Cardassian-Dominion Lock Box
Although a tense peace now exists between the Dominion and the primary powers of the Alpha and Beta Quadrants, conflicts between these civilizations are not unheard of. Whether these skirmishes are brought on by simple miscommunication or by willful dissention from their respective authorities, the outcome is rarely in favor of those that would dare to stand against the Dominion’s fearsome Jem’Hadar warriors and their formidable warships.
Veterans of the Dominion War know all-too-well the impressive abilities of these powerful vessels having faced them in many devastating engagements. Whether they hail from the Federation, Klingon Empire, or Romulan Republic - all recognize the benefit that even one Dominion warship could mean to whichever faction that employs them as a weapon of war, and jealously seek them out even if only for the purposes of keeping them out of the hands of potential enemies.
You can barely have a conversation about space combat with a fan of Star Trek without a reference to the amazing space battles seen in the Deep Space Nine episodes, “Changing Face of Evil” and “Sacrifice of Angels.” In the epic battles depicted in these and other episodes of the Dominion War, we witnessed the wholesale destruction that could be wrought by the Dominion’s fearsome warships. The ship models created by the talented crews working on the TV shows at the time are threatening and deadly-looking vessels that have become iconic enemies in the Star Trek franchise.
It should come as no surprise that a great number of the developers here at Cryptic Studios count Deep Space Nine among their favorite Star Trek series – especially the episodes featuring the epic conflicts of the Dominion War. As such, crafting the ships previously offered on our PC platform via the Cardassian Lock Box and Dominion Lock Box were labors of love for those involved. We’re excited to now have the opportunity to re-visit those Lock Box offerings, and bring them up to the standards of Star Trek Online’s more modern standards.
Players familiar with lock boxes know that we pride ourselves on offering some of the most unique and interesting gameplay options as ship mechanics attached to the highly-sought-after grand prizes, and the Cardassian-Dominion Lock Box is no exception to that rule. Those fortunate enough to win the Grand Prize Ship from opening this Lock Box will presented with a bound crate which, when opened, offers a choice between two powerful starship options:
- Cardassian Keldon Cruiser [T6]
- Jem’Hadar Dreadnought Carrier [T6]
As an upgrade to the Cardassian Galor, the
Keldon is a well-rounded cruiser that belongs at the forefront of the fleet due to having both a strong defense and offense. With decent maneuverability for its size, as well as strong tactical capabilities for a cruiser, the
Cardassian Keldon Cruiser is well-engineered to tackle nearly any combat scenario. It comes pre-equipped with Spiral Wave Disruptor Beam Arrays. These fire a unique energy type that combines the special effects of Phasers and Disruptors, as well as having slightly higher damage and accuracy than other beam weapons.
The fearsome
Jem’Hadar Dreadnought Carrier is a full carrier (with two hangar bays). It is one of the only Tactically-focused carriers we’ve introduced, allowing players yet another unique combination of options in space combat gameplay. Along with a double compliment of
Jem’Hadar Fighters as hangar bay items, this carrier will also come with the
Dominion Command Interface console which can analyze a target’s weaknesses and broadcast that information to all nearby allies. The enemy afflicted with this weakness will find their damage resistance and defense diminished, while also having a single subsystem flagged as Vulnerable. If enough damage is dealt to the target while under this affect, the vulnerable subsystem will be knocked offline for several seconds.
Players may also choose to purchase the
Jem’Hadar Heavy Escort Carrier from the Lobi Store. Captains behind the helm of this vessel will find themselves piloting one of the hardiest and heavy-hitting escorts that have yet to be seen in Star Trek Online. In addition to the ship’s impressive stats (which will be detailed in an upcoming Dev Blog), the ship boasts a single carrier bay that will come pre-equipped with Jem’Hadar Fighters as well as the
Dominion Coordination Protocol console. This Universal Console will allow the use of a powerful attack pattern known as “Fleet Maneuver Gamma” which increases the damage, flight speed and maneuverability of all nearby allies while granting them temporary immunity to a wide variety of perception and maneuverability debuffs. When equipped in conjunction with the
Dominion Command Interface, “Fleet Maneuver Gamma” gains additional effects, including a boost to allies’ defense and accuracy.
Both of the above consoles can be fitted on any Jem’Hadar vessel.
A set of
T5 Mirror Universe Vessels will also be making an appearance in the Cardassian-Dominion Lock Box, each with bridge officer and console layouts that differ slightly from their “prime” universe counterparts. Federation players will be randomly given either a
Mirror Universe Advanced Escort or
Mirror Universe Patrol Escort, while KDF players will gain access to a
Mirror Universe Vo’quv Carrier. Romulan Republic captains will receive a Mirror Universe
Ha’feh Assault Warbird. Each of these vessels comes packaged with material unlocks, and a new registry prefix unlock which can only be used on Mirror Universe vessels.
