYoloGaming]

Think of the romulan faction as just the faction as the most options of everyone in the game. You can play them just like a UFP or KDF captain with those starship and they still work great. The romulan faction used to be more complicated in the past, but with their ability now to fly their allied faction starships (and use any bridge officers from their allied faction outside of some specific c-store officers), they actually get the most flexibility & potential of everyone (5 SRO's in space, ability to just use the decent ground bridge officers they get from leveling or find stronger ones from the exchange or the fleet).

[@drshepherd6567]

Cool video and cool stuff! A very detailed and complex topic. But for the love of being efficient you need to delete out filler or support sentences that have nothing to do with the topic. I bet you could get this video down to 30min then.

[@adamwilder2943]

That was a nice video sir, I have a couple options myself, as I will email you them later;regardless, a great video overall

[@fruitsalad3937]

Super sorry about an off-topic question, but I figured a new upload would be the best way to reach you (if there is a more appropriate way, lemme know??). Anyway, what are your thoughts on the Preeminent Space Set (particularly the shield array)? In the setup I'm thinking of, (at least) the shield would be on an escort/raider. The idea is that you would go for flanking a strafing runs on your target (or you could just park with anchored and light them up that way). The weaker forward arc wouldn't matter too much cause you'd be attacking from the enemy's rear, and the strong left/right/rear facings would protect you as you position for your next strafe. I suppose a better phrasing of my question is: is the preeminent shield strong enough (with or without the rest of the set) to be successfully utilized with this playstyle? Once again, sorry for the unrelated question, but I figured this would be the best way to contact you for your cursed knowledge of everything STO. Thanks for the ever-helpful vids!

[@CounterYoloGaming]

As for reaching me, it doesn't have to be a new video. There is a comments section for KZbin that I check for new comments, and I have notifications set up to let me know when people respond to my comments I give. I only wouldn't get notified if you are responding to someone else's comment on the channel and want my input on the matter. The channel isn't big enough for comment volume to be an issue -- and honestly that issue typically is nonexistant for most STO channels. You can also reach out to me via my gaming email if you so choose (simple questions get responded quicker here, longer or multifaceted questions get answered quicker there & with greater explanation). [e-mail] TL;DR -- your general strategy of flying an escort/raider is correct; strafing runs is how you stay alive with them and output your damage (also why they are popular in PvP). in normal TFO's it can still work (as most things do there); you will struggle with that shield in advanced/elite TFO's. The problem with your concept is that a higher shield facing only really matters if (1) you can constantly heal it back up, and (2) you have high shield resistance on the shields so they matter. In the current state of STO, typically people go with resilient shields for the most part (at least adds a tiny more protection to your ship) or sometimes tanks can go with regenerative shields (higher regen so when the shields inevitably go down, you have more shields passively back up quicker). Typically escort builds don't include a lot of shield & hull resistances in the builds as they rely on their speed & maneuverability for their survival, so in general a resilient shield is best unless there is a specific set you are using in which for your build you need that non-ideal shield in there for the set bonuses you want. As for the set itself, it's warp core is nice for a little bit of survival on budget builds, and it's 3-piece bonus is nice for budget tetryon builds. The higher rear shields for fighting the Hur'q aren't applicable for you playstyle, and other covarient shields have higher base values for all their facing (beyond that high rear one). At minimum, I would recommend the engineering version of the Competitive Engines alongside the Phoenix Lockbox Emergency Conn Officer duty officer (with the Emergency Power-to-Engines bridge officer power); this allows you to have SUPER HIGH maneuverability up most of the time in combat. Some players go to the extreme and add the Helmsman space trait to lower the cooldown even further, though I don't feel it is necessary. Competitive Space Set -- sto.gamepedia.com/Prevailing_Regalia Emergency Conn Officer -- sto.gamepedia.com/Emergency_Conn_Hologram_(FED) Helmsman trait -- sto.gamepedia.com/Trait:_Helmsman A lot of DPS players nowadays also use the Colony deflector, Competitive Engines & shields, and the Fleet Spire warp core for their space set. The innervated competitive shield is nice as it gives a weak placate & a potential to increase your CritH & CritD when you are hit and is a resilient shield -- the type of shield you want (tanks with the 2-piece will take fortified shields). Colony Deflector (colony ones have the ColCrit modifier) -- sto.gamepedia.com/Fleet_Deflector_Array Elite Fleet Spire Warp Cores (elite spire ones have power cost reduction & power transfer rate) -- sto.gamepedia.com/Fleet_Warp_Cores I'm not a DPS player though in STO, so some of the DPS-oriented players on KZbin or Reddit with more specific knowledge can guide you further.

