If you missed yesterday's Star Trek Online dev chat, which focused on the most recent Ask Cryptic segment, you still have the opportunity to read what was dicussed. Three separate forum users took the time to transcribe the chat, and you can find them all in this thread on the official forum. If you don't feel like sifting through all the posts, you can also check out one of the transcriptions after the jump.

The chat answers numerous questions, with a bunch focusing on weapon arcs. Weapon arcs will play a major role in space combat, and most weapons in STO will have arcs to them. Also, the team wants to encourage fleets in the end-game to be comprised of many different configurations of ships, so expect to see all types of ships utilized.

For example, Cryptic_geko said "a player's Vor'cha ship is not necessarily better than another player's Bird of Prey. Toe-to-toe, a Vor'cha would pound a Bird of Prey. But a BoP is fast, hard to hit, and a master of cloaking in combat. BoPs can do cloaking runs, which balances the playing field very well."

<@Bizarro_Rekhan> <muttw7> How much of a role will weapon arcs play in combat? Most of the emphasis seems to have been placed on shield positioning but maneuverability and weapon arcs can play just as large a role. There were a couple DS9 episodes where the Defiant used their maneuverability and tractor beam to avoid the weapons of the more powerful Vor'cha and Negh'var class ships.

<@CrypticZinc> Weapon arcs play a HUGE role in space combat. Obviously, if we want positioning and facing to be a big part in space combat - weapon arcs is the first thing you look at.

<@CrypticZinc> Witht he exception of only a few, all the weapons in STO have arcs to them. You can slot these weapons in forward facing and rear facing slots.

<@CrypticZinc> Phasers tend to have large firing arcs, photon torpedos and cannons have smaller arcs.

<@CrypticZinc> Some weapons (mostly beams) have arcs that are larger than 180degrees -

<@CrypticZinc> if you slot one in the front and back - you can get some cool "broadsiding" action.

<@CrypticZinc> Yes - you can slot weapons in the back - although most ship have more slots in the front.

<@CrypticZinc> Cruiser classed ships tend to be a little more "omnidirectional"

<@CrypticZinc> Forward and Rear only.

<@CrypticZinc> You can still shoot to the side - given large firing arcs.

<@CrypticZinc> Like the >180 degree phasers.

<@Bizarro_Rekhan> <Anichent> Does Escort 2 mean, an Escort in Tier 2? And is the rumour that Tier 1 will only have Light Cruisers (and therefore no Science, Cruiser, or Escort ships) true?

<@Cryptic_geko> All players start with a Light Cruiser. When they rank up to a Lt. Commander, they will gain access to a new ship. That ship may be a Cruiser, a Science Vessel, or an Escort. To get one of these ships, you will need the necessary skill. Choosing one does not restrict your access to the others, but you still need the right skill (you need Science Vessel Skill to get science vessel). To get into the next science vessel, you will need to be a Commander rank and have skillpoints in "Research Science Vessel" (which unlocks towards the end of the "Science Vessel" skill). So you can go deep with your skills and ships, or you can go wide.

<@Cryptic_geko> So you can go deep with your skills and ships, or you can go wide.

<@CrypticZinc> [LF]NiomoLire Craig, can we have more than one Tier 2,3,4 ship?

<@CrypticZinc> Yes

<@Bizarro_Rekhan> <exracon> Is it possible to level up all 3 trees enough that you will be able to pilot all 3 types equally well?

<@Cryptic_geko> Yes exracon. its on open skill system. but it will take you a while.

<@CrypticZinc> Firing Arcs - there are only forward and reverse slots to put weapons in. The weapon defines it's arc. There are a lot of different arcs in the game. 45, 90, 180, 270, etc...

<@Bizarro_Daeke> <Alphabravo42[Fark]> Will the science vessel be able to dump radiation?

<@Cryptic_geko> there is an Eject Warp plasma skill in the game. It stalls skip engines, causes damage and reveals cloaked ships. But its not limitted to science vessels.

<@CrypticZinc> We can even define the offset so that a weapon arc can be a 45degree arc but 90degrees off to the side. We don't have any of those weapons in right now - but we could do it.