Complete stats and information on all of the above ships, and any special consoles or equipment they come equipped with, will be revealed in a Dev Blog that will be published in the next few days.
Apart from these starship offerings, players will also have a chance of winning a number of additional interesting, fun and rewarding prizes.
A selection of two different
Cross-Faction Console packages are up for acquisition, granting players access to special ship consoles that would otherwise be inaccessible to their faction. The first of these will contain either a
Bio-Neural Warhead Torpedo Launcher for Federation players, or a
Nadeon Detonator Console for Klingon players, which can upgrade all standard torpedo types to create a Photonic Shockwave on impact. The second Cross-Faction Console package will grant Federation players a
Graviton Pulse Generator, or give KDF players the chance of obtaining an
Impulse Capacitance Cell. Romulan captains will be given the console that coincides with their chosen ally faction.
In honor of the Dominion’s favored use of Phased-Polaron weaponry, a new
Hybrid Weapon Pack containing this unique energy type will be made available. These weapons contain the special effects of both Phasers and Polarons, while still benefit from equipment and powers that boost the effectiveness of Polaron weaponry (such as the Jem’Hadar Space Set, attainable from the Dominion Mission Arc). Players at any level will obtain a Very Rare / Purple quality weapon that is appropriate for their level, and players at level 50 or higher will also have a chance of finding Mk XII weapons within these packs.
Opening any Cardassian-Dominion Lock Box may also reward the player with a
Reputation Mark Bonus Pool of either 500 or 750 denominations. While a Reputation Mark Bonus Pool is active, the player earns 20% additional Reputation Marks from all sources (minimum 1 bonus). Each time a Bonus Mark is earned, one is subtracted from the Bonus Pool.
Players may also win packages containing multiple
Dilithium Mining Claims. Each of these special items allows access to a special rich dilithium vein located at the Vlugta Dilithium Asteroid near Deep Space 9. Once per day, captains may trade in one Dilithium Mining Claim to earn up to 5,000 Dilithium Ore. Activating a Mining Claim also offers a one-time Transwarp directly to the Vlugta Asteroid Field.
Universal Prototype Tech Upgrades may also be won from this Lock Box. Each of these Upgrade Techs can be applied to any item capable of being upgraded, and grants +12,800 Technology Points and 2x Quality Improvement Chance, while not requiring any Dilithium to be applied. Multiple of these items will be given out each time this prize is won, allowing players the opportunity to upgrade their Space and Ground equipment to new performance heights!
In addition to the prizes that can be found by opening the box, every Lock Box includes at least four (4)
Lobi Crystals. These items, otherwise considered ‘worthless’ to most of the galaxy, can be used as currency to purchase additional prizes from the Lobi Crystal Consortium. Activating or using a Lobi Crystal from your inventory will open a vendor interface, presenting you with several dozen prize options available for purchase. While the inventory of this shop will be limited at first release, numerous prizes will be added with each successive Lock Box release.
In addition to the
Jem’Hadar Heavy Escort [T6] which was mentioned earlier, here are just a few examples of items that can be purchased from the Lobi Store:
- Ferengi Space Set:
This “secondary set” is comprised of a Rapid-Fire Missile Launcher, Tachyon Mine Launcher, and the Console – Universal – Rule 62 Multipurpose Combat Console. In addition to offering new options in space warfare, equipping multiple pieces of this set grants additional passive bonuses. - Jem’Hadar Assault Wide-Area Minigun:
Developed for the Dominion’s ground soldiers, this hard-hitting assault weapon has a wider spread of fire than a standard assault minigun, without sacrificing its overall damage output. - Ferengi Costume Options:
Many different jackets, skirts and earrings may be purchased and worn, allowing players to display their opulence in the form of Gold-Pressed Latinum trimmed garments! - Space Non-Combat Pets:
A wide assortment of shuttle-type vanity pets are available to add to your collections. - Special Device Pack – Gambling Device:
This handheld device is capable of causing subtle manipulations to localized probability, manifesting as either increases in Critical Hits and damage avoidance, or decreases if you are unlucky!
… and so much more!
The
Cardassian-Dominion Lock Box will be available immediately upon the release of Star Trek Online on Xbox One and PlayStation 4. Secure your chance at these rare prizes by purchasing a Master Key from the C-Store for 125 Zen, or a 10-pack for 1125 Zen - a 10% discount!
Good luck!
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