[@stephenwatson2806]

Nice post Mr Yolo sir! :)

[@j.mangum7652]

Romulans FTW😎

[@Ken19700]

I wish I could buy portable holo-emitters, take them to the holodeck and build my own bridge officers.

[@OG_Jin_Bling]

How do I never pinch someone? It says I have the trait, but I've failed to use it to put someone to sleep.

[@CounterYoloGaming]

In Star Trek Online, the nerve pinch works like a LONG-duration stun ability -- that is only usable via melee with an organic-based lifeform. If it really put people to sleep, it would be fairly overpowered in STO's ground combat system.

[@OG_Jin_Bling]

@@CounterYoloGaming So what key activates it? My melee is a palm strike or rifle butt strike depending on the situation. Can figure out how to use the nerve pinch though.

[@CounterYoloGaming]

STO treats nerve pinch as a separate, distinct clickable ability (not a regular melee combo attack), so you will have to add it to your ability powertray bar (or navigate through the powerwheel to it in combat on XB/PS) in order to use it. If you're on PC, the default button in space/ground is the "P" button to have all of the abilities viewable in alphabetical order -- and you can click/drag the abilities to where you want the power to be. Go there and scroll through the powers, and it should show up for you to add.

[@garrymerox4186]

Very Nice Thx For the video.

[@Ken19700]

1:00:41 What if you're not a Romulan and can't get the Fleet Romulan Male? What are the Fed & KDF alternatives?

[@CounterYoloGaming]

FED & KDF captains can get tactical SRO romulan officers from their Fleet Embassy (the rare male romulan tactical officers have SRO). The best best-in-slot afterwards are the 3 Jem'Hadar Vanguard officers from the (expensive) Gamma Vanguard Expansion Pack. Beyond those, the KDF have access to nausicaan officers with the Pirate trait for extra damage; FED dps captains often use their diplomacy tier 4 officer for a nausicaan officer. Edit: RRF don't need to get romulan officers from the Fleet Embassy. They can actually get them from random assignments and from leveling -- alongside looking at the player exchange and perusing the traits for more SRO officers. FED/KDF captains don't get those additional options.

[@pizzamonster69]

How would elite bo tokens work with this write up? I saw a bolian with creative, lucky, teamwork and then his required corrosive blood. Would there be an alien or other species with the "right" traits that would be desirable for an elite token?

[@CounterYoloGaming]

