Expose, Exploit and Flank: Ground Combat Tips from New STO Vids

Ground combat in Star Trek Online is like fine wine—it gets better and more complex with time. At the beginning ranks, it’s a simple shoot-em-up but turns fast into a sprawling tactical battle as you and your bridge officers attempt to expose, exploit and flank enemies into submission.

Two new videos uploaded at the official STO website gives a short tutorial on these three concepts that can spell the difference between mission success and eating phaser fire.

Expose and Exploit
Exposing enemies through special weapon abilities (and enhanced by traits) makes them more vulnerable to damage. Triggering an Expose phase is a great way to bring down foes quick and easy.

How does this happen? Well, Exposed opponents are susceptible to Exploit attacks, which deal far more damage than normal attacks—powerful enough to kill with one hit. The increased damage multiplier from Exposing enemies is a great incentive to equip you and your officers with Expose-enabling weapons. It’s also advisable to choose Expose weapons that inflict a short stun effect to keep them in place for the ensuing Exploit barrage.

Remember to keep a strong balance of Exploit and Expose weapons. Some Trekkies leave the task of Exposing enemies to their officers and wield dual Exploit weapons instead to finish the job.

Flanking
Another unique aspect to ground combat is the lack of multi-sided shields, which we know are standard fare for all starships. This is where attacking enemies from a flanked position—from the side, behind or below—becomes a major consideration. As opposed to engaging enemies head on, spread out your ground force so enemies are forced to take extra damage from your flank attacks. Some even crawl the ground while shooting to stack some bonus firepower.

The videos make a great visual presentation of these concepts at work, so be sure to check them out along with the dozen other tutorial videos uploaded on the website.