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Omega Marks
Obtained via the Special Task Force missions (STFs) from the PvE queue:
Space:
Khitomer Vortex
The Conduit
The Cure Found
Hive Onslaught
Ground:
?
?
?
?
All missions are also available on Elite, yielding more marks, dilithium and better items. The Elite missions are much more difficult and you will take damage / be injured upon death regardless of your personal difficulty setting.
Also note that Hive Onslaught and ? are much more difficult and take longer to complete than the other missions.
Before playing on Elite you should play each mission on normal first to make sure how to play it. There are bonus objectives which reward additional marks. These are easy to complete if you know how!
How to complete the STFs with bonus objectives
All bonus objectives come with a 15-minute time limit. If the mission (or that part of the mission) is not completed by then, the bonus objective fails.
Cure Found
This mission can be very difficult on Elite and fails easily if you do not have a strong team or people act in an unclever fashion. You have been warned.
The mission fails if the Kang is destroyed. The bonus objective fails if the Kang has taken too much damage or the timer elapses.
To win, you have to take out three shipyards (Borg cubes, stationary), which are continuously repaired by nanite probes - stationary unshielded targets beneath the cube. There are six probes lined up in twos at each yard. Destroy the probes on the bottom first, as they repair the probes above. Once all probes have been destroyed, the cube becomes vulnerable and can be destroyed.
All yards regularly spawn assimilated Klingon ships that will attack the Kang and must be intercepted. As you destroy cubes, stronger ships will spawn: 3 yards spawn birds of prey; 2 yards spawn raptors; the final yard spawns Negh'Var warships, which are very tough. Ships attacking the Kang will generally ignore you. As more probes are destroyed, Raptors will appear that will attack you, however.
If your group is not very strong, it is a good strategy to destroy all the probes on all shipyards before you destroy even one cube. That way, you only have to intercept BoPs until you destroy the shipyards (almost) simultaneously.
When the mission starts, pick a shipyard and start decimating it. You have five ships to cover three yards, so you can cover all yards easily. Whenever attackers spawn, break off and deal with them before attacking your shipyard again. Sometimes someone can stay with the Kang and fight off the attackers from every side, but this requires a good damage output to be successful. It is possible but difficult to repair the Kang, so you should intercept enemies as soon as possible.
The Conduit
This is the easiest and quickest of the STFs and and excellent way to casually pick up marks. With a decent group, it can be completed in under 10 minutes - on Elite!
This mission cannot fail. The bonus objective fails if the timer elapses or if a Nanite Sphere reaches a damaged Nanite Transformer and repairs it.
The setup:
You must destroy the Transwarp Conduit. The Conduit is being repaired by two nanite transformers, which in turn are being repaired by four nanite generators each. As soon as the first generator is destroyed, spheres and nanite spheres will spawn from the conduit and head for you:
The spheres will try to kill you.
The nanite spheres will slowly fly towards the nanite transformer. Once they get within a few kilometers, they will repair the transformer just like the generators did. All nanite spheres must be destroyed before the transformer can be destroyed.
Each transformer is also being protected by a stationary cube or two spheres (depending on difficulty), which should be destroyed first. At the start you also have to destroy a cube and two spheres (The bonus timer does not start until after this is done).
Warning: The gate is very dangerous and can rip most ships apart nigh-instantly, at least on Elite. If the gate is firing at you, the best cause of action is to evade immediately. If your shields are already gone, throw on any buffs you may have to protect yourself (hull and shield repair or distribution, brace for impact, etc.). If it is targeting you, you can still attack it safely (mostly) if you are just on the edge of weapons range. (9.x km) But be ready to get out of range if this doesn't work.
The strategy:
The entire team must stick together. Head for the left transformer (everyone always heads left, don't ask me why) and destroy the defender(s). Now damage all four nanite generators, bringing them down to 10%. Once all four generators are damaged, quickly destroy them and focus all your firepower on the transformer so you can destroy it before the first nanite spheres arrive. Ignore any attacking ships until the deed is done.
If you have a gravity well or repulsor tractor beam these can be used to slow or 'remove' nanite spheres before they reach their target, buying you and your team more time. However it is usually best to simply focus your fire.
Once the transformer is down, the nanite spheres will attack and must be destroyed. Once done, repeat the drill for the other transformer.
After the last transformer is down, a tactical cube will appear.
- Destroy remaining spheres first
- Destroy the gate
- Finally, destroy the tactical cube (which is no less lethal than the gate itself)
Khitomer Vortex
'Moderate' difficulty for an STF, but easily manageable with a decent ship and team.
Objectives:
The mission fails if ten probes reach the vortex. The optional fails if the timer elapses or a probe reaches the vortex.
Setup:
First, a tactical cube must be destroyed (the timer starts afterwards). Next, two transwarp conduits, repaired by two nanite transformers, repaired by four nanite generators must be destroyed (same setup as The Conduit, but double trouble).
When two generators of the same transformer have been destroyed, a cube will warp in above the transformer - this happens for all four transformers. However, no repair ships will spawn (unlike The Conduit).
The conduits regularly spawn probes, which try to reach the vortex. The vortex is a fixture in between the conduits and cannot attack or be attacked. As more transformers are destroyed, the affected gate will spawn more probes. When one gate is destroyed, the other will start spawning a lot more probes and some spheres. Probes will never attack you.
When both gates and all remaining ships have been destroyed, the bonus objective is completed. The final stage is a battle against a scimitar with cloaking and a thalaron weapon.
Warning: The gates are very dangerous and can rip most ships apart nigh-instantly, at least on Elite. If a gate is firing at you, the best cause of action is to evade immediately. If your shields are already gone, throw on any buffs you may have to protect yourself (hull and shield repair or distribution, brace for impact, etc.). If it is targeting you, you can still attack it safely (mostly) if you are just on the edge of weapons range. (9.x km) But be ready to get out of range if this doesn't work.
Warning: The scimitar has a thalaron weapon, which it will often use after it has just cloaked and changed positions. If you are inside the green 'cone of death', run away! (You're still safe if you're further than 10 km away). The weapon has a few seconds charge time, which you can use to get out of the way using full impulse or evasive maneuvers. On normal, this weapon will hurt you. On elite, it will kill you. You may also like to know that the scimitars regular weapons can mince your ship just as easily if you are not careful.
Strategy:
After destroying the tactical cube, the team divided between the two conduits. Start with one transformer, destroying the generators and then the transformer before moving on. Always keep looking for new probes and intercept them! This mission often goes wrong because everyone is thinking someone else will deal with the probes.
A cube will appear as soon as you destroy the second generator, so make sure you are ready for it. Ideally there should be no probes on the way. If you are alone and cannot take on a cube by yourself, ask your team for help. Also, if you are destroyed or you notice probes are getting dangerously close to the vortex, call out so people know what's going on and can react.
Ideally, you want to keep the teams on either side balanced so that the two gates are destroyed almost simultaneously. That way there are fewer ships to deal with. If you notice the other side is lagging behind (e.g. your transformers are both down and the other side still has two left up), switch sides and help the other group out. Whenever you are moving, let people know what you're doing. That way, whoever was on your side knows (s)he may now be alone and has to pay more attention to probes. Some people can't cope with probe duty alone, so don't just run away, check with people if they are okay with you leaving, or ask if someone needs help if they seem to be struggling.
The battle against the scimitar is the usual shoot-out. Feel free to throw everything you have at it. Just be mindful that the scimitar can cloak at any time (even while tractored) as long as it is not using the thalaron weapon. This means you can sometimes waste a perfectly good (de)buff when the target disappears.
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