For space combat for non-RRF captains, you can use upgrade tokens on fleet romulan officers with a variant of the Romulan Operative trait to have a full crew of SRO's now (instead of just tac SRO access like in the past). It has actually changed up the high-end meta (from what I heard) to the point that as of a few months ago, the "best" theoretical non-cloaking builds now use Jem'Hadar Vanguard captains instead of Alien RRF captains. RRF captains can still just acquire all their SRO's from leveling up, bridge officer acquisition, and/or the player exchange for typically cheaper than the fleet. Some RRF captains upgrade Tovan so that he has SRO. The other comparable best for space don't have traits that upgrade. For ground combat, unfortunately most of the best officers already have their important traits at superior (or the good traits don't have a superior version, so don't upgrade), and the kit frames additions for ground combat aren't necessary -- even on elite difficulty missions with bridge officers that accompany you. On a fleet-less captain, the most notable easily-accessible officers with good traits are the standard ones you can buy for about 200 dilithium from Earth Spacedock or Qo'nos: First City. (ALL Exchange and/or Mudd's) -- Sarish Minna & Kira Nerys have the same traits, and an upgrade token improves their veteran trait to superior veteran. Still the best tactical ground officer option in the game. (KDF dil store vendor) Alien Female science officer you can buy that has the creative & telekinetic traits (really good) + the basic stubborn & basic teamwork traits (less good but fine), and all the traits upgrade to superior. Strong candidate + great visual customization. There are 2 options available & you can buy multiple; check the traits first before purchase, but is a cheap mistake if you buy the wrong one. (FED dil store vendor) Betazoid female science officer has basic creativity & basic pacification (a combo that is really good, but really expensive to get on the exchange) alongside empathetic & telepathic (forced traits) -- this is pretty much the best trait combo available to the betazoid species [discounting the weakened versions of the traits]. With an upgrade token, IMO this is the most impactful ground use of the upgrade token that is reliably accessible. (FED Exchange): Bajorans and Trills must have a version of creative in their traits, making them great candidates to search for other ideal traits of your choice. Bolians have creative by default, but also corrosive blood (which is less ideal). (ALL Exchange): Alien with a version of creative, telekinetic, telekinesis, + a good 4th trait. I've seen alien officers with 2/3 of those traits, but never all 3 of those. That's probably the gold mine if you don't like what specific named officers & krenim/romulan officers can offer you.

[@pizzamonster69]

I found a really good Klingon alien engineer. Soldier, creative, aggression, teamwork. I've not seen that before.

[@SampoPaalanen]

You'd be surprised on what the "seduce" trait/skill works on though.

[@CounterYoloGaming]

One of the sillier situations for me was when while playing one of my KDF captains I got assimilated -- then my orion female bridge officer seduced me, and my assimilated self started fighting against the other enemy borg for a while. They can seduce a very large pool of enemies for sure!

[@SampoPaalanen]

@@CounterYoloGaming My Orion engineering captain has seduced things like the ensign level Herald ground mobs (that in lore aren't even living things but constructs), while high conditional when it happens to hit the right target it can be very effective, though in IMHO it's better for captains then BOFFs since players have better targting priority then NPCs. Also though there's not that many of them outside of foundry missions captain level Orion NPCs use seduce as well.

[@thejarredhog3936]

I can't get my Boffs to use their trait abilities. Cats don't pounce, Gorn won't bite, Borg won't neural blast, Vulcans won't mind meld or nerve pinch, etc. But Jem'Hadar will shroud. Any ideas for a fix? Been searching for a year with no answers.

[@CounterYoloGaming]

Pretty much all of those that aren't working are melee-oriented abilities. Give your bridge officers melee builds and they should be more likely to use them.

[@thejarredhog3936]

@@CounterYoloGaming Tried that a bit with no luck. Used to be they'd use them for a while, then stop, and I'd have to replace them. Now they don't work at all on any of my captains. I should also note Nelen Exil doesn't fire his darts either.

[@thejarredhog3936]

Update: I uninstalled/reinstalled and Nelen is using his darts again but that's it.

[@Ken19700]

I turned D'Vex into a manual because he was green.

[@Ken19700]

This is not true, lol. My Romulan hasn't made it to that mission yet. I turned Hiven into a manual.

[@captianjessie1]

Counter yeller you should of also seperated space bidge officer trats from ground bridge officer trat

[@captianjessie1]

Can you put ouy more vidieo asap

[@Ken19700]

Isn't Kira Nerys just as strong as Sarish Minna?

[@CounterYoloGaming]

Yes she is (has the exact same traits). I don't really mention Kira because she is impossible to access for most players, while Sarish is more possible to find on the exchange.

[@Ken19700]

@@CounterYoloGaming Is Kira impossible to get now?

[@CounterYoloGaming]

Mostly. You need a code from a Star Trek convention to get her from 2 years ago. Not technically impossible at the present, but close. Best hope is for her to show up like Garek or Bashir later in STO (who were the others unlocked with that code)