<@Cryptic_geko> wider firing arcs typically mean less damage. Canons have narrow firing arcs, but hit hard.

<@CrypticZinc> Loekii Okay, so arcs are still relatively limited, depending on the weapons slotted into the spot. So it could be some tactical choices there on your build --- stronger punch but smaller arc, etc.

<@CrypticZinc> Exactlly

<@Bizarro_Rekhan> Titan7963> Last friday we found that the Klingons have a "carrier" type ship that is massively huge. Will the Federation have a "carriar" type vessel also?

<@Cryptic_geko> Probably not at launch. We want each side to have distinct gameplay

<@Bizarro_Daeke> <deerang> Can i target one subsytem with phasers and a different one with torpedoes at the same time ?

<@Cryptic_geko> no, when you target a subsystem, your attacks are focused on a particular system. you cant spread the attack.

<@Cryptic_geko> HomoTrek[FYAD]> will there be thermonuclear warheads

<@Cryptic_geko> No, but there is a Tri-Cobalt device

<@Bizarro_Rekhan> <muttw7> Will there be any reason other than personal preference to use small ships in end-game content and will there be incentive for a wide variety of ships in a fleet/task force/group for combat operations? For example, if I want to use the BoP will that be viable or will it hurt my group if I use it instead of the Negh'var in my hangar? I know you've said that tier and combat effectiveness isn't entirely dependent on size, but where is the line?

<@CrypticZinc> Yes!

<@CrypticZinc> We want to encourage fleets in the end game to be made up of many different configurations of ships.

<@Cryptic_geko> Yes, a player's Vor'cha ship is not necessarily better than another player's Bird of Prey. Toe-to-toe, a Vor'cha would pound a Bird of Prey. But a BoP is fast, hard to hit, and a master of cloaking in combat. BoPs can do cloaking runs, which balances the playing field very well.

<@Bizarro_Rekhan> <Tamgros> There was talk about Fleets building ships earlier in the dev cycle. Has that been scrapped, put off to a later date...? I am interpreting your answer to Manx's question to mean that grouped/endgame rewards will be the main benefit of grouped fleet players, not resource networks, crafting, etc...

<@CrypticZinc> Put off to a later date (post launch) in the very least. There will still be items and rewards towards the endgame where you will want to be in a fleet to gain better access - but there will be no Fleet owned items. (At least administered by the game)

<@Cryptic_geko> bmckenna[Fark]. and will proton torpedoes actually hit all the time like they do in the movies

<@Cryptic_geko> Its photon torpedo (not proton - was that a trick question). They don't always hit in the movies and they don't always hit in STO.

<@Bizarro_Rekhan> Just a reminder - Please send your questions into Bizarro_Daeke and Bizarro_Rekhan

<@Cryptic_geko> Ix_Forres. Once more, in the vain hope it will be answered: Will we have control over internal ship systems? Power, impulse, warp, computers, environmental systems, idf/sif etc? And will we be able to affect other ship's in supportive or offensive ways? And, of course, can we eject the warp core or antimatter stores of our ship?

<@Cryptic_geko> You can transfer power between systems. and yes, you can buff friendly ships in many ways.

<@Bizarro_Rekhan> Tostig> Will the end game all be based around fleets/raids? Or will there be solo/small group content to get the "best" gear?

<@CrypticZinc> We'll get specific about all the endgame options at a later date - (sorry if I'm punting a little here) - but trust that there will be multiple endgame options. There will be endgame "Fleet" sized raids - there will also be content that can be solo'd to advance a player through endgame.

<@Bizarro_Daeke> Sorry guys, give us one second. There are a ton of questions to dig through.

<@Bizarro_Daeke> <evanisweyoun> Will we have to spend some form of money to buy ships, or will there be an option to "get it" from the KDF or Starfleet once we reach a certain level?

<@Cryptic_geko> You will not buy ships with a resource or "money". You will, however, earn reputation with your faction that you need to spend to gain access to ships. There are, of course, other pre-requisites to gaining access to a ship - Rank and skill.

<@Bizarro_Rekhan> That's about it for us, folks. Thanks to everyone who joined for the chat and asked questions. Be sure to stop by the official site for news on the next dev chat!