There is a constant need for sturdy shoulders to carry the burden of responsibility in trying times. The Command Officer specialization exemplifies those few proud officers who are willing and able to accept such a burden and lead their allies to victory.
Training to become a Command Officer is an important step in the career of many fine officers, but not one to be undertaken lightly. The abilities and maneuvers available to Command Officers include tactics for many different situations, but remain primarily intended to improve the effectiveness of one’s team in combat scenarios. For those that focus on coordinated multi-captain scenarios however, these new abilities are likely to be desirable additions to their strategic arsenals.
Training a Command Officer
As a feature of our Bridge Officer Training Revamp, existing Bridge Officers will now have the ability to train in any Specialization, and even have multiple Specializations (though only one may be active at a time). The availability of new Bridge Officers that have Command Officer training will be limited, so players will need to advance in the Command Officer Captain Specialization in order to train their existing Bridge Officers to make use of Command Officer abilities.
Once granted the Command Officer specialization, Training Manuals for Rank I and Rank II Command abilities will be available for purchase from any Bridge Officer Training store. Rank III abilities can be unlocked by advancing in the Command Officer Captain Specialization tree, and then created using the new Officer Training R&D School.
For additional information on how Bridge Officer Training is being updated, please see our previous Dev Blog on the subject.
Command Officer Abilities
Command Officers represent leaders, tacticians and strategists – officers that take command of the battlefield and coordinate efforts to outmaneuver their enemies. They may also be called on to make difficult decisions in the heat of the moment, accepting the costs that come with waging war.
The following section will give a brief explanation of each of the abilities offered to Command Officer Specialists. Please be aware that the details of each ability are subject to change, as we continue to review and tune them based on both internal testing, and player experience and feedback gathered from the Tribble Test Server.
(Note:
Unless otherwise noted, all effects described as “team-wide” or “all nearby allies” will benefit Bridge Officers during ground combat scenarios, but are not currently planned to propagate to Hangar Pets in space. Players on your team will benefit in either region, as applicable.)
Ground
Coordinate Bombing Strike
Create a series of spatial charges in a straight line between you and your foe. After a short delay, they will detonate sequentially, dealing moderate kinetic damage to any foes in the blast zone.
Delegated Devastation
You grant your entire team a Damage Bonus with energy weapons, at the cost of setting your own weapons Offline for several seconds.
Hammer and Anvil
Issue a team-wide offensive command to crush the enemy from both sides. Allies that strike any enemy from behind will gain a substantial bonus to their Flanking Damage, while those that strike an enemy’s front will receive increased Damage Resistance.
Overwhelm Shields
Mark a targeted foe, to coordinate your allies’ weapon fire. All energy weapon attacks made against the marked foe will drain additional shields, and restore a small amount of shields to the ally that fired upon them.
Return Fire
Instantly remove a portion of any remaining cooldowns on all teammates, while also granting a small Damage Boost. The severity of both of these effects is higher, the more dire the situation is for each teammate – the lower their current Health, the higher the benefit they gain.
Sanctuary
Create a perfect respite on the battlefield, for a short amount of time. While within the Sanctuary Field, you gain perfect Stealth and a Heal-Over-Time effect. However, all abilities are Disabled and your Run Speed is decreased. The field is large enough for allies to gain these same benefits if they are very close to your position.
Shock and Awe
Mark a targeted foe, to coordinate your allies’ weapon fire. While marked, the Damage Resistance of the foe is reduced. If sufficient damage is dealt while the mark is active, the target will become Disabled and incapable of acting.
Strategic Analysis
Requires Combat. Grants a team-wide Damage Bonus and Damage Resistance increase that continues to increase the longer the Command Officer remains in combat. Higher ranks of this ability do not scale faster, but have longer maximum durations, and therefore higher maximum boosts. The effect ends immediately if combat ends.
Take Cover
Issue a team-wide command to Crouch. Any teammate that follows your orders will gain a large Damage Resistance boost as well as Immunity to all Control Effects and a Heal-Over-Time. Those that do not Crouch will only receive Damage Resistance.
Timely Intervention
Instantly rescue a nearby teammate from imminent defeat. Activate this ability to initiate a site-to-site transport to the nearest ally that is below 50% health, and render them untargetable for a short period of time. This ability may only be activated if a nearby ally will be saved by it. (Note: Ally becomes invalid target for this ability for a period of time after being saved by it, preventing chain-immunity.)
