Tactical Officers

Tactical Officers can be considered the DPS class of Star Trek Online. This does not mean that DPS is all they do, but their skills are all focused on doing more damage than say – staying alive like an Engineer or providing utility like a Scientist. The first Space skill Tactical Officers get is Attack Pattern Alpha at level 8. When activated it increases the damage of your weapons and improves the ship’s turning rate. Later on such Officers can get access to Fire on my Mark which reduces the damage resistance of the targeted enemy.

On the Ground Tactical Officers receive the same type of skills as in space, although with a bigger focus on team improvements. At level 5 a Tactical Officer receives Target Optics which increases damage, critical strike chance and critical strike damage as well as having a chance to Expose enemies near the attacked target. Fire on my Mark is also present at Tier 2, while at Tier 3 the Officer receives Tactical Initiative which instantly resets the cooldown timers for weapon special attacks and kit abilities for the entire team.

Kit-wise Tactical Captains get access to Photon Grenades, Close Combat skills such as Lunge or Leg Sweep, Stealth abilities and team buffing skills. One can build a Ground Officer to be effective either as a Close Combat, in your face Jackie Chan lookalike or as a Predator style stalker, sneaking around and picking off enemies with his heavy weapons. Overall a good PvP team needs a few Tactical players to lead the charge while Engineers and Scientists bring up the rear.

I’ve talked at the beginning of this post about how the various Officer types correspond to the age-old MMO staples of Tank, Support and DPS. Fortunately for all involved, the distinction between classes is not as clear cut as that. A Science Officer can fly a Cruiser just as well as an Engineer and overall only lack a bit in survivability but dealing more damage. There is nothing stopping a Tactical Officer from flying a Science Ship and kicking ass with his DPS oriented skills. Any player can fly the ship of his dreams and be effective in it. The skills the classes provide are nice “extras” but are not required to be a successful Captain.

On the Ground the distinction between Officer types is more pronounced, especially since Kits are class specific. Engineers will always be more efficient in the back lines and as defensive characters, fortifying areas with their large number of turrets, while Science Officers will always be desired for their buff/debuff potential. Still, considering everyone can use the same weapons with roughly the same efficiency, there is no need for a Science Officer to always bring up the rear, tricorder in hand and an eye on the green health bars of the team. He can still be up in the front lines shooting phasers and launching plasma bombs at the enemy.

In conclusion – whatever class you choose, you determine how it plays. The skills you get are more of a guideline than a blueprint. The game will play the way you want to play it.