Borg #13 - Borg Solo Armadas

 Borg Solo Armadas are now a new mechanic within STFC, in combination with the Command Center. These work similar to the Dominion Solo Armadas (Jem'Hadar Flagship). 

Be sure to start the Borg research first in the Combat Research Tree. This research turns faction ships into ViDars against the Spheres. Don't bother with ViDars on these targets, as they are not strong enough. 

The Borg Spheres have a massive amount of Mitigation, so the best way to fight them is a lot of Mitigation on our own ships, as well as critical hits. This way the ships last long enough to finish the fight and get the loot.

Armada #6 - Getting Started with Armadas

 Players will need to be in an alliance that is willing to share with lower level players in order for them to get material to build/upgrade their Armada Control Center (ACC). Typically, the lower level player will bring their biggest ship they have to participate. They don't have to survive the fight, but as long as another member does, loot will be awarded to all participants.

Loot from the Armada is distributed by ship strength, which is why it is important to bring the correct ship to the targets (See Armada #3), to try to evenly distribute the loot. This rule has to be bent to help lower level players sometimes, but higher level players might be tempted to bring their biggest ship to a target they can take out by themselves. This creates an imbalance of loot, and a lot of animosity between players when this occurs. Higher level players should either not participate in smaller Armadas, or bring smaller ships to play.

Armada #5 - Target Locations/Maps

Locating armadas that are appropriately sized can be difficult during an armada hunt event. Here is a chart showing where to find all of the armada targets and approximate rewards. These span Neutral, Faction and Deep Space. 

Chart in PDF

For a detailed recommendations of which ships to use against which target, check out
Armada #1 - Main Crews

Below are maps showing where to find Armada Targets to speed up the hunting process, and avoid looking in areas where they do not spawn. This is especially helpful for Armada Events.

Federation Armada Target Locations:

Romulan Armada Target Locations

Klingon Armada Target Locations

Neutral Armada Target Locations:

Below are the Deep Space Maps that require Ops 39+ and Deep Space unlocked to access.

Federation Armada Targets

Romulan Armada Targets

Klingon Armada Targets

Officers #7 - Minor Repairs During Battle

Officer Leslie can repair the hull of the ship during battle, and allow players to destroy targets that are larger than they normally hit, as long as he can do it before the battle hits 100 rounds. Once you hit 100 rounds, the battle ends.

Leslie also worked against large armada targets, as long as the damage a player gets is not bigger than what Leslie repairs.

Lesslie is part of the Shakedown Crew, which occasionally shows up in the store. This pack ($20) has good officers to increase the XP gained of ships in battle. These officers are paired well with Pike and a Damage Mitigation Officer (Chen or T'Laan).

Armada #1: Main Crews

Armadas bonus exceptions
Due to their size and power, Armada Targets are not affected by the following research bonuses and abilities:
• Research: Combat - Defensive Tactics
• B’Rel Class - Cloaking System
• Gladius Class - Secret Weapon
• Grace Chen - Energy Absorber
• T’Laan - Objective Defense
• Tal - Resistance
• Mara - Wife of a Dahar
• Qa’ug - Excel under Pressure
• Severus - Spreading Fire
• Yuki Sulu - Disrupting Field
• John Harrison - Sabotage
• Marlena Moreau - No Fear
• Cadet Nyota Uhura - Scan the Enemy
• Vixis - Fake Communiques
• D’joaki - Shatter Defenses
• Chang - Dogs of War

Use the Special Abilities to create conditions against the target that is shared with participants in the Armada (except Morale). This can help add more damage to the target, especially on larger targets.

Below is a more refined chart showing the armada target level and which ships should be used against them, as well as recommended crews to utilize for maximum effect.

By using the principal of "staying in your lane", players within an alliance can achieve more reward per player and a lower failure rate on armadas. 

Armada loot distribution among participants is based on ship strength brought to the fight, not damage done in battle. It is highly recommended to stick to the "Lanes" mentality within an alliance to maintain a fair distribution of loot to players. A lower level player can launch a really high level armada and still get good rewards as they get a chest each time as the one launching, but the battle chest will be small.

Armada #4 - Decius vs Khan

As always, your results may vary, but here are some tests showing how well Decius and Khan of the same level worked when paired with a Moral Crew (Kirk/Spock). Also, Zhou was tested, but with a lower level, still produced some good results but not as impressive as Decius.

Decius: Adds to overall Damage from any weapon when hit
Khan: Adds to Critical Hit Chances when hit
Zhou: Boosts defenses when Morale is active (Uses Defense Points)

Armada #3 - Ship Selection

New updates allow the leader of an armada to reserve slots for players once they arrive by hitting the star next to the player. This can be used to guarantee a lower player gets involved in an armada attack. If no reservations are made, the standard math will be used to pick the strongest ships in the circle for the attack.

Players should not be doing Rapid Fire on Armada Targets unless they are hosting Armadas. Share the rewards/fun.

Larger targets, Armada Leader should call “Circle” after starting, to indicate that the biggest ships participate using the circle to decide.

Look at the ships that are in the lineup and make sure the correct ones are there with sufficient strength to achieve success. Below is a general guideline:

Armada #2: Specialty Crews

Some crews boost damage against faction ships, including Armada targets. Pike with Gaila will reduce the critical damage from target.

*Note: No 2nd Klingon officer against Federation yet, so Merik is still used for the Burning chance.