Space
Ambush Marker
Cannot be used while in Combat. Place an Ambush Marker at your current location, which will grant a high Stealth value to all nearby allies. If any Foe is drawn to the location, the Ambush triggers, granting all nearby allies a large Damage Bonus and summoning additional Attack Craft to pummel the unsuspecting enemy.
Call Emergency Artillery
Even the most battle-hardened commander can occasionally use the support of heavy-hitting bombers. Use this ability to summon a set of three Attack Craft that are equipped with heavy-hitting kinetic mortar barrages. These ships will warp in at your current location and follow a trajectory toward your targeted foe, dealing periodic kinetic damage to any foes along that path before warping out again.
Concentrate Firepower
Mark a targeted foe, to coordinate your allies’ weapon fire. All torpedo attacks made against the marked foe deal additional Kinetic damage that bypasses shields. Striking the marked target also has a chance of granting a free High Yield Torpedo I mode to the attacking ally.
Needs of the Many
Your current Shield Capacity is instantly set to zero. All teammates will, in return, gain an amount of Secondary Shielding that scales proportionately to the percentage of shields that were sacrificed.
Overwhelm Emitters
Mark a targeted foe, to coordinate your allies’ weapon fire. All energy weapon attacks made against the marked foe will drain additional shields, and restore a small amount of shields to the ally that fired upon them.
Phalanx Formation
By following a series of markers that will be created relative to your current location, you, and all allies that follow, will gain increasingly impressive offensive bonuses to aid you in combat. Each of the three markers successfully navigated grants larger boosts, and all of them stack with one another.
Rally Point
Place a holographic marker near the targeted foe’s location. Any allies (or self) that enter the designated Rally Point will instantly have a large portion of their Hull and Shields restored. Each ally may only benefit from a single Rally Point once.
Reroute Power from Life Support
While active, all four ship subsystems will gradually gain additional current power, and you will be immune to all effects that would knock subsystems offline. However, your Crew will also gradually become disabled, and the Cooldown of all abilities will suffer greater and greater penalties the longer this ability remains active. It can be turned off at will. Only for use in the most dire of circumstances.
Subspace Interception
Instantly rescue a nearby allied starship from imminent defeat. Activate this ability to initiate a quick warp jump to the nearest ally that is below 50% hull, and render them untargetable for a short period of time. This ability may only be activated if a nearby ally will be saved by it. (Note: Ally becomes invalid target for this ability for a period of time after being saved by it, preventing chain-immunity.)
Suppression Barrage
Enhance your weapons to pass a debilitating effect on to any foe you fire upon. Enemies that are Suppressed will have their Movement and Damage reduced, while also becoming incapable of targeting any Torpedoes, Mines or Fighters that are allied with the user of Suppression Barrage.
Ground
Ability Display Name ENS LT LTC CDR
Take Cover I II III
Hammer and Anvil I II III
Overwhelm Shields I II III
Shock and Awe I II III
Strategic Analysis I II III
Delegated Devastation I II III
Timely Intervention I II III
Coordinate Bombing Strike I II/III
Return Fire I II/III
Sanctuary Bunker I II/III
Space
Ability Display Name ENS LT LTC CDR
Overwhelm Emitters I II III
Concentrate Firepower I II III
Reroute Power - Life Support I II III
Rally Point I II III
Subspace Inerception I II III
Needs of the Many I II III
Ambush Marker I II III
Phalanx Formation I II/III
Call Emergency Artillery I II/III
Suppression Barrage I II/III
Q&A
Q:
What ships/seats allow the use of Command Officer abilities in Space?
A:
In order to utilize the Command Officer space abilities, you must be flying a starship that has a Hybrid Command Officer Bridge Officer seat. They are not usable in “Universal” Profession seats, or existing Intelligence Specialist Bridge Officer seats. The line-up of starships that will have hybrid Command Officer seats has not yet been announced, but keep your eyes on our website for those announcements!
Q:
Does the presence of a new Bridge Officer Specialization mean we will not see any more starships that have Bridge Officer seats for previous Specializations?
A:
Absolutely not! We are expanding our options of Specialist seats, but releasing a new one is not meant to imply that we won’t continue to support previous selections.
Q: I need more details about these abilities! These blurbs don’t explain their full functionality!
A: This Dev Blog is purposefully designed to be only a high-level review of the concept for each ability, as they are still in the midst of tuning and iteration. Specific details for each can be reviewed on the Tribble Test Server, once this feature is ready for public testing. We will endeavor to respond to feedback regarding each ability, including potential balance concerns, throughout the coming weeks leading up to the release of this feature on Holodeck.
Jeremy “BorticusCryptic” Randall
Systems Designer
Star Trek Online
