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Star Trek Online

Legacy of Romulus Dev Blog #21

By PWE_BranFlakes | Mon 20 May 2013 12:00:07 PM PDT

The Tal Shiar Lock Box

Star Trek Online STO MMORPG F2P Sc-Fi MMO game Legacy of Romulus
Tal Shiar Adapted Destroyer

Even as the newly-established Romulan Republic begins to make a name for itself in the affairs of the Alpha and Beta Quadrants, Empress Sela and her Tal Shiar continue their tyrannical attempts to control and conquer them. The turbulent conflicts between two halves of a once-great Empire are now slowly enveloping the entire quadrant in their intrigue and violence. And on each side of the bloody feud, new technologies are continually being developed in order to safeguard their own versions of the future for the Romulan people.

Although the Tal Shiar's development of Borg-infused technology has been publicly decried as rash and dangerous, the effectiveness and power of these weapons and starships cannot be denied. Throughout known space, conflict after conflict has resulted in the destruction of entire fleets of Tal Shiar vessels, yet these strange "Adapted” starships seem to somehow be capable of rebuilding themselves long after their crews and captains have been captured or laid to rest in the vacuum of space. The Lobi Crystal Consortium, at grave risk to their personal well-being, have undertaken massive salvage operations in this region of space to obtain as many of these mechanical marvels as they can, in hopes of offering them off to the highest bidder.

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Sometimes, your ship design just has to go where the story takes you.

In the process of developing the story arcs that Romulan players will experience with the launch of Legacy of Romulus, we had the opportunity to explore the interaction that the Tal Shiar has had with both their mysterious Elachi allies, and their salvage and adaptation of derelict Borg technology. Nowhere is this interest in the Borg presented with such clarity as it is during the players’ interactions with Hakeev, and their attempts to undermine his efforts to indoctrinate the people of the Romulan Republic.

In the past, we have had the opportunity to explore this subject briefly through events like the Special Task Force “Khitomer Accord” and the Romulan Arc mission “S’harien’s Swords.” But even within those missions, we never really nailed home the true lengths to which the Tal Shiar will go to exploit this technology despite the grave risks taken in doing so.

Hakeev is the embodiment of this effort. When his eye is taken, he quickly and willingly replaces it with adapted Borg technology. When his ship is bested, he goes to great efforts to upgrade it using Borg technology, despite the danger this poses to his crew and allies. In the end, his flagship – the I.R.W. Khnial – becomes the epitome of fusion between Tal Shiar and Borg technology.

In our effort to continually offer only the most interesting and impressive starships within the lock boxes found in Star Trek Online, we will be offering our players the opportunity to obtain one of two separate variants of Tal Shiar Adapted starships in the upcoming Tal Shiar Lock Box.

The first of these vessels is a variant of Hakeev’s vessel. Based on the core architecture of a Dhelan Warbird, the Tal Shiar Adapted Destroyer has been extensively overhauled through an infusion of reprogrammed Borg construction nanites. This vicious-looking vessel – known as a Llaihr Class by its Tal Shiar creators - trades some of the speed and maneuverability of the Dhelan for added resilience and advanced technology. It maintains the Dhelan’s primary focus on Tactical seating and consoles, but the addition of Borg sensor technology allows the Llaihr access to Sensor Analysis, usually found only on dedicated Science vessels.

Star Trek Online STO MMORPG F2P Sc-Fi MMO game Legacy of Romulus
Shrapnel Torpedo

Included with its Borg technology upgrades is a universal Shrapnel Torpedo Launcher console. This provides the vessel with a supply of replicator nanites specifically programmed for the task of fabricating Shrapnel Torpedoes. These deadly warheads are designed to fracture into smaller self-propelled projectiles shortly before reaching their target, providing each individual source of damage additional opportunity to penetrate the enemy's shields. Even though each bit of shrapnel may seem inconsequential alone, the total potential damage inflicted by such a barrage of incoming fire could be gigantic.

The Tal Shiar Adapted Destroyer can be obtained as the grand prize from the Tal Shiar Lock Box.

