So, I’m not even out of the tutorial yet (I think…
spoiler
we just blew up a Borg Cube and I need to speak with Janeway on Starbase 1
), and flight during combat feels “wrong” somehow. I’m finding it very hard to maintain any sort of focus on the target.
All of the tutorials/faqs seem to focus on stats and optimization, but nothing about basic flight controls. Something just doesn’t seem to be clicking for me. Maybe it’s just the slow intro ship, or should I not be constantly trying to maintain an orbit around the target?
If it makes any difference, I’m playing as a Starfleet (post tng) officer.
Ah, good point. I’m on PC.
I just did a mission w/ a Vulcan ambassador and the combat went a little smoother. Ignoring the up/down aspect, and mostly trying to keep broadside attacks available helped. Keeping the enemy to one side, then fly away from them to turn back and expose the other side while shields recharge was working well. I think a couple of the tutorial upgrades helped as well. Even a slightly better engine made a noticeable difference. I may have been overthinking it, and trying to play more like a classic flight sim.
You might also find this list of key binds useful, as well.
The vertical aspect of STO is a funny thing, as they made the decision early on to not bother with “proper” space flight and keep it pseudo-2D, on the grounds that the TV shows have almost always presented Trek ships as being aligned on a single plane.
Yeah, I noticed this as well, and that’s when it clicked to just ignore the vertical motion. However, it feels like adding an up/down component helps increase turning velocity. I could be wrong though, and haven’t experimented with it yet.
The keybinds list is great! Is there a difference between having fore/aft phasers set to “1” and “2” versus spacebar for “fire all phasers”?
I think most people just use “fire all” - I can’t think of any significant reasons not to.