This preview article will give you a tour of Earth Spacedock (ES), the current main hub of activity in Star Trek Online (STO). I was able to gain access to the spacedock after playing through the tutorial and found a plethora of non-playable characters (NPCs) that gave me options from buying new equipment for my character to hiring new bridge officers. A note about this preview: since STO is still in beta, components of the game are subject to change by release date.

ES is built with a circular design with each room connected to the other via hallways and turbolifts (Star Trek’s answer to the elevator). Each item that can be purchased at ES is bought using Energy Credits or Starfleet Merits, the two forms of currency in the game. While both are earned as you complete missions, Credits are used as money to purchase items for your character and ship and Merits are used to purchase new ships and crew as you become a more meritorious captain.

Admirals Office

When you first arrive to ES, you are told to go to the Admirals office to turn in your first mission. There are only two NPCs in here, including an admiral, and it is where you are able to get your first few missions. While you could return to the office to turn in those quests, you are given the option to turn in and earn new missions remotely from your ship. Because of this, I rarely found myself returning to this room except to learn more about playing the game via conversations with the admiral.

Requisitions

It is here that you will find NPCs that you can purchase equipment from for your character and bridge officers (characters that you can take with you on missions). The NPCs together sell weapons, armor, shields, and kits. The weapons available include the iconic Star Trek phaser and phaser rifle, along with a few other weapons. To keep weapons diverse, each comes with its own stats to help you differentiate when each weapon would be best used. For example, the phaser is a simple weapon that can damage or stun an opponent, but the phaser rifle allows you to make a sniper attack every so often that does a massive amount of damage.