Meanwhile, its sister ship – available on the Lobi Crystal Store – is a true representation of Hakeev’s thirst for power. The Tal Shiar Adapted Battle Cruiser boasts core architecture based on the iconic D’deridex Warbird Battle Cruiser, yet extensively augmented with Borg technology. By augmenting the D'deridex, the Tal Shiar designed this vessel to focus on crippling and disabling enemy ships, or even turning them against one another. Due to its advanced technology, the Khnial Class (named after Hakeev’s flagship) also has access to Sensor Analysis.

These vessels come pre-equipped with the sinister Indoctrination Nanite Dispersal System. This universal console utilizes adapted Borg technology to deploy advanced nanites to subvert the weapons of an enemy vessel. Once the nanites have taken over the target's weapons system, they will cause the target to fire randomly at their allies, dealing Electrical damage to any nearby friendly units they can target. The enemy vessel will be unable to disable their own weapons during this time, or fire them on targets of their choosing, until the effects can be overcome.

The Tal Shiar Adapted Battle Cruiser can be obtained by purchasing it from the Lobi Crystal Store.

Star Trek Online STO MMORPG F2P Sc-Fi MMO game Legacy of Romulus
Tal Shiar Adapted Battle Cruiser

Both of the Tal Shiar Adapted ships possess a Cloaking Device. However, the Borg upgrades aren’t completely compatible with this bit of Tal Shiar technology, causing it to underperform when compared to standard cloaking devices. It also cannot be used during combat, unlike pure Warbird vessels. Despite these limitations, the Cloak can still be used to great effectiveness when preparing to ambush enemy targets.

Both vessels have also been fitted with Tal Shiar Adapted Borg Warp Cores, used to power the various technological upgrades present throughout the ship. This power source does not rely upon an artificial singularity, and is therefore not able to power Singularity abilities, and the Borg upgrades are incapable of utilizing a singularity warp core as a power source. However, the synergy between this Borg Warp Core and the consoles that come installed on each ship allow for powerful bonuses to be applied, based on how many are simultaneously equipped. Equipping any two (2) of these items will allow the Tal Shiar Adapted vessels to regenerate Hull and Shields at an increased rate, while equipping all three (3) will allow most of your offensive science abilities to apply an Exotic Particle damage-over-time effect to your target(s).

But these are not the only vessels becoming available with the Tal Shiar Lock Box. After all, what would a Lock Box be without offering additional starship options in the form of Mirror Universe variants?

Federation and Klingon captains will once again find an opportunity to obtain variant versions of the Star Cruiser (Fed only), Assault Cruiser (Fed only) and Vor’cha Battle Cruiser (KDF only). Although these ships were originally made available in the Tholian Lock Box, we’ve decided to bring them back for another rotation. In addition to these returning ships, this Lock Box will also allow Romulan captains to obtain a newly minted Mirror Ha’apax Advanced Warbird, which will offer a science-leaning variant to its Prime Universe counterpart.

Although not directly included with the Tal Shiar Lock Box, we’d like to take this opportunity to also announce the inclusion of the Mirror Ha’feh Assault Warbird and the Mirror Ha’nom Guardian Warbird, which can be obtained by Romulan captains that open the Dominion Lock Box and Temporal Lock Box, respectively. While these discontinued Lock Boxes no longer drop, they still may be found on the Exchange, offering Romulans the opportunity to obtain these vessels upon the launch of Legacy of Romulus. Mirror Universe Warbirds come with a unique material variant.

Complete stats and information on all of the above ships will be published in a Dev Blog that will be published later today.

Star Trek Online STO MMORPG F2P Sc-Fi MMO game Legacy of Romulus
Mirror Ha’apax Advanced Warbird and Ionized Gas Sensor Console

Also returning from previous lock boxes, though once more renewed with updated contents, we have yet another Cross-Faction Console package to offer starship captains. This time around, we’re offering Federation players the chance to obtain a Plasmonic Leech Console, while members of the KDF can get their hands on an Ionized Gas Sensor Console for the first time, which can upgrade all standard torpedo types to create a “tailpipe” torpedo, designed specifically to sniff out cloaked targets and disable them. Romulan captains will be given the console that a member of their ally faction would have received, had they been the one to open the package.

