href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/64825" target="_blank"> style="width: 200px; float: right;" alt="Star Trek Combat!"
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Nothing
is more upsetting than
change. Just ask my wife about
when her
favorite Starbucks closed. She had to go a whole different direction to
another coffee store, and you know what she found? Yes, coffee. Almost
exactly like Starbucks but different. While not exactly the same as
coffee, href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/sto">Star
Trek Online
does not have Warriors, Mages, Priests and
traditional MMOG classes that we're used to, but they have
something almost the same (just different).

When logging into any new game
the first thing people tend to do is
compare it to what they have been playing or what they wish they were
playing. In this case we’re talking about MMOGs which means
that most people are used to rolling characters that fill the role of
tank, healer or damage dealer. When you start your career in Star
Trek
Online, you won't have those
specific choices per se, but if
we look a little closer we can see their futuristic brothers.

Instead of classes, you will
see careers, and those come in the form of
Science, Tactical or Engineering. The good news is that Cryptic Studios
wants players to have flexibility, so even if a player chooses Science,
there are enough ways to diversify the ships, kits and bridge officers
that the player can actually “alt” his/her way into
a different playstyle. The preceding is a much longer topic, but
suffice it to say, players will have all kinds of options for how they
want to play all the way to endgame. You won't be locked in
by a decision you make in the first few minutes of character creation.

No Tanks I Just Ate

The stereotypical meat shield
won't make its presence known
in STO as a burly sword and board toting behemoth. The career most
resembling a tank will be from the Engineering career path. Engineers
will accrue skills, kits and powers that increase defense, resistances
and focus on surviving. In addition to shield repairs and computer
skills, Engineers can put skills into propulsion and other
“tank-esque” abilities as well. If your idea of a
fight is up close and personal (warrior), chances are you'll
be going Engineer.

Nurse Nancy or Nurse Ratched?

As with tanks, healers won't be
wearing their stereotypical
garb either. No big white pointed hats (or silly huge pink shoulder
pads – Paladins I'm looking at you), but they will
wield a mean medical kit from the Science career path. The Science
officers wield all kinds of repair capabilities as well as hypo-spray
herbalist health remedies for ground combat. The Science officer gains
access to archeology and even surgery (for when things don’t
go so well). The different career choices within the Science career
offer different manners of playing, whether it’s more of an
offensive buff/healer (paladin) or a stay away from the fray and tend
to the battle (priest).

Bring The Pain

Now we're down to the DPS
meter
monitors and peacocks of the
crew, the damage dealers. You know who you are, you watch how much
damage output everyone else is doing and scoff at their lackluster
ability. You are the true DPSer of the crew. Say are you wearing a red
shirt by chance? Regardless of shirt color, the damage dealers of STO
will be decked out in Tactical garb. Tactical careers are all about
different kinds of damage whether it be ranged, melee, or ship-based.
Additionally, the Tactical officers can specialize in avoiding incoming
damage, so the different paths within the career allow for more of a
hit-and-run artist (rogue) or a stand back and blast (mage).

Dressing for the Occasion

The recurrent theme within STO
is that the playstyle options are very
open and can be tailored and changed as time goes on. Rolling a Science
officer does not mean that a player won’t be doing damage,
far from it. Adding the right bridge officers/skills to the right ships
and kitting them with firepower means that a Captain in full Science
Officer Regalia can blow people to smithereens. During our most recent href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/79046">interview,
it became apparent that Cryptic really wants players to be
able to have one character who can fill many roles (if they so desire).
Of course there is always the ability to max out one role to your
heart’s desire as well. Either way, players of many
playstyles should be able to bridge between previous experiences and
how they want to start their way in the Star
Trek Universe.

Good luck out there and more
importantly, have some fun. That is an
order.