Make no bones about it (pun intended), Star Trek Online is a slow burn. It’s definitely going to take you longer than you might expect to hit level 10, a landmark that’s relatively swiftly achieved in games such as World of Warcraft, Aion, EverQuest II et al. STO isn’t like that, if you’re a casual player, expect it to two weeks (or maybe even a little more) before you make it that far. This isn’t a slight against the game, it’s just the way it’s built. We’re here to help make that initial slog  a bit more manageable.

At the start of the game, you’ll set out to design your character, unlike a host of MMO’s, you’ll have the ability to change your characters look extensively later in the game, so don’t feel too much pressure to get everything right at this stage. Be aware however, that any alterations later in the game will come at a cost of energy credits. The same goes for recruiting Bridge Officers, your first cosmetic change is a freebie, but after that you’ll be coughing up a fair amount of energy credits every time you’ve got a better idea for a cooler, sleeker, more fashionably uniform.

What you won’t be able to change later, is your characters race, so make your choice a good one. Your choice of race in Star Trek Online affects your starting attributes, which can help make you better or worse suited for one of the three classes, and also augment your capabilities in space and on the ground.

For instance, if you decide to roll with a science officer, the Betazoid class is particularly well suited and will serve you well both in space and on the ground, with its innate telepathic and empathic abilities allowing you to lower your threat generation, increase team regeneration, increase perception, and vitally, increase exposure times. On the flip side, should you decide to be a Federation tank, you might want to take advantage of the Andorian’s increased stealth detection and increased ground threat.

Very early on in the game, during the tutorial section, you’ll be given command of your first ship, a tier one vessel that’s not exactly specialised in any one area of Science, Tactical or Engineering. Learn to love it, and feel free to spend some energy credits customising her, though your options at this stage are limited.

You’ll notice that while the shields on your starter ship are more or less adequate, your weapons tend not to do much damage. This is something you’re going to want to rectify as soon as possible.

It’ll be a fair while before you run across any weapons loot worth keeping, most of the early space loot in the game is not very appealing so you might want to consider grinding for a bit to earn some energy credits that you can put towards the purchase of a Mark II phaser array or Mark II Disruptors.

In general, disruptors tend to do more damage per second, but they also tend to have a narrower firing arc, usually between 45 and 90 degrees, making it more difficult to keep your target in your sights.

At this point you’ll have to make a decision based on your style of play. If you’re the type who likes to broadside your enemy in a fashion similar to naval warfare, then wide-arc phasers are your best bet, this is especially useful for science and engineering ships with a slower turning rate. However, if you’ve got a zippy and agile escort, consider spending your energy credits on a high dps disruptor array.

A quick note on combat here, you’ll want to remember to set your beam weapons, both fore and aft to auto fire mode. This way, when you engage an enemy in combat, you’ll only need to press the space bar once, and the beam array’s will open fire every time the enemy ship is within your firing arc. Leave your torpedoes unchecked, as you’ll want to be more strategic with their use, wait until enemy shields have either failed or are on the brink of failing, and then fire them manually.

Don’t think that shields and weaponry are the only places you’ll need to spend cash though, as STO executive producer Craig Zinkievich once said, Bridge Officers are the “phat lewt” in Star Trek Online, so you’re going to want to earn enough of STO’s second currency, starfleet merits, as you’ll need these to get new Bridge Officers, or at least getting Officers who can train your current charges in unique and helpful skills.

There are a ton of available skills to learn and make use of, and they will help you greatly on the ground and in space. Early on you’ll want to invest in an engineering officer with the “emergency power to shields” ability, it’ll help get you out of many a hairy situation. Above all remember that Bridge Officers will always add to your abilities, so don’t have any qualms about spending some starfleet merits every now and again to pick up a new one or two. Starfleet merits are earned by completing missions, so getting them will mean a lot of grinding.

If you’re eying an entirely new ship, be prepared to save up… a lot. Ships in STO generally come at a cost of around 20,000 energy credits, and if you’re just starting out, saving up that amount of cash might seem a light year away. It’s important to remember then, that for every major rank you reach, you’re given a new ship. So when you graduate from Ensign to Lieutenant at the start of the game, you get your first ship, and likewise, when you graduate from Lieutenant to Lieutenant Commander, you’re going to get another ship.

If you simply can’t wait though, you’re going to have to do some grinding. There are few better places to grind for energy credits than Starbase 24. Starbase 24 is a perpetually raging fleet action battle space, in which you and a number of other Federation ships are grouped together to take down a horde of enemy craft. It’s a great place to pick up loot for resale.

Two things about this though, first, try not to stray too far from your pack, if you get bullish and decide to go it alone, you won’t last long. Second, don’t sell your loot to the replicator, you’ll actually get fewer energy credits as a cost of the convenience. Once your inventory is at bursting point, use your  handy Transwarp drive to head back to Earth Starbase and then sell your ware there, you’ll get much more.

And then there are the anomalies, This particular system isn’t really well explained in the game, but you’ll want to grab as many anomalies as you can find, everywhere you find them. Why? Because if you get enough of them, you can head over to Memory Alpha and exchange them for rare loot. It’s STO’s version of a crafting system, it’s not particularly well explained, but it’s a good way to get a leg up and save some energy credits, you might get some better gear from Memory Alpha than you can find in any of the Starbases.

Follow these simple tips, and you’ll find that powering all the way to Lieutentant, and beyond is a much easier proposition. Remember to group, don’t forget to equip your tactical, science and engineering modules (as most do!) and you’ll be boldly going at a steady clip.