The Tal Shiar Lock Box will be offering players an opportunity to enhance their numeric earnings in Star Trek Online in just about every way imaginable, by including all of the bonus pool items offered in previous Lock Boxes. Each time a Tal Shiar Lock Box is opened, if it is determined that you are to receive a numeric boost, a random roll will be made to grant you any one from the following list of available boosts:

  • 25,000 Fleet Credit Bonus Pool
  • 5,000 Fleet Credit Bonus Pool
  • 10,000 CXP Bonus Pool
  • 2,000 CXP Bonus Pool
  • 100 Fleet Mark Bonus Pool
  • Dilithium Mining Claim Package: VIP Customer
  • Dilithium Mining Claim Package: Preferred Customer

And of course, the Adapted starships aren’t the only Tal Shiar technology that will be finding its way into the hands of players. The Weapon Pack being offered in this lock box will include an entirely new type of weaponry, known as Nanite Disruptors. This weaponry, seen in use by Tal Shiar NPCs throughout the game, has a chance to inflict a variant of the well-known damage resistance debuff used by Disruptor weaponry. However, in addition to reducing Damage Resistance on an afflicted target, they will additionally cause the target's shields to absorb less incoming damage than normal. They will still be boosted by abilities and equipment that improve Disruptor weaponry. Players at any level will obtain a Very Rare / Purple quality weapon that is appropriate for their level, while Vice Admirals and Brigadier Generals will also have a chance of finding Mk XII weaponry within these packs.

In addition to the Reinforcements Duty Officer Mini-Pack, the Tal Shiar Lock Box will introduce the Fleet Support Duty Officer Mini-Pack. Based on the pack most recently introduced on our C-Store, this new Mini-Pack will include all of the same species, specializations and active roster abilities that were introduced with that pack.

A few additions will also be made to the Lobi Crystal Store, offering even more Romulan-themed items for acquisition.

Star Trek Online STO MMORPG F2P Sc-Fi MMO game Legacy of Romulus
Liberated Borg Romulan Science Officer

For players interested in expanding their Bridge Crew, a Liberated Borg Romulan Science Officer will become available, ready to join the crew of any starship captain, of any allegiance. This crewman comes with unique costume customization (a combination of Romulan Republic garb, and Liberated Borg outfits), as well as possessing the following unique combination of Traits:

  • Ground: Borg Nanites (Passive Health and Shield Regeneration)
  • Ground: Borg Neural Blast (Targeted Slow and Hold)
  • Ground: Stasis Specialist (Slow, Hold and Root abilities are stronger)
  • Space: Efficient (Increased subsystem power for low-power systems)

New vanity pets can also be obtained from the Lobi Crystal Store, by picking up a Khellid Companion Pet Pack (non-combat). Within this pack will be a random variant of the hardworking pollen-farming insects seen frolicking in the fields of Virinat colony during the new Romulan tutorial. Sixteen (16) variants exist in total, ranging from White to Purple in quality and rarity. Collecting all of them will grant you an Accolade, and access to purchase two additional Unique (Gold quality) Khellid variants at the price of one (1) Lobi Crystal each.

In order to assist players in taking down the resilient shielding of the newly-encountered Elachi, the Lobi Crystal Store will begin selling Tachyon Grenades. In addition to causing an AOE shield drain and a small amount of Kinetic damage, these consumable grenades will destroy any artificial force fields and knock turrets, drones and other non-living enemies offline for a short amount of time.

Star Trek Online STO MMORPG F2P Sc-Fi MMO game Legacy of Romulus
Khellid Companion Pet (Non-Combat)

And, to counteract the psionic attacks being utilized by the Tal Shiar’s Reman shocktroopers, players will be able to purchase a Psionic Dampener. This consumable hypospray grants a large amount of Psionic resistance (also useful against Devidians and Species M-113), while additionally increasing resistance to all other energy types to a lesser degree. Each hypo lasts one hour, and will persist through death.

The Tal Shiar Lock Box will become available alongside the launch of Legacy of Romulus, starting tomorrow, May 21st, 2013 at approximately 10:00am PDT.

UPDATE: Read more about the new Tal Shiar Lock Box and Lobi ships in Legacy of Romulus Dev Blog #22, and check out our new FAQ here.

 

Legacy of Romulus News Dev Blog Index

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Click here to learn more about Legacy of Romulus, our upcoming free-to-play expansion for Star Trek Online. Prepare for your journey of rebuilding the Romulan legacy with a Legacy Pack purchase! Click on the logo below to learn more about it.

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