R&D, or crafting as it is more commonly referred too, is perhaps one the most under used and least understood aspects of the game. During a conversation with a number of players recently I asked the question how many actually used the crafting system, and none of those that were present used it all. When I asked why, the replies I received ranged from don’t understand it to why bother when you can buy items from the exchange.
I have to admit that before I got my head around crafting I used to spend a lot of time and EC (energy credits) buying various items that I needed for my characters. The two main issues that I have with crafting system is that below level 15, there is not really all the much worth crafting and getting up to level 20 is rather exceptionally hard to do. To level up on crafting you have to complete crafting tasks to earn crafting skill points
A typical crafting task will earn 7000 skill points. To reach Level 20 you have to earn 2,070,000 skill points. Which means to reach level 20 in any one of the 8 crafting areas; you need to complete 259 daily crafting tasks. That’s 2072 crafting tasks all together. The game allows you to complete up to 6 of these tasks per day. This means, it takes roughly 345 days to reach Level 20 on all 8 areas, not taking into account any bonuses or bonus crafting tasks. So you can sort of understand why so many players don’t bother with the crafting system. Currently I have 11 characters on Star Trek Online, and until very recently I had only reached Level 20 on all 8 areas on one character.
Why not all the others I hear you ask. This is the one fundamental fact about the Research and Development aspect of the game that seems to have passed by most players. Whatever item you craft on a character, can be transferred in game to any of your other characters and used. So you simply don’t need to reach level 20 on more than one character. As long as you keep that character supplied with EC and R&D materials, it will be able to keep your other characters supplied with whatever they need.
Why aim for level 20? The higher the level of crafting, the higher your chances of crafting an item with a better rarity level. By Level 20, you will be crafting Very Rare / Ultra Rare items at a minimum.
Across the year there are a number of R&D weekends where you earn bonus skill points for completing the daily crafting tasks. There is also a daily crafting mission at the Fleet Research Lab that earns a bonus. To further increase the number of skill points earned, you can purchase from the exchange Research School XP Boosts sized 2000, 10,000 and 20,000. To find these boosts on the exchange type in “research” to the search box. When you use one of these boosts, every time you complete a crafting mission you are awarded a portion of the boost total until it the boost is used up.
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This article was submitted by Captain Douglas Langstaff as part of his ongoing series of Star Trek Online Tps & Tricks. To continue to the full list, members can read the full article in the latest edition of Comms – as well as read his past installments – available to read online or download now! The SFCQ2 Comms Discover More Edition was published January 2019. Members can read the full review by logging into Comms or by downloading their latest copy. If you’re not a member and want to read more or enjoy more of our membership benefits, you can enlist today for free!
