Avatar Combat (PvE)
The away mission combat is one of those easy-to-learn systems that has more to it than you first expect. At first, I was disappointed with only having two real solid attacks. Each weapon basically has a default firing option and a special attack. You also have a third attack for melee. You control these by pressing 1, 2 or 3.
My biggest complaint about this system is that this game really, really needs auto attack. Since 99% of your shots are from the 1 button, it's downright annoying to constantly spam it. Especially since it's not like one click is one shot. It tends to fire a phaser burst that takes a couple of seconds. Min/Maxers will drive themselves insane trying to time the bursts to optimum efficiency... or more likely write scripts that do it.
*Editor's note: We messed this one up, turns out it does have auto attack, we just missed it. Check out the second part of this article for clarification.
On top of the weapon attacks, each player also has a kit. The kit further defines their role within a group and is a huge part of customization. There are, for example in the Tactical line, ones that concentrate on buffs of weapons, all the way to AOE attacks, stealth kits, and melee. These kits are nice. They let you really change things up and having a good collection will be important to being a productive member of a group.
I started off with a photon grenade kit. Usually I'd begin combat by launching one into my enemies, knocking them all down. Later, I took on a martial arts kit, which was insanely handy when fighting groups of enemies who would crowd me. Finally, I ended up in a weapon buff line that gave me a bit more bang with my primary weapon.
The combat itself isn't really quite like anything I've tried in a sci-fi game. It's not a shooter by any stretch - the game is all dice rolls - and while at first you can be content to plow through firing at will, it quickly becomes apparent that some tactics really help.
;)
Almost every mission brings four NPC crew members down with you. I tended to roll with one science officer, one engineer and two other tactical officers. The tactical guys did damage, the science officer healed, and the engineer played a support role. It was nice to have a group in a can. Generally though, I let them do their own thing. They followed me around and contributed well enough not to bother me.
Over time, I learned some basic controls and would focus on key enemies early in the fight. I also learned that you could really annihilate an enemy by using your crew to bring them into one location, then circling out and flanking them.
The basic mechanic of combat is an expose/exploit system. Essentially, every weapon's second attack is one or the other. Some do an expose, which visually flashes on the enemy. Once someone is exposed, a shot from an exploit ability can usually vaporize them instantly.
This makes itemization very important. You need to balance the group out so that enough of them have expose weapons to create the opportunities for you and the others with exploit weapons.
Most of these secondary attacks also have their own benefit. They tend to be high damage and also do things like knock back, so it's not as if they never get used unless someone is exposed. Although, there is nothing worse than sending off a nice knock back only to be waiting on a recharge while they're exposed in front of you five seconds later.
;)
Melee changes the dynamic of this combat quite a bit. Every weapon has a basic melee attack. Usually, it's just there to knock your opponent away from you so you can keep shooting him. Naturally, most Klingons, for example, tend to like to close the gap and whip out the bat'leth. Martial Artists though will actively seek out melee. For example, when I had that kit, my first ability was one that rapidly charged the enemy and socked him in the face. My second was a 360 leg sweep that got people off of me. So, if there was a hoard of enemies, where I'd normally toss a grenade in and stand back, I could actually dive into the centre and act like a grenade myself.
One totally unexpected feature that comes up often in away missions is the ability to pause the instance. Yep, you can pause in an MMO. This is a useful thing when you need to hit the head, and also helpful for the ability to analyze a situation and micro-manage your crew if that's your play style. It struck me as odd at first, even sacrilegious, but the truth is that I found myself using it in spite of myself. The pause button, by the way, is on a 45 second timer to prevent people from using it in group away missions to the point of annoyance.
Generally, Away Mission combat seemed to have a nice pace. If anything, I could have used a bit more of it. However, it is also far and away the least polished element of Star Trek Online. There were lots of visual and sound bugs in Away Missions that the team is ironing out. If they can make the experience a bit smoother though, I think the Away Missions will be a very welcome and major part of the STO experience.
