[Mack]

Hi folks,

This announcement is issued on to kindly remind everyone to take advantage of the Upgrade Weekend!

It is listed down in your STO calenders to begin from 8th February and end on 12th February. Upgrade weekends give double the technology points, this in turn reduces the amount of Dilithium that must be spent to reach each Upgrade threshold!

On behalf of STO Command,
Mack

[Petrarch]

To clarify the no dilithium cost - that only applies to those upgrade kits that don't have a cost in the first place, such as Omega Tech and Phoenix Upgrades - the regular basic/improved/superior upgrades still have their regular cost per kit, albeit the bonus makes them twice as effective so it's like a sort of 2 for 1 deal.

[Mack]

Yes, that is correct, actually I'll reflect just that to avoid any confusion!

[Taku]

Good thing I'm making all of these Omega Techs then. I should have about a dozen done by the time it rolls in.

They're KILLING my R&D level progression.

[Trekster]

Forgive my ignorance, but upgrade event... this means it's a good time for a returning player like myself to start the leveling the R&D stuff, but it also means it's a good time to try and take my mark 12 items and get them to epic?

Any tips of what supplies to stock up on?

[Scarlett]

From my perspective, this event is something to plan for, so I counsel trying not to feel like this weekend is something to take advantage of.

Having said that, if you want to "upgrade" items to higher mark level or rarity, then this event will help make results more efficient relative to cost.

To maximize the results (and generally speaking):
1) Superior Tech Upgrade Token (targeted to the item: Beam for Beam Arrays, Shields for Shields, etc.)
These take about 15 minutes to craft, assuming you have the components) and depending on your R&D level and/or quality of the R&D DOff, you will certainly get 1 or 2. I've read where people can get 3 Tokens from one slot but it has never happened to me with Lvl 20 and Very Rare R&D DOff.

2) If you have the cash, then buy from the Exchange EITHER:
Tech Point Accelerators - Increases tech points awarded per upgrade purchase
OR
Research Point Accelerators - Increases chance to improve quality per upgrade purchase

Accelerators comes from Lockboxes and can be pricey for that reason. Expect prices to increase this weekend (thus to acquire off-weekend)

3) Dilithium ... lots of Dilithium

A side note to Accelrators: I've read a few guides where the authors discourage these as a waste of EC and to only use them if you get them from Lockboxes (assuming you open LB of course). I partially disagree and do counsel their use only during the Upgrade Event.

On the Upgrade Tokens: there are several higher quality versions that grant bigger bonuses in various ways from increasing Tech points to improving quality chance to nullifying Dilithium cost. For example: the Ultimate Tech Upgrade Token instantly makes the item "Mk XIV Epic" with one click (but you had to buy the Master Key Ring bundle from the C-Store for 1). Regardless, the better versions at least require rare components to make (Superior Experimental Tech Upgrade) or come from other sources like the Admiralty System (Romulan Republic Universal Tech Uprade) or Featured Episode run (Enhanced Universal Tech Upgrade), but these get more rare.

And frankly, the Omega Particle Event allows you to make the Omega Particle Tech Upgrade which not only gives a huge boost to tech points, but adds 4x chance to upgrade at 0 Dilithium cost. With ONE of these tokens you can get a Mk II item to Mk VII and each Mk level has a crazy good chance to get closer to Epic. This is why grinding for Omega Particles can be high on player's lists. Add the boosts to the Upgrade Event Weekend and you may well have an Epic Mk X item.

THEN factor in Re-Engineering and you can literally have the perfect item quickly and relatively cheap compared to this time last year.

The STO Wiki talks about everything with more detail and experience has been very cruel to me. But I urge anyone to use patience with respect to Upgrading items and to plan in advance.

In my very humble opinion.

[Generator]

Scarlett, kick-ass summary. /thumbs_up

I've read where people can get 3 Tokens from one slot but it has never happened to me with Lvl 20 and Very Rare R&D DOff.

The current R&D system has been in place for three and a half years, and in that time, having crafted oodles of Upgrades, I have never ever ever seen one spin of the project make 3 Upgrades. Until it happens to me I'm calling that one Urban Myth.

[ExiledHermit]

I've been saving my Phoenix upgrades just for this event.

Now to scribble down & plan-out how to best use my upgrades & for which items.

Good luck to all!

[Scarlett]

Ooooh yeah. This was the first time I used Phoenix Upgrades and ... wow. THAT is the way to upgrade stuff fast. Once my Omega stuff gets made then it'll more glorious. I'll have to update my FAHCR thread